The Stranded Couple [Mission, Private, Fluke]

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Quote :: Mission Title: The Stranded Couple
Mission Type: Generic
Mission Location: The Fire Country
Shinobi Requirement: Chuunin+
Mission Rank: B
Mission Objective: Two teenagers wanted to 'get away from it all' and spend some time together. Somehow, they've ended up stuck between various boulders that randomly fell, with no way out. After many hours of calling for help, someone has finally heard them. After informing the Kage, so your squad was sent to go assist the stranded couple. It appears both of the teenagers are having panic attacks and might attempt to move the boulders themselves. They could easily hurt themselves with the large boulders and what not. Help them before they do something rash!
Min Post Count: 6.

As he leaned against one side of the massive gates that marked the official exit form Konoha proper Toshiro once more cast his eyes up at the stars. Stars that could be seen because it was three bloody of the clock in the morning that he was waiting for the sole remaining member of his genin team to show up. Not exactly his favorite time to be up but needs must when the devil drives and all that. In this case the needs being a mission that was very time-sensitive assigned to the remnants of his squad. Somewhere near the border with Rice Country two teenagers had managed to get themselves literally buried in trouble and it was up to his team to dig them out of it. Toshiro HATED rescue missions. So much that he would rather be tasked with assassinating a Kage in the middle of reviewing their forces than take them. At least with a high-profile assassination you knew who the target was and what their reactions would be. With a rescue, especially with your run-of-the-mill civilians involved, there was a good chance that the very people you were trying to help could be the biggest danger. Then there was the devil in the drivers seat to be considered. Call it paranoia, call it the sixth sense high-ranking ninja develop to survive, or maybe it was how often a simple "rescue" mission became something far more but Toshiro couldn't shake the sense that something else was going on. And as much as he hated rescue missions the sennin hated leaving that nagging sense unanswered even more so he had swallowed his initial reaction and taken the assignment with a bare nod of the head.

Stifling another yawn in deference to the unholy hour at which he had to be awake, Toshiro took a moment to wonder how his sole remaining genin was faring. Consider the circumstances probably not happily. Not that he could blame Kei for being a bit (or very) irate. Only thirty minutes ago the kunochi had been still asleep at home on the first of what was supposed to be two consecutive days off. That rare treat had been rudely ended by her grandfather waking her with the news that her sensei was at their door, handed him a sealed set of mission orders and a half-filled pack, and told him to tell Kei that she needed to be at the gates in an hour. As the start to her first "real" mission (as Toshiro didn't count anything less than a B-rank, or the screw-up that was the Haruno assignment, as a serious mission) it was probably about as far from what Kei had expected. Though to be fair when the team had first met face to face he had implied that this sort of situation might happen.

As for the sennin himself, well he had been ready out of simple habit. All his physical preparation had required was stopping by his home, grabbing one of the pre-packed packs he & his spouse kept on-hand just in case, collecting his weapons of choice, and a quick good bye. All that remained for Toshiro was the planning side of things, which for the moment was fairly sparse. Given the lack of actual details (how badly the two teens were hurt, how big was the collapse, if another was imminent, etc) regarding the situation planning beyond "see what the situation is" was moot for the moment. Almost as moot as the presence of the two guards at the gate trying their best to look alert and watchful. No doubt afraid of the sennin, or his wife, them to task for their lack of diligence. Something that drew a rueful shake of the head from Toshiro for their well-meaning (even if mostly out of fear for their own hides) naivety. As if anyone with truly dangerous intentions would use Konoha's proverbial front door, at least unless they were so overwhelming in power that the two chuunin wouldn't even rate as a minor annoyance.

Setting such thoughts aside, along with yet another yawn, Toshiro stretched his senses again to see if he could detect the approach of his genin in the pre-dawn gloom. If only because the faster Kei arrived the faster the pair could be on their way to getting this mess done with and get that nagging little voice saying "something is wrong here" to shut up.

Age : 110 Posts : 179

People said life was a bitch. They were right, at least as far as Orimono Kei was concerned. Being the light sleeper that she was, she was alerted to the presence of someone opening the door of her room while she slept, and had roused herself to see the figure of her grandfather just before he switched on the light of her room and handed her a number of sealed envelopes, which looked very disturbingly like sealed mission envelopes. That was the height of injustice! Wasn’t she granted two free days of no poking shiny sharp things in people or having them poke such items in herself? Grandpa Shou had explained that it was Toshiro-sensei himself who had brought the papers, as well as a half-filled pack, and had informed him to tell Kei to be at the village gates in an hour’s time. Well, as much as she hated that part of a ninja’s life, duty called, and she had to answer. Kei had a quick shower and dressed up in record time, although she took special care to pack all her medical supplies. It seemed a pair of idiots had managed to put themselves in trouble and save a number of people, namely Toshiro-sensei and herself, some much-deserved hours of sleep. After a gruff farewell to her grandfather, Kei was out of her house, running along the empty street illuminated by electric lamps.

The way to the main gates of Konoha was not too close, but Kei was sure she wouldn’t be too winded if she maintained a straight dash from home to the village gates. Ninja were trained to be much more enduring and possessing more stamina than the average person, so the feat Kei was attempting was nothing that even a Genin couldn’t handle. As she ran, she considered using the dark rooftops, but abandoned the idea. While that would have been faster, if the roads of Konoha had their usual population abroad in the daytime, at this unholy hour of the night, there was hardly a soul to be seen, although Kei knew that Konoha wasn’t as dead asleep as it appeared. Hidden on various rooftops were patrol ninja, of that she was aware. Any movement from questionable characters would lead to either a warning or an unpleasant surprise launched from the shadows. Of course, Kei was not an unfamiliar face, so she didn’t fear interruptions. Even if any of the patrols didn’t know the blonde kunoichi racing through the streets, the glint of the hitai-ate worn on her arm was enough to let them leave her alone.

Soon the gates of the village came into sight, and Kei saw, aside the gate guards, the lone figure of her sensei, leaning against one of the massive gates of Konoha, as he waited for the arrival of his student. She quickened her pace, and got close enough to see her sensei yawn. Okay, that meant she wasn’t the only one who had scruples with being kicked out of bed at such a time. Sliding to a stop beside her sensei, as the friction between her sandals and the road raised little clouds of dust, Kei fixed her teacher with a comical pout. Then she said, "Ohayo gozaimasu, Toshiro-sensei." Holding out the by-now-opened mission envelopes to her sensei, the young kunoichi said, "I suppose you’re just as unhappy as myself with all this nonsense. Well, we may as well just go forth and save the dummies who decided the best romantic place to have a tryst was where rocks could fall and trap them." She shook her head and sighed. "I just hope this isn’t going to be like that Haruno Hurricane disaster, where we come to save those love twits, and find some mutant enemy ninja coming around for some nefarious purpose." She began to walk briskly, eager to be done with the mission as soon as possible. She didn’t suppose the gate guards would bother her asking for clearance. She was with THE Hinamori Toshiro.

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

In the quite of the pre-dawn the sound of his students footfalls were unusually loud, giving Toshiro warning of Kei's approach. More than enough that when the kunochi skidded to a stop in front of him Toshiro's reaction was to raise one eyebrow. While it refreshing to have a genin who was on time or even early, seeing one so energetic at this hour was bound to make you feel even more tired. An opinion Toshiro wished to keep to himself to avoid giving yet more blackmail material to his pupil. Accepting the proffered papers back with one hand and stuffing them into a pocket after a cursory perusal Toshiro pushed off the gate and fell in behind his genin. If Kei wanted to save the small talk for later and get going Toshiro, who was most definitely not a morning person, was happy to oblige. If only to get the whole mess that was leaving the village bounds ands its annoying facets out of the way. Particularly since, true to Kei's silent prediction, neither guard really bothered to pay attention to the pairs credentials for leaving, almost stumbling over themselves in their haste to balance appearing professional with being deferential. Well except for the time the male guard let his eyes linger on Kei a bit longer than proper and got slapped upside the head by his female counterpart.

Given the distance between the border area where the rock fall occured and Konoha it would take the pair of ninja the better part of the day to reach the area even moving at speed and in a straight line. Time Toshiro put to use quizzing the genin over seemingly random parts of what he had taught her and her former teammates. When Kei would answer correctly the sennin would move on, when an incorrect answer was forthcoming she had to explain why it wasn't correct then give the correct one. An exercise that served three purposes. First it was an obvious measure of how much she retained out of the mountain he teacher had tried to stuff into her head. Second it got Kei used to the critical, and difficult, skill of thinking about one thing while being able to do something completely unrelated. Finally, and most importantly, it helped keep her teacher awake after almost a full day without sleep. Between that and the sporadic rain showers, coming out of Hi no Kuni's dry summer, the sennin managed to keep reasonably focused & alert even without adrenaline and only the last dredges of caffeine in his system. A state that would only change when the two Leaf-nin came within view of their destination.

Recognizing when they had arrived at the spot was much less taxing. It would take a blind person to not see the jumble of debris that comprised the slide that had trapped the lovebirds. The mass stood almost fifteen feet high at the bottom where a trail wound between two moderately sized hills that without the reason for being here might have been scenic. At the moment however they only instilled a vague sense of unease in Toshiro's mind that defied explanation. Nor did it take major engineering knowledge to note the signs that the whole mess of boulders (ranging from head-sized to a yard across), shrubs, and dirt was as far from consolidated as possible. A fact that the sennin made sure to bring up as he motioned his pupil closer. "This is not good. That slide is as stable as an Uchiha on a power-trip. Shift the wrong rock even a bit and the whole thing collapses inwards on top of those inside." That said Toshiro raised his voice to the level reserved for the battlefield as he sought to keep the pair inside the rock fall from making the situation worse. "You two in the rocks, help is here so do exactly as we say and we can get you out today. If you don't those rocks will crush you flat. First, Do. Not. Move!" Hopeful that the two would at listen, one hand beckoned the younger ninja closer as he shucked his own travel pack and began to pull out various items that might be useful. Including a combination of folding shovel and pickaxe as well as several bottles of water for the possibly dehydrated teens. As he did so Toshiro gave the other member of Team Three her "marching orders". "Kei, you'll see what sort of condition they're in and if you have a way inside treat as you think they need. If you can get them out with any doton jutsu I'm leaving the decision up to you as the on-site medic. I'm going to see just how stable this pile of Rock-nin brains is and try to find a way to clear it from out here safely. Otherwise we'll have to find a way to dig underneath the mess and get them out that way." Then the sennin paused and to emphasize what he was going to say checked that the draw on both his swords was clear. "And keep your eyes sharp and a kunai ready. Something isn't quite right about this whole situation but damned if I can say why."

[ooc: Apologies for the lateness. Hot, humid, and still here has me pulling late hours with heat-stroke cases.]