Casually Patrolling (OPEN)

Spoiler:

A beautiful sunny day in Kumogakure made for the perfect weather to explore the sights of an unfamiliar and exciting place while under the guise of an official mission so those bothersome old folks with their boring rules and regulations would keep off of her back for a change.

Tori wandered about the bustling road, looking at all the stores and the people while shrugging off the looks most of the guys gave her with a roll of the eyes and an awkward looking smirk. She liked the attention, of course -that's why she wears her skin tight outfit- but she wasn't going to let them know that.

She was turn between wanting a companion on this little day out, because while it would be more fun, she might end up having to actually do her job, and that didn't sound like very much fun.

Ryuko sighed as she made her way down the busy street. As expected the market place was as crowded as ever. Given the time of day and the nice weather that was hardly surprising, but she found it vexing non the less since it made linking up with the person she was supposed to be rendezvousing with that much harder to find.

It wasn’t anything too special which was why she hadn’t bothered to dress up and was in her usual shrine priestess outfit. Her gear didn’t look particularly tough to the untrained eye but if one looked close enough they might be able to tell parts of it such as her mantle and gloves where of a higher calibre of quality then one could usually expect to find at the typical store. Certainly nobody in this marketplace was selling anything like them.

The mission she’d been given today was straight forward enough. Link up with one of the new transfers from Sunagakure and go on patrol with them. As far as she knew they where the only two dispatched for the rather routine task but hq had said that others might be joining them depending on who was available at the time.

It felt kind of funny really, to not be working with her usual squad but then again it wasn’t like they did everything together all the time. If the only people she could work well with where Shimiko and Natusuru then she’d become a liability if they where separated.

Well if she had to be teaming up with someone she barely knew at least they hadn’t stuck her with Sora. That boy had was so lazy she doubted he’d come in handy. Rather she’d spend most of the mission having to babysit him, making sure he did his fair share and keeping him out of trouble.

“-tt-” she clicked her tongue in annoyance at herself. It Natsuru had been here they would have found the person already. Ryuko was what she would call a heavy support class, her job was to be on the front line kicking ass while being able to provide healing should the need arise. But being the vestal she held herself to an impossibly high standard, always believing that she could be doing better, that she SHOULD be doing better.

She had an ability that would allow her to heighten her perception ability for a time but she was hesitant to use it. It was one thing to draw upon in life or death a fight but if she abused it for more mundane reasons she was afraid she would become overreliant on it, like how a certain blond she knew seemed to fall back on using shadow clones for almost everything.

Finally she caught a glimpse of red hair and grinned knowing she’d found her target just a little further down the road. Strangely their seemed to be an a small group of young men between them barring the way. They where keeping a respectful distance from the recently immigrated Kunoichi but other then that their behavior hardly seemed what she would call decent. Several of the men where opening leering and a couple even let out low wolf whistling sounds.

“Pigs.” muttered Ryuko under her breath. It would have been a simple matter to force her way thought them but that would involve touching them. The though repulsed her so instead she decided to go over and around them.

With a soft step she leaped up into the air then kicked off the side of a nearby building using the force to propel her over the thugs heads and casually landing beside the girl she had been seeking giving her a light wave of her right hand as way of greeting.

“Are you Kou-san?” she asked seeking to confirm that yes this was the person she was supposed to be meeting and not a case of mistaken identity. Now that she was up close and without the crowed to obstruct her vision she got her first good look the slightly older girl causing her to blush fiercely at the woman’s chose of attire.

Or rather the lack of said attire. The girl had little more on then a tight fitting body suit that left little to the imagination. How utterly shameless was this woman? First their was Nariko wearing track pants and a sweetdrop in the office. Then Sora attending a dinner party garbed like a slob and now this…. this harlot. Was she Ryuko doomed to always be dealing with people who did not properly know how to dress themselves in the morning?

A distinct and horrid change in the universe -people suddenly watching someone else instead of her- warned of another's Swift approach. Tori looked to the source of this distraction just in time to see a younger girl vaulting from the side of a building, over the group of mediocre boys, and right next to her. The acrobatic, modestly dressed young girl certainly had an appeal to her -a kind unlike Tori's, but something the older shinobi could respect.

"You can call me Tori." The redhead replied with a warm smile and a cheerful voice. "What's your name?" The green and gold clad girl folded her arms gently in front of her, subtly detracting attention from her body out of respect for the less developed kunoichi; this girl could be a lot of fun to hang out with and Tori didn't want her feeling uncomfortable for any reason.

“You can call me Tori.” replied the under dressed girl cheerfully, confirming that she was the person Ryuko had been searching for.   What an interesting name she had, the japanese word for Bird. Somehow it seemed to really suit her.  She was certainly colourful like one and her voice seemed like it would be well suited to song.

From the girls innocent sounding tone Ryuko wondered if she even knew why dressing like she was might be considered a bad thing in some eyes.  Heck she herself owned a similar outfit, what she liked to call an emergency battle suit that she liked to wear under her fancy dresses.  Could something had happened that had forced Tori to shed her protective gear?  

Perhaps it had something to do with her reason for immigrating.  You didn’t just leave behind your village for no reason after all.  Having to move must have been a tough decision, if things had been rough enough that could have used what little money the girl had leaving nothing left to equip herself with.

“Ryuko Shizu Von Rose at your service.” said the demure girl, naming herself as she gave Tori a curtsy.  “But my friends simply call me Ryuko.” she added feeling a bit guilty about making assumptions that Tori was a woman of lose morals simply because of how she was dressed.  She’d have to find a way to make it up to her somehow.

“You where here first Tori-chan.  Have you spotted anything unusual so far? Tis seems to me a fairly typical day.” she reported her experience on patrol so far so that the two of them could be on the same page.

The former Suna-nin considered Ryuko's name. How odd, she thought, that a young woman would choose to go by Ryuko over a name as pretty as Rose. A thoughtful person might assume a reason and let it pass, but Tori could think of no such thing. Being the social person that she was, she just asked without a second thought. "Rose is such a pretty name; why go by Ryuko?" Tori suddenly realized what she had said and with an apologetic smile added, "Not that Ryuko isn't a pretty name too, it's just..."

Taking a quick sweeping glance of the area around them, Tori replied, "Nothing really interesting around here. I saw a cute shop over there, but there wasn't anyth-" She caught herself mid-sebtence. "Oh, I mean, no suspicious activity in this area." She hadn't noticed anything, but that may just have been because she wasn't looking for anything more than something interesting to do. Now that Ryuko was here, she might have to actually keep an eye out, but that didn't mean they couldn't have some fun while doing so.

Ryuko tilted her head quizzically to the side in reaction to Tori’s strange question. She had know the culture in the land of wind was different then what she was used to in the land of lightning but she never would have guessed it was that different.

That made her realize that it wasn’t just the culture that was different but also the climate.  Tori’s skin tight outfit didn’t make much sense in a mountainous region such as this but it was great for somewhere really warm such as a desert.  Conversely Ryuko’s outfit on the otherhand which consisted of several layers such as the Hauberk and Gambeson did a great job of acting as protective gear as well as concealing her figure but she’d have to be an absolute retard to try wearing it in the village where Tori was from.

“Rose is my clan name.  People usually only call me that when then they want to be formal.”  she said with a light laugh to let Tori know she hadn’t been offended by her question.  The truth was since coming to Kumogakure she had very rarely been referred to that way which was a refreshing change of pace from the royal courts.

Ryuko had to wonder what Tori’s idea of what a cute shop was.  She herself had been in this village for almost a year now and was well used to the landscape but hardly did any shopping of her own. The only place she frequented was a hardware store that sold raw materials used for crafting such as iron and titanium.

“There’s no need to take this so seriously Tori-chan . Tis just a routine exercise.  Our mere presence will be enough to deter most ne'er-do-wells” Ryuko explained. Someone would have to be a real idiot to try and cause any trouble with them around.  

“Since we’re at it do you happen to need any gear? I happen to have a spare set of chain mail laying around the kage’s office that we could pick up once our patrol is over” offered Ryuko casually.  It wasn’t much, but it it was better the nothing.  She had originally made it for the Raikage’s late assistant but she was sure Yui wouldn’t have minded her giving it to someone else rather then letting it rot away in storage forever going to waste.

Speaking of idiots Ryuko noticed that one of the men had broken away from the pack and was slowly creeping up behind Tori, his right hand stretched out as far as he could manage reaching towards her in an attempt to cop a feel.  Drawing a baton in the blink of an eye Ryuko lashed out, a loud crack filling the air as she brought the blunt weapon down hard on the perpetrators fingers.

“Ahh. You bitch what did you do that for?” screamed the man angrily as he fell to his ass on the ground cradling his now broken hand.   Ryuko simply glared daggers at him, tapping her baton against the open palm her of her other hand to deter his friends from jumping to his defence.

“You should watch where you try and put your hands mister, next time you might lose them.” She said the chilly tone of her voice making it quite clear she wasn’t making an idol threat.  “And my such vulgar language when there are children present.  And hear I was thinking of fixing your hand if you apologized. Such a shame…..” She said with a long sigh.


“What do you think Tori-chan? Should we bring him back to the station and book him for attempted harassment or do you think he’s learned his leason?” asked Ryuko seeking her colleagues opinion. Hearing this the punk scrambled to his knes and began pleaded with the girls to have mercy on him.

"Ah, thanks for the offer," Tori started, imagining herself in mail, "but I think that'd be kind of uncomfortable for me." Growing up in Sunagakure alone meant a predisposition for wearing light clothing, but Tori's unnaturally high body temperature detracted from any thought of additional layers. More importantly, her gorgeous form might get hidden, and she knew the world just couldn't bear that. These men would certainly agree, as the next few minutes made clear.

Tori hadn't realized the approaching danger behind her until Ryuko had taken a just baton to the creeping man's exposed and reaching hand. He screamed and Tori watched from behind Ryuko with a glistening grin. A modest and honorable kunoichi, she thought, now that's rare. Most women in Sunagakure were either shy and modest, or very immodest and honorable...some were just plain immodest; Tori leaned a little more towards the lattermost simply because it was always fun to mess with the boys whenever she got bored -and that happened fairly often.

"I think we should have a little fun with this one..." she replied, unfolding her arms and growing a wicked smirk as she approached the pleading man. Unfortunately, the shouting of a local shop owner who'd just been robbed (ironically) robbed her of that opportunity. Tori looked down and sighed, and the man saw his chance to book it as Tori muttered, "Oh well...guess it's time to get to work."

“Heh,  no worries.” replied Ryuko as Tori thanked her for the offer of chainmail then declined.   It was a shame that at the moment that was really all Ryuko had on hand to spare.  She really should have bough more material to make more but sadly even with the discount her friend Natsuru was helping to provide she could only afford so much.

“If you don’t mind me asking, which part would you find uncomfortable? Tis The weight or tis another issue?" Ryuko asked. It was a bit intensive of her but she needed more information if she was going to craft something for Tori that would offer the girl at least some form of protection.  

Not all armor had to be heavy and she was already beginning to in-vision something that wasn’t actually too far off from what the foreign girl was wearing right now.  Maybe perhaps not quite as skintight but it would serve to protect her from a stray arrow or kunai at least.  Heck with a little help from an engineer maybe at some point in the future she could even throw in some retractable wings so that Tori could take to the skies like her namesake.

When Tori suggested that they have a little fun with the would be pervert Ryuko raised a slight eyebrow before returning her grin.  Honestly what he had done was hardly worth having to fill out the paperwork they’d have to do if they did drag him back and wouldn’t help anyone.  Putting the fear of god into him before letting him go would hopefully be enough to set him straight.

Ryuko began to crack her knuckles with glee only to let out a sigh as she heard a shop owner calling out the words “Thief, thief. Somebody stop him.” turning away from the reprobate she gave him a casual wave of dismissal. “Look’s like ti’s your lucky day. Come on Tori-chan we’ve got bigger fish to fry.” she said purposefully as she dashed towards the source of the commotion at full speed, unsure of what she was going to find when she got there.

Seriously what was going on today? Some dumb teenager trying to get fresh was one thing but you had to be on a whole other level of stupid to try and rob someone in a village full of ninja.  Nine times out of Ten these patrols where completely uneventful and yet here an incident had been happening right under her nose which was rather vexing for her.

"I prefer clothes that are light and... unrestrictive." The green clad ninja said as an afterthought response.

A little while later, Tori and Ryuko caught up to the source of the shouting. It was an older man standing out in the street in front of his store, madly waving a stick in the air and obviously just about out of breath. His face was swelled red with anger. He might be able to talk, but Tori didn't bother with him. She had a good idea of where the thief took off to and ran down the street after him. She was surprisingly quick considering the heels she wore, but not quick enough to catch up to the thief, unfortunately.

She stopped at the top of a roof overlooking a more structurally crowded area of the marketplace. It wasn't run down by any means, but it provided plenty of hiding places all the same, and Tori had no tracking ability to hunt the thief down. She hopped off the roof and started down one of the roads, looking down alleys, in stalls and stores, and through the many crowds for any sign of someone that looked to be on the run. She was starting to agitated; it would've been exciting to beat up a bad guy and now she had her hopes up for what looked to be nothing more than a let down. Maybe Ryuko was having better luck.

The type of outfit that Tori preferred was right about in line with what Ryuko had been in-visioning in her head.  The biggest challenge would be what material to sow it with.   Cloth no matter how well sown could only provide so much protection if she was going to keep it on the lighter side.  Perhaps she could use something similar to the flak jackets that chunnin and above tended to wear.


“I might not look it but I am something of an armor smith, given some time I think I might just have a solution for you.” said Ryuko humbly, she was already begining to form a rough sketch in her mind of what she wanted the armor to look like.   The mission they where on would be enough to fund the materials, so now she really just needed Tori’s measurement, assuming the older girl would agree to let her take them.

Once the chase begun she wondered if Tori would be able to keep up with her, and sure enough she found herself a few steps ahead of the other girl.  As an experienced gennin Ryuko was slightly faster, but thankfully enough to to the point she was going to leave her teammate for this mission in the dust.    Well at least as long as she wasn’t in high gear anyway since she still had the option of kicking things up another notch if need be.

Seeing the merchant panting she realized that the thief already had a good lead on them. If they stopped to talk they would have all the more trouble finding him.  Luckily there was a way to gather some more intelligence about their prep and continue their presuit at the same time.

All she had to do was say “Kage bushin no jutsu.” and make the appropriate seal to cause copy of herself to materialize in a burst of smoke beside her.  With a friendly smile the clone could take the old man to the side and began to inquiry him about what had happened.

Then again it was an awful lot of chakra to spend to ask such simple questions such as what had been taken and if he had seen what the felon looked like.  If she used up that much energy right at the start she wouldn't be able to keep up the pace of any of her boosters for long and would quickly exaust herself.

Instead Ryuko simply kept running judging it best to ignore the man for now and get his testomony later.  Her natural perception was already above average but she activated her clam mind technique to argument it even further just in time to catch sight of a hooded figure dart into a nearby allyway.  Whomever the bugger was, he was quite nimble to the point where he would have gotten away from the average d grade gennin that tended to preform these type of routine patrols.

“If he thinks he can escape, he’s sadly mistaken.” Ryuko muttered to herself.  Taking a deep breath she used oxygen drawn into her lungs to activate her secret Accel max technique. For someone watching her Her form already on the level of an Olympic sprinter began to blur as she picked up speed.   Taking a flying leap she jumped over the hoodlum the same way she had jumped over the crowd earlier, this time using pure momentium to do it rather then having to kick off a nearby wall.  

The ally-way they where in was narrow and with her cutting the hooded figure off they had no way forward except thought her. As if sensing he was outclassed when it came to close combat the figure began to turn on his heels to run away from her in the opposite direction causing Ryuko to click her tounge in annoyance at his futile efforts.  

If she had the energy for it she would have left a shadow clone behind her to cut off his escape route but it was extremely hard to use more then one and remain in a combat ready state.  “Over here Tori-chan, don’t let him get away.” called out Ryuko to draw her friends attention.  It was going to take a second to get her wires ready to capture the perpetrator so hopefully the green clad girl could keep him busy in the meantime.

Spoiler:

Right about at the point where Tori was giving up, Ryuko raced past her in a mad dash for an alleyway. Tori followed as quick as she could and thigh she was much slower than the younger Genin, she managed to catch up in time to cut off the thief's escape route.

The cloaked man stood there in the alley, between the two girls with his head darting back and forth between them, as if searching for a way out. Tori began to close in on him as Ryuko readied her wires, but the thief had another plan. He stomped the ground and it shattered, revealing an earthen chute which he quickly slid down. On instinct, Tori jumped down the chute with him, leading her into a pitch dark passageway with numerous twists and turns that she could only feel through the thin yet surprisingly durable clothing she wore.

The chute eventually led to the bottom of a mountainous cliff, slipping Tori out on a green grassy field. She started off running after the thief who now had a solid lead on her, ignorant of the chute beginning to collapse behind her. Hopefully Ryuko made it in time, but the ex Suna-nin was too preoccupied to notice.

The thief made his way to a small village, one he'd reach before Tori caught up to him, but not Ryuko, hopefully. If he did, he may well escape for good, as resourceful as he was.

If only Ryuko could make fine hand moves as fast as she could move the rest of her body while boosted this would be over already.  Of course it help that the wire she kept on her wasn’t quite as readily accessible as her batons.  She kept it inside her supply pouch rather then in a holster simply because she didn’t need to use it as much.

Not that it took her long to fish it out since she kept her pouch neat and organized, but even so time was time and if she’d had it in hand to start with things would be over with already. Luckily Tori was proving herself quite adept and had managed to cut of the criminals escape route.

The sight brought a grin to Ryuko’s face. As far as she knew the hooded figure had no way out now. He’d have to fly to be able to slip away but with her ability to double jump in mid air even that was no guarantee.   But as it turned out he had another option which he quickly revealed with a stomp of his feet.

Seriously? Thought Ryuko as the man shattered a hidden trap door and vanished down the newily uncovered hole in the ground.  What where the odds that he had just happened to stumble across something like that out of pure dumb luck? Not good in her book.  

What the heck was a hidden tunnel doing in a place like that in the first place where it had no business being.  This type of thing was way above their pay grade and Ryuko was about to suggest that they go report this and let an expert handle the rest when Tori followed the man down the chute before she could stop her.

“Das’t.” Exclaimed Ryuko as she jumped into the crevice following in hot pursuit. If the thief was this organized she couldn’t dare leave her new found friend on her own.  If Tori got in over her head she’d need the more experienced priestess to bail her out. As the saying went in for a penny, in for a pound.

The tunnel was somewhat cramped but luckily for Ryuko her petite frame was smaller then the thief so if he could make his way thought she’d have no issue doing so.  She was only just a step behind  Tori which ironically forced her to hold back on the accelerator a bit less she slam into the poor girl and cause both of them to trip over.

It seemed the thief had rigged the tunnel somehow to prevent from being followed, as it was starting to crumble around them as they went.  He likely hadn’t counted on them being literally right behind him though and the girls just narrowly managed to avoid getting caught in the falling debris and escape.

Glancing back behind her as she ran Ryuko frowned. That had been a very close one, if she had hesitated at the start before entering she would have been caught up in the collapse and buried alive. Without any earth jutsu under her belt it was unlikely she’d be able to dig herself out in that situation even with her chakra enhanced strength.

Turning back towards the thief who was booking it across an open field towards a nearby village Ryuko decided she’d had more then enough of this nonsense. Theft was one thing but he had endangered lives and needed to be stopped now before he caused further chaos.

Forming a half tiger seal her body seemed to blur as it dissolved into a burst of rose petals only for her to reappear a few steps ahead of the would be bandit a split second later.  She’d used a body flicker to cross the field in the blink of an eye, moving so quickly that to Tori it must have looked almost like she’d teleported.

This time she had her wires ready. Their was a whizzing sound as she threw five shuriken into the air. At this range it wouldn’t matter if the man tried to dodge or not. But luckily for him none of them where aimed directly at him, but rather just enough off target so that they would pass by him at which point she would manipulate the wires to bring the shuriken around which would effect tangle the figure in the wires binding him up.

“You are under arrest, surrender now. Any further resistance will be met with extreme force.” advised Ryuko as she motioned towards Tori to come forward and pull the cloak off the mans’ face so they got finally get a look at him.   She’d do it herself but she was preparing to reel the man in should her her constriction be successful.  

Once he was within fist range she would unleash a follow up strike, giving him a open handed blow to his chest using her shuddering soul technique to temporarily paralyze him just to make sure that he was well and truly captured and wouldn’t slip away again.

Spoiler:

At last, Tori was able to slow her now exhausting pace to a gentle stroll. Her dirt-covered boots drifted casually through the soft, ankle height grass of the plains until she was just behind the wire bound bandit. With a swift yank, Tori removed the hood, revealing a disappointingly average looking man with a rather rugged face. He bore no beard, as those living on the streets often would, but it was clear he hadn't shaved in a day or two.

Tori stood by as Ryuko delivered a final blow upon reeling the man in, who said not a word throughout the entire experience. Even without his hood to hide his features, his expression remained calm right to the end. Looking on from behind, Tori was unable to see and therefore speculate, but she wasn't the sort to pay much attention to that kind of thing.

Once he was laid out, bound in the ground, Tori began rummaging through his cloak to find whatever it was he stole. Without any indication as to what it was she sought, the girl simply pulled everything out, which was surprisingly little. All she found was a silver trinket and a small scroll adorned with a red seal. She surmised that the trinket is what was stolen, though it looked to be of mediocre value, and she found herself unable to open the scroll. The red seal was likely Fuuinjutsu, a skill in which she had no talent to speak of.

"That takes care of that. Don't know about you, but I need to clean up." Said Tori as she stood, items in hand, and looked down at her light-brown spattered uniform.

Tori yanked the thug’s hood off to reveal that it really was a man they had been chasing. From the looks of him he was scruffy but no hobo living off the streets stealing just to get a meal. Ryuko’s final blow hadn’t been a knockout blow, at least not in a literal sense, just a medical jutsu she’d developed that would look up the targets joints for a short time, making it easy to tie them up.

It didn’t really work well against someone who was extremely hardy but it was good enough for the average civilian and shinobi alike. While Ryuko was more then willing and able to kill if she had to, she was surprisingly good at capturing a target alive. With the threat secure she deactivated her boosters. There was no need to waste energy after all.

The man was surprisingly quite as Ryuko adjusted the wires to better secure his arms and legs while Tori rifled though his cloak to for evidence. Seeing what the man had on him Ryuko made a sour face. All that effort had been over such a small silver trinket? Why had he gone to so much trouble over something of of so little value.

But what really concerned her was the scroll he’d been carrying. The fact that it had a seal on it that was preventing it from being opened easily was deeply troubling. That was the type of thing a two big thug should have no business carrying. There had to be more to this, but the problem was Ryuko didn’t know enough about Fuuinjutsu to do anything about it.

It would be a simple matter to haul the man off. The paperwork on the other hand was another story. Simon had filled out the last incident reports for her but this time there was no getting out of doing it herself. Luckily as the Raikage’s assistant she was familiar with the procedure and had a good idea of what exact forms needed to be filled out to get it done quickly.

“Say Tori-chan, I know you’re eager to get back so that we can be done for the day but something seems awfully fishy about this. What do you say about asking this guy some questions before we leave?” suggested Ryuko feeling more then a bit eager to add to their list of accomplishments. Catching a crook and discovering a hidden tunnel network where already a good days work, but if they could bring home some intelligence to boot Nariko would surely praise them.

“Sorry babes, but I ain’t saying nothing to you chicks.” muttered the man which made Ryuko feel all the more eager to interrogate him and she was hoping her green and gold glad friend would feel the same. She’d had classes on the subject in the academy but so far not much chance to put those skills to practical use. She wasn’t sure how good she’d be at it but practice made perfect.

Interrogation was one thing Tori found an interest in and the more she did it, the more she discovered a natural talent for it. Before Ryuko had even finished getting the words out, Tori had forgotten all about her dirty clothes and looked down at the helpless man with a conniving grin.


"Oh, won't you talk to me?" Said Tori in as sweet a voice as the man had ever heard. Still he remained steadfast, unaffected by womanly charms, but unfortunately for him, Tori wasn't the type to rely on something so...boring.

She strolled around to his front and knelt down, putting her soft, beautiful face only inches from his own. Her luminous green eyes locked with his and he couldn't look away -he'd never seen eyes shine like that. Without his noticing, she'd laid her hand gently on his thigh and held fast with a comforting grip. The man started to relax, thinking that she would only attempt some play at seduction, which he was very much resistant to.

To his surprise, a very sudden and very sharp pain shot through his leg. Try as he might, he couldn't hold back the muffled grunts and quiet screams with his contorted face at the searing pain emanating from his leg. It seemed that in her fun, Tori had accidentally seeped a healthy amount of raw Scorch chakra into his leg. Oops.

It seemed Tori was eager to take the lead on the questioning.   She had already begun the process before Ryuko could even finish making her suggestion which brought a grin to the priestess face.   She’d taken the lead when it came to capturing the culprit so why not let the other girl have her turn and watch a master at work.

Her sweet words where met with skepticism at first but the man quickly relaxed, thinking he was safe.   He couldn’t be more wrong however as he was soon doing his best to hold back a scream.  Ryuko wasn’t sure what Tori had done to him. She’d barely even touched him and yet here he was writhing in pain.

“Wow and here I thought I’d have to break his fingers or something.” Ryuko commented dryly to herself.  If Tori was going to be the sweet good cop in this situation then in fell on her to be the bad. “I’d start talking if I were you. If you think that’s bad tis nothing compared to what I have in store.” she said more louder to make sure that he would hear her.

“Why… why are you doing this to me. I don’t know nothing.” muttered the man weakly causing Ryuko to girn wickedly. “That’s what they all say. You’ll change your tune quickly enough once you begin bleeding out.” she said as she casually pulled out a kunai with her right hand and then poked him in the side with the tip just hard enough for him to feel how sharp it was.

“You… you can’t do that. I got rights, I want a lawyer.” pleaded the man. Ryouko reacted by putting the back of her left hand to her mouth and laughing like the ojosama that she was. “Ohohoh.  What a fine jest.  This isn’t the capital city, and you aren’t dealing with town guards.  We are Shinobi of Kumogakure.” said Ryuko as she tapped on the Hitai-ate tied around her neck marking her allegiance.

“That means by law we are fully authorized to deal with any criminals we encounter as we see fit.  Think of us as your judge, jury and if need be executioner….” she said putting particular empathizes on that last word.  What made her words scary was how cold and matter of fact they where. He wouldn’t be the first she had bandit she’d killed and he wouldn’t be the last.  She was willing to straight up murder him in cold blood if he didn’t cooperate and wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.

The man started to fumble over his own words, unable to articulate his next response. Sweat began to beat over his forehead and he felt the sun beating down on his back, but nothing made him more uncomfortable than the two women bearing down on him. One seemed to enjoy the thought of slowly burning him alive while the other entertained the notion of killing him on the spot. He wasn't sure what would come of divulging information about his superiors, but he knew for sure that he would suffer a gruesome death if he remained quiet, so he buckled.

"Look, I don't know much," the man stammered, stretching his uncomfortable limbs against the sharp binding of Ryuko's tightly wrapped wires, "but I'll tell you everything."

Tori looked unconvinced. Her eyes caught his gaze and lead them back down to her hand that still rested gently on his throbbing thigh. A sharp chill ran up his spine; he didn't like the thought of getting burned anymore, but he wondered if his leg could even get any worse. He was starting to get used to the pain, so maybe it wouldn't be as bad if she went and burned him again.

Right as he settled in to his own logical comfort, he saw the hand start to slide agonizingly slow further up his leg, and then to the inside. He didn't like what her flaming palm might grip next, and just like that, he couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut.

"Everything! I said everything!" He started, struggling to force all the words out as fast as he could. "I'm just a lowly thief in the gang, so I don't get told a lot. I just steal things or plant things and that's it! Usually I mean; this fine was different." Tori's hand hadn't stopped moving and was now inches from- "W-wait! Please! I-I don't know why. They had me steal something -anything- from a shop near today's patrol, told me to look for you, and make sure I had that scroll with me when I did. I don't know nothing about it, honest."

She pulled her hand back just enough to float over his clothing; he could sense her still over him, but couldn't feel. When he looked down, he nearly jumped out of his skin -probably would have, were it not for the wires. "Honest! Honest!" He shouted hysterically. Tori looked at Ryuko, wondering if that was enough or if she should press further.

It didn’t take long before the man gave up the ghost and began telling the girls what they wanted to know. Any hesitation he had towards spilling his guts was quickly erased as Tori threatened to burn his very manhood itself, a tactic Ryuko never would have been able to conceive of on her own. She could kick a guy in the junk, but the idea of touching it was so impure it that it made her blush furiously with shame.

As a priestess she lived by a very strict code of conduct that she always strived to follow. Teaming up with someone who wasn’t bound by the same restrictions was very handy, though at this rate she might end up having to preform a purification ritual on her friend later.

From the sounds of it the man they had caught was the low man on the totem pole. If what he was telling them was true he was just patsy for the group. At first she had been worried that he was just a distraction so his friends could steal something else but as he told them about the plan to get the scroll into her hands her worry only grew.

The fact they even had known what time and route the patrol would take to pull such a stunt was deeply troubling. Those things where randomized for a reason after all which suggested that the organization her belonged to was either highly sophisticated or worse that they had an inside man feeding them info.

“Right, tis should be enough for now.” said Ryuko giving Tori a nod that they didn’t need to keep torturing the poor guy. Being a low level thug she doubted he knew too much more about the gang he was with. Any location he gave them would doubtlessly only lead to grunts. If they wanted to put a stop to them they needed more then just the two of them to do it.

“Let’s get him back to base and book him. Be very very careful with that scroll, tis could be dangerous.” warned Ryuko as she hauled the man onto his feet with one hand and let the bindings around his legs loose while still keeping hold of the wire binding his arms to his torso, making sure that no matter what he couldn’t get too far from her.

“Can you walk?” she asked the man who grunted back at her like he’d been insulted. “Course I can walk sweetheart. What do I look like a sack of potatoes?” he asked sarcastically as he took a step forward only to wince heavily the moment he put any weight on the leg Tori had burned.

“Hold on a sec, let me take care of that for you.” said Ryuko gently as she knelt down and ran a glowing green hand over the spots that Tori had touched. Whatever she had done must have been quite potent as the chakra palm technique Ryuko was using was specifically made to treat things like first degree burns and yet even it wasn’t enough the erase the mark her colleague had left on the man.

To her it almost looked as if a welding torch had been taken to the man’s leg. Ryuko was a skilled medic but even she could only do so much out in the field. She couldn’t fix his leg completely but the numbing effect of her jutsu would greatly relieve the pain his wound was causing him, allowing him to walk again.

“First you rough me up and then you patch me up? Don’t expect me ta thank you for it.” grumbled the man as Ryuko finished her work and helped him back to his feet. Really the only reason she’d bothered to do it was because they had a way’s to go to get back to town and she didn’t feel like having to carry him the entire way.

“Tori what on earth did you do to him?” asked Ryuko out of curiosity as they made their way back to towards the nearest station guard station so they could turn the man over and make a report. Once they arrived she was planning on calling a particular jounin she knew over to have a look at the scroll they had retrieved.

A steady, casual pace is all Tori needed to walk alongside Ryuko and their prisoner. This was as fortunate for Ryuko as it was for Tori, since the latter was feeling a little winded and was in no mind to walk even a brisk pace; she'd easily let the other two trek on without her and but think twice -probably get distracted by something along the way and not even make it to their destination.

"I just heated him up a little." Replied Tori with an ominously chipper tone. She could definitely do a lot worse and wouldn't mind doing so, but by then it had gotten boring torchuring him; that's why she stopped in the first place. Shopping sounds like fun, she thought, maybe she'll go spend all that money she was about to earn. Might have to drag Ryuko along. It'd be way less fun without a friend there.

Normally Ryuko would have wanted to relax and enjoy the stroll but they where still in the middle of a mission which meant she couldn’t let her guard down. The tunnel they had taken had deposited them well outside the city and it was going to take some time to get back at the pace they where moving at.

As much as Ryuko wanted to pick up the pace it was their own prisoner slowing them down since with his leg injured he could only move so fast. Tori had said she had only heated him up just a little but that little had done some fairly serious damage. Ryuko would hate to see what would have happened if her friend had gotten serious.

They still had a ways to go and if any of friends of their captive showed up the two girls would be in for some trouble since they couldn’t expect any backup. If that happened the logical thing to do would be to have Ryuko do her best to hold them off while having Tori run to the village to get help and deliver the scroll, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

“You know I’ve been training to unlock an elemental affinity.” said Ryuko making idol chatter to pass the time. Apparently she naturally leaned a bit towards fire and a bit towards lightning but at the moment she could only unlock one and was having a hard time deciding which. “You’re a fire type right Tori-chan? Do you have any advice for one that might be considering picking up that element?” she asked.

Tori considered the question. It had been a long time since she'd been in Ryuko's position and the circumstances were, well, quite different. To her, learning Fire Release was like a rite of passage in becoming part of the family, abnormal though it was. Still, it was her favorite -wait, second favorite. Heat was what she really enjoyed, and for the majority of shinobi, Katon is as close as anyone could ever get.

"If you like heat, then you should go for it!" Replied Tori with an enthusiastic grin. She thought on it a moment longer and then elaborated, "Fire is more than burning things. It's such a pure thing. It can destroy anything, but it's also alive, and so...intense. I can put so much passion into Fire that I can't do with anything else."

She stopped walking as her mind drifted off into the flames. Her body started to heat up as she imagined herself snugly wrapped in the warm, comforting arms of burning flames, and soon that feeling spread out around her as an aura of raw heat. The temperature started to rise, as though the sun were punishing the Earth in a random outburst. The bandit began to sweat, and he could feel the healed burn on his leg start to ache as it only would if Tori had her burning hand over it once more.

He was the furthest thing from her mind, though, as she began to remember all the wonderful times she had associated with Fire. Such a simple thing held so much meaning to her. The rising heat that emanated from her as an aura vegan to retract as she selfishly pulled it in towards her, wanting to keep all of it for herself and feeling so elated as she held it with her body.

Tori then pushed from the ground with it, giving life to her mental state as she literally drifted away. Her feet were no longer bound by the shackles of gravity to the cold, hard ground. She was freed by fire's warm embrace, and floated by Ryuko in something of a trance. Her lost, wandering eyes caught glimpse of hey companion, and her mind was suddenly brought back to reality. A quick burst of wind blew away the heat and the aura, bringing the girl down to the grassy plains and a bit harshly cooling the other two off. It was just a quick rush of wind in reaction to her embarrassment at getting completely lost right in the middle of a conversation; turns out it was a technique. Neat.



Menzen no Kou: E-Rank
Hikō no Kou: D-Rank
Fuuton: Passing Typhoon: D-Rank
WC: 433/250

Ryuko could almost see the gears turning in Tori’s head as the older girl mulled over her question. After giving it much though Tori answered her telling her to go for it and how fire was about more then just heat, more then just destruction but about passion. Perhaps too much about passion as just thinking about it drove Tori into a sort of trance.

“By hakken’s breath.” muttered Ryuko in awe as her friend began to radiate a frightening amount of heat, the temperature around her rapidly turning from a mild slightly chilly spring day to the scorching heat that could rival a desert.

As the grass beneath Tori’s feet began to wither and turn yellow Ryuko could feel the sweat that had broken out across her skin quickly evaporate. If this kept up she was going to be in serious danger of dehydration. She wanted to grab Tori’s shoulder and shake her awake but the energy she was outputting was unbearable. Trying to approach her was almost akin to trying to approach the sun.

Thankfully Tori came back to her senses on her own and the opressive aura instantly vanished. The entire thing had transpired so quickly it would have been easy to believe one was under the effects of illusion if not for the physical evidence left in the events wake.

“That… that was rather intense.” commented Ryuko dryly before she drew a small water canteen out of her supply pouch and took a deep sip. She was pretty clam all things considered but that was only because extensive training she had undergone to keep a level head no matter what situation she was in.

Their captive on the other hand wasn’t nearly as composed. He had collapsed to his knees and even soiled his pants out of sheer panic. “Ugh,revolting.” complained Ryuko. If she could use the water element right now she’d be using casting a jutsu to house him down. Thankfully they wouldn’t have to deal with it for long because soon the village gates came within sight.

“Great, all we need to do is hand him and the scroll over and it’s mission complete. Wanna grab a drink after this is over?” Ryuko asked Tori casually inviting her out. After everything that happened she was looking forward to having a beer to celebrate.

"Sure! That sounds fun, and I know the perfect place." Tori said after regaining her composure. Naturally, she assumed Ryuko meant an alcoholic drink, and she'd been meaning to try this land's brand of liquor, but never got around to it for one reason or another. Maybe it was because she hadn't found someone to go drinking with, and that's what she really liked.

The two girls and their prisoner marched along all the way back to the Cloud Village and, after a little explaining, turned in both the bound man and the sealed scroll to a Special Jounin representative who would look into the matter for them.

Tori then told Ryuko of a nice looking Cafe that she'd seen a few times. She left immediately and hoped Ryuko would join; she didn't want to drink alone, but she certainly wasn't ready to turn in for the day just yet.


Mission Complete - Exit

“Wow you only just got to town and yet you already know a place? Tis must be pretty good.” remarked Ryuko. She’d been expecting that Tori wouldn’t have a favorite haunt yet and was going to show her to a certain bar she knew but that could always be saved for another time.

Soon enough they handed their prisoner and the scroll over marking the official end of the mission thought they still had to file a paper report of what had happened because of course they had to. “I’ll take care of this, you go ahead I’ll catch up as soon as I can.” said Ryuko who was used to administrative work like this and would be be done quickly.

[exit]