[Spirit Invasion] Rodent's Attack!

[King of Cats]

It had been a few weeks since the team had met for the first time. Kohaku was paired with Hanzou and Nikkou. Both were unique individuals, and Kohaku was certainly the most laid back of the group. Kohaku had recently been struggling with a new hunger, an Akari hunger, and the distraction from his obsessions was welcomed; it gave him the chance to be a normal teenager. When the squad first got together Kohaku had mentioned the Spirit Invasion of Iwagakure, and that was what brought the group together today.

Feeling unusually chipper, Kohaku was sitting in his bedroom reading one of his romance novels. The hunger had left him alone today. Kohaku was a unique case among the Akari. During gestation, when Kohaku's spirit was formed, the soul failed to properly manifest. Kohaku was born with an incomplete soul, and he didn't know it but that fact was bothering him quite a bit recently. Until he understood the hunger he would be lost and confused in its throes, but tonight was not one such night. It was a cold night in Iwagakure and there was snow on the ground. Perfect scenery for a quiet book reading session. Kohaku was absorbed into his book when his team radio buzzed.

The team Kohaku had been assigned to was given four special short wave radios to communicate with each other outside of work. It was a handy device, but Kohaku didn't use it much. He wasn't one to check up on his team mates, even if one of them, Hanzou, was a good friend of his. Kohaku believed that to live in peace, one had to let others be. He did learn how to use the radio though, and when it buzzed he immediately set his book down and rushed over to the desk where it was sitting. "Copy HQ. This is Reach Around. Reading." Reach Around, or RA, was Kohaku's code name in the team, named for the long phasmashiin that was connected to his right arm. He didn't like the name but it came from the higher ups, he didn't have a choice.

As soon as Kohaku released the button on the radio he was greeted with someone from the kage's office. "This is Megumi from HQ. RA, glad you were available tonight. Your team is being called on for a high profile, D-Rank mission. You put your name in the hat for the Spirit Invasion, and we are calling on you. Do you accept?" Megumi beeped over, waiting for Kohaku's response. Of course everyone on the team, who was around their radio, could hear everything going on. Megumi was talking to them too.

Kohaku confirmed his attendance for the mission, formally, by giving his military ID number. Megumi waited a moment for everyone on the team to do the same, and then she continued on. "Alright folks, here's the scoop. We had a patrol team going through the streets of Iwagakure, and they found some strange spirit readings in the Ougonjidai Restaurant, underground. We suspect a spirit has taken residence in the larder, based on this fact and the undeniable rat infestiation that the restaurant is currently battling. For the last week the rats have been multiplying, to the point the restaurant has closed down. Investigate the source of these rats, and if it is a spirit, like we suspect, we want you to call in a higher ranked sealing team to subdue the spirit. Understood?" Megumi cut back out and waited for the team to confirm their understanding of the mission.

Once the briefing was over Kohaku got dressed in his ninja gear. He loaded all of his weapons into his utility belt and zipped up his hoodie. It was a cold night, but he didn't live far from the restaurant. Kohaku dashed through the late evening night, and toward Ougonjidai Restaurant.

[HotelBravo]

After learning about the mission, Nikkou pulled out a blackboard and used chalk to make some geometric calculations. She was calculating how much strength and speed she would need to be thrown at to safely arrive at the Restraunt from the Enkouten compound. The Enkouten compound was a place of forges and machinery. After she was satisfied with her results she found a heavy pitson that was part of a large engine and disconnected it from its original purpose and with some rigging she was about she had transformed the massive piston into a makeshift catapult. She sat in the cradle of the catapult and looked back over at the contraption before a voice called out.

”NIKKOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” A voice called the Enkouten Foreman. She looked back over her shoulders, gave a sheepish grin and yanked the chain that pulled the level that activated the engine which moved the piston, which gave power to her catapult GearBox which in turn swung the arm of the catapult and launched Nikkou in a wide arc through the air. ”WOO-HOO!!!!” She cheered as she flew through the air, she clutched to the strap that held her skateboard on her back. She was aiming for a nearby water drainage ditch that made for a convenient halfpipe. She pulled the skateboard from her back in anticipation and placed it under her feet. She landed on the slope of the halfpipe going down and then shooting up to the other side she did a handstand at the peak of the half pipe before riding back down and launching herself into the air again and flying over to a nearby roof. She landed on the trucks of her skateboard and slid the board across the edge of the roof and finally she rode the wall down to the ground, doing a flip kick at the last moment and landing safely. The board rolled to a stop in front of the restaurant.

”Kohaku-san! You got here early before even me! You’re getting fast huh? Alrighty! Lets get this ghost! Wha-pow Bam bam Punch punch Punch! No rats are going to be able to escape me!” Nikkou stood confidently kicking her skateboard up to her hands and tucked it under her arm.

[Drak]

"Alright folks, here's the scoop. We had a patrol team going through the streets of Iwagakure, and they found some strange spirit readings in the Ougonjidai Restaurant, underground. We suspect a spirit has taken residence in the larder, based on this fact and the undeniable rat infestiation that the restaurant is currently battling. For the last week the rats have been multiplying, to the point the restaurant has closed down. Investigate the source of these rats, and if it is a spirit, like we suspect, we want you to call in a higher ranked sealing team to subdue the spirit. Understood?"

Hanzou jolted upright in bed. He had been laying there, staring up at the ceiling like some sort of shounen protagonist and must have fallen asleep. Blearily, he stumbled over to the shortwave and slammed his hand down on the talk button.

“This is Salad,” he grumbled over the horn. He had wanted “Salamander,” but someone at HQ had a sense of humor and gave him “Saladmander,” which Nikkou and Kohaku had promptly shortened to “Salad.” “Copy HQ. I’ll be on my way soon, ETA…” Hanzou trailed off, looking down at his shirtless torso and unpainted nails.

“Are you there Salad? Over.”

“Yeah yeah I’m here. Give me 30 minutes.”

He reached for a shirt, then realized that he had forgotten something. He reached back over to the radio and hit the talk button again.

“Over and out.”

Hanzou threw on his usual all-black ensemble, hitai-ate, gear pouch, and kunai holster. Not that the kunai were liable to be much use against spirits, but his whole getup just felt incomplete without it. As soon as he left the warmth of his house, he was assailed by the cold, dry night air of Iwa. A thin layer of snow crunched under Hanzou’s boots as he trudged his way to the restaurant. He lit a cigarette.

Looks like I’m the last one here. Hanzou thought as he approached the restaurant, where he could already see Nikkou and Kohaku gathered. Nikkou was making a ton of noise. Describing how she’s gonna take out the spirits? No, not even that really. Just making punching noises.

“Yo,” he said, walking up. “Whatever she’s on I could sure as hell use some. Get me some of that energy.” He looked over at Kohaku. “Actually, nevermind. You probably need some of that before I do, Reacharound.” He spoke Kohaku’s nickname with a certain malicious emphasis.

“Anyway, what’s the situation? Should we just head in and uh… punch a ghost or is there a plan?”

[Kabu]

Meanwhile while the other three were engaging in their bout of silliness Maho had been busy making her own preparations. She had been training hard since her failure at the Chuunin Exams and this was really her first opportunity to show off the fruits of her labor. Admittedly the failure had hurt her pride and shaken her confidence but while she hadn't fully recovered she had been gradually bouncing back and now she was simply eager to prove herself.

With that in mind she smoothed out the skirts of her new dress and slung her bow and quiver over her back before dashing out the door. As she headed towards the restaurant she recalled her last encounter with spirits. She and Hikari had gone down into the catacombs and had an encounter with a family of spiders. She counted her lucky stars that the group would be dealing with rats this time. She had grown a lot since but her fear of spiders was still as petrifying as ever, though she could deal with rats no problem.

By the time she arrived the other three were all gathered around the entrance, she was the last one there. Grinning to herself she ran over towards Hanzou's side, sidling up against him. "Hey hey cousin! Surprised to see me?" she chirped, looking up at him a moment with a bright smile.

That only lasted for a brief moment however, the girl turning towards Nikkou and Kohaku. "I'm Maho, Fukusha Maho!" she cheerfully introduced herself. "I was also assigned to this mission!"

[King of Cats]

Standing with his team mates Kohaku watched Nikkou do her thing. She was a boisterous young lady, and certainly respectable as a woman, but it remained to be seen if she was in fact strong. A good shinobi possessed intuition and wisdom, a long with might. Kohaku was curious if the kunoichi was capable of attaining the title of "Strongest Woman on the Team."

When Hanzou arrived to the scene he was smoking a cigarette. Kohaku was reminded of when he had smoked at their first meeting as a team. He had coughed something terribly, but he did enjoy the harsh inhale of smoke. He was thinking of asking Hanzou for another cigarette, when Hanzou spoke up and asked about the mission. Kohaku had some ideas, but he definitely wanted to hear from the group about what they thought of a plan of attack.

Before Kohaku could answer his teammate someone new arrived in front of Ougonjidai Restaurant. The young girl seemed to know Hanzou well, and nudged into him affectionately. Kohaku wondered how he knew the girl, but she quickly answered that when she declared she was Hanzou's cousin. Kohaku smiled to Maho, delighted that someone else was joining them on the mission. "Alright Maho, welcome to the team. Team, uh, we don't have a name yet." Kohaku stuck his fist out for the young girl to bump with. She was considerably young than the rest of them, Kohaku figured she must be pretty powerful for her age. He wanted to show her respect and forced a smile onto his face. It looked out of place, but still natural enough to be friendly.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable with his gesture of friendliness, Kohaku awkwardly pulled his fist back and stuck it in his pocket quickly. It looked kind of weird, so he tried to recover and started talking fast. "Alright. I was thinking we enter the restaurant through the roof. There's a terrace for us to break into. That should be farthest we can go from the larder, the source of the rats, most likely. With a smooth entrance and the element of surprise, we track the rats and find out what they are doing. Then we kill them. All of them. I was thinking I could scatter explosive chalk powder on them and take out a big chunk of them. Once we got enough of them killed to where it's safe to investigate the larder, we do. And then we will need to have one ninja to send for help, whoever wants to volunteer for that. Once we figure out if there is a spirit in the larder, we will need to call in a higher ranked ninja to seal it. That role is critical, so whoever wants it, speak up." Kohaku took a deep breath in, he had barely breathed while speaking. "Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or want to be the runner?"

Kohaku was done talking and listened to what his team mates would have to say. He didn't expect this mission to be as easy as it sounded. He had studied enough about spirits to know that crazy things happened when devils were involved.

---

While the team was deciding on a plan of attack there was something brewing deep under the Ougonjidai. A spirit known as Dokuun was finally getting the big break he was looking for.

The evil spirit of turnips had been unleashed some time ago now. He had searched and searched the village of Iwagakure for a suitable host body to possess. Dokuun's original form was of a gaseous type, not fit for wrong doing, so he sought a figure able to kill and maime. Following his gut instinct the spirit had floated into Ougonjidai about a week ago, looking for a weak human to bewitch. At first he was hoping to possess one of the people eating supper, but he just wasn't strong enough. The D-Ranked spirit felt defeated and floated down into the larder of the restaurant.

As Dokuun sat in the larder, crying over the absolute crushing defeat he had just endured, someone who worked in the restaurant came down to the larder with a crate full of turnips. The person dropped the crate in a corner and left, unaware of the dejected spirit lurking in the larder.

As the days pressed on Dokuun examined the turnips, hopeful he could possess them. It would take some time, but Dokuun was certain that he could do it. The spirit floated over the turnips, sweating over the vegetables and producing an ectoplasm that showered below the spirit. This excrement was delicious actually, and it didn't take the rats long to figure it out. Within just days the restaurant was overwhelmed with rats, and it was shut down.

The rats in the restaurant were supercharged on ectoplasmic goop. They were stoned out of their minds on a salty snack, and amped up on etheric energy. The ninja would certainly have a hard time fighting them off, but the spirit cooking up a body in the larder would prove to be a much more formidable foe.

[HotelBravo]

“Yo,” Hanzou said, his stride seeming very casual to Nikkou. “Whatever she’s on I could sure as hell use some. Get me some of that energy.Actually, nevermind. You probably need some of that before I do, Reacharound.” Hanzou seemed to add emphasis onto Kohaku’s code name. ”Oh hell yeah, does that mean that you want to go skateboarding with me?” Nikkou considered that his response to her energy was that he wanted to join her and get the same positivity. The answer was naturally just skateboarding.

“Anyway, what’s the situation? Should we just head in and uh… punch a ghost or is there a plan?” Hanzou would follow up. Nikkou nodded. ”What do you mean, I thought punch the ghost was the plan?” She questioned following his inquiry about the plan. As they were talking another person arrived, a girl! She was small and petite, was she even a shinobi. What the hell was she doing here? Nikkou really didn’t feel like baby sitting.
"Hey hey cousin! Surprised to see me?" The way the girl slid up to Hanzou’s side and laid the sweetness thick in her voice made Nikkou make a bit of a sour face. Whatever, Nikkou quickly changed her mind. The more the merrier. "I'm Maho, Fukusha Maho!I was also assigned to this mission!" She introduced herself. Nikkou gave a cheer. ”Hell yeah! Lets kick some Ghast!” Nikkou pumped her fist in the air. ”Good to have you on board Maho-san! Just leave it all to me, you can even call me Big Sis if you want!” Nikkou thumped her chest proudly.

"Alright Maho, welcome to the team. Team, uh, we don't have a name yet." Kohaku stuck out his fist for a fist bump and Nikkou realized what a good idea this was. ”Oh! Hell Yeah! Me too!” Nikkou wanted a fist bump as well and held out her fist so Maho could bump her fist as well. "My name's Enkouten Nik- Shit forgot we were supposed to be using code names... You can call me Code Name: Twin Mangos with Chilli on Top got it memorized?" Nikkou switched a more mature and sultry sounding voice for just a moment.

"Alright. I was thinking we enter the restaurant through the roof. There's a terrace for us to break into. That should be farthest we can go from the larder, the source of the rats, most likely. With a smooth entrance and the element of surprise, we track the rats and find out what they are doing. Then we kill them. All of them. I was thinking I could scatter explosive chalk powder on them and take out a big chunk of them. Once we got enough of them killed to where it's safe to investigate the larder, we do. And then we will need to have one ninja to send for help, whoever wants to volunteer for that. Once we figure out if there is a spirit in the larder, we will need to call in a higher ranked ninja to seal it. That role is critical, so whoever wants it, speak up." Nikkou had raised her hand mid speech but she hadn’t received the opportunity to speak because Kohaku didn’t even pause for a breath until he was done. "Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or want to be the runner?"

”Ooh! Pick me! Pick me! I have a question! ” Nikkou was bouncing in place. ”Our Team Name should be the NIKKOU NIKKOU TEAM! Or how about the Mango Brigade?! Why are we breaking in through the top? We can just literally walk into the front door. Why do we need a runner? We can just use the radio to contact the mission office! Why do we need to fight the rats in the first place? We can just use conventional rodent smoke bombs to eliminate the population. After that, we can reinforce the building and seal up any entrances to prevent the rat population from returning EE ZEE PEE ZEE with some Youton Style Jutsu! Then all we gotta do is remove the bodies! With no rats we can focus on punching the ghosts! Like this WHA-POW! HeeeeEEEEEYYYAAAA!” Even if we you don’t use poison, we can just use regular smoke instead.” Nikkou demonstrated with a karate chop and then did a spinning kick in the air for emphasis, she then dropped her skateboard on the ground and did a kickflip for the hell of it.

[Drak]

“Shit shit shit,” Hanzou muttered under his breath as Maho approached, throwing his cigarette to the ground and stomping it into the dust of the gutter. Remembering Nikkou’s reaction the last time someone had left a cigarette on the ground, Hanzou shot her a stern look and put his hand to his lips. “Shhhh!” Divested of his cigarette, Hanzou smiled at Maho.

“Hey cuz,” he said to Maho when she sidled up to him, raising a hand up dramatically and patting it down on the crown of her head. “Didn’t know they were letting babies on missions now!”
As he ruffled her hair, Hanzou saw Nikkou giving the pair a sour look. In response, he sent a quick, subtle wink Nikkou’s way. Soon, introductions gave way to discussions of codenames and strategy. Hanzou listened as Nikkou and Kohaku went back and forth. He rolled his eyes at a few of the suggestions that were trotted out – mainly Nikkou’s – and began to formulate a plan.

“So first of all,” Hanzou eyed Nikkou. “How the heck are we gonna be Team Nikkou Nikkou if your code name is gonna be ‘Code Name: Twin Mangos with Chilli on Top’?” Putting a moment of thought into that code name placed a mental image in Hanzou’s brain which he decided not to articulate based on Maho’s presence. “Second: we can use each other’s names. The callsigns are just for the radio. Third, if I have to be Salad, maybe you should be Mango. Fourth…”

Hanzou trailed off and adopted a pensive pose, tapping his foot a few times as he digested the last few minutes of planning.

“Fourth,” he finally continued. “As much as I hate to say it, I agree with Mango Nikkou on this one. They told us the rats are coming from the larder. If we can get rid of whatever is making them flock they’ll screw right off. No reason to sweep the place from the top. Less cleanup too. I say we head in the front door taking rats out as we go. Smoking them out as a first resort and hitting them with chalk or fire as a second. When we get to the basement we can poke around and see if we need backup.”

[Kabu]

At first Maho smiled and narrowed her eyes in contentment, being one to actually enjoy having her head patted. And then her older cousin opened his mouth... "Mrrrr, I'm 11 years old now and I've gotten really strong. I'm not a baby anymore!" Her joyful expression made way for a pout, cheeks puffed out as she rebuked Hanzou's teasing. However with that said she nonetheless continued to let him ruffle her hair.

As her was being ruffled she reached out her tiny fist to bump Kohaku's own, all the while watching and listening to the other three interact with each other. She couldn't quite tell if they were getting along or not but at the very least they had welcomed her with open arms. Hanzou she knew came off as a jerk but he was really quite a softie at heart. Nikkou appeared to be very energetic and Kohaku... she couldn't quite get a read on Kohaku. Nonetheless the three seemed to compliment each other quite well even if there did seem to be some tension between them.

With all that out of the way it was time to get down to business, Maho tilting her head and crossing her arms in thought as she quietly listened to the others' opinions on how to approach this mission. Kohaku's plan was certainly sound and Nikkou/Hanzou's was a good deal more risky but... "Firstly, let's please just use our names okay? Secondly while I have some hesitations in just running in, it may be our best option. With an infestation like this it's probably best to just go on the attack. If we take too long to snuff out the source we could easily find ourselves fighting battle." she spoke once able, her words and shift in attitude not quite matching her age.

[King of Cats]

Listening to Nikkou gave Kohaku a brief headache. She was supposed to be a ninja, and here she was acting like an exterminator. Kohaku was extremely exasperated with his team mate when she started asking all of her questions. As she asked on, Kohaku made mental notes of what he was going to reply with. He didn't want to sound frustrated, but honestly Nikkou was testing his patience.

Looking at Nikkou, Kohaku spoke calmly to her. In fact he spoke too calmly, almost like he was hiding something. "Alright Twin Mango's, here's the scoop. First of all, spirits interfere with radio's. By the time we can see the spirit in the larder, we will be unable to use our radios. So someone will have to head out of the restaurant and get help." Kohaku closed his eyes briefly and rubbed his thumb and index finger across his nose as a stress tick. "And we need to fight the rats because there is a lot of them. We can't just leave them here. Now if you have a rat poison bomb in your inventory, that would be great. Otherwise we are going to have to stick to Ninjutsu and stabbing." Kohaku looked at Nikkou directly in the eyes. "We're Ninja Team 21, let's operate like a ninja team. But if you insist on going through the front door, so be it. We can muscle through the rats I guess, but I think that's stupid." Kohaku scoffed and looked at the rest of the team.

Talking to the entire group now Kohaku spoke again. "Alright, it looks like we got a plan. Sweep the ground floor and then head to the larder. I guess I will be the runner. Nikkou, lead us into the restaurant." Kohaku extended his arm and channeled chakra into his phasmashiin. From his wrist a slender, fleshy organ emerged and crawled around his hand. It extended further into the air and hardened. The white bone sword was quite impressive. Kohaku slung it over his back and followed behind Nikkou.

---

On the other side of the door were thirty, large dog sized rats waiting to tear into the first person they saw. They were clawing at the door, gnashing their sharp rodent teeth and trying to bite a hole into the door. Fortunately the metal doors were solid, but once the ninjas opened up the gates the rats would flood the streets and attack the group.

[HotelBravo]

OOC: I know Nikkou is hot headed in this post, but I just wanted to make sure King of Cats was aware it is not personal, it is purely in character. If anything bothers you or makes you uncomfortable about it let me know and I will dial it back or even edit this post.

IC:

Nikkou had mostly forgotten about her grudge against Kohaku but when he was saying things to try to make her look stupid it set her ablaze again. She gritted her teeth and balled her fists, a sneer crossing her lips as she began to see everything in a shade of red. Look at him rubbing his nose like he was some kind of saint showing how much patience he had. Then he scoffed. He fucking scoffed. That did it. That was it. Nikkou despite her good spirits and energy was also very quick and easy to anger. She knew she needed to control her temper better, but how was she supposed to control it when she was being talked down to by the biggest normie she had ever seen in her entire life. She half expected him to wear a blue shirt with a high collar and to steep his fingers while dreaming of killing his brother and taking revenge for the destruction of his clan. She was so mad that she practically could see it even though the delusion was far from reality.

”Man! You know just what to say to piss me off? Fuck the mission why don’t we have round two instead? I don’t care if you think you’re the leader. I don’t have any respect for someone that sneak attacks a teammate. If its any condolence you’re right about one thing;; we’re shinobi. So, Maybe, instead of butchering them brainlessly we should approach things with guile and cunning. Like Shinobi. Ah wait, maybe you just want to cut them up with that jizz sword of yours? ” Nikkou still had not forgiven him for his sneak attack against her. It wasn’t that it was unshinobi like, but it wasn’t very team like, and it had made her angry. She wanted to punch him and beat the shit out of him, and the whole act just reminded her how much she really wanted to.

”You don’t need rat bombs to suffocate them out, you can use any kind of smoke.” she further complained. She formed a series of hand seals and sealed the front door with a doton wall. ”Seal off anything around the building that will let air escape. Then we will suffocate them with smoke. After that we can make our approach. Remove the bodies, put down the stragglers, down.” Nikkou turned to look sharply at the others. ”Am I wrong though? Am I?”

She wondered internally why she even bothered with this fucking village. Nobody liked her here, and despite her efforts to make the world a more high energy and positive place she was constantly rejected here in Iwagakure. IT was a place where the dour came and she was sick of strict clan policy and village rules. Living a civilian life was never a possibility for someone with the power of Youton. Nikkou thought to herself that the next time she left the village on a mission, she just might not come back. She knew that if she expressed her thoughts about her clan or village she’d never be given the opportunity but right now with her head so full of anger she secretly swore to herself that she had enough of this whole fucking town. ”Since I’m sure we can’t see eye to eye on this - Hanzou tell me what you want to do and I’ll back you up.”

[Drak]

Hanzou clapped his hands over his cousin’s ears.

“Not that it matters other than for the success of our first ever mission, but chill the fuck out, both of you,” he shouted in frustration. “Save it for the rats. Goddamn. You two can fight it out or whatever you gotta do later.”

He uncupped Maho’s ears and ran a hand over his slicked back hair. He could hear the rats at the door even through Nikkou’s barrier. With two obstacles in their way they wouldn’t be getting out any time soon, nor would Team 21 (and Maho) be getting in. The way he saw it, their noise had attracted the rats to the door.

“Listen to that. The rats know we’re here now, so no more going in the front. Kohaku’s plan to go through the balcony might make sense. Maho-chan, I think you’re gonna have the easiest time getting up there. Once we’re in, Kohaku should take point. We can deal with any rats on the upper floor, then toss a smoke bomb down on the rats below. I can keep them confused with genjutsu to make some loud noises and we can wait them out at the top of the stairs. When the first storey is cleared we can toss another smoke bomb down the stairs to the larder and deal with them the same way. Worst case we deal with the rats one by one on the stairs, or Kohaku sprinkles some of his chalk on ‘em and we can blow the rats up if they try to come up. Kohaku’s our frontliner so he shouldn’t be the runner. Nikkou with your skateboard I think that’d be a better job for you. If you don’t want it I’ll take it: I don’t think my genjutsu will be great against a spirit anyway, although Ankou might be.”

Hanzou had hardly taken time to breathe while getting all that out, so he took a large, gasping breath in and sighed it out. “Is that a plan we weirdos and Maho can agree on?”