Old Habits (Open)

Age : 34 Posts : 591

“Rain rain, go away, come again another day…”

Kemuri whispering the song in a sing song voice as she strode along the roadside in the rain. Her goggles bounced around loosely on her neck, dangling there with loosened straps as the downpour surrounded her with a steady hiss of rain. Her arms waved wide with each step, no identification marked on her entire person per her normal form of dress. Just a blonde haired girl walking along the road in the rain on a stormy day, the Konoha genin made sure to keep herself barely identifiable to strangers. While a local might notice her as a face around the village or see her eyes and realize who she was, a total stranger would see nothing but some petite girl going for a walk. Mud stuck to the bottom of her boots, just another hazard of sticking to the back roads.

Wiping a strand of wet hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear for the moment, it was not a surprise for her to see a caravan up ahead trudging through the rain and the muck of the road as it sought the shelter of Konohagakure no Sato a few miles down the path. Kemuri herself had just come from there, having whispered promises of riches to her partners in crime before they began their patrol of the outer perimeter of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Bandits had a word for what she was doing, baiting the hook, and it was a tactic that worked incredibly well. While she presented herself as the distraction, the bait for their attention, the true threat to their well being and their purses was something out of sight and out of mind. Tugging her gloves off and tucking them into her belt, she buried the hands into the pockets of her shorts to grip at the clay she had placed in there.

Kemuri was an interesting breed, a clan who loved explosions and had a talent for destruction. Of course nothing could be done without their own special clay soaked with their chakra and able to detonate with a whim. The mouths on her palms opened wide to allow the tongues to slurp up the clay silently while remaining hidden in her pockets. The teeth chewed constantly as she continued her trudge through the rain towards the caravan who’s guards were on alert at the sight of a stranger but not overly cautious due to her apparent demeanor and size. She was just some girl walking through the rain, some girl with her hands in her pockets and mind on the clouds. Of course they would never know just how busy those hands were before they were tugged free from her shorts to wave at the soldiers walking beside the wagons. Seven men, two women, three drivers, and three wagons; all ripe for the taking if you had the flexible morality and resources to overcome them. A quick double check was all Kemuri required to put what few fears she had at total ease. Not a single wagon was marked as Konohagakure no Sato owned, which meant that they were all open game so long as she kept it quiet, did not leave too much evidence to investigate, and made sure the witnesses would not remember her face.

Her fingers twitched, a tiny signal towards her compatriot in this affair and a chance for her to toss clay spiders from her hands down onto the path. The gray of the clay mixed well with the mud of the road as a natural camouflage to conceal her preferred weapons of choice. Her eyes sought the woodlands around her as she prepared to pass the second wagon as she hoped that her allies would pop up and assist her now that the signal had been given. If not she simply figured that it would mean more money in her pocket for twice the struggle. The spiders of clay skittered underneath the wagons, one under each as she hooked a thumb from her left hand into her belt while her right continued to discretely mold clay in the mouth located there. These silly fools would see that even one person could be dangerous, and when combined with others she could be considered downright deadly.

Spoiler:

Age : 29 Posts : 463

Sitting upon a tree branch staring at the clouds and the little rain drops that kept presenting it's self to a beautiful surrounding, rain. Rain never made anything better, always made the day miserable unless of course you liked the rain but that was hardly ever the case, many people in the village loved the sun and was use to it. Kyran's hair was dripping wet, he's hairstyle had be ruined and his hair was one of the things that he mostly cared about. Lifting a hand up, he placed it on his hair and messed it up. Hopefully this would make it a little dryer, it didn't help his hair style in anyway possible but Kyran hated his hair absolutely wet it just pained him to feel it, he dried it like a dog shaking of the water from their fur, amazing how animals did that. Gladly Kyran didn't clean himself how an animal does, which would be licking themselves.

Still daydreaming a girl crept into his eye sight, she was walking down the road towards some gypsy's down the road. She looked very similar, as she walked out of his line of sight, Kyran jumped on to his feet and jumped from branch to branch, following behind her. He tried to be quiet as he didn't want to bring any attention to himself. The woman stopped and Kyran stopped with her, than it clicked! She was the girl that Kyran spoke to in Konoha, they were going to meet up today, he totally forgot about it. Quite lucky that he was at the right place at the right time, how could he of not known it was her, probably the rain blocking his vision well that was what he would blame it on.

Kyran decided that it would be better to watch from a far, he jumped back onto the tree's which were on the opposite side. Getting close as he could to the camp site, he just crouched on a branch looking down, waiting for something to happen. He knew something would happen and he wanted to wait for the right time to join in and make his presence known to the girl, taking out a kunai and balanced the hole on his right index finger. He began to spin it around so he wouldn't get bored, it also helped warm up his hands for when he needed them.

He kept alert in the tree's, he didn't want to make a move so sudden. Until the fireworks went off he would just wait hidden above the ground under the shade of the oak tree, a grin appeared onto his face. This would be a great time for him to test out some jutsu on these poor people, it would also test his power. Kyran didn't feel right with killing people but he could sure get some practise, plus these are scum. Travelling the world and stealing stuff, it sickened him.

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Post Voided.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

[ooc: Sorry about the Delay, things went sideways for a bit. HERE WE GO]

Kemuri loved this moment more than every other moment she experienced, the seconds before an explosion and moments before an ambush were some of the most succulent pieces of time that had ever been gifted to her from fate itself. The spiders had made their way in the muck and mud underneath the three individual wagons and in a few moments they would have crawled up a wheel and onto the bottom of each wagon for maximum effect. The Haretsu girl was more than willing to sacrifice some of the potential goods in return for claiming the rest quickly and with less risk amongst the chaos of the event.

Absentmindedly she pulled at the back of her shirt and tucked it into her shorts. The last thing she needed was to be identified as a Konoha genin by the headband that hung around her waist beneath that shirt and showed the Konoha symbol on her lower back. No, today she needed to be nameless for what was about to occur. The seconds were counted down slowly as the downpour continued to soak her to the very bone and assuredly bug her partner. That pretty boy and his hair might not make for a perfect partner in an ambush but his skills had their own value and Kemuri was more than willing to try something new for the sake of her own extra curricular activities. Thunder boomed, the sound making beasts of burden nervous and shaking the wagons down to their nails as the brilliant flash lit the sky for the sparest of seconds and threatened to blow all participants to kingdom come with its raw and unmatched power. Kemuri, face away from the caravan and using a mask of wet hair to hide her emotions, smiled at that. One day her explosive prowess would be the same. A brilliant flash and one big boom.

She had made her way down the line and was just about past the third wagon as she continued to monitor her targets and ready for what was to come. They would be caught off guard, they would be in a panic, and she would take advantage by turning three individual explosions into a deeper chaos with a trick she had picked up from her mother’s journal. Another step, another puddle, another splash, another muddy bootprint swallowed by the storm. Her steps were becoming rhythmic, using them to count as she passed the wagon train and waited for her moment. Luckily the Konoha Genin did not have to wait long for the next bolt of lightning to flash across the sky and bring with it a crash that would keep her tactically happily hidden when her fingers assumed the correct position and that smile almost became a giggle. Underneath the roll of thunder came the crushing power of explosions as all three wagons were suddenly stopped with a prejudice. The explosions ripped off a wheel, two in some circumstances, and nearly cut the middle wagon in half as it sent concussive force and wooden shrapnel in all directions.

Between the mud, the sudden damage, and the lack of their own disaster planning, the wagons went from a convoy of goods headed into the village and were turned into sitting ducks for any bandit that had sprung such a trap. Defended or not, Kemuri expected only a light resistance from those guarding the train of merchants and most of those guards had probably received their own injuries. Nothing like kicking a lame duck into the oven while it was down, especially if that duck was peppered with nails and wooden shrapnel that cut along body, face, and hands. A quick snap of her neck whipped the wet hair over her shoulder and cleared up her vision as she sprang into a sprint towards the caravan with hostile intent in mind. A worried look covered her face as her hands dug into her belt pouch for more clay to be swallowed by her accursed hands as she cried out over the roar of the rain.

”Oh my gosh, are you all okay?!?” Her panicked question spoken loud enough for the nearby trees to hear it, to summon her partner with the verbal signal so that he might see this as the opportune moment to strike, and make sure to gather all the attention of the caravan on herself: The caring citizen.

As she approached at a light jog, her hands came out of her belt pouch with fingerless gloves on to hide the mouths located there. Hands went up, a sign of good will and a lack of malicious intent, and tried to make her way towards the tail end of the first wagon. A caravan guard was shaking his head and holding his ears, obviously close enough to the explosions to possibly pop an eardrum quite painfully. Kemuri held her voice a second and slowed to assure they would see she was ‘Just there to help’, and took a moment to observe the wreckage. Hunks of carts had been flung in all directions, the carts themselves were even smoldering and some were still aflame despite the heavy downpour. Everything was just perfect.

”Who needs medical attention? I’m a nurse from the Amegakure no Sato.”

Spoiler:

Age : 29 Posts : 463

Still hiding above the ground, coated by the leaves and branches that came of the tree's. Kyran looked upon the caravan's that stopped for a brief moment, there were several people down there, a few that looked like guards that protected the stock until it reached it's destination but this time it shall not. Kyran's accomplice was already down there setting up for a big bang that would shock the poor souls that would never see it coming, he kept track of where the girl was walking. He didn't want to exactly get the girl caught in the shooting area. Just to be cautious, Kyran un-tied the knot that was holding his headband around his head and took it off, folding the cotton up he placed it into one of his pockets. Tonight he was going to be a wanderer, a ninja that explores the world. The roar of the thunder beckoned around the whole forest, hitting everyone with a surprise.

Once the girl was out the way, Kyran waited for her to start the party off and then he would join in with the show stopper. His eyes widened, excited for what was about to occur on this miserable day, his heart was pumping extremely fast, his body couldn't wait to get involved in this. Then it happened, the wagons exploded, some cut in half and others broken. Smoke engulfed the sky that was above it, Kyran noticed the girl was running, what was she doing? He then heard her speak quite loud, this was his signal to attack them where it hurt. Doing handseals at a high speed, he breathed in a douse of air then shot his head forward, opening his mouth a waterfall of water came spurting out towards a guard that was by himself. Once the gush of water hit the guard, which made him fly back and hit his head Kyran stopped the jutsu then jumped to a different tree. This would stop anyone seeing where the jutsu came from.

Once on another tree, he dropped down silently and tied his headband on again. The rain from above was still not giving up on making this day the worst, sadly it already got as bad as it could be for the gypsies. Running out of the forest into the open, he jumped onto a wagon and looked at all the injured people about "I'm from Konoha Village, I heard the explosion and came to investigate" he put a worried face on so that they thought he was being truthful. Looking over to his friend, he noticed that she also was pretending to be a friendly. This was going to be easier then he thought, soon they would be dead and the valuables will be their's for the taking. Let's hope that a Konoha ninja doesn't actually intrude in their plans. Fire was spreading across the wagon's, burning them into a pile of ash. Kyran would have to put it out so it wouldn't hurt the merchandise, maybe this would be seen as an act of kindness to Konoha, two genin bringing in a hefty amount of stuff. Must be worth something, at least.

CP:

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

Post Voided.

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

Out of Character Moderation Post.

NuclearTreerat, Wanizame has raised the issue of your character being able to detect clay spiders and their explosions underneath the wagons whilst thunder was raging at the exact same particular moment. Whilst this may be open to discussion, the fact also remains that your character was in the Rice country until the 6th of September real time, that being the date you posted your departure topic from there, whilst you posted in a Konohagakure topic (this one) on the 4th of September, leaving you in two places at once. Please Private Message me, or another member of staff, to further discuss this issue.

Age : 25 Posts : 1767

Out of Character Moderation Post.

Due to the discussions following the initial moderation post, Nuclear's posts have been voided. Teddy-kun and Wanizame can continue the topic as normal.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Kemuri could not believe things were going this smoothly, no ambush ever went according to plan and here were turkeys ripe for the picking. She did not slow her advance towards them though, as eerie as this event was playing out in front of her, and kept herself as nonthreatening as possible as the guards slowly collected their senses and began to actually notice her. Hands raised as if she was surrendering and her eyes twinkled with a sprinkle of hope and a dash of honest. Yes, she was really here to help… relieve them of their goods. Of course she was trained… to kill people. And she was a former resident of Amegakure no Sato, so that part was not a lie either. The worried look covered her face as she finally was within an arm’s reach of the first guard closest to her.

”You don’t look too injured, can you guide me to…..”

Her words abruptly stopping as she sends her booted foot into the man’s groin to drop him to the ground in a heap of pain. She was by no means a taijutsu expert but a foot to the cock was a technique every girl should know, especially when that girl wore boots to make up for her lack of physical strength with the momentum of a slightly more weighty shoe choice. A hand came down, patting the man on his shoulder as she walked past him and watched as more guards came rushing at her with clubs and swords drawn.

Her compatriot was down the line mimicking her act almost to the letter, providing semi correct information as he closed the distance between himself and the caravan. Her little outburst had drawn their attention away from him and brought it towards herself and the mayhem she was about to cause. As the first guard was slowly recovering from her dirty tactic, the others managed to fully close the gap between them and this hostile and petite child who was ready as they came at her. Stepping to the right of a sword slash that would have cleaved her from head to toe in half and stepping forward to grab the wrist of the man wielding a club meant to bash her brains in. Another touch fell on the swordsman’s shoulder before she went to make room for herself.

Leaping backwards from the trio of guards, eyes briefly flicking towards the merchants and other members of the caravan, she formed a single handsign and waited to get out of range for the coming explosion. Where once three men were, two standing and one kneeling in pain, suddenly there was the crash of explosives and three very dismembered individuals collapsed in a heap with their smoldering limbs and stumps. As proud as she was with her work, planting the spiders with simple touches onto her victims, she never saw the forth guard for the rear wagon approach from behind with knife drawn. No kunai, it was a glinting hunk of razor sharp steel ready to slit her throat for her ambitious attack. Were it not for a misstep into a puddle that was twice as deep as it seemed the blade might have well ended her life but instead the stumbling buffoon drove the knife low into the back of her right hip. Her cry of pain was drowned out by another bolt of thunder that dropped from the sky and lit up the battlefield for a split second. The Haretsu girl could already feel the warmth leaking from the deep wound as the guard tore his blade free of her form and prepare for a second lunge at her as she turned to face him.

Her wound proved the old adage of things never going according to plan. Regardless, with only a few more guards left standing and her compatriot still an unknown entity to them, she favored her chances with this ambush and the potential for profit. The smoldering ruins of the wagons still held red hot coals on their timber providing fading red light under the last flickering of flames from the original attack of the onslaught. Then rain continued to pour down and keep the battlefield a slick and muddy mess for all of those involved. Things were going to get very interesting.

Age : 29 Posts : 463

Kyran jumped up onto a broken caravan near by, the rain was able to settle down the fire a little. Looked liked his prediction of nothing but ash was wrong, there would be no evidence of the two genin being here anyway. Looking down at a nearby guard, he looked up at Kyran then continued to point at the other genin. Pulling out a kunai he jumped down and slit the man's throat, this was very easy as the man was still dazed from the explosions. His kunai was drenched with blood which the rain helped wash off, cleaning the rest of the blood off with his shirt he looked over to his team mate.

Putting the kunai in his pouch he admired the way the girl was able to put the single guard to his knees in an instance, but kicking any man in the groin would make them gasp for air. Kyran carried on watching as she was able to dodge the other guards attacks. She was very good in close combat, even if she was better at ninjutsu then taijutsu. The guards then got blown to kingdom come, obviously she used them spiders again, or maybe something else. Either way Kyran thought it was very good how she went around doing it.

His eyes widened as he saw the guard appear behind her, before he could say anything that would warn his friend, the guard stabbed the girl near the right hip. Kyran heard the horrible screams that were thrown into the air, before the guard could attack again. Kyran began to run towards the girl doing handseals, he pushed his right arm forward which then morphed into a giant tree, the tree's branches then shot forward towards the guard. They wrapped around him and lifted him into the air, the branches squeezed tighter until the guard had blood dripping from his eyes.

The branches retracted and formed Kyran's arm again. The guard was dead, hopefully the girl would be able to patch her self up. The only problem would be was how would she explain the injury? Ninja that are higher ranks would be able to find out if she went on a mission, so that excuse would be no good. "You ok?" he said quite loudly. Hopefully the wound didn't hit any artery's or tear any muscle tissue. Walking up to her, he pulled out some bandages and passed them towards her "Use these to fix up your wound. It should stop the bleeding but you might want to check it out when we get back to the village". Kyran looked around and didn't see anyone else is sight. All dead, the bodies of the guards were spread across the road with black smoke still going up in the air.

"I don't think anyone is left. We should really start getting the merchandise and sell it at the shops at home". Kyran walked over to one caravan, thankfully most of the stuff wasn't burnt. 'Good this whole ambush wasn't a waste of time' he then got out a couple of sacks and threw them on the ground.

CP:

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Eyes refocused on the ground, watching the splatters of blood hit the puddles on the path in the dimming firelight of the smoldering caravan quickly get washed away by the rain. Blood hit water and then, already diluted plenty by landing, get mixed further with the ongoing rain and washing away into nothing. The wound was more than a distracting pain like others she had received. She had been reckless and lost herself in the combat and now her side was paying the toll for her arrogance. Wincing, she straightened herself upright and nodded to her compatriot as she was passed bandages already damp from the rain.

”Thanks… let’s clear out these two yeah? I think I hit that front wagon in the sweet spot and blew away most of the goods. Way too much shrapnel around that one.

Kemuri Haretsu put the bandage over her wound and bound it in place as best as she could with one of her belts. Two wagons worth of goods were better than none, and despite the bodies littering the area no investigation would turn up more than a few explosions and a decent amount of missing goods. The Haretsu girl broke herself from her stupor and began making strides towards the smoking wagon in the back of the train to see what there was to haul free of the wreckage. Shifting some boards out of the way allowed her eyes to fall upon her goal and quickly dishearten the girl. Frack. The wagon she had chosen was full of small jewelry boxes carved by a quite skilled craftsman although many now had nicks and dings from the explosion. She could carry a couple with her, even store some of the ryu coins from the pockets of guards and the merchants in them but it still felt a little lack luster for something so wonderful. Stacking a few ryu coins and bills into the boxes from the now-dead merchant who had kept his pockets stuffed for possible sales, she grabbed an armful and turned on her heels to leave.

”Don’t be long, I’m sure the smoke will attract patrols. Don’t find me for a few days, we’ll set up another one soon. And this time we’ll eye the haul before ambushing it, yeah? Yeah.”

It was not that these spoils were particularly bad, hell she might have gotten the worst of the three wagons for all she knew, but there was always a chance to do much better. Another rumble of thunder tore through the clouds as she hopped away from the scene of their little crime. Bodies were left to rot in the mud because the time it would take to hide them might be more than the pair had to grab their goodies and run. Kemuri’s thoughts were on the future and the fact that these little boxes might fetch her some rent money to help boost her own lifestyle or perhaps purchase a new knick knack. The path back to town was familiar and the genin had no problem making sure it was far from the same path she had taken to get out to the road and it was not long before her apartment door was in view.

Leaping from a roof onto the balcony in front of her apartment door, Kemuri used a hip bump to push the unlocked door open and step inside to deposit her spoils on her work desk. Or at least that was her intent as she stumbled and nearly fell to the floor as she dropped one of the five jewelry boxes onto the floor. One more ding, one more price bump in the wrong direction. Finally laying the finely crafted cases and their payload onto her work desk, Kemuri searched for what had caused her to trip and groaned audibly above the pitter patter of rain hitting her window. It was an official message from Konoha that, when read, expressed a desire for her to meet her newly assigned team the following morning in roughly five hours. Checking the clock, then checking her wound, she found that not only would her sleep be delayed as she dealt with the wound but these clothes would have to be burned. The shorts and her vest were drenched in her own blood and she hoped that the rain would wash the blood off of her front porch.

Tomorrow would be a long day and Kemuri was already exhausted. Tugging off her clothes and heading towards her bathroom, the only thing that kept her spirits high was the thought of the money she was going to make hand over fist for the next week selling the acquired wares. Unbraiding her hair, she finally let out a long sigh and began the search for a clean dressing to cover her wound before bed.

[exit topic]

Age : 29 Posts : 463

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