[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

It had been longer than Daichi was necessarily happy about since he’d gone on a mission. He’d been Lord Mizukage’s latest addition to the bodyguard roster for about six months, and a lot of that time was spent adjusting to his new role, dedicating his time to learning the ins and outs of a full-time security detail. This particular mission was a bit of an odd one for him to take, he supposed, since it seemed like a fairly straightforward exploration detail that didn’t necessarily warrant a B-rank, but—he was feeling oddly-out-of shape, and had leaped at the chance to stay fresh and contribute in some way. So much of his day-to-day was taken up by helping Lord Mizukage with his paperwork, and he needed to get back in the field from time to time. He was partnered with Enri for this mission, which he was grateful for; he hadn’t seen her since he’d been transferred from the hunter-nin, and he was quite fond of her, especially since she had been the one to sign him to her snowy owl summoning contract. He’d learned a lot from her, and hoped to learn more. Daichi shot off a note to Enri that he’d meet her at an innocuous cavern entrance not too far from Kagamino no Shi, and meet her there he did. He slipped up beside her with a grin, making his presence known far enough in advance that she wouldn’t react poorly to his sudden appearance. "Hey, senpai,” he said as he joined her. He was genuinely glad to see her, but he figured he could save his gushing for after they finished the mission; better to stay on task. "You mind taking the lead on this one? I’d like a refresher on how the pros handle things.”

@enri -- 299

LAIKA OF THQ

[Deleted]

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[attr="class","enri"]Enri closed her apartment door behind her, a snowy owl hovering overhead. She recognized it immediately and held out her arm to offer it a perching spot. The owl swooped down immediately, gently wrapping its talons around Enri’s arm. In its beak it held a letter, and Enri knew right away who it would be from. She scratched the owl around its neck and then lifted her arm and allowed it to fly off once again into the misty air of Kirigakure.

The Chuunin was supposed to meet with Daichi today for a mission, and the contents of their meeting place were concealed within. She read over the letter carefully, then tucked it away in her satchel before heading off. It did not take her long to arrive at the cavern entrance, where she was met with a familiar face. "I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” she said, waving to Daichi who seemed to have been waiting on her.

Enri shook her head, "I don’t mind, but you’re leading the next one,” she joked harmlessly. She didn’t really see herself as a pro of any kind, but it warmed her to think that a younger shinobi such as Daichi would think of her in such a way.

The two headed out, their travel to the mountain would take quite a while, and Enri would enjoy the young man’s company. It was a bit different from a lot of her missions in the Butai that required her to be away for long periods of time, and usually uncover by herself. "How has the Chuunin life been treating you,” she asked, continuing at a rather fast pace. She wanted to make sure she didn’t take too long to get the mountains. Danger would be waiting there, after all.

yamaguchi daichi

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

"Nah, I wasn’t waiting long at all,” Daichi assured her. He made a little face at her suggestion that he lead the next mission, like, yikes, but he laughed it off. "Sure thing,” he said. "I’ll be fine as long as I learn from you this time, right?” He kept up with her quick pace, deeply appreciative of her desire for efficiency. He wasn’t, uh, necessarily used to this kind of fast travel anymore, but he was able to keep up well enough without losing his breath, so he figured that at least was a good sign. "Things have been going well, I think!” he says cheerfully in response to her question, and notes with some small measure of pride that he doesn’t sound out of breath either, so he’s been keeping up with his training well enough even with the amount of desk-bound office work he does alongside Toru. "I was appointed as one of Lord Mizukage’s bodyguard not too long after the last time we worked together—six months now, I think? No complaints so far, so I figure I can’t be doing too bad of a job. Chuunin exams are coming up, which is a little, like—high risk event, you know, it’s a bit concerning, but I think it’ll be fine. We’re pretty well prepared.” He kept a keen eye out for landmarks as they tore through the countryside, making a mental note of the route Enri was taking them on; he didn’t want to run the risk of getting lost if they got separated, or she needed him to lead the way home. "What about you?” he asked after a moment. He knew she couldn’t talk about her specific work too much, even with his level of clearance, so he went on: "You must be on track to promote soon, right? You’d be great as a special jounin.”

@enri -- 315

LAIKA OF THQ

[Deleted]

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[attr="class","enri"]Enri was glad to hear that Daichi wasn’t waiting on her for too long. As they moved along, however, Enri very much noticed the face made by the younger Chuunin. She playfully rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Daichi. It’ll be good for you. You’re going to have to lead a mission of your own before long and I promise it’ll be better to start one with someone who can take over if they need to rather than be out there on your own with fresh Genin under your wing.” Her golden eyes were still facing forward. "Trust me.”

Their pace kept constant, but Enri did not slow down for Daichi. He needed to learn that keeping a comfortable pace wasn’t always an option. They could stop to rest once they got closer to their destination, but for now they needed to make as much ground as they could.

"I’m glad to hear that. Congratulations on your promotion,” she said genuinely. She was happy to hear that he was making strides, seemingly faster than her own strides. Before long he would outrank her, perhaps. She shrugged with his questions. "I’m not too worried about rank if I’m being honest. I do what I can where I can as the Mizukage asks.” Enri loved her job in the Butai, and while she had worked hard to assist her village, she didn’t expect promotions in return. Her village meant everything to her. She respected the Mizukage and her teammate. Her closest knew that respect was earned sometimes even despite rank. "I’m content where I am. So long as I’m getting work done and people are safe, everything else comes second.” Granted, the pay would be nice, especially considering the room her apartment provided would suite well for long.

"I’m looking forward to see how well you’ve trained with the owls,” she said shooting him a playful glance. "I can only assume I made the right decision letting you sign on to the contract.”

yamaguchi daichi

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

"I know, you’re right,” he said, only a touch of sulk seeping through into his voice. "Though I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to handle a team of genin, honestly, I do not envy my old sensei and don’t want her job for anything.” She had been amazing, but—Daichi could see now in retrospect that she had god-tier levels of patience that he didn’t know if he’d be able to replicate. Enri’s pace was extremely steady, and though Daichi was keeping up, it was definitely taking more effort as time went on. He made a mental note to weave more cardio into his daily workouts; less strength training, more suicide sprints. Get with the program, D. "Thank you!” he said brightly. It was a shame that she didn’t think a promotion was on the horizon, but she had a very honorable outlook on the matter, Daichi thought. It would be nice to promote to special jounin at some point, and he definitely had that ambition—but it wasn’t going to just land in his lap without working for it, and if he wasn’t putting the job and the village first, then he certainly didn’t deserve it. "That’s really admirable,” Daichi said after a thoughtful moment. "Your focus, I mean. Even if you’re content where you are, that kind of dedication and hard work should be rewarded at some point.” And hopefully it would be—maybe Daichi could mention something to the Mizukage… another mental note. At her mention of the owls, he grinned. "Trying to live up to your faith in me, senpai,” he assured her. "Usually I work with Hei, but I think Bai is starting to warm up to me? She’s moming me a lot more now, so I think that’s a good sign.”

@enri -- 309

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[Deleted]

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[attr="class","enri"]Enri could only manage a smile in response to Daichi’s words, despite hearing the sulk squeezing through. "Ahh, what do you mean,” she said with a teasing laugh. "Nonsense. You’d be fine,” she said shewing away his thoughts. Enri thought she would be a terrible teacher, but it seemed to be a lot easier than her fears originally led her to believe.

Golden eyes peered backwards, taking note of Daichi’s physical state being affected by her pace. Being through the main stretch of their journey, she decided to slow down her pace, matching what seemed to be more comfortable for Daichi. She was well aware that she traveled faster than most given her speed and overall energy levels. She took this as a moment to help condition the young man as well but overdoing it would only hurt their mission over time.

Enri shrugged. "I’d imagine most others have the same mindset, no?” she said with clear naivety. The truth of the fact was, most were probably more geared towards the promotions than she was. Enri, however, was quite content. The work she was doing gave her meaning, and it allowed her to display her skillset and put it to use for the village. That was truly all she needed. "You’re too kind, though.” She awarded Daichi’s kind words with a warm smile.

"Hehe, am I that transparent?” she said jokingly. "Bai is a tricky one,” she said with a slight eye roll. "She means well though. Don’t expect the mom’ing to go away. She’ll always be that way, but if she is doing that, it means she cares.”

Enri was glad to hear that Daichi was connecting with the owls so well. "The real challenge is Hei. How has your teamwork done with him, so far?” Hei was a finnicky fowl, even more so than Bai in his own way.

Their pace, though now slowed slightly, would allow them to arrive before long. Enri took better control over her breathing, allowing her muscles to further restore from the constant pace.

yamaguchi daichi

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Student and mentor chatted back and forth for a while, and as Enri asked after Daichi’s relationship with Hei, she suddenly ground to a halt. Daichi’s reaction time was a little delayed, but he slowed up alongside her, and saw someone in their path wearing a broad, pale mask in the shape of a bear’s face. Hunter-nin. Enri looked at them quizzically. ”You’re needed,” the Hunter-nin said, the masked face not turning in Daichi’s direction at all. ”Mission took a turn.” Her expression turning serious, Enri nodded, and glanced to Daichi. ”Hey,” she said, ”Just head back to the village, alright? Mizukage-sama will reassign the mission, no big deal.” Without waiting for a response, Enri nicked her finger on the edge of a kunai, using her blood to summon a large snowy owl—Shusui, Daichi recognized. The medic. Mission took a turn, huh. Enri offered him a quick, tight grin. The Hunter-nin took off, and Enri and Shusui followed in his wake. The mountain loomed in the distance—not too far off, now. He was about to turn around, start heading back to Kirigakure, but… he stopped. If he went back, the Mizukage would have to redo the paperwork, assign a new team, et cetera. Even more of a delay on a fairly critical mission, at least as far as Daichi understood it. It was just one B mission. He was the Mizukage’s bodyguard—surely he should be able to handle it? Daichi pressed on.

xxx -- 252

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

It was only ten more minutes or so of a steady clip that carried him to the foot of the mountain. A cavernous mouth yawned at the base, a rickety-looking track built for minecarts disappearing into the darkness inside. A mining operation had been started here some years before, but not long after the excavation efforts started, the civil war broke out, and the project was abandoned. Now, years later, the Mizukage wanted to start it up again in an effort to revitalize the economy, recover from the devastation that a civil war and a bijuu rampage had wrought on the village and nation. It was just a mission, yes, but the Mizukage had entrusted it to him. And Enri, but if Enri wasn’t available, then it fell squarely on Daichi’s shoulders, and he couldn’t stand the thought of failing. Not when Toru had so much trust in him. Creeping closer to the open mouth of the cave, Daichi pulled his eyepatch down from his face to let it hang loosely around his neck and pressed a small amount of chakra towards the front of his mind, activating his jaakugan and carefully pushing the edges of his sensory awareness. He waited there for a few minutes in deep focus, taking in as much as he could of what lay in the tunnels before him. Seven pings came back: six civilian, one shinobi, all clustered together just at the edge of his awareness—so five hundred meters in and down, give or take. Likely at a campsite together, if he had to guess. The shinobi might be a problem—it definitely wasn’t a Kiri shinobi, none had been sent out here, and logic dictated that they would be a nuke-nin—but he didn’t sense anything unusual, and six civilians would be manageable at least. He’d have to be careful and strategic, but not impossible by any means. Daichi took a deep breath, and entered the caves.

xxx -- 326

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

He didn’t make it more than fifteen meters in before he tripped. ”Ah, shoot,” he muttered under his breath, stumbling forward and catching himself on an old, rusty minecart. It creaked loudly under his hands, so he wrenched himself away, pulling back and pressing himself against the wall of the cavern. The minecart persisted, however, and at a speed Daichi didn’t think was possible for something so old and maintenance, it wheeled along its tracks briefly before derailing, falling on its side, and slamming into the wall of the cavern near the entrance. Daichi cringed at the cacophonous sound and pressed himself flatter against the wall, his ears straining for any indication that the people deeper within had heard the ruckus. For a moment, there was silence. And then rumbling. Daichi realized belatedly that wasn’t much in the way of infrastructure in the caves interior—the wooden scaffolding that you would normally see at the entrance to the mines was rotted away, only bits of soggy, collapsing wood, which now trembled and fell from the ceiling. Pebbles and dust scattered to the floor as a distant rumbled sounded from up above, and Daichi was only just barely able to recover from his surprise quickly enough to be able to dash deeper inside the cave and away from the massive weight of tumbling boulders and cracking stone as the mine’s entrance collapsed in on himself. Daichi flung himself away from the overwhelming concussive force as the unbearable weight of stone came crashing down, hitting the ground hard several meters away and scrambling to hide behind a large, rocky protrusion to protect himself from the worst of the flying debris. He crouched down, covering his ears so that he wasn’t deafened by the crashing and cracking and slamming that seemed to go on for an eternity. Eventually, all was quiet, and Daichi cautiously peered out from his hiding place. The entrance was completely blocked off. He sighed.

xxx -- 326

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

The first stirrings of panic began to flutter in his chest, but he swallowed hard and pushed the feeling away—freaking out now wasn’t going to help him. Yes, the exit he knew about was blocked, but that didn’t change his mission: clear out the caves, find out what’s still available to mine inside. Handle the mission first, worry about getting home later. He took a deep breath, and steadied himself against the wall. First things first: surveillance. He pushed out the limits of his sensory awareness and felt those same seven signatures as before—but scattered now. He heard shouting in the distance, but it was too muffled to tell what they were saying. Startled by the rockslide, no doubt, and coming to investigate; this entrance was probably their exit, too. The six civilian signatures were coming his way, and quickly. Again Daichi pushed down his panic, instead quickly surveying his surroundings and grabbing hold of a nearby tarp. Set up for supplies, no doubt, it looked similar to the one that had been used in the reconstruction efforts. He pressed himself against the wall where the weak sunlight filtering in from the mouth of the cave cast a dark shadow, and used a technique that he hadn’t given much thought since his academy days: cloak of invisibility. He kept his breathing slow and deep, remaining as still and silent as possible as the civilians continued their approach.

xxx -- 239

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Minutes passed. He heard footsteps in the distance, then voices. "Fuck, man, what happened?” he heard a feminine voice groan as six people strode into the cavern. Three carried torches, the warm flickering firelight casting long shadows on the cavern walls. There were four women and two men, each clad in what looked like cobbled-together armor, like they just grabbed anything they could that would fit well enough. Not made of money, any of them, but each had a sheathed sword and a dagger at their hip. Bandits. "Rockslide,” said one of the other women flatly. ”Obviously, dipshit,” one of the men snarled. ”Why? We haven’t had any issues before, and no one was up here.” ”It’s been pretty unstable for a while,” the other man offered softly. ”Maybe it just—” The first woman spat to the side, the glob of spittle narrowly missing Daichi by inches. He swallowed. ”Don’t matter, anyway. Kuma’s gonna be pissed. We’re gonna have to delay leaving now until we can get this shit cleared up…and the water run was gonna be today…” Five of the group talked amongst themselves while the sixth made their way over to the rubble, frowning as they examined the debris, kicking idly at the overturned minecart. Kuma, Daichi thought. Bear. Had to be the nuke—no way that was someone’s real name. That blip of shinobi chakra was still in the same spot as before, as if they had relaxed in place while sending their henchmen to do their bidding. Made it easier for Daichi, at least. But could he take on six at once? They were armed, even if they were civilians, and he wasn’t sure if an ambush would be effective enough to make it count…

xxx -- 312

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

The second, flat-toned woman who had gone to investigate the rubble, lifted her head and looked at the others. ”Mako, Hato, with me,” she said, beckoning the two men over. ”Rest of you, back to Kuma. This wasn’t an accident.” The three remaining women exchanged glances, and one looked as if she were about to argue—but the second woman gave her a stern glare, and all three turned and hustled back deeper into the caverns. ”Check the area,” the woman said. ”Whoever did this can’t have gone far.” Sweat pricked at Daichi’s palms. He’d be found soon enough if he didn’t do something, but he didn’t want to move too quickly and risk luring the other three back—the timing had to be just right— A breath, two breaths, and right before one of the men’s eyes would pass right over Daichi’s hiding spot, he cast the tarp off himself and over the man’s face. He surged upward, kunai in hand, and shoved the blade into the hollow of his throat before wrenching it back out, a spray of blood gurgling forth and spattering over Daichi’s face and forearms. ”Hey, wha—” the other man started to say, before Daichi flung the same kunai at him, catching him square in the chest. He cut himself off with a groan. A shrill whistle sounded from behind him. Daichi whirled, and was barely able to draw a second kunai quickly enough to deflect the gleaming steel of a sharpened blade bearing down on him. The second woman who had keenly detected his mistake was glaring at him, hate and rage plain on her face. She said nothing, however, and pressed the attack. With a whistle like that, the others would come running back soon, Daichi thought—he didn’t have much time. He traded blows with the woman, forced on the back foot with her sword having so much more reach than his kunai, but he was quickly able to twist out of the way of a fierce downward strike and push the pointed blade of his kunai up into the woman’s throat. She died with a curse on her lips. Daichi wiped the blade off on his flak jacket, and went to retrieve his other kunai.

xxx -- 381

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Then: footsteps. The three women were coming back, with shouts of concern bouncing off the cavern walls. Daichi pulled a smoke bomb canister out of a pocket of his flak jacket, slipped a finger through the ring, and slid the chakra at the forefront of his mind just slightly inward— pushing his awareness towards vitality, lifeblood, heartbeats. He waited. Another few moments, and the three women stormed back into the area. He pulled the ring on the smoke bomb and threw it down with a bang, where it started smoking and spiralling, completely ruining all visibility in the area. His eyes teared up, but he kept them open, the crimson red of his jaakugan a foreboding glow in the smoky darkness as he tracked his targets. Footsteps light and soft, he slipped up behind one of the circling, cursing women and slit her throat. When she crumpled, she careened into one of her comrades, who shrieked and swung her sword blindly at Daichi. The blade slashed him across the arm, to which he grunted, but he pulled three shuriken from his leg pouch and sent them sailing into her chest. On his other side: the third woman, screaming wildly as she ran at him with a blinded, last-ditch effort of an attack. He flung his hand up to push her overextended arms aside, diverting her blade out of the way, and stuck a kunai between her ribs. He waited as the smoke dissipated. Through all of this, he realized, the chakra signature deeper into the caves had barely moved. It would go a little further, just to the edge of his awareness, then circle back in… like they were pacing. Daichi took a deep breath—and coughed violently, having inhaled lungfuls of smoke. The bodies he left where they lay, though he did take a moment to claim the first fallen woman’s sword, as it seemed the best cared-for out of all of them. If they were all comfortable with weapons, then there was a possibility that the nuke at the center of this was well-versed in bukijutsu, and Daichi didn’t want to be left without a blade… even if he wasn’t that good at using it.

xxx -- 370

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Once his breathing had recovered and his eyes were no longer watery with smoke, Daichi cautiously, quietly embarked down the path the group had come from. Blood was smeared across his face and chest and arms, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. More important things on his mind. A few hundred meters deeper along a relatively straightforward path, the tunnel widened into another large room, the walls glimmering with unearthed gems and pickaxes littering the floor. At the center of the room gleamed a campfire, and just beyond sat a glimmering rainbow pile of precious gems—and the hulking figure of a massive woman. As Daichi crept into the room, she stood and turned to look at him, as if she knew exactly the moment he would arrive. She wore a Kirigakure headband around one bulging bicep, the symbol crudely slashed out. So he was right—a Nuke-nin. She had to have been six feet tall at least, muscular beyond belief, and though she bore no visible weapons Daichi had the distinct impression that was because she simply didn’t need them. "You couldn’t just leave well enough alone,” Kuma said gruffly, and charged in. Daichi bit back a scream. He tried to lunge out of the way, but the woman was too fast—clearly a practiced taijutsu user, given how she held herself. She was strong, obviously, but also light on her feet, and when she lunged in to grab at him her hands were fast and deft. Kuma grabbed Daichi’s right arm in one hand and shoulder in the other, and before he had a chance to process what was happening she was wrenching his arm back with a sickening crunch. He did scream, this time—he’d been walloped his fair share in his career, he’d broken some bones, but this was beyond anything he’d experienced before. It felt like she was trying to rip his arm out of his socket.

xxx -- 324

LAIKA OF THQ

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Chest heaving, Daichi scrambled with his free left hand to grab a handful of small tags out of his hig pouch. It was just a bundle of papers, mostly blank sealing tags but somewhere at the edge of his pain-panicked sensory awareness he knew that two of them, at least, were explosive tags. Kuma wrenched at his arm harder, and reached around to pull him close to her torso, wrapping one thick forearm around his throat—choking him out. His right arm flopped uselessly, and he gasped for what little breath he could still manage. He blindly reached back with his fistful of tags, and after struggling against her grip for what felt like an eternity he managed to stick one to the side of her hip. This would hurt, he thought, but it was better than dying here. Right arm screaming in pain, black spots swimming at the edge of his consciousness, he barely managed to lift his arms high enough to form a single handseal—then, boom. Kuma was flung to the side, crashing hard against the floor and rolling limply against the campfire. Daichi was sent flying forward, landing hard on his right side—on his arm, which just made him gasp blindly with pain—burns flaring hot and angry across the left side of his back and leg. But he didn’t have time to recover, no. A point-blank explosive note hurt, but he doubted it would kill this lady.

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