Famine, Fire, Death... and Rabbits? [Tutor | Private]

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo had spent the better part of the day doing some last fixes to the Dojo, considering Hoshi had been during the tournament he wasn't surprised the place needed a little work. There was even some animals which moved into the rafters. Which sounded a lot cuter than it really was, considering they tended to make huge messes and smells. And while most of the animals were easy to flush out with a broom and some loud noises there was this one family that was a bit more resilient than the others. Five rabbits from the count of it, multi colored with a plethora of splotches had been giving Tatsuo trouble for most of the day.

He had chased them from room to room, up and down the building, everywhere they could run.. they just managed it. He was weary to not hurt them, which probably played into the fact they were just so damn fast! He really needed to get going but at this point he wouldn't give up.. he had to catch these rabbits. Luckily the forest was quite obscure so unless someone was around they probably would not hear the cartoon-tier crashing and yelling as he chased these five rabbits all around the Dojo.

Tired and exhausted, pushed to his limits, Tatsuo stood in the middle of the dojo bent over trying to catch his breath as he could've sworn two of the rabbits looked at him and snickered as they ran back up the stairs onto the second floor. Once again making his pursuit all that more difficult. Shouting out he said "Damn you rabbits!" If anyone was around, they surely heard it and because of the strangeness of the situation.. who knows they might even come and see what was going on!

WC: 297/1500
PC: 1/5

 

[Suika]

“Blazing spirit dojo?”

Suika had heard rumors of a new dojo built in the Ancient Forest. Normally, she could care less about such news, but the name of the structure rang a loud bell. The last time she had heard the phrase “blazing spirit” was when she was introduced to Tatsuo, the Leaf shinobi, during her time in Tea country. Tatsuo was a strong, kind-hearted teen who Suika came to respect. He had a very can-do attitude about life and brought out her best. “What if…” she shook her head. Why would Tatsuo be in Kumo and build a dojo? I mean, the idea wasn’t that outlandish considering his spoken history with the village, but she was remained skeptical.

Not too doubtful to check it out, just in case.

As she entered the Ancient Forest, she was greeted by its greenery and wildlife. She enjoyed training in the forest and frequented the area often. It was usually quiet, so it was an ideal place to get away and, at the same time, grab some fresh air. “Now, where is this blazing spirit…” As she traveled around the vicinity, it wasn’t long until she caught sight of a structure nearby. With a subtle grin, she dashed toward it. Yup, there it was. “I wonder if anyone is home…” The door was open, so the young gypsy took the liberty to enter inside. To her surprise, she discovered a very familiar face.

“…Tatsuo-san?”

The man was kneeling over and gasping for breath. What in the world was going on? Many questions filled her mind at that one moment, but she only uttered one. After all, she was still pretty shocked about his presence. “Are you okay?” she questioned as her magenta eyes gleamed with curiosity.

[WC: 295 | Post 1/5]

 

[Siu]

Thunk

"What is a branch?"

Thunk thunk

"What is a leaf?"

Thunk thunk thunk

"If not smaller schemes of the grand design?"

Thunk thunk thunk thunk

"Therefore, one must first fully understand the grand design,"

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk

"If they are to understand the smaller schemes of life."

In the midst of the forest, a decoration of lethal origami lay strewn about the area, some found firmly lodged into the trunks of surrounding trees, as the young Genin went about her training. One may ask, what motivated the young girl to actually be out training willingly on her own without having been pressured or persuaded by someone else for a change. The answer was the Chuunin exams.
The youth had been putting more thought into her future as a shinobi lately. Up until the exams, she'd mainly lived her life based on the orders received from her superiors. However, having now officially passed the first part of the exam, she was now being placed into a situation which required her to actually make the next decision for her future herself. The kunoichi realized that she could no longer just complacently continue to follow orders without much thought, yet needed to actually begin making stronger efforts to shape the outcome of her future. The problem was, she didn't know exactly how to go about that. Hence..

Thunk

Here she was, assaulting the trees of the forest with papered shurikens in one hand, while reading a book in the other. It was questionable whether the young girl was even paying attention to where she was throwing the lethal things. For brief moments, she'd look up to determine where to aim the projectile, then back at her book to read a verse or two, then back up again in order to observe the projectile's struck location. She didn't seem to pay anymore attention than the bare minimum required for her task. When in doubt about future life decisions, what better way was there to clear one's mind and relieve stress than hurling deadly projectiles at trees while reading an interesting book?

"Damn you rabbits!"

Apparently she soon was about to find out...

"Hmph?" The young Genin noised with great curiosity, as she looked up from her book somewhat absentmindedly in the direction of the loud exclamation. "Is somebody in...trouble?"

Despite the outwardly calm serenity of the forest, it was common knowledge that this wasn't the safest of areas near Kumogakure. Siu pondered if perhaps another shinobi, or even worse, a regular non-shinobi, had been caught into something troublesome. The tone of their voice seemed quite...infuriated. Closing her book, 'A Thousand Proverbs', Siu made a dash towards the location,

Eventually, the kunoichi would find herself approaching the entrance of what appeared to be a dojo of some sort. Although the door was open, she had not dared to approach inside, deeming it rude to enter uninvited. Instead, she knocked upon and peeked her head through the door.
"Excuse me!" The kunoichi politely exclaimed . "I heard screaming some distance away from here about damning napsacks. Is everything...alright? Was someone's napsacks stolen by bandits?"

[WC=520 l Post 1/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo hadn't had much time to meet everyone that he knew from Kumogakure since returning to the village, he had been busy getting his squad set up, getting them registered to do missions and everything else that came with travel. However he spent most of his recent days fixing up the Dojo, considering Hoshi's entering the tournament, there has been a lot of work that needed to be done. Not that Tatsuo minded, but these rabbits were something else.

As he was grasping for air, he looked over to a familiar face, a quick flash of his smile appeared on his face as he saw Suika again. There reunion wouldn't last too long considering two of the rabbits rushed over to Tatsuo and kicked him and used him as a launch board, jumping in the other direction! Tatsuo shouted again, "You damn rabbits!" he was distracted by the gypsy girl's appurtenance, but he could swear the rabbits were snickering as the ran back up the stairs to the second floor of the Dojo!

Before he had time to rush up there and deal with them, he heard Siu yell out asking if anyone needed help, "No knapsacks! Just rabbits! Come help!" he shouted before giving chase to the small rabbits which decided to give him so much trouble this day. As he rushed into the second floor of the Dojo, it was a bit different than the first floor. Instead of an open hall made for training, it was a dormitory looking building with a large living space in the middle. Couches, chairs, a table here and there were spread across the room which was divided by equal sized dormitories. Where the rabbits were, even Tatsuo couldn't figure out however he knew they were here.

Hopefully with the assistance of these two girls he might be able to capture these rabbits and get them out of the Dojo. "We're not trying to hurt them.." he said between labored breaths as he tried to regain his stamina, "Just get them out of the dojo!" He said before running straight forward diving towards one of the rabbits which decided to mock him again by shaking his butt in a cartoonish fashion. As he dived down the rabbit was quick enough to jump to the side, letting Tatsuo eat carpet!

WC: 684/1500
PC: 2/5

 

[Suika]

“Rabbits?” she whispered aloud.

Her expression of interest transitioned into one of muddled wonder as Siu, her Genin teammate and friend, entered the scene with her offer of aide. Tatsuo… Siu… bunnies… what was going on?! Suika sighed incredulously as she scratched the back of her head. She was delighted to see her friends, especially since those two were among the top of her most favored people list, but the whole occurrence was a bit spontaneous and chaotic for her taste. She didn’t mind it too much, though, because what could be done? Oh well, when in Rome. The kunoichi knelt down and stretched out her limbs as she readied herself to capture some nimble rabbits. “Good morning, Siu-chan.” she greeted as she took a few readied breaths. She hopped up and prepared herself for the hunt.

“Alright, Tatsuo-san, we’ll lend you a hand.” Her focused eyes briefly scanned the area. The rabbits were utilizing small spaces and exploiting the openness of the dojo to assist in their deft escape. Clearly, there was a solution here. “Since you don’t want us to hurt them, we’ll just do the next best thing. Instead of chasing them like chickens with our heads cut off, how about we block access to some of their escape points? Tatsuo-san, you’re proficient in Wood jutsu, so why not use that to seal off some of the smaller areas in the rooms? Decreasing their hiding spaces will either lead them naturally toward the exit or make them that much easier to capture.” Suika was all about handling situations efficiently and with a clear, strategic mind. To her, this was the most optimal route to success.

Forming seals, she used a variant of her barrier jutsu to form small, physical walls of chakra to block some of the tiny spaces around her. She gestured at Siu and Tatsuo – it was time to get to work.

[WC: 320 | Post 2/5
[TWC: 615/1,500]

 

[Siu]

"No knapsacks! Just rabbits! Come help!"

"Rabbits?" The young kunoichi repeated back with a puzzled mumble, an arched eyebrow visually communicating her confusion. Making her full appearance from around the door, the young girl entered the dojo just in time to witness the unfamiliar young boy frantically running about the room in order to chase out his prey; a pursuit which would lead up to the second floor of the establishment, very likely not what he had in mind.

“Good morn--" Siu began almost robotically, before turning to suddenly realize just who'd provided her with an introduction. "S-Suika-chan?!” She completed with a blatantly surprised expression upon her face. Just what in the world was going on right now? What was her teammate even doing out here? Had she been out training as well?

Following the group up to the 2nd floor, though still not all that sure exactly as to why, the young girl would receive something akin to a more detailed explanation as she continued to observe the seemingly aggravated male maintain fervent pursuit of the furred creatures. Observing one of the mocking rabbits, the young girl's face suddenly brightened with great delight. "D'aaw!" She noised, "It's so adorable!" Who would want to run out such an adorable creation?!

Turning her attention back to Suika as she began the formulation of a possible solution to this unusual predicament, Siu consented to the proposal with a slight nod. Observing as the younger kunoichi began initiation of the plan, Siu also began forming handsigns of her own. After a short delay, manifested paper began to scatter from her location, tightly covering over various openings in order to assist in sealing off any potential hiding places.

[WC=284 l Post 2/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo had been so frustrated spending all day chasing these rabbits that common sense like that was lost on him. When Suika offered a solid planned the Jonin nodded and brought his hands together, covering every other escape that the rabbits had. The two girls had provided quite a few barriers themselves but Tatsuo may have went a bit overboard. "Damn rabbits!" he shouted as wooden walls covered the whole area, creating an arena of some sorts!

The rabbits realized the error in their ways began to scramble, two groups pairs ran in one direction and the oldest rabbit seemed to want to prove as some what of a distraction.. running straight towards the three shinobi. Tatsuo reminded the two girls, "We're not here to hurt them, they haven't done anything wrong.. other than annoy me!" he said as he darted off to take one of the groups running to a corner of the room. He managed to box them in the corner where the two eyed him, looking for the best way to escape.

"You guys get the rest!" Tatsuo shouted as he inched closed to the rabbits, whispering to them, "It's okay buddies.. I won't eat you, I promise!" Luckily they didn't speak common, probably would be a lot more threatening if they did. As he finally got in arms reach, he extended his hand to grab one of the rabbits quickly, which was met with a quick bite from the bigger one. The smaller rabbit darted off as Tatsuo was distracted by his pain, however he got a good grip on one. "Ow, ow, ow.." he said as he pulled his finger free from the beast and formed a little hand seal, covering it in a small wooden bind. It was obviously meant to prohibit it's movement but nothing else. As far as anyone could tell the rabbit was perfectly safe, just a bit annoyed that it had been caught. Placing it down he placed his sights on the other rabbit that was still his responsibility to catch.

WC: 1025/1500
PC: 3/5

 

[Suika]

“What a comedy…” she thought as the mini chaos ensued. As Suika, Tatsuo, and Siu enacted the kunoichi’s plan to seal away all the small hiding spaces in the dojo, they were now confronted head on with the pack of rabbits. Two pairs of groups fled into separate directions as an older rabbit darted toward them. Instinctively, the girl prepared herself for a counter, but she took heed of the older Jounin’s words. “Don’t worry,” she assured with a quickened nod, “I won’t harm the bunnies, Tatsuo-san. But make sure they don’t get the best of you, Konoha Jounin.” she grinned playfully as she dashed toward one of the rabbit groups. As she made her way, she gestured at Siu toward the other pair. She knew the other Genin was more than capable to capture a couple of critters.

Suika soon found herself in an opened room. Sliding the door behind her, she focused her spiritual chakra and formed a large, ethereal bunny cage. The two rabbits, in response to her manifested tool, scattered about in the room. There was no real place for them to go; they were as good as hers. “Let’s do this the easy way, little friends, and you’ll be out in the forest in no time.” Not wasting any time, Suika channeled a minor illusion on one of the bunnies. She altered its perception of the room and made it believe it was cornered. In its confusion, she trapped the first one into the cage. One down, one more to go.

“Now, are you gonna hop in or am I going to have to make you see things, too, Mr. Rabbit?” The bunny persisted to bounce off the walls. The girl sighed. Casting another genjutsu, she distracted the creature with a loud, audible sound that boomed from nowhere. Again, within its befuddlement, she captured the second. She managed to trap one group of the rabbits.

“I wonder how Siu and Tatsuo are doing with their pairs of rabbits…” she mused as she prepared herself to meet with the group.

[WC: 344 | Post 3/5
TWC: 959]

 

[Siu]

The young kunoichi's eyes somewhat widened in surprise as the young boy practically turned the dojo into a wooden arena.

"You guys get the rest!" Came the command, as the eldest of the rabbits made it's distracting assault. Acknowledging Suika's gesture, Siu separated from the group in order to make her own pursuit of the furry critters.

“I won’t harm the bunnies, Tatsuo-san. But make sure they don’t get the best of you, Konoha Jounin.”

"Jounin?" Siu mentally inquired. Was that young boy really a Jounin?

The kunoichi eventually also found herself led inside one of the other dorm rooms. "Heeere bunny bunny!" The young girl sweetly called out as the little troublemakers continually hopped about the room. As one made a dash to hide under the bed, Siu quickly sealed the opening under the bed with paper, denying it's potential advantage, and closed the door behind her.
The rabbits then resorted to simply hopping about the room in an evasive fashion, in an effort to avoid the young girl's grasp. For a time, the kunoichi simply stood still in her position next to the door way. It may have even appeared that she hadn't a mind to capture the furry critters at all, or perhaps was having too difficult of a time reading the rabbit's movements to even attempt to do so. However, a more observant look at her eyes would reveal the young girl's pupils intently observing the furry creature's rapid movements, as if attempting to recognize a readable pattern of some sort.

"Little bunnies." Siu innocently continued with a concerned expression upon her face. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Were just taking you back out to forest, ok? Sorry, but you can't live here." It was questionable whether Siu was even aware that the rabbits were unable to speak or comprehend any common tongue whatsoever. Regardless, her words seemed to hold little to no effect, as the furry creatures continued to hop around the room in a continued effort to evade capture.
It would be then, in the midst of the one of the rabbit's mid-air hops, a rapidly speeding object of some sort would suddenly break the air in front of it, lodging into the wooden wall next to it with an audible 'thunk'. Greatly startled, the rabbit abruptly ceased it's hopping. With a single blink, the rabbit would then turn it's head to observe the object lodged into the wall in front of it....a paper shuriken.

"Don't worry sweet little bunny.." Siu continued with an ensuring smile so unfitting given the present circumstance, it seemed frightening, "You can count on me, i'll make sure you're safe and sound..."

The poor creature fainted.

Turning towards the other rabbit, whom sat trembling in immsense fear, Siu then began to make her slow approach. "Heeere bunny bunny..." She continued to call out. The rabbit continued to tremble, frozen in horror, as it's predator made it's approach. Unable to endure the pressure, the 2nd bunny also fainted.

"Hmmm" The young girl mumbled, upon picking up both of the unconscious bodies and holding them in her arms. "I guess they hopped round so much they got tired. Poor things.."

[WC=529 l Post 3/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Just as Tatsuo managed to catch the last of his rabbits he was able to witness the last bit of Siu's capture of the two rabbits. His face turned a pale white as he looked to the girl, he had fought many things in his lifetime, banshees, krakens, ratmen, pyromaniacs, but nothing seemed as scary as this girl in this moment. Placing the last rabbit in the wooden bind he looked to see that all the rabbits were collected. Bringing his hand up and forming a half seal, the wooden arena around them dispersed. Keeping a careful distance between he and Siu he went to place all the rabbits in the middle, it seemed their own unique skills helped them get them. Tatsuo's binds and ability to manipulate wood, Suika's mastery of Genjutsu, and Siu's ability to strike fear into the hearts of small woodland creatures. A good combo in all honesty.

"Thanks for all the help you two!" Tatsuo said as his eyes lit up and a huge smile crept on his face. He furrowed his brows for a moment and went to the nearest room, after a little bit of a ruckus he returned with a blanket. With the bunnies still immobile it was easy to place them all gently into the blanket. "I think we should release them outside, then if you two are hungry we've got food I think." he said rubbing his chin as he brought the rabbits outside. After getting quite a distance from the Dojo he opened up the blanket, nudging the ones that Siu had knocked out until they woke up and releasing the binds from the rest. They scurried off into the forest to do rabbit things, he was happy none of them were hurt(That much) but the Dojo wasn't a place for wild rabbits.

"So you two hungry?" he said turning to both of the girls, a huge smile on his face, "Oh and hey Suika, nice to see you again." he looked to Siu, "And you are?"

WC: 1364/1500
PC: 4/5

 

[Suika]

The trio returned to the middle of the main room with their captured bunnies. Suika had hers in an ethereal cage, Tatsuo placed a wooden bind on his, and Siu innocently carried two unconscious bunnies. Suika blank curiously – did Siu knock them out? Nah, that couldn’t have happened. Her fellow kunoichi was kind and gentle, so she totally bought into her explanation. “I see, so they outhopped themselves. Hmm.” The group soon went down stairs and outside to release the rabbits into the wild. The mischievous critters returned to the wild and the dojo was now rabbit-free! Thanks to their collaborative, yet seemingly spontaneous teamwork, the Leaf shinobi’s dilemma was now resolved. I mean, it was random for all three shinobi to be present at this exact place and time, but Suika was no stranger to fate’s convoluted schemes. She wasn’t too surprised.

Now, for more pressing matters.

“Food sounds good… but what are you doing in Kumogakure, Tatsuo-san? Why did you set up a dojo in the forest?” The Genin was pretty straightforward with her questions. The last she had seen the teen was in Tea Country, after all, so his presence within her village was odd to her. After Siu introduced herself, she’d assert further information about the Genin. “Yeah, Siu-chan is my teammate and friend.” Suika added with a soft, playful grin. “Don’t let her sweet appearance fool you - she’s a fierce and formidable kunoichi, Tatsuo-san. Her spirit blazes more than any man.” Not typically being the shy type, her compliment to the girl was cloaked in both honesty and admiration. Normally, Suika was kind of shy when acknowledging her fascination with the girl, but she was growing more used to it. Siu was awesome, after all. The ghostly kunoichi knew this to be true.

[WC: 299 | Post 4/5
TWC: 1,258/1,500]

 

[Siu]

Placing the two unconscious critters in the blanket the unfamiliar boy had provided, Siu delightfully observed as the furry creatures were sent back out into their natural habitat. Her eyes somewhat lit up at the sound of possible breakfast. She was usually not one to turn down a good meal. Nodding to the inquiry regarding the two kunoichi's hunger, Siu pondered what sort of resources a dojo in the middle of the forest such as this might store to eat. Perhaps a multitude of vegetables and some hunted game, such as deer?

"Oh and hey Suika, nice to see you again." Oh, they knew each other?

"And you are?" At the inquiry for her name, the young girl stood somewhat more upright, before performing a formal bow, "I am Siu!; Hikari, Siu! Pleasure to meet you!" She informed, before rising back up.

At Suika's additional description, the older kunoichi bashfully blushed. "Ahh--I don't know about 'fierce' and 'formidable'!" She responded rubbing the back of her head nervously, unsure of how exactly to handle such compliments. She'd never quite considered herself as someone with such positive traits; In her eyes, she was still lacking in so many ways as a shinobi. Perhaps, this might have been a reason why Instructor Shieo had told her to work more on her confidence after her promotion to Genin long ago.

"Tatsuo..san" Siu began again, repeating her remembrance of the name she'd heard from Suika. "Are you really... Jounin? I have never seen you around the village before."

[WC=255 l Post 4/5]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo rubbed the back of his neck when questioned on why he was in the village now, "Well the Dojo is an easy one.. Hoshi built this a long time ago and we sorta converted it to the Blazing Spirit Dojo whenever we created the guild. I was here mostly fixing it up, considering Hoshi has been busy with the tournament." He nodded once when told to not let her appearance fool him, "You're right, you seem like quite the capable shinobi." he grinned and said to Siu.

"I'll probably be staying in Kumogakure indefinitely, I don't think i'll be returning to Konoha." he said a subtle frown appearing on his face, before he masked it with an even larger smile. "But that's okay, I'll be able to enjoy everything Lightning Country has to offer." When questioned by Siu on his rank he gave another nod, "Yeah I might be young but I think i'm pretty skilled as a shinobi." After talking for a bit he finally said, "Alright well we should probably eat." Then he lead them into the dojo where he cooked up some steaks, rice and veggies. A staple of the dojo. All in all it seemed like a pretty good day, but only time could tell.

WC: Enough
PC: Enough

 

[Suika]

As the duo before her exchanged introductions, Suika couldn’t help but to smile to herself. It was completely by chance that they met today, but she was glad that two people she respected got to meet. As for Tatsuo’s little announcement...

“So you’re a Cloud shinobi now?” She questioned rhetorically. Now, she didn’t see that coming. The kunoichi had studied a good amount about shinobi relations and foreign affairs, but never did she really think ninja, who were bound by loyalty, were allowed to switch allegiances. Nonetheless, she noted his frown and, being sensitive to that, refrained from any further queries for now. “Nonetheless, it’s great to have you, Tatsuo-san. Cloud is lucky to have you.” And she definitely meant it. The former Leaf shinobi was a natural leader and a good influence for the youth. His idealisms was just the optimism the village needed. Suika looked forward to future hang outs with him.

“Nice place, Tatsuo-san. Let’s talk more about all this over food. Waffles, anyone?” I mean, it was still morning, so why not? The kunoichi’s diet wasn’t too great mainly because of her sweet tooth. Not that it showed much.

With that, the trio was off. Deep down, Suika’s biggest wish was to continue forming further bonds with the people she cherished. Although she chose not to show it much, she was honored to be in the presence of both Tatsuo and Siu. What adventure would occur for our heroes next?

[TWC: 1,500+/1,500 | Post 5/5]

[Tutor complete and topic left]

 

[Siu]

"Hoshi.." The young girl mentally repeated. That was name definitely a name she wasn't unfamiliar with. The kunoichi had trained under him in the past, and was also well aware of his participation in the tournament. Though the Hyuuga was young, perhaps only a year or so older than herself, he had progressed quite far as shinobi. She'd learned a number of valuable things from him during their training together. At Tatsuo's further compliment, the young girl's eyes widened with great surprise as she nervously blushed again,. "I-I..well..thank you." She managed to mumble. Her, a capable shinobi? It was something entirely unexpected for her to hear.

Later it would be revealed why she'd very likely not seen the young boy before; he was from an entirely different country. Konoha? She knew of it, yet no more than by books and the through the lips of others. It was a long way between the two countries, and now the kunoichi was deeply curious as to how and why the foreign shinobi had come to make residence in her country. Like Hoshi, he also seemed to be quite accomplished as a shinobi despite his young age. Most Jounin she saw were full fledged adults far past their years of youth.

Once the two were invited in to eat, Siu wasted no time accepting the offer.

[WC=224 l Post 5/5]

[Tutor Complete & Topic Left]