~Defeating A Mirage~

[Đ a r κ]

"It's about time those two returned. I was starting to become worried of their lives." Souran thought to himself, noticing Dansei's glance behind him. He then watched carefully at Sando, hoping he hadn't noticed Fen and Akane, but he hadn't showed any signs revealing his awareness of their arrival. This surprised Souran, seeing how Sando made such a large impression of himself, explaining how superior he was, but if he doesn't know, it's better off that way. Souran continued on, following the hopefully unaware Sando.

"Bangai Manako..." Sando spoke in the depths of his mind, activating one of his techniques, which allows him to form his chakra into a third eye at any point on his body, where, in this case, he chose the back of his head.

"Just as I thought, two more kiddies, but it seems like they are partners to this group of five I just met. Well, they must not trust me, so they're planning to ambush me...at some point. If they do, it's not a big deal, though I'd at least like to get them to Zurui and Riki." Sando canceled his jutsu and continued on his path back to the tower. Just then, he smirked, stopping on a branch, and swiftly turning around to face the team.

"This is where it ends for you, " He stated. Souran, revealing a shocked expression, landed on the next branch and tightened his fists, ready to attack. "...you'll need to wait here while I alert my team of your being here so they don't get the wrong impression." Sando finished, in a happy-go-lucky tone. Souran fell on his branch. He thought Sando was going to attack them, that he figured everything out. With all that stress gone in an instant, it forced Souran to just fall. Souran gave a large sigh and lifted himself back up. He looked back a bit and noticed Keiko fallen on the ground.

"Keiko, you really need to work on your focus, sheesh-!" Souran stated, before loosing his balance on his branch. He saved himself by focusing his chakra to the souls of his feet, and sweat-dropped in embarrassment.

"R-Right then," He noticed Sando completely gone and looked to Dansei ", So, think he's "trust worthy"? " Souran began to ask, hopping everyone understood his point of view.

 

[ThatInsaneKid]

Dansei heaved a sigh of relief as Sando left, looking at his bulky figure fading away into the trees. "I almost had a heart attack," he stated, looking over at Souran. "That could've possibly been the worst possible moment for him to turn on us, with me unarmed, Keiko being... Keiko, and none of us being prepared in the slightest." The ninja leant back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes briefly. "As for his trustworthiness? I think he's okay for the time being, but I have the sinking feeling that he's spotted Fen and Akane, which is bad." He opened his eyes and looked down at Hanako, biting his lip. "Let's just hope he doesn't mind, as long as Fen and Akane don't do anything rash."

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Akane grimaced as she was slung over Fen's shoulders and dashed through the trees. Honestly, as long as she kept a hold of him he could have done this without carrying her. Did he think that she was a weakling who couldn't withstand high speeds, or something? She made a mental note to show him up badly at some point in the near future. Tearing her thoughts from this, Akane glanced at the clearing. That strange shinobi was still there, and he seemed to be talking with the group. She saw them tense and then relax as he leaped off into the trees, practically giggling with excitement. Akane frowned. He was definitely planning something, and he hadn't made any effort to conceal it. He was pretty arrogant, that one. If he was going to make it that obvious to the casual observer that he was going to be pulling something now, he was either extremely overconfident, stupid, or powerful. Remembering Souran's earlier ninjutsu tactics, Akane reluctantly decided that their opponent was probably way out of their league. In fact, the way he had stopped just as they had arrived... it was as if he had spotted them and was sending a message.

A message which clearly read, to Akane at least, I know you're there, and guess what? There's nothing you can do to stop me! BWA-HAHAHAHAHA.....

"Fen," Akane whispered, clenching his shirt frustratedly, "I could have sworn that he saw us. Did you get the same feeling, or am I just being paranoid?" It was possible, after all. Akane did acknowledge that occasionally she misinterpreted the actions of others, after all.

But only occasionally.

 

[Kansas]

"Fen," Akane whispered, clenching his shirt frustratedly, "I could have sworn that he saw us. Did you get the same feeling, or am I just being paranoid?"

Fen leaped into the higher reaches of the trees and sit Akane down on the branch and crouched low.

"No, you're right. He definitely saw us. The only question is, what is he planning. The group wont mind if we sit and watch for a little bit. I don't trust that ninja they were following... not one bit. I don't know how Souran was so easily persuaded... or maybe they were forced." Fen whispered back. "Ugh! there's too many variables to form an accurate plan."

Fen watched his fellow shinobi converse with each other as they waited for the other ninja.

"Akane." Fen called back to her, "We attack right now, and we're pretty sure he saw us, so in this case... what would you do?" Fen questioned her. He waited a second before responding for her.

"get rid of the shinobi tailing you." Fen said sternly. "We need to set up a small defensive system of traps so we at least know that the enemy is approaching and can counter effectively. Do you have enough tools for it?" He questioned, asking Akane for help for the first time the two had met.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

"If by tools you mean weapons, nowhere near enough to stop the shinobi tailing us if they come en masse. I did stick a few exploding tags on the trees behind us, but I couldn't concentrate on setting them up because we were moving too quickly. Anyway, I'm not the team's trap expert. That's Yumi's job. I just like throwing kunai," Akane explained softly. She felt a little bad, letting Fen down like this, but he seemed to have made a wrong impression based on her affinity for kunai and it was time to set him straight. "See, I'm really kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I'm good with ranged weapons and jutsu, and I'm pretty fair in taijutsu, but I don't have any genjutsu capability and I'm no good at setting traps." This wasn't strictly true. Akane was able to dispel genjutsu, but she didn't have the patience to learn it and considered it more of a technique for interrogators anyway. She had no interest in exacting information with a complicated conditional jutsu when she could do it just as easily with a kunai, after all. As for the setting traps bit, she was telling the truth. Mostly. She wasn't completely useless, but for all intents and purposes what she did know about traps brought about the same net result in this situation.

"You might want to deploy a few Mirror Clones, Fen. Even if they can't fight any more effectively then you can, they'll be able to watch for invaders. Plus, if that guy did see us he'll be surprised if the ambush comes from several positions. All we need is a few kunai and we can catch him off guard," Akane suggested, hoping to change the subject.

 

[Kansas]

Fen's facial expression sunk as Akane continued to explain what she was incapable of doing. The situation was becoming less and less favorable as time went on and they were so close to the tower...

"You might want to deploy a few Mirror Clones, Fen. Even if they can't fight any more effectively then you can, they'll be able to watch for invaders. Plus, if that guy did see us he'll be surprised if the ambush comes from several positions. All we need is a few kunai and we can catch him off guard," Akane said, shifting the plan of focus onto Fen's skills.

Fen was slightly surprised at the switch, but his expression sunk even lower with inferiority.

"The truth is...I haven't completely mastered my kekei genkai...The max direction a Kurai can split is into 3 separate bodies... at my current skill level, i can only split into 2. But I do have a plan. Since you're so good with kunai, i'll loan you mine!" Fen said ending on a happy note. "my kunai are forged special for me by one of my clansmen. They are hollowed out so that i can inject wind straight into them. Using a small amount of chakra i can trigger a small scale explosion, like you no doubt saw during the first exam." Fen explained.

"Using your aim, we can hide my clone in the tree tops and attack head on with my real body. Using a simultaneous effort from your kunai marksmanship, you can provide accurate explosion cover while I assault and finish at least one ninja myself with my last Dynamo Fist... The other two should be no problem for the others to handle in a 4v2. The element of surprise will give us the perfect edge, of course i'll need to immediately recombine after I launch the attack.... Thats the best case scenario i can see, considering we're both straight forward fighters. Any objections?" Fen said taking a deep breath and looking at Akane, trying to judge how she would react to a plan which involved combining both of their strong points.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Akane grinned. Simple, sweet, and effective. And a plan she could actually work with in her condition. She loved it, except...

A grin split her lips. "Hold on to your kunai, Fen. You'll need them. You aren't the only one capable of explosive jutsu. After all..." the mischevious grin seemed to encompass the entirety of Akane's face, "You haven't seen my ninjutsu yet. Been a while since I last gave cover fire with it, though. If I can gurantee you about five minutes of steady cover that won't be limited by my weapons supplies, think you can break that Sando guy's back?" Akane answered her own question. "Of course you can. Or at least, you think you can. Which is why I suggest that we actually make contact with Souran and the others. They know his jutsu, we don't. If we want this ambush to be effective, it would be nice to know his jutsu."

Suddenly, a pang of doubt struck Akane. "Oh... Shimatta..." she muttered. "Wait. Didn't he go to get his team mates, or something like that? So much for safety in numbers."

 

[Đ a r κ]

OOC: I hate testing days at school >.<

IC:

"It's about time you've returned." Stated Zurui, relieved that Sando had finally returned from his mission. As Sando emerged from the bushes, he failed to waste any time by quickly announcing his information.

"Yeah, I don't really have the scroll...but instead of risking our hides for the key, I figured that we get some scape goats to do it for us. I have their group waiting in the forest." Sando finished, hoping Zurui would accept this. She wasn't pleased that she had to wait that entire time just to hear such a thing as what was stated, but she considered the situation, and agreed.

"Alright, just be sure that they hand the key over." Sando nodded his head and swiftly headed back towards the group of genin.

-------------

Out of the calm air, a sudden brush of a nearby bush began to rumble. Souran was astonished and almost lost his balance on the tree trunk he planted his body on. He readied himself for battle the moment an opening in the bushes began to shape. Then, a figured leaped from inside the bushes like a rat running from a cat.

"Hey, kiddies!" Sando yelled, blasting from the bush. Souran was nearly ready to launch an attack if Sando hadn't said "kiddies", the name which now seemed to be his word for the group.

"Alright, the team knows about you all, so lets get going." Sando announced before turning and leading everyone to the tower. Souran followed the instant Sando had leaped into the air, not wanting to loose track. Slowly, the opening to the tower opened up, before he knew it, they had reached the tower.

"Finally, we can get Hanako some treatment." Souran thought to himself. Once on the ground in front of the tower, just as everything seemed all well, a women approached.

"Just to make things clear, if we don't get our key...Then don't expect to EVER become anything more than lifeless bodies living the rest of eternity in a box in the ground!" Zurui roared to Yumi, Dansei, Keiko, and Souran, who began to wonder if Akane could see a reflection of how she treats men.

OOC: I know it isn't like the previous post, but it's just the basics.

 

[Kansas]

"Hm... looks like that guys onto us, he's a lot quicker on the draw than anticipated..." Fen thought to himself as the mystery ninja left the others alone for the moment.

Fen kept his perch in the tree, careful not to give away anymore hints to their location as he attempted to ponder another plan. It seemed like no time at all before the shinobi reappeared, talking to Souran and immediately disappearing into the trees towards the tower.

"Souran better not even be thinking about working with that guy or his team..." He thought scornfully as he looked back to Akane. "Come on, we need to keep up with them, we'll keep the same plan intact and execute it as soon as the entire other team is together. We wont even give them time to set up a defense." He said to her as he walked over and tossed her arm around his shoulder, supporting her injured leg. "well... lets go"

Fen leaped through the air quickly following the group as they headed towards the tower, all they had to do was get rid of this loser team and they were home free for finishing the 2nd exam...

finally.

 

[ThatInsaneKid]

Dansei shuddered as Sando sprung forth from the bushes, covering his ears from the excess of noise. With a large sigh and a quick readjustment of Hanako's position, he set off behind Souran, nodding for Keiko and Yumi to follow. With a soft thud, he landed next to Souran, scanning the trees to see where Fen and Akane were hiding. They better be ---

Dansei's train of thought was interrupted by Zurui's entrance. Well isn't she pleasant, he thought sourly, casting a glance over at Souran.Now if only Fen and Akane would rejoin us so we can get into this tower and get Hanako to a medic-nin.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Akane saw the branch before Fen did. Unfortunately, she could do nothing to stop it.

WHAP!

The large, thick branch of the tree just ahead of the pair of shinobi had been easily evaded by Fen as he jumped. Unfortunately for Akane, while she was being supported by Fen she was unable to dodge. The speeds she was moving at were quite unlike anything she was used to, and that helped. With a groan, Akane collapsed backward as her gut slammed into the branch, jarring her from Fen's grip and sending her tumbling towards the forest floor. A desperate attempt to grab a branch as she fell was thwarted by the fact that she had forgotten to drop her flash-bomb and thus could not grasp anything while she still held it. Cursing her bad luck, she hurled the flash bomb towards the ground which caused it to explode into a multicolored spectrum of light. Pointing her hands toward the light, Akane focused a portion of it into three small, red spheres that rotated around her hands, surrounded by the blue glow of her chakra. "Hoshi!" she shouted, launching the spheres from her fist just as she was about to hit ground. The resulting explosion of flames righted her, allowing Akane to land on her good leg, where she stood uneasily.

It was then that she noticed that she had fallen directly into the midst of her teammates, alerting them to her presence. "Oh, Shiimatta." she breathed.

The irony hit Akane like a sucker punch to the face. If she had allowed Fen to carry her from the beginning, she never would have hit the branch.

If I ever find fate personified, I'm going to kill it.