[Nara Shikajin]

the worst case scenario is you

Bright and early to most, a continuation of a never ending day for a select few, but tasks needed to be completed so sleep be damned. Shikajin stood at the village gates awaiting his wards for today's mission that would take them to the western border of Hi no Kuni where they'd deliver a missive to the Hyuga clan members who were stationed at Kyoso. A rather recent and demonstrative upheaval in the clan had shaken things up and they were requesting aid from the village to help get things back in order, with this particular task being the aforementioned delivery of a message.

In all honesty the Nara thought himself an odd choice for this mission and he figured a group of genin would probably have been more than sufficient for the task, though considering that chances were not all in the Hyuga were completely on board with the changes there ran the risk of certain parties having a vetted interest in the news of new leadership not reaching its far flung members, and the last thing that clan could afford was the village losing shinobi due to the remnants of infighting; so if a medic was needed to ensure that everyone got back in one piece then so be it.

Dark hues glanced up at the sun still making its way over the horizon providing previous daylight that the chunin hoped not to lose as they had a long journey ahead of them.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Uchiha Miroru Ren | ### | whoop whoop

KRATOS

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Nara Shikajin Tateyama Yakitsukeru | 263 | notes

Miroru stared at herself in the mirror as she lifted bandaged hands to cinch their wraps over the burns on her palms. She still looked like herself. She was positive that almost everybody else saw her just the same as they did before she went on that mission with Azarea.

Everyone but her and Azarea, anyway.

Pork. Roasting pork. That's what she'd smelled from just those glancing blows against the other girl's flesh. She was starting to understand why so many members of her extended family abstained from things like char siu and other pork dishes.

Shameful.

She tightened the bandages a little further than necessary, digging at the healing flesh beneath. Azarea hadn't deserved that. She'd done everything right. She'd tried to make sure that Miroru felt welcomed at her side again, but. She'd seen the involuntary blip. She'd been brave- but that didn't mean she hadn't been afraid.

Maybe she should be.

Maybe everyone should be.

---

Miroru arrived on time in her proper mission kit. Protector on, staff strapped to her pack, pack strapped to her. A hand lifted in greeting, a louder hello forgone in respect of the early hour. "Morning, Nara-sama." Yaki-chan was supposed to be here, too, right? Had she beaten her pale friend here? Or had she been second to arrive, with Yaki stepping aside for some reason?

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 2c/4i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Earnestly, Yakitsukeru was getting really tired with being in any level of association with the damn Hyuuga clan. It was annoying to constantly be attached to something related to that absolute moron of an academy instructor Shigure. She had been handed to him like a gift to move to Kaminari before, he was somehow the head of a prestigious clan, and yet he still gave off wounded puppy vibes. The last was cute in a sad way, pitiful honestly. If Yaki could ever call one person in this village a pity party that needed to get themselves into gear again completely it was Hyuuga Shigure. And then there she was anyways. Assigned as a personal request to a mission to... dissiminate information before something else happened? Honestly, the boy couldn't do this himself? Letters were a thing you could send safely more oft then not, at least by nin-birds. Then again she had no room to speak... her letters often came with the time of snake travel when she had sent them prior to her forcible return. Sitting nearby reading a novel on the history of explosive tags Yaki's snakes would slither around her arm in warning that there was a change, and as she looked up she would notice Miroru moving to the gates. Sighing she stood and tucked her book away into her Haori and moved towards the duo, "Presssent and accounted for. Letsss move shall we?" TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Nara Shikajin]

the worst case scenario is you

A bouncy, bright eyed genin was the first to make her presence known and Shikajin assumed that this was Miroru from the details of just who all would be joining him on this mission. The early start did not seem to hinder her enthusiasm which was a good sign though the Nara wondered if the little ray of sunshine would be as hyper for the duration of the mission? "Good morning Miroru." Shikajin replied with a nod with now just one person missing from their little trio.

Thankfully they would not be waiting long as Yaki soon made her appearance with that odd speech pattern in tow. Nearly the dead opposite of the Uchiha but seemingly just as eager to get things moving was the genin and Shikajin was more than happy to oblige. "Alright, let's get to it then." He would speak before beginning past the gates towards their destination. "We've got quite a ways to Kyoso so we'll be moving with pace until we get to the mountain range." The chunin added before taking to the trees and hopping between branches at a quicker pace. As far as he knew neither of these genin were fresh out of the academy so they shouldn't have had too much an issue keeping up, and if they did tire out there'd be time to catch their breath when they slowed up at the mountain range.

Uchiha Miroru Tateyama Yakitsukeru @three | ### | whoop whoop

KRATOS

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Nara Shikajin | 250 | notes

It wasn't at all surprising to realize that Yaki had beaten her here, and Miroru offered a cheerful wave of greeting. "I'm excited to work with you, today, Tateyama-san! And you, Nara-sama!" She chirped, clearly just as ready as Yaki to get a move on. "I'll make sure I don't hold anybody up! Let's do our best!"

As it happened, Miroru was more than ready for this excursion. Her conditioning from training in both Bukijutsu and Taijutsu had her in excellent shape, and she was able to make rapid pace, keeping up with the others and with jutsus in reserve to maintain higher speeds if necessary!

She resisted the temptation to talk unnecessarily during the run- neither Nara-sama or Yaki-san seemed at all the sort to make idle conversation, so she focused on keeping her movements efficient and avoiding anybody needing to slow down or stop on her behalf, refusing to be a burden. It provided a lot of time for thought- time that was uncomfortable, with the threat of a vulpine intrusion into her private thoughts looming behind every corner. Some days were better than others, but bad days were hard to handle when he made it his business to make them worse.

So she stayed quiet, and ran, and hoped he wouldn't make more trouble today.

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 4c/7i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

There were few people she found annoyingly okay to be around and Miroru sat at the top of that list. Which was why the half hidden face of Yakitsukeru would nod towards her without any more to be said. Much like herself this Nara seemed to be a more no nonsense type… or she was when she didn’t feel like tormenting some random prick… or Hiesin. If she could bully him into quitting she would gladly do so, she was getting close too it felt. After all her ultimate goal was to be the sole inheritor of Mitsuda. She was, in fact, petty enough for that. At least, when Mitsuda was not upon her. Having suggested they move though, the young viper had performed a seal and released the weighty confines of her haori. Leaving her capable of faster movement, and with plenty of room if she truly needed to learn the snake sage’s movement techniques on the fly. Quiet travel seemed to be the name of the game but it was not the intelligent kind of travel when you knew too little, so Yaki would ask the question she deemed necessary. "Nara-Sssan, what do you do when complicationsss happen? I would like to know your ssskill ssset ssso I can function better within thisss group, though mossst of what I have comesss from my prepared explosssivesss.” Yaki would state bluntly. A voice neither warm nor cold, just quizzical. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound AI ♥

[Nara Shikajin]

the worst case scenario is you

A mostly silent trip would have been music to the man's ears and given him time to enjoy the sights and sounds best he could while also focusing on anything or anyone that would have tried to impede the trio's progress, but Yaki would break that silence with a solid inquiry into the Nara's capabilities. She was smart to ask and not stumbling over one another should trouble arise would be key to keeping everyone in top shape.

"Good question. As is probably no surprise to either of you I mostly utilize my clan's ability to manipulate shadows, so I prefer to be at either mid or long range, but I'm also trained in the medical arts and over the years I've been able to combine medical techniques with my shadows to provide support over longer distances; so there shouldn't be any worry of me being in the way of your explosions." Shikajin replied before shifting his focus to Miroru.

"What about you, Miroru? Where do you feel most comfortable during a battle, and how do you plan to take care of potential threats?" He would ask, partly to ascertain the girls strengths but also to ensure she didn't feel left out from the conversation. There had been plenty of information about the two genin in the mission details but hearing about a person's abilities from their own perspective gave a unique insight that words on paper could not always convey.

Uchiha Miroru Tateyama Yakitsukeru Ren | ### | whoop whoop

KRATOS

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Nara Shikajin | 252 | notes

Miroru got along- or at least felt like she got along- with almost everybody, though she was aware the feeling wasn't directly reciprocal. So getting the vibes that she was one of the less irritating people for Yaki to be around lit her up, earning the other summoner a bright smile as they formed up and dashed off, unaware of the snake apprentice's aims on eliminating her primary competition for Mitsuda's metaphorical inheritance.

"Explosives... risky, but with wide-scale effects. That's on brand, mhm mhm!" Miroru murmured as Yaki explained her general aptitudes. "As for me- sorry, I'm still wowed a bit by "long range shadow healing techniques, Nara-sama!- it sounds like I'll do best on our frontline? I really can do some of everything. High-powered ranged jutsus, Close-up ones too; my staff can straight-up shock people unconscious; I've got lots of chakra, so I made sure to study up on my summons- I'm contracted with the village foxes!- and Shadow Clone jutsus since those are both pretty much force multipliers- plus I've got excellent reflexes and handseal speed, so getting jutsus off in close quarters isn't too difficult for me. Plus, a few of the stronger foxes took a liking to me, so if we need extra front-line support, I'm sure Seiji-sama or one of the others would help us out!"

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 4c/7i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsu was not surprised by the responses to her questions at all, they were fairly par for the course actually. A Nara with medical training wasn't anything extremely spectacularly odd or out of place if one considered that the possible functions of both offensive and defensive capabilities were rather grand. Miroru was also nothing new to her, she had not worked with the girl but she had never been shy about her general skillset being a mixed bag of anything and everything that she could manage. Yaki would shake her head as she picked up her pace ever so slightly, "Itsss better if we attack from the dissstance that benefitsss the group. My bombsss will not care about whether they are meant for you, ssso ssstaying back as well isss smarter overall." Yaki would reply with the one line she saw as necessary for the discussion and then went quiet as she looked forward to simply being done, travelling home in the silence and moving along with her life. She earnestly hated being forced into mission scenarios even if they were with people she considered amiable for her. If she was going to deal with further complications then it would be with what she had. Taking the time to open and take one of the logs out of her largest scroll she would keep moving unimpeded by the weight. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Nara Shikajin]

the worst case scenario is you

"Quite the skillset you've developed, Miroru. Sounds like we'll have most of our bases covered." Kids nowadays were armed to the teeth with all sorts of tricks. Outside of Kazuto it was hard to recall anyone that the Nara knew had a plethora of techniques and higher level developed skills as a genin so it was a bit surprising to hear Miroru break out the laundry list of abilities she felt comfortable using; and while it was good that they seemingly had all their bases covered in terms of battle strategy the last thing Shikajin was going to let happen was one of the genin forming up the front line. Skilled? Yes. Confident? It seemed so. But they were still young and had a lot left to learn and it never took much for the tides of battle to shift out of one's favor.

Yaki's assessment about their formation should a fight occur was spot on as there was no need to risk friendly fire attempting to hastily close distance with a possible enemy. The Nara was unsure of just how wild and forceful these explosions would be and he would have preferred it being a last resort to cut down on the chaos but that didn't seem like it would be an option. No matter, with proper direction even the most chaotic of abilities could be put to good use.

---

Slowly but surely the once lush forest landscapes that the trio had been traversing through were shifting to more rocky outcrops and elevated terrain. Through the distance the base of the mountain range could be seen in the distance signaling the first major goal on their mission. With one last leap Shikajin would drop from the trees and descend back onto solid ground, dark hues scanning the immediate area for anything out of the ordinary but only seeing a hurdle that need be crossed. A laid path stretch before them that circled the mountain and would lead them to the other side and would allow an opportunity for the three to rest their legs and catch their breath, though there was also the option of sprinting up and over the peak which would cut the time significantly but would lead back into a heightened pace once they hit the tree line, in addition to any instability that came with jogging up a mountainside.

"We can either walk the path to get around to the other side and take a breather or go up and over. The latter will be a steep climb and once we get down the other side we'll be back into a faster pace to reach our destination. I'll let you two decide."

Uchiha Miroru Tateyama Yakitsukeru Ren | ### | whoop whoop

KRATOS

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Nara Shikajin | 250 | notes

"That's just the thing, though, Yaki-chan. To maintain that ideal distance for the group, we need tools to keep them from closing beyond that ideal range. That's what a front line is for. You're totally right that your bombs won't distinguish between the enemy and me- but if it's just my clones out there, if one of them pins down a foe long enough for you to bomb them, then it doesn't matter if you pop them. You could even give them the bombs to carry to the front line- after all, I just get the chakra back! Minus what I spent to split in the first place, but I've got plenty of chakra. It's totally worth the execution cost to ensure we keep our ideal distance and increase the odds off nailing opponents with your techniques." That last bit was to both of them, of course! "It's just one possible strategy. I'll follow your directions, of course, Nara-sama!"


Given the options presentd when Nara-sama examined their choices to proceed, Miroru spoke softly. "I vote up and over, though admittedly, that's a much easier choice for someone who can just be a bird. I'll go with whatever works best for you two- including scouting over the top to be sure we're not heading into an ambush or anything crazy!"

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 4c/7i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru had zero reason or need to refute the use of clones as expendable bomb carriers. It was actually a very smart decision if she was honest, but it was not going to be helpful in this moment. Conceding the point would let the conversation come to an end though, so she would with but a sentence, "Clonesss would do well in that cassse, yesss." "I do not think we actually have to worry about finding danger in thisss place. I do think we should move ssstill though, so if you will excussse me, I will need to start climbing," Yaki would say as she turned to the rockface and scanned it on the way up before performing a handseal and applying weight back to her haori with a visible sink to where she stood she would pull out two kunai and jump up the wall before jamming the kunai with all the force and momentum she would and then slamming the other in as well. Climbing the wall through sheer force as she made her own handholds on the way up. Her feet finding what part of the rock it could before they found a surface to stand and jump further up from. Repeating this to get over. It was probably the roughest of the methods that the three had to scale up, but Yaki was stubborn enough to stick to her own method here. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Nara Shikajin]

the worst case scenario is you

Well, Shikajin definitely had to give the girls credit for their battle acumen and getting the most out of temporary techniques. Limiting risk in a fight was priority but not always avoidable though it was clear that Miroru had either been taught or designed a way to circumvent that issue altogether. Granted, even a larger chakra reserve would run out eventually so throwing caution to the wind and using a bunch of shadow clones as de facto meat shields still carried its own risks; hopefully it wouldn't be demonstrated during the mission.

Given the options presented to them it looked like up and over was the most popular which was relief. Neither of the genin looked winded from their faster than normal trek up to this point and the sooner they could get through this mountain range the better off they'd be. It was a veritable straight shot to their destination after this and truth be told the Nara would have preferred a more even surface should trouble arise. He had found it odd that delivering important missives to members of the clan weren't done by other Hyuga but that was a decision he need not concern himself with at the moment.

With the matter of direction settled the chunin would offer a silent nod to the two accepting their decision as he watched Yaki whip out a couple kunai and scale the cliff face the old fashioned way. From the brief amount she had spoken it was clear that bringing anything superfluous up would do little good so it was best to let her be. Shikajin, on the other hand, would form a single seal to focus chakra to the soles of his feet before beginning to make his way up the mountain.

Uchiha Miroru  Tateyama Yakitsukeru @three | ### | whoop whoop

KRATOS

[Ren]

The trio chose to go up and over and then started working on climbing the place so that they could reach their destination in time. Indeed, it was odd that the Hyuuga clan had decided to request such missions from other shinobi, and at a first glance, such decision would sound strange, but there was a reason for that; as most members of the branch house were easy victims to unsatisfied members of the main house, bearing such news could be received with anger and subject the member of the branch house to the caged bird seal's torture. That alone cut the available members to take on such missions to around fifteen percent, and from those - who were members of the main house - it was still to early to assess which ones were truly in favour of the reforms, and which ones were just playing along until an opportunity to boycott it would arise. Hence, the new head of the clan decided to rely on the village. There was a secondary aspect to that: to make other clan members know about the changes within the Hyuuga clan. It was a political move. The more people knew about the changes, the less likely that the unsatisfied members would be able to push for a reversal in case the current leader died.

Still, it didn't mean that the unsatisfied members of the clan would just watch it happen, and they had indeed began to take some measures to try and prevent the change in status quo. And although the trio was cautious, they were no sensors, and as such, they were being followed for a while now.

---

<sup>Word Count: 273

Tateyama Yakitsukeru Uchiha Miroru Nara Shikajin</sup>

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Tateyama Yakitsukeru
2kata4 Ren| 243 | notes

Miroru flashed a bright and cheerful thumbs up to Yaki as she confirmed her idea had merit! She didn't seem to think there was much in the way of danger, and she lacked any reason to disbelieve that conclusion, so she nodded along. "You're probably right. Besides, even if we were in danger, there's much more advantageous places to make a stand. This would be a weird place for an ambush!"

That seemed to be all the talking anyone wanted to do just now, so for the time being, Miroru satisfied herself with a few handseals and a poof of smoke. From the cloud whipped a small bird- a common swift- which flew along the crest's near side and flitted overtop, swinging this way and that to be sure she could get a good look, trying to spot any possible dangers on the way down the other side, for instance- or any indiscrete ambushers who'd done a poor job hiding themselves from an overhead observer! It wasn't so much that she thought she'd find much- she did think Yaki had the right idea- but that if she had the capability and didn't put it to use for the sake of her team, there wasn't much use to having these wings, was there?

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 4c/7i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0