Team Akuseru Debuts

[Axcel]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Engage - Bandits
Rank: B
Description: A group of bandits have been said to be threatening our caravans on the main road outside of the Forest of Death. Your job is simple, you must go defeat the bandits - utterly. That is, every bandit must be dealt with in the only manner befitting them, death. You must bring back some sort of proof you have defeated these bandits.
Restrictions: No limitation
Rewards: 75 EXP, 5000 RYO

His ego was through the roof today. It was completely unjustified of course, but seeing the squad he had been assigned to be called "Team Akuseru" meant something to him. The fact that there was a chuunin in the squad yet the squad was to be named after the Youmou descendant who had been a shinobi for under a year meant the Hokage wanted the boy to gain leadership experience.

Their first meeting was had more purpose than just to exchange greetings. They were to take care of a bandit problem that had plagued certain trade routes. Akuseru prefered it this way. A meet and greet would have certainly been awkward, but getting to know each other better through their work. Watching another shinobi fight would tell a lot more about who they are than a hundred conversations.

Akuseru was the first to arrive at their rendezvous point. Luckily he had brought a strawberry sundae with him to enjoy while he waited for his teammates to arrive.

"Team Akuseru, assemble!" He said over and over again while alone.

[Hecatus]

“What the fuck?!?...” An outburst of confusion sounded from the shinobi as he casually walked to the team’s agreed upon rally point. A single paper rest crumpled in his hands as he traveled to meet his new partners. Now normally in such a circumstance, one would think he’d be anxious or excited, but today? A simple display of dread remained plastered on Jack’s face.

The roster as listed on the tattered sheet in his hand indicated that a three man squad was formed, consisting of two genins and himself, a chuunin. Now normally this wouldn’t be too unusual, however the team itself was named after one of the genins, who had also been denoted as team leader. Though not too particularly troubled over the chain of command (second class citizens were still second class regardless of the mishandlings of bureaucracy), the lad was clearly flustered at the office’s reasoning for doing so. According to higher ups, they wanted to give these genin an accelerated learning curve while building a sense of leadership with a reasonable safety net in place. Translation? He was on babysitting duty – which was something that would normally go down poorly were it not for the fact that the Hokage himself had formed the team.

With little room for objection, the shinobi only had one course of action remaining. Rendezvous with his fellow team mates and see that they saw the mission to success.

Nearing the clearing that was agreed upon, he’d slow his pace as wild shouting echoed from beyond the last fence of trees. "Team Akuseru, assemble!.. Team Akuseru, assemble!.. Team Akuseru, assemble!.." Lone eyebrow raising skeptically, he’d behold the spectacle of their esteemed leader practicing what appeared to be a call to gather. Stifling a laugh at the shenanigans before him, he’d wait patiently in the shadows to time his appearance. “Team Akuseru! --"

With nothing short of flawless timing, he’d flicker directly behind the inexperienced genin, completing the line in unison with the youth. His voice roared fiercely with a vitality that would echo throughout the woods. “ASSEMBLE!”

[Anmida]

"SHUT UP!" a voice rang throughout the area.

Simultaneously as the unknown speaker spoke did a rock the size of an apple soar through the sky. Its trajectory causing it to impact with the newly arrived Chuunin's face should nothing impede its path. As for where the object originated from, one could easily trace its origin back to the bushes in the distance opposite where the two Shinobi sat.

Some seconds after the commotion, a figure rose from behind the bushes in a manner one could only assume they'd been laying upon the ground. And in fact this was the truth. Aneun had arrived much earlier than the duo had and taken the pleasant time afforded him to take a nap. Normally not a person to arrive early, his recent meeting with the Hokage ended with a less than desirable outcome. Nevertheless, it had prompted him into action and out of a normal lazy routine; sorta.

Still in a haze from a deep slumber, Aneun let loose a carefree yawn before turning to face the loud who'd awakened him. Eying the pair opposite him, he wondered who they were until finally remembering the reason for even being there.

"Uuuh, sup" he said nonchalantly as he waved to them lazily.

One of the "undesirable" outcomes that had befallen Aneun after his meeting with the Hokage. He'd never wanted nor cared for being part of a squad but left without much choice - death being his only other option - he thought it best to abide by the leaders wishes.

[Axcel]

“ASSEMBLE!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” Akuseru shrieked while staggering forwards. Birds of all kinds began scattering from the treetops at the sound of Jack’s holler. The boy managed to catch himself before falling and turned on his heel to face the Chuunin. “AAAASSEMBLE!” He pumped his fist into the air, trying to play off the fact that the had been caught off guard and frightened.

Akuseru wouldn’t have noticed the rock until the prankster had acknowledged it himself, having not been paying attention to his surrounding as he struggled to not shit himself. Having fully recouped now, he turned his attention to his newly arrived teammate. Akuseru couldn’t help but grin knowing that his call to assemble was the sole reason of their arrival, despite having made the call several dozen times.

“Great! We’re al—holy BOWL!” Akuseru’s hands jumped to cover his mouth. His struggle to stifle his laughter was not easy. “I uh mean bowling. We should all go bowling after we complete this mission. . .” Akuseru was truly demonstrating his maturity and capability as team leader by once again having to recover, in poor form to boot, from a social misstep. At first he tried to tell himself he shouldn’t make fun of the appearance of his teammate, but there was no way he could rationalize a bowlcut. Was this guy insane? Akuseru thought he had better just ignore the fact for now.

“. . . You have a bowlcut.” He genuinely tried for all of five seconds, but someone needed to acknowledge it. Maybe now that it had been brought up they could all move on. Akuseru shook his head, realizing he needed to get over how hilarious this guy looked.

His gaze switched back towards the Chuunin. “Uhh, I am Akuseru. We’ve got a bandit problem to solve, so we should probably get going.” He figured he would get straight to the point. A simple introduction and nudge to move along would hopefully get them through this awkward phase.

[Hecatus]

From his position directly behind the young genin, Jack cracked a toothy grin upon seeing this startled reaction. Judging from the looks of things, his little surprise had caught the kid off guard. That said, it appeared as though their commotion had finally roused the bear from its slumber. An irritated cry split through the forest from what he presumed to be their final member. Accompanying the outburst followed a fairly sized rock, aimed straight at the shinobi’s maw.

Without losing his composure, the chuunin would simply lean thirty degrees to the left, allowing the projectile to soar past. Given his relatively larger wealth of experience, something like this would be treated as child’s play. He did pause however as the stone continued along its course. In hindsight he had forgotten that their esteemed team leader was directly behind him. Hopefully the lad was quick on his toes and evaded as well.

Tom-foolery aside (or so he thought), he’d then join in on staring at Song’s bowl cut. Though he too was originally ignoring that fact, it was far too much given his junior’s uncontrolled and poorly timed outbursts. Leaning over to briefly mutter something in Akuseru’s ear, he’d lower his voice to a whisper. “I know right? And what’s with that white stripe? It looks kind of like a cracked bowl, or some kinda chip. I bet he’s a douche.”

Returning back to his original standing posture, he’d then let out a cough to clear his throat before nodding with vigor as their team leader attempted to redirect the conversation to a more appropriate subject.

[Anmida]

". . . al—holy BOWL!” Akuseru said immediately catching Aneun's attention. "Here we go again" he thought as he lifted himself off the ground. This was not the first time someone had reacted this way to his choice of look nor would it be the last he thought to himself. He however, did not let it bother him much. For a long time now, he'd grown accustom to the multitude of reactions he received not only for his choice of look but also the manner in which he carried himself. If the opinion of others actually mattered, Aneun would have changed himself a long time ago.

"Yeah. I have a bowlcut. So what?" he said while walking out from behind the bushes. Brushing off the remnants of dirt and whatnot from his clothing, he approached.

"Akuseru eh? You can call me Aneun." He would ignore the whispering shared between the two; guessing it to likely be some derogatory comment about him. "So team Akuseru is it? Where we headed?" While not one to just up and follow commands, Aneun thought he would give this ragtag team a chance before abandoning it. It might bring him some level of enjoyment to see what the others were capable of.

[Axcel]

Aneun had given a less than exciting reply to his teammate's wisecracks. Akuseru simply nodded and began walking along the path before them. Their rendezvous point wasn't chosen at random—they were roughly 1-2 miles out from where the majority of attacks were reported. Unsure of how brave the bandits would act if they saw a bunch of shinobi from Konoha walking around, Akuseru asked one of the more wealthier merchants a favor before setting up the meeting point.

As they turned the corner, an empty caravan (not including the driver) would be waiting for them. "Good news guys, we're the bait!" The white haired shinobi wasted no time and jumped in. Once the rest joined him, the driver would began taking the caravan through routes known to be patrolled by bandits.

"What are your favorite deserts?" Small talk? No, not at all. This question was of great importance to Akuseru and he asked it wearing a serious face with a serious tone. The boy always felt he could accurately judge a person entirely on their taste in desert. He is always wrong, but that didn't stop him from continuing to try.

Before long, their caravan would come to a sudden halt. Outside, a voice could be heard demanding the driver to get off. It looks like the squad's group of bandits had arrived.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Feel free to progress the mission along as much as you want cause I'm not gonna GM everything you fkers

[Hecatus]

Though initially a bit confused on how they’d carry out their mission objectives, Jack would quickly come to learn that this young genin did in fact have a few decent ideas swimming around that hollowed skull of his. Nodding with satisfaction at the prearranged caravan, he’d express a voice of approval while shaking hands firmly with the merchant. After that, he’d promptly enter the vehicle, at which point Akuseru’s approval rating had dropped rather sharply.

Rather than discussing the execution of phase two in the plan, his junior had gone off rambling about sweets. Lips pursing visible, he’d inhale slowly before deciding to follow the team leader’s example. After all, the entire point of being assigned to this squad was to allow the younger generation to safely garner experience, no? Contemplating his response for a moment, he’d look at Anuen skeptically in order to gauge his reaction regarding the conversation topic before proceeding. “Cheese cake. - preferably with cherries or raspberries. It’s got to be cold too, fresh out of the cooler.”

Waiting patiently for Anuen’s response, he’d listen halfheartedly while contemplating their next move on his own. Should they appear immediately and ward off the bandits? Perhaps they should hide and allow the bandits to ransack the caravan a bit while catching them by surprise? The second one sounded more appealing despite the merchants getting the short end of the stick.

While mulling over these options, the caravan suddenly ground to a halt. It appeared as though the driver had been unseated by force. “Ha-ha-ha! Well lookey here! These dumb fucks just don’t learn huh? Didn’t we run this one dry just last week? Looks like the tubby little porker came back to give us seconds!” An abrupt cry sounded followed by a rather loud thud of the merchant making contact with the bandit’s foot. “Sweep it clean boys! We’re taking it all!” The sound of footsteps quickly approached their team’s wagon, stopping just short of the curtains that concealed the three shinobi.

[Anmida]

As he turned the corner and spotted the caravan, Aneun could already tell what the plan was before Akuseru told them. A simple and effective plan anyone would think of to lure our their target and truthfully, not one he thought Akuseru would use. He seemed more like one to charge in first and ask questions later. Aneun had expected the kid to already have discovered the bandits lair and they would simply be laying siege to the establishment but that was not the case. Either way, he would follow his lead and board the caravan.

Half-expecting one of the others to lay out a plan, Akuseru suddenly asked a most strange question. "Desert?" Aneun asked with a perplexed look on his face. "You mean the place with sand and scorching heat? Or did you just mix up desert and dessert?" Whether he had made a mistake in question or not, Aneun couldn't help but find the situation strange. Glancing over toward Jack, he tried to understand how the Chuunin had not picked up on the mistake and had answered randomly. "What the fuck are you even talking about -- wait what the fuck is your name?" he said pointing at the Chuunin only just realizing he had gone unnamed this entire time.

Before Aneun could inquire any further however, the caravan suddenly came to a halt and the piercing voice of idiots consumed his ears. He could never quite understand why bandits always had to make some grand speech before plundering when the most optimal action would be to kill and loot as quickly as possible. While he wanted to wait for his would-be allies to act first, he wanted to leave this awkward moment as quickly as possible.

"Fuck it."

Pulling a loaded riding crop from his jacket, Aneun opened the curtains mere moments before the bandits could do so, surprising the three whom had cornered the entrance of the caravan. Right arm firmly held the crop and raised as he opened the curtains, he swung down hard with the crop aimed at the middle bandits face. "Shut up." He said as he swung. With the tip containing steel within, the strike would be quick yet powerful enough to break the bandits nose. Before the other two could react, a quick flick of the wrist sent the crop left and right in a matter of milliseconds; smacking each bandit in their respective cheek and knocking them back a peg.

Stepping down from the caravan, he stood only several feet from the three assaulted bandits while the rest stood a short distance away in a shocked but cautious manner. Tapping the body of the crop against his right shoulder, Aneun took note of his situation and his surroundings within moments; ready to act at a moments notice.

"Shall we play a game?" he said with a smirk.

[Axcel]

Akuseru salivated at the Chuunin's reply. Without specific his description was, Akuseru knew that this guy knew his deserts and therefore could be trusted. Akuseru may or may not have issues trusting way too easily. Though Anuen had misinterpreted his question, he brought up something much more important. What the fuck was this Chuunin's name? Akuseru knew it, of course, but the name was so strange he still questioned it. Jack? Seriously, what kind of the name was Jack. It was as strange as Aneun's bowlcut.

"J-jack? Is that it? It sounds so weird." Akuseru added, half teasing and half genuine. There were only a few moments for a reply before the Caravan stopped. They're here. Akuseru cracked his knuckles and did his best to stretch his arms and legs in the cramped area they were waiting in. Aneun wasted no time, having struck one of bandit square in the nose and knocking the others onto the ground.

Not wanting to squander his opportunity, Akuseru jumped out of the caravan and shoved Aneun in the process by accident. He sat on top of one of the fallen bandits and began punching his face over and over. It was more brutal than clean or elegant, but that was how Akuseru got the job done despite his appearance. Were these three bandits really all it took to rob so many merchants? What a joke.

"Can you believe this is a B-rank mission?!" Akuseru turned to his team with bits of blood splattered on his face, more focused on the reward and prestige of completing the mission than the mission itself. In the direction opposite from where Akuseru was looking, what appeared was nothing short of ironic. Over a dozen, maybe two dozen bandits were flanking them. Apparently the main party was busy with other merchants who had traveled the routes and were not coming to aid their comrades.

[Hecatus]

Surprised at having forgotten to introduce himself, the shinobi displayed a confused look while scratching his head for a moment. Odd, he could have sworn he had done so already, yet in hindsight it appeared that that wasn’t the case. Listening to Akuseru stumble over his overly simplistic name, he’d roll his eyes while pronouncing it for the youth. “Jack. J-a-c-k. Jaaaaaack.” His charade however was drawn short due to the ruckus caused outside.

Between Aneun’s aggressive behavior and Akuseru’s lack of attention to detail (particularly regarding his surroundings), a single hand rose and placed itself firmly across his face. His palm rested directly atop his forehead as a sigh sounded, followed by the chuunin slowly pointing at the mass of bandits his junior had failed to notice. “There’s more dumb ass.”

Rather than moving from his position within the wagon, he’d simply reach for the longbow at his side while remaining seated. This action was then followed by the notching of an arrow which was promptly sent soaring past his two comrades, embedding itself directly into the skull of an unfortunate bandit.

---

In the meantime, seeing how no aid had come to the driver upfront, the lone individual who had placed his trust in these shinobi had opted to struggle desperately on his own to retaliate against his assailant. Throwing himself at the individual’s knees, he’d tackle the bandit to the ground. In doing so, the lit tobacco pipe in the attacker’s hand would fall freely, landing itself softly upon the grass beside the horses. The pipe having landed face down would in turn result in the start of a small yet rapidly growing fire which forced a panicked run from the creatures which was accompanied by an ear piercing whinny. If Anuen hadn’t recovered his balance from being brushed aside by his own companion, chances were high that he too had exited the vehicle, be it willingly or not.

From within the wagon itself, Jack would simply display a look of confusion, followed by a carefree shrug as he waved farewell to his colleagues half jokingly.  The distance between him and the bandits quickly grew.

[Anmida]

"Shall we pla--agh!"

Before he could finish his arbitrary line, a sudden push from behind nearly sent Aneun face first into the ground below. Thankfully he had not been an inept person and was able to maintain his balance by taking a step forward with his left foot. Quickly regaining his composure and turning to his right, Aneun eyed the individual whom nearly knocked him over. It had been his supposed leader Akuseru who had mounted and begun brutally assaulting one of the bandits whom was knocked down earlier.

"Oi, you son of a--" Aneun said before being interrupted again.

Movement from the corner of his eye revealed that the bandit to the left whom had been knocked down earlier gained some manner of composure and scrambled to get on his feet. Not wanting to allow such an annoyance to act any further, Aneun quickly swung the loaded crop in his right hand at the rising bandit; the loaded end connecting squarely with the side of the bandits face near the left temple. This left the bandit in a dazed state and likely some manner of internal hemorrhaging.

Near simultaneously as Aneun struck did Jack's arrow zoom by behind him; outright killing one of the many bandits surrounding them. Despite the attack lowering the amount of enemies they had to deal with, it had an adverse effect on the mood of the other bandits. Seeing one of their brethren killed without warning and the subsequent beatings of already downed men prompted them to strike. The lot of them, numbering nearly two dozen charged.

"Shit." Quickly holstering his crop, Aneun's hands flew into a short sequence of seals. Upon completion, bright light emanated from him; temporarily blinding all the bandits and stopping their advance. Mere moments after the light faded would the bandits attention suddenly turn to one of their allies as they began shouting words of caution to one another. Following this, all the bandits began attacking randomly or performing some evasive maneuver. From a distance, this scene would look quite comical but in reality they had all been caught within an illusion; one where they envisioned themselves or their allies under assault.

While Aneun looked on in amusement, his attention was forced elsewhere by a high pitch whine and the smell of something burning. Turning to look behind him, he watched as the caravan took off past a rising fire and into the distance with Jack still aboard. A perplexed look formed on his face, followed by the raising of his left hand to form a "V" with the index and middle finger. "Peace" was all he had to say to Jack and his departing gesture.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Hue}Raikōchū (Flash of Lightning Pillar) - Mid

[Axcel]

Whenever Jack spoke, Akuseru turned his head towards the noise source that was rapidly increasing in volume. A simple "Oh SHIT" was all it took for him to accurately convey his thoughts on the situation. He knocked the bandit he was beating unconscious then got up and moved closer to Aneun who had already dealt his fair share of pain. With his whip holstered he made handseals, and before Aksueru knew it all the bandits were acting like a bunch of blind men swinging their weapons wildly at Aneun's command.

"Genjutsu? Not bad. . ." Illusion ninjutsu was a rare commodity and was one that would definitely pair well with Akuseru's own proficiency. With the way the bandits were flailing their weapons now, they would be an easy target for any trained shinobi to execute. Akuseru couldn't help but laugh at the bandits after having seen them wound one another. Having begun a string of handseals the moment he spoke, lightning would erupt his outstretched arms and strike one of the bandits only pass through and jump to another. The chain lightning jumped from bandit to bandit, leaving a few stunned and on the ground. Slowly their numbers were beginning to thin.

"Uh oh. . ." Akuseru finally noticed Jack was in a burning wagon that was taking off. "It looks like our wagon got. . . Jacked!" He turned towards Aneun for some sort of positive response to his clever joke. If he would receive none, he would nudge him slightly. "Get it? Because of his name. . ."

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Ichiren Inazuma (Chain Lightning)

[Hecatus]

“Eh… this is good in its own right.” Jack casually yawned as the gap continued to grow between him and his allies. Stretching his arms up as he’d lean back, he’d continue to let the beasts direct his wagon as he’d refocus his vision down the path. “I can always use a bit of long distance shooting practice anyway.”

With this in mind, he’d proceed to notch an arrow and let it loose. It’d easily embed itself into yet another skull as the figure ceased its flailing against imaginary assailants. “Twenty.” Yet another arrow was let loose, again finding its mark with relative ease. “Forty.” And with this course of action, the distance between him and his juniors continued to grow in length. After all, the young’uns needed to learn one way or another… right?

---

Meanwhile… back in the heat of the action, several of the bandits had accidentally struck one another with their weapons due to the mass confusion caused within such a large group. Returning back to their senses from the pain, they’d look about with a baffled gaze before one individual in particular caught on to the current developments. “Shit! We've been duped!  It was probably that queer one! Hit the others and get em to their senses!”

[Anmida]

Aneun would not even justify Akuseru's joke with an answer; his left palm placed against his face more than enough to signify how he felt about it. Suddenly, his right arm shot up to push his would-be leader toward the direction of the bandits. Another sequence of seals followed immediately after as the bandits slowly began to regain function. Aneun cared not for what they thought they could do; all would die this day.

"Oh I get it. Hilarious." He would say with a slight smirk. With one deep breath, he exhaled a massive stream of fire that would travel forth 10 meters in a cone-like fashion. The white hot flames more than enough to immolate anyone caught within, especially unarmored bandits with easily flammable clothing. More than half of the entire bandit group would find themselves set aflame while those who'd managed to break away from the illusion were left partially burned. And at the same time Akuseru might find himself burning too, having been pushed earlier. If the youth did not move fast enough, he would be caught in the flames and burned alive as well.

As for Jack's situation, Aneun would leave the Chuunin to his own antics. There wasn't much to say about a Shinobi who could not fix his own mistakes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Ha Ha}Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Flame Projectile) - Mid.