[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru stood on a ridge from the mountain staring down at a small village of what was likely less than forty civilians. Her tongue clicking in agitation as she had been given such an annoying task in exchange for being given the training of the old hermit... that jerk. It did not matter that she was told to either attract attention in the worst way, or get herself moving on hunting something that was so obviously going to end up outside of her league... right? That sounded right as it was. Moving along from where she was standing she had begun scouting for signs of what was likely a larger beast that had caused the problems in this town... or would according to the old bag of bones. Scanning the tree she would keep her distance from the village, having used the vantage only long enough to scout out the actual side of the logging mill. She would need to work on the assumption that if she was here to kill a beast then she needed to make it as small an ordeal as possible. Bird Country didn't need to be raising flags to a mysterious set of issues... which is exactly what it sounded like this was supposed to be. That was a trap waiting to happen. Yaki would not be caught in such an easily seen machinations. Spreading her snakes out around her she would begin looking out and around with a series of hisses. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

The small town was in a state of great tension. People were looking over their shoulders as they walked around the village, as if they were afraid that something was going to attack them all of a sudden, and the stress was almost tangible. Something was definitely going on in this place, even if that something was not yet entirely obvious to an outsider's perspective. Yakitsukeru was charged with causing either a scene, or hunting something, which she could only theorize was the very same thing that was getting the people in the village so stressed up. Still, it was up to the girl to decide which path she would be taking.

Scouting the village from a vantage point was a very good start, as she could memorize its geography and learn how to properly navigate through it. To the west of the town, there was a patch of dense woods, and there was certainly an eerie feeling coming from said woods. Using her snakes, the girl set them out into the world to look around for stuff, but what exactly would they be focusing on, for the general feel of the population was already clear to the young kunoichi.

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

To the western forest she would head as she caught the mood and unease that permeated the entirety of the grounds around the village. Yaki was not sure if there was something that she should be more scared of in this place, but she would keep a tagged tiny scroll in her hand as she prepared to enter this new area. It was not like she needed to keep super hidden, but she was also not advertising herself by leaving noticable trails. Having her snakes trace after her as she moved. Moving to an area before pushing a little chakra into her feet and leaping to catch a branch and pull herself up onto the branch. Looking around did not take much energy, but she would keep to the tree as she waited for her snakes to return or until she found some trace of whatever the hell it was that she was looking for. It felt nigh impossible to actually tell, she hadn't seen scratchmarks for a bear or the markings of tusks from some wild boar or hog. It was honestly a little perplexing that there was so little to go on other than an odd feeling tyhat she was in the correct location at the moment. TAGGED | Ren NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

The tall trees covered most of the sunlight from entering those woods, making it quite dark and hard to navigate, and the further Yakitsukeru entered into the forest, the worst the light conditions got, adding even more to the challenge she was currently facing. The place was quiet, almost too quiet, almost as if any living creature there was afraid of making a sound, as if it could awake some mysterious evil; it was definitely not a good feeling, even to the bravest of people. Nature spoke, and as a sage she knew that more than most people did. Even her snakes were feeling a bit unease, but they stood fast, embolden by the presence of the young sage apprentice they were bonded to.

Scouting for any leads, she would eventually come across some paw prints. They were very large, larger than her torso, and they were heading further into the forest. From the looks of it, it may belong to a bear, but was there any bear in this world that big? Well, she would have to keep on following the tracks to find out. The forest remained quiet, as if death itself had reign over that evil place.

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

It was hard to see this going well, but that was why the young girl came to set herself a territory. If she wasn't going to go to its lair, why not lure out the predator into a field of her own making after all? With that she would begin to look for a place that was between open and wooded and get to work. Using her snakes as a radius of signal that something was coming she would begin to set the oven Heatwave technique into areas that would inevitably work as entry points, or areas to functionally blind an enemy while she sprayed them with explosive or expanding weapons. The latter she would set up onto a few shuriken that she could throw after her oven seals went off. It was just a matter of waiting or being encrouched upon sooner. "That old man better give me sssomething to work with before thisss tasssking getsss too annoying. Or I will ssseriousssly consider just blowing his roof sssky high," The girl would hiss out as she started to work on finding herself a place to start placing some form of bait to the area, not that she knew what she was going to try and use for that specifically, but it seemed like a good call. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

"She better not be dead, oh that's gonna be so awkward if she's dead." Grumbled the boy as he ran through the countryside in pursuit of his teammate. She had been tasked with hunting down a bear that had been causing havoc for a small village and in his great wisdom their sensei decided after Yaki had already left to send him as well, so now he was playing catch up and hoping that the girl hadn't gotten herself into a situation she couldn't handle, or could at least hold out long enough for help to arrive. Granted, Mairusu wasn't sure what all he'd be able to do if they were going up against a creature that required two --albeit young-- shinobi.

The genin came across a ridge overlooking the village, right where Mitsuda had directed but that was the easy part. 'If I were a kinda mean girl with a lisp where would I be?' Mairusu asked himself as he scanned the horizon, eyes settling on a dense forest to the west that seemed like a good hiding spot for a woodland creature. "Guess I'll start there." With a huff the boy would begin to make his way down the ridge and towards the forest, the lush and dense foliage blocking out the light and reminding him of the forest he had first met Kasumi in.

▲

WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru Ren ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Ren]

Yakitsukeru was a cautious one and that was a good quality in a shinobi, especially one like herself. With that in mind, she looked for a suitable place to try and lure her target out, and after searching for a short while, she would find a clearing nearby, spacious enough for a creature of that size to move freely, but also not occupy the entirety of the area, thus giving her room to maneuver well enough in case combat was inevitable, which was always a possibility; things could go wrong.

Meanwhile, further away from the woods, Hiesin was searching high and low for the girl, worrying about her being potentially dead, which would be quite problematic for not only himself, but also for their sensei. After pondering for a moment, he decided to check the woods near the village, rightfully reaching the conclusion that it was a likely place for the girl to be hiding at. Still, little did he know that she was there on a hunt.

Speaking of which, one of Yakitsukeru's snakes would warn her of the approaching of the boy, who was heading towards the clearing, but was yet to notice Yakitsukeru presence in the area, giving her the advantage in that regard.

---

<sup>Word Count: 210

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Hiesin Mairusu</sup>

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

The young viper would grin as she spun the bomb in her hand. Having set her radius of traps. The snake would warn her of something approaching and she could only assume it was the bear. Slipping over to a side she would form a few handseals and turn into a rock with the Transformation technique, hissing to call back her snakes as she awaited the arrival of the bear to the clearing. Silently she would watch until she noticed it was not the bear, but Mairasu who had appeared and her mood soured immediately. Soon though her face would curl into a smile as she waited for him to move just a bit further up. If he was not actively looking for the seal placed onto the ground Yaki would wait until he was rather close and poof back to reveal herself as she clapped her hands to release her Oven Heatwave onto the boy. A blast of flame and heat rising in a harmless, but blinding gout. The girl attempting to make her fellow sage apprentice recoil like a little coward. Assuming he did the girl would start laughing in a hissing chuckle that turned into a full laugh as she failed to so much as verbally greet the young man who she knew had likely made a massive trek to find her... which was a lucky find on his part. TAGGED | Here NOTES | SPOILER: Click to show NAME: Ōbun Neppa [Oven Heatwave] RANK: D CHAKRA USAGE: Low CLASSIFICATION: Fūinjutsu ELEMENT: Katon HANDSEALS: 2 REQUIREMENT: N/A DESCRIPTION: A simple seal trick the user draws a seal on a non-living surface in the form of the symbol for Fire, performing two handseals the fuinjutsu becomes active. By focusing on the seal when in danger and clapping the user bursts the seal creating a mostly harmless blast of fire and heat from the placed location within a [5 meter] cone facing out from the seal's front. While not harmful, it creates an effective elemental 'smokescreen' that focuses on the natural reaction to recoil. Being fire specifically, this seal is especially effective at at potentially blinding and causing people to close their eyes rather than hiding an area. MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

Step after step the boy would traverse deeper into the forest in search of his... teammate. They weren't officially a team but did have the same sensei so it had to count for something. He'd also be looking out for any signs of the bear that was probably calling this place home, too, though truth be told Mairusu's animal tracking skills weren't all that great but it couldn't have been all that difficult to find a huge bear, could it?

The oblivious genin was none too aware of just how close Yaki was or the devious scheme she had planned when she spotted him, so imagine the boys surprise when she appeared seemingly out of thin air in front of him. Wide eyes and an agape mouth preceded words though they would not have a chance to reach the girl's ears as the seal Yaki activated sprung to life before Mairusu sending a cone of fire shooting into the air in front of him. "Ah what the hell!" The boy exclaimed as he fell back to avoid the flames.

"Damnit Yaki, no wonder sensei sent me out here to find you. Supposed to be finding a bear but you're out here playing games." The boy grumbled as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the spots. He had tried to at least be amicable with her but she was just so mean every time they were together and this latest stunt was no exception.

▲

WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru Ren ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Ren]

Yakitsukeru was ready for business, and at the sign of an approach - which she reasonably assumed it was from her target - she used the Transformation Technique to blend in with the environment and... Well, it wasn't the bear. Instead, it was her fellow Sage Apprentice, Hiesin. But she chose to remain hidden, letting the boy walk into the trap, and when he did so, Yakitsukeru's seal activated, sending a wave of fire into the air and spooking the living crap out of the boy, who fell back to avoid the flames, feeling a bit aggravated with what seemed to be a prank.

The girl busted in laughter as her friend complained about her fooling around instead of taking the mission seriously, and yet, there they were, in the middle of the forest, discussing loud enough that people - if there were any around - would be able to hear. On the bright side, their noise seemed to have caused some effect, as another one of the girls snakes hissed, signalizing that something was approaching from the northwest, and this time, the snake seemed way more alerted than before. Shortly after, they would hear a low, guttural growl, a sign of trouble or success, depending on their point of view.

---

<sup>Word Count: 205

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Hiesin Mairusu</sup>

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki had not immediately stopped her laughter when Mairasu brought up their shared teacher. Instead giving him a shrug as she snickered, "I'm not sssurprisssed he knew honessstly. I didn't tell him though... how odd. He mussst be ssspying on me. Itsss not my fault though that you walked into one of my bear tra-" Yaki would catch sight of the snake that was telling her to back away. Warning her, it was a sign only just before a growl would cut her off. Immediately reaching for one of her clay pot bombs she would hunker to be ready looking around. Honestly Mairasu had amazing timing with how things had been moving along. "Letsss catch up later okay? The bear isss here. You should help me kill thisss thing, I'll give you the hide if you do... itsss like the sssnake all over again yeah?" Yaki would say her voice having lost all humor as she entered work mode. Where was the growling coming from? Which direction? She swiveled around looking for the massive beast in the middle of the clearing she had trapped up. Letting out a hiss of a command, Yakitsukeru would recall all of her companions as quick as she could to herserlf. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

Checking all of his extremities to make sure the fire had not burned them off, or worse yet singed away his eyebrows, the boy could do little more than mutter to himself as Yaki got all her chuckles out. One moment she was trying to get him to play second fiddle on a serious note, the next she was playing pranks. This girl was a menace and her excuse was... incomplete. Something had caught her attention and it was only a moment or two later that the low, guttural growl of a large sounding creature reverberated through the area.

Ah shit.

Looking around from side to side Mairusu attempted to find the source of the sound, or at the very least get a general direction of where it had come from, but there was nothing around but homogenous greenery. A brow raised in confusion upon hearing the girl offer the beast's pelt in exchange for helping her and if her voice hadn't gone completely stale he'd think she was joking. "What am I gonna do with something like that? Wouldn't it be weird for a sage to be walking around in a fur coat or have a bear skin rug lying on the floor in their house?" They were supposed to be protectors of nature, after all, and while there were unfortunate situations where creatures were terrorizing populations and had to be dealt with it seemed poor taste to be walking around with the spoils of battle.

"Yeah yeah like the snake. Why is it always the man eating creatures we gotta fight?" The genin lamented as he fished a couple of kunai out of his pouch and stood at the ready. He wasn't sure where the bear was but he'd be ready for when it showed up.

▲

WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru Ren ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Ren]

Yakitsukeru's seal had been activated, generating the blast of fire which served as warning, and the smoke that came after it. It wasn't harmful, but it did seem to irritate the creature, who now growled loudly and furiously as it blindly changed to where the two young shinobi were. The smoke he also interfered with its ability to smell their terget, albeit only momentarily, thus leaving the large creature vulnerable to attacks for a short spam of time. It was an extremely large grizzly bear, and it was so strong, that it was able to break a large tree just by blindly slamming against it as it approached the clearance where the two Genin were.

The creature had a few scars scattered on its body, a sign that it had been hunted before, but it had prevailed. It also had a missing eye. And even though the two were trained shinobi, they needed to be careful, for everything about this bear screamed danger. The bear would start sniffing around and quickly turning its head, he was trying to get past the smell of smoke and find its prey, and it seemed like it was working. What would the two Genin do now?

---

<sup>Word Count: 205

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Hiesin Mairusu</sup>

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

"I don't care, but I need thisss damn bear dead. Ssso help me out would you? That or get the fuck out of my way and to sssafety already. We can talk later," Yaki would say quietly with a bit of venom as she began to lay the next two traps to the ground. One a smal clay ball that Mairasu was familiar too while the other was a scroll he probably didn't know, but the paperbombs would tell him plenty about what was going on. Inordinary explosive ordinance was the name of the game with Yakitsukeru. That was her perogative in this, and every other situation. Explosives did the job just fine in most situations after all. Why waste so much chakra on jutsu when you could come strapped to the teeth with enough boom to level a small town? The answer, in all cases, was that you should not. At least from the young viperess' perspective. As she prepared to throw she would look to Mairasu one more time and toss the scroll in the bear's direction. Letting it get close as she immediately began to back away as she made a snake hand seal and set off the scrolls paperbombs releasing the makibishi inside in an absolute scattering that still nearly reached where she now stood. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Hiesin Mairusu]

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA WHERE MY BROTHERS WAIT FOR ME

"Remember that. We are definitely gonna have some words after this." He had been roped into another fight with a large deadly creature which once again put his limited arsenal to even lesser use. There was maybe one jutsu that could work from a distance but it would only serve to hinder the bear not kill it, so it looked like they were going to have to do this the old fashioned way: with weapons and explosives. Yaki had already begun to lay more traps for the creature that was trampling trees as it tried to recover from the girls previous traps and from the scars alone it was easy to tell that this was not the first time someone had tried to take this thing down. Did Mitsuda-san know this? If so, why the hell had he sent them to try their hand at something that was remarkably hard to kill? Always more questions than answers with this lot...

Whatever, there would be plenty of time for complaining after they didn't get themselves mauled to death by a giant bear. The two apprentices would share a glance as Mairusu noticed that the girl was holding a scroll in her hand and he had been around her just long enough to know that whatever lay sealed in that scroll probably had some boom to it. Jumping back as the girl did the genin would fish a couple of kunai and explosives notes from his pouch before tying the latter to the former and flinging them at the bear as it came into the clearing. He hoped it would add a little extra oomph to whatever Yaki had thrown previously or at the very least did a decent amount of damage on its own.

SPOILER: Click to show

Kunai x2
Explosive Notes x2

▲

WORDS ● Tateyama Yakitsukeru Ren ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style