[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

All this trouble just for one bear. Well, they were shinobi, and were left to solve things to their own accord oftentimes. If this was how Uriko wanted to resolve the matter, it was as valuable a method as any other. Each shinobi was allowed to have their own moral system so long as it didn't ultimately conflict with the fate and standing of the village, and listening to your teammate's wishes and compromising was an important skill in its own right. Tomomi was ultimately willing to spend a little extra time to resolve this in a way that wouldn't trouble Uriko, even if it wasn't their preferred method. So long as the result was the same, it would be fine.

"Hopefully large enough that it will keep the bear's attention for a day or so. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the metabolism of bears, so judging how much food that would be is more difficult," they stated. Tomomi had studied some medicine in their years as a shinobi, but that was human medicine. The dietary needs of wild animals really wasn't on their radar most of the time.

"Do you know the act of tree climbing yet? Perhaps you could scale a tree and see if you could spot any berry bushes. This is a reliable food source for many animals." And if they were lucky, perhaps the bear would accidentally eat something poisonous. Ah, they shouldn't think that way while trying to help Uriko preserve the bear's life.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

"Yes, I can perform the Kinobori no Waza!" Uriko replied, sprinting up the trunk of a nearby tree. Pausing before she reached the lowest branches, she turned to look at her sensei. "It was my intention to find berry bushes; great minds think alike, don't they? I'm hoping I can find a clump of bushes; that would be so much better than a solitary plant." And then she focused on the task she was supposed to be carrying out. From her vantage position, Uriko could see a few bushes here and there, but they seemed to be single plants, or didn't seem to have a reasonably sufficient supply of berries. "Please give me a moment, Tomomi-sensei; I need to do a bit of scouting," the Genin announced, before darting off.

After about two minutes, the green haired girl returned walking quickly along the forest path instead of being in the trees above, a little out of breath. In her hands were quite a number of berry clusters, some of which she placed on the ground when she appeared in Tomomi's line of sight. Then she placed a few more on the ground after walking some distance towards her sensei, and then placed the last group close to the bear. "I found a rather large cluster of berry bushes, all ripe with fruit," she said elatedly. "But the cluster is like half the distance we walked to get here, and I suspect the bear will not be patient enough to wander that far, nor do I know whether there's some Yamanaka jutsu that can tell a bear what to do, though I suspect there may be; your techniques are so cool that way."

She flicked her hands, then rubbed them together in order to get rid of berry juices on her palms, as she continued. "Anyways, I've placed treats along the path to guide this fuzzball to the bush cluster. And I considered that other wildlife might eat the berries lying on the path, but hopefully they'll eat them there on the spot, and the juices from the ripe berries should be able to be smelt by the bear, so it will definitely want to continue on the path until it gets to the cluster. I did crush some berries on the ground though, in case some squirrels or somethings decide to run off with the uncrushed ones. The bear should be able to find the bush cluster this way, by scent alone."

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Tomomi allowed Uriko to go off to do a bit of scouting, eyeing the bear as they waited. Restraining a living creature so large and powerful as this for so long could get a little cumbersome. They had enough chakra control to avoid wasting too much energy on it, and the bear wasn't able to provide much in the way of resistance with its own chakra, but still. This was a technique designed for much more decisive combat than this. You used it to take a hostage, take command of a small army, to turn the enemy against one another. Things that quickly changed the tide of battle, not long walks. The bear seemed a little sick of it, too.

Eventually, Uriko returned with some decent news. There was a berry bush some way off. Though the bear likely wouldn't be able to tolerate going that far consider it had already been pushed to the limits, at least not at the pace they had been moving. Still, if they could tempt the bear with the scent of food to start, that would hopefully be enough to keep it from coming back.

"I can't leave it with any sort of programming to tell it what it must do after I remove control from it entirely. I suppose I could hop into the bear's mind and force it to walk the rest of the way there, but you would have to guard my body for some time while I did so." Which, to them, again seemed quite troublesome.

"Perhaps the easiest route is for me to send the bear a small ways ahead, towards one of the berries you left, and then release it while we're far enough away it won't try to attack us again." Luckily, Tomomi could maintain this jutsu from some distance.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko did not feel Tomomi forcing the bear to travel further distance was going to be very helpful, at least for the bear. Her intention was to preserve its life, not leave it on the brink of death due to exhaustion and muscle damage when they were done. "I don't think we'll have to go to such great lengths with the poor fuzzball, Tomomi-sensei," Uriko replied. "To clarify what I said I had done, I crushed berries at various points along the trail from here to the cluster of berry bushes, so the bear will definitely be able to find the cluster if we leave it here, by scent alone. Also, the reason I brought some berries here was so that it could eat those and get some energy for the trek to the bushes. Since it can definitely smell the berries, it will follow the trail to what it perceives to be a possible source of food, which I think it will very much be in need of, after the stress we've put it through."

Tomomi's second option was more acceptable. Send the bear some distance, and then release it. It did sound viable, though Uriko did feel that just leaving the bear here would not be a problem. "Um... I--" she wasn't too sure how to provide a differing opinion from that of her sensei's without appearing perhaps rude or confrontational. "What if we-- uh, just left the bear here?" she asked. "Since the food trail starts here, it shouldn't have any issue following it to the end. As for us, we could walk some distance away, and then you release your jutsu, and then we could Body Flicker into the trees above or something. At present, I'm almost certain the bear doesn't have the energy to follow us into the trees, if we chose to go there. That way, we wouldn't have to make it suffer more, and we'd be far enough that it wouldn't be able to attack us. I don't even think it could keep up with us if we presently chose to run from it." There was an uncertain pause. "I could be wrong, though. In any case, you're the teacher, Tomomi-sensei. I'll go with whatever you say we should do."

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Her compassion even extended so far that she didn't want to trouble the bear to walk a few more meters? It was odd, sometimes, the kind of things other people thought about. If Tomomi put their focus to it perhaps they could've predicted it, but such a concern really never would've crossed their mind. The bear was, to them, an inconvenience - not something they should have to babysit. Still, it seemed like it would truly trouble Uriko if they made any other decision. So, though, they arched their brow slightly in consideration, they nodded.

"I suppose that seems reasonable. I'm sure by now it fears us enough not to want to endure our presence much longer anyways." The bear couldn't understand what was happening to it or why, but it was part of the natural response of animals to associate unpleasant things with the things around it. Tomomi and Uriko spelled sore muscles and a body that moved on its own, and even if animals didn't have context for that, they would certainly want to avoid it.

Tomomi forced the bear to lie down near the berries, so it would be quite close to the scent of food already, and able to follow that path. Then they began to walk away from it. In the end, they could get far enough away that they wouldn't even need to body flicker by the time they released their grip on the bear. They shook their head at the feeling.

"Holding that for so long isn't something I usually do," they commented idly, rubbing the bridge of their nose. Oh well. The headache would clear up.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Tomomi seemed fine with Uriko's clarification of the plan she had worked out in order to get the bear to follow the trail to temporary happiness and away from the strange people who had put it through this, for lack of a better word, unique experience. The young Genin wondered whether the bear would recognize shinobi whenever next it saw them, and avoid them readily, when it remembered this strange day when it had been forced to reach its physical limits, having apparently encroached on their territory. If it remembered. Many animals were not as smart as humans, but they did understand the idea of territory, and the need to defend such. Of course, it was practically impossible for the bear to contemplate what had happened today, but animals learned, just like much of nature did.

Uriko waited until Tomomi had made the bear lie down close to the berries at the start of the trail, then she followed her sensei away from the creature. Apparently, a Body Flicker wouldn't even be necessary. This matter had been resolved satisfactorily, as far as Uriko was concerned... but did her teacher find the resolution just as satisfactory? Probably not so much, judging by what they had to say. Holding the body-controlling jutsu for such a long time was definitely taxing. "Could you perhaps consider it training... you know, to increase the duration of time you could hold it?" Uriko asked, a nervous smile on her face. Then she sighed. "Sumimasen, Tomomi-sensei. I did say I would try not to get you to do too much work, didn't I? Sorry for being so unreliable. But I just didn't think killing it would have been right...."

In the end, who decided what was right?

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Tomomi laughed softly, though not unkindly, at Uriko's apology. It was just an attitude that Tomomi found... youthfully kind. Like something one of their sisters would've said when they were younger.

"You really don't need to apologize," Tomomi dismissed, looking back over their shoulder at where they left the bear. It was still resting for now, if their senses were a proper indication. "I'm a shinobi. We're on a mission. It's expected that I would work, no? As long as it's for the village, I'm happy to do it." That was their perspective on many things. Whatever was asked of them, they would perform, so long as it helped Konoha. The trait sounded good on the surface, but Tomomi was also a person happy to dirty their hands.

"It doesn't make you unreliable, regardless. It just means you prioritize different things. All shinobi will depending on their context and experience." They were an objective individual, to almost a fault at times, so they didn't mind looking at things from a remote perspective.

"This was a low-threat mission, with the bear as our only responsibility and priority. That gave you the flexibility to go for an option you perceived as kinder rather than taking the most efficient route. I suppose it isn't what I would've done - I have a more... emergency-minded outlook. It doesn't make it the wrong decision, though." As much as it might've felt like such to Tomomi.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Tomomi did not seem bothered by Uriko inadvertently having made them do extra work, which was a great relief to the green haired Genin. Uriko liked to think of her sensei as a very controlled person, and while that was somewhat reassuring, in that fits of anger or other unpleasant emotions would be out of left field coming from the Yamanaka, it also did make Uriko feel that Tomomi's control was a mask, a very effective mask. Even though she had not offended Tomomi with her scruples about not killing a bear, the Genin realized that if she somehow did manage to offend her sensei, she probably would not know, unless Tomomi told her. As such, she would need to be as observant as possible when interacting with her teacher, and she would consider it a form of training; if she could even manage to slightly read Tomomi, it would surely be much easier to see through the personalities of less-controlled people.

"You're amazing, Tomomi-sensei," the girl said with some degree of wonder, when the Yamanaka finished their response. While the Genin's praise would be a bit unexpected, she had said so for two reasons. First, she was honestly impressed by her mentor's apparent ability to rationalize things. The second motive, a bit more prosaic, was simply the intention to get Tomomi to show a bit of emotion, whatever it would be. And for that reason, she studied her sensei's features carefully, although she tried not to show that she was searching the Yamanaka's face for signs of any reaction.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Without having to keep a read on the bear, the trip back to Konoha would be a relatively quick one. Even as they continued their conversation, Tomomi was already thinking about other things to be done. Looking at the cart to find any contraband, bringing it in if there was any, the reports that would need to be processed on the subject, the mission that would be put out to find the culprit. Most of that would likely be handled by someone else, but the papers would still cross their desk.

They were mildly surprised by the sudden praise. Their brows raised slightly again, and they had perhaps an interesting reaction - their expression was searching, too. While Uriko was trying to figure out what sort of response Tomomi would have to that, Tomomi was trying to figure out why she'd said it.

Not that it was a suspicious thing to say, it just didn't seem to them to follow very naturally from what Tomomi perceived as a rather neutral breakdown of the situation. It was possible to have an ulterior motive without that motive being insidious. They were curious what hers was, but her earnest expression gave nothing away. Oh well.

"You flatter me too much," Tomomi replied with a dismissive hand wave. "I've just been at this a long time. You'll have a lot to talk about, too, when you're my age." They twisted their fringe around their finger. It wasn't a real habit so much as a put-on one. They tended to do that when they figured they were being observed. Here, it would hopefully make them look a little bashful.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko laughed at her sensei's statement about having much to say when she was as old as Tomomi presently was. Hopefully, she would live to be that old. Older even. Even though Tomomi was older than she was, the Yamanaka was still definitely a young adult, although definitely matured. Uriko was little more than a child, even though she was definitely full grown physically. There was, though, the hope that she had not finished growing. Vertically, to be more precise. The Genin had no intention of growing in any other direction, unless it was up. Sadly, the best she could do was hope, though hope seemed a little futile, given her age. Why did boys keep growing till they were in their twenties? Was that fair?

Well, nothing in life was fair. Uriko took note of Tomomi's action with some interest. Was her sensei mildly embarrassed by the praise, or was that a sort of front? Truth was, Uriko would have easily assumed that she had made her sensei slightly self-conscious, if she had not, only moments ago, been thinking about how controlled the Yamanaka often seemed. Was it a ploy? It seemed quite sincere. Maybe it wasn't; maybe Tomomi was really feeling a bit shy. They were human, after all. "Is the stoic Tomomi-sama feeling just a tad coy?" the Genin asked in a mildly teasing tone, a bright grin on her face. "It's a little surprising, to be honest. But I did mean what I said."

Returning to the cart was quite an easy task, and Uriko went to examine its contents. There was mostly just food, and some utility items like a stove and a lantern, but also hidden beneath everything, was a wooden box. In it were twelve bottles, each nearly filled with a dark brown, almost black, powder. Uriko opened one carefully, and after observing that it wasn't effervescent, carefully sniffed at it.

"Could this be why our runaway cart owner was avoiding the roads? No idea what this stuff is, but it smells like a mixture of soap, leaves and something else. A drug or poison, maybe?"

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Uriko bit at the front for now, but Tomomi got the distinct feeling that she was going to be someone harder to trick as they spent more time together. As Uriko got older and her eyes got keener, she'd be better at seeing through little things like that. They would contemplate recommending her for the interrogators, but she was far too sensitive for that sort of thing. While the interrogators needed people who were good at feigning sympathy, actual compassion wasn't something that thrived in that environment.

Tomomi simply smiled instead of responding, playing up the coyness. They were most comfortable being unobserved, so they would do it now while they still had the opportunity.

Luckily, they returned to the cart, so the subject quickly shifted. Back to analyzing the contents of the cart. Uriko managed to uncover a small box transporting a dark powder with a soapy scent. Tomomi carefully placed their hand on Uriko's, lowering the bottle away from her face.

"It's a bad idea to sniff unknown powders. Even with it settled, sometimes the force of inhaling is enough to loose some." She'd been cautious about it, and such small exposures were rarely actually risky, so hopefully she'd be alright. She was a medic, so she knew what she was doing as well as they did, but Tomomi was demonstrably the overly-cautious sort.

"If they're moving it like this, I would suspect it's a drug. However, additives are often added to both to mask smells, so it's hard to tell from appearance and scent alone. Let's pack if up and deliver it back to the medical corps. They can probably test it there. I'll catalogue what details I can from the cart so we can begin a formal investigation."

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko turned to look at her sensei, as the latter placed a hand on hers and gently drew the bottle she was investigating downwards, away from her face. The Genin felt she had been careful enough when dealing with the contents of the bottle, but she absolutely understood where Tomomi was coming from. The Yamanaka was a very complex person, from the little she had learned about them, but two things Uriko could confidently say her sensei had were pragmatism and caution. Although as a medic, she had evaluated that the dark contents of the bottle would not be dangerous to inhale in little quantities, she was neither arrogant nor disrespectful, and so she closed the bottle, nodding her head. It was often better to be cautious, rather than brash.

The Genin absolutely agreed with the Jounin's analysis. After these bottles had been taken back to the village, it would be determined without a doubt just what was inside them. And whatever they were, that someone would be this close to Konoha with such items suggested that there was a potential, if not already established, market in the area. As a loyal member of Konoha's shinobi forces, Uriko felt some anger welling up inside her. Though she did not yet know for certain what this substance was, that someone would be trying to smuggle it past security meant it was likely unsafe in the long run. "Right," she replied, replacing the bottle into the wooden box from which she had taken it, and closing the box. "Should we finish the patrol before reporting this? I suppose we should; there isn't so much left to cover, in any case."

---

Yamanaka Tomomi

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Tomomi's nindo was a simple one; Learn to recognize poisons before you swallow them. They usually meant this more metaphorically - learn to recognize a bad situation before throwing yourself into it, do not fall easily for tricks that can harm you or your community, and those such things. It felt quite literally relevant here, though. Any unknown substance should be treated with a level of caution, as though it was certainly deadly. Maybe too stringent of a rule in some circumstances, but Tomomi wasn't the type who liked to take risks with others unless it was wholly necessary for the village's safety.

Uriko inquired if they should finish the patrol before making the report, and Tomomi nodded.

"We're almost all the way around the wall, so it won't hurt to complete our lap around. It will help us uncover if there's any other relevant information. More hidden contraband, attempts to break through the walls. Though if it was a merchant moving it, they might be slipping it in through some other means without forcing entry," Tomomi speculated. That seemed most likely to them.

"If they were avoiding roads, they weren't trying to take it to the gate themselves. Which means they were probably planning to meet up outside with an occupant of Konoha in order to make the exchange." Civilian or shinobi was the real question? Unfortunately, sometimes shinobi forces fell in with the wrong crowd.

Tomomi stepped away from the cart to continue the rounds. It'd only be another few minutes before they completed the patrol.

---

Kayahara Urikohime

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko absolutely agreed with Tomomi's suspicion that the peddler, whoever or wherever they were, had been trying to meet up with an inhabitant of Konoha, one who would be more readily able to slip the contraband past gate security. It was quite a pity that not everyone who dwelt in Konoha had the desire to see the village and all its inhabitants prosper. Such 'bad eggs', so to speak, needed to be weeded out and punished, to protect the resto of the village. Unfortunate as it was, it needed to be done; some selfish lowlife was not going to ruin the lives of her fellow villagers, not if Kayahara Urikohime had a say about it.

"I've no idea if I have the authority for that, but I would like to include in my patrol report that, as soon as possible, a trap be set for whoever was pulling the carriage along," the Genin said to her sensei, as the two shinobi rounded up the patrol. "Since there were no signs of violence at the site of the carriage, I'd like to believe that person is alive and somewhere out there. They will most likely return when they think it may be safe, in order to at least mitigate their losses by trying to salvage what they can from the remains of the carriage, and most likely take the suspicious box with them." Unfortunately for the carriage owner, said box was firmly tucked under Uriko's arm. "I don't want to believe that the carriage owner was so spooked that they would absolutely refuse to return."

And soon, the teacher and student would see the gates of Konohagakure in the distance. They had done their part. It was left for someone else to take over from there and arrest the carriage owner.

---

Yamanaka Tomomi