The Mountain is Hungry, Hear it Rumble? [P, MsMoney]

Age : 32 Posts : 787

The sun may have been high in the sky, but this small fact would not matter in a few moments. Surely the position of the worlds source of energy was a matter of importance. This could not be disputed. It determined the temperature, what kind of lighting could be had, gave leeway to direction, among other tactical uses that a shinobi could exploit in a variety of situations, namely battle. However, being that Ichigatsu, named for the first month, was about to head down a deep and dark tunnel, the position of the sun hardly mattered at all. Down there would be nothing but the darkness and dampness of the Earth's belly. For most this was a disheartening way to enter or exit the village of clouds and provided quite the conundrum for trade which lead to Kumo's less stable finances. It was easily missed and a nuisance to navigate.

Ichigatsu, on the other hand, was a man of the shadows. Staying out of the public eye and keeping a low profile is what made him so effective at his job. He was no sneak, but a master of stealth he still was. He did not have any unnatural advantages in these areas, but he could still remain silent and not utter a single sound, he could hide in plain site if he needed too. Sometimes this meant being seeing while covering up a hidden action to fool whoever needed a sleight of hand. Darkness was a cheaters way to achieve this. It was so simple and easily obtained in such parts that Ichigatsu found being in such a place as a treasure that was not easily obtained. Surely the night held sway over the discreet, but its level of concealment often varied and never did it obtain the level of the inner Earth of caves and tunnels.

A tall shinobi wearing all black and a face covering held up his hand as the Senju jounin drew closer to the entrance he desired to penetrate. Ichigatsu was moving at a fairly quickened yet silent pace, and refused to lessen his stride or frequency at which his feet touched the ground.

Hold up there, we need to see some credentials before we let you pass.

Ichigatsu only shot him a look that could drop a fly off a mound of slowly rotting meat. This old ruse was getting.........well, old. It was known between the two that Hei was a very well learned sensor ninja who could easily distinguish any disguise jutsu with out a single word. They had also known each other a long time, sharing the same rank and aproximate age. True Ichigatsu was more accomplished, but they had worked together before. He damn well knew the real deal when he saw it and didn't to hold up people who were actually going out on real and important missions instead of standing post to ward off an infiltration or attack that was likely to never come anyway.

As the on-comer refused to stop, Hei's hand snaked out to grasp the man's shoulders and physical force him to hinder his trajectory. The result was much different as Ichigatsu swung his own hand up against the mans elbow, redirecting it behind the mans back over his shoulder and using applied pressure to the wrist to force him to the ground. A boot followed, catching the rib's of the guard, sending him sprawling to the right. As the arm let go, it continued downward and then slightu up as it began to form a full arc. As the sleeve met level with where Hei was bound to land, a kunai erupted from the garment itself, sure to glance off a stone near the fallen's head. Only Ichigatsu held possession of an atire that held the same capabilities of the "Battle Bible as it was called. His identity had been secured and a little fun had been procured in the process.

At that point he gave himself over to the darkness of the mountain. He no longer had a light complexion with blue hair and odd pupils. His cloak was no longer the color of the forest and his form altogether seemed to dissolve as he became pitch and swallowed by the rock around him. As his eyes effectively shut off, his hearing capability heightened as even the rush of blood in his outer ear became audible with out the aid of a cupped hand or shell. Based on the sound of his footsteps bouncing and resounding off the rock formations around him coupled with the repetition of completing this exact journey so many times in his career, Ichigatsu knew every single crevice and rise that formed along the way. He could have stepped in such a way that all traces of his discernible presence disappeared. However he chose to allow his heavy boots to fall in such a manner in the faint essence of echolocation. It was imperfect, but allowed him greater peace of mind.

Then he suddenly stopped. Here was the spot he was looking for. Slipping between a small section carved out in the wall, he stood off to the side of the path and waited for the Jinchuriki to arrive. He had left a note instructing that she meet him outside the village, so she was sure to pass by this way at some point. He was curious to see if she could detect him in such a circumstance with no sight capabilities, no movement causing sound to hear. It was forbidden to use jutsu in this tunnel to avoid conflict of any sort. This would be interesting. Of course, he was not above bending the rules to see just how capable his short term partner was. He was light years away from Hei's pathetic level, and he was by far the most useful guard on duty at the moment.

Age : 37 Posts : 2201

Her tall, lithe form was as straight and strong as a mighty oak in the forest, as Kirima held a single hand above her squinted eyes while she looked up at the clear sky in an attempt to estimate what the time was by the positioning of the sun. She knew she wasn't late, so the redheaded ninja hadn't been hurrying too much on her way towards the village gate; figuring that her teammate would be waiting for her arrival already somewhere outside of the village. Why outside the village though? It was the first time she had received a request of such manner upon joining another person on a mission. It offered a nice change of pace, but it also made her a little bit curious and suspicious about the motive behind it. If there was somebody intending to play a prank on her, they would quickly get to regret that. However, as far as she knew; this was a legit mission and her partner a legit Jounin whom she had never met before.

It was odd wasn't it, to live in this village for full 17 years; train, eat, sleep, have social encounters of all sorts.. and yet there were so many other people she had never met before. Never even heard of for that matter. Sighing softly to herself, wishing she could have used this day for lazying around instead of entering one more mission; Kirima started walking again on light feet with a ghost of a smile on her lips. A sunny day was always sure to lift her spirits and often it was a good omen before a mission to have a nice weather and such a nice moral in the atmosphere.

But oh well.

Kirima picked up the pace of her walking, soon turning it into a slow jog before she went even faster. It felt absolutely wonderful to stretch out her legs, feel the muscles in her body react to each step as she was running as fast as a ninja could only do down the street. Her already tousled hair was ruffled in the wind, a few strands blowing down into her eyes; but the young female paid it little heed as she made a sharp turn into an alley that was on her right side. As she was almost by nature a stray cat, she knew every single alley in the village and the best ways to get onto the rooftops and off them. And thus, the fiery haired female soon jumped into the air with the flexibility and lightness of a cat, barely let her feet touch a big barrel that sound against a house's wall; before she used her hands to grab onto the roof ledge and flip herself over through the air before landing in a crouching position onto the rooftop. Slowly and gracefully she stood up and looked around, with wild emotions running through her mind and body; mirroring through her beautifully dark blue eyes that sparkled like pure sapphires.

Kirima didn't halt for long before she was on the move again, her feet barely touching the rooftop as she ran along it and sprang onto the next one. So did her journey keep going until she neared the village gates, but at that moment she quickly jumped down from the last roof and slowly jogged those last few meters.

"Kirima!"

The cheerful greeting from one of the guards caused the female to throw a friendly smile his way and then nodding towards the others which were there. She had often helped out with night watches and therefore knew most of the guards by first names and had become friendly with them all. Even if some liked to tease her more than could be good for their own health. She didn't slow down her jogging until she had passed the gates and started looking around for her teammate. Unlike many other ninjas, she had no special sensor skills but what she did have were the heightened senses of the feline creature that resided within her. So, relying on those senses she looked carefully around while walking slowly forward. It went against her nature to call out for him, so she kept going a little further while wondering if perhaps he hadn't even arrived yet.

Stopping suddenly she started listening intently while looking slowly around without actually seeing anything. There was something bugging her about this whole thing; she felt very tensed up somehow as if her sixth sense was suddenly buzzing out of nowhere. And thus the female was absolutely motionless while her nostrils flared just a tiny bit as she smelled the air. Was he hiding out here, watching her and waiting? For what purpose?

She wasn't too far from where he was hiding actually, only about 10 meters or so so he should have had a visual of her would he try to look around. That is, if he had the eyes of a bat.

Age : 32 Posts : 787

As far as the hider amongst the caverns underbelly was concerned, those footsteps of the young chunin could have been bombs going off as every step transcended through the air and smashed upon the natural flooring below. It was about enough to give a full grown man a blazing headache. With out an inkling of a doubt, the Jinchuriki was coming. The demon seemed to not know the bounds of grace and swiftness quite yet. Instead she seemed almost to loof about, merrily winding her way through the rise and falls of the cave, and causing great surprise that she had not yet knocked herself unconscious on a low hanging formation. And then suddenly the noise stopped completely.

A large intake of breath could be heard as the Jinchurki used what could only be the natural feline ability granted to her via such close integration with the caged power inside. A cat could taste the air with its nostrils, a much more in tune and in depth methodology then just the regular smell which humans were used to. Considering that she did not continue on her way, Ichigatsu could only assume that he had been found out. Kudos. He had not expected this at all, anticipating her going right on by and following her out of the cave so that the sunlight would reveal him as he stepped in time and masked his own steps with hers. Granted, it was not like he had gone to great lengths to ensure success in the matter. If he had really wanted to pull one over on her, he would have done what he was about to do a long time ago.

Forming a single hand sign, the robed figure sunk into the ground soundlessly and effortlessly. As his body melded and became one with the mountain itself, his disappearance almost made him seem liquid as his mass dropped. A higher level of earth traveling then the Underground Submarine Voyage technique, this would allow him to actually become one with the rock. Therefore he was much faster and capable. Only moments later he was resurfacing in front of the Jinchuriki by barely over a meter. leaning against a rock formation. It would seem as though his smell had increased over ten fold almost instantly. She still would not be able to see him, for in the underbellies of the earth, sun light never reached its fingers. Unless light was brought with in from outside or created by some means, the darkness ruled over all in these parts of the world. Within the world.

“You’re a tad late child. Maybe I should just do this thing on my own.”

He wasn’t as annoyed as his voice portended, but that would certainly not fall to even the heightened senses of the human cat. It was a façade that fooled even himself, only to be uncovered by those who truly got to know him and see his kind heart in action, typically on the battlefield. Given the high stakes of this mission, the length of time that would elapse before its completion, and her sub par ranking despite housing a bijuu with in, Kirima was likely to see a display of it some point. Ichigatsu just truly hoped, and this was not a lie but a real and almost tangible thought, that he would not be spending the majority of his time saving her ass. If it came down to it, extracting the information was far more important, and this could potentially be a fatal mission for the youngling if she did not hold her own. She may have been in the company of a Jounin, but on this journey, should would not be able to piggy back on his coat tails and hope to survive.

Turning around and beginning to walk away, Ichigatsu refrained from saying anything further to the young red head. Instead, he focused only on his footfalls and the way they echoed off of the rocky walls to maintain his bearing. Too much time had passed, and it was time to see that this mission was completed soon.

***************
Rock Hiding Technique
CP: 175/185

{Sorry for the wait, work and alcohol are both muse killers}

Age : 37 Posts : 2201

Being a ninja who often could rely entirely on her good night vision, Kirima felt a little unsettled upon being in this pitch black cave that offered no help whatsoever in seeing around. No trickle of light would ever get down here, and she disliked that greatly. Kirima was a person that sought certain comfort in light, even if she was sometimes quite the nocturnal being; but for now she could rely on her hunting skills as a feline creature by using her ears and nose to guide her on and hopefully lead her out of there without any accident. It had only been recently, perhaps one or two missions ago that she had discovered that trait of hers actually. When the eyes failed, a cat would resort to finding its way with the smelling glands and by listening closely to hear things beyond the capability of humans, and with each day that Kirima got stronger then so did those abilities of hers get more precise and accurate.

By no means would she ever get such a nose as an Inuzuka, but she still had an advantage over normal human beings if she could only focus a little bit and calm down before smelling deeply and focusing on not letting her own thoughts and worries cloud up her ears. And now hesitantly, still smelling a little bit of trouble; she was wondering about starting to move again when the smell suddenly got much stronger in front of her. There was a man standing not too far from her right now, and that made Kirima's whole body tense up as she was as quiet as a mouse hiding from the preying clutches of an owl. With luck, this was her teammate that was playing hide and seek. With no luck, she was about to have to fight in a pitch black cave. Good thing I have plenty of fire to shove down this person's throat. Another excellent trait she had gotten from carrying a cat demon inside of her, her eyes had the ability of minimizing the light that would carry into them; and as such she was much more prepared when leaving a dark area and having sudden light strike her eyes.

~~“You’re a tad late child. Maybe I should just do this thing on my own.”~~

A frown crossed her face, yep that seemed to be her teammate. But child? Really? Is he really going to act like this? I thought I was on time. Was she stuck in a mission with a guy that would be looking down upon her the entire time? Trying to find flaws in her, making her dance at his palm so he could see how well she would do. Yeah no. She had had teammates like that a couple of times and never would she bend her will to their flimsy nature. If that was what he had planned, he was up for a surprise as Kirima was not exactly the -meek underling- who would hold her tongue and be shamed without a retort straight back at him.

"I may be younger than you, but that wont make me a child. I recommend you not talk down to me, and I surely did not come here for this mission to be treated like an idiot. A Jounin rank doesn't make you a damn superhero, buddy."

She almost growled the words out, trying her best not to explode from the rage that was bottling up in her stomach. I have come too far to let something as small as this get my temper exploding. He certainly will not be worth it. For all I know, he's only testing me and seeing how I will react. Well he might not approve of my mouth, but he should know right away that he can not say whatever he wants to say just because he's my 'leader' on this stupid mission. And he better learn quickly that I do not listen to the orders of idiots. She started moving, smelling deeply and listening carefully with each step as she made sure she would not walk into anything or fall down either. The smell wasn't as strong as before, so that must have meant he was walking on ahead of her. Now the question was how he would reply, or act, upon having his 'subordinate' speak to him in that manner. And seeing as Kirima trusted no one, she was prepared for anything. Not all ninja were honest and loyal to the village, she had heard of 'accidents' where fellow ninja would kill each other over a stupid dispute.

So maybe I have pissed off a Jounin who will want my blood on his hands. Lovely. Just lovely. And yet she was too stubborn and prideful to regret what she had said. If he would attack her physically, she would do what she could to defend herself and show him she was not just all bark and no bite. If he would attack her verbally... well Kirima certainly had her mouth beneath her nose and had become quite good at throwing peoples words straight back into their face.