Can't We Just Have One Day's Peace and Quiet? Week 4 Mission [Open]

Week 4 Mission:

Knock knock.

Temaki looked up from the paper she had been reading and towards her office doors as she heard the tentative knock. Blast, who had been curled up on the over sized dog bed near her desk opened one eye as his ears perked up: he too was looking at the door. Temaki glanced at the clock that hung on the wall, noticing that it was nearly time for her squad meeting she had set up the other day, and sighed: she hoped she wasn't about to be made late. She had sent a message to Karakayu the day before so that he had plenty of heads up that she wanted to meet today at noon, and she had ensured that she planned her schedule around them not being bothered and had chosen the twelfth training field for the soul purpose that she could ensure it was completely empty, giving them the most room to work. She had even told the messenger that he was to report in after he delivered the message so she knew that Karukaya had got it. She just hoped that all of this planning wasn't about to be for nothing.

”Come in...”, Temaki said loudly while attempting to keep her inner agitation out of her voice, knowing that her voice would carry through the thick oak doors. Temaki glanced back down to the paper in her hand, finishing the rest of the sentence she had been reading before the knock had come as she listened to the handle turn, a click to indicate it was unlatched, and then the soft squeak of the heavy door as it was opened. Temaki put the paper down on her desk, looked up at the one who entered, and leaned back in her chair while resting her elbows on the arm rests.

It was her secretary.

”Oh, Chiyo. I didn't know it was you. What's up?, Temaki asked, relaxing instantly and glad it wasn't someone else bringing some sort of bad news.

”I'm sorry, I know you were trying to be out of here by noon but I have a few more papers that I need you to sign before the end of today... It's a few last minute issues that came up.” As the female quit speaking she held out the very small stack of papers in her arms tentatively. Temaki's rage issues were rather well known, but she had no reason to give this woman a hard time: she was after all only doing her job, and important business was important business. It was the nature of the beast; or rather it was the nature of the job.

So, Temaki held her hand out with a smile to take the papers, which Chiyo handed over as her shoulders relaxed upon seeing that the kage wasn't angry. The other woman stood by Temaki's desk as the Rakuenkage flipped through the very small stack of papers, glancing over what it was that she was reading. Speed reading was a very nice ability to have, and one she put to use on situations like today. ”Anything in particular I need to know about?”

”Nothing too bad. The first paper needs your approval for payment to come out of village funds for an addition to be added onto the hospital: they want to begin building by this evening. The second paper needs your signature for approval for Haku Oshi's inheritance to be released to his family: he's the one who was killed in custody and his funds were being held until it was clear that they were legitimate. The last is a request for help from that family whose house burned to the ground a few days ago: they're requesting emergency funds: two of their children are currently enrolled in the Academy.” Temaki signed the papers after each one was described: she and Chiyo had been working together since Temaki had stepped into office, and she knew she could trust the woman to tell her exactly what the papers were about. Plus, she had glanced at them enough to know that that was what they were about anyway. Still, Chiyo's description helped: the woman was like a walking encyclopedia of village information: both on and off the record.

When Temaki finished signing all of the forms she tapped them together on her desk to straighten the pile up once more and then handed them to Chiyo with a smile. Chiyo took them and held them to her chest with a smile as well. ”Thank you.”

”Not a problem. Not a problem at all. Anything else going on I need to know about?”

”No madam. Nothing has come up as of yet today.”

”Alright, good to hear. I have a squad meeting with Karukaya planned for noon today in the twelfth training field. We'll probably be there for most of the day in case I'm needed for anything.” Temaki watched as her secretary took out a small pad and pen and wrote down the information quickly so she didn't forget: the woman was meticulous as always.

”Twelfth training field with Karukaya. Got it. Thank you again, madam.” Chiyo responded before bowing and then turning and walking back out of Temaki's office.

Temaki waited until the door was shut before she glanced at the clock again that hung on the wall and then over to Blast. ”Well, come on buddy. We need to get going so that we're not late.” Blast yawned, got to his feet, and stretched, while Temaki stood up from her desk and did the same. She had been in her office since four that morning, having got an early start on things for the purpose of being done on time – so this was the first time she had actually managed to stand up without instantly having to get back to work.

Temaki turned towards the floor to ceiling windows that were behind her desk and opened one. She allowed Blast to step out first onto the ledge, and then followed him as she closed the window behind herself. Doors were for squares, after all, and she had been entering in and out of the kage office this way for as long as she could remember. Temaki and Blast then took off; jumping from roof top to roof top as they so often did – avoiding the crowded streets easily enough so that they weren't stopped or slowed down any. It took the pair less then five minutes to get to the training field, moving to the ground after they ran out of roof tops to jump from: Temaki's speed sure was a great thing on days like today when she didn't want to risk being late and the fact that Blast could keep up made it all the better.

Temaki had indicated in her message to Karukaya that she wanted to meet at the small pond towards the center of the training field: the pond was fed by a big stream that entered into it, and then filtered back out by another stream that exited from it, keeping the water constantly fresh and moving. So, that was where Temaki headed towards; making it within a minute or two and then pausing to look around and see if Karukaya was there already. Blast meanwhile flopped back down right where they stood, eyes closing as he had every intention of continuing on with his nap until he was needed for something.

Word Count: 1,244 / 1,500

Okay, training with Sensei. That was today. Right. Not bad timing, either; Coen could show off his new trick, and Karu could take some time to perfect his new jutsu. He didn't want to say show off; but that wouldn't be wrong. He kind of wanted to see what she would think about him taking on so many new skills at one time. That was kind of childish; but it was nice to have someone that wasn't family that had a positive opinion about his work ethic. It really was pushing him harder; that, his need to protect Coen, and... well, that incident at the circus had shown him that he'd gotten a bit soft. Or... not soft; but complacent. He was strong, there was no denying that; but being strong meant nothing if he had no versatility, no ability to be useful outside of specific situations. He wasn't aiming to get 'stronger', merely useful. Useful, and able to protect the ones he cared about.

"Coen, you coming down?" The joey was hanging in his little hammock up on the way, he had one of his favorite little toys up with him and was being a little child; chewing on it like it was meant to be a chew toy. It used to be one of those throwing ring type toys that had been broken a while back, but Coen refused to let go. He kept it up in his hammock and chewed on it when he was bored or watching a movie or just for the giggles. Coen looked over the edge of the hammock and down toward Karukaya with a look of 'do what?' Karu had forgotten to tell him about the training session, so as far as Coen was concerned it was a day off. "Come on, kid. We gotta go meet Sensei. She wants to have a training session. Let's get ready."

"Daaaaaaaaaaddy.~"

"No buts, child. Get down, wash up. We gotta go." Karu was working on packing his gear, he wasn't going to bring Coen's usual day bag with him this time. He'd only bring the extra canteen of water and two lunches; same as if Coen was any other ninja pet. He needed to get Coen used to this; he wasn't going to be able to be babied as much as he was before. He could still baby him at home, but not during training, not during missions, not anymore. Not if Coen wanted to stay with him. Their lunch was pretty simple too; bento packed the way they both liked. Karu's was his typical fair: plenty of steamed rice with strips of grilled chicken and peppers, a sweetly spiced salad mix, various types of pickles, and a square of brownie leftover from the small slab he'd bought a few days prior at the market. Coen's was much the same, only pure vegetarian, as it were. He had his ball of rice, smaller than Karu's by a fair amount, to make room for the extra fresh vegetables and the cup of fresh fruit salad that was his desert. He'd did go a little fancier on Coen's desert, he'd just finished chopping the fruits and was adding fresh nuts in the form of slivered almonds and crumbled walnuts. No matter how hard he tried not to baby Coen, he couldn't help himself with little treats like that. Plus, he could justify it as 'nuts are highly nutritious, and Coen was a growing boy. He needed it.

Gods he'd become a dotting father.

He packed their lunches at the bottom of his backpack, and layered a medic pack, some spare bandages, their spare weapons and gear, and a change of clothes for Karu just in case. A dull thud was Coen finally sliding down from his happy place and hopping off for the bathroom; Karu made him wash up and do all those things a normal person would do. It made Coen simultaneously happy and whiny; Coen loved being treated like a person, but he was a kid, and almost a teenager in kangaroo time frames. He was still mostly perfectly obedient and happy, but he was starting to get a bit of lazy in the morning streak. Karu had it too, but duty called, and duty often meant working in the morning.

Coen reappeared right about the time that Karu was done packing the backpack. He moved on to checking his various vouches and holsters, he didn't use weapons often, but he kept his kunai and such close at hand for when he did need them. He made sure his gloves where were they where supposed to be, and that he brought his staff with him this time. He wasn't sure if he'd actually use it; but better to have it than not. He was new to it, and hadn't really worked at hard on training with it as he wished; but a tool was a tool, and he needed to get used to it eventually. If anything, he could find a use for it; to give it to Coen to play with if needed. Hell, Blast could use it as a chew toy for all he cared; so long as it was useful somehow.

"Come here, Coen. I've made up some packs for you. Yanno, like mine."

"I has? I wear!"

"Of course." He waited for Coen to hop up beside him before showing him the packs and pouches. "I made these myself. They'll go around your waist and shoulders. Not exactly like mine, but you can't have them around your legs like I can. These will be easier for you to reach, too." He'd made up a belt and a shoulder holster; the belt sat at Coen's waist like a normal belt would, and the holster hung across his chest, hanging from his right shoulder. It was made to have extra pouches and loose gear attached to it, and the size was adjustable so that it would fit comfortably. Karu lifted the belt and wrapped it around the joey, cinching it firmly in place and adjusting it so that the pouches where in the right general area. "How's that? Can you reach okay? Is it too tight? Too loose?"

Coen patted at the pouches and tugged on the belt itself, shifting it around his body a bit until it felt right, and the pouches where exactly where he wanted them for best access. Karu had been pretty much right, but better to let Coen have it where he needed it. "This good, Daddy."

"Alright. Your gloves are in the right hip pouch, dear. Now let's get this other one fitted. Arm's up, Coen." Karu Lifted the sash like holster wrap and settled it across Coen's body, tugging on a loosely hanging trail of fabric that hung from the cinch buckle. This tightened the holster until it was firm, but still allowed for breathing room and movement. Once it was settled, he hooked the currently empty pouches to it, they could be moved easily so long as you where holding the catches a specific way, otherwise they bit down into the fabric of the holster and held them in place. "How's that, dear?"

"I like!"

"Good, good." He reached for his own pouches and hooked them to his belt and around his leg. He used the classic set up; heavier pouches for less often used items on his belt (shuriken, senbon, etc), and his primary small weapons and other heavily used items at his leg. His gloves where kept in that pouch as well, with his kunai and his small emergency med kit. His larger primary field kit was in the backpack. His uniform was slightly modified from normal; in that he was actually IN a ninja uniform for today; with his new Chunnin vest and all. He'd added holder clips to the back of the vest for his staff, it sat across his back from left shoulder to right hip, from just above the level of his scalp to the back of his calf. It was nearly as long as he was tall, but the angle of how it was being held meant that it didn't drag on the ground or make it impossible for him to cross through doors he could normally clear. With gear packed and ready, it was time to go. "Ready, Coen?"

"Ready! Meet Boom Boom Lady and Blast Dog?"

"Yeah, we're gunna head right to them. Sensei said to meet them at one of the big training fields, so we'll have room to run and move and go wild. You get to show off what I taught you now too.~"

"Yay!"

"Alright, let's head out." He made for the door, waiting for Coen to exit before closing it and locking up. The keys to his apartment ended up in a small pocket on the inside of his vest, and down the street they went. The training field they where heading toward wasn't that far off; it wouldn't take them but 10 or 15 minutes at a comfortable walking pace to make it there; and even with Coen being lazy they had plenty of time to get there. The walk was easy and uneventful; there was no reason for it to be anything other than just that after all. Most people where at work by now, or at school; so the few milling around where working on errands, or ninja home from mission, or off to missions, or whatever. Coen hopped along happily and Karu was enjoying the nice weather. That's was mattered to them until they reached the training fields.

Once in the right area, they headed toward the specific field; number 12 if he remembered correctly. It wasn't like he couldn't smell the gunpowder in the air; so he'd find them even if he couldn't remember correctly. They made for the area quickly, and toward the center. She's said meet at the pond, and the pond was pretty obvious. This would be an interesting area to work in; if anything, the amount of water flowing around would help them keep the damage to a minimum, since they could put out the fires and such right away. He spotted Temaki and Blast arriving just about the same moment they did; he and Coen would get there a half a minute or so after they did. No worries, they where all early, so it wasn't like it was a big deal. He waved to them and get moving, while Coen hopped ahead to greet them first.


1861 /1500

Temaki turned as Blast suddenly let out a happy bark of greeting and promptly began to roll around in the grass like a happy puppy who was too excited to do anything else but spaz out. She chuckled and grinned as her attention focused on Karukaya and Coen who was hurrying over to greet them. Blast remained in overgrown happy puppy mode: tail thumping against the ground with a soft but rapid thud noise. ”Hello, you two.”, Temaki said in greeting.

”Glad to see we arrived at the same time: I had some last minute paperwork I had to sign. My secretary all but tackled me and forced me to sign.”, she said with a playful grin. Another glance at Blast showed her that he had begun to calm down a bit and actually focus on what was going on. ”I've got the whole day planned out, and I made sure that we would have the training field to ourselves so we've got plenty of room to work.”, she said as she looked back towards Karukaya and Coen.

”I even made a little obstacle course of sorts for fun times later on. Nothing too dangerous, but it's got traps and other things---”, she suddenly was cut off by a very vicious snarl that was pure and one hundred percent threat: Blast had got to his feet – careful despite his swiftness to make sure he didn't harm anyone in the process – and was snarling in the direction of a nearby cluster of trees. His hair was standing up, making his already massive size look larger, and sharp teeth were bared in what was easily a threat of death.

Instead of Temaki over-reacting like her exceptionally protective Blast was, she simply sighed and looked over towards the clump of trees. ”If you value your limbs not being used as chew toys I'd come out of there before Blast here decides to come in there after you.” A simple threat, spoken as calmly as she had been speaking to Karukaya moments ago, but that was the thing about Temaki – she didn't need to raise her voice or sound angry for her words to be threatening and lethal.

The trees rustled for a moment as the body of a male no older then about sixteen or so freed himself from the bushes; a female followed him who looked only a year or two younger then him. Both were rather sweaty, and the girls top was halfway down her shoulders. Both were also blushing red while looking exceptionally frightened to not only have been caught, but by the Rakuenkage no less. Both were looking at the ground and stealing glances at the Rakuenkage every few seconds. Temaki simply raised her right eyebrow, curious as to their choice of a place to hide to obviously do what young and horny teenagers did. ”Go on you two. Get out of here.”, Temaki said calmly. Apparently the two were thinking they were about to be yelled at, or worse, and therefore looked shocked before they took off – giving Blast a very wide berth. Temaki simply rolled her eyes with a sigh.

Blast allowed them to go past without another forethought directed their way; and lost his terrifying appearance – returning to the happy but large puppy mode he normally portrayed. ”Now, where was I... Oh right. So I created throughout the entire training ground a obstacle course that you two will have to get through. I saw how you could handle yourself against a known problem – like when that elephant went on a rampage. But, I wish to see how you handle yourself against unknown ob--” And again Temaki was cut off, only this time it wasn't by a vicious snarl from Blast. No, this time around it was by a Jounin who dropped in from the sky to land in front of her. ”For the love of the god's...

The Jounin was terrified: yet if this fear was directed towards Temaki or what he was about to report about was anyone's guess. ”Rakuenkage. I know you said you didn't want disturbed today but this is of up most importance! We've received reports of a powerful beast entering into our borders. It is nearing one of our minor villages, the Bamboo Village.” Fuck... that place would go down without much issue if someone didn't stop this beast in its tracts, considering it was all built on stilts against the water that flooded it every year.

Annnnnnd over protective Kage mode activated! ”Send every available ninja you can find out there. I'm going myself: no man, woman, or beast threatens my people and gets away with it.”, the end of her sentence was spoken with a growl, her naturally feral appearance becoming more pronounced. The Jounin took off, obviously to follow her orders to the letter. Temaki turned her attention towards Karukaya and Coen, her gaze steady and serious. ”You can come with me or stay here: I will not force you into a situation you might not be ready for. If you come then you must be willingly to do whatever I say: even if it means me telling you to run away and save yourselves. I'm not entirely certain of the nature of this beast, but if it has one of my top Jounin frightened like that then it has to be dangerous.” Temaki would wait for Karukaya's reply before leaving towards the Bamboo Village: she didn't sugar coat things, she didn't believe in it: he needed to know the danger he might be facing.

Word Count: 935 + 1,244 = 2,179

Of course. Every fun day had to get ruined like that, lately. Ugh. Well, at least this time he was prepared for this, as was Coen. He wasn't about to miss out on this; it was his job to protect the village same as her, and while he was nothing compared to her ability, he was still useful, or could be. He patted Coen's shoulder as he raced pasted, the signal to follow him. He'd be right there, ready to do whatever he needed to do.

Thankfully she wasn't racing full speed; he'd never be able to keep up that way. The village was a good day's walk for a civilian, an hour by jeep, and 20 minutes at his average run; so they'd get there pretty damn fast. "This time of year, that village should be nearly empty; the seasonal rains haven't hit yet so the area is dry as a bone. The tribes are still further north, where the mountain runoff has had a chance to turn the meadow and fields green for the grazing herds. If we can stop this thing there, the impact to lives and property will be minimal." His knowledge of the plains at work once more; he spent so much time out there now that he made a point of studying the patterns of the peoples, animals, and weather. Safety in knowledge.

"If this thing stays on the western ridge it'll hit nothing but open land until it reaches the edge of the village. If it moves to the southern trails it'll hit the trade roads and farming villages. We need to keep it as far west and north as possible; there's almost nothing out there for hundreds of miles."

WC: 304

304 + 1861 = 2165/1500

She had given her student the chance to bow out with no strings attached, but he didn't take it. It spoke volumes to her about his character and his determination to protect his village, his home. It also gave her insight into his personality and dedication: and she liked what she saw.

She moved fast, but not too fast – allowing Kurakaya to keep up with her. Blast ran behind them; bringing up the rear and adding an extra pair of eyes, nose, and ears while they moved just in case anything attempted to sneak them from behind. With the speed that they were moving they would make it in enough time to still keep whatever this monster was from reaching the village: stop it from being able to cause harm anywhere.

As they moved Temaki remained silent, listening as Karukaya spoke up: useful information that helped Temaki better formulate a plan. If they could keep this beast up as far west and north as possible there would be nothing around for hundreds of miles: this meant they could work freely without the worry of casualties, or property damage. This also meant that Temaki wouldn't have to hold back skill wise: oh yes, this was going to be fun. Deadly yes, but fun none the less.

”If we can keep this thing away from everyone and everything we won't have to worry about holding back, and it'll make for an easier fight.” A much more violent fight. Which of course in Temaki's book equaled an easier one.

As they continued to run towards the direction of the beast Temaki began to form several plans in her mind, none of which she could fully solidify until she got a first hand look at this trouble making bastard. That, of course, wasn't something that they would have to wait for long. As they reached the Bamboo Village it would be quite clear from the lack of damage that the beast hadn't made it that far yet, and that gave Temaki hope that they could indeed keep this thing up to the north west – it also made her wonder if some of her people had remained behind to fight this thing.

She would have her answer soon enough as a sound that to anyone who spent long hours around animals would mean the beast was either injured or pissed off reached her ears. Less then a minute later Temaki came to a sudden stop: Blast catching up with her and standing beside her. Across the large clearing was a beast the likes of which Temaki had never seen. Roughly thirty meters away to the east of this beast were three shinobi; two of them were attempting to get back to their feet but something was terribly wrong while the third looked as if he were having trouble remaining on his feet. A fourth body lay beside them; though if that individual was dead or alive was anyone's guess at the moment as all of their attention was on the beast in question.

Temaki felt her blood begin to boil: this beast had to be something else if the four shinobi already there hadn't been able to dispose of it. But, her anger wasn't directed at them for failing, it was directed at the beast for causing harm to her people. They all knew the danger of their job, they all knew that they could face death at any moment. But that did not mean that Temaki was okay with them dying.

Just then the beast began to move, but this was speed beyond which Temaki had been expecting. The beast was charging straight towards the three shinobi already on their feet – having not yet realized there were some new arrivals to this scene. Thinking quickly Temaki channeled explosion release chakra into her hand as she held it out, palm first, towards the beast. ”GET DOWN!” Thankfully the other shinobi heard her as she released a rocket from the palm of her hand. The rocket intercepted the beast before it could reach the three, and the explosion sent chunks of earth everywhere while the beast disappeared beneath a wall of dust and debris.

Blast, knowing this was his cue was already moving: it was a tactic they both had practiced before. With the beast clearly distracted – Temaki highly doubted it was dead, but she figured it had to be at least injured – Blast moved in and rounded up the down – and thankfully only unconscious – shinobi while the others took the chance to put some distance between themselves and the beast: and likely anymore explosive attacks of Temaki's. Blast returned to her side quickly; and then back some thirty feet before using his mouth to pick the unconscious shinobi up and off of his back and place him down on the ground.

”Okay, this thing is obviously fast... we need to find a way to keep it from moving.”

Word Count: 835 + 2,179 = 3,014

Jutsu and Chakra:

Holywhathtefuckwasthathing!? Karu was no biologist, but he had a pretty good grasp on wildlife, and he was getting pretty knowledgeable about the fauna of the plains. This thing... he'd never seen anything like it, and something was telling him that he never would again. He couldn't put his finger down on the why, but his gut was telling him something wasn't natural about that beast. It was... wrong, somehow.

And then it was gone.

And then it wasn't.

Was that fucker... teleporting?

Or was that pure speed?

That was... holy what.

Coen was locked in place; his expression was a mix of pure, animalistic terror, and wonder. Coen knew better than all of them 'cept for Blast, this thing wasn't right. But he was also far smarter than the average animal now, and he was able to feel curiosity and wonder over top of the baser fear response. Karu moved up close to him, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing reassuringly, "Calm, Coen. We'll be okay."

"”Okay, this thing is obviously fast... we need to find a way to keep it from moving.”"

Keep it from moving...

Wait. That... might work. Like before, at the circus a few days prior. The tent, it had made almost a arena; a wall that couldn't easily be bypassed; a pen really. Maybe...

"Sensei! I have an idea!" He pushed his meager speed to the limit to get close to her, he didn't trust his voice to carry over the noise enough to be clearly heard. "Let Coen get the other's to safety, we can use Blast's skills and my fire to pin it down. Remember the circus fight? The tent was a cage, and Gajasura could move because of it. Blast can break up the ground, create troughs and such to make it impossible to run, I can build up a grass fire to pin it down."

He never would have even suggested creating a 'controlled' grass fire without a massive team to help control it if not for two things:  1) desperation; they had to keep this thing from getting much closer to the village or the trade routes; and 2) the rains where coming. He could smell the hint of water on the breeze, and a sharp eye turned to the southeast could juuuust see the tops of the storm clouds on the far horizon. The dry storms had already come through days before, this would be the leading edge of the monsoon rains; and they would easily put out any fires they started before they could destroy the local settlements or reached the jungle forest ringing the village.

"If we do this right we can make it work. What do you thing?"

WC: 480

480 + 2165 = 2645

“Alright. Let's do it. I'll keep the thing distracted: I should be able to keep it from moving in any direction while you and Blast get set up, and keep it's focus on me.”, Temaki responded, a form formulating in her mind. All she would have to do is run around the beast while attacking it from a distance: this would allow her to keep the thing focused on her, but also keep it from taking off in any given direction considering how fast she herself could move: keep it confused and it wouldn't go anywhere until it was too late to even try.

Blast took off, throwing himself forward into a vicious spin: Piercing Fang. His large horse-sized body became a blur of gray as it moved, tearing up a path within the earth itself as if he were a hot knife moving through butter.

Piercing Fang (Blast):

With Blast tearing up the ground and effectively helping to begin boxing in this beast Temaki took off in the opposite direction. She didn't want this animal-like monster to set its sights on anyone else, and therefore a plan was being put in place. Temaki knew this thing was fast, but from what she had had a chance to see it wasn't faster then her: that was going to give her an advantage here. And so Temaki used her full speed, running around the beast without getting too close. While she moved, slowing in specific spots to keep the monsters attention on her, she channeled explosion release chakra into the palm of her hand.

As the beast was opening its mouth Temaki began to fire: filling the air with the sound of machine gun fire – combining that with the sound of Blast tearing up the ground, and making one hell of a commotion. Temaki kept firing at the beast as she moved, effectively keeping the beasts attention on herself while it roared in pain – sounds that were drowned out by the over-all noise. Because of Temaki constantly moving the thing was confused: it stayed in place simply because it had no idea where exactly she was, where to charge, or where to attack.

Machine Gun Jutsu (Temaki):

And so Temaki kept going; continuing to be mindful of where everyone was at so that no stray bullets ending up hitting an ally: thankfully, she had excellent aim.

Blast's Chakra: 70 / 80
Temaki's Chakra: 750 / 800

Word Count: 666 + 3,014 = 3,680

Okay, this should work. With them distracting it, Karu could work, and Coen could get the others to safety. While Karu got to work clearing brush and starting controlled backburns, Coen rushed as fast as his legs could hop to the injured ninja and began moving them away. In his hip pouch was a standard issue field medic kit, and he knew how to use it. Karu had made sure to teach him the basics; and Coen was a damn fine student. He worked with the one ninja able to move and use his hands properly to bandage the worst of the injuries and make quick splints for broken bones and a possible broken back. He rigged up a tribal ground gurney; it could be hauled by one person across long distances because of how it was made, and with Coen's strength he was able to load up the three most injured ninja and still help the last one move; getting them free just in time for Karu to start really working.

He was so damn glad he'd spent that entire day training; he had the perfect thing for this. They needed a wall. What better than a wall of fire. He had several of them now. First in line... a nice circular outer wall. For that... Wall of Woe. It lasted long enough, and he could position himself correctly to use flash walls if he needed.

In the moments while the beast was distracted and not moving, he formed the jutsu; spitting the tiny fireball at the beast's feet and watching it race across the tinder-brush with surprising speed; the base jutsu was fairly week, but the amount of fuel it had pushed it's power up significantly; to a level where nothing was going to want to mess with that. Outside of that, he had Flame Stream to start another layer of fires; the way he'd been manipulating the grasses and debris allowed him to make concentric rings around the beast, layered in between and around the broken trails of earth Blast was making.

Once that was set, he moved around so that he was inside the fire; he only wished his speed was better so that this wouldn't be risking a suicide mission, but he plan hinged on all of this working out. Given how non-important a target he was by comparison to Sensei or Blast, he was hoping the thing wasn't even focusing on him at all, even as he lit fire and got up in it's face.

Literally, he was moving to get in it's face.

You can see where this was going.

For the life of him, he could never understand why no one else in his year had bothered to learn this jutsu. It was damn near his bread and butter when it came to stopping shit cold, and it was so damn easy to use. A bloody nightmare to ignore, too; cause you could never tell when it was being used until the instant the flash went off, it you where smart about it. And for a Taijutsu user like him, he was ALWAYS in his opponent's face anyway, so they couldn't risk closing their eyes all the time. Fingers to the temple aaaaaand....

"SOLAR FLARE!"


ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!

Translation: FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!

Tee hee.

Instead of fleeing as far away as he could, Karu CHARGED in on the blinded beast; he had a short window in which he could do this, and he wasn't going to waste it. In the moments before he began moving in originally, he'd attached an explosion tag to his foot, and now he was smacking said foot against the beast's face as hard as he could, leaving the tag behind and using the force of the kick to send him higher. Once higher, he grabbed onto fur and started slapping the remaining tags everywhere he could, 5 more placed very near the beast's eyes and nose. Easy targets, once that would take the most damage. He even managed to shove the last one up the fucker's nose. This would be good. One under each eye, two on the bridge of the nose, the last up a nostril.

Running running running!~

He was racing down the creature's back and leaping off the base of the tail; diving through the fire and praying he could get away before the thing's eyes recovered and the stun wore off.

"SENSEI! BLAST HIM!"

The moment that whatever attacks Temaki and Blast launched hit the beast, the explosion tags would detonate, adding some serious pain because of where they where. If he'd just made a suicide run, then he'd make it worth it damn it.

WC 810 + 2645 = 3455

C-rank Jutsu Training = 1000/1000

Remaining WC 2455

Jutsu and Chakra:

Jutsu Trained xxx/1000:

Temaki continued to keep the thing distracted; especially as Karukaya blinded the big bastard and then... yes, he was charging even closer. Were those explosive tags? God, she loved this guy, she really did. No wonder they got along so well. She kept firing at the beast; keeping its attention on her while ensuring no stray jutsu bullets ended up hitting Karukaya.

When he went to move off of the beast she kept going until he was clear. Good, he was safe, and the beast was about to have one hell of a headache. When Karukaya spoke Temaki couldn't help but grin – a grin that was a bit sadistic, and that stated clearly she was enjoying herself rather well: it wasn't every day that a kage got to let loose after all. “With pleasure.”, she responded as she took aim towards the beast once more: this time aiming directly for the ugly bastards face.

This jutsu didn't tend to do a lot of damage when spread out over a large area, but when concentrated? It was deadly. Temaki fired, arms vibrating from the sheer force of the jutsu; her leg stance widened to keep her from toppling over and to allow for perfect balance. The bullets, first an annoyance, but then a literal pain, struck the beast right in its face en mass. Temaki knew the combination of the explosive bullets, plus the explosive tags, would have to put this beast down, even if it was only temporary. Sure enough the tags went off, detonating as the explosive bullets hit and added their own damage to the equation.

The combined mixture of the two caused the beast to let out one last roar of pain before it fell, face first, onto the ground. The ground trembled slightly from the force of the impact of the creatures dead weight. Temaki canceled her machine gun jutsu, but didn't let her guard down: there was no telling with an unknown beast like this if it was dead or not from a distance, and she wasn't about to risk saying it was and then it not be. Temaki began to move in cautiously, aiming to take a closer look.

Blast likewise canceled his jutsu; his body no longer spinning. He skidded to a stop some twenty feet from Karukaya after breaking free from the jutsu's rotation, growling in the direction of the fallen animal and sniffing the air. When Blast spotted Temaki moving in for a closer look he followed: his intentions obviously to watch her back the way he flanked her.

Temaki, when she got close enough wrinkled her nose against the smell: this thing stunk, not just bad animal stink either, but the type of smell that only came from the inside of ones body. The creatures head was half gone, its eyes were lifeless. Even before she checked for a pulse, which she did cautiously, she knew the end result was that the beats was dead. The combination of their two attacks had done the trick very well. ”It's dead.”, she called out.

She stepped back and away from the fallen creature, taking a moment to look it over carefully not that she didn't have to worry about it attacking one of them. Blast remained glued to her side like an over-protective parent. Temaki glanced over at Blast, chuckled, and scratched him on his head as several more shinobi from the village arrived. ”Let's get this thing out of here before it scares some poor old lady into a heart attack, alright? I want to know where it came from, if it's capable of reproducing, you know the drill...” She was obeyed, of course, without question.

Temaki then turned her focus onto Karukaya as she moved over to him. “You good?”

Word Count: 633 + 3,680 = 4,313

Blast's Chakra: 65 / 80
Temaki's Chakra: 730 / 800

He didn't bother to pay attention to if he was alive or dead himself until he was past the second ring of fire and Temaki was announcing the beast was done. Oh, another crazy run survived. He'd need to take a break from pushing his luck that hard for a while. His focused turned toward other things for the moment; he'd taken a serious risk starting the fires, but he's also tried to be smart about it. He'd left certain areas unlit for a reason; they would act a backburns and buffers to keep the walls from spreading into an al out grass fire before the rains got here. Which, considering the ridiculous amount of heat being pumped into the atmosphere at the moment, was sooner rather than later. He'd basically just caused a local storm cell to start forming with those fires; so they'd be getting rained out in a few minutes time.

He finally noticed his Sensei moving toward him, closing the distance himself and rubbing the back of his neck in that 'sorry for being an idiot' kind of way. "I'm glad that worked, my backup plan wasn't going to be as pretty." He kicked at a bit of the unlit grass to get it going, watching as it burned in the direction he wanted it, and started the fires dueling with each other. The new fires had more fuel because they where fresher, so they'd choke out the original, and end up surrounded by burned out land that they couldn't cross. Any floating embers and the like would be taken care of by the rain. Third push of his luck was pushing really hard, so he'd chill out for a while. Or, at least until the next major catastrophe happened.

Coen was on his way back finally, racing ahead of some of the medics that had finally shown up; they where coming to check on them out of habit and protocol of course; even if they didn't actually need it. Coen raced right up next to Karu and about headbutted him for being stupid again; he was tearing up some (and would claim it was the burning ashes and stuff in the air), but he was handling the insanity better than he had before. Just goes to show how you can get used to anything in the ninja life after a while.

"Daddy play hero. Daddy know better."

"I know, I know. I gotta stop being insane. It's about all I can do to be useful when I'm in so far over my head I should be getting killed. Luck likes me, it seems."

Coen took a playful swipe at his arm before hopping a little past them and closer to the dead beast. "Thing not real... Not... normal. I think that word. That not made right."

"I'd agree with you there. That smell is rotten, like it was already dead and turned before Sensei killed it." He tugged his shirt up a bit so that it was covering his nose; normally the smell of burning anything was soothing and wonderful to him, but the rot of the beast was foul in his nose and he very much didn't like it. Coen pawing at his own nose for the same reason was a good indication that Blast and Sensei had to be hating this because their noses where thousands of times better than his or Coen's.☺

"So, take the body back for study. Sato is gunna love me. This is twice in a week I've made his workload explode. Although, he did love having Gajasura around; she whipped some of the lazy interns into shape real fast. We ended up throwing her a big party the day she was ready to go home; invited the entire circus for it. Took two days to clean up. Good times, good times." He reached into his hip pouch and produced a small hand radio; his radio for contacting the center and the teams out on field duty. "Guys, I know you see the smoke and fire by now. Who's out here?"

"Karu? Why am I not surprised."

"Yeah, it's always me, Nagato. How far out are you?"

"About 5 miles. We thought it was a lightning strike ahead of the storms."

"I only wish. Have the teams stay back, it's a mess out here. We've got Jounin securing the area, you won't even be able to get near us."

"Thanks for the heads up. Do I need to let Base know anything is coming?"

"Uuuh, not right now. You'll hear from the military if they need anyone."

"Copy that. We'll head back to work."

"Rodger."

"Okay, that'll keep the civilians from getting caught up in this. This much smoke can be seen for dozens of miles, and I knew there was at least one field team in the area I was supposed to be on that one, but I switched shifts. Glad I remembered to bring my radio. What now, Sensei?"

WC: 907

907 + 3455 = 4362

C-rank Jutsu Training = 1000/1000

Katon B- A 3362/4000

Temaki's nose wrinkled against the smell; though the incoming storm was doing wonders to counteract it: rain was a scent she loved so it helped a little. Blast wandered around Temaki in a circle, seeming too hyper to really bother to stand still for more than a few minutes. Temaki's attention remained on Kaurkaya as he explained how the elephant had whipped some of the interns into shape: ah yes, couldn't be lazy around such a large animal like that, it never ended well.


Temaki reached down, scratching at the top of Blast's head after he made yet another circle around her. She reached into her pocket of her shorts and pulled out a small bag of jerky. A piece was removed and Blast took it quickly enough; deciding then to sit still since food was now involved in the equation.


She listened and watched as Karukaya pulled out a radio and had a brief conversation with whoever was on the receiving end. In the mean time she handed Blast another piece of jerky which he ate up just as quickly as the last. The big beast then yawned and leaned on Temaki who shifted her stance so that she didn't end up toppling over from the giant's weight. “Oi, I'm smaller then you, I should be leaning on you, not you leaning on me...”


“But you're so comfy...”


Temaki just chuckled and shook her head before looking back to Karu. ”Well, I'm sure I have a ton of paperwork now I have to fill out; and I'm also going to have to listen to a bunch of old men and women complain because that's the second giant beast to attack in less then a month's time. So, with that being the case I'm going to go to my favorite restaurant and order the largest steak I can get for Blast and I and take my time eating it. You and Coen are more then welcome to join us; my treat. It seems only fair considering our meetings keep getting interrupted by this stuff.”


Temaki would wait for Karukaya's reply to see if they wished to join them or not before her and Blast would take back off in the direction of the the village. Honestly, these random beasts needed to stop showing up like this: it was fun to whoop their asses and kill them, sure. But, the paperwork afterward? Not so much.

[Thread Exit]


Word Count: 408 + 4,313 = 4,721
Ryo Owed: 4,721 + 5,000 = 9,721

"Thank you for the generous offer, Sensei; but I'll have to rain check that. After all this, I think I need to go spend a day at the hot springs again. Gunna take all the hot water to wash this soot and ash off, and I'm pretty sure I'mma have swollen legs after that kick. Thing's skull was like diamond to me." Speaking of needing a bath, Coen was starting to pick burrs and other small objects from his feet and fur; he liked to be clean and sharp prods on sensitive areas was uncomfortable as hell.

A distant peal of thunder signaled the rains coming in, they could relax about the fires still burning now, there wouldn't be enough time for them to get out of control and set the plains ablaze. Good, good. "I should turn in my report while I'm here and it's fresh, the faster I do, the less you'll have to deal with later on."

All of this was true, but beyond all of it, he was rattled some. He was a Chunnin, this kind of work was so far above his pay grade he was still punching himself at random to make sure he wasn't just having one hell of a fever dream or something. That, and he was still getting used to taking Coen with him on missions. For his normal level missions, this wasn't a problem. Coen could easily handle himself for those, and Karu could handle anything that the 'roo couldn't. This though... he could barely handle himself at this level, so knowing that Coen was nearby and in extreme danger wasn't helping. How ninja parents handled this, he couldn't understand; but he'd managed to do it so far.

He really needed to get back out there and start pushing himself consistently; get used to working on a higher level than he had been. He couldn't afford to be rattled like this every time something happened, not if he was going to stay the Rakuenkage's student.

"Enjoy your meal, Sensei. We're going to finish up here then head home." Coen finished picking his fur clean then started paying attention again, tugging on Karu's hand to get his attention.

"Daddy, I have something to show you."

Oh gods, those complete sentences. So beautiful. "What's that, dear?"

"Follow!"

So, this was happening now. He let the joey drag him off, back toward what looked like a burned out old tree. The kind of burned out you got when lightning hit and the core died and was burned out by the strike, but the bulk of the tree stayed intact and dried out before rotting. They where a common sight on the plains, so he couldn't figure out what had Coen interested. Maybe a few stray animals had taken shelter there or something, he could see hollows in the trunk that would make for good hiding spots.

Or... a giant nest. Was that an owl nest?

"Egg, Daddy. Strange egg."

Huh? Strange how? Karu moved closer to get a better look, and ended up flabbergasted. That was... a very brightly colored egg he'd never seen before. Like... incandescent insect wing level of brilliant. That was one hell of an egg. Maybe it wasn't an egg? It could just be a large river rock that he been polished oddly. He reached over to the nest; it was at about eye level for him, and touched the 'egg' gently with his finger tips.

Nope. That's definitely an egg alright. Strange.

"Take, Daddy."

"What? No, you know better. We don't just take things from the wild."

"Alone. Take, or it dies."

"How do you know it's abandoned?"

"No smell. No life. Alone. Egg is sad."

"....." What? Coen had never talked like this before; it was like he could talk to the egg and the egg was responding to him. Weird. Then again, Coen was a talking kangaroo that could use fire. How was this any weirder?

"Take, Daddy. It likes you."

Riiiiiiight.

"Alright, alright." Karu reached for the egg with both hands this time, lifting the surprisingly light weight object from the nest and tucking it safely into one of Coen's empty pouches. Better safe with Coen than risking getting broken in Karu's hip pouch.

"Happy?"

"Yes Daddy. Home now?"

"Lemme make my report, and we'll head home. We both need a bath."

"Okay Daddy.~"

-Thread Exit.-

WC: 810

810 + 4362 = 5172

C-rank Jutsu Training = 1000/1000

Katon B- A 4172/4000

Payment for Mission: 5172 + 5000 = 10172 ryo