If I Can't Eat People Then Neither Can You! [Mission, Invite Only]

Mission Taken: Marauding Wolf:

“I'm going to take lunch...”, Temaki announced as she walked out of one of the double doors that acted as an entrance to her rather large office. Her secretary looked up from the papers she had been going over, smiled politely, and nodded. The woman was truly a god send: Temaki hated paperwork but her secretary had been with her for years now, and the woman truly made Temaki's job easier when it came to it. As Temaki walked down the hallway and out of the administrative building she found herself thinking that the woman really did need a raise, or a new house, or some kind of awesome payment.... She would think of something eventually.

Adding that onto her mental to-do list Temaki turned a sharp right and headed down one of many alleys within her village: the whole point of taking a break was to avoid the general public – she needed some alone time. While she had told her secretary that she was taking a lunch in truth Temaki had just wanted some fresh air and to go for a walk: she loved her village, she loved her job, but sometimes even more the dedicated of leaders needed a few minutes to themselves. A few minutes of peace as it were. Too bad she wasn't going to get that peace for very long...

Temaki reached the end of the alley way she was currently in, finding it nicely deserted and empty. She glanced to her left and then her right, wondering which path she wanted to take. She debated for but a moment and then took a quick left upon hearing footsteps coming from the alleyway to the right of her. Chuckling to herself at her own amusing thoughts of avoiding a run in with anyone she picked up speed, continuing to wind her way through the buildings.

Temaki kept walking for some time, moving as if in some kind of maze. After a good fifteen or so minutes of this strange traveling she paused at the end of yet another alley way. She once more looked to her left and then to her right. She could hear movement to her left, likely someone dragging some garbage out into the street or some other such usual daily task. Still not in the mood to run into anyone she turned to the right and took no more than two steps before a scream caused her to halt in her tracks. This wasn't a scream of happiness, this wasn't even a scream of surprise or startle, this was a blood curdling scream the likes of which gave Temaki goosebumps and got her adrenaline pumping: danger was nearby, and she needed to handle that shit.

Word Count: 563 / 500

Temaki's natural protective instincts when it came to her village and those residing in it kicked in and the female turned sharply in the direction the scream had come from. She could hear the sound of movement, perhaps even something being knocked over. Beneath these noises was a near constant growling that sounded like it was coming from some sort of animal and what was clearly a male voice attempting shakily to shoo whatever it was away.

Knowing she had to play this safely she took off in the direction of the noise, stepping quietly as she did so: she didn't want to startle whatever the beast was into attacking and risk harm to her villager after all. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to actually find the source of the commotion: a large jet black wolf was standing in front of an elderly gentleman who was backed into a corner: the wolf had the distinct smell of blood coming from him and she knew instantly that this was the wolf she had been reading a report about earlier that morning. Nearby this man was a bag of garbage that had broken open likely from his dropping it when the wolf had stumbled upon him. The wolf still hadn't spotted Temaki or noticed her arrival at all but the man did and therefore continued to growl and snap at the man without actually touching him: toying with him as it were.

Temaki raised a finger up to her lips before mouthing slowly – hoping that the man would get the gist of what she was saying, “I'm going to jump on the wolf, when I have him distracted you get inside your shop and shut and lock that door until I knock. Got it? Blink twice for yes.” The last sentence was some quick thinking on Temaki's part: she didn't know what sort of action would set that wolf off, and while the Joutenkage was fast, she didn't know if she was fast enough to stop that wolf before it mauled the elderly man given how close it was to him, so she wanted no sudden movements on his part until it was safe.

However, she was in luck, the elderly man while looking pointedly at Temaki blinked twice without moving his head. Seeing that the man understood Temaki lowered herself into a crouch; building up tension in her leg muscles as she did so. Knowing she had to do this quickly she launched herself at the wolf, arms wide to grab hold of the beast. Which, was exactly what she did as she reached him; grabbing hold of his front legs and pinning them at an uncomfortable angle to his body to keep him from taking a swipe at the elderly man. “Inside! NOW!”, Temaki shouted, seeing that despite her instructions the elderly man was in shock and not moving. Her yelling jarred him from it though, and he took off running the ten feet that separated him from the back door to his shop: inside the door he went before slamming it shut. Over the sudden violent growling of the wolf that was trying desperately to get free of her grip she heard the lock slam shut: good, it was just her and the wolf now. Time to take care of business.

Word Count: 557 + 563 = 1,120 / 500

With the elderly gentleman out of the way Temaki was able to focus her attention fully on the large black wolf she still had her arms around, restraining it. The wolf was attempting to bite her, but was unable to swivel his head around enough to accomplish the task – at least not without snapping its neck and killing itself: good thing too, considering she wouldn't be able to function properly if one of her arms got bitten off. She kept the wolf pinned for nearly ten seconds, adjusting herself as the wolf attempted to twist and turn his way out of her grasp: essentially wearing the wolf down as it fought tooth and nail to get free from her.

After a quick check that the alley was empty: it being a dead end and all surely did help: she released the wolf and sprang back to put as much distance as possible between herself and the man eating wolf. When Temaki came to a stop she was in a fighting stance and positioned to where she blocked the wolf's access out of the alley way so that it couldn't go after anyone else; feet spread slightly wide for balance and her fists at her sides. She was ready to launch an attack, dodge, or counter whatever this wild creature might throw her direction.

The wolf mean while seemed to take a few seconds to get its barrings back; especially due to the pressure Temaki had been putting on the wolf's legs while she restrained him. The wolf turned, snarling viciously at Temaki and baring teeth that could easily tear her apart while its fur bristled on its back in its rage and anger. The wolf lowered himself into a crouch, but didn't pounce: Temaki could only assume the creature was sizing her up, or waiting for her to make a move like it had been doing with the elderly gentleman not more than a minute ago.

A slew of ideas ran through Temaki's mind as she took stock of what the wolf was currently doing. She could simply blow the thing sky high and leave it a day: especially as she heard thunder in the distance and smelled the rain – it would make clean up so much easier. Or, she could toy with the thing for a while and perhaps get a chance to try out an idea for a jutsu she had been working on for some time. The latter seemed like the best bet for her, though she had to ensure she was careful – she didn't want the wolf to get loose because that would cause trouble for her villagers and put them into danger.

Thinking quickly, and moving before the wolf had a chance to launch an attack that was sure to come, she lowered herself onto all fours as chakra enveloped her entire being. Her already feral features became more defined as the jutsu she had been perfecting kicked into play: Four Legs Technique. This would essentially grant her an animal like fighting ability while increasing her ability to react to a situation – as well as increase her already tremendous speed. The shift was easy enough, and the jutsu wasn't hard to initiate. However, the movement seemed to be enough to trigger the wolf's reaction as it suddenly sprang and launched itself across the meters that separated them.

Word Count: 566 + 1,120 = 1,686

Temaki knew as the wolf came flying towards her that she essentially had two choices, and either way she had only a split second to make the decision. The easier of the two decisions would be to dodge out of the way of the oncoming attack: however, this would run the risk of allowing the wolf past her and essentially would give the man eating beast access to the rest of the village if he happened to escape. The other decision was to meet the beast head on: attack him back as viciously as he was about to attack her: this decision would likely lead to some pain on both of their ends if Temaki wasn't fast enough to dodge those claws and teeth but it would keep the beast from having access to the village. The decision was made: her people had to be protected.

So, while the wolf was still in midair Temaki launched herself straight towards the wolf. Her right shoulder met with the wolf's chest and Temaki could hear the distinct sound of ribs cracking. With a yelp the wolf went flying; Temaki skidding to a stop nearby. She remained crouched, the technique still in play: though she could feel her chakra slowly beginning to drain. The wolf attempted to get up and Temaki watched closely. It struggled for several minutes before getting back on its feet with a vicious growl. The wolf turned, obviously trying to continue with the same movements as before, only to let out a howl of pain and collapse back on the ground.

“If I can't eat people then you can't eat people.”, Temaki said simply as she carefully wandered over to the creature. The wolf snarled, howled, and attempted once more to get back onto its feet. Temaki watched for a short moment: there simply was nothing more this wolf could do due to the amount of pain it is was in from Temaki's attack. Not wanting the thing to suffer – even though it probably should considering it had killed and eaten two villagers already – she reached out lightning fast, grabbed hold of the wolf's head and neck, and twisted suddenly and violently until she heard the distinct snap of the wolf's neck breaking. The wolf's body dropped lifeless to the ground.

Given she was taught not to waste things from the time she was a young child she pulled out a kunai and made quick work with removing the wolf's pelt: the beast was rather large and that was a lot of fur that could come in handy. When she was finished she picked up the remains and disposed of them in the dumpster.

She tossed the wolf's pelt on her shoulder and then turned back around: her half an hour lunch was up, and it was time to get back to work... so much for having a chance to relax, eh?

Word Count: 486 + 1,686 = 2,172 / 500
Four Legs Technique: 2,172 / 2,000