I Wanted Steak, I'll Settle For Bear [Job, Training][Invite Only]

Mission Taken: Bear Killer:

Temaki put her pen down and blinked several times; moving slowly as if she were expecting the world to end or some great disaster to occur. The pile of paperwork she was supposed to review and sign was done. All of the reports for the day had been given. No sort of major event that needed her immediate attention had yet come up. Temaki's desk was entirely clear of work. A glance of the clock showed that it was only four in the afternoon: was she really going to get out of the office on time? It hadn't happened in... well, ever. Being a Kage was a twenty four hour a day, seven day a week job. There were no sick days, no real vacation days – unless you snuck them under this disguise of doing other work. Of course, Temaki was more than glad to do it: her village was her life, protecting it had been what she was raised to do. And yet the idea of actually getting out of the office on time was rather pleasing.

She pushed back from her desk slowly, still half expecting the roof to come caving in or an alarm to go off somewhere that signaled some major disaster approaching their lovely village that she would have to rush off and help handle. Nothing like that happened though: it remained quiet and peaceful.

Grinning in a silly manner to herself she stood up and looked over towards Blaze who was her giant wolf companion. The giant wolf was sprawled out on a very overly large dog bed – then again Blaze was the size of your average horse so the dog bed fit him just perfectly. She found that he was looking at her expectantly, ears perked in an alert sort of way. “Come on Blaze, looks like we get to get out of here on time for once. Let's go get a nice steak, eh?” Blaze was on his feet instantly: just like with Temaki food was a great motivator for the giant reddish orange fuzz ball.

Temaki crossed her rather large office in a few excited bounds, her stomach already roaring to life as her appetite reared its head. She threw open the doors quietly and stepped out, moving to the side to allow Blaze to exit as well before she closed and locked the door. A glance over to her secretary told her that the woman was likewise planning on leaving for the evening. “Looks like we both get to leave on time today.”

The secretary paused in the process of picking up her purse to look over at Temaki and return the grin that Temaki still had plastered on her face: she was long used to not having to be so formal with the kage – they were like friends, especially considering how long they had worked together. “Yes, indeed. My boyfriend will be quite pleased that we get to go to dinner on time tonight. What're your plans for the evening?”

“Steak.”, Temaki said with a playful twinkle in her eyes. The secretary laughed softly, ruffled the fur on top of Blaze's head who let out a sound close to a purr from enjoying the attention, and then left down the hallway. Still surprised that the apocalypse had yet to happen Temaki followed in the footsteps of the secretary. “Come on Blaze, if we hurry we'll get there before the evening rush...” Both of them left the building moments later and started down the street. Feeling that she might actually be able to relax Temaki let out a content sigh and nodded to several people as she walked through the crowds and towards the market.

Of course, no Kage got a true break, as Temaki was soon going to find out...

Word Count Mission: 635 / 500
Word Count Man Beast Clone: 635 / 750

Temaki made it several blocks away from the administrative building and towards the steak house that was her goal when the sound of an angry roar reached her ears followed by the sounds of terrified screams and general panic. The sounds brought the kage up short and she listened carefully for a moment to distinguish where it was exactly the problem was: to the north-east of where she and Blaze were standing. Sure enough as the pair darted towards that general area people began to scramble from it; it was like a herd of sheep with no Shepard. Mass chaos.

Temaki and Blast split apart, moving around the outer edge of the crowd that was moving in mass away from the continuous roaring and overly loud angry animal noises. The screams and confusion only sounded like they were further pissing whatever creature this was off, and as Temaki knew all too well an angry animal was a very unpredictable and dangerous animal. Several seconds later Temaki reached the problem area and got her first look at what was causing such chaos and fear in her village: a huge black bear had apparently made it's way into the market – probably drawn there by the smell of the raw meat hanging around the multiple butchers carts, let alone the smells coming from all of the restaurants and stands. Temaki could smell blood in the air and knew that the bear had claimed a victim; the blood on its paws and around its mouth only confirming this. The people who were too shocked to get away and attempt to run had formed a large circle around the bear, only furthering the large beasts agitation by making it feel trapped. Temaki knew that once an animal tasted blood there was no going back: this creature would have to be put down, but first she needed to get everyone out of the way because they were potential targets.

As several of her Jounin arrived on the scene Temaki, keeping herself calm and level headed despite the dangerous situation, began to bark out orders: “Get the people back and seal off the area so the bear cannot escape. If there are injured locate them and get them treatment as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Rakuenkage. And the bear?”

“The bear is mine.”

“Understood.” The Jounin then took off; some splitting off to gather up the few injured that were still alive while others began to push back the crowd of people while effectively sealing off the area. Temaki knew she didn't have to worry about her village's shinobi becoming hurt by this bear: they were equipped to handle the situation. No, her concern at the immediate moment was the civilians who couldn't protect themselves from such a massive animal.

“Come on, Blast. We gotta work fast! Four Legs Technique.” While the bear was still dealing with the sudden confusion Temaki lowered herself down on all fours while chakra enveloped her body. Fingernails grew to claws, and canines elongated even more: her general appearance which was already feral to begin with becoming more so: this would allow her to move and react faster than she normally could. Like the well oiled machine that they were Blast took position on her back. “Man Beast Clone!” Blast disappeared in a puff of smoke which thankfully caused the bears attention to shift and focus completely on them, swiping in an agitated sort of way at all of the smoke. As the smoke cleared, due to a wind that blew at the right moment, there was not only one feral looking Temaki but two identical Temaki's.

The real Temaki glanced over to her Jounin who were still removing the injured, and the others who were still working on sealing off the area while Blast kept his eyes focused completely on the agitated bear. “We need to keep the bear distracted, Blast. Let's do this!”

Word Count Mission: 657 + 635 = 1,292 / 500

Word Count Man Beast Clone: 1,292 / 750
Remaining: 542
Word Count Fang Over Fang: 542 / 1,000

The bear at this point was confused: unable to decide if it wanted to deal with the two Temaki's or stop its potential food sources from being dragged out of the area of danger. The animal roared very loudly, all of its fur standing up and only furthering to show how massive this bear actually was. As the bear seemed to decide on attempting to keep his potential victims Temaki knew she and Blast had to act fast before any more harm could be done.

“Fang over Fang!”, her shout caused the bear to pause, leaving itself open as it turned to look towards her and Blast. Both Temaki and her companion who still resembled her to the letter threw themselves forward while beginning to rotate: turning themselves into massive horizontal cyclones of destruction. As the pair moved across the earth in perfect sync they resembled nothing more than gray masses of drilling danger. Blast broke off to the left which left Temaki to break off to the right: which was where the nearest victim was being removed from.

The pair circled around the bear; Temaki moving in a counter clock way direction around the bear while Blast moved in a clock wise direction. They passed each other flawlessly, continuing to act like a well oiled machine. The bear, now even further confused and yet unable to distinguish anything to actually attack as it was encased in a wall of violently moving grayness, swiped out at the air but hit nothing. In its rage it lifted itself onto its back legs, revealing its actual towering height.

Temaki and Blaze continued to move, up, over, around each other and the bear: dodging but not attacking back yet. For several seconds all they did was successfully cut off the bear from being able to harm anyone while the last remaining victim was removed from the area. As Temaki moved she noticed that the Jounin had finished their job, and effectively sealed off the area from any civilian who would accidentally stumble upon the danger. The Jounin were also watching her expectantly: everyone enjoyed a good show and she figured she might as well put one on.

“Now, Blast!” As a team they began to take turns with their hit and run tactic. Blast attacked first: hitting the bear on its left side and leaving behind a deep gash that caused the animal to roar in pain. Following this came an attack from Temaki who hit the bear on its left front leg, leaving an identical gash and causing yet another roar. The bare, obviously stronger and more dangerous than a normal creature, attempted to swipe back and yet was unable to hit either Temaki or Blast, nor was it able to escape the constantly moving pair.

Blast landed another hit, a swipe to the bears belly which had it going down on all fours. Temaki followed up with a swipe to its back as she moved her cyclone moving self over top of the bear. Blast followed by moving underneath of the bear with another gash to its belly being left behind. The pair continued to move in sync, around, over, and under this creature that had taken the life of at least one of Temaki's villagers: payback was a bitch, and Temaki was definitely an eye for an eye kind of girl after all. Besides, the Jounin and the rest of the village deserved to witness at least a little of what their beloved Kage could accomplish: and Temaki liked to prove why it was she was made Kage, she liked to prove that she hadn't just been handed the title but had indeed earned it. This was the perfect opportunity for that.

Word Count Mission: 624 + 1,292 = 1,916 / 500

Word Count Fang Over Fang: 542 + 624 = 1,166 / 1,000
Remaining: 116
Word Count Piercing Fang: 116 / 750

The bear continued to become more and more agitated with every unsuccessful attack it tried to launch. It was fast, and it was far stronger than an average bear, some of its fighting style even resembled lower level Taijutsu. Yet, none of that mattered when it came to the skill of the Rakuenkage and her wolf companion: they were like extra limbs for each other; a third arm so to speak, and they knew how to work a situation like this to their advantage.

Blast went beneath the creature once more, this time cutting at the under side of its front legs. Temaki followed behind the creature, doing the same to the back of its back legs. Around and around the pair continued to move while continuing to resemble two gray drill bits. Still, perhaps it was enough of these games: the creature was suffering the same as her villagers were, but the longer the fight took the less time her people had to be able to work at their stalls. Plus, she was hungry and knew that Blast was too. “Blast, to the left!”, she ordered while she moved off to the right of the beast. Blast obeyed without hesitation, coming to a stop at exactly ten yards away from the beast to its left. Temaki mean while came to a stop exactly ten yards away to the right of the beast.

The bear roared, shaking its head violently and viciously as foam and mucus came from its mouth: it was in great pain but it was still on its feet: especially considering the blood seeping from the creatures wounds. “Blast, distract the bear. I'm going to finish this!”

The bear roared and Blast mimicked it, drawing the creatures attention towards him as the violent and threatening sound filled the air – Blast normally acted like a giant over grown puppy, but when his head was in the game it was in the game and he became a force to be reckoned with just by himself. Blast lowered himself to the ground, edging forward in an attack formation – and yet didn't launch himself. The bear's focus shifted completely on to the Temaki looking wolf as it too took a defensive position upon noticing the attack form that the wolf had taken.

Seeing that the bear was completely distracted, its complete and total focus on Blast, Temaki decided to utilize the opening. “Piercing Fang!” Once more Temaki began to rotate, but the bear was too busy looking at Blast to pay attention. The now rotating Tamaki once more resembled a gray mass as it moved across the ground at normal running speed: the rotation of the jutsu keeping her from experiencing any sort of drag as she moved across the earth in a horizontal direction straight towards the bear.

When the bear made to look like it was going to turn its attention to the quickly approaching Temaki Blast faked a lunge and backed up instantly, causing the bears attention to snap back on him. Blast lunged again, snapping at air which caused the bear to swipe back and miss.

Temaki meanwhile built up enough power and speed to where as she reached the bear she moved straight through the creature: essentially ripping into, or rather drilling into, the creature. The attack was fatal, and after a last roar of pain, frustration, and likely hunger, the bear went flying only to skid to a stop, lifeless. Temaki came out of the jutsu; the four legs technique canceling as Blast was returned to his normal reddish orange wolf looking self.

The same Jounin she had spoken to before jumped into the air, landing near Temaki with a look of respect and fear on his face. “Damage report.”, Temaki demanded as she stared for a moment at the bear, while watching the Jounin out of the corner of her eye.

“One dead. Three injured. One is in critical condition but expected to make a full recovery while the other two are minor wounds that have already been dealt with.”

“Good. Get someone to clean this mess up and get this bear out of here. I want this place to look like it did before that damn thing came into my village.”

“Right away.”, the Jounin said before doing exactly as Temaki had commanded.

Temaki shifted her attention onto Blast who was once more looking like a giant over grown puppy instead of a vicious wolf. “Come on, let's go get that steak before I have to write up a report about this...” Blast followed Temaki as she exited the area...

Word Count Mission: 772 + 1,916 = 2,688 / 500

Word Count Piercing Fang: 772 + 116 = 888 / 750
Remaining: 138

Jutsu Trained in this Thread: Piercing Fang | Fang over Fang | Man Beast Clone
Payment Owed: 2,688 Ryo