[Kayahara Urikohime]

Mission Details

It had been quite long since Uriko had seen Miroru. Last she had seen the rambunctious jinchuuriki had been at the Chuunin exams, where Miroru had aced the exam with flying colors. Uriko had to admit that she had been a little jealous to see the red haired kunoichi, who was some years younger than she was, excel so effortlessly (apparently), but she had quickly corrected herself. Even if Uriko felt that possession of a tailed beast gave Miroru a large advantage, the green haired girl knew that few things came with no disadvantages at all. Goodness knew what Miroru's mental scape was like, and yet the girl always seemed bubbly and cheerful. Perhaps that was the sort of outlook to life Uriko needed to have as well.

Better yet, she would forge her own path. It was foolish to compare. The bamboo did not sprout at the same time as the rice, even though both of them were grasses. That Miroru had become a Chuunin and Uriko had not simply meant that Uriko's own road took a different route. She had made peace with that. And so, she had been elated to receive the mission details regarding this new assignment. She'd been out of the village on a short courier mission, and had therefore sent a message to Miroru, requesting her friend meet her at the entrance to Sagyo, where Uriko presently waited, looking around excitedly for her friend.

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime | 325 | notes

Miroru bore her own weights from the exams. On the one hand, she had largely managed to avoid leaning on the Kyuubi at all. She hadn't allowed it to take over, hadn't released its chakra, hadn't benefited from anything but that passive leak of chakra into her body. Which was certainly its own advantage, but then... others had their own.

Like Hotarubi. Whatever he'd had going on certainly counted. Having some extra chakra wasn't nearly the same sort of concrete advantage. You could be invincible and just do things half-assed and you'd still win. Miroru had needed to learn jutsu for as many different scenarios as she could think of and use them, properly, in the moment.

But she'd slipped, for just a moment, and it had cost Konsho his arm. And she'd never be able to take that back.

Still, it'd be hard to see the weight. Miroru had made a career at this point out of masking the pressure, stress, and internal conflict she was faced with. Her crosses, her burdens, she bore silently, presenting a cheerful face to everyone around to keep them from noticing her secret- or suspecting what she struggled with.

So when she arrived to meet Uriko, she came in high spirits, bounding above the rooftops along tiny barrier platforms created under her feet, leaving her to descend with big, long jumps that lost altitude with each step, coming to the ground in a somewhat clumsy stumble.

"Ah! Ahaha! Sorry! Still working on the landing!" She turned and flashed Uriko a big grin and a thumbs up. "Hi, Uriko-chan! How've you been since the exams???" She expressed sincere interest, adding, "I saw how crushed you were at the end of your match. I hope you've been doing alright?"

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko did not have to wait long before her partner came bounding across the rooftops, before descending in a classic Miroru-style landing. As usual, the girl was all sunshine and cheer. It was amazing how, despite her age, Miroru could carry such a heavy burden, and still face life so enthusiastically. The green haired kunoichi gave her friend a grin of similar dimensions, as she hurried over and threw her arms out to hug the jinchuuriki.

"Miroru-chan! It is so good to see you once again. I don't believe I was able to give you my congratulations on acing the Chuunin Exams," Uriko stated, pulling back and ruffling Miroru's bright red hair. "I've been okay, I guess. After all, I didn't have it that bad, given the amount of damage people came away with during the exam. I've gotten over my depression, I guess it was something I needed to deal with. At any rate, hopefully, I'm stronger for it... I hope."

Uriko's happy expression became slightly more concerned, though. "But what about you? I know you did well in the Exams, and there would be many people envying you to the moon and back, but I'm certain the stress was incredible. How are you holding up as well?" She knew very little about tailed beasts and their human containers, but Uriko had heard that in times of trauma, the seals that kept the bijuu away from the world could weaken. She had heard of Miroru destroying a shinobi's arm, but she didn't want to raise that, as she was concerned that such an apparent deviation from Miroru's cheerful persona could have been an indication that there may have been cracks. For the sake of her friend's well being, she needed to be sure Miroru was okay. Trauma wasn't always only physical.

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime | 313 | notes

The hug made Miroru's cheeks light up- as much as she generally attempted to avoid calling attention to it, Uriko was curvy, and the unexpected embrace was- while certainly not unwelcome- startling, in the best of ways! She lifted her arms to hug back, happy to see her friend, and stepped back politely after, grinning up at the other girl! "It's okay, I'd rather get the congrats now. My last two rounds involved blasting off someone's arm and fighting someone like. Four years younger than me, so I don't exactly know that I'd say I wanted to hear congratulations right after," she admitted. "But thank you! And no, you got saved a lot of pain and damage. A lot of the competitors- myself included, I guess... proved to be pretty brutal. That Hotarubi fellow bit off Atagi-san's arms; Konsho-san wasn't even the only other person to lose a limb; and then there were burns, kunai, and that blonde Iwa kid was suplexing people into the ICU left and right."

The redhead nodded firmly to confirm that she believed Uriko must be stronger now! "I bet you are! You've always proved yourself super clever. I couldn't imagine you not taking some lessons away from that to improve yourself!"

The direct question left Miroru scratching her neck lightly, glancing away. "Ah... well... I still feel bad. I... should have controlled myself better. It wasn't as much of a loss of control as... other times, but I let my frustration at Konsho-san talking down at me blow me into "proving" myself," she said, air quotes included, "... and it cost him a limb. Azarea-chan says I shouldn't blame myself... but I totally blame myself," she admitted.

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Yes, the Chuunin Exams were one brutal slugfest. Her match with Itsuki had probably been one of the tamer ones. Uriko found herself chuckling slightly at the statement about the "blonde Iwa kid", who was "suplexing people into the ICU left and right". It wasn't supposed to be funny; heck, Uriko was sure that seeing one of the ICU populating suplexes would have left her horrified. But Miroru just knew how to make people. or at least Kayahara Urikohime, amused.

It was nice to hear Miroru express confidence in Uriko's adaptability, even if the green-haired kunoichi did not think she was that worthy of commendation. But she had decided to improve from what she had considered to be her mistakes, and as such, attempting to naysay Miroru seemed counterproductive. Instead, Uriko simply nodded and replied, "wow, I certainly have some work to do to keep such an outstanding perception of myself."

Miroru felt guilty, as was expected, for having blown off someone's arm. Uriko placed an arm on her shoulder. "Feeling guilty about it won't do much. I guess I'm a bit hypocritical for trying to suggest solutions to you in the same area I'm barely wading out of. But still, if you feel guilty, then it's best to work on yourself such that you never have to make that same mistake again. At least you know what you need to work on. That in itself is enough progress."

Turning slightly, Uriko looked beyond her Chuunin companion at the run-down establishment beyond. "Well, shall we begin? This place looks more depressing than I thought it would, so I don't want to stay here long. And hopefully, we won't have to. Seeing as the sanctuary rangers who put up the mission did their due diligence, all we need to do is find evidence that the defendant in this case was actually smuggling contraband. We already have the address of the warehouse in which the stuff supposedly is, so let's go. While we walk, if you have any worries or concerns about the Chuunin Exams, or your ninja journey so far, I'm available to listen. a problem shared, they say, is half-solved."

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime | 250 | notes

Miroru squinted at Uriko's backhanded compliment towards herself. "Hey, cut that out. I can tell when you're trying to softsell yourself, you know! I said you're cool, you're allowed to take the compliment without adjustments!"

The redhead glanced away as Uriko offered some insight and advice, nodding faintly as she was reassured. "That's true. I- the last time someone so insistently underestimated me, I wasn't in a position to do anything about it but run. This time, I felt like I could prove him wrong, and the -need- to do so just... won."

After a moment, the Uchiha gave the area her own once-over and bit her lip. "I dunno... isn't the fact the place is kinda run down all the more evidence that it needs our assistance? I feel like that's more reason to stay and make ourselves useful than to get out as soon as possible, isn't it?" She nodded all the same at the proposal to head to their intended worksite, and followed along, hands laced behind her head. "I dunno. Lots of what I wanna talk about isn't really... public streets material? But if you don't mind listening to me ramble about how weird it is to be doing little guest-teaching stints to kids my own age, I can talk about that while we walk?"

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Caught in the act. Uriko averted her eyes upwards, a small smile on her face, as Miroru chastised her for trying to play down her merits. As someone who didn't think she had accomplished much, Uriko was careful about feeling too good about herself when she didn't think she deserved it. Still, there was the danger of going off on the other end and allowing a lack of self-confidence to cripple one, which was Uriko's biggest challenge, as far as confidence was concerned. It was interesting to hear that, going by what had been revealed, Miroru's issue in the exams was the desire to prove herself, which translated into overdoing things. For her, control was key. In the end, everyone needed to constantly improve. Especially those, like Uriko, who had not advanced as quickly as they desired.

Uriko turned to look at her friend with a slightly bothered look. "Really, Miroru-chan, what can we do? There's just two of us, and with not much political power, and even much less physical power, where I'm concerned. If we attempt to do a bit of vigilante work, 'clean the streets up' so to speak, remember that the conditions of this place have become endemic to it. Even if we tried to change anything, how many arrests can we make? Everything will just return to the way it was once we live. Unless your intention is to take up permanent residence here, and I'm sure Konohagakure will not grant you permission to do that. This mission is more directed, like removing a targeted cancerous growth. As for dealing with the more systemic problem, I don't see how just the two of us can do it."

There was a pause, as though she was reconsidering some things. "Of course, I may not see the big picture. If you know anyway we can help while executing our mission, I shall be willing to help out," the green-haired kunoichi said honestly. "But your teaching stints are also of great interest to me, if you prefer that topic."


Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime| 223 | notes

Miroru crossed her arms, almost petulant, at the immediate resistance. "I feel like you're looking for reasons -not- to help instead of ways -to- help," she griped. "I'm just saying, if our reaction to someplace or someone that needs help is "yeesh, I don't wanna hang around HERE," we're gonna end up with hardened hearts, doing everything for the wrong reasons."

There was a moment of awkward quiet before she sighed. "Not that it makes you wrong about your logic, though." Uriko was right, after all. There was only so much a couple pairs of hands could do, even with neat ninja magic at their disposal. It was frustrating, really, that much was clear on Miroru's face.

All this power, and what good can we do with it? Nothing. All we can do is break things.

Some things, when destroyed, improve the lots of many. Families. Villages. Countries. And even more importantly... some things are wonderful FUN to destroy~

Grph. Destroying things shouldn't be fun.

And yet, it is.

Her face screwed up harder, then relaxed. "Okay. Let's focus on the mission. I'm on your six while we head to the warehouse."

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko understood the frustration Miroru felt at not being ablee to do anything about a situation which was too big for her. It was akin to what she herself had felt in the Chuunin Exams, that helplessness in the face of something which refused to bend to your will, or to the way you saw the world. But still, Miroru's words gave the green haired kunoichi pause. Was she already being hard-hearted? Or was she just being pragmatic. It was necessary to know where the line fell between the two viewpoints.

"While I may be right, it doesn't make your thoughts any less logical, Miroru-chan," Uriko replied, a gentle smile on her face. "Part of the reason I became a medic was because I was, and still am, quite aware of the propensity of shinobi to break things. I want to heal the world if I can, but it's way too difficult. Yet, because a task is difficult, that might just mean that it may be the best thing to do."

As Miroru conceded that they focus on the mission, Uriko nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. "Sounds good. Let's go." The walk to the designated warehouse did not take long, and though Sagyo wasn't the best of places, as far as urban planning was concerned, they were able to find the building in a relatively short time. It was a rather seedy-looking building, and there were three seedy-looking people slouching at the doorway, in discussion. One of them was smoking.

"You're the Chuunin, Miroru, so how do you suggest we take this?" Uriko asked, deferring to Miroru's superior rank, even if they were friends. "Oh, and the major reason I don't want to hang around here?" She pointed at a rather large roach, just on the border of the largest acceptable roach size allowed by whatever design seeded the earth with such insects. There was a look of utter disgust on her face.

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime | 237 | notes

"Is that why you took up medicine?" Miroru seemed impressed. "I tried to learn medical jutsus just cuz I didn't have anything I was great at. But my chakra control is grade A garbo. It's like trying to do watercolor with a garden hose. There's just too much stuff to do anything with real precision." A huff of frustration. "And that was -before.-"

After all.

The old fox didn't help matters.

Still, they were moving on, and she trotted along, pausing and blinking as she was consulted as the senior shinobi in the matter. It took her a second, but she nodded and put on her serious face, thinking it through for a moment. "Well, I'd rather not use lethal force if we can avoid it- and I think we can. I've got some water scrolls. If we use one uphill from their position, around a corner, we can spill some water down that way, and I have a jutsu that can jolt them unconscious by using the water as a medium. It's not the most delicate option, but it's reliable. If you have more creative ideas, I'm more than happy to adopt a transformation to play out a more finessed ploy on your lead!"

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko grinned as Miroru explained her lack of chakra control necessary to delve into medicine. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Miroru-chan," she replied, "we all have our various strengths and gifts. And don't try to deny it, you're a very gifted individual. Not many bear your rank at your age. And if you say you didn't have anything you were great at, then either you're not being honest with me, or the bar was dropped real low for the attainment of Chuunin rank. Keep in mind that I didn't cross the bar." She had a teasing smile on her face.

"Lethal force is best unused," Uriko agreed, as Miroru explained her intention not to have to kill anyone if she could afford it. "In any case, I think your plan should work better than mine. My battle strategy was to run in screaming at the tops of our lungs and throwing hands, until they became unnerved by two squealing, flailing girls and gave up or ran for the hills. Your plan has a lot more self-respect involved, so I totally approve. Also, we'll have people to interrogate if we need to get information from these guys."

Uriko was sure she could think up something more dignifying than the plan she presented, but Miroru's seemed very straightforward and efficient, especially as the lay of the land was in their favor.

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime | 312 | notes

"No, okay, you're right, I'm- not used to having evidence to back up my bravado of being jack of all trades. It got met with a scoffing "prove it" for so long, I'm just kinda like. In the habit of trying to defuse the response before it occurs. I am great at being good at everything," she proclaimed, nodding firmly. "... and at inventing cool Raiton punches." She paused at the idea of not crossing the bar, and shook her head. "I don't think that's a fair assessment. Itsuki-kun has some very unique talents and making you give up was a clever application of them. You weren't excluded because you failed to score enough points, you were excluded via elimination. I don't think that's giving your talents a fair shake." The redhead looked up at the sky and admitted, "I think that's part of why I made sure everybody got the chance to show off properly. I didn't want to be the reason anyone failed to pass. Except Shosuke, I guess, but I heard he promoted anyhow, so I don't feel so bad there."

Miroru grinned at the agreement that her plan had merit, and she scampered off waggling the scroll as she worked her way uphill and out of sight. In place, she unrolled and unsealed the scroll, sending a thin but broad wash of water gushing into the street and down the hill across the thug's sandals. It took all of a couple extremely quick handseals to lance a paralyzing jolt into the water and shock the group by the door into submission, and even less effort to stop providing the current to allow her and Uriko to approach!

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko gave Miroru a curious look when the latter talked about giving everyone the chance to show off properly. "Interesting," was all she said. But to say that she was not impressed was a lie. That Miroru was thinking about the other participants in the tournament was something Uriko found rather impressive, seeing as most people, Uriko herself included, just had their thoughts on how they would proceed to the next stage of the tournament. The girl had a very good heart.

As Miroru scampered off to set the technique in order, Uriko simply remained out of sight, feeling a little bit useless, as all she was doing was hanging around and waiting for the plan to work. But while she wished there was something she could do, the best thing for now was to wait until the plan was in motion, and then see if there were other things that needed attending to. As for the lowlifes, they noticed the thin shet of water too late, and even before their minds could register that this was not particularly normal, they were electrocuted enough to be stunned.

Uriko simply waited until she saw them no longer making sudden jerky movements, before running out. If they were still vibrating, it meant that there was still some Raiton chakra somewhere, which wouldn't be safe for her. But they seemed still, momentarily stunned though. She had to work fast. And work fast she did. Thanks to her expertise at using barrier techniques, she wasted little time in performing the Kekkai: Tejō six times, using the created shackles to restrain the thugs hand and foot. Then she took a peek into the warehouse, even as she waited for Miroru to arrive. It was empty. And there didn't look like there was any place for anyone to hide anything there. There was no ceiling, just the rafters and the roof, and the floor seemed to be uneven concrete, but concrete it was.

If Miroru had returned by the time Uriko came out of the warehouse, she would give the Jinchuuriki a puzzled look. "There's nothing in the warehouse."

Uchiha Miroru

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Kayahara Urikohime | 230 | notes

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat are those?!" Miroru hissed in shock as she saw the shackles on the thugs, eyes wide. "That looks so handy!!! I can only make like. STEPS. And boxing gloves! And a body shield thingy, nothing like. As complicated as those, who taught you that?!" Miroru asked, pausing briefly as she scampered back to tap and prod one of the shackles before following Uriko into the warehouse.

But once inside, there was nothing to investigate. That was... strange. "Wait, that can't be right... there's... do you think they moved all the evidence ahead of time..? Maybe they got wind of our approach..?"

It was all very anticlimactic, and Miroru scampered around, frustrated and trying to think up answers. She stuck her head outside, comparing the outside of the building to the inside, wondering if there were any hidden areas built into the walls or anything like that. "Who keeps an empty warehouse?! It's screaming shady, but I can't see how they're hiding the evidence!!" She pattered back over to Uriko, her head hanging a bit. "I feel like I'm missing something obvious... I don't like feelin' dumb."

You should probably get used to that~

Oh, shut up.

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

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko grinned brightly as Miroru praised her jutsu. "It was none other than Tomomi-sensei!" she gushed. "They're so amazing. The Barrier Corps in general is incredible, but Tomomi-sensei is really something." There was no point, though, in speaking of her own prowess in the art of barrier making. That would be somewhat immodest, she surmised. "In any case, steps and boxing gloves are cool in their own way, you know?"

Like the green haired kunoichi, Miroru did not accept that the warehouse was presenting all its facts. "Even if you feel dumb, you made a very intelligent observation, which is the fact that if this place was empty, people wouldn't be guarding it," Uriko replied, drumming on her chin with her fingers as she thought of a few things. "Let's go back outside and ask one of those goons nicely. I'm sure they'll tell us if we're polite enough."

So saying, she returned outside where the restrained thugs were beginning to stir. Uriko picked the one who had been smoking. "Hello, kind sir," she said in a tone too sweet for the present situation. "We have reason to believe there's some contraband hidden in there, but the warehouse is empty. Was it moved?" The thug tried to spit at her, though the result was just saliva dribbling down his chin. "Won't tell you shit, bitch!" he glared. "But you know, maybe if you released me, and came along with me somewhere private, and did what I asked, I might just let you know what you want to know." He cast a sidelong look at Miroru. "Maybe you give yourself six or seven years, and we can talk. I know how to give a girl a good time."

Uriko gave Miroru a strained smile. "Well, since his demands aren't too unreasonable, maybe I'll just oblige him and see if there's truth to his words," she said, still sounding surprisingly upbeat. The thugs gave themselves confused looks. Grabbing the smoker by his collar, Uriko began dragging the screaming and cursing man into the warehouse. "Please don't follow, dear," she said to Miroru. "There's likely going to be some... R-18 stuff going on in there." The warehouse door closed to the sound of the thug calling Uriko crazy, amidst other unprintable names. Then evident panic could be heard in his voice, even as he could be heard asking what she wanted to do to him. Then there was a loud, long shriek. And another. The third was suddenly cut off in mid note. Some scuffing sounds could be heard, and the Uriko popped out of the warehouse, the strained smile on her face now looking more unhinged. There was blood on her face and hands. If anyone tried to look into the warehouse, they would see a large green wall blocking the view, though some blood could be seen dripping off of the top of it.

"That was unexpectedly... unsatisfying," the green haired girl said, sounding disappointed. Then she turned to the two remaining thugs, who by now looked rather concerned. "Hey!" Uriko said a bit too eagerly, laying hands on the nearer man, "let's go behind the wall together. Your friend didn't... last, but I'm sure you will. You look strong." Both thugs were hysterical now, as they both voiced their displeasure at the situation. The one whom Uriko was holding was almost sobbing, as he tried to implore Miroru to intervene, because Konoha shinobi were supposed to have ethics, and such a thing should not be allowed.

Uriko really did seem to have had some screws suddenly knocked loose in her brain, the way she was grinning as she slowly dragged the violently struggling man towards the warehouse door.

Uchiha Miroru