Mission: Treaty with Kusagakure

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

A storm was now producing as Naegi ran across the wide open terrain of Tsuchi no Kuni. He looked over at Pandoru and the small puppet, blinking calmly, but in the back of his mind he wondered if they would run into trouble on the way. It started sprinkling, then not a moment later the rain poured down upon the two. The rain drops felt like millions of senbon striking the body, but he tried to ignore it. If they possibly run into trouble he decided using one of his abilities would be a wise choice.

Naegi focused his chakra and it spread throughout his body quickly, he grinned as he landed onto the muddy earth. He gave Pandoru a nod to go on, and at that moment, ten vines shot from the soles of each foot, entering the ground. Naegi grinned as this happened and then began to run again, quickly catching up to Pandoru and her puppet. He grinned as he looked at her and looked back to see in front of him. All he could see was rain, and couldn't even see the enormous mountains in the distance.

The two still had along way to go before they'd leave Tsuchi no Kuni and enter Kusa no Kuni, but Naegi was ready for this long journey. He knew it would get dark within a few hours though, hopefully they'd get out of Tsuchi no Kuni without running into any trouble. The rain still poured down, and he couldn't sense any vibrations coming from the vines he sent into the ground, meaning nothing was in their way....YET.

Name: Vine Sensitivity
Rank: "D" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu, Passive
Effect: The vine is underground, and when someone walks on the ground it creates a vibration that can be felt underground and the vine picks it up, so the vine isn't even visible. This vibration goes to the Zassou member, and the vine is connected to the nerves and let's them know someone is near.
Special: ---
Drawback: Will have no effect during Tetsubun Tsukene no Jutsu ("Iron Vines Technique").
Description: Once learned, Zassou members will be able to "feel" with their vines. This is often used to find hidden opponents or something similar.
Limit: Zassou members only.

[pandoru]

Pandoru really hadn't had a specific reason for her early disinterest in her clans form of combat, but as the rain pelted her body, she supposed that the weather was a valid one. In stormy weather such as this, the clay would become too watered down to mold correctly. It may have still had its explosive properties, but with no stable form, she was almost positive that the bombs would have become unstable. That was the nice thing about a puppet she supposed. Although, there was always the possibility that they could rot if they remained damp for too long.

The failing water, combined with the speed the speed the duo was moving at, was a rather painful experience for the teen. Naegi had that cloak to lessen the impact, which was something the Sankuchi lacked. For a brief moment, they seemed to slow, and Pandoru took the opportunity to sweep the soaked crimson locks from her eye. They were much more difficult to see through when they were heavy with water. Curious as to what had caused the reduction in speed, aquamarine hues glanced at her partner. Visibility was poor in these conditions, but she was still close enough to make out the signal to continue on ahead.

Nodding in response, the puppeteer resumed the quick pace. As much as it may have stung, the faster they got where they needed to be, the faster they could get out of the rain. It wasn’t long before the male caught up with her, though the redhead was still curious what exactly he’d been doing. A slightly reassuring grin from the other told her that it wasn’t something to be concerned about.

If it happened to do something about the rain, that would be lovely.

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi ran on through the muddy terrain, the cloak he wore kept him warm from the freezing rain. He glanced over in Pandoru's direction to see how well she was keeping up, but he couldn't see her shape at all through the pouring rain. The feeling he had of this storm being a bad omen had yet to be proven yet, unless the storm was to keep the two from accomplishing this mission for their Tsuchikage. He landed on a boulder and stood there for a moment trying to see if he could feel any vibrations coming toward them, but the only vibration he sensed was that of Pandoru's, which was now heading away from him.

Naegi slammed his right foot down on the boulder and lunged in her direction, with this storm he wasn't sure if the two should continue on her stop and wait for it to let up a bit. He then caught site of movement about twenty meters ahead of him, and grinned as he saw the crimson red hair of Pandoru's flash like a lighthouse during a storm for ships to come in. Naegi stepped onto another boulder and jumped over to Pandoru, but as he did she seemed to disappear once more in the pouring rain.

A spear of lightning lit up the sky in the distance and a moment later a loud crack of thunder shook the boulder he stood on. Naegi jumped, trying to see where Pandoru had gone this time, and saw her hair flash ahead of him once more. Naegi noticed something off about her this time, and saw when the head turned around red eyes came into view. This hair wasn't hers, but someone elses. Why couldn't he feel the vibrations through his vines? Also, where had Pandoru really gone?

Naegi stopped on the muddy earth and concentrated on feeling the vibrations, he noticed the unknown figures vibration close to him, but also a faint vibration in the distance about sixty meters ahead of him. He knew it had to be Pandoru, for who else could it be, but Naegi was going to take caution now so as to not risk getting ambushed.

He then ran quickly through the muddy ground after the glowing, red-eyed being.

[pandoru]

Slender brows furrowed in concern, and a thin stream of water took the time to run down the bunched skin. Something was... off. Missing, almost. The slight tingling of her fingertips told her that Monomane was still near, but it wasn't the puppet she had fear for. True, losing the doll would be an immense loss, and she would have been devestated by it with all the memories attached to it. What seemed to be lacking was something of slight more impartance. A quick glance to her side, and the suspicion was confirmed.

They'd been seperated.

She stopped jumping, skidding to a stop against the slick earth. She staggered, fearing that she would lose her footing at that moment, but managed to regain her balance. Quickly, Pandoru glanced around, trying her best to keep up her guard yet locate her partner for this mission. "... Naegi-san?" She could barely hear her own voice with the pounding of the storm, and thus she truely doubting Naegi would have heard his name wherever it was that he was located.

He couldn't have gotten far. Only a few short moments ago, they'd been side by side. "Naegi-san!" she called, a bit louder this time, and the sudden crack of lightening and thunder caused her to jump. The brief illumantion was enough to see the quick movement of a silhouetted figure. Or were their... two? She bit her lip then, hoping that one figure was her assigned partner, and that this other one, if not friend, at least didn't mean them any harm.

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi ran on through the mud after the figure and then heard the faint voice of Pandoru calling his name up ahead. His thought of listening to her voice allowed his target to escape quickly, and Naegi no longer saw the glowing red eyes nor any sign of the crimson hair that closely resembled Pandoru's. He looked to his right and to his left cautiously as if half expected the figure to appear out of nowhere in this storm. He then began picking up speed and was running in the direction from which Pandoru's faint yell had come from. "Yell again!" he hollered hoping she'd hear him.

As he continued to search out the young woman, he concentrated on feeling vibrations with his vines, hoping to catch any sign of where the mysterious figure might be. However, nothing was triggered and he continued to search out Pandoru. A loud crack of thunder prevented him from hearing anything if she had yelled to him, and lightning struck the ground a mere seven meters in front of him. Naegi jumped back ten meters as this happened, his eyes wide with fear by what just happened. Then at that moment when that lightning struck the ground so close to him, he knew this mission would end in trategy.....

He knew something terrible would happen on this mission, and jumped over the burned, soaked ground. Naegi ran through the mud once more hoping to possibly run into Pandoru, keeping calm was what he needed to do as to not worry Pandoru. He jumped over a boulder and as he did, he caught a glance of Pandoru merely seven meters away from him. As he came to the ground, he saw what he thought was Pandoru disperse in a puff of black smoke, and a kunai came to his throat. "Well well. What do we have here?" said a mysterious voice from behind him.

Naegi caught a glimpse of the glowing red eyes, but then the man blinked and the eyes turned black and full of shadow. The man opened his mouth to talk but as he did, a loud screech enveloped the area, forcing Naegi to flinch with pain. As he quickly covered his ears he felt his throat be sliced and he was pushed into a dark hole. He stood up to see only darkness. What was that guy?!

[pandoru]

For a short moment, the only sound to fill the teens ears was that of the rain pounding harshly on every surface it could get to, herself included. She shivered then, wishing desperately to be someplace warm and preferably dry. The bangs that she had slicked back only a short time ago had slipped from their place, clinging wetly to her face as she continued to look through the downpour with the exposed cyan optic.

Through the deafening rain she managed to hear a reply, and her brows lifted in response. He'd heard her, and she could hear him. She enjoyed where the pitch of her voice settled most of the time, but right now she wished she had a bit more volume. She opened her mouth to call again, but as her lips parted, thunder crashed, causing the only noise coming from her to be a startled yelp.

She quickly regained her composure, and held her head high, focusing in the direction where she had seen the brief silhouette early. "Over here!" He had to have heard that one, as the result had left her throat feeling a bit tired. It was a matter of waiting now, standing perfectly still as she did such, not wanting the sound of her steps to distort any reply she may receive. When no response was heard, she became concerned. There was no vocal reply, nor the sound of approaching steps that may say he was heading towards her.

"... that other figure... he couldn't have...?" she thought aloud. The very idea that Naegi may have been taken out so quickly caused Pandoru to swallow nervously. But if he was alive... she couldn't just stand back and wonder what was going on. Her fingers twitched, causing once limp threads to become taut and pulling Monomane closely to her side. Giving a huff, the redhead turned, heading in the direction that the brief clip of voice had come from.

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi looked around where he had fallen, he could only see black surrounding him. He looked up to possibly see any signs of light at the top, but noticed that this hole seemed stranger then if he had really fallen into a hole in the ground. He tried to sense vibrations with his vines, but nothing could be felt. At that a moment a weird sensation filled him up, he turned around quickly to see the red eyes of the man he had seen only moments ago. "Are you comfortable in my dimension Naegi?" the man spoke, but only the red eyes were visible.

The man seemed to put Naegi in some sort of trance, and Naegi could no longer move his body. What the hell!? He couldn't understand what was going on, none of this seemed real to him, so he guessed it was some kind of GenJutsu. However, if it was GenJutsu, it was a different kind that had another way to break free from it. He had to figure it out quickly, and catch up with Pandoru, but he couldn't move his body at all. "What are you?" Naegi asked him calmly.

"Heh......Naegi, you don't need to know what I am, I will kill you after I've killed the young woman above." the man said laughing. The red eyes glowed intensly as Naegi was forced to star into them, and Naegi figured the man's eyes were the main cause of the GenJutsu. He watch the man thoroughly as if trying to pinpoint another weakness that would help Naegi break free of it.

However, nothing else stood out to him even as the man's entire body began to glow red like his eyes. Naegi guessed the man was trying to hide the position of his eyes by making his body glow red. He grinned, and merely opened his mouth, a large vines shot from the dark hole and struck the man, but Naegi wasn't sure if he had struck the eye. At that moment, Naegi was able to move his body and aimed his palms at the man, the three holes in each palm shot vines from them, as the man was struck on his body once more the man let out the same loud screech as before.

Naegi quickly fired a fire at the man's mouth and the vines covered it up quickly, halting the loud screech that would have penetrated Naegi's ears once more. He drew a kunai and walked over to the body which was now tied up with vines. Naegi aimed the kunai for the man's right eye and slammed into him, the eye immediately stopped glowing as did the right half of his body. He ripped the kunai out and jabbed it into the left eye, it stopped glowing as did his left half of his body.

Not a moment later did Naegi blink and found himself standing where had been, the man still had the kunai to his throat. Naegi guessed that in another moment he would screech and push Naegi back into the hole. Naegi quickly had vines shoot up form the ground and wrap around the man quickly. At that moment he heard another yell that he guessed was Pandoru's. The rain was no beginning to stop and soon the sun broke through the clouds.

Naegi walked over to the man and shot a vines from his mouth into the mans head, killing him almost instantly. He then began running toward Pandoru, who he could now see running in his direction over sixty meters away.

[pandoru]

Another crash of thunder as she continued to draw closer, though this one wasn't as loud, which she was thankful for. Flashes in the sky weren't as frequent, and the rain that was dulling to the senses almost seemed to be lightening up a bit. She hopped that was the case anyway, since the thudding of drops on her skin was no longer painful. That sting had been adjusted to though. What she was truely thankful for was the growing visibility. Figures that were once just silhouette's had more obvious features now... but there sure was a lot of green.

She skidded to a stop, simply staring at what was occuring a few meters ahead. These manipulated vines must have been the cause of the awkward feeling she'd felt upon first meeting the emerald-haired male. It was one thing to just summon them, but having them actually come from the body was a different matter entirely. Which, was certainly the case as Naegi shot one from his mouth.

Her eyes shut tightly then, not wanting to see the spilling of blood that would follow. It was inevitable that people were going to die if you lived the life of a shinobi, and that more often than not, you were going to be the one to do it. However, the redhead had still yet to kill anyone, and though it couldn't be avoided, she was in no hurry for that day to come.

Aquamarine hues opened once again. Her partner was quickly approaching, and so she did her best to focus on that detail, rather than the dead one now on the earth. A slower pace, more of a walk than anything, was started, and soon the distance between the two was closed. Her face flushed with slight shame that she hadn't arrived sooner to be of some help, and she bowed her head a bit. "... Are you alright?"

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi looked over at Pandoru, who seemed to look at him with fear. Her eyes wide in astonishment. He grinned at her and nodded. "Yeah." He walked over beside her slowly and smiled at her. "Let's carry on." He spoke calmly and ran past her heading in the direction of Land of Grass. It was slowly getting dark out as the day was coming to an end. The two would have to stop soon and rest. This mission would take longer then Naegi had anticipated.

He led them on further on through the terrain. And came too a stop four hours later. The moon was up high in the sky and he found a small area the too could pitch a camp. He knew they had to make a fire, but fire wasn't something he liked being around or playing with as he'd burn up in an instant. "Would you build the fire?" Naegi asked her.

Naegi then sat down on the ground and layed back against a tree. He looked up into the starfilled sky and closed his eyes as he felt the cool night air blow against his body. He looked up and watched Pandoru start to build the fire.


[OOC: Writers Block, xD]

[pandoru]

(OOC: Eh, no big. Happens to everyone. c:)

She still felt a small amount of unease around the other, but his calm tone of voice and the smile he'd given her was... surprisingly soothing. Once tense nerves relaxed a bit, and she tipped her head back up. He was unharmed, and he didn't seem upset that she hadn't arrived sooner to help him in the small battle. Such details were enough to help the girl clear herself of the bit of guilt that lingered in her mind.

Continuing was requested, and the redhead nodded in response. Naegi quickly darted past her, but she hesitated. Unusual as the other teens ability may have been, perhaps Pandoru had gotten the wrong idea about him at first. He may have been a bit strange, but she certainly had no room to speak. After all, she had a mouth where a mouth should not be. A small smile had placed itself on her features, but was quickly removed when the Sankuchi blinked and hurried after the other.

They didn't need to get seperated again.

Time slipped by quickly, and it had soon become too dark to travel effectively. In those hours, the puppeteer's clothing had dried, but that didn't fix the chill she still felt. She looked up at the sky, and found it surprisingly clear for having just dropped a flood upon them. Naegi's voice reached her, and she turned her head to look at him as the question was asked. Without hesitation, she nodded. "Of course."

The storm must have missed this bit of land, for as she gathered fire wood, she took note of just how dry it was. Perhaps that downpour hadn't been natural at all, but been that strange mans doing? She'd admit it, he was quite talented if that was the case.

She returned soon enough, and gathered the collected wood into a neat pile. As soon as her hands were free, the mouthed palm stuffed itself into the bag resting at her hip. The redhead knew how to make fire like any other person, but she was cold, and this would be the quickest way to get it started.

Clay was chewed just long enough to give it the proper chakura infusion, and from the second mouth came a small sculpted beetle. Setting the insect on top of the pile, her hands were quickly lifted to form the necesary seal to release the built up chakura. "Katsu!"

The small bang was hardly anything to talk about. The noise itself was about the equivalant of a branch snapping, and the 'explosion,' if you could even call it that, was only enough to produce smoke and sparks. Of course, the sparks were the only thing that the girl needed, and soon she was sitting happily infront of the flames.

It would be her little secret that that small bang was almost the extent of her skill as she currently was.

(OOC: ... Jeeze, I didn't mean to write a book. ; )

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

[OOC: xD. That's fine, I like when people write a lot, B); ]

Naegi watched the young woman leave to gather up fire wood and he sat on the ground, his back against the tree and stared up into the night sky. He was confused by the man he had run into early, the man had even known his name. Had the man spyed on Naegi, and watched his abilities? No, if he had then if Naegi used his Zassou abilities on him the man surely would have set it up to make a counter attack on Naegi. Plus, the man would have been wise enough to use a fire jutsu on him.

As he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard what he thought was a branch snap, and he looked quickly to see if it was Pandoru. Naegi saw that the girl had created a small fire, but he looked around confused as to how she did it, he examined her closely and saw that she had a mouth in the palm of one her hands. A Sankuchi? He asked himself quickly. Naegi had never noticed it until now, she was a Sankuchi, and most likely started the fire with a small clay bomb, which probably was just enough to make smoke, and some sparks.

Naegi hadn't heard about the Sankuchi Bloodlimit, only that they specialized in clay art. He found there passion quite interesting however, as he thought the clay sculptures they made intriguing and exploding them to fight made it all more fun. Even though he found it interesting, Naegi's passion would always deal with plantlife and other nature.

He watch the fire intensely, Naegi had told Pandoru to make the fire, so she could have the warmth, he on the other hand would avoid this "enemy" of his no matter what though. "We'll leave at sunhigh." Naegi said firmly. He then knew the two would need some kind of nutrition while on this mission and glanced at her. "Are you hungry?" He then asked her calmly.

[pandoru]

She pulled her attention away from the flames, putting it instead on the person talking by shifting her eyes to look at him. She was more tired than anything, but when traveling through foreign countries, they couldn't just... not eat. Keeping their strength up was crucial, especially if they ended up getting ambushed like they had earlier.

The teen hadn't really taken the time to pack before she left, so the only food she had with her was what remained after training. Which consisted of about a third of a container of tea and a single onigiri. It was only meant to tide her over until she got home for dinner, not to be a meal in itself.

"... Kind of," she replied softly. With the only noises she could detect being the fire and chirping crickets, it would seem that if they wanted something in the ways of protien, they'd have to hunting for it.


(OOC: EEEWW, TINY *headdesk)*

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi grinned at her and knew she was thinking they'd have to hunt. He shook his head. "No, we have to save our strength. Besides," he told her. "I have some riceballs." Naegi said and pulled out two riceballs and handed one to Pandoru gently. He unwrapped the one he held and took a bite. Naegi devoured it quickly and looked ta Pandoru. Before they slept, perhaps they should devise a plan incase they weren't well welcomed into Kusagakure. However, he had a feeling they wouldn't and sat down, putting his back against a tree, and slowly drifted off too sleep.

A loud bird woke Naegi up the next morning, the sun was just beginning to rise and he looked over to see Pandoru still sleeping. He shook her body a little. "Pandoru, we have to get moving." Naegi told her quickly.

He stood up and saw that the fire had been put out. They needed to get moving, if they didn't reach Kusagakure by this afternoon it wouldn't be good. They were already at the border of Tsuchi and Kusa so hopefully they wouldn't run into any trouble on their way there. He focused chakra throughout his body and ten vines shot from the soles of his feet. His Vine Sensitivity ability was now activated once more.

Name: Vine Sensitivity
Rank: "D" Rank
Skill: NinJutsu, Passive
Effect: The vine is underground, and when someone walks on the ground it creates a vibration that can be felt underground and the vine picks it up, so the vine isn't even visible. This vibration goes to the Zassou member, and the vine is connected to the nerves and let's them know someone is near.
Special: ---
Drawback: Will have no effect during Tetsubun Tsukene no Jutsu ("Iron Vines Technique").
Description: Once learned, Zassou members will be able to "feel" with their vines. This is often used to find hidden opponents or something similar.
Limit: Zassou members only.

[pandoru]

She blinked at the comment. Did he have mind reading capabilities too? Then again, her thought process had pretty much been written on her face. It was relieving to know that hunting wouldn't be needed, even if the idea of meat or fish for dinner was a highly appealing one. Of course, the girl wouldn't be picky. She accepted the offered riceball thankfully, willing the smallest of smiles to her face. "Thank you." She unwrapped the item before biting into it. It tasted especially delicious for some reason, most likely because she was hungry.

Finished with her food,she was content to sit in the comfortable silence that followed, her eyes settling on the flames once again. They would reach Kusa by tomorrow if all went well, and she could only hope that any shinobi in the country wouldn't prove to be hostile towards them. Her eyelids soon became heavy, and after giving a small yawn, she laid on her side, making sure to keep enough distance between her and the flames so that she didn't roll over into them during the night. She wasn't much for tossing in her sleep though, so Pandoru didn't think she had much to worry about.

A light thump could be heard then as Monomane collapsed on the ground, having lost the chakura connection as the redhead drifted to sleep.

She was awoken not by the sun as she had expected to be, but by touch. She shifted on reflex, trying to pull away from it. Unfortunately it wasn't 'too early' to be awake, and Naegi was completely right when he said they needed to get moving. A small yawn was giving before the redhead sat up, stretching her arms over her head. The teen stood completely, and after a quick moment to focus chakura, the threads were attached to Monomane once again.

She supposed there was no point in just sticking around, and so as soon as her partner had finished preparing himself, they were off.

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi ran through the terriain with great speed, they were no longer in the rocky and mountain area of Tsuchi, but were now running through thousands and millions of trees, grass, bamboo, and all other kinds of plant life. Naegi missed the life he had in Kusa as a young boy, mainly because of the plant life here in which he idolized.

The two had left there camp three hours ago now, and sun was beginning to reach it's peak. He knew they were close to Kusa, and looked over at Pandoru. "We're almost there!" he yelled to her. At the last moment he turned right, and was shocked that they had not run into any Kusa-nin on patrol, but it was a good thing.

Naegi glanced over at Pandoru, smiling at her ready for what may come when they arrived in the village.

[||Yuuku||]

Moved to Grass

Moved out of the Village (I will come to you. People cant enter Grass Village without my permission)

[pandoru]

When they had settled down the previous night, Pandoru had had a feeling that they were close to their destination. However, she hadn't expected to be this close. The crossing of borders was quick and both extremely obvious. Rocky plains were soon quickly covered by thick plant life. Rain had been the first thing to seperate the two, and the redhead began to wonder if the vast amount of green would be the next. A turn was suddenly taken, quick enough that the young woman almost lost the other. Thankfully, her reflexes were quick enough to allow her to turn when she needed to, and despite all the emerald coloring, she managed to locate the specific hue that belonged to Naegi's hair.

Honestly, she was a bit surprised that they hadn't had any encounters with the resident shinobi, but at the same time she was thankful for that. She was sure that little detail would change as they drew closer to the village, but for now, it was peace that she would cherish.

(OOC: I'm sorry it's short. I'm just really tired and need to go to sleeeep... )

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

[OOC: Aight Dr-sama B); ]

Naegi came to a halt and looked around. He glanced at Pandoru, before them was the entrance to Kusagakure. "We'll wait now." Naegi said calmly. He looked around examining all the plant life he remembered when he was younger. The tree that he stood next to was one that he use to climb on all the time. Naegi jumped up onto one of it's branches and sat down, waiting for someone to come.


[OOC: It's fine Rei-chan, Take the spotlight Dr-sama xD; ]

[||Yuuku||]

NPC ANBU ((Jounin))

A dark figure shot across the sky, he was an ANBU and he had been ordered to meet the emissarys from the Earth Village. He shot across the sky and then landed in the clearing where Pandoru and Naegi were sitting. He landed about 20 meters from them and spoke,

"I am the representative of Grass Village. I am here to hear what you have to say. Make it quick and We can both be on our way. "

He smiled and bowed.

[Naegi˚ 苗木]

Naegi watched as the switch figure landed onto the ground and glanced at him curiously. He had felt the swift vibrations of someone coming with his underground vines and smiled as he listened to the ANBU speak. He slid his body from the tree branch and landed on the ground next to Pandoru. Naegi walked closer until he stood ten meters away. "We are here to speak with you're Kage of an Alliance requested of the Tsuchikage himself." Naegi told him calmly. He then took out the letter from his left pouch and revealed the Kusa symbol on the outside to the ANBU. "I wish to give this to the Kusakage."