Come-Uppance Time (Mission)

[Kenchiro]

SPOILER: Click to show

Little Rascal!
Rank: C.
Shinobi Required: 1-4.
Mission Information: With age comes confidence, though sometimes it grows into an individual becoming extremely cocky. As well as difficult to manage, especially when this individual is a young Genin, age fifteen. With a few blood line techniques trained this kid has become rowdy and out of control, comparing himself to Kages. Beat him into submission.
Special Information: Repeatable. Any difficulty setting is allowed, as you will be the one(s) playing out the Genin as well. However, you are expected to make it believable—no one is invincible. There is a chance that you may be injured.
Reward: 50 EXP & 1000 Ryo.

Akira's house could more accurately be described as a basement with a house on top of it. After all, the Genin never really left that particular part of the house, spending all day working on who knows what. Which was all well and good; as long as it was tangentially related to ninja stuff, one could hope that he was just another dedicated citizen of the Village Hidden in the Sand. Of course, "hope" was the operative word in this equation.

Indeed, looking at Akira's basement, Kenchiro wondered whether he was in the home of a ninja or some kind of creepy undertaker. There were coffins everywhere, lying on the ground, laying against walls, placed on large tables. Most of them were closed; those that were opened looked like they had only recently been occupied. And yet, the place did not particularly smell unusual. Kenchiro had always figured that undertakers' workshops always smelled of medicine and death, yet all he could pick up was dust, dust and more dust.

Suddenly, the Genin took a step back as something flew past his face, lodging themselves in the rafters on the other side of the room. Senbon needles. Kenchiro followed their flight path, and found an unusual sight. A man covered head to toe in bandages, with regular ninja clothes over that. Kenchiro held a finger up to his mouth in a shushing motion to silence the knee-jerk reaction, and then said "Nice outfit, Akira. Did you lose a bet, or lose a fight?"

[Kenchiro]

"Did the Kazekage send you?" asked Akira.

"In a manner of speaking, he did," Kenchiro replied, one hand on his hip near his tool pouch.

Akira huffed. "It's about time they got around to recognizing me. I suppose they're calling me to the tower to finally bump me up to Chuunin." There was a slight shift in the fabric of his face covering, which Kenchiro could only surmise was a smile.

Kenchiro shook his head. "Actually, I'm here to set you straight. You've been getting a bit confident lately. The Kazekage wants me to try and determine whether that confidence is empty or not."

"I see. And who are you, exactly?"

"Nobody. That's precisely the point. Once lowly little me wipes the floor with you, hopefully you'll realize that you're nowhere near Kage level."

Akira's eyes flared, and his facial bandages shifted in a direction Kenchiro assumed was "outrage." "How dare they underestimate me like this! Sending a know-nothing little urchin like you to take me on? Do they know who they're dealing with? Akira Shishimura, eldest son of the Shishimura line! I'll break you, little nobody, and then I'll take this to the Kazekage himself!"

Kenchiro unclasped the broach holding his cloak to his body, tossing it on the table behind him. "Right. Well, let's deal with that hurdle when we come to it, shall we?" The Genin raised his fists, shifting his weight from foot to foot rhythmically.

[Kenchiro]

Kenchiro hopped forward, bridging the gap between the two of them and loosing a right for Akira's stomach. Akira made no move to dodge or block, but he barely registered the force of the punch, hardly moving and not even losing any breath. Kenchiro cocked back his left fist, punching again; still nothing. Even another pair of punches did little to root Akira from his spot, and from what little information he could glean from his face, Akira was not even feeling them. With a grunt, Kenchiro hopped back. "Okay, I'll bite. What's with the no-sell act, Shishimura?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Akira raised his hands, which were fitted with more senbon needles between their fingers. Kenchiro flinched, reaching behind him. Just as a fresh spray of needles came flying his way, he threw his cloak from the table in front of him. The heavy fabric caught the lightweight projectiles in the air, causing the cloak to jerk and spasm in air. That bought him the split second he needed to get out of the line of fire, kicking off the wall and taking to the ceiling. Drawing his ninjato, he descended on Akira, swinging down with all his weight.

Akira responded quickly, undoing the bandage around one arm and stretching it over his head with his other hand. He stopped the falling blade, and the ninja behind it, using the bandage, which began to glow with a green light that appeared to burn like a smoldering flame. Kenchiro grimaced, putting a foot on his opponent's shoulder and hopping off. "So that's what you're doing!" Kenchiro landed on a floor-bound coffin, sword at the ready. "You're feeding chakra into your bandages to create some kind of cloth armor."

Akira put his hands down, letting the undone bandage fall to the floor. "Well, looks like you're not completely hopeless, after all." The bandage on his other arm began to unwind, falling until it just barely touched the floor. "Behold the secret techniques of the Shishimuras. With this, I have complete control over the bandages on my body. And not just their hardness. I can even control the motions of my bandages as if they were living things. Observe!" He held up an arm, and suddenly the loose bandage began to bend and curl on itself, coming up to eye level similarly to a snake. Then, it lunged forward, unwinding itself on Akira's arm as it shot straight for Kenchiro.

Kenchiro leaned back, wincing as the flying cloth strip grazed his arm, taking with it a bit of skin as readily as if it had been a steel blade. The Genin hopped off the coffin, holding his arm as he retreated for cover. "Why didn't I see that coming?" he muttered.

[Kenchiro]

Kenchiro winced as he tried to push the passing bandage whip away from his body. Akira got himself into a steady rhythm; he would lash out with one arm, draw it back in, and then lash out with the other arm, always with just enough of a pause for Kenchiro to recover. The blonde Genin scowled. The mummy boy was toying with him. Him, of all people! If there was one thing that got his dander up, it was seeing that it was not him at the top of the food chain. And when his dander was up, he had a tendency to get creative. Not that it was easy to think of cunning plans when one was trying to keep from getting filleted.

Ducking behind a coffin, he threw open the casket lid, using it as a shield to block the incoming wrapping. Inside, he found another human shaped mass of gauze. He recoiled for a moment? Was it a clone, or a family member? No. Kenchiro noted a little bit of wood sticking out of a joint, not wrapped up perfectly. It was a puppet, one of the ones used by certain ninja with a toy fetish. Why it was wrapped in bandages, Kenchiro had a few guesses. More importantly, if all of these caskets had one of these in them... He grinned wolfishly.

Akira's bandage had found its way around Kenchiro's impromptu cover. Quickly, Kenchiro hopped away from it and ran around the coffin, rushing straight for his opponent. He began rattling off a series of hand-seals, shouting. "I'm going to burn those silly mummy wraps off of your body." He could see Akira's face shift in a general direction he was going to assume was "worry." He stopped, making a tube with his fingers and putting them to his mouth. "Sacred Fire Technique: Heavenly Crucib..." His casting was interrupted, as to be expected, by a mass of senbon needles to the chest and arms. He stumbled backwards, seemingly struck in a vital area. That is, until he was encompassed in smoke. When it cleared, a bandage covered puppet was in his place, pierced at several points by needles.

Akira took a step back, expecting an ambush to strike at any moment. When all he heard was a clattering in the next room, he realized that his opponent must be using the Substitution to retreat and regroup. The wrappings on his face moved back in the direction of "smiling" as he followed the source of the noise. "That's right, little man. Run, hide! But don't think that that will save you in the end."

Languidly, he followed the noise to another section of his workshop. One of the doors had been knocked off one of the coffins that lay against the wall. Akira looked at the puppet that lay resting in its open bed, and he appeared to smile even deeper. "You see, little nobody, I have friends who can help me find you." He held out a hand, willing the unwound bandage on his arm to wrap around the wrist of the mummy puppet, and the puppet responded by climbing out of his casket. "That's it, my minion. Go, go and find this little nobody for me!"

The puppet responded by grabbing the gauze that bound him and his master together, wrapping it one more time around its wrist, and charging. Even before the Henge disappeared, revealing Kenchiro was the puppet in the casket, he had his fist firmly in Akira's gut. Akira recoiled; Kenchiro pulled on the bandage in his hand and loosed another punch square in the cheek. "Is that it? Is that all you got?" Kenchiro was feeling pretty full of himself, until he realized that the bandage around his wrist was starting to creep up, winding itself around his arm. "Oh, crud..."

[Kenchiro]

The wrapping was just starting to reach his elbow, winding up his upper arm to his shoulder. Soon it would be at his throat. Kenchiro had to think quickly, but it was getting more and more difficult to do so. In the first place, all this running around was making him tired. It was a good thing he had not begun to seriously sweat yet; he would have hated to have sacrificed the delicate rose water he had put on that morning for nothing. Suddenly, something occurred to him. Sweat... that was how he was going to beat this guy!

"Enough!" he shouted, in his most authoritative voice. "You have done well, Akira Shishimura. I believe the Kazekage's faith in you was well-founded"

The bandages stopped their ascent for a moment. Akira's facial wrappings moved in a direction that Kenchiro could not quite place. "What do you mean?"

Kenchiro made an off hand gesture with his free hand. "Come on, Akira, think. Why would the Kazekage send some random Genin to deal with someone he thought was getting too big for his britches? If they really were getting too full of themselves, a little bit of real combat would straighten out anybody. He sent me because he wanted to confirm his suspicions. To wit, that you, Mister Shishimura, possess singular talents that far outpace your current rank."

"You... you're lying!" His remote grip on Kenchiro's arm was loosening. "The Kazekage thinks I'm... that good? I don't believe it!"

"Believe it, Shishimura." With his other arm free, he was able to put his hands together. With a puff of smoke, Kenchiro transformed himself into a man in full combat gear, with a clay tanuki mask covering his face. "Both the ANBU and the Kazekage have taken a special interest in you. We just needed to be sure you measured up to the stories we had been hearing. And, as far as I'm concerned, you are far too good for such a pitiful ranking."

Akira's face bandages shifted, and Kenchiro did not need to guess what was going on underneath them. He had struck right where it hurt, metaphorically speaking. He had hit on the one thing Akira wanted to hear. The only thing left was to make sure Akira had no time to think it over. "What are you still doing here? The Kazekage is waiting for you, you know. Report to him, and we'll pull strings and put you on the fast track. With a little luck, you might be giving orders by sunset."

The bandages on Kenchiro's arm unwound completely, retreating completely to their original location on Akira's body. "Yes, yes, of course, sir!" He bowed sharply, making for the stairs as fast as his feet could carry him. Kenchiro watched him leave, his smile getting darker. Now, he thought, the trap can be sprung in earnest.

[Kenchiro]

Akira absolutely basked in victory as he hopped along the rooftops, headed for the large Kage Tower in the distance. The Kazekage himself had taken an interest in his progress. Finally, things were starting to advance at a pace he could tolerate. Today, he was going to get a promotion, tomorrow... tomorrow... He stopped for a second to catch his breath. When did it get so hot outside? It was not even close to the hottest part of the day. He had not noticed since he had spent so much time underground, out of direct sunlight, but...

He shook his head. No time to focus on the weather. The Kazekage was waiting for him! He forced himself to keep running and jumping, making his way steadily to the tower. As he ran, panting and sweating under his bandages, he began to think about what the ANBU said. What a clever man, using Henge to make himself look like a kid so he could test Akira. Suddenly, Akira stopped in his tracks, remembering that wound he inflicted on Kenchiro's arm. Why was it not there when he turned back into his normal form?

His thoughts were cut short by a foot at the base of his spine. Akira stumbled forward, the wind knocked completely out of his lungs. When he turned around, he saw the ANBU standing over him.

"What's the matter, Shishimura?" the ANBU asked. He removed his mask, revealing Kenchiro's face leering down at him. "You look a little bit out of breath. You really ought to get outside more."

"You..." Akira got back to his feet, letting the bandages on his arms unwind to the roof again. "I'm going to wipe that stupid smile off your face, nobody."

Kenchiro was enveloped in smoke, and when it cleared, he was back in his regular clothes. He unsheathed the tanto at his side and held it before himself. "Sorry Shishimura. It's gonna take more than a couple hundred yards of gauze to wipe this smile away."

[Kenchiro]

The bandage whips were easier to knock aside, and getting weaker with each passing second. Akira roared, trying to summon up another burst of energy, but it was not enough. Kenchiro got in close and swung his knife. Akira tried to focus, tried to harden the bandages of his stomach and chest to the hardness of steel...

...but it was just so hot out. Kenchiro's tanto bit into the fabric, severing a layer as it raked upward and leaving tendrils fluttering in the wind. Akira stared at them. Why was he not feeling this breeze? A breeze would be so nice right about... In his distraction, he did not notice Kenchiro's other hand until it was too late, and by then the other Genin already had his fingers hooked in between the bandages around Akira's face. Kenchiro pulled, roughly tossing the gauze-clad Genin face first to the ground. Akira tried to get up, tried to resist...

...but his lungs were aching for air. These stupid bandages were not letting in enough air, and he was positively sweltering under the desert sun. He was only dimly aware of the tanto tearing away at the bandages on his back. Eventually, he could feel a refreshing breeze as parts of his back were finally exposed to the open air, and then he started feeling sleepy.

The next thing he was aware was someone lightly slapping his cheek. He opened his eyes, and Kenchiro was over him. "Oh, good," the blonde-haired Genin said with a crooked smile. "For a second there, I thought I'd actually killed you."

Akira sprang to life quickly, sliding back and away from Kenchiro as fast as his hands and feet would take him. And then he recognized the feel of concrete against his hand. He looked down, only to see that there were no bandages on them. In fact, he had been completely stripped from the waist up. "What happened?"

Kenchiro reached into his tool bag, pulling out a flask of water. "You over-heated. That thick cover of gauze gave you a pretty handy armor, but it completely negated your ability to lose body heat by sweating. Once you went out into the sun, you might as well have been sitting in a pressure cooker." He handed the bottle to Akira, motioning to the shaded portion of the roof, under the cloak he had taken back from the basement. "Fortunately, you had someone here who cared enough about you to cut you loose and get your temperature down, or who knows what might have happened."

Akira quaffed down the entire contents of the flask with a grimace. "How could I have been so stupid? I thought I had everything covered, but... the sun? You beat me using the sun?"

Kenchiro shrugged, taking the flask. "That's what happens when you start thinking you're invincible. People are always going to find ways to beat you that you never even considered. If this were a real battle, it'd be a great way to get dead." He tipped the flask over, ruefully noting how empty it was. "And I bet you Lord Kazekage would have found a way to beat your all powerful jutsu in no time flat. Maybe using some kind of... I dunno... giant cannon or something." An awkward silence ensued. Kenchiro sighed. "Whelp! I'm gonna leave you to ponder on that. I'm no good with this whole 'admonishment' deal. You know how to get home from here, don't you? I gots me some Ryo to spend." And with that, he hopped to the next roof, making a beeline for the Kazekage's tower.