Tidying up loose ends... again. [Misison, Kana & Winged]

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Quote :: Mission Title: Killer Kunochi
Mission Type: Generic
Mission Location: Fire Country
Shinobi Requirement: S-Rank
Mission Rank: S
Mission Objective: You/Your team are in serious trouble. In your last mission your killed a B Rank Missing Nin among others not realizing his lover was far more dangerous or prone to extreme violence. The Kunochi in question is an S Rank Three Tome Uchiha and she has no one intention, killing those responsible in the most painful manner possible. She has threatened to attack the village if you don’t meet her in battle. You must journey to the valley of end to meet her and end her suffering. (Note: Her eyes are not harvestable)
Min Post Count: 10.

The sun that had shown over the Village Hidden in the Leaves for the entire cloudless day was finally setting, turning the sky a vibrant mix of reds, oranges, and purples that had even the jaded locals coming out to watch the spectacle. For one of the villages better jounin, the setting sun had paradoxically been moving far too fast and yet seemed to take forever. The former was likely due to the sheer number of tasks that needed to be done, a list of which only seemed to get longer as the deadline grew closer no matter how rushed he was. The later no doubt stemmed from a desire to just get this whole farce over with and move on to more important matters.

Yesterday he had been handed something he thought only happened in bad movies - a "challenge letter". One that basically told him to met the issuer, one Uchiha Sakura, at the Valley of the End at twilight or she would attack Konoha. Outrageous? Probably, certainly it wasn't what Toshiro expected from a missing-nin who carried the highest ranking possible. He could have left the matter to the ANBU - hostile missing-nin were be their - and the Hokage in fact had strongly hinted that Toshiro should have done just that. Tempting as the idea was to let the so-called "elite" of the village earn their pay, the jounin simply couldn't bring himself to ignore the matter for several reasons. First, it was his mess and he hated it when others tried to clean up and created a bigger mess that he still wound up having to clean up. Second the lunatic kunochi had the utter gall to actually sign her stupid letter and try to intimidate him with threats against the village. As if one who had fought a member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu to a draw would be bothered, much less cowed, by a few nebulous threats against the village he had mixed feelings for. Finally there was the matter that this would be a rare chance to rub the noses of bloodline-lovers in the dirt by beating the "feared" Sharigan into the ground where it belonged. In the end Toshiro had "won" the "right" to first crack at this suicidal nuke-nin with a few caveats - namely that ANBU squads would make positioned along her likely lines of retreat in case she survived and he wouldn't be sent alone. One of the villages recently promoted tokubetsu jounin, a fellow Toshiro vaguely remembered from his days as a genin by the name of Masaki Sato, had been teamed with him on the pretext that the fellows expertise in genjutsu would be useful against a missing-nin known for the use of genjutsu.

Personally Toshiro figured the Hokage wanted someone who would temper the jounin's tendency to massive property damage but he would humor his nominal leader - this time. Even if it looked as though one of the villages most dangerous combatants was in fact prepared for outright war. Over the regular grey-blue pants and shirt along the green flak vest that was the standard jounin uniform Toshiro had added to the usual baldric for his swords an extra hip pouch with spare kunai and explosive tags and was openly carrying his bow along with its combination quiver/ holster on his back. All together a conspicuous arsenal had made the walk from his residence to the gate where he was to meet Sato an exercise in not growling at the whispers and furtive glances. As much as he wanted to ask what was so surprising about seeing a ninja bearing arms in a village full of them that people had to make fools of themselves, Toshiro didn't think he could spare the time. As it was he had arrived at the gate only a few moment ahead of schedule and would have to wait for his latest ally to show up before heading into the rapidly darkening woods that surrounded the village. "Five minutes then I go."

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

Bring it the fuck on.

"Toshi-San, it's certainly been a while! I'd ask you how you've been, but I believe we have no time for idle chatter; perhaps after we've disposed of this little thorn in our side, then we can talk. I'm sure you remember me, your ol' buddy ol' pal Saitou, right?"

OOC:

Posts : 542

A knock rapidly sounded against the wooden door of the temporary domicile that Kana had taken residence in. So temporary were the habitations that the inside of the walls were still being built. For all apparent reasons, the room was inhabitable but to the newly returned…Chunnin, the title still seemed incredulous to him, it was more than he had been used to for more nights than he cared to admit. Still, a dry ground and walls to keep the elements out was enough for him. The bedroll lay neatly on the corner as he woke up from his long long nap. No sooner had he donned his new set of gear when he heard the knock.

The door opened promptly to a messenger delivering a sealed scroll. Kana bowed to the ninja who quickly bowed back and promptly disappeared. The young medic opened the scroll. In it detailed a most perilous event not only for the village but for Hinamori, Toshiro. The name slowly sank into his brain as his vast store of knowledge worked to push away muddle memories kept on his brain and try to find the real file where the name would give a face and meaning.

Suddenly the memory shot forward so fast that the reaction sent his head backward as a realization hit him sharper than any Raiton jutsu ever could. The image of a young white haired black kimono clad friend burned deep into his minds eyes. The subject of this vision was probably not the same person; indeed he may not even call Kana friend anymore but the memory of his once friend spurred the young Chunnin to action. In a flurry of motions he picked up his gear, even his newly issued Medical flak jacket. If the Hinamori was indeed in the trouble the scroll detailed then medical attention would come in handy.

The young medic all but flew across the grounds of the hospital doing maneuvers to avoid injuring anybody but at the same time keeping from losing valuable time. His memory remained fixated on the prankful and yet honorable young man who had once shared stories and missions with him. Both of them may be different people right now but he would honor the memory of his friend.

His legs pumped as hard as they could. It was at this time that he wished that the training of a Taijtsu specialist which would enable him to expend his body to the limits. However as soon as this thought crossed his mind, a cool wind of reason blew away the fires of urgency and recklessness. Had he changed this much? In his three years of hermitage he had he lost his edge? While this thought despaired him he soon began to run at a much even pace. He controlled his breathing and he started to inventory his gear in his head as he ran. It would do the Hinamori no good to have a useless medic. It was better to get there just in time than to get there and be worthless. A wise man had once said, what avails a man to charge an enemy when out of breath?

Using this wise saying, Kana started to rummage his mind for information regarding his previous experiences with the young weapons user. While it was true that the scroll had classified him as more than capable Jounin, Kana was sure he could still provide back up or at the very least resuscitation help. His musings and planning had brought him within sight of the gates. The sun was just beginning to dwindle down casting an ominous darkness on the surrounding landscape. Kana brought this into mind; darkness was a shinobi’s capricious friend. It could bless you with its cover or it can blind you into a trap. As he got closer to the gates he noticed he was not too late. Just ahead was not only one but two colored heads. The first was definitely the snow white hair of the weapons master. Kana smirked thinking that the pure tint hid the playful and reckless nature of his friend. The other was a tint that was quickly brought up from his memory. As he got closer he could verify that this was indeed the one named Masaki Saitou.

A full blown smile appeared on the young medic’s face as he neared the pair. He made sure to call a decent distance away; it would not do to be impaled by a water or weapons jutsu from either. “It pleases me to know that it is still my duty to keep the pair of you out of trouble.” The voice was joyous, much more emotional that the old Kana would. His attire was a slight different from the bland attire he used to wear. The color remained white but he now sported a vest of leather beneath his brown flack vest and the hood was down to show a salt and pepper hair tied into a pony tail that gave his hair the semblance of having a huge raccoon tail attached to his head. He hoped his friends would recognize him.

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

As he leaned against the gate, something that earned him sidelong and dismissive glares from the pair of Hyuuga guarding that portal, Toshiro spent the time between his arrival and his teammates (expected and not) refining the rough plan he had put together. Well, maybe it would have been better to describe it as a vague idea of what he would try to do since while he knew a fair bit about his opponent courtesy of her origins he had relatively little actual tactical information to go on. As such he was only lightly aware of the surrounding area, a choice that allowed Saitou to be the first to recognize the snowy-haired jounin before said jounin recognized him. Before Toshiro could reply with more than a small lopsided grin the third and unexpected member of the team popped up. Initially tensing and one hand moving to a blade's hilt at the hooded figure coming into view, it wasn't until the person under that hood spoke that the jounin put an actual name to this individual in the vest of a full-fledged medic-nin. In doing so however Toshiro's expression evolved from a small grin into a full-blown smile that bordered on the trademark "sharks grin" that warned when its maker was about to try something somewhere between inspired and insane. "I don't know Kana-san, I seem to recall it being the jounin's job to watch out for the chuunin and tokubetsu jounin on missions."

Taking the sting out the words was the jovial tone they were said in along with a the friendly hand that came down on Kana's and Saitou's shoulders. In the background the reaction of the gate guards to that gesture of equals could be heard as synchronized snorts of derision. "Ignore them. Its a genetic disorder unique to bloodline-users. I don't know what the medical books call it but I've always liked the name "stick up the ass syndrome" since it describes the inbreeds to a tee." Repressing a smirk at the sound of two Hyuuga reduced to sputtering denials due to blatant and blunt disrespect, Toshiro gestured for his comrades to walk at each side before turning and passing through the gate itself. As he do so the jounin noticed one difference from the last time he had been in the company of both Kana and Saitou. At that time Toshiro had been much shorter than either of them; over a foot below Saitou and a full head under Kana's own height. Now he was a dead match for his purple-haired comrade in height and had a bit over a hand's width over Kana. More than anything that brought home to him just how many years had passed since the last time the three had been on the same assignment. One facet of Toshiro's makeup hadn't changed was that unless he was roused to wrath (and kami have mercy on the fool who did that) he never failed to make light of a bad situation. "Besides, if that was the case then I would need a better babysitter seeing as we're here because I'm already in trouble of the kunochi type." Much lower was came the words "and for once I'm not talking about my fiancé."

Once the three ninja were in the forest Toshiro set what for him was a slow pace but for the pair with him it would almost certainly be a hard one. While the jounin wasn't especially worried about a solitary missing-nin attacking one of the "Great Five", he didn't want her getting second thoughts and running off either. Right now he had a good idea of where she was and the edge in numbers that he almost certainly wouldn't have in a future engagement. It would be during the few times he slowed down or halted for a minute or two to let the others catch their breath that he laid out what he knew about the rogue Uchiha who was the cause of this mission. Then he spelled out his tentative plan, such as it was, which consisted of using one of Kirigakure's signature techniques to flood the site of the battlefield with fog then sending water clone after water clone in until he got his targets exact position and cut lose. Simple? Yes but as far as Toshiro knew, based on having had an Uchiha for a teammate, the Sharigan had to actually see the person to work and simple plans tended to be less prone to the sort of catastrophic failure that turned victory into defeat. Of course he would have been a fool to not get Saitou's input since the tokubestu jounin would know which (if any) and how badly genjutsu would be hindered by not being able to see the intended victim. Nor did he neglect to make sure the last (but not least) member of the adhoc team gave his input. As a medic not only might Kana have more insight into limitations and abilities of the "Copy Wheel Eye" than other ninja, but he also had the greatest knowledge of poisons. And poison applied to a blade or dispersed in a fog could often achieve results that would otherwise require taking great risks and expending considerable resources to reach.

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

“It pleases me to know that it is still my duty to keep the pair of you out of trouble.”

"I don't know Kana-san, I seem to recall it being the jounin's job to watch out for the chuunin and tokubetsu jounin on missions."

"Kana Kinoshi, Shinobi of the leaf village! My friend, where the bloody hell have you been? It feels like it's been years; when was the last time we spoke, huh? Must've been on that delivery mission all those years ago. Christ, feels I've died and been reborn since then. We should really catch up sometime; but for now, I believe there's a task at hand, and a pretty damn pressing one, so I've been told!"

"Ignore them. Its a genetic disorder unique to bloodline-users. I don't know what the medical books call it but I've always liked the name "stick up the ass syndrome" since it describes the inbreeds to a tee."

"I'm pretty sure Kana-San has a concoction for that. Can't remember what he calls it, but I believe it consists of a mixture of washing up liquid, rat poison and a dash of outdated cyanide."

"Besides, if that was the case then I would need a better babysitter seeing as we're here because I'm already in trouble of the kunochi type. And for once I'm not talking about my fiancé."

that kind

"Fiancé?! I had no idea you were engaged, Toshi-kun, that's an interesting development. Christ, we need to talk some time. Who's the lucky woman, anyone I know? I hope we're invited, mate!"

"Right, well. Senpai's clearly got a good idea of what to do here; lots of genjutsu do rely on making eye contact to be activated, and we can definitely bet on her using ocular related jutsu, as she's an Uchiha. And that of course means she's in possession of the much revered sharningan. However, that being said, certain illusions may have other methods of implementation. Personally, I've been working on a fair few jutsu which are initiated when your opponent hears your voice; these could be potentially useful if we've no chance of seeing her. I did a bit of reading earlier, did my homework and all that. Supposedly, Uchiha clan members have been known to master multiple areas. In fact, they can be experts in Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu, the big three, although there are probably those who are proficient elsewhere; but basically, we shouldn't underestimate her abilities in any field. They're also apparently big time Katon users. If I remember correctly, Toshi-kun, you're a suiton user, as am I. We can try use that to our advantage to negate some of our attacks. Now, senpai, I like your idea of obscuring her vision, as it is likely she uses that for a large majority of her ocular based ninjutsu and genjutsu. However, that will possibly occur as a hinderance to us; after all, we're working as a team to take her down, so communication is key. If we can't see too well either, we'll have to rely on our hearing, I'd assume. I'm sure we all have ear pieces, right? We can tune those to the same frequency so we can talk without having to holler aloud so she can hear what we're scheming. That should allow us to co-ordinate ourselves and should be quite effective. As for a formation, I suggest that we go for a one - two spearhead triangular shape. Toshiro, you're the highest rank out of all of us, so it's suitable that you lead the line as the front man. Not only that, but I believe you're able in the field of weaponry, meaning you can counter any taijutsu she might use. Me and Kana-san will stay behind you, each to one side. I certainly can attack from afar, and if I remember correctly, our medic can use both Fuuton and Raiton from range. In the unlikely scenario any of us are hurt and require medical attention, the remaining member should take point guard and keep her at bay as best we can. Mean whilst, Kana-san will do his stuff. The ear pieces should mean we will be able to share information quickly and if one of us is injured, will allow us to respond quickly. And I'm no medic, but I assume that's quite necessary. One interesting development I've discovered about myself is that I am, in fact, a sensory ninja. This means I'll be able to pinpoint her distance at any time. In other words, using the ear pieces, I can constantly communicate with you to tell you were she is, who she's going to attack, how much chakra she has left and if there's a sudden increase in chakra around her, which would suggest she's using a jutsu. Aren't I just amazing? Finally, just as a heads up, some of my genjutsu will require me to shout quite loudly, particularly the one which captures the target under the pretence their attack landed and I've died, whilst I sneak up and kill the bugger. Unfortunately, you will also be caught in this jutsu if I do use it. However, it might be hard for you to know if my screams are genuinely me dying, or my illusion that I've cast; as a solution to this, if I loudly shout any swear word, presume I am in fact fine. On the other hand, if I bellow some incomprehensible jargon, assume the worst."

"Sorry if I stole your thunder, Toshi-kun. You're the leader after all, I'm just making suggestions!"

OOC:

Posts : 542

In true Toshiro fashion, the weapons user sent a piercing remark to Kana’s failed attempt at sarcasm. “You are quite right on that, I do hope that you bring me and Saitou back.” Kana merely smiled as the trio walked on into the dwindling daylight. He turned his attention to the purple haired jokester that had once witnessed him at his lowest. If there had been any sore thumb on the trio that stood out it would have been the salt and peppered young chunnin. The other two would joke the enemy to death. However, unlike the Kana of old, a ready smile appeared on his face revealing a pair of boyish dimples on either side of the cheeks.
“Indeed you are right Saitou-san. It has been more than three years to my recollection. I do hope we have more time to catch up but as you say, surviving this encounter might be a priority.” Upon feeling the friendly pat of his white haired friend, Kana would place his own hand on his friends as a sign of friendship. Further indignation from the gate guards earned them yet another barrage from the Hinamori. The effect was just as devastating as the delicate figures tensed and burned with anger. The young medic took notes. His quick mind was already formulating a plan to battle the rouge Uchiha. Kana chuckled at his friend’s comments and joyfully in a loud voice for the gate guards to hear. “I believe that your name tag is pretty accurate Toshiro-san” and turning to Saitou “Unfortunately medicine is a science not a miracle maker. As you inferred, sometimes the best you can do for a lame horse is to put it down.”
Just like the purple haired youth, Toshiro’s comment about a fiancé caught Kana by surprise. It was well known that Hinamori were some of the most eligible bachelors. Even in their youth, Toshiro had quite the pull, and quite the pickles for his troubles. “Toshiro-san we must truly survive this because you have to share that story.” He kept a slower pace, not only because he was much out of shape and it was all he could do to keep up without killing himself but it also seemed the most logical formation. Toshiro, the weapons user, was in front and slightly to the right. The purple haired ninja was in them idle and slightly to the left, a perfect spot for a midrange user. Kana as the medic and long range user was in the back. This was fine for the medic as he instantly switched back into his old mode and took in all that was being said and all that the young team could bring to the table. The three of them had quite a pool of brains. Toshiro was an excellent battle strategist, he had proved that when he and Kana had taken out a band of bandits. Saitou knew his jutsu and used them to the utmost. Kana was naturally introvert and calculating.
It was true that the pair of the was Suiton users, to his knowledge the Valley of the End was nothing more than a great lake surrounded by sharp canyon walls. Why would a Katon user choose a place that was to their disadvantage? However, the canyon also offered very little hiding spots and an attacker would be able to see any incoming attack. So the fight would have to go in close, the perfect range for an Eye Genjutsu. From what he could gather, the Kuniochi wanted to make this personal. Perhaps that could help in their favor. After the Masaki finished talking Kana turned his attention to Toshiro, he wanted to see what the white haired shinobi would think up. Also, he did not want to overstep his boundaries, friends they might be but Toshiro was still the ranking shinobi of the group.

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Taking note of his companions reaction to his letting slip that he was now off the market (for good), Toshiro couldn't help but groan slightly at the predictable words that came. After years apart he had forgotten just how sharp the other ninja's ears were, he had let slip something he hadn't intended to share just yet and now there was no putting the kitty back into the box now. Not with these two who would almost certainly jump at the chance to rib him in return for all the times he had poked fun at them, especially the time he set Kana's team of Academy students up to semi-prank his sisters during an assignment. With a muttered (and this time almost inaudible) "first thing when Kimi becomes Hokage - put more deaf ninja into the ranks", the jounin resolved to get this particular situation resolved as soon as possible. At the three ninja's next stop for rest, he gave his comrades the bare-bones of his situation in the hope that - sated for now - they wouldn't ask any truly embarrassing questions later. "Her name is Kimiko. As in Katsumi Kimiko and I'm sure you two remember her. And if not you'll be seeing her soon enough since once I tell her you two are back in the village. Just one thing." Maybe it was the trace of Yuki blood in his veins on from his mothers side reacting to his thoughts, or perhaps it was just an observers imagination, but for a moment the air temperature seemed to drop several degrees at what was next said. "Keep your hands and eyes where they belong unless you want to wake up tied to a tree in Shi Mori in just your skivvies and covered in fresh blood." For once the jounin's expression was the stereotypical blank mask that gave nothing away, making it difficult to judge if he was serious or not. After all, the tale of how he had done just that to his former genin once as "motivational training" for a lackluster performance on a C-rank was still making the rounds of various watering holes in the village. To say nothing of the way a number of the villages known lechers would flinch, cover their privates, and beat a hasty retreat on sighting Toshiro. So it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that if the latent pervert in all males choose the wrong moment to surface in either Saitou or Kana they might find themselves in a similar situation. Possessive? Didn't even begin to describe the situation. He had no problem with Kimiko's male friends per say, but once certain lines of propriety were crossed Toshiro also had no problem with using... forceful persuasion to ward of poaching males.

On the heels of that spine-chilling warning the too-cheerful smile that barred all of Toshiro's teeth and crinkled his eyes was probably more disturbing than actually reassuring. Then he was again setting the hardest pace possible given the physical condition and needs of his teammates. "Oh I'm sure you'll both be invited. In fact Kana here won't have a choice in matter." With that the youngest member of the three looked back briefly with a grin would have shamed the most bloodthirsty of the oceans predators. "When you skipped out off the village Rangiku was rather... upset. She had planned to ask if you wanted to go on a date and then found out you hadn't even said goodbye to her. It took two genin teams several days to fix up the training grounds after she was done venting. For your sake I hope you can talk fast or run faster than she can move her wheelchair, otherwise you'll have to be fitted for clothes that go over a cast." While he was fairly certain that the older medic wouldn't have forgotten his eldest sister even after just one (that he knew of) chance meeting, the underlying tone of Toshiro's voice would have probably gotten the meaning across to a dead body. The sibling whose temper and cooking had once scared her brother into headlong flight hadn't forgotten about the medic she had taken a personal interest in and was probably still quite upset with his perceived abandonment of her affections. Nor was his other partner spared the jounin's twisted sense of irony and humor. "Though you might not get the option of not attending either Saitou." Fixing the tokubetsu with a one eye that glimmered with a rather disturbing mirth, Toshiro seemed to enjoy giving his comrade in arms fair warning about the fate that might await him back at the village. "You might remember my little sister Aki? Midget with brown hair in braid, the one who barreled into me during our little bomb episode? I hear she's on the hunt for an older boyfriend after her last one tried to put his hands where they didn't belong and lost the use of said hand. And she has a thing for odd hair colors with purple topping that list." Let it be known that whatever else he was, Hinamori Toshiro did give his fellows fair warning that they were in the sights of his more amorous family members. Even if it was mostly to watch them squirm at the idea.

By now closing in on their destination, Toshiro slowed to a more cautious pace as he led the group into the last traces of the forest. True to Kana's recollections, the cover along each side of the forest path woods had thinned as they entered rockier ground. For this, their last likely chance to plan and prepare, the jounin wanted to keep any unfriendly ears from listening in without being spotted. Having used the time between his purple-haired subaltern's suggestions and now, Toshiro partially acknowledged the suggestion to use technology to their advantage by pulling a headset and mic of his own out of a pouch and slipping it on with one hand. To that he added his verbal acknowledgement while pulling out a second headset in case Kana hadn't yet acquired one of his own. "I like it. Simple while preying on her likely weaknesses." Finishing up the final adjustment to his link to the others, Toshiro squatted down and with a purloined twig began to sketch out a somewhat more detailed version of his initial plan. Soon enough a rather crude drawing of the anticipated site of battle was scratched into the ground and the jounin began pointing to different areas while laying out the timeline - assuming chance didn't rear its ugly head - for the upcoming fight in a voice that could have belonged to a different person entirely. All traces of humor gone, the clipped and clinical way he delineated what amounted to a plan for the cold-blooded murder of someone who once had been a kunochi of Konoha. In that persons place was the shinobi who had faced one of the feared Seven Swordsmen of Hidden Mist and fought him to a draw. The ninja who could plan and execute the systematic extermination of a small settlement of privateers with a bone-chilling lack of anything resembling remorse or compassion. "The last reliable report put our target on the near shore of the lake. We're here, about ten minutes walk away. I'll go along the river with two shadow clones henged to look like you two. The Uchiha expects me to show up and she likely knows three of us left if she had a way to see if her "demands" were met. Best guess is she'll be expecting all three of us to show up like "honorable" Konoha shinobi." The faint edge in his voice made it clear just how low the jounin's regard for that concept was. "So we're going to show her what she expects to see but a different reality. While she's busy with me and the clones you two will circle around the fog and take up positions along the rim. When you're both in place Saitou will give the signal for first myself, then him, and finally Kana to attack in sequence. From there we play it by ear and remember - do not make eye contact unless you're ready to be hit with a genjutsu."

Plan, such as it was, laid out Toshiro gave his brothers-in-arms each a penetrating stare as if weighing their resolve to see this assignment through. Nor was it far from accurate; while their orders had emphasized capturing the rogue ninja, the jounin had other ideas. "Should you get the chance to make a kill shot, take it. Now if either of you have anything to add, do it now."

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

S

"This is it then, the calm before the storm. I think it best that I, as a water user, encircle around the edge of her that has the river beside her, so I can utilise it if need be. If you go around in the other direction, we should be able to launch attacks from multiple angles. I trust you'll know how to handle yourself and how to position yourself, but don't move from cover until that fog is in effect. Good luck, amigo."

"Chakra readings confirm that she's pretty damn strong. I've got a spot with cover and another one designated for the when the fog kicks in. Remember, if anyone gets caught in a genjutsu and you notice, chuck a senbon to their foot; minor pain will hopefully disrupt it. Toshiro-Senpai, Kana-San, I'm ready when you are. Get an all clear then let Toshi~poopy do his stuff."

bring it on

OOC:

Posts : 542

Kana would have almost chuckled aloud would it not for the imminent, and more than likely lethal situation that the pair were sprinting towards. To any listening to their conversation the trio might just as well be heading to a picnic or to some boyish prank like raiding a sleep over. However, Kana could hear the slight change in tone as Toshiro spoke of the mystery Fiancé. The young medic could not help but hinge his mouth open as an incredulous sound threatened to escape it. However, only a small hiss was able to be let out as Toshiro issued his warning. The reason was not that Kana had been scared speechless but it was a pleased sound that would have erupted into a joyous laugh. The pair in front of him had no idea the emotional changes that had occurred in the young medic since their last encounter. The threat was just a byproduct. However, a sudden chill filled the air as Toshiro turned a smiling face on him and Saitou. The barred teeth were like a sly hyena pretending to be dressed in grandmother’s clothing. An image of a fiery red head with immense strength and the body to show for it ran briefly through the mind’s eye of the young medic. A pleased smile appeared through his face. He nodded acknowledgement at the warning/compliment that the Hinamori gave him. It was known that the Hinamori were eligible bachelors, but their women were renowned for their passion and commitment. It pleased Kana to know that his existence had been noticed by such a specimen. His dress and demeanor were not memorable and at one time this had been enough for him but the past three years had taught him much about life and about memories. He even called ahead to the white haired leader “Please make sure to let her know I will be at her next physical therapy appointment.”
Injuries were a common occurrence of a shinobi’s life. The hospital worked round the clock to repair and return such assets to the field. However, they knew that the type a personalities of shinobi’s and challenges and other such shenanigans often kept them out of commission longer. These same ninjas would forego treatment and push their limits. It was due to this that the medical officer made it a mandatory requirement for all shinobi to have a clean bill of health before any of them could go on missions. These physical therapies were a cover to examine for further injuries that many of them considered to be “nothing”.
Kana then made a remark as he heard of the purple haired Masaki’s fate. “It appears the three of us have our share of female trouble. One no less dangerous than the other.” It seemed that Toshiro’s was drawing nearer because the leader slowed down and the trio landed in as secure an area as possible. It was here that the white haired weapon’s user put forth his plan with the input from Saitou. The medic gladly took the mic that was offered to him. In his mindless rush, he had forgotten to pack one. He continued to listen to the plan as he adjusted the mic and set it to station three. He put up three fingers to signal to his friends the frequency. Just in the event that the nukenin had retained any of her old Leaf gear and was eaves dropping.
The plan seemed sound. Skilled as Saitou, and Toshiro had become, the adversary was still a very dangerous Uchiha who was very high up in the bingo book. The plan was simple; in such cases that was the best way. Strategy is often best for missions were some items are fixed. However, individual battles are dynamic and honestly, a single fighter has the upper hand because they do not have to worry about hurting team mates or timing. Kana met Toshiro’s gaze in the same manner he had all those years ago when the pair had taken down the band of thieves. The sight communicated to his two friends that he was ready to give his life for their but unlike in the past, he knew that their life was more valuable than that. There was nothing left to say, his two friends had the rank to show that they had gone in many more missions and many more fights than he had. He was not even sure if he would be much help but support them he would.
Kana followed his purple haired senior and soon they came to the place of meeting. The sight in the moonlight could be the hot headed she-devil that wanted nothing else than to rip the very skin from Toshiro and would destroy anything that got in her way. One could almost sense the hate and killing intent wash over the shinobi of Konoha as the wind rippled the water of the Crater Lake. It was rumored that this lake was the place to settle old scores and that the soul of the looser was doomed to never leave the rim of the lake chained to the place of their dishonorable defeat.
The special Jounin then turned to him and suggested his actions. Others would have been annoyed at it but Kana knew his friend just wanted all three of them to come out alive. Toshiro would face the brunt of it and knowing his friend, Kana knew that all he needed to do was to provide a split second opening to finish the fight. He gave Saitou a nod and wink. The medic would be dammed if he was to die before catching up with his friends.
The young medic made his way in the opposite direction of his senior. He kept the grieving avenger on his left side with his right to the thinning woods. He moved efficiently and silently not wanting to cause some sort of sound that would betray the entire plan. Finally, when he was behind the ear angle of the konoichi, Kana stopped and pulled out his flute and his poisoned darts. Even if they were meant only to incapacitate, the longer the battle wore on and the sooner he got a scratch or something on the target the better the poison would work. There was little else to do than sit back and enjoy the show that his showy leader was bound to put up.

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

As he watched his partners and comrades move off into the gathering dusk, Toshiro kept the unvoiced prayer to any deity listening unsaid if no less sincere. Yes the Konoha-nin had numbers, partial surprise, and information on their side - factors that many would think guaranteed victory. As many advantages as the three Leaf-nin had, the jounin still knew that death or failure was a real possibility, especially when there opposition was likely to not be playing with a full deck. Thus when Saito and Kana were out of sight the solitary full jounin paused and formed the solitary seal for the "Shadow Clone" jutsu and let loose the bare minimum chakra for the technique. As soon as the resulting twin doppelgangers came into existence all three figure's appearance began to change like some shell game. One of the three took on the appearance of Kana, another Saito, and the last remained unchanged. It was that unaltered figure who quickly formed yet another clone, this one condensing from the moisture in the air, before his appearance also altered - this time into an otherwise unremarkable ANBU with an inu-mask. Then at an unspoken signal the gathered "Toshiros" scattered, the ANBU-masked figure and water clone heading towards where the Uchiha was supposed to be, the other two following behind and doing their best to remain out of sight.

It was that first pair who first spotted the cloaked and hooded figure waiting on the lake. Literally on the lake, no doubt trying to impress her opposition with chakra control and theatrics. Well that or actually paranoid enough that she was trying to avoid an earth-based attack from below but Toshiro doubted that for a number of reasons. Acknowledging his companion's good to go by "tisking" into his headset, the ANBU-masked figure and its watery duplicate moved onto the surface of the lake itself. Whatever the Konoha ninja might have expected the rogue kunochi to say in way of greeting, a hail of kunai that turned "Toshiro" into a pincushion was likely not their first guess. "Did you really think that pathetic of a clone would fool me?" Spoken with a voice that might have been called pretty under other circumstances, the palpable tint of grief-fueled madness under laying every syllable made it something else. Including a distraction as the water behind the ANBU-garbed doppelganger stirred and an identical copy of the missing-nin sans cloak rose into view, kunai held in a reverse grip and poised to stab downwards even as the figure . A stab that never came as a handful of shuriken moving far faster than they had any right to stitched a line up the spine of the the second missing-nin, who burst into the trademark smoke of a shadow clone. Seeing the Uchiha briefly focused on where the now-revealed "Kana" and "Saitou" were roosting at the edge of the woods on branches after their attack, the "ANBU" flickered out of existence. He reappeared behind the kunochi with one sword in a two-handed grip already starting its downward swing to bisect her.

Two kunai raised in a cross-block stopped that strike, even if the force made both arms quiver from the exertion. However Uchiha Sakura hadn't gained the highest ranking in the Bingo Book based on her (non-existent) figure. Instinctively making eye contact with her attacker, the kunochi's Sharigan eyes spun wildly as they sought to trap her adversary in an especially vicious genjutsu. She had just started to sneer in accompaniment to a gloating "I win." when she got not one but two slaps to the face. The first was that the figure was still applying pressure so for whatever reason the genjutsu wasn't eliciting the desired reaction. The second was a whisper-quite "you missed" from right behind just before her world exploded in an entirely new level of a familiar sensation. The sensation? Pain. The sharp, all-encompassing pain of being kicked with bone-shattering force right over the kidney and only slightly mitigated by rolling and skidding with the blow across the water. More than enough pain to stun the recipient or disperse a shadow clone along with no doubt causing some internal bleeding. The later was a concern for later however, as one glance as Sakura's dazed mind could only register that the figure who had been wearing Kana's visage was doing something while sporting a uncomfortably shark-like grin. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late as fog rose from the lake to blanket the area - cutting off the adversaries from sight. In that fog the only sound was the faint pop of two shadow clones dispersering to return their chakra to their creator, and Toshiro's cold taunting words. "Now the real fun begins."

Words that would also be the cue for his brothers-in-arms to take whatever potshots they could.

Chakra: 195 CP - 49 = 146 CP

Jutsu::

Sakura: 205 CP - 37 = 168 CP

Jutsu:

[ooc: Apologies for delay. Massive workload at the clinic now as we wind things down before closing.]

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

"Fog kicked in, target's amassing chakra for an attack. Hasn't moved much. I'm going low to launch her into the air, using water. She might move backwards a small bit. Kana, follow up."

"Y'alright, big bird?"

OOC:

Posts : 542

Kana sat perched on the highest possible branch as close to the watery lake as the thinning vegetation allowed without exposing himself. Thankfully, his lack of color flare and fashion know how worked to his benefit. The greyish white camouflage allowed the moonlit night to reflect off it as if the figure was nothing more than a break in the trees. His bushy hair and the cut of the uniform broke his silhouette and allowed him to remain unseen by the casual or careless onlooker. This would not be enough to hide him from an experience Shinobi let alone the owner of the Sharingan eye. This legendary appendage would not only be able to spot him at great distances but would be able to pick him out of the tree as if he was wearing holiday lanterns and screaming up and down. Thankfully, these dangerous orbs were not searching for him. They were concentrated on the two figures now approaching her. One looked like Toshiro the other sported the visage of an ANBU. Why the snowy haired leader had chosen this set up was beyond his comprehension. As a matter of fact, there was little in ways of information that Kana had on the adversary and less on his allies. He remembered some of their tactics but the three years had seen much change. He steadied his breathing. There might not be enough information to appease his hunger for analyzing but in the world of a Shinobi information might not be present or false. Instead, he decided to gather it first hand from the current battle. He strengthened his resolve as he saw the simple rouse accomplish nothing more than enrage the target. The ensuing two moves proving that the nukenin was not going to fight hand to hand but would rather kill her target from behind. This confused Kana, if one was so certain of their power and wanted to make the other suffer, frontal and painful attacks would be the action. This made Kana wonder if she was as grieved or battle maddened as they might have believed. Regardless, the prowess of the contestants was obvious as the kinoichi all but decimated the fake Toshiro and his own clone along with the cloned Saitou sent projectiles of their own to
This gave Kana an idea, a small number of pigeons can anger and even defeat an eagle if they get it mad and tired enough. What if the trio could harass and enrage the konoichi so that she would lose all sense of battle tactics or composure. Then again, a sedated lion is not much dangerous than a cat. He could use some of his Raiton Jutsu, but the close proximity between that and his friends could be both good and bad. Despite his newly achieved rank of Chunnin, Kana had little in the way of high level jutsu. His close combat was purely defensive and he was more used to being a support member than an actual combatant. Still something had to be done.
The young medic was still in his deliberations when he heard a quick tsk and Saitou announcing that he was going in. That crushed the chance to use a Raiton Jutsu and actually added to the danger as the second in command rushed in with some wild combo.
The display was indeed amazing as the purple haired friend had gone from being a water sword close combat user to an adept at using the full nature of the liquid element. The dragon that rose from the depths could be the equal of any mythical creature of which Kana had read in his long hours in the library. However, the monster did little more than to move the she devil from her perch as she sought to avoid the incoming threat. Acrobatic motions brought her safe from the initial surge but the dragon kept coming out of the water. She would be hit if the nukenin was a lesser shinobi. Yet Kana was not in the position to simply watch. He knew she could merely throw a powerful Katon fire ball at the rising dragon and the water would evaporate. This would actually work in the trio’s favor. The biggest threat was the tomoe eyes and if they maintained her in the crater and neutralized such eyes with fog or other such venue it would help their continuous and covert assaults.
Following this thread of though, Kana brought two Kunai from his pouch and attached it to a respective kunai. Knowing that the target would hardly be hit, he let them fly to stand in between the senpai and the vengeful female. The two projectiles flew in the air a soft whistle the only indication of their acceptance of their sacrifice. The explosive notes already singing as the explosive elements were activated. The young medic did not stay and watch their flight as the trailing smoke all but gave his position away. In time, the duo of Kamikazes would explode between the airborne Konoichi and the bird riding Saitou. The smoke from the explosion should be enough to cover his friends retreat and the feeble attack continue to harass and enrage the already maddened femme.

Spoiler:

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Shrouded in the fog of his own making and lacking the extra sense for chakra that his temporary teammate had, Toshiro was effectively blind to their actions for the most part. A mix of pure luck and knowing the signs of its formation had given the jounin enough warning to slide out of the danger zone of Saitou's water dragon when it broached the surface of the lake. Momentarily seeing his adversary, her primary tool for avoiding attacks rendered all but useless, sent skywards through the resulting momentary break in the mist made having to abruptly drop his planned attack an acceptable lose. Even if the kunochi appeared to sustain no lasting physical harm from the attack by twisting to only be struck a glancing blow, Toshiro was certain that it had other effects that weren't visible. He was less enthused about whichever one of the pair had thrown the tagged kunai between the kunochi and himself. Then again most people would have been just a twinge upset as well if one ear was currently ringing due to being a bit too close to an explosion caused by ones erstwhile ally(s) gambling taking a pretty much random guess where you weren't. Giving his head another shake in a (vain) effort to somewhat mute the ringing, Toshiro tried to puzzle out just what the Uchiha would try next while she was likely recovering her own wits. If he had been in the kunochi's place the course of action would have been clear. Sink below the surface and swim for the timber. With her greatest weapon neutralized and facing one near-equal and two unknown hostiles the smart thing would be to try again at some future date. A mix of intuition and experience however had the jounin confident that this was one opponent who wouldn't retreat no matter how hopeless her situation became.

Now that he had gotten a chance to judge the rogue ninja's demeanor with his own eyes, Toshiro was having to quickly revaluate the plan he had formed. Especially when the sound of someone landing feet-first onto the surface of the lake was followed by a rapid raise in the local temperate. Even with the numerous times he had spared with Kimiko, Toshiro knew what was headed his way. Cutting that kept him on the waters surface the jounin went under and swam for the relative safety of the deeper parts of the lake. Behind him he could feel the water rise to outright bloody hot levels as the Uchiha boiled off the mist and a fair amount of surface water with an animated serpentine flamethrower. Vision distorted by the water around him, Toshiro didn't see that Saitou had literally taken to the high ground. If he had then what he did next probably wouldn't have been quite so imprecise. With the exaggerated motions that came from doing anything under water, the jounin pulled several shuriken from one of the front pockets of his vest and threw them in the general direction of his target after flipping so that he was facing upwards. Kicking upwards with his legs, Toshiro formed several hand seals for one of the more basic wind techniques in his arsenal. Aided by the Gale Wind Palm and their owns prodigious physical strength, the wrought-iron throwing weapons actually had a fair amount of the speed they normally did on exiting the water. Any remaining deficiency was made up by sheer numbers as Toshiro finished the seals for the second half of what was referred to as his "dodge this" combination. Suddenly a "paltry" three shuriken became a far more impressive three hundred pointy implements that set the missing-nin into a frenzy of acrobatics to avoid being hit as one of the less-obvious downsides to her chosen battleground showed itself. Small it may be the lake was still large enough than the various logs and boulders that might have been used for a well-timed replacement jutsu were as out of reach as the moon. And because the lake was unusually deep there was a pronounced lack of similar objects in reach below the surface.

Adversary forced to focus purely on avoiding on becoming a twin to the stump behind the Academy that students sometimes used for unsupervised (and forbidden) target practice using real weapons Sakura didn't notice the jounin rapibly swimming up to the surface. Nor did she make note of the four clones that abruptly went the opposite direction with each holding an explosive tag in its hand. With the covering mist gone Toshiro was going to have to change his game plan a bit. The first indication of that was that as soon as his head was above the water the jounin tapped the on button for his headset even as he was regaining his footing on the water. "She hits the water, fry her."

------------------------
Toshiro:Chakra: 146 CP - 42 = 104 CP

Jutsu:

Sakura: 168 CP - 16 = 152 CP

Jutsu:

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

know

"Alright, Sesame street, here's the plan. I'm going to crawl into your mouth, and you're going to dive bomb; at the last moment, swerve upwards, twist your head towards the Uchiha and open wide. I'll jump out and launch my attack, then you swerve and head straight upwards. The sudden change in direction of the threat and the general surprise should hopefully catch her off guard. It would probably be best I avoided making the slightest contact of the water around her after what I'm going to do, so I'll use some double-wound string so you can elevate me. From there, give me a moment so I can remount, then we'll go back up, circle, and see if there's anything else we can do. Got it? Good, not much time. GO!"

OOC:

Sorry for the delay on this one, guys.

Word Count = 936

Jutsu Used:

Quote :: Name: Raikou Raion Unari - Lightning Lion's Roar
Rank: A
Type: Ninjutsu
Range: Close (0~5m) Mid (5~10m) Far (10m+)
Element: Raiton [Lightning]
Description:
Activation
This jutsu requires a string of handseals in order to be activated. When this is done, the user must charge their hand with chakra before running it across their arm, from just above the forearm down to the tip of their hand. This will release the chakra about their arm, which will not make contact with their skin but rather hover about an inch away from it.

First Stage - On Arm Usage
The raiton chakra will have no defensive properties whatsoever, and any attacks launched upon the arm charged with this chakra will land as per usual. A B rank wind technique would be capable of disrupting this jutsu whilst it is still about the users arm, if it impacts with the affected area specifically with enough force. This jutsu can be used in an offensive manner whilst still attached to the user; it can be used for jabbing and swiping, and the chakra will do additional damage to a high degree to the target if it makes contact. Whilst still on the arm of the user, it can jump out to a victim who is a maximum of two feet away and shock them, but it is incapable of grabbing, pulling, pushing and the like. However, the pain and damage caused by the shock may repel the enemy. These movements are not a natural reaction and must be done by the user who must be aware of the person around him. This jutsu can only remain in the 'first state' for a maximum of 2 posts - in the third post this jutsu is active, it must enter its final phase, or be cancelled.

Second Stage - Throwing
When the user wishes, or when this jutsu reaches its time limit, this final stage can/must be activated. The user straightens their arm and aims it in one direction. The chakra will then shoot off the user's hand like a cannon bullet, or a thrown spear. As the spear leaves the arm, a lion's face will appear at the front, and the noise of the large chakra concentration moving quickly is compared to that of a lion's roar. This blast has such a high density of chakra that it is capable of blocking physical weapons when detached from the user, and can go beyond the distance of ten metres.

Overall - The Damage
This jutsu can tear through Doton [earth] shields of S rank, but is vulnerable to B rank wind techniques and above. When in its second stage, the chakra concentration is of such a high, raw density it can block physical projectiles with ease if they are not supported with high level chakra boosts. The jutsu itself can tear through rock and trees with ease and continue going, at a decreased speed of course, and with a lesser impact. At full speed, it can rip through skin, cause large burns, break bones and rupture organs, if the attack is not avoided or weakened. In its first state, coming into contact with the chakra can have similar effects, breaking skin and causing burns, but may not have a high level impact due to the lack of speed.
Chakra Cost: 23 (6 Per Post)

Chakra:

Initial Chakra: 113
Chakra Used: 23
Chakra Remaining: 113 - 23 = 90

Equipment Used:

String - 10 Metres - Source: Chūnin kit

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

OOC:

Only peripherally aware when of Saitou putting into what he would describe as an "utterly reckless and insane idea", the vast majority of Toshiro's attention was given to his adversary. Having avoided the majority of the cloned shuriken, Sakura had landed on the water while spitting a flurry of small fireballs at the one Konoha ninja she wanted dead above all others. A flurry said ninja avoided with a burst of speed that left an after-image in his place only to reappear behind the rogue kunochi, sword already stabbing at her spine. A strike that was avoid by its target twisting aside only to practically step into Saitou's incoming attack. Maybe it was the crackle of lightning or the distinct smell of ozone that gave Sakura warning, but through whatever means the kunochi barely avoided taking the full brunt of the blast by appearing to disperse in a shower of sakura blossoms. For a moment Toshiro was stock-still at how the rogue had avoided what should by all rights have been her demise before emitting a snarl of fury as he remembered all the times his big sister Momiji had done the same thing. Quickly reversing his grip on the sword held in his right hand, Toshiro stabbed downward into his foot - the abrupt pain dispersing the genjutsu. Simultaneously his other hand drew his second blade from its scabbard, catching the shorter ninjato that had been aimed for his neck. At the other end of the short blade was a very bedraggled and clearly frustrated Uchiha, the charred remnants of her vest and shorts testament to the nearness with which Saitou's jutsu had come to ending the fight. How she had escaped was also apparent in how soaked she was - having copied Toshiro's method of dropping below the water in the absence of anything for a body replacement. A quick rearwards jab from the bloodied blade he had removed form his foot sent the rogue sliding backwards as a second Sakura, equally battered and disheveled, had also wavered into view almost a dozen meters in the opposite direction in the midst of a string of handseals.

Seals that Toshiro decided right then that he wasn't going to allow her to finish. The jutsu itself might be unknown to him, but anything that took enough handseals that it hadn't already been finished had to be bad news for its target. Second blade just clearing its scabbard the jounin seemed to teleport across the intervening distance, swords swinging in a classic high-low double slash. Had either connected the fight would have ended (assuming it was the real Sakura making the seals) as the combination of raw power and a sharp edge would have swiftly parted flesh and bone as on so many other occasions. Instead the ring of steel impacting steel came twice as Sakura's own ninjato and dagger managed to (barely) halt the two swords just shy of their target. Annoyed at the bits of his own technique, no doubt hurriedly copied, he saw the jounin gave a demonstration of exactly why skills learned are superior to those stolen. A surge of raw strength coupled with minor changing in stance and grip made the Sakura blocking Toshiro's swords stumble then go flying as a straight kick connected with her abdomen. Too late for the jounin's plan however, as even while the blades were biting into Sakura's neck and legs the words "Jigoku no Odori" could be heard. Then the area around the three ninja erupted into a torrent of hungry flames that encircled the remaining pair even as the "killed" Sakura exploded in the tell-tale smoke of a shadow clone.

The roar of the fire drowning out any shouts from the pair still outside the wall of flames, inside the pair of shinobi readied themselves for what would be (each hoped) be the end of their clash.

Toshiro: Chakra: 104 CP - 23 = 81 CP

Jutsu:

Sakura: 152 CP - 65 = 87 CP

Jutsu:

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

wanted

"Big bird, I'm going to try conserve chakra, just in case, so launch a suiton ninjutsu at that mass of fire, see what happens. Toshiro's in there, if he goes one on one with that bitch, we won't be able to pitch in. Of course, this is exactly what she wanted... A duel to the death. See if you can extinguish it, but I think it's too powerful even for that; it'll probably just boil and vaporise any liquids that come into contact with it. I don't really know how else we can help him out... Shit, let me think."

"This bastard looks too strong to break with a normal suiton, I don't have anything powerful enough in my arsenal. My only suggestion is too launch multiple attacks and hope the plethora of chakra will overwhelm the wall; I'm going to send a couple of B ranks at it, my summon will send one too, all water nature. Toshi~poodles, you've got some advanced Suiton releases, right? Send your strongest straight at the very top point of the dome; Kana-san, pitch in with anything explosive or the like, but avoid Fuuton. Enough force might just bring this bitch down and we can fight our weakened opponent like normal. If this fails, I'll conjure an apparition of myself inside there and try to confuse her. I'm afraid that's all I can think of. Any better plans?"

OOC:

Posts : 542

A twinge of anger reverberated through Kana’s stomach. The feeling left an aching feeling on his physique and a scar on his mind. The abilities of the three shinobi from Konoha were as far apart as their ranks suggested. The junior member of the team was only a Chunnin and this was only in respective rank perhaps not in ability. There was much that the young medic had to learn and this fight was teaching him fast. His feeble attempt had not only been futile but it had almost incapacitated one of his own team mates. An opponent such as the Uchiha was formidable enough that such tactics would be annoying at best. He saw the two of his team mates perform tricks and tactics learned through battle and blood. The white haired leader had launched a sneaky and strategic strike from beneath the waves. The familiarity with Suiton giving him the knowledge to know what strength and what force to send his shuriken at the target. However, long range attacks were of little avail as the she devil was adept at staying alive and as long as there was a fraction of distance between the tool of death and her, she would be able to dodge.
The peppered haired young man had no time for further analyzing as a purple haired senior nin launched his reckless and flashy attack. The air literally became a live with the birth of an electric lion. The roar of thunder that naturally accompanied lighting was even more deafening at the close distance and the sudden disturbance it caused in the surrounding air. The ruble reverberated through the sunken lake as the summoned lion pounced on the apparent target hell bent on tearing the flesh from the kinoichi’s bones with lighting fangs. The light dispersed and flared as the target was hit and Kana squinted to see the charred remains of the vest which had adorned her figured fluttered in the wind. This apparent victory might have been the reason why Toshiro seemed to be distracted and stabbing at air. The second that it took the young medic to realize that his friend was in danger when the sudden glimmer of a fast moving shadow appeared behind the white haired young man. The distance was too great to do anything and the milli second lag between the radios would be death if it was not for the Hinamori’s battle experience. A seemingly self-mutilation awoke him from what could have been nothing else than a Genjutsu and quick battle reflexes saved the medic’s friend from decapitation.
The female assassin no doubt would have kept the head for display if her plan had not been foiled. As it was, the young Chunnin felt the pang of desperation of one watching a deadly struggle and feeling powerless to do more than watch and hope that his meager support was enough to change the fate of the injured. This feeling increased dramatically as an enormous wall raging fire materialized from the explosion of thousands of atoms exited by the release of powerful chakra. The fire would no doubt burn to the bone any flesh and boil any water for meters below the surface so no heaven could be found there. As if on cue in analyzing the situation the capable Saitou pitched in with a plan. Normally the dynamic mind of the young medic was able to capitalize on any situation but his current power level and the speed at which he had to cope with the fight was leaving hi empty handed. However, his mind would not simply sit still. While it was true that wind could fan fire due to the rich oxygen that it carried, such bait could also drive it to and fro.
Under this assumption Kana began to make his way across the lake whose water had begun to lap and leap with all the action going on in its near center. The young medic tapped his com also to relay his plan.
“Saitou-san, I do not have anything strong enough to extinguish the flame but I might be able to weaken the wall so that your combined Suiton can break through. I shall aim at the left side of the wall nearer Toshiro-San; you should see the winds shift the wall. It shall be easier if both of you aim from the inside going in the direction of the flow.”His tactic of getting nearer was not merely to release his jutsu. Kana had another plan in mind. His body moved as fast as he could go the blood in his heart pumping into his legs demanding more speed from them. His hands were not idle as he ran through the series of hand seals that would allow for his chakra to materialize the giant tornadoes he had in mind. Feet and hands blurring with speed, the young medic finishes his short stream of seals. With a resounding and powerful shout the tanned shinobi released his attack. At his verbal command “Futon Kamikaze!” a line of tornadoes snaked forward from his immediate front and danced towards the left side of the wall. As they did so they turned from simple wind vortexes to water spouts as the licked the top of the lake. The line of tornadoes, one behind the other hid the left side of the wall at a glancing blow. Direct impact would dissipate or swallow them but the glancing blows would dent the fire inward at the impact and outward as the fire tried to selfishly turn the oxygen for its own murderous purposes. The result was a disruption in the wall that would concave on the inside leaving a weak spot. The water had also helped diminish the wall further in that particular spot. The weak dent was nothing more than a small scratch providing a window of only a body or so. As the second and third of the six whirlwinds hit the wall Kana shouted into his mic. “NOW!”
The young shinobi hoped this initial plan worked and that the godly wind lived up to its name as he continued running towards the temporally weakened wall. The second phase of his plan forming if it was needed.

Spoiler:

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Ducking just enough that the ninjato's blade cut air instead of him, Toshiro used the hilt of his off-hand sword of to slap away the follow-up dagger strike. Before Sakura could recover from her failed attack the rogue had to dodge a kick to her chest then a backhanded slash at the face by moving back as fast as she could. A decision that proved a mistake because in doing so enough room was created for an upward slice that did land, cutting a shallow groove from thigh to shoulder. Since the cut wasn't extremely deep however the kunochi wasn't immediately aware of the price her latest attempt to end the fight had extracted from her hide until her feet again touched the water's surface. First was the burning ache that was the bodies way to telling the mind "you're hurt idiot, don't move", then came an abrupt chill that had very little to do with fear. It went right along with the "eeep" of shock that the kunochi voiced at finding herself clad only in her undergarments after the tattered remnants of vest and shorts had finally given up the ghost. A sound that accompanied her instinctive attempt to cover up as much as possible using her arms while shooting a glare that by all rights should have caused Toshiro to combust into black flames on the spot. As for Toshiro he was cursing his choice of attack. In studiously avoiding looking at the kunochi's face to avoid eye contact he had been watching her upper body to anticipate her next action and had gotten an eye full at the moment when the clothing had lost all integrity. It was only through desensitization thanks to his siblings bouts of shamelessness and the iron will that came from keeping his baser impulses in control through his girlfriend/ fiance's teasing that he didn't make the mistake of looking away. The combination however wasn't enough to keep one detached part of his mind from noting that of all the factors that could decide the battle between one S-rank and one near-S-rank ninja, terminal embarrassment due to wardrobe malfunction would probably have never made ninety-nine point nine percent of the lists.

Which is why it probably would decide this particular outcome, because in the moments while his adversary was attempting to protect her modesty before sense reasserted itself, Toshiro had time to fully consider two events. First was Saitou then Kana announcing their intent to bust him out (not that he couldn't have simply dove underwater and swam out at any time) through brute force, and that Sakura had ended up almost exactly in a line between himself and the section of fiery wall that strained under the brunt of the other two shinobi's jutsu. Even better was that she stood right over a rather nasty surprise was waiting for anyone who took a dip into the water. Seizing the opportunity, the jounin didn't bother to respond to his teammates, instead flipping his swords so that they ended up under his armpits edge-down while his hands formed the seals for the most destructive suiton technique in his arsenal. 'Bird, ox, boar, tiger, dragon, rabbit, dragon, bird' and so on until the final bird seal was reached. While not a world-shattering kinjutsu, Suiton: Daibakufu was worthy of its name, as the rushing circle of water that had formed around Toshiro released a volume of water that wouldn't have been out of place in a truly awe-inspiring waterfall.

As Toshiro was nearing the final seals of his jutsu, his opponent was finally coming to her senses. On instinct copying the jutsu she was facing, for once in her years as a ninja Sakura was a situation where she was at a total loss. The knowledge gained from copying Toshiro's technique was enough for her to realize that she had nothing in her own arsenal that could counter it and because the jounin refused to meet her gaze genjutsu was out of the picture as well. In desperation she tried to start her own Great Waterfall technique, hoping to at least blunt the force of Toshiro's attack with her own if not completely counteract the jutsu. A course of action she had to abandon after only finishing one-third of the handseals, having been unable to overcome Toshiro's lead and her own lack of affinity for, to say nothing of practice with, water jutsu as a veritable ocean of hungry liquid sought to smash and drown her. Aware that if the torrent of water connected, much less drove her into her own fire jutsu, she would be a world of hurt Sakura again copied her opponents method of dodging incoming attacks. Only this time when she opened her eyes at the feel of water over her head the first thing she saw was Toshiro. Four actually and before she would wonder why the clones hadn't already run her through the one directly in front grinned like a predator as the explosive tag on its chest glowed and exploded just like the other three. The resulting simultaneous explosions hurled the nuke-nin, even more battered and sporting several cracked bones in addition to ruptured eardrums, back up into the jet of water. A jet which had "bored" a hole into them fiery dome already weakened by Kana's (and hopefully Saitou's) attacks and carried its unwilling passenger high into the air to slam against one of the cliff walls several feet above the water with bone-snapping force.

At that point most ninja would have called an end to the fighting, seeing no need to continue hammering on an adversary who had to be approaching the edges of exhaustion and suffering serious trauma if not dead from impact alone. To say nothing of being in a state of (un)dress (the remnants of her clothing being no match for the abrasive force of that much water) that had she remained conscious would add total mortification to the list. Toshiro wasn't most however, as a genin having firmly espoused the belief thta that the best enemy is a dead one, and his choice of finishing technique proved that age hadn't changed that particular aspect of his personality. Sliding a palm over a shallow cut along his arm that had come from a poorly-dodge dagger strike during their exchange of blows, the blood-stained hand ran through the three seals required for the technique before being slammed against the lakes surface. Out of the billowing smoke that resulted shot a blur of white which resolved into the jounin's second summon. At almost ten meters above the surface Kanako abruptly winged over, releasing five objects the size and shape of tanto blades that began to spin even as their mistress did. As if she was part of ballet and not on a field of battle the hen kept up her spin, at the end releasing four of her five blades. Whether by her summoner's unheard order or the pheasants own decision. the first four blades impacted non-lethal areas - one embedding itself the palm of each hand and another in each. Biting deep into the weathered and slightly crumbly stone the result left the missing-nin staked spread-eagle to the wall while the fifth blade spun in a circle on one taloned foot while its wielder perched on the water with the other. At that point it was pretty obvious that the fight had gone out of Sakura, but Toshiro's voice still carried the age-old query to the ears of all present even as he approached over the water with sword in hand. "Yield or die."

Toshiro: Chakra: 81 CP - 37 = 44 CP

Jutsu:

Kanako: 50 CP - 14 = 36 CP

Jutsu:

Sakura: 87 CP - 24 = 63 CP

Jutsu:

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

"I shall not yield, for I am not one of such meagre resilience as a shinobi of Konohagakure. You disappoint me, coming in numbers when a vendetta is called. You do not bring about honour to yourselves, nor your village. The lot of you are cowards, bringing shame and despair to those you represent and stand for, and you shall be smitten, be it by fate or by the powers that are. Now, take what is yours. Claim victory, for it is all that is left to do."

Spoiler:

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

OOC: 6 days over-due with no message, skipping Kana's post.

It would be so easy for Toshiro to comply with the defeated kunochi's "request". One quick flick of the wrist or a nod to his summon and the rogue's shoulders would be relieved of the burden that was her head. So what was stopping him? Probably the same thoughts that brought a very predatory smirk to his face as he stalked close enough to wrap one hand around her throat. Sakura's expression alone was enough to see the first hints of true terror beyond the grief. Terror that he was going fulfill her request but in less-than-painless way as the rising pressure around her windpipe bore out. Then the pressure was gone and while Sakura was greedily taking in a lungful of air words were whispered in her ear. "I think not Uchiha. You threatened an entire village to get this fight because your boy-toy joined a bunch of murdering rapists that were scheduled for extermination. You surrendered any claim to be more than a rabid animal after that." And Toshiro meant every word of it. As far as he was concerned the kunochi had thrown away any pretense of humanity (including "honor") when she tried to use the village as hostages in a private dispute. While the jounin had little love for the village as a whole, the idea of using an entire village of people just to settle a private score irked him both professionally and personally. Especially after she had tried to lecture the three Konoha-nin about "honor" when as far as the Hinamori was concerned she had none. Hypocrites like that never failed to annoy Toshiro and it was that annoyance that caused Sakura to receive a hard backhand to her face as the jounin took a step back. A backhand that, combined with the steel pellets in Toshiro's glove, no doubt bruised if not broke the recipients jaw in addition to snapping her head back against the cliff wall with enough force to instantly terminate consciousness.

When Sakura's head rolled forward in a clear indication that she was completely helpless now Toshiro began to remove the blades pinning the kunochi to the wall. He took great care to make sure that no further damage was done to the weapons, but the same could not be said for the person they held to the wall. He might not have gone out of his way to inflict more damage but whenever a choice between damaging the blade or the prisoner came up the later invariably lost out. Nor did the prisoner's state stop the jounin from using a rather excessive amount of wire in binding the trio's prisoner. Only after Sakura was rendered completely helpless did Toshiro step back and motion for Kana - as the team's only medic - to make sure the missing-nin wasn't in immediate danger of dying. Immediate because, unless something utterly unbelievable such as a finding a mind-control seal was found on her, after the village's resident sadists striped her mind of anything useful she would almost certainly be executed.

While Kana was busy making sure their prisoner would survive the trip home, Toshiro had moved a bit back and gestured for Saito to follow him. As the pair left their medic under the watchful eye of Toshiro's summon, the jounin explained that since Sakura hadn't been burdened with a pack or scrolls (that he could tell) he was guessing she had a camp of some sort nearby. And if there was any information that might be of value to the village not in her head then it would be there so it behooved the ninja to find it before some scavenging bear or other critter destroyed in while hunting for food.

It wasn't until both ninja where out of sight that three shadows detached themselves from the leafy canopy above to soundlessly land on the forest floor. Shrouded in the gathering darkness the only note-worthy details an observer might have noticed were that all three were short (the tallest being at least a head below Kana), wore what might be termed "battle kimonos", and carried rather large folding fans on their backs. Two of the shadows followed the pair of battle-worn ninja while the third dashed off in the direction from which they had come.

Toshiro: Chakra: 44 CP - 3 CP = 41 CP

Jutsu:

Kanako: 36 CP - 4= 32 CP

Jutsu:

Sakura: 87 CP - 24 = 63 CP

Jutsu:

Posts : 542

OOC: Sorry for the lateness again

It all happened too fast for Kana. His feet still floated in the disturbed lake following all the commotion. The gigantic wave which was spun by his white haired leader left a bitter metallic taste in the young medic’s mouth. There had once been a time when the Kana had called the Hinamori friend, and if the desires of his fiery sister were to come to pass a brother. However, the display of power by both he and Saitou made the young Chunnin realize that he was eons away from their skill and experience. A steely resolved began to harden inside his stomach as if moving away needless things. He had been invited due to his familiarity with the two but soon realized that he was no more use than a band aid to patch up a paper cut.
He turned to see the flying figure of Saitou as he sat perched atop his huge summon. This made him realize he had yet another mile stone to complete. It was well known that shinobi relied on the added advantage that summons brought to their arsenal. A loyal summon would risk life and limb for their master or friend and the odds would always be better with increased numbers. The senior shinobi dismounted and made his way to Toshiro. It was only right that he who had helped the most be allowed to witness the end. They stood as two pillars and for the first time in a long time, Kana felt lonely.
The young medic watched the proceedings, saw the two stand above their prey like hunting birds eager to see more blood but being denied it due to the bloody mess. Kana had spent three years helping others, friends or foe in disguise. He had seen families being torn by war and mere poverty. His hands had held newborn and those who had given their last breath. As a medic, his calling was to save life. As a shinobi, his calling was to end it. The life of a shinobi was that of a blade, eventually they would draw blood. Would he ever truly be a shinobi again? Would taking life help preserve it?
His musings came to an end as Toshiro motioned him to help. In this at least the leader showed compassion that perhaps would not have been returned would the situations be reversed. The ragged and bloody Kunoichi would more than likely have loved making the three wail and scream in pain before she left them to die and be eaten by the carrion birds. Kana approached the broken female. There was no sadness in his heart for her, just the concern of a medic for a patient. Kana bandaged her and used enough Mystic hand to close her wounds and prevent bleed out but he did not heal her further. He also took the precaution of binding her eyes with spare gauze to make sure an accidental look into those Sharingan eyes would result in a deadly getaway.
His job being completed, Kana stood and waited for the pair to finish their talk. He eyed the summon of his leader. The giant bird looked back at him as if he was nothing worth musing over and instead scanned the surroundings. It seemed to the young medic that the bird was somewhat annoyed by the babysitting assignment it was given and chose to ignore the pair of humans in its charge.
Having nothing better to do, the Chunnin also scanned the horizon looking for a place to better restrain and defend should the prisoner or any unknown ally would come looking for them. He hoped that if this happened his own weak power would be enough to assist. Then again he remembered the bird was left in charge so it would once again fall to Kana to provide support. How low had he fallen that he was the charge of a summon?

Spoiler:

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

OOC: Since our posting order is SNAFU and its been 7 days skipping (again) and restarting. Next up is Winged and if no reply in 3 days then Kana.

Call it instinct or a sixth sense from surviving a deadly profession that killed or forcibly retired over half its members by the time they hit twenty-five. Heck you could call it whatever you damn well wanted and Toshiro simply wouldn't care. What he did care about was the growing unease - manifesting as an itch between his shoulders - that kept him looking over his shoulder. After what felt like the hundredth time Toshiro was about to ask Saitou if his summon was tailing them when a sudden and hard kick to the side sent the tokubetsu's flying into some underbrush and provided the jounin with a spring board to land against the side of a tree where he stuck himself with one hand shielding his eyes. Just in time to avoid being roasted by the torrent of wind-enhanced fire as a torrent of fire and wind landed at the space the pair had occupied. Even from where he crouched Toshiro had felt the heat of that blast and the intensity of the fire had robbed him of his night vision for a moment. Fortunately that same blast of flame also robbed the ambushers of that same faculty, giving the two Konoha-nin a chance to spot their attackers instead being completely blindsided.

Two kunochi maybe around fifteen were perched on two of the larger branches - one with her hands still in the tora seal that ended many Katon techniques, the other with a full-sized war fan open and held behind her. Both maybe fifteen, certainly no older than eighteen, dressed in the short-cut "battle kimono's" that were popular among younger kunochi. Where the attack had come from was as obvious as the twin scowls on the pairs face - no doubt the female pair had expected their attack to inflict at least serious damage if not end the confrontation. While outwardly Toshiro worked to keep a blank, slightly irritated, expression inwardly he was swearing like a sailor told his next shore leave was in a dry town. Help for them arriving in the middle of battle? Yes. Waiting in ambush at the start? Definitely. Coming to the rescue after the dust settled and his side was low on chakra? That was one event he had not factored into his plans and now it had come back to bite him on the rear. Even if his wild guess, based on the paltry amount of information that he could glean in a few seconds, put no higher than low-chuunin. Still enough to be a royal pain in the behind given how depleted he felt though. Almost enough to make him consider trying to talk his way out of the situation. "Figures. I don't suppose you girls could go back to playing with your dolls while the adults are doing their thing?"

Emphasis on almost. Then again Toshiro's idea of "talking ones way out of trouble" usually translated into getting the other guy so angry they forgot whatever plan they had in favor of trying to tear you limb from limb. So maybe he had planned on suddenly having to duck a war fan used as a club that was swung by one hot-tempered pink-haired female ninja infuriated at his attitude. Angry enough that when her first swing failed to connect the fan opened again and Toshiro had to almost bend double at the waist to avoid the point-blank Kamitachi that nearly took his head off. A clever dodge that left him wide open the follow-up closed fan swung like a bat to the gut which sent the jounin skidding along the ground until he righted himself. Even if the rough flight did give him time to get a sword in hand to block the skull-crushing overhead swing before shoving his assailant backward. Or maybe he had just said the first thing on his mind. "Shesh, what an uncute tomboy with a gorilla's temper to go with the face. Taking out a bad hair day on others is not going to make your figure grow you know." Foot in mouth strikes again as Toshiro had to dodge and parry or be turned into a training post for one pissed-off kunochi armed with a blunt instrument of pain. He would have to leave Saitou and Kana to their own devices for avoiding their attackers.

Toshiro: Chakra: 41 CP - 1 = 40 CP

Jutsu:

Kanako: 32 CP - 4= 28 CP

Jutsu:

Rin: 80 CP - 13 = 67 CP

Jutsu:

Hana: 80 CP - 8 = 72

Jutsu:

Posts : 542

The growing twilight cast its light on hidden eyes which beheld the figures of a giant bird, a white clad shinobi and a bound figure. The three had relocated from the place of the last blow was struck by the white haired Hinamori to an easier to defend shallow cave. The bird preened its feathers as it sat in the entrance and covered half of it with its girth. The young medic Kana checked on the patient every now and then to make sure she was stable. The medic had even gone as far as to clean her wounds. He had closed them with chakra but had made sure they could still burst open should she try to attack. The blood loss would kill her faster due to that lost already from the battle. There was a slight fever but nothing life threatening.
The cat like eyes, almond shape and supple as was adequate of orbs belonging to a teen girl, lost interest in the white clad male and instead turned to the animal. She had watched the battle and had not been impressed with the medic's abilities. She considered the bird to be the biggest challenge to her. Rias adjusted her giant fan. The movements where cat like, subtle silent. She trained her eyes again on the trio. She ran scenarios in her head on the best way to retrieve the body and exit that would be the least dangerous for her.
Rias fixed her eyes on the bound kinouchi. There was not love or even concern in them. Sakura had been a harsh teacher. Her back still sported the lashes of punishment dished out by their mentor after a failure. Many of them were nothing more than rage fueled lashings just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was not love in her heart for her but she had taken them in, had taught them. Rias, the weakest of the three siblings, would have died of hunger or fallen prey to stronger predators. Now, she was more than capable but she still needed more to learn. This is why she had agreed to rescue Sakura. Her thirst for the knowledge the Uchiha could bestow upon them was worth the risk. But was it worth their life?
Reluctance sang loud and long in her heart. Sakura had taught them much but had slowly been pulling back. The trio had begun to flourish in both womanhood and skill. The paranoid kunoichi had feared their progress. Her lessons had been more on how to avoid her than in actually learning. She had not been the only one who had noticed their development. Her boyfriend had been increasingly bent on harassing them. When Rias had complained a bloody lip had been her master's reply. The boyfriend had them in his clutches. There were more than one time when the young girl had thought of killing him herself but was secretly glad to know that the Leaf had saved her the trouble.
Rias had thought that the death of the man would lift the spell placed on Sakura and return some of her mental presence but it had done the opposite. Night after night the trio had to chase after ghosts and train until the bone for vendetta. So why was she here? There was no debt to pay; there was no oath to complete. Why should she and her sisters face death for Sakura? The questions bounce around in her head like ricocheting senbon. Still, she knew what it was like to be a woman in a dog eat dog world. She would not be a victim and she needed her mentor, demented or not, to make that happen.
As her resolve solidified, Rias began to formulate a plan.
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Kana used the strips of rag he had in his med kit to wipe the sweat from the nukenin. He looked at her complexion and was amazed at the differences between the heart and the body. In her fitful state of sleep, the woman almost demanded pity and concern. However, the young medic knew that she was a devil who had not been hesitant to kill, bar no age or gender. The patient was stable; his teammates had gone off in search of Intel. Kana was alone. His honey eyes were level but inside his heart he felt that this fight was not over. He wondered if the trio had been right to separate. His cool was steaming. The old Kana was deep in his heart but it was not flowing out fast enough.
The young medic was still musing about these complexities in the human psyche when a high pitched sound was barely audible. A glint in the moonlight and a tell tell sign of a burning cherry warned the tan boy that a projectile was coming their way. Kana screamed out a warning to his animal sentry and dove on top of Sakura as the kunai with the exploding note impacted the side of the crater and exploded. The explosion was not of any great magnitude but it did rise up dust and rained down debris upon the three of them.
Kana picked himself up as the dust began to settle. Thanks to generations of desert dwellers in his blood and his own specially crafted field uniform, the dust was little more than a light cover. His mouth and nose remained hidden behind his scarf. The young medic assumed a crouching posture, his legs relaxed in a position that would allow him to react to any direction should the assailant continue their barrage. Suspenseful seconds passed without further attack. Kana saw a shadowy outline begin to materialize as the cloud of dust settled. There was not movement from the shadow and the fact that it was letting the dust settle and not use it as a cover meant that the missile had been a warning.
The young medic allowed a slight turn of the head so that his eyes could ascertain if Toshiro’s summon was injured but an annoyed squawk let the Chunnin know that the bird was not only ok but was more than ready to use the deadly beak to cause some damage. Kana rose up slowly to stand. His eyes evaluated his opponent and without obvious movements the surroundings. As the dust settled, Kana could see that the figure was that of a teenage girl. She stood in the middle of the lake invoking a sense of dejavu in the young shinobi. His honey eyes remained upon her until the last remnants of the dust floated away. It was then that Kana raised his voice.
“Why have you attacked us?” The voice was strong and loud, the echoes of it reverberating in the crater lake and being carried by the night wind. A slight smirk appeared on the young soft face of the female.
“That is a stupid question; why else would you get attacked in the middle of nowhere? If you want an answer look behind you idiot. I want her, leave and I will not harm you further. Choose to stay and I cannot guarantee your survival. You have until this pebble falls to the water.”
The young woman slung the rock high in the air. Kana followed its flight for a split second but immediately returned his gaze to the girl. In that split second his mind raced to evaluate the current situation. He had not immediately died which meant that the attacker was either unable to enter into a fight or unwilling to risk any hidden skills the bird or kana might have. Judging from the huge fan slung at her back she was a wind user but knew about weapons too to be able to master such a big weapon.
In the shinobi world it was dangerous to judge a book by its cover so measuring strength based on physique was hard. However, muscle tone and stance was often a good indicator of those shinobi which practice Taijutsu as a specialty. This young woman seemed to not be among those ranks. Her stance was relaxed but her posture showed no attack or defense capabilities and she stood with her arms crossed as if showing bravado would intimidate the medic and the bird.
The opposite was the truth; the dangerous screech that came from the bird next to him indicated that the animal was at the boiling point and ready to draw blood. Kana spared a sidewise glance at the animal and noticed that its eyelids were twitching uncontrollably. The young medic could only take this as the sign of uncontrollable emotions waiting to be unleashed. He was about to issue a warning of self-control and planning when the bird simply took off into the water. Her long legs and avian build allowed her to gain on the target quickly.
Kana grunted a disagreement of the action but he had no footing on which to stand to reprimand the capable summon who had helped take down the dangerous kunoichi at his feet where he had failed. A realization that the animal was just as unstable as the master brought Kana almost to tears. All he could do was make sure it did not die or he might as well follow it to the grave to avoid what Toshiro would do to him.
The young female smirked again as if the two had fallen right into her plan. Her arms snapped forward, her hands hiding two prepped kunai which flew violently towards the bird with pin point precision attesting to the girl’s weapons expertise. The pheasant did not even miss a beat as it flapped its wings and produced a gust of wind that sent the four kunai up on the air in a sharp climb. A second wider smirk appeared on the soft teenage face as she brought up her hand into the release sign and ignited the tags when the missiles were about four feet into their climb. The resulting explosions were enough to blanket a radius of 3 meters (15 feet). The explosion was meant to slowdown or seriously hurt the charging animal. Indeed Kana was sure there was no way for the bird to avoid the blast than to skid to a halt but the reckless bird kept on going.
In a single move, the summon was able to avoid the attack, continue the charge and wipe the smirk off the girls face. Due to the speed and shape of its species, the pheasant dove underwater two feet avoiding the damaging explosion and heat and was able to use her momentum to raise to the surface again and emerged on the other side. To give itself time to completely leave the water, the summon released an explosive sphere of wind which rampaged towards the young female.
No longer the attacker, the kinouchi jumped backward unhooking her fan from its holster in the same motion and opening it releasing yet another wind technique placing the fan in front of her like a shield. The momentum and the impact from both wind techniques produced an air cushion which hurled the two opponents back. Both shielded from the bite of it by wing or fan. The kunoichi seemed to take the hardest brunt of the attack, slinging her into the water below.
The pheasant continued her charge after the slight delay and arrived at the floating fan. After kicking the weapon off with a foot it reared its neck back, beak ready to tear into flesh. The animal was denied this pleasure however as it found that the young girl was gone. The bird’s eyes immediately went below the surface but even its sharp eyes had trouble discerning anything in the low moonlight.

OOC:

Kanako
-17CP

Spoiler:

Rias
-23/80 CP -5/6 Kunai -3/3 exploding pouches -2/4 exploding notes

Spoiler:

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Ducking under a swing that had it connected would have caved in his skull, Toshiro found himself sympathizing with those who had made the mistake of intentionally irritating him in the belief it would make things easier. Because for the first time in his life Toshiro was fighting someone who like himself only got more dangerous the angrier they got. Stepping back to avoid an impressively fast thrust at his ribs, Toshiro ruefully admitted to himself that he - one of the Leaf's strongest - was being put on the defensive by someone who was maybe on par with a fresh chuunin. A realization made all the more galling by the fact that even with her rage-fueled strength the kunochi who had him in this utterly laughable situation was still slower and packed less raw power than himself - having blocked several of the swings giving him a good estimate of the power behind them. The problem was that she was fast enough that, combined with a reckless disregard for personal safety, he couldn't follow one attack to completion. Every time he moved to exploit the opening that Rin's (not that he knew her name) over-wide swing created, the jounin would have to hurriedly abort his attack to dodge another bone-breaking swipe that took the place of the usual defense. The truly infuriating part was that if he hadn't burned up so much chakra against the big fish he could have just overpowered this annoyance with a suiton jutsu and been done with it.

Instead he was forced into the sort of situation he loathed - a defensive waiting game in the hope that the other side would exhaust themselves first. A situation made all the less tolerable to the jounin since he might actually lose. After shouldering much of the direct burden form the earlier fight he was no where close to his full strength while his opponent was not only fresh but had at least one, possibly more if the faint echoing sounds from the lake were any indication, additional allies. Since he had left the theoretically weakest of his team back there with their prisoner and only his summon as backup, hardly an ideal position. So unless he wanted to explain how he got his tail kicked by three of his juniors (assuming he survived) it would behoove the jounin to do something to rectify the situation. A point made all the more clear when the hail of physical blows ended as the kunochi facing him abruptly jumped back, dropping her fan in favor of a string of handseals before inhaling and unleashing four massive fiery dragon heads. To which Toshiro's response was to stick his own blades into the ground, form a quick string of handseals of his own, and blow out a moderate geyser that extinguished the fireballs while also shrouding the field in steam. Even as he kept blowing the jet, while doing his best to ignore the feeling of being a lobster in a pot, the jounin had his hands put to another task - tying a number of explosive tags onto a kunai and lofting it into the air to ricochet off an overhanging branch while sending another brace on a direct path to his target. A target that for once actually defended herself against the oncoming projectiles by raising her fan and opening it like a shield.

A decision that meant it wasn't in place to stop the kunai wrapped in explosive ofuda that dropped in from above until it was at the same level has her eyes. Eyes that went almost comically wide as the tags detonated simultaneous with Toshiro's barely audible "katsu". At that range the trio of tags affixed to the hilt was enough to stun Rin who had instinctively dropped her recovered fan in favor of protecting her eyes with her palms. Which was the opening the jounin had been looking for, and with all the speed he could muster he seized the hilts of his swords and charged in to finally put this matter behind him. A sword stabbed into the fan until the guard pinned it to the soil kept that bothersome weapon out of his way and a foot buried in the guy doubled the weapon's user over nicely for the follow-up strike with the other hilt to the back of the head. The cut-off grunt that was emitted would be all Toshiro needed to know he could finally end at least his part. Left arm snaking under his captive's armpit until the palm cupped the chin and forced it up, the right let go of the sword it had been holding in favor of snatching a kunai from a thigh holster that was placed against the jugular. Then the jounin put as much volume as could into a shout that would carry even without the radio whose "on" button his captives head was pushing against. "Unless you want your partner to die, stand down now!". He just hoped that Kana and Saitou had already concluded their fights or their adversaries would heed his warning.

Toshiro: Chakra: 40 CP - 16 = 24 CP

Jutsu:

Rin: 67 CP - 30 = 37 CP (unconscious & held hostage)

Jutsu:

Posts : 542

The rage filled eyes of the bird scanned the water for the missing body of the young kinoichi. The animal instinctively jumped back to give itself time between it and the suprise attach that was sure to follow. This move however proved to be fruitless as tentacles made from iron string rose from the depths like a veritable kraken to wrap themselves around the bird. The spinning shuriken which provided the locomotion for the wire served the dual purpose of anchoring it in place as they completed the orbit around wings or legs and also served to wound the bird which made a screetch that mixed pain and anger. Tied like a veritable tatami mat after use, the animal could do little else than to shoot glares that the young shinobi was lucky could not kill or the very skin would have been stripped off her bones with slow deliberate cruelty.
With her main concern out of the way the feme fatale turned on the medic. A predatory grin on her face as she retrieved her fan a few steps away and shouldered it to show bravado and the fact that she did not find Kana that least bit threatening. She walked with obvious contempt as she passed the struggling bird who had to keep spending chakra to stay affloat and avoid drowning. "Now that your guardian is out of the fight, why not make it easy on you and hand over Sakura? I have not quarrel with you and one life for two is a good trade any day." Her voice would have been sweet and melodic had they not belonged to such a dangerous teen. Kana measured her carefully. She seemed to think him unable. A plan formulated in his mind. He went for his kit and dove a hand into it. He struggled to draw four shuriken and made the effort obvious. When they finally emerged from their storage, the weapons were made to fly wide and slow. The intented targed chuckled at the attempt and merely used her fan to brush away the feeble attack. Kana did this one more time and again it was batted away like an annoying fly which must be sqashed. A look of concern painted the tan face of the medic as he possitioned himself close to the fallen nukenin as if to provide one last line of defense. This brought a sudden unexplained rage over the young Rias. The fact that a stranger would risk his life to protect, albeit in order to imprison, Sakura who had done awful things to them taking advantage of their need for her and her own power over them made her angry. She rushed forward with impressive speed. Kana hastily formed some hand seals and finalized them by extendig his arms and bringing them together into a clap in front of him. A small dust vortex began to rise. Rias showed once again her prowes with weapons as she dug into her pouch brought out two senbon and spun in mid air giving her weapons a slinging power. The two blood thirsty instruments flew and accounted for the rotation of the wind as they foun their mark and lodged themeselves into the medic.
The young Chunnin was impacted with a grunt and fell down a few steps before the spinning vortex covered him from view. This cover would not last long however as the wind, having lost the influence of chakra, returned to its passive state and the dust began to settle. Rias walked over triumphantly over her prey and her prize. Kana lay a few feet back, his back to her attesting the power with which the two senbon had impacted. She would gloat over his body later but right now she wanted to take a look at the defeated Sakura. The image would satisfy her sense of superiority in that she had defeated those who had defeated her master. The weak and beaten visage would also be an installment on the pain and suffering the Uchiha had caused on her and her sisters. She kneeled down, savoring every second of her prize. She held her master by the shouldrs and turned her. A grin appeared on the teen's face as the nukenin's body reflected a broken and defeated Sakura. So entralled was she that she failed to notice that the defeated Kana seemed to float in mid air, his body did not disturb the ground below him. If she had noticed this she would have been more vigilant to the person emerging from the water, a flute/blow gun in his mouth. The young kinoichi her a whistle and teh soft fall of the water but it was too late. The projectile flew with power enhanced by chakra. Before the girl could turn a metallic modified senbon nestled itself hard at the base of her skull, efficiently causing her to pass out.

(Kana -1/15 modified accuputure needles -4/16 shuriken

Spoiler: