[M] Ekitai/Hotaru Shakedown!

[The Dude]

The Natural Border[/U]
RANK: B
DESCRIPTION: The natural border of Kirigakure no Sato and Mizu no Kuni herself is the water that surrounds her. No ship arrives without our knowledge. Not until recently, a small port has opened up on our shores but not under our control. A small group of mercenaries and missing ninja have sought out a small island for themselves and begun forming a small organization for themselves. All well and fine surely, but they did not ask our permission first, and second they refuse to share their records of who they may or may not be bringing into our country. Get the records and close down their operation.
RESTRICTIONS: Two Shinobi Minimum
REWARDS: 100 Experience / 2,500 ryo

Ekitai sauntered into the mission office weaving his way through fellow shinobi and comrades before casting a cursory glance across all the missions that had been made available to him. The Hozuki's options were becoming slim indeed, as the majority of the missions felt... rather unappreciative of the shinobi's skills. Ekitai had never been in general that haughty or proud, but as a genin he was not able to accept missions that were designated too hazardous for him so nothing above a C-Rank. He picked up a few mission scrolls that looked like they might at least have some surprises or more actual work, before walking over to one of the desks and placing them down before looking at the assistant.

"Do any of these assignments," his voice was deep and cool as his steely blue eyes reflected the man in them, "have actual work to do or maybe won't put me to sleep at least?"

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

Like many of her fellow shinobi, Hotaru found herself at the mission compound in search of work. Her last assignment was a simple assignment for guard duty which had only been made barable by her spar with the Mizukage. Though he had been a great opponent, the chuunin longed for the danger of a real mission; something that could help her shed the rest she felt covering her abilities.

Though she had decided to dress modestly today (by her standards (in a scarlet bikini, black jacket, denim shorts, and traditional tabi)), her bright red hair and wardrobe choice seemed to still turn heads. Ignoring the few whispers and eyes glued to her, Hotaru made her way to the mission desk which handed out B ranked missions. Though it was situated right next to the D and C distribution desk, the line was considerably shorter due to the lack of Chuunin ranked shinobi in the village.

She ruffled through the pile of papers describing the backlog of B ranked assignments and found one that didnt appear to be completely terrible. It was at that moment that her sentiments about the quality of the missions were reflected by a man to her left.

Despite appearing older than Hotaru, he was likely still a genin considering which line he had chosen to seek employment in. Catching the description of a mission amongst the pile of papers that didn't seem to be a complete waste of time, she picked up the slip of paper and handed it to the attendant.

"I'll take this one."

She said bluntly.

"And i'm taking this one with me."

She added, nodding towards the black haired genin who had been complaining about the other missions.

"Well. Let's go."

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

A woman with vibrant red hair and some of the least clothing Ekitai had ever seen anyone wear at a given point of time suddenly had claimed him for a mission. Claimed him for a mission? That wasn't right at all. It was more like she saved him from the mundane actually, for she stood in the line Ekitai was not allowed to go into. She was a Chuunin it seemed, and from her blunt attitude she knew she deserved it but Ekitai couldn't help but to hold reservations for her based on her appearance. He smiled at her friendly enough giving a slight bow of his head as he said, "Yes Ma'am, right away."

Turning and simply leaving the C-rank missions on the desk forgotten Ekitai moved to follow the woman through the crowded office before winding their way out of the building and onto the street. Once outside in open space Ekitai felt it would no longer be considered rude to probe his new partner with a few questions. "Thanks very much for taking me along on this mission ma'am. I want to keep earning money and working but there were so few missions of worth in C-rank and I've already done them now." Reaching one hand underneath his own vest breast pocket he withdrew a small silver cigarette case and a small blue lighter. Withdrawing a finely rolled cigarette from silver box he set it to his lips and lit the end drawing carefully on the opposite end.

He shifted his lips to the side exhaling the smoke out the side of his mouth so it would blow behind them rather than at them. "But I forget myself and I must apologize, that's no way to start a conversation. Hello, my name is Ekitai Hozuki and I am sincerely grateful for your assistance." He held forth an outstretched hand covered in a black fingerless glove awaiting to shake her hand, "And if it's not to bold to ask, what may I call you?"

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

As she walked out of the mission compound, she immediately regretted her decision to team up for this assignment. The genin immediately started to offer salutations, explanations and inquisitions. He introduced himself as Ekitai Hozuki, which was the only useful information Hotaru had taken from him talking. With an eyebrow raised, she took the time to examine her mission partner more closely. Dressed in attire more suitable for butlering than fighting mercenaries, it was obvious to Hotaru why her elder was still a genin.

"You always talk this much?"

She said with a raised eyebrow, glancing over at him. It was at this time she took note of the strange eye ware perched on his nose.

"The name's Hotaru. You got a bad eye or something?"

She replied simply, more curious about the monocle than his peculiar dress or yuppy manner of speaking for the time being. She had never encountered such a...'proper' ninja before. She hoped that they were closing in on the location of the mercenary base so they could get down to business.

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

Ekitai simply returned his hand for another task. One corner of Ekitai's mouth bent down in a slight frown as he removed the one lens from his eye and polished it with a small soft cloth as he spoke, "Yes actually I do. My left is a little fuzzier than my right so I have this to even it up." He replaced the monocle looking at her again, "What about you though? Were you mauled by some sort of wild animal on your way in to work? Or do you do all your shopping in a brothel?"

Ekitai set the cigarette back to his lips and without waiting on a reply resumed walking towards the coast. They would simply need to head out to the shore find the island the men were on and go shut it down. Seemed simple enough but things never actually were as they seemed. After all they didn't know exactly where the base was so they would have to find it and once there they would be met with some sort of resistance, but he doubted it was anything they couldn't handle.

As they reached the coast, Ekitai stepped out gliding naturally along the surface of the water with ease before turn about again to face Hotaru, "I don't suppose there was a map with the scroll or anything that would tell us where we're going by chance? Or do we simply have to do some island hopping and search everywhere for them?"

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

The sudden switch from cordial to caustic caught Hotaru by surprise. The genin had almost been too polite just a moment ago, but now he was attacking her manner of dress after a simple question about his peculiar eye ware.

Funny, I was thinking the same about where your clothes came from."

She retorted, not wanting to let her companion think he would get away with talking to her that way. Despite his age, she was his superior and Hotaru didn't take dissension in her ranks lightly. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he continued walking as if he had said nothing. Stepping onto the ocean's surface, he turned to her and began to whine again, this time about if there were directions to their destination.

"Quit complaining and figure it out, smart ass."

She barked, tossing the mission dossier to the 3 eyed ninja before lazily stretching her arms over her head. Her sandals remained on the sandy beach of the coast as she waited for the Genin to find the information he had requested. She was starting to think that the D and C ranked selection was perfectly fine; it was his attitude that was the problem.

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

Ekitai snatched the scroll from the air before putting his cigarette to his lips casually unbinding and opening it to read as he muttered sarcastically, "Yes ma'aaaaaaaam." Once the mission scroll was open Ekitai began browsing through the details briefly searching for some sort of directions or map or.... anything. After a moment of concentration on the scroll he found the directions to the island, a small nearby body of land that had been a simple tourist destination in the past to visit on vacation. "Ok, they have a small island three miles from here due East. We should likely approach by foot though as they will most likely we wary of some sort of attack or interference from the village. Sailing a ship openly across the waters may prove more... hazardous to us. Shall we?"

Without waiting for an answer from his 'team leader' he turned about and began casually running across the water. It was a strange fluid movement though as Ekitai appeared to skate and glide along the water's surface with ease rather than actually run. Water came naturally to the Hozuki and a short three mile skate wouldn't be a problem for him, but he maintained a relatively slow speed for Hotaru to keep pace with him. As he skimmed across the waters he continued to smoke until the cigarette was gone merely spitting it from his lips into the water below.

They soon came to the island described in the mission scroll but something wasn't right about it. Simply put, it seemed rather deserted from the distance and as the pair came to the shore the whole island seemed unnaturally still and silent. "I doubt this is a mistake," Ekitai began in a hushed tone without turning to face Hotaru, "We are dealing with a few missing ninja so odds are good they're most likely hidden somewhere. How would you like to go about doing this ma'am?"

Ekitai forced himself to stay vigilantly aware in case they had already been spotted on their way in. He had to await orders from Hotaru on how she thought it would be best to advance in on the mission. After all if he made a mistake and had done it without her approval he would be in far worse trouble than if he had simply messed up on his own. It wasn't a struggle to kowtow to another person, Ekitai had been doing it his whole life. How as this person any different than the royal family he served faithfully?

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

3 miles?

She mentally whined, not wanting to exert the effort to run all that distance over the surface of the ocean. It wasn't that she hated running, but having to keep her mind focused maintaining a constant flow of chakra to her feet over that distance was going to be a pain. With a disheartened sigh, she departed from the beach and kept pace with the genin. In a little under 10 minutes, she begrudgingly took her first steps back on land. Her companion made a remark about the stillness of their surroundings, followed by a question about how to proceed.

"Well, if you promise not to go off and get yourself killed, we can tackle this quickly if we split up."

She said. The island was quite small, only a few thousand square meters. In fact, she doubted it showed up on many maps, making it an ideal hiding place for hiding place for criminals. If he really needed her, she would be able to meet up with him if he screamed or she heard any particularly loud and dangerous sounding explosions. If he wanted to take on B ranked missions, he would have to learn to be a bit more independent.

"I'll take the west, you take the east. Meet back here in an hour or so. If you need me, just make a lot of noise and I'll come rescue you~."

Hotaru took a few steps forward and turned to offer one last piece of advice.

"Hope that cigarette was worth it. Anyone with their wits about them will smell you downwind a kilometer away."

With her snide comment made, she sped off to the west part of the island in search of their base of operations.

--
[I'm gonna play GM. Maybe do the same for me and we'll make this go pretty fast?]

Once Hotaru leaves, you are still expected to cover the east part of the island yourself. Covered in dense forest that has been mostly untamed, you'll have a hard time making your way around on foot, that is, if you insist on lumbering through like a pedestrian. There is no immediate sign of any danger, so your best bet for any information is to perform a little old fashioned reconnaissance and surveillance. Get to work!

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

"Rescue me?" Ekitai laughed at the though, "It's been far too long that I've felt in any danger, not bragging just saying." The soles of Ekitai's feet began to glow blue, "As you command I shall obey ma'am." Ekitai ignored the girls last comment about his cigarette as her sense of humor grew on him. She was definitely different in terms of personality, but how did she measure up as a ninja?

As she left Ekitai felt the silence press in all around him. Thick and unnatural there was clearly more to this island than met the eyes. He'd have to be careful as he went about his work this time to make sure there were no accidents on the job. Something felt as though messing up here, could really prove fatal even to him. Thinking for a moment about what Hotaru had told him about his smell he ran a hand back through his hair before grabbing hold of his pony tail thoughtfully.

Making up his mind, he darted off in the opposite direction gliding along the surface of the ground to make good time and leaving a strange blue jelly like trail on the ground beneath him as he went. After a few minutes, he stopped his Hozuki technique and leaped into the tallest nearby tree scaling it quickly to get a better view. At the top to he could see much of the island and began to scout and search for anything peculiar and out of the ordinary to the east. Not only could Ekitai see clearly from this vantage point, but high in the swaying tree tops in the ocean breeze only the birds could smell him. He would air out for a moment or so here as he searched and when he had finished his scouting he would descend back down and renew his search on the ground.

SPOILER: Click to show

Suberasu (Walk of Water)
Rank: C (50)
Type: Supplementary / Clan Ninjutsu
Range: Self
Handseals: No.
Chakra: Mid to cast; Low to sustain
Special: Doubles user’s maximum movement speed. Though supplementary, ‘activating’ it will always use the default ‘C’ ranked chakra. When sliding over water, chakra cost for the slide is reduced nil.
Description: One of the Hozuki’s greatest advantages comes from their very essence, their viscous jelly substance able to instantly provide the user with a limited yet versatile source of suiton. In this case, the user is able to mold chakra on the same path that’s used to keep their appendages in place, allowing an extra amount of chakra to constantly cover their feet. This chakra allows the user to essentially slide or ‘surf’ across the ground at steady speeds for as long as the user’s chakra network can sustain. Because the water provided comes from the user's jelly, they can ride on any form of surface inclined or flat, as long as they have the chakra and said areas do not pose threats to the Hozuki's life - i.e. fire, thunder, etc. A telltale glassy streak is left behind, a smear of jelly revealing the traveling Hozuki’s next destination.
Domain: Hozuki. ‘C’ ranked Hydration.

--

Meanwhile to the West....

Alone on the island the eerie silence does seem somewhat foreboding. Stranger still, nothing seems to be out of place as you traverse across the terrain. The foliage of the island seems completely undisturbed as though even the animals have vacated the premises and for some reason you cannot shake the feeling of being watched...

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

Being on her own was not new to Hotaru. In fact, she rather enjoyed taking on challenges by herself, and considering her affinity for burning and melting large areas, it often worked out better for all allied parties if she fight by herself, away from any unwanted collateral damage. Thanks to the relatively small size of the island, the kunoichi could get a of sense of the lay out with relatively little surveillance work. Like her companion, she took to a nearby tall tree and climbed up to a tall branch in a matter of a few moments. However, instead of taking a look out over the treetops, she sat on a branch and closed her eyes as she formed a single handseal.

Chakra erupted from her body, expanding in a sphere shape and creeping out 50 meters in all directions. It would take her a few seconds to get a clear reading on the chakra signatures in the surrounding area, but no one would be able to escape her field of perception. All she had to do was wait for her technique to pick up something.

SPOILER: Click to show

Sensoring

----

Meanwhile, to the east...

From your vantage point atop the treetops, you cannot see much but the tops of shorter trees, stretching out in all directions. However, about 50 meters to the northeast of your position you can spot a thin coil of black smoke rising up from between the trees. Surely a fire means some sort of human life, but the exact number of people tending to it and the origins of the smoke are unclear. It could be a campfire, or a hidden fortress nestled beneath the trees. Only one way to find out!

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

It didn't take long to spot the trail of smoke rising in the distance, perhaps the first thing on the island that seemed to be disturbed and would likely lead to the ones he sought. Without knowing how many there were, Ekitai's first impulse was to simply to ride in on some sort of suiton based attack and flood the bastards off the island. However he thought on it and realized that simply flooding them would destroy any records they kept of people coming in and out of the country and that information could be devastating if not retrieved. No, the only way to do this correctly and professionally was to go down and pay them all a visit as a representative of Kirigakure and take what they had come for.

The hozuki took a moment to prepare his ninja wires carefully entwining them around his gloves preparing them for use as they were silent weapons that could diffuse situations if he was careful. Once he was armed he set out quickly springing downwards from tree branch to tree branch descending slowly through the canopy as he drew closer. Stopping short in low hanging branches to observe the camp silently hopeful that he had successfully advanced on their location without giving his own position away. From here he peered down to count the heads of his enemies if any were visible and search for any clues about where they may be keeping their records. But if worse came to worse he could always just beat his information out of some of them.

---

Westward....

Your sensing abilities are rewarded with the knowledge that you are in fact being followed by at three shinobi who have expertly followed you without a sound. However before you can get an accurate reading of their location two chakra signals warn you of the approach of two arrows with faint chakra signatures on them. The ascend expertly through the air aimed to pin you by your ankles to the tree, however despite this distraction you can tell the ninja are attacking from the low limbs of the trees below you.

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

Gotcha

Hotaru cooed from her perch, catching the signal of a few trackers below. The feeling of danger quickly followed as projectiles rapidly ascended towards her position. Hotaru took a few rapid steps forward down the narrow branch, and jumped to an identical perch on another tree, pivoting 180 degrees to watch the arrows land in the bark of the tree. She would be out of the range of all but some very powerful explosions, and provided she was away from the blasts, they wouldn't hinder her counterattack.

"Nice Try."

She taunted as she formed a few handseals before bringing her hand against her mouth. She coiled her fingers just in front of her lips and spit 3 blobs of lava down at her opponents (1 for each of her pursuers). Since she had the advantage of being higher than those she was fighting, she would stand her ground on the tree branch, waiting for any sort or counter measures to react to.

Knowing that at least one of the others was an archer, she kept her ears especially focused on the whistle of incoming arrows or someone climbing a tree in the distance to get on even ground with her. After all, shooting straight at a target was much easier than aiming at one high above.

Hopefully her lava would cause some trouble for the enemies and give her a better idea of what to do next.

---

EASTSIDE-

As you get closer, you find that the coil of smoke isnt the sign of a mere campfire. While a fire pit is the source of the signal, it actually leads you to what appears to be a base camp. Several wooden buildings surround the campfire, along with what seems to be at least a dozen figures. As typical criminal forest dwellers, they are crude, muscled, dirty, and are carrying weapons wherever they go. A few have tattoos, and all sport quite...interesting, unwashed hair styles.

Attacking head on would be foolish, and even sticking around lurking in the shadows is quite dangerous considering their numbers. Seems like this wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed a few minutes ago.

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

Buildings and construction, more than Ekitai has expected and a rather scruffy looking group of hooligans to boot. Armed and dirty these men had and violent lives, clearly they were not new to the game of murder. This proved somewhat problematic for Ekitai as he considered what to do about the situation and how he could sneak into their lair and search about freely without causing too much of a ruckus.

A deafening boom across the island could be heard rustling the leaves in the trees and reverberating off the buildings themselves. The men heard it and a few looked to each other with knowing smiles nodding their heads in approval before they almost went back to whatever it was they had been doing. Ekitai looked back westward concerned for his partner's well being but found only comfort as a much more masculine scream carried across the island. The men in camp turned about anxiously looking westward now before a heated discussion broke out among them. Ekitai smiled smugly now that his concerns had been dismissed so quickly. After a short shouting match between the men of the camp eight set off westward through the foliage on foot towards the direction they had heard the explosion and the scream.

Ekitai waited still and silent a moment before quietly approaching the strange settlement through the underbrush. As he drew closer he kept his eyes locked on the men in the camp before raising and arm outright towards them suddenly casting his wires towards one man's should who had been scratching the back of the head. If the silent wires entwined the shoulder as Ekitai planned then his follow up action through the wires would zip line them taught around the man's shoulder hesitating momentarily to pinch down on the skin all around the arm before hopefully slicing clean through the man's shoulder.

His presence would now be know one way or another as he strode openly from the brush flexing his fingers causing the wires to coil back through the air majestically. His other hand adjusted the monocle on the brim of his nose as he began sarcastically, "Oh hey, I was just looking for people to talk to." His smile bore hungry teeth and his steely blue eyes shined with the lunacy of combat that Ekitai reveled in. "It's kind of a sensitive subject, but my body's been going through some changes and I was hoping I could talk to someone about it."

--

Westward...

Having successfully evaded the arrows you've followed up with a strong attack as lava heralds the true danger of what a Chunnin of Kirigakure. Leaves and wood alike are burnt up where two of the massive globs tore through the forest narrowly dodged from the ninja. The third you can see just as he forms a single hand seal ushering in the explosions triggered by explosive tags the arrows had been enwrapped in. He also just nearly evaded the lava attack by leaping one branch higher than he had been, unfortunately in a staggering coincidence the reverberations from his own explosion couple with the smoldering trunk of the tree giving way as the lava burns through it cause him to stagger off the branch losing his balance and falling down to be impaled on the charred trunk of the tree still thinly coated with lava. A blood curdling roar tears through the air as he emits smoke that had filled his lungs from where he was impaled.

The other two shinobi suddenly ascend through the canopy encircling you on either side and drawing out massive executioner blades they wield with two hands each. The first suddenly moves towards you from the front winging his blade in a flash horizontally at you just after the second who launched himself below you slices cleanly through the trunk of the tree in the hopes of destabilizing your footing.

[/font][/justify]

[Hotaru]

Success!

After avoiding the explosion and taking down one of her opponents with out much effort, she was quite confidant about how this encounter was going to end. The sound of rustling leaves and heavy footfalls against tree bark told her that her opponents were going to take this to a more...personal level. Out of the leaves, her opponent's appeared, each wielding giant swords.

Given her position on a relatively thin tree branch, there was very little her attackers could do for proper footing. In fact, in order to try and cleave herself and the tree with their giant blades, they would have to become air born. Alert eyes darted between the pair, waiting for the moment to come when they would push off of solid 'ground' and try to attack. In a nearly synchronized assault, the bandit duo launched their attack.

Her handseals were quick, considering the rank of the low ranked attack, and they would finish before her opponents' could close in. From her mouth shot 4 discs of lava akin to shuriken in size and shape, and 2 projectiles were aimed at each criminal. Since they were airborn, there would be little they could do to avoid the projectiles and, though small, they would eat through metal and flesh alike with unslakable hunger.

With her attackers hopefully defeated by a well placed ninjutsu, she wanted to rest for a few minutes before continuing her search. However, the familiar rustling of leaves in the distance made her reconsider, and she crouched down with her back against the trunk of the tree. Nearly 10 meters off the forest floor, she would have the advantage of hopefully spotting the next wave of enemies before they determined her position. Had the Hozuki been killed so easily and now the full force of the group was headed her way? All she could do was investigate after dealing with her new targets.

Tch. That butler kid better not be dead already.

SPOILER: Click to show

Lava Shurikens - C rank - x4 capacity

---

The man who's arm you sliced off screams loudly, falling to the ground and writhing in pain, his body convulsing as he begins to settle into a state of shock. However, his screams alert a few stragglers who were inside the buildings around the fire.

3 new figures present themselves. A lithe man with long, red hair who carries a 2 meter long, thin katana comes from the left a huge muscled giant wielding a hammer with a reach of 3 meters comes from the center, and an average sized man wielding 2 sabers with a reach of 1 meter each emerges from the right.

"You can talk to us if you'd like."

[/blockquote]

[The Dude]

"Oh good, because my body just feels so weird today. Almost squishy like, you know?" Ekitai quickly recoiled his wires around his knuckles. Now that he had made his presence known and the enemies had bladed weapons he didn't want to risk breaking his wires, he would simply get rid of the rest with a big bang!... like attack. He formed his next hand seals in a second of time as his hands flowed as a blur and he continued to speak smugly, "I feel like if I'm not careful I could just melt down..."

His entire body flushed over as blue, his figure now completely composed of water granting him immunity to all physical attacks. More than just immunity to physical blows though, the Hozuki now had the ample water source he needed. Seven massive dragons of water exploded outwards from his body circling momentarily and roaring shaking the air around them with bass tones before bursting forward at the men left. Seven in total men and seven in total dragons, the water missiles flowed furiously with gaping mouths prepared to swallow the men whole if they could. If they succeeded they would ascend flying upwards with their prisoners trapped in the roaring torrents that was their mouths until they were fifty meters high in the air before exploding in a torrent of heavy rain over the entire island scattering any victims they had managed to capture in a free fall.

---

Success is your name today! The two swordsman are struck by the ninjutsu and burn with fiery intense pain. The first screams falling off balance from the weight of his sword and the muscle spasms of pain falling off course crashing through branches before slamming into the ground with a resounding thud. The second man grits his teeth through the pain tears filling his eyes as he carries forward through sheer will hacking through the trunk of the tree you stand upon causing it to fall as he too falls from heaven crashing through the trees below before landing with another loud and sicking sound.

A heavy onset of rain begins to pour down on the violent scene just as a troupe of eight armed gruff men storm through the foliage their eyes cast about on the fiery scene of their allies on the ground. They grunt angrily looking about before spotting you (where ever you may be) and shouting angrily, "You killed the bosses! We're gonna have to cut a pretty little thing like you to shreds!"

[/font][/justify]