dat rock thoughh.

[¤ Tenkai ¤]

name; blocked passage
rank; c
description; One unfortunate disadvantage that Kumogakure no Sato extends is sometimes the jagged peaks drop rocks amongst the Kumogakure no Sato passageways. Sometimes they’re simple small rugged rocks and other times they’re promontory boulders. Sadly when the immeasurable boulders land on Kumogakure no Sato’s passageways it falls upon the Kumogakure shinobi to clear the avenue. With the war ending there are a large amount of pathways that need clearing, unfortunately. So go clear those streets.
reward; 50 experience, 1,000 ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable

'Huh' Apparently, I was supposed to be waiting for my partner to arrive at the city center before we began our mission. But little did I know that I was even being assigned to a partner! I hated how Kumogakure ran its administration sometimes, but oh well. I was wearing my usual kimono, beautifully hemmed right down to the ends of the dress. My appearance was always well kept and I never had a single hair out of place. I tapped my foot on the ground impatiently, wondering when this shinobi was going to arrive. I decided to review the mission silently to myself in order to fully grasp our goal for today. ’So I suppose we will be clearing rocks from the passage, eh?’ The task did not seem too difficult to me, at least not yet. I mean, all we had to do was use some sort of direct force to demolish the rocks that blocked the passage way.

Meh. Shrugging my shoulders, I began to lean my neck back and observe the sky. There were not many clouds overhead, and the light from the sun was slowly fading away. It must be getting closer to dusk. I sort of wished I had brought a jacket with me; the night air was always unforgiving and gave me the chills. I rolled my neck around and started to stare idly at the civilians walking by. I knew it was rude to stare, but I couldn’t help it. There wasn’t much else for me to neither do nor look at whilst I was waiting in the center of the village for someone whom I had never met before. I hoped they would recognize me with my Kumogakure headband on my forehead, as well as my shinobi gear clearly visible. Focus! Hayline, present yourself decently. I started to smile and look completely relaxed while standing quite still. I wanted to make a good impression, because the first impression is always the most important one.

[irezumi]

When she came upon the city center, it didn’t take very long for Miu to spot the person she assumed must be her mission partner; the female stood there, the tapping of her foot keeping to the beat of her impatience. She looked perfect – literally – from head to toe, everything was stylish, in place, combed down and set. She reminded Miu of a doll and that was just fine with her because if there was another thing Miu liked aside from fashion and looking pretty, it was dolls.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” She called out as she closed the distance between them. “I’m Miu, and you must be Hayline. Nice to meet you.” A light blush erupted in Miu’s cheeks and spread across the bridge of her nose. Clasping her hands together in front of her at the waistline, she gave her head a little nod of respect.

Looking over Hayline’s attire and beautiful kimono, Miu’s two-toned eyes traversed her own get-up: holey denim jeans that fit just right, and a simple pink tee. She looked like a fashionable ragamuffin in comparison to her mission partner! In attempt to push away the momentary embarrassment, Miu rubbed her palms over the respective thighs of her jeans and then, noticing Hayline’s Kumogakure headband, quickly raised a hand and tapped on her very own resting around her forehead. She admired how the shinobi had tried to put away her impatience for Miu’s arrival even though – and Miu would never admit it – she’d seen the female at her worst foot-tapping!

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[¤ Tenkai ¤]

'Sorry to keep you waiting!' A young, innocent voiced called out from the streets. It was quite peculiar for me to hear the words of a stranger apologizing to me before we had even met. ’Was this my mission partner?’ I studied her appearance carefully, and watched her bodily language in attempts to read any significant information from her that I could. From what I’ve observed, it appeared to me that she was a simple-down to earth kind of girl. Her denim jeans and pink shirt were very homely, but it almost made me feel guilty for worrying about my image so much. ’Had I really become that shallow?’ Physical beauty was one thing, but If my personality was spoiled rotten, who would ever be attractive to a girl like me? Perhaps being assigned to this kunoichi would actually help me come back down to earth and realize how much more growing and maturing I needed to do.

After having learned her name, I had decided that it was important for us to discuss the mission before taking them on. ”Well, it seems as though our mission is a rather simple one. We have to clear the passageway of boulders that fell. I’m guessing we are supposed to use some sort of force behind our method, but I am sure we’ll have some help from the locals if we need it. We can start by heading up that way past the major venues and head to the blocked off road.” I did not really have anything else to say, I mean, any equipment that we might need such as explosive dynamites would be kept in a shop near the road itself along the mountain. I knew I did not have the proper skills in order to remove the boulders and rocks from the passage way, but perhaps Miu did? It would have been a shame if I broke a nail attempting to clear the road, so instead I thought we could pick up some items along the way.

[irezumi]

It was definitely something new to come across someone who didn’t immediately stare and gawk at the various tattoos that adorned almost the entire canvas of her body. In fact, she still sometimes failed to realize that not everyone who saw all of her ink would automatically come to the conclusion that she was a Li. As Hayline explained the mission, Miu listened attentively and nodded when necessary.

It wasn’t until Hayline had finished, and they’d began their journey that would take them to the path where the blocked passageway was, did Miu speak up. “Oh, well… I don’t think we’ll really need any help from the locals. I could just, well… I could just draw something up to help us out?” She offered shyly, brushing a few fingertips along one of her forearms and offering a visual buffet of all her ink. But just in case Hayline hadn’t caught her drift from everything she’d said thus far – “You see, I’m a Li.” A bashful smile crept over her lips and extended to touch the corners of her eyes.

There. Straight. To. The. Point.

So maybe they wouldn’t need to even stop along the way anywhere for explosives or anything like that, but she wouldn’t tell her mission partner that… nor would she suggest it, because well – she offered up what felt appropriate for her given place, but she wasn’t about to tell the woman to do or not do something!

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[¤ Tenkai ¤]

’Draw something..?’ I was so confused as to why Miu would suggest that she could draw something to help us out on our mission. How would a pretty picture help us physically move the boulders that were in our way? It did not make much sense to me, but then the rather soft-spoken kunoichi told me her special ability. ’You see, I’m a Li.” Ahh, it made sense! Her artistic tattoos that covered her body were probably inspired because of her clan. Even though she was a very shy, quiet individual, for some reason she just fits being a part of such a unique clan. It turns out that Miu was actually more useful on the mission than me, and I was perfectly fine with that. As I watched my partner smile as she took great pride and telling me that she is of the Li heritage, I too smiled.


I began to speak up more clearly to Miu, my cheerful tone lightening up the mission a bit, ”That’s wonderful! Okay, so we can head straight for the passageway. I’ve never seen a Li-Clan’s technique in person, so this will be really interesting for me.” I was honestly really excited to see her abilities, I mean – she was able to make her pictures come alive. At least that is what I was told when I researched different clans while I attended the academy. The both of us continued along the path until we could not continue to walk along it further anymore due to the rocks. There were many of them, and we had to make sure that we removed them all for the villagers. I was not sure what exactly Miu was planning to do, but I was surely intrigued enough to watch her every movement.

”Alright, Miu, I’ll stand back to give you room to complete your art.” I took several steps back from her and watched from behind—ensuring that I did not get in her way.

[irezumi]

An all too-common rosy hue took its residence in her cheeks again at the shinobi’s compliments and flattery. Even if Hayline hadn’t meant for it to be taken as such, Miu’s countenance burned wildly. It became immediately all-too obvious to Miu that Hayline hadn’t automatically connected the dots of her tattoos to her clan heritage and therefore, her abilities. Miu would have to stop assuming so much of people; it never seemed to really get her anywhere.

Miu felt a sudden rush of excitement as they neared the blocked passageway; a peculiar tingle from her fingers to her toes. She briefly wondered if the sensation was merely butterflies in her stomach –daringly curious butterflies that seemed to desire spreading their wings further throughout her body than just fluttering within her stomach – albeit on the exterior she remained quiet and serene.

Noticing that Hayline decided to take a back seat spectator’s position for this spectacle, Miu hung her arms at her sides as she stood before the blocked path before her and bore holes into the boulders with her multi-toned eyes in concentration.

Balling her small hands into fists at her sides, Miu released a slow sigh from her lips before loosening her hands and moving them to a pocket, from which she produced a blank scroll, and a small ink brush. Looking down at the blank scroll, her eyes seemed to not focus on any one thing in particular, but instead took on a hazy glint to them as she brought the inked brush to the scroll. The brush, in her hand, seemed to buzz with life as it quickly scribbled across the scroll as though it had a life to claim as its own.

After a few moments of intense drawing, Miu’s head rose from the scroll; her fingertips stained black with ink from her creation and she somehow even managed to get splotches of ink speckled on the tip of her nose and jaw. Tongue set pushing between her teeth, Miu gave her work one final look over before laying the scroll open on the ground and taking a couple skips away from the scroll to give her art its space.

“Choju Giga!” Executing the hand seal needed to complete her task, and the show would begin.

Sprouting from the scroll; first in whisks and blotted lines of ebony and then taking form and shape as it grew and blossomed from its origins, stretching to its full height there stood a monstrously-looking T-Rex. The scroll on which Miu had drawn the creature had disappeared beneath the dinosaur’s massive foot. The extinct monster gave a large huff of a sound in expectation and then looked to Miu.

“Move those rocks for us! Please. And… I’d like my scroll back, too. Don’t tear it to pieces.”

Lifting its gargantuan of a foot from the scroll, with an unexpected gentle grace, the T-Rex freed the scroll from beneath itself and then turned its attention immediately to the first rocks and boulders that clogged the passageway. After one terrifying screech that bellowed from deep within its inky lungs, and the T-Rex stomped its way over to the first obstacles to be moved; wherein it quickly began to scoop them into its short arms and dispose of them to either side of the path.

Taking a couple more steps back so that she equaled her stance with Hayline, she smirked proudly at her living art.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Choju Giga
Rank: B
Type: Offensive / Defensive / Ninjutsu / Secret Technique
Range: See special!
Special: Strength and defensive rating of creations depends on the user's highest Gahou Tenrai rank. When first learned, the user can bring to life ten small creatures no larger than 5 meters; five medium creatures no larger than 10 meters; or one large creature no larger than 20 meters. Each time relearned, the user effectivelydoubles the amount of creatures they can create based on size per use.

Description: The user will rapidly draw several objects, usually animals, on a scroll. Then, performing the right handseals, the user will bring those objects to life and use them for offensive or defensive purposes. The creatures, made of ink, also share any special properties that the ink has.
Domain: Li Clan. Gahou Tenrai 'B'.

[¤ Tenkai ¤]

I was a bit anxious to see exactly how the process of using the Li Clan’s signature technique would work. Carefully studying her movements, I observed Miu as I noticed she was readying herself to begin the process. Her posture was very stiff at first, but suddenly once she was mentally prepared, she then loosed her fist and grabbed her items. A paintbrush, ink, and a scroll were all that they needed to use their techniques. It appeared as though she was literally going to draw a picture right on the spot, how odd. I would have thought that they were going to use a jutsu to bring pre-drawn pictures to life; however my initial assumptions were inaccurate. Placing her head down, I still watched from behind as I saw her intensely focusing on her painting.

’I wonder what she was drawing?’

It was probably a bit weird for me to think this, but I was actually wondering if she was going to draw a picture of myself. That would have been so cool to see a painting of myself be birthed to life by her technique. Alas, once Miu was done she yelled out the phrase, “Choju Giga!” and activated her technique. To my surprise, a giant extinct animal was created by her. The tyrannosaurus rex seemed to be quite lively, even though it was hard for me to fathom this concept seeing as though it was just drawn on her measly small scroll. Miu decided to stand next to me as we both watched her child (T-Rex) follow her orders and begin moving the boulders. It seemed as though to Li Clan had great utility for random predicaments like the one that we were in now.

”Nice drawing, Miu! I have never seen the Li clan techniques in person before. It’s truly something else…” I continued to stand in awe of her creation doing all of the physical work for us both. It was a pretty sneaky way to get the mission done, but very resourceful. Thanks to her technique, it also helped me realize that after I had completed a bunch of missions together with my partner, I should probably start training in order to learn some new skills of my own. I did not want to fall too behind and have Miu do all of the work for us, however—she actually seemed quite please with her creation. ”In this rate, we should be done fairly soon.” It was quite obvious that everything was going quite well for us both. Hopefully none of the rocks from the mountain would fall...

[irezumi]

Even though the T-Rex was large and in charge of all the rocks and boulders that cluttered the area, it was still a process; especially since the creature was performing this duty all by its lonesome. Sure, the dinosaur’s large steps shook the ground around it and threatened other rocks from the mountains above to come crumbling down, but the dinosaur seemed neither phased nor concerned by it. Miu was pretty certain that if anything did fall, the T-Rex would have no problem discarding of those fallen bits of nature as well.

“Oh, thank you.” Miu’s lips curved into a smile that played along her features. With all of this shyness and bashfulness she was feeling for the entire situation, Miu was surprised that she hadn’t allowed her emotions to get the best of her yet. Things usually seemed to get hazy whenever she was exceedingly embarrassed or red in the face. Maybe it was that Hayline didn’t gape at the artwork on Miu’s skin… but who knew?

The ink monster continued on its way, removing rock after rock and clearing the path as he went, and Miu slowly took up the lead to follow in the T-Rex’s wake and hoped Hayline would get the itch to follow along. She saw no reason to stand and wait for the dinosaur to complete its task… they might as well keep it a little company, too! Miu was happy that there weren’t really any villagers or anything up here to see the T-Rex… it might’ve scared them and then things could’ve gone absolutely crazy.

I mean, could you imagine seeing a gigantic T-Rex – made of ink, no less – just strolling around, disposing of large rocks here and there and offering a tremendous roar-screech whenever it pleased?

But that’s the way Miu liked it… always giving her creations a bit of their own attitude in things.

“I think I’m gonna call him Spike… whadda’ ya think?” Miu's vibrantly colored eyes glittered with a spark of boldness she was feeling now… which, well, really could be good or bad.

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[¤ Tenkai ¤]

I felt horrible for making the T-rex do all of the heavy lift, so while it focused on the heavier rocks that Miu and I would not be able to lift, I decided that I would start picking up the smaller rocks and tossing them aside the road. There was something about Miu that made me want to get more involved with the world, help out more and just get back down to earth. I was definitely not too good to complete C-ranked missions, and there was no reason that I should have been afraid to break a nail. I could always purchase fake ones anyways.

The rocks were not too large, at least not the ones that I was picking up. This was probably one of the first times that I was actually pretty stress-free. I had no one badgering me about my performance, or making me feel guilty about random things—I was just doing a mission with someone who seemed pretty nice and gaining some experience all at the same time.

I began to giggle when Miu suggested that she was going to name her creation Spike. It seemed like a dog name to me. It was nice to see Miu opening up to me, especially since we would be working on a bunch of missions together. Cheerfully, I would then response appropriately by saying, ”Oh, oh! I got it. Let’s call him Tiny. He’s so cuteee and tiny-tiny arms and yah.” Smiling a bit too much for my own good, most people probably would have thought that I needed to get a better sense of humor. It was normally seen as bad taste to laugh at your own joke, but I could not help it. I mean, if I am the one telling the joke, do I not have the right to laugh it at as well?

Clearly I found it funny. While working, I continued to help T-rex move the rocks off of the ground and throw them aside. It would not be long until the passageway was finally all cleared and we would be able to hand in this mission. At the end of the passageway, one of the Kumogakure construction workers, Fidel, would be waiting for us on the other side to finish our paperwork. ”Miu, once we clear the entire way, a man on the other side should be waiting for us to sign our paperwork. It won’t be long now!” It was probably a bit lazy of me, but I was actually hoping that the rest of the missions would be this easy for us. It was definitely a nice change of pace for me.

[irezumi]

At first Miu was a little confused when she witnessed Hayline following after Spike and picking up smaller rocks that she could handle on her own. Then it dawned upon Miu that perhaps Hayline was feeling guilty and was trying to pick up whatever slack she thought she was creating by not having helped out Spike sooner. Miu admired this in her mission partner, and mimicked the woman and began to pick up smaller rocks as well that Spike had either missed or skipped over for bigger ones.

”Oh, oh! I got it. Let’s call him Tiny. He’s so cuteee and tiny-tiny arms and yah.”

Tiny, huh? Well, okay. That worked for her, too. Maybe they could put it altogether and call him Tiny Spike. Why not?

Miu couldn’t quell her own chuckle that swelled up from within her chest and spilled out over her lips. This wasn’t to say that she didn’t enjoy laughing, but it always seemed when she allowed herself to become too light-hearted and pleasant with her mood; someone or something always came along to spoil it for her.

With mention of the construction gentleman that would be awaiting their arrival at the opposite end of the blocked passage, Miu gave a quick nod as she heaved another, smaller rock from the path. She was glad that Hayline told her of the construction man that would be waiting for them, so that she could dismiss Tiny Spike in time so as to not frighten any of the people that would be up ahead for them. Sure, if she had drawn up a couple eagles or something more commonly accepted and appreciated to help them out… then she might’ve allowed the creature(s) to stick around once they encountered other people… but having conjured up a T-Rex… Miu thought it best for both she and Tiny Spike if he were to … disappear, so to speak, before that.

Miu felt the spark of boldness that had overtaken her just prior start to simmer back down to her normal demeanor. It was probably best that she not let anything get the best of her while they were on their very first mission together. After all, Miu’s mission partner had plenty of missions in their future to see all of Miu’s… sides.

Up ahead – but not so close enough to where the construction man would be able to make out what the approaching figure was – Miu could see the construction man who was awaiting them on the cleared end of the pathway. Their mission was almost completed, and shortly they’d be turning everything in. But before that… Miu had to get rid of Tiny Spike.

“Okay, Tiny Spike. Thank you for everything you did and all the hard work you’ve done, but you’re all finished and you can go!” With that, just as simply as he had sprouted; Tiny Spike grumbled a disappointed groan and simultaneously as he began shrinking in size, so did the numerous drops of ink that formed his living being began to break down to their original form of droplets of ink until nothing was left of Tiny Spike but a small pool of blackened ink.

“Well…guess we’d better turn this into that construction man up there, I can see him ahead! I’d say we’re just about done here.”

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[¤ Tenkai ¤]

While I was helping to pick up some rocks to clear the path, I noticed that Miu was also helping me and Rex as well. Though it was not really necessary for her to do so, since she did manifest that beautifully large creature beside us, it was definitely a nice gesture of hers. Teamwork was definitely a key factor for any mission becoming completed, and this one would be no exception. Truthfully, I had hoped that our next mission would include some sort of combat.

I realized that not all of them would be so combat orientated as the two B-ranked mission that I had taken with Kaeor, a Chuunin, but were all of the C-ranked missions just mundane tasks? It would have been a real shame for us to limit our talent to common work around the village, but I suppose this was a way for us to “pay our dues” and help out our fellow citizens. I was still a bit bitter about cleaning the girls’ bathroom alone, but as long as I did not do another mission so filthy as that one, I was honestly okay with doing these rather dull chores.

Besides, maybe Miu would delve into her background story and tell me more information about her. Not all Li clan members have tattoos on them, or did they? I have a single mark on my skin, it remained ink free or piercings free—save for my ears of course. I was thinking about getting a belly piercing, but that would be for another day. And who knows, maybe I could even be convinced to get a tattoo from Miu too? That would be really exciting and something different for me! The only problem would be that it would last forever, so I would have to think carefully before committing to that decision.

As we drew closer to Fidel, the man that hired us on behalf of the village, Miu dispelled her technique and the once giant ink-monster slowly began to diffuse. His body began to decrease in stature, and the ink that he was comprised of was dripping onto the ground and forming a puddle. It was an interesting site to see the once still-portrait turned into a living manifestation, and then back into nothing. Marching ahead, I would wave my hand to Fidel to signal to him that we had completed the mission.

”Oh, Fidel! Look, we made it here right on time. I believe you’ll need this,”

My smooth voice covered the small distance that separated us from him. I extended my arm towards Fidel, handing him the paperwork for him to sign his mission of approval. It would have been a shame if we did not have proof for a mission complete, especially after we did all of this hard work. After the papers had been signed, I bid him farewell and then placed the paperwork carefully away in my pocket. Looking at Miu, I would then begin to plan for our next mission,

”We should probably head out of here and go to the center of the village again. It appears as though our next mission is scattered in various places, so we will have to be extra diligent to make sure that it is completed carefully.” With those few words, I would then be off from this scene and begin walking towards our next location.

[ Exit, HayliNe ]

[irezumi]

With Tiny Spike gone away, and the duo closing the distance between themselves and the construction man, Miu quieted down again in her presence. While Hayline flashed a charming smile and conversed with the man – Fidel – casually and turned in their mission paperwork to be signed, Miu resigned within herself, a light blush flushing across her cheeks as she pressed her lips firmly together. She allowed Hayline to do all the talking; getting their completion confirmed and signed, and all that other good stuff.

When Hayline was finished with Fidel, Miu offered a slight nod of both quick greeting and farewell to Fidel before she skittered off after Hayline. Once alongside her mission partner again, Miu cleared her throat gently and made a slight humming sound through her pressed lips before speaking.

“Okay. That sounds good to me.”

Stuffing her scroll, ink, and brush back into a pocket, Miu followed after Hayline as they both headed back toward the center of the village so that they may begin their next mission. Miu looked forward to what their next mission would be; what adventures it would bring them and challenges would arise.

“H—hey, hey Hayline… anyone ever tell you that you look like a doll? I mean, just totally perfect in your appearance… no offense!”

[Exit Miu]

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[Shinryu]

Tenkai +47
Irezumi +51