Irony at Work (Attn: Team 6)

[Toboe]

Shirio was close enough to hear the bunshin fall to the earth and crumble apart. Quickly skidding to an abrupt halt, he dived behind a tree for cover. He shook his head as he let it fall back against the rough bark of the tree's trunk. How could he be so stupid? It should have been obvious that the Akemi he had targeted was a clone. After all, she was a jounin. It was very unlikely for her to be so easily caught.

He looked up towards the tree tops, the constant pattering of the rain against the millions of leaves keeping up a constant dull roar as it started to fall harder. The genin was already soaked, he needed to lose his jacket. "Shiromaru, I need you to scout. Mark a couple of trees you believe she could possibly come in contact with The scent will lead us right to her or her clones. We will use long distance communication if the situation arises..."

Without saying anything in reply to his partner's orders, the dog quietly rushed off into the woods, carrying out Shirio's request. As for the genin, he discarded his jacket in an easy to remember place and started to make his way up into the tree tops. He grunted as a branch smacked up against his still injured arm. "Ngh.... Koji really had done a number on it..." He muttered to himself.

Shirio soon settled down on a large branch over looking a grassy clearing. With his eyes, ears and nose all searching for some small clue, it would be, in his mind, hard to get past the genin without being spotted.

[Hiko]

A pair of women of equal looks sat along a limb of a tree, both with lips in full smiles. One looked to the other, brows raised, “They're scattering themselves.”
“They are. But which to target first? The Inuzuka, or the Hyuuga?”
“And leave out Ayana-sama?”
“It's easier to attack the charging wolf than it is the running rabbit.”
“True enough. How long do you think they can continue?”
“I'd rather not make assumptions, but the rain is going on, isn't it?”
“Ahaha, I wonder...” The duo vanished from the branch and began circling the forest, stopping every few trees to make certain that Akemi's scent lingered, before finally stopping in front of Koji.

“The lone hunter, waiting for the prey to find him?”
“More like the animal that doesn't know it's yet in a trap. Well, Ko-pyon, at least you had the sense to run on the water, rather than through it.”
–

As Ayana's bunshin ran from treetop to treetop, looking for any sign of Shirio or his canine familiar, the girl herself enjoyed slight safety from below the ground. Well, that was until something warm, wet, and colorful splashed at the earth in unison with heavy raindrops. Ayana shot out of the ground, half-dusgusted, half-joyous. She'd found Shirio's dog, at least! Rushing after it, she hoped he would lead her back to his owner – or at the very least, take a message back.
“Shi – Shiromaru!” That was his name, right? “Stop!”
–

The bunshin found the boy quick enough, though it was entirely possible he found her first. Ayana's copy looked up as she crossed the clearing, blinking hard in the ongoing rain.
“Shirio!” she called from below, “It's Ayana! Look, I can't stay, but – well, dodge the blades!” The bunshin was obviously breaking up, either from lack of concentration or lack of chakra on Ayana's part.
“Akemi-neechan poisoned her blades. If you get hit, it'll – don't get hit. It's not pleasa–”
A senbon abruptly appeared through the bunshin's forehead. The clone instantly dispersed in a soft poff! and a rock was left in its place.
Two women stood from behind the rock, and one ventured to kick the stone out of the way.
“Look, Ake~ A little lost dog.”
“You're right, Kemi~ Why, should we play with it?”
“Ahaha, let's.”

[Sabaku]

Koji stopped abruptly as the pair of bunshin appeared in front of him, feet throwing water into the air as he skidded to a halt above it. He moved into a defensive stance and jumped backward in an effort to put some distance between himself and the clones, though he realized that it would do no good should the pair decide to surround him. Byakugan, it seemed, was a necessity, though he found his eyes more taxed than usual from the rain; it plastered his hair to his face, ran into his eyes despite his best efforts to blink it away.

Blinking now, though, didn't seem like such a good idea. He ran through his options quickly in his mind - his best jutsu were fire-based, all but useless in this weather, and what did she mean about a trap? Was there another of them? He focused his eyes on the view all around him, but found none. What, then?

The question had barely formed, however, when it was answered. His vision blurred momentarily, and he stumbled, shaking his head in an attempt to dispel the disorientation that was beginning to come over him. Genjutsu? He flung the kunai in his hands toward the bunshin, one for each, then repeated the action several times as quickly as he could manage, realizing that his aim was unusually off. The boy clenched his teeth, angered - his body wasn't cooperating, and he could do little to figure out the cause as long as her clones were so close and able to attack. He had to keep fighting, but like this, it wasn't going to be easy.

Trying to prove them unprepared was an understatement. This wasn't something any genin team would be ready for.

[Toboe]

Shiromaru skidded to a quick halt as he heard his name called out. His piercing yellow eyes shoot back towards the one who called for him, causing him to turn his body to get a better look. "What do you need?" He asked quietly, taking a couple of steps towards her. Without Shirio around, the dog looked very intimidating, almost scary with it's abnormal size and wolf like appearance.

Shirio stood there, now finding himself looking down towards two clones of his sensei, or at least he assumed they both were clones. What was Ayana trying to tell him? Something to do with poison. Whatever, he just had to make sure he didn't get hit by the blades, right? "Sen... sei..." Suddenly and out of the blue, Shirio threw his head back and howled out into the rain, calling for Shiromaru. "I just need to hold her off long enough until he arrives..." He told himself, hoping that the dog wouldn't be long.

[Hiko]

“Mimi,” the leftmost of the figures eyed Koji's aimless throws, frowning, “Do you think perhaps we're going too hard on them? They're only genin, after all.”
“Hah, you don't mean that. Suna breeds tougher skin than Konoha. You know that. Their trials aren't going to play nice, just because our students are pitiful.”
“Eh, I suppose you're right. Still, if they don't figure out a better plan of attack soon, they'll all be useless. I'd hate to have to try this again.”
“Mm, I'd rather not like hunting the boys down, either. Ko-pyon,” the one labeled Mimi tilted her head at the Hyuuga, “what do you think? Should we go lighter on you, maybe take away that annoying poison? We can, you know~”
“Pah. He'd rather kill you and endure the torture. You can see it in his eyes.”
“Well, I thought I'd try~”

The pair split apart. The leftmost woman brought her hands up in beak-like points, weaponless. She dove forward at the boy, jabbing at his vulnerable frame. One would hit – one strike always hit when the wasp was let out of its nest.
Her tense fingers struck at the boy's jugular. As she bounced back from the striking motion, her mirror reflection dug her nails into the stumbling child and yanked them out out in just-as-swift motions. Chakra threaded from Koji's shoulder and into the woman's fingertips with languid viscosity. At the boy's ear, the reflection spoke in a low rasp.
“Habu Dokuso no Basshi. Focus, Ko-pyon, and do please try not to disrupt the chakra – even I don't know what could happen~”
“Mimi” looked up, feeling the sudden absence of her partner.
“Well,” she chuckled, “it seems someone didn't want to share.”
–

Ayana felt a cold chill run over her frame when the canine turned his gaze onto her. She'd never dealt with a creature so large – even Akemi-neechan's larger spider familiars were smaller than this!
“Ah – uhm. W-well. I tried getting a message to Shirio, but I don't think he got it. Akemi-neechan's not just toying with us. Everything she's doing, I've dealt with in private. This rain – it – it's poison. And her weapons have her blood on them. The rain works slowly, but if she breaks the skin with the weapons...
“I-It's not so slow.”
She shivered, remembering the full effects of the Chidoku's natural poisons. Suddenly, a thought occurred to the young girl. There was a purpose behind her lack of jounin stalkings. She'd already been introduced to the fighting style. Ayana knew what to expect, while the boys – and she'd led neechan straight to her teammate!
“I – she didn't follow me. She watched me, my bunshin – it was looking for Shirio.”
Distantly, she heard a human howl. Worry scattered across her face. Ayana blinked hard against the rain.
“O-oh. Oh, t-that's not good, is it?”
–

“The pup even howls, Ake! How charming,” the woman on the right laughed.
“Do you think he's paper-trained?” the lefted figure asked with thinly-veiled disgust.
“I doubt he's even been neutered.”
“I suppose it's up to us then, eh, Kemi?”
As the Hyuuga's pair had, this duo, too, split to surround the Inuzuka. The one named “Ake” sucked at her thumb, teeth against the nail. The woman called “Kemi” merely stood watching, though her hands flew in the motions of handseals.
“Play nice, Kemi~ I want to have fun with him before you go flying off the handle with Kanashibari~”
Kemi's hands dropped, and the woman crossed her arms in a pouting huff, “Oh, fine. Play.”
Ake circled the boy, “I'm surprised you're lasting so long in the rain, pup. The Hyuuga already needed help~ Well, maybe you will be fun to play with, after all?” The woman's smile, though cheerful, didn't match the feel of her eyes; something was off. Dim. Not quite broken, but perhaps on its way. Kemi let out a low whistle.
“Hoo, pup, you'd better run. I haven't seen her look at a man like that since Toshiro.”
Ake snapped her head up, looking much the stray dog as she met eyes with Kemi, “That's not fair at all!”
“True, though. And you still aren't running, pup!”

[Sabaku]

Poison? Ayana had warned him of it, but her weapons hadn't hit him! There was no way she could have - unless...realization hit him as the rain continued to pour down. The very weather was on her side? But despite the knowledge, the other clone was right: he would never willingly accept her aid, let alone ask for it.

Enraged at the way his own body failed to react in the way he wanted, Koji could do little to defend against the woman's sudden attack. He couldn't help but wince when the blow struck, and though he didn't want to admit it, realized that if she'd wanted to she could have killed him with that motion. He was stronger than this! It didn't matter that she was a jounin, or that she was his sensei, he was not so weak as to let her toy with him as though he were some kind of doll!

But for all of his efforts to force himself to fight back, he only found himself caught while he stumbled from the strike. He felt the second clone's nails pierce his skin before he could even try to react, and he hissed out a curse. She was pushing him around to her whims. As the chakra began to pull the poison from his body, he could feel his perception beginning to clear, but it only angered him further - he did not need her help.

The clone that had attacked disappeared. This was his opportunity to counter. He used his byakugan to look at the woman behind him, taking in her position and stance, then with a single, quick movement, pulled a kunai from his pouch and turned to fling it directly toward her.

"Like hell I will."

Let the poison rain fall, if she wanted it to. She wasn't going to kill them, and as long as he was alive, he could fight.

[Toboe]

Shirio shook his head while the two clones spoke, something was off, his body wasn't feeling right. What was this? He hadn't be attacked yet, so there was no possible way for him to be poisoned. "Tch... you'd just love to find a way to get in my pants." He sneered in retaliation to the comment about neutering him. Taking a step back, it was hard to keep his focus, why was his body suddenly aching? Run? Why? Why should he run?

Before he let himself linger on the thought for too long, the boy turned tail and ran, shooting off back into the trees at full tilt. Using Shikyaku no Jutsu increased his speed and sensory perception greatly, but at the same time set him up for even greater effects from the poison he knew so little about. The sound of his heavy breathing was briefly interrupted by a sudden tearing noise. Glancing towards his arm revealed the source of the unnerving sound.

"Ugh, my cut is still pretty bad. Damn you Ko... Wait a second." The realization hit him like a solid wall of bricks. The only possible way for poison to enter his blood would be through the wound on his arm, but the only liquid to touch his arm has been the rain. Was that even possible?

Howling out once again, Shirio let Shiromaru know of his location before making a beeline towards the edge of the woods. He could smell Koji off in the distance. Homing in on the scent, Shirio rushed towards his team mate, pushing his body in the hopes of making it there in time.


"Foolish little child!" Shiromaru snarled after Ayana revealed what had happened. "For your sake, nothing had better of happened to him." Pausing for a moment as his ears twitched, he could hear yet another howl. "Come, he's heading back towards your other team mate." Without waiting for the girl, the canine ran off in the direction of his master's call. To the dog, this was all turning out to be more trouble than he would have ever imagined.

[Hiko]

For her part, Ayana was more or less able to keep speed with the overtly-large canine. Stupid! She'd been so stupid – how could she have thought Akemi-neechan would make a run for them equally? Ayana's feet itched as rainwater swept through her slick sandals. The half-healed scabs on her heels from continued tree climbing felt... Numb wasn't the right word. Neuropathic? Yes, that was closer to the truth.

She remembered the wound Koji-kun had inflicted onto their new teammate days before; if her nearly-healed feet could feel the effects of the rain, what was the weather doing to Shirio's arm? Shiromaru's words reverberated in her mind. Surely, Akemi-neechan wouldn't do anything too drastic – it wasn't as if she could kill them!
But, she could seriously injure the ill-equipped genin.
–

“Mimi” grinned, “Ko-pyon, what are you doing~? I thought I told you to stay still – oh, ahah. Well, if that's the way of it~” The clone allowed the boy's kunai to hit its mark, rather than dodging. Mimi gave a soft grunt as the weapon struck her squarely in the chest. The clone swiftly began dispersing back into the ground, but the collapse of its body didn't stop it from speaking one last time.
“You don't need my help? You don't need anyone's help, hm? Silly Ko-pyon~”
–

Ake was much the animal as she chased after Shirio, stalking with a slow-paced track rather than a full-out run. Why waste the energy when she could continue playing? Kemi followed in steps rather than bounds – it seemed she was the only clone with any sense (or, for that matter, class). She knew Akemi was waiting for the clones to disperse before finishing the test, but did they all have to get hit? Kemi would have much preferred to simply return to the ground right at that moment, but someone had to watch Ake – and with Mimi gone, the duty fell to Kemi herself.
"No, couldn't leave the playful bunshin. Had to leave me with the closet psychopath. Of course. Wonderful idea, Akemi! Not that Mimi was much better, but really..."

[Toboe]

Shirio continued running at full tilt, leaves and branches creating a constant sting as they smacked the boy in the face. The pain was little compared to what the poison was causing. He was now panting, trying his hardest to keep pushing on. He knew that the edge was near, he could smell the grassy field, or at least he imagined that he could.

"Araaagh!" Shirio yelled out in pain as he fell face first into a puddle, the muddy poisoned water splashing up and around the genin. "Wha... what the hell is this?!" Forcing himself up onto his hands and knees, he reached up and grabbed onto a tree branch, pulling himself onto his feet. He could see the edge of the forest off in the distance, just beyond that tree line would be his team mate.

"Just a little further..." The Inuzuka shook his head, trying to get his barrings. Stumbling at first, he started to run forward once again. "Koji!" He yelled as he exited the forest, his voice saturated with pain. He clutched his arm as he slowed down to a jog, the poison had started to reach his heart, all of the running sped up it's spread throughout his body. "We... we can't defeat her... on... on our own. You... and I.. We need to work together."

[Sabaku]

The bunshin's words were strange, but Koji didn't spare them more than a passing thought as her body crumbled into earth and then rapidly faded in with the mud covering the area. Of course he didn't need her help! She may have been their sensei, or at the least a copy of her, but for now, she had made herself their enemy. And he was no fool - he didn't trust an enemy.

Now, to find her, before another false Akemi could make her move...

His byakugan pierced the trees, but rather than pinpointing the woman, he found his teammate running back toward the clearing at full speed. He glanced over the boy and focused farther, wary of pursuers, but didn't find one. If she was following, she was doing it at a distance. He had no more confirmed that, however, when the boy's voice rang out much more loudly than necessary, and he winced in irritation. He had noticed him long before he had spoken, was his call really necessary?

Work together? Koji opened his mouth to flatly decline, but the words died on his lips as he considered his options. He could take out Akemi's clones all day, but this wasn't a simple test of fighting skill. Their objective was retrieval, and they had a limited time in which to complete it. At the same time, they were being constantly poisoned by her rain. A slight barrier against it could be formed by focusing chakra to the surface of the skin, but keeping that up would be much too draining, especially on top of the use of byakugan. Though the level of poison in his body was less now than it had been thanks to the clone's attempts to remove it, that wouldn't last long. He had to take full advantage of the time he had before it took effect again.

"...Fine." Though it seemed there was no choice, he made no effort to hide the fact that he wasn't happy with the prospect of working with the boy. "Where's Ayana? She knows her tactics better than we do."

If he was going to have to work with them, he would take advantage of whatever they could offer.

[Hiko]

Through the collective thoughts of the clones, Akemi could see that, though the boys did so grudgingly, they were beginning to work together, to pull together both a common goal and a strengthening strategy. Well, then! It'd taken them less time than she'd originally assumed possible, but she still doubted the effectiveness of the group. With the clones working in tandem, Akemi felt a moment of concern. Though Kemi held the bulk of the jounin's sensibilities, Ake was nearly feral of her enjoyment of battle. Akemi hadn't wanted to interfere until the clones had all been destroyed, but if Ake crossed the line...

The jounin shook her head. No, Kemi wouldn't allow things to get that far. Besides, as quick to strike as Koji was, there was the small likelihood that the bunshin would be quickly dispatched.
–

Kemi strolled behind her companion, looking for signs of the lost dog, and the clan princess. Nothing to note yet. Strange, the canine had seemed fairly adept. Was Ayana holding him back somehow? It wouldn't be a far-ff assumption, considering the girl's lack of grace on the field. Well, they would come when they could come. Until then, she had bigger concerns.
Namely, Ake. The clone lusted for the sight of an injury. Kemi rationalized that if the boys were too terribly injured, they could be excused from the upcoming exams. She doubted Ake understood the why of her base desires, but it wasn't a hard guesstimate. As she caught up with the two genin, Kemi called out, “Watch yourselves, boys. Ake's out for blood.”

What the hell. Might as well tell them the truth, hm?
–

Ake grinned, teeth bared as she ran forward. Ignoring Kemi's warning entirely, she flew at the Inuzuka.
“Here, pup! Here, dog! Here, cur! How long will it be now, until you start mistaking eachother for the enemy? How long until the rain drowns out your senses?” Ake brought her hands up in a quick motion, and with a soft “pah!”, her form dissipated, and a second Shirio appeared, complete with battered appearance.

The henge lunged for its reflection, eager to continue the hunt.

[Toboe]

"I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her since..." Shirio paused for a second as he thought about the last time he had seen their team mate. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't actually seen her since they first met up. It was her clone that he encountered in the forest. "... I saw her clone in the forest, as for the real Ayana; the last time I had seen her was here with you. I think Shiromaru had found her though, so it shouldn't be too long until sh...."

Shirio was cut short by the arrival of their sensei's clones, a very unwelcome sight at this point. He sneered at Kemi's statement, caring very little what she had to say. Aki could be out for noodles for all he cared. Mmm... noodles. The thought reminded him that he was hungry. Shaking the memory of the tasty treat out of his mind, he put his focus back on the clones standing before him. One in particular was worrying him. While Koji had the luxury of having some of the poison removed from his system, Shirio had not had the same privilege. With poison building up in his blood, he was making even the simplest of movements troublesome.

"Aye, aye... you're a really big pain in my ass." The Inuzuka reached into his rear pouch and pulled out two small pills, soldier pills to be exact. Popping them both into his mouth, he chomped down on them, creating a distinct 'crunch.' "Koji... you're going to have to do most of the work. I... I really don't know how long these things are going to keep me going." Shirio opened his mouth to say some more, but his attention was stolen from Koji as Ake 'morphed' into a clone of himself. "Wha...!?" Shirio reacted reflexively, his hand quickly removing a kunai from it's pouch and using it to slash at the oncoming doppelganger. "Koji, now, attack while her attention is on me!"