[UCHIHA ISSEI]

"I'm trying."

Issei pouted as the two of them got further and further into the cave. A sigh escaped from him every time the light begin to start fading from the cave entrance. "I just had to be an idiot.." Issei whispered to himself, questioning why he decided to not only take on a mission that involved a cave, but one that had bugs that were the size of himself and Kazui. The mission he went on last week was much better than this.

At least he could SEE where he was going. As the light begin to fade, Issei reached into his pouch for his trusty flashlight. Upon cutting it on the Uchiha jumped as a few rats quickly moved passed himself toward the entrance of the cave. "Geez! freakin.. Things!" Issei complained as his shoulders shivered as he tried to gather himself. Nevertheless, the two continued to move until they reached an area with two tunnels.

The one to the left looked as though it had not been traveled through in quite awhile, and while the one to the right didn't look that much better, it looked more refined, as if people had clear this area before in the past. After all, someone would have had to come through here if knowledge of this moss had been around for sometime. "Hmm, I say we go to the right." A head nod was given before he continued to walk.

If Kazui had any objections then he would just allow her to travel said path by herself. At least if one of them were wrong they could just turn around and meet back up with the other. After about 5 minutes of walking through, the path begin to narrow. At the end of it he could see something on the other side, but couldn't make out what. After cutting off his flashlight, he'd see that there was a even more narrow crack at the end of the path.

On the other side of it though appeared to be the moss they were looking for. Issei would have to make a note that anyone that was fat probably would not be able to get through it. When they got to the end, it was just big enough for the both of them to get through it. Unfortunately, also on the other end of it were the Mantis they were made aware might be there.

"Dammit... I guess it would explain why the crack is so little. Only a Mantis could casually walk through this."

[Deleted]

Don’t just weather the storm.
Dance in it.

❧

Kazui smiled and proceeded forward further into the cave alone. Hearing him mumble beneath his breath made the girl giggle beneath hers. Was it really that bad? She didn’t think so of course, but it was clear that everyone was built differently from one another. Some people had no fears, the daredevils and risk takers, and others were more so on the conservative side and valued the thought of actually being alive and well, and then there were those who were petrified of every single thing. There was a range to it all, and Issei fell right in the middle of just enjoying being alive - as most people were.

"I’m not a huge fan of caves either, in the exams I avoided every cave there was.” Kazui admitted, hoping that sharing her experience at their chunin exams would help calm the nerves and ease the tension. However, things only became more eerie as the sunlight which beamed into the cave’s opening eventually faded into complete darkness. Everything seemed to grow quiet as well, only the faint creepy scattering within the cave’s walls could be heard. It was enough to creep Kazui out for sure.

As Issei turned on his flashlight, him jumping would spook the girl, and she would jump to the side next to the older Uchiha as she watched a gang of rats make a dash for the exit. Her heart raced for a moment as she found her arm wrapped around Issei’s shoulders. Left in shock, all she could do was stare at the ground for a second before she laughed to play it off. "Wow...that was something.” She said through her cheeky smile and chuckling. "Now just imagine if those were giant mantises turning the corner...I just might have ran.” She joked as she continued to follow the boy and his flashlight.

They eventually came across two paths, both fairly dark and creepy, neither one really standing out above the other. Normally Kazui would have picked the left path, only because she was left handed and because she knew most people would pick the right path. But since she didn’t have a flashlight, she would follow Issei's choice. "The right it is then.”

The duo walked for what felt like five minutes, and the path began to narrow and led to a slight crack at the end of the path. Squeezing through the narrow entrance, Kazui would look around and notice the glowing moss, but also the mantis that were roaming the cave as well.

"Yeah, more than likely.” She spoke in a whisper. "Let’s get this stuff and go home.” Kazui said as she pulled a bag from her pouch and began to collect the moss from off of the wall.

SPOILER: Click to show

Always Passively Active:
NAME: Kagura Shingan [Kagura Mind's Eye]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu // Hijutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
DESCRIPTION:
This ability allows the user to find, sense, and track individuals through their chakra over vast range that exceeds ten kilometers. This is done by focusing and opening the mind's eye, though due to the low chakra cost many users keep it active often. The ability also extends to telling when a person is lying from the fluctuations in a person's chakra made from dishonest emotions or detecting if someone, including the user, is under a genjutsu. Also by focusing on a particular chakra, the user can perceive its location and movement with great detail.

word count ● @tag ● notes

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[UCHIHA ISSEI]

Needless to say, Issei was definitely uncomfortable about the situation they were in. The mantis didn't appear to be hostile, but they didn't seemed to be all that focused on them yet either. The intel said that the Mantis fed on the moss that they were taking, but what was going to happen if they started noticing? Chances are they were going to feel some kind of way about them taking their food.

Issei hoped internally that the moss in question was more universal than the village believed, but chances are it wasn't. What if this was their only source of food? Kazui seemed to just be focused on getting this over with, but as Issei begin to fill his bag all he could think about was the possibility that the giants bugs would notice, and try to kill him over it.

In the beginning things seemed to work out just fine. Issei did his best to pick up as much of the moss as he could away from the ones that were already inside. His movements were slow, but smooth. It was easy to stay out of their way, but after awhile they begin to sort of pick up on the two of them. There was even a moment where Issei had a stare down with one of them.

He could tell that they were noticing, but not only that, that they were taking way more than they might have been comfortable with. He watched as two of them begin to engage with one another on the other side. The Uchiha wondered if the moss had made them more intellegent, as they seemed to be communicating with each other about what they wanted to do.

Not in their language of course, but it was if they were planning something. "Um.. I think we should hurry up Kazui.. They don't look too happy about what were doing." Issei whispered as he continue to place more moss into his almost filled bag. No less than a minute after they begin to slowly start approaching himself and Kazui. There was about three of them to be exact.

While this was was taking place Issei stopped moving altogether. He didn't want to engage any of them because, well, he was kind of afraid of them. His signature style involved the use of fire, and he was sure in the future, their village and others they were allied with might need this. Plus, he didn't want bug guts everywhere.

"Bye Kazui!"

Issei exclaimed with a cringe smile before he reached into his pounch and threw a flash bomb in the direction of the Mantis. "Close your eyes!" He made sure to note as he was running out of the cave.

[Deleted]

Don’t just weather the storm.
Dance in it.

❧

The girl worked quickly and efficiently. Not a word escaped from her lips nor did she waste any movements or energy, she was only focused on the task at hand and that was gathering as much moss as she possibly could before the mantis got mad and tried to tear the two of them apart for touching their food. Never had she turned to look over her shoulder at the insects, mostly because she didn’t want to see how they looked. The creepy noises could be heard just a few feet behind them, but Kazui ignored it and continued to peel the moss from the cave’s wall.

"I’m moving as fast as I can…”

She spoke her reply to Issei in a soft whisper, hoping that the mantis wouldn’t hear her and get startled before going crazy and attacking them. It was never stated just how much moss they needed to retrieve, but the girl was making sure that she collected a copious amount so that they didn’t return with too little rather than too much.

As the giant mantises approached one another and began almost communicating with one another, that’s when Kazui would look over her shoulder and get a glimpse of the bugs’ faces. It was enough to give her the creeps. Not longer afterwards, three of the giant bugs would begin to hop towards both Issei and Kazui herself. And of course, Kazui didn’t want to kill them so the only option was to run.

"Way ahead of ya.” The girl said as she quickly tied the bag and tossed it over her shoulder before making a dash for the narrow exit as the flash bomb went off. Kazui could see the bright flash behind her, but didn’t take anytime to investigate if they were clear or not, she just continued to run. Luckily she did because the moment she dashed through the narrow path, one of the Mantises’ claws?? Would shoot through, just nearly missing her before it was blinded. It wasn’t hard to retrace their steps back to the cave opening however, and once they did, Kazui would take a breath of fresh air, her breathing was heavy as she spoke. "Okay...Let’s go.” She said softly.

SPOILER: Click to show

Always Passively Active:
NAME: Kagura Shingan [Kagura Mind's Eye]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu // Hijutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
DESCRIPTION:
This ability allows the user to find, sense, and track individuals through their chakra over vast range that exceeds ten kilometers. This is done by focusing and opening the mind's eye, though due to the low chakra cost many users keep it active often. The ability also extends to telling when a person is lying from the fluctuations in a person's chakra made from dishonest emotions or detecting if someone, including the user, is under a genjutsu. Also by focusing on a particular chakra, the user can perceive its location and movement with great detail.

word count ● @tag ● notes

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[UCHIHA ISSEI]

Fortunately, the two of them were able to make a clean escape from the area. It was a win win for both because they didn't have to kill any bugs, and they also didn't take all of their supply of food either. On their way out Issei kept his flashlight active until the two of them could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It wouldn't take them long to get out since they were practically sprinting at this point.

When they finally got out the cave Issei would take a breather along with a sigh of relief. "Whew... You were totally scared back there." A rare uncontrollable laugh escape from Issei after his statement. He was definitely the more scared person between the two of them, but he wasn't going to admit that to her.

It was nice that for once they could go on a mission and actually enjoy themselves. Not to say that this mission wasn't one they shouldn't take seriously, but this was definitely one of those less combative missions. Anything else for them was usually a cake walk for sure. "Well, now that I have saved you I guess we can head back and deliver the goods."