[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko had gone on a mission similar to this, although it had been with someone else, it being a village joint mission with Kumogakure. The young Genin was thus not too worried about the outcome of this mission, especially as she was going to be tagging along with none other than a Jounin, her unofficial sensei, Yamanaka Tomomi. Then again, if Tomomi was coming along, was this some sort of secret grading exercise? And if it was, why was Tomomi grading her? What intentions did the Jounin have concerning how well she performed on this mission? Maybe there was a little bit of reason to worry, then.

Patrols were often carried out by different teams at different times of the day, otherwise, intelligent hostiles, who wished to avoid these security engagements, would note the times of day during which the patrols were known to occur, and make their moves during times that did not fall within the patrol time periods. It was for this reason that this patrol session was going slated for late afternoon, and while the sun was still high and bright, it was quite clear that it had begun its downward descent towards the horizon. Fortunately, the patrol would not take too long, and it was expected that, barring any sudden twists of fate, they would be back before the sun was totally gone.

Arriving at the gates of Konoha, with a few minutes to spare before the rendezvous time, Uriko called out to the gate guards with a cheery greeting as she approached them. "Has Tomomi-sensei arrived yet?" she asked.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Arriving at the gates, Uriko was greeted by two gate guards. It seemed they were quite tired, the two likely nearing the end of their shift. Soon they would be packing up and heading home for dinner, when their relief came in. By the time the patrol was completed, it was likely there would be another set of guards here to greet them.

"Not yet," one of them answered, an older woman. She flipped open an entrant log almost instinctively before realizing she didn't need it and pushing it a few centimeters away. "I imagine they're on their way. You can hang out here until they arrive! Just look professional in case any entrants come through."

Tomomi was a punctual person, but they were also not the type with enough time to arrive early. They'd had to finish up their work in the Hokage's Office, filing the last of their paperwork with just enough time to spare to get down to the gates.

Given Uriko's budding interest in kekkai jutsu and her strong performance with regards to it, it seemed like she was a good potential candidate for recruitment to the Barrier Corps. She had only recently entered active duty, so it still may be a bit early to offer her an apprenticeship, but it was never too early to test her field capabilities. That was the reason Tomomi decided to have her assigned to a perimeter patrol routine along with them. It was one of those missions that they took on a fairly frequent basis, though they tended to stay within the walls of the village - this one would extend just beyond those borders.

Right on the dot, Tomomi arrived, fixing up their ponytail. They had the slightly worn look of someone who had been hard at work behind a desk all day.

"Good afternoon, Uriko," Tomomi greeted. "I'm looking forward to working with you today. We're going to patrol the entire village and try to examine for any nearby trouble. We usually look out for signs of wild animals encroaching looking for garbage, or traces of criminals trying to find a way through the wall. Any questions before we set off?"

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko smiled when the gate guard reached for the entrant log before pushing it away, as she realized she didn't need it. She, however, decided not to say anything about looking professional, though. She wasn't sure she knew how to make herself appear professional, although it did seem to be important as a gate guard's job, as the gate guards were usually the source of the first impressions people made about Konoha and its ninja. And it always served the village's best interests to put one's best foot forward. But watching the gate guards made Uriko realize the kind of shinobi she wanted to be: the one who would greet you with a warm smile, and subsequently kick your butt across Hi no Kuni if you decided to do anything that would warrant it.

Still, waiting for Tomomi with the guards was no hassle, especially as no one approached the gates until her unofficial sensei arrived. Uriko could see the stress of the day's work on the Yamanaka's face, although Tomomi was quick to get in stride and explain what was expected of the mission. Well, that there was 'professional'. The green-haired Genin bowed deeply in response to her sensei's greeting, and nodded. "Understood!" she replied. "I presently don't have any questions, but I shall ask them when the need arises. Also, I shall try to make sure you don't get to do too much work, if I can." That was her way of showing her willingness to lessen Tomomi's stress as much as she could. The average person would have simply opined that Tomomi had a job to do, and even if they were feeling slightly tired, that was their personal problem. But Uriko believed that as far as those close to her were concerned, there were no such things as personal problems.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Uriko offered to ensure that Tomomi wouldn't need to do too much work. Tomomi's expression shifted to a mildly bemused one. Uriko was a kind soul, though maybe too much of a worrywart. To Tomomi, work was no trouble at all. Even if they were tired, this was what they existed to do, and they would work themself to the bone until their body couldn't do it anymore. They had always been this sort of person, since they'd first become a shinobi.

"I suppose I appreciate it, but I am your senior here. I can't just sit back, it is my duty to provide a good example," they joked, interpreting the offer more playfully than Uriko had meant. Though they wouldn't say it outright, other people being concerned for them was something that sat uncomfortably on their shoulders.

Waving to the gate guards, Tomomi began to lead Uriko on the walk around the village perimeter. The village was quite large but, luckily, shinobi were able to move fast, making the trip take slightly less time than it would otherwise.

After a few minutes of travel, Tomomi spotted something, slowing their pace, though not pointing it out immediately. This was Uriko's chance to demonstrate her skill on a mission, so they wanted to see what she might observe on her own.

It appeared that someone had illegally dumped some trash, abandoning a half-broken cart along with some goods here. That was something that would need to be cleaned up, certainly. More potentially intriguing than that, though, was the fact that what appeared to have been food storage was torn open, with some wrappers abandoned behind. Could it have been a wild animal getting in, or perhaps a desperate person? In either case, looking around for a trail away from the food and to whatever had ransacked the trash pile was probably a reasonable idea.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Tomomi expressed appreciation for her offer, but emphasized the responsibility of showing a good example as Uriko's senior. Even thoughUriko knew that Tomomi's response was lighthearted, this did highlight an attribute of her sensei which Uriko had suspected was the case for some time now, but was not almost certain. Tomomi was a workaholic. While it wasn't particularly terrible, and a workaholic tended to be quite useful in places where there was a lot of work to be done, there was some danger in spending too much time at work.

"Well, I shall do my best to learn as much as I can from you!" Uriko replied cheerfully, although her voice subsequently became a bit more serious. "But please try not to work too hard. It isn't quite good for one's health." Her voice livened up again. "Also, I hear working too hard will give you quick wrinkles."

And so the perimeter patrol began. The two shinobi had not spent too much time traveling (though they had gone some considerable distance, seeing as shinobi traveled much faster than average folk), when Tomomi slowed down. Realizing that her sensei had reduced speed but said nothing, Uriko immediately searched for some reason for this, and quickly took note of the likely reason for which Tomomi had slowed down. There was a damaged cart, with some stuff in it, some of which had been tampered with. Uriko did not immediately approach, instead trying to see if there was any indication that someone or something was hiding nearby. Then she drew closer to see what she could about the situation.

"Here's a curious situation, Tomomi-sensei," she said, her eyes on the broken cart. "The cart's axle is broken, which most likely was caused by an accident. And before the cart owner could do something about it, someone, or something, chased him off. I'd like to think 'something', because whatever ransacked the food stores seemed quite messy for a human, and seemed fine with chewing raw potatoes." There were also a good number of food materials like dried fruits that a human could eat, but the half-eaten potato signified that it was an animal, or a very crazy human. "I may be wrong, but I want to assume that there might be some contraband or some level of criminal activity involved, seeing as whoever owns this cart had taken it off the major roads, perhaps in order to avoid gate security. Whichever the case, they were probably chased away by this animal, and then it raided their store."

Uriko looked at her sensei. "What omnivore do you think could leave tracks this big?" She pointed at some faint tracks leading into the undergrowth. They looked like they would belong to a large dog, but dogs didn't chew potatoes, not too many herbivores were this big and came with paws.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Wrinkles? Tomomi wasn't image-focused enough to care about that kind of thing. ...Well, maybe a little. Either way, they huffed a laugh before focusing in on the work to be done.

As expected, when they came upon the cart, Uriko carefully examined the situation. There was nothing hiding nearby ready to spring a trap, so she was free to approach of her own accord and begin her search for information. She came away with a few interesting speculations. Paw prints, a ransacked cart, and an owner who wasn't present.

Tomomi knelt next to the prints in order to get a better measure, then nodded when they confirmed what they suspected.

"It appears to me that these are bear tracks. Bears are especially prone to searching for trash around villages, particularly if they've been able to steal it from merchants beforehand. I think you're right about potential contraband too. The fact they abandoned the cart here and made no formal complaint or attempt to reach out for help implies to me that they wanted to avoid being caught. Cutting their losses on the cart was more worthwhile than getting in trouble."

In that way, it was good that the bear had interrupted and run them off. It meant less trouble for the village.

"We can further examine this cart for hints of who might be involved later. For now, let's focus on the bear problems. See if you can follow the tracks." Tomomi could utilize their senses for this, but it seemed a good time to allow Uriko to explore her own skills. "When it comes to bears being emboldened to approach villages, it's usually the best practice to either relocate them further away, or put them down before they can attack anyone."

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

"A bear. Wow," Uriko said, as Tomomi confirmed her speculations so far. A bear would have definitely been something for a lone traveler to be worried about, especially if said traveler was not trained in the ninja arts, or did not have any suitable way by which they could defend themselves. Of course, the question as to what could have been the contraband being conveyed was something to consider, but the idea of patrolling was for the primary reason of ensuring that the village was kept safe. That being the case, figuring out what illegal good the owner of the cart was conveying would have to wait until the Konoha ninja had ensured that the area was safe.

To do that, the first step was to find the scavenger. While Uriko did not intend to kill it, she knew that putting it down would be a rather viable option, if she could not relocate it. Her preferred option would be to lure it away, but the bear could always return if she did so, unless it could be relocated rather far away, which she had no means of doing in a relatively short time. And the bear would certainly not be convinced to leave by discussing with it. "Um, Tomomi-sensei," the Genin asked uneasily, "do you know a way by which we can get to translocate the bear quickly without having to kill it? I've thought of a number of things, and the only one I can come up with is to lure it away, although I don't have the requisite materials to make that feasible in such a short time." She didn't want to have to kill it, but it seemed there might be no other way, like the pigs on her last patrol mission.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

If left to their own devices, Tomomi would probably just kill the bear. They weren't typically merciful. A bear was a very stubborn creature and even relocated could just find another settlement where it could cause trouble. It might not come back if moved to a new territory, but it could, and that was enough trouble that Tomomi wouldn't usually put up with it. Still, it was obvious that Uriko was not comfortable with that idea. Far gentler a soul than Tomomi, she was concerned about the bear surviving, wanted to lure it away more than anything else.

"If you can help me keep the bear in position, I can take it over utilizing my hijutsu," Tomomi offered. "If I'm able to get my control on the bear's body, I can walk it away from the village and take it somewhere further into the wilderness. That would be the most simple method available, in my opinion." Tomomi wouldn't even have to abandon their body if they could do it right, though they wondered if it would trouble Uriko to see the bear in distress in that way. That was a bridge they'd have to cross when they came to it.

The tracks continued off into a small cluster of trees. Tomomi peeked out with their mind's eye in a passive capacity and noted that the bear was relatively close. It was hidden in the trees. Tomomi would point out if Uriko got too close to it, but wanted to watch her observational skills.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko's amber eyes widened with joy as Tomomi conceded not killing the trespassing bear, if only she was able to keep it still for a moment, so that her sensei could capture it with their clan jutsu. "You're the best, Tomomi-sensei!" she said happily, though she took care not to raise her voice; the bear was still very likely within the area. It was very likely that the bear would still at least be able to hear them, or maybe even smell them if they got close. There wasn't much wind, and they weren't upwind of its general position, but Uriko did not want to gamble on the assumption that the bear could not detect them, as animal senses were sharper than humans'. She would just have to assume that it was aware of their presence.

After a bit of amateur tracking, Uriko noted where the tracks disappeared into the undergrowth. She touched the tracks. The earth around there was still soft, meaning that the tracks were rather recent, so the bear would have to be somewhere within the vegetation just ahead. Pulling a flash bomb and a senbon out of her projectile pouch, Uriko connected them, and flung the projectile into the foliage, closing her eyes just for a moment to avoid the flash. As the bomb detonated, there was a roar, and a brown bear came hurtling out of the branches above. It dropped heavily to the ground, and, half-blind, charged at the green-haired girl. Gracefully, she flipped over it, although she did not waste her motion, as she tapped the bear's forehead while passing over it. "Kanashibari no jutsu!" Twisting her body while in the air, Uriko landed behind the frozen creature, facing it and ready to attempt to subdue it again, if need be. Hopefully, Tomomi would have enough time to deal with it, but Uriko was ready, just in case.

SPOILER: Click to show

Technnique Used

NAME: Kanashibari no Jutsu [Body Paralysis Technique]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
DESCRIPTION:
Kanashibari no Jutsu is an advanced Ninjutsu technique used to temporarily bind an individual or animal by stunning them with one's own chakra after making physical contact. This technique is a single and time coordinated burst that must result in the user striking out and making contact with the target. A success will result in the target person frozen in place for no longer than a moment, the user can either take the opportunity to attack or to retreat. Someone with superior strength can overcome the bind of the jutsu, and so does pain.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Perhaps it was because Tomomi was more of a ranged combatant than others, but they were quite sensitive to moments of bold approaches like that. While a flash bomb wasn't necessarily a bad idea (robbing any creature of its sight was always a good idea, so long as it had sight), bears were also well known to have one of the best senses of smell of all animals. If Uriko wasn't careful, she easily could've ended up in the path of a very disoriented, very angry bear's claws, which was not a place anyone wanted to be.

Tomomi was no wildlife expert, but they did know that the recommendation to civilians who encountered bears like this was to play dead. There was no point running from or fighting the bear without a very select set of skills - the bear would win.

Luckily, there was no trouble. Uriko was quick on her feet and struck with an attack Tomomi recognized quickly - the body paralysis technique. It was one they utilized quite often when forced into close range. The bear would only be immobilized by it for a split second, so Tomomi needed to react quickly. They raised their arms and formed the Yamanaka hand seal. A pulse of chakra burst from between their fingers and collided with the bear. It was a strong technique to use on a simple bear, but sometimes this was necessary.

The bear fell under Tomomi's control, its body becoming like a puppet to them. They approached to pat it. Though a bear wore less obvious expressions than a human, it was clear the creature was confused and stressed, though it could do little to demonstrate such with Tomomi overriding its body.

Starting into the woods, Tomomi forced the bear to follow them.

"Quick maneuvers there. Be slightly more careful approaching wildlife, though. A flash bomb is good for disorienting animals, but many can navigate even better by hearing and smell than by sight. Just robbing them of their eyesight may not always be enough to stop them from attacking."

---

Kayahara Urikohime

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
NAME: Shinranshin no Jutsu [Mind Body Disturbance Technique]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: --
DESCRIPTION:

A ninjutsu where one sends their chakra into the subject's nervous system, thus gaining complete control of the target's body. The enemies this technique is cast upon are completely under the user's control, as their bodies become disconnected from their will. The difference between this and the Mind Body Switch Technique is that the caster doesn't project their consciousness into the enemies' bodies. Situations of numerical superiority for the adversary are precisely where this technique, which freely manipulates human beings, will display its efficiency, by getting the enemies to turn on one another. Control can be exerted even from long distances.

[Kayahara Urikohime]

When the bear's body juddered and it did not make any further moves, Uriko knew that Tomomi had successfully captured the ursine interloper. "Not so tough now, are you, Fur Ball-san?" she asked as she rose to a standing position, although her tone was not particularly insulting, more of the same tone a parent would use to tease an amusing toddler. Still, Uriko did not bother touching the bear, even as her sensei patted it. Although she was sure that Tomomi's technique would hold, she was sure the bear was not pleased to be in this position, and having a stranger, who could probably kill it, touching it was not going to be particularly reassuring to the bear. She did feel that Tomomi had every right to pat the bear, though. If anything, it would indicate that the bear was no longer a present threat.

As Uriko walked alongside her teacher and the bear, she listened to Tomomi's evaluation and corrections. The Yamanaka was definitely right about attempting to rob a creature of its eyesight in order to prevent it from going on the offensive. "I'm sorry if I was reckless, Tomomi-sensei," Uriko said. She was about to clarify why she had used the bomb, but being the unassuming person she was, she just decided not to say anything. Her intent had not been to prevent the bear from attacking, but quite the opposite: to make it suspicious of a blatant threat and force it out of hiding to attack, as she did not know its exact location at the time.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

"It all ended alright, so don't apologize," Tomomi reassured. It was their perspective that apologies were for mistakes. Uriko could have tread more carefully, but she had managed the situation alright and no one had been hurt, so it wasn't as though her plan had been flawed in this instance. What was the phrase - all's well that ends well? So long as there were no injuries, it was fine.

Tomomi was just of a mildly more paranoid persuasion. Decades of field work could do that to someone. As the Hokage's Assistant, Tomomi had also been on the receiving end of many, many reports about young shinobi mauled by wild animals in the line of duty. No one thought it could happen to them, but it did. That was an opinion Tomomi held about many things. People perceived themselves as untouchable, but that truly wasn't the case.

"There's a reason older shinobi get sent on missions with young ones occasionally. We've got to share advice. Let's see, what are two pieces of wisdom I can share?" Hmm. "One, unless immediate action is absolutely necessary, it is always a good idea to share your intentions with your team. If you need to be quiet, mime it out. You don't want your allies to be taken off guard." Tomomi had good enough reaction time to respond to the plan as it unfolded, but another genin might now.

"Two, when it comes to wild animals, disorienting them can sometimes make them even more dangerous than the opposite. When a creature feels out of control, it becomes much more desperate. Maintaining an illusion of control is sometimes a good idea for apprehending both animals and people."

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko nodded quietly in response to Tomomi's assurance that there was no need to apologize. She was sure she had been told before that she apologized too often; not by Tomomi, though. The place for advice, in any case, was highly welcomed; Uriko was there to learn, as the case was. After all, she had said she was going to learn as much as she could from the Yamanaka when the mission had begun, hadn't she?

The first tidbit of advice was concerning communicating with one's team mates. Uriko had made the mistake of not bothering to inform Tomomi of what she intended to do. In truth, this was because she was so keen on impressing her sensei, or more accurately, not falling short of the standards expected of her, that she had just gone ahead and carried out her plan. She would keep this in mind. Small as it seemed, it was quite important, and could be the difference between life and death, as team mates unaware of one's intentions could fail to respond accordingly to a planned action, or worse yet, move into the line of fire.

The second was about wild beasts. While Uriko's flash bomb plan had worked, it seemed that had not been the wisest thing to do. Tomomi was right in pointing out that desperation was a viable response to the feeling of lacking control. And then the Jounin made a statement that may have seemed a bit trivial, but was something Uriko was going to hold on to: the fact that maintaining the illusion that an opponent was in control was a good way of actually maintaining control over an opponent. Tomomi would notice, if they were looking at Uriko, that their student's eyes seemed to flash with some sort of recognition of a previously unknown truth, like she had just hit a 'Eureka!' moment.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Seeing a flash of realization on someone's expression like that had to be the most satisfying part of acting as a mentor to others. Not for the first time, Tomomi found themself pondering if they should teach at the academy when they inevitably retired. Most of Tomomi knew that they were not the kind of person who would ever retire, so it was a silly thought.

"You liked that one," Tomomi speculated, bemused. Hopefully Uriko would make good use of it. It was an important battlefield tactic, after all. Trickery was one of the strongest things one could make use of on the field. Information was powerful. Depriving the opponent of correct information by any means necessary always shifted the advantage in your favor. This was something Tomomi had learned young as a puppeteer. Pushing themself into situations where they seemed to be at a disadvantage was a great way to lay a trap. This would be pivotal for a medical expert to learn as well.

The duo had managed to cover good ground. The bear was still in Tomomi's grasp, though it appeared to be getting tired keeping up with the shinobi. It wasn't meant to run as long as humans were, after all. Two miles was where its usual energy began to cap out, and they'd moved farther than that.

"We're still a bit close, but it might be a good idea for us to find somewhere to leave the bear. Near a food source is ideal, to hopefully compel it to stay rather than wandering back."

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko smiled when Tomomi noticed her response to their earlier statement and commented on it, and nodded her head vigorously. "It sounds so wise," she replied. And it did seem to be quite an interesting thing to learn, given that Uriko was beginning to notice her personal talent for acting. She was sure she would probably do quite well if she went into theater arts. But who said the path of the ninja did not involve a lot of acting? Interrogation, subterfuge, and even concealing one's tactics on the battlefield, all these things, which were very pivotal to the life of many shinobi, did require some level of deceptive ability. And in many cases, the ability to act often allowed one to gain a psychological advantage over their opponent.

After a bit of travel, a new problem arose. The bear had reached its limit, and Tomomi pointed out that it was necessary to find where to leave the bear. A source of food nearby would be great, but was there any food source close by? If there wasn't the bear would probably attempt to return, and all the shinobi's efforts would have been a waste of time. Still, Uriko was hopeful that they would be able to find something that would be sufficient for the bear to feed on. Otherwise, they would have to kill it, an outcome Uriko had been hoping to avoid.

"Just how large a food source are we talking about?" she asked, trying not to consider that putting it down might be an option.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi