Ban and Fumetsu: Collecting Toads - 01/23/16

== Participants ==
Kaguya Fumetsu
Nara Ban
== Collecting Toads ==
Guest_pxJeffTheKilleRxq: Fume just woke up from his slumber, rubbed his eyes and got up from his back. Nothing new, this was reality, a nightmare taking place on this Earth.- “Still a mess…” –He mumbled about the worlds current state from his perspective, from his twisted dark perception. He glanced at the shadow next to him, still teasing him, taunting him… he just moved his arm tiredly through it, making it disperse into black smoke. He walked over to his wardrobe to get a pair of black ninja pants and afterwards he pulled his black ninja sandals on his feet. As for what he was wearing on the top… he still wore his white hoodie… bloody, with some cuts in it and all that. He walked over to his balcony after taking his two companions, his swords, Body & Soul. During his sleep he stopped bothering to even take his mask off so he already had it on. He pulled his white hood over his head and jumped down to the street level. He would soon find, as he was walking around, a merchant that pulled Fumetsu for a small talk. The merchant claimed he had a mission for the white haired genin. Something about toads and yada yada. Fumetsu listened to only the stuff that mattered and most of the things that came out of the merchant’s mouth weren’t in any way relevant to the said mission but the Kagyua was keeping his patience. After hearing all the important details, Fumetsu would be on his way to the pond, the merchant said that he will send someone to help the genin if he could, a thing that Fumetsu wasn’t really fond of. The merchant also gave Fumetsu a container to put the toads in. The Kaguya then rushed towards the pond, starting to search for toads once he got there. He wasn’t really interested in having a partner so he just wanted to get this over with.-
Kare: - It was rather early in the morning and Ban was wandering the streets of the village without purpose. Thoughts crossed his mind of what was to come for him in the weeks to come. The confidence he once had in is own abilities has retreated to the shadows, leaving him afraid of taking a step forward. But how could he admit to being afraid, he is a shinobi and a shinobi must never be afraid. Ban kept his chin up and his chest puffed outward as he wandered the streets to mask himself from the public's prying eyes. As he wandered the streets with his olive hood over his head, a merchant of some sort limped over to him and asked him for a favor. - 'Collecting oil from toads... I didn't even know that was possible.' - He thought to himself as the merchant briefed him of the task and pointed him in the direction he should head. While the man rambled endless about things of no relevance to the task, Ban considered taking up the task for the man. - Ban: "Very well, I'll do it." Merchant: "Oh thank you, boy! I've already sent out a couple of other young lads, so you might run into a few others while you're out there." Ban: "I see... Well I'll return shortly with your toads." - As Ban gathered the remaining details of the task, the merchant guided Ban to his cart and handed him a couple of supplies to help hasten the completion of the task. Ban stored the jars in his backpack and went on his way towards to location. - Merchant: "Wait! Take this!" - Ban quickly turned his attention to the merchant as he shouted out to him. His eyes peered through the tint of his goggles to witness the merchant extend his arm out towards Ban and a few sheets of paper would peel off from his forearm and float towards Ban without being hindered by the heavy rain. Ban was completely stunned by what had just happened that a sheet of paper glued itself to his Ban, he was quickly brought back to his senses and pulled the paper off of his face. - 'Hm... poisonous toads should definitely be avoided. I must proceed with caution.' - He thought to himself as he shot up into the air and onto the nearest rooftop for faster travel. Ban would surely arrive at the location provided to him by the merchant without trouble and just as the merchant said, he spotted another villager searching around the edge of the pond for what he could only assume to be toads. - "Oi! You looking for toads as well?" - Ban shouted out to the hooded individual as he reached into his bag to pull out a jar and a sheet of paper listing the toads that should be avoided. Ban would walk over cautiously towards the individual with the sheet extended out for them to take. If the individual turned their full attention to Ban they would see him hooded with an olive rain coat over a thick black long sleeved shirt, dark gray tattered shorts with dull purple leg warmers and standard issued black sandals, tinted goggles over his eyes and a custom rebreather dangling over his neck, but most importantly his forehead protector bearing the mark of Amegakure which was slightly obscured by his dreadlocks. -
Guest_pxJeffTheKilleRxq: -As the troubled Kaguya was looking around for toads with the container in one of his hands he got called by a person. 'Of course...' he thought slightly irritated as he heard footsteps getting closer to him. Fumetsu didn't move a muscle for a brief moment as the other person got closer but then decided to speak.- "Yes, a merchant gave me the..." -At that moment he fully turned his head to look at the stranger. In Fumetsu's eyes the stranger was covered by one of the shadows haunting him. His eyes narrowed a bit as his cold gaze saw through the shadow, through the goggles and eyes... he saw through him. The person was clearly someone familiar.- "... mission... of collecting some toads..." -The Kaguya finally finished speaking as he glanced at the man's overall look. 'Coat... blue leg warmers... rebreather... goggles... Just who are you?... that voice...' Fumetsu then broke out of his thinking and glanced at the paper the other was offering. He grabbed it with his free hand and read it before slipping it into his hoodie pocket. He turned his head once again to look for toads when he was welcomed by the nice sight of a group of them all chilling together. Different colors like they were flowers, they did give some color to the plain and simple Amegakure but unfortunately it was far too less color for anyone to care. He would do a jump since that was faster than running and it wasn't as direct and he landed close to a blue one that was just standing on a nenuphar that was floating on the knee length warm water. When the toad jumped it hit Fumetsu's palm and got caught in his hand. Fumetsu looked briefly at it, a midnight blue color with the addition of black lines across It's tiny body. The boy quickly put it in the container after he opened it then quickly closed it afterwards. Another one of these fragile creatures was standing on the stub that was close by. Fumetsu lunged at it to grab it but the toad jumped away and Fumetsu hit the stub with his chest. 'Tsk... I need to work on my speed...' he had that as a mental note for after the mission was done and then looked to see where the ninja toad was heading to. The wicked creature was jumping from nenuphar to nenuphar like it was nobody's business, getting rather close to the other genin's location.-
Kare: - As the individual turned around to face Ban, Ban instantly recognized the male's eyes, but it seemed as though Fumetsu didn't recognize him. Shortly after Fumetsu took the paper from his hands, he sprung into action and chased down a dark blue toad that was just minding its business. Unfortunately for the toad, it was captured, but its friend managed to slip through Fumetsu grasp and headed towards Ban who was quick to react by timing it's jumping pattern and lunging out to grab it just as it took off into the air. Ban swiftly sealed it within the jar he had at hand and inspected the toad closely. - 'I've never seen a red and yellow toad before...' - As Ban has his gaze fixated on the toad he just captured, he manages to see a few other toads hopping away from the pond and towards the trees that surround the pond area. - "We can't let them get deeper into the forest or else well lose them for good!" - Ban broke into a sprint and headed around the flank of the toads, causing them to change course and hop towards the pond for Fumetsu to come and attempt to snag more than just one. While chasing the toads from the flank, Ban manages to identify a stray. - 'I've got you now.' - He thought to himself as he pulled out another jar for the toad. As he closed in on the toad it stopped in its tracks and turned around to face Ban. The toad filled its mouth with some of liquid and as Ban came into range, thinking the toad was trying to scare him off, it spat out a wave of oil towards his face. - "What the!" - The oil just barely missed Ban's face as he dropped down onto his belly to avoid being drenched in the strange liquid. - "Well it seems they fight back." - He said to Fumetsu and watched the toad hop away, but with hesitation he wove the hand seal for rat to have his shadow slither through the blades of grass like a snake hunting down its prey and then paralyzed the toad in its place and their shadows linked. - "I want to see you try that again." - Ban said as he walked over to the toad and sealed it within the jar. Ban turned his attention to the wave of toads hopping over towards Fumetsu, kneel down on one knee and manipulate his shadow to trail behind the swarm of toads with the intent to trap any strays. -
Guest_pxJeffTheKilleRxq: -He watched as the other was doing a well job at chasing the toads. He pushed himself off the stub and lightly touched his chest that he hit earlier as he watched the other. He noticed how he got some toads coming towards his direction so he began to run towards them, through the water. He would have a few problems with one of them but the toad gave up and got caught. Fume put it in the container and looked at the other one. When he glanced a bit towards the other boy's direction his eyes widened as he saw a shadow follow the toad... it wasn't a shadow from his hallucinations, not a human figure, it was literally a black moving shadow following the damn toad. 'Nara... Ban...' he finally put things together. This person was Ban. Fumetsu clenched his fists as he remembered the fight he had with the Nara. He began to grit his teeth behind his mask silently as he remembered the boy more and more. His grip on the container got more gentle again but the fist of his other hand was still clenched hard. He begin running after the toad with a growl forming in his throat, growing louder and louder as he passed through his "imaginary friends", the teasing shadow, pushing through all of them and attempting to grab the toad... miss. He got more annoyed and continued to chase the toad. The toad decided to stop on one of the nenuphar and Fumetsu's eyes were sparkling with anger when he saw that.- "Got you!..." -He said jumping in air, his legs under him but he was more like in a kneeling position midair with his legs spread out a bit, the container raised high as the free hand was pulled back. The toad glanced Fumetsu with a curious expression, sending pretty much a small ball of toad oil when Fumetsu was directly above it. At that moment, Fumetsu's free hand, still clenched into a fist, literally punched through the ball, making the oil go everywhere before opening his hand and grabbing the toad, sinking it along with the surface it was previously standing on. He was now on his knees in the water, everything bellow his chest being underwater. He slowly got up, not letting go of the toad until his hand was in the container where he released the toad, once again closing the container. He was breathing slowly and shakily, trying to calm down... trying to forget about the spar with Ban at least for the time being.-
Kare: - With Ban's focus being split between maintaining his jutsu and keeping an eye out for any toads straying from the group, he didn't pay much attention to Fumetsu and his actions up until he captured one of the toads. He would release his jutsu to let himself regain some of the chakra used to keep his shadow functioning at optimal levels and turned his attention to the jars containing the toads he has managed to capture. - "Well it looks like I've got the red and green toads in my possession and I believe you have two of your own... The merchant wants us the each of us to capture a minimum of three toads for a standard reward, but would offer us much more if we manage to capture eight different colors." - Ban paused for a moment, placed the jars in his backpack and then secured his backpack over his back. He'd begin to walk over to Fumetsu cautiously as he could see him tensing up and hear his breathing attempting to steady itself. - "I know we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but if we were to work together here, we could finish this task with ease and obtain a much higher reward... What do you say?" - As Ban came within a 10 feet radius of Fumetsu, he extended his hand out for him to shake upon agreement to work together. While he wanted to see what Fumetsu would do, he leaned over to the side to look pass Fumetsu and took note of the direction the toads were running off to. - 'They must be seeking a place to hide till we give up, but as long as we keep chasing them down, they won't have enough time to retreat into hiding.' - For a brief moment, Ban would reach into his left sleeve and pull out a concealed kunai laced with an explosive tag around its handle and toss it into the trees in the general direction the toads were headed to attempt to scare any that have managed to find hiding and stun the few still on the run. - "We don't have much time before the toads manage to find hiding and avoid our detection so let's get moving whether you're with me or not." - Ban began to race over the pond and towards the tree line holding up a special hand seal, half of the tiger seal, and then within a matter of seconds a bright white light would flash through the shadows of the trees and a loud explosion would follow, along with the crashing of a few trees caught in the explosion. Ban would soon be lost from Fumetsu line of sight within the trees if he isn't trailing behind him. -
Guest_pxJeffTheKilleRxq: "Blue and orange..." -He stated the color of toads he had after the other told him the ones he has. He hard the other talk even more about the past and all, thing that pushed Fumetsu more to annoyance but he fully got back to being stable so his upset mood wouldn't show, instead, only the cold nature was there. He glanced at the other who seemed got closer and extended his limb towards Fume. The Kaguya glanced at it calmly then over at Ban.- "I say you simply close your mouth about anything... Don't speak to me unless It's something important like the mission... It's much more then that "wrong foot" you are talking about..." -He moved his free hand and gently knocked the other's hand away before turning around and looking at the toads running away.- "Right..." -He responded to Ban's plan of chasing the frogs and catching them. He listened about not having much time and after throwing a kunai at a tree. 'You aren't really going to use explosions on a frog mission too... right?...' he thought to himself as the other finished his sentence and then quickly rushed towards the frogs along side Ban. He noticed Ban doing a hand seal and then a big boom was heard '...' he sighed in his own thoughts as he ran past the crashing trees, separating from Ban so they could have a wider range and... so that Fumetsu wouldn't have to try so hard to keep himself from trying to kill the young genin. 'This guy... tsk...' *Why don't you kill him, Fumetsu? He was going to cripple you, remember? You were going to die, or be in pain. He's clearly a monster like everyone. So why not be a monster yourself? Hahaha.* '... Because... It's not time to judge him... not yet.' -As he said that, he dived through the shadow taunting him and over a downed tree, catching a beautifully colored with black toad and landed in the water head first. He soon got back up, all soaked before putting the creature with the others. He called out to Ban figuring that the boy would hear him due to the pond being silent.- "Got a black one as well..." -He spotted another one that somehow got on the branch of a smaller tree. Fume looked up at it and then at the tree... remembering his training with his team and... Akatori... He sighed lowly as he narrowed his eyes briefly... he then got his focus back and ran towards the tree at high speeds, pushing his foot to the surface as his chakra coated the said foot... a black chakra like it was some kind of flame and then pressed the other foot to the tree that was covered in white chakra. He began to run up the tree and as he shook the thought of Akatori off his mind the foot covered in white chakra had black chakra too like the other one. He then jumped over to the branch and grabbed the toad, landing smoothly back on the ground, putting the toad with it's brothers.- "Purple too..." -he once again called out to Ban as he sealed the container and began to walk during where he thought Ban was, where he last heard the water splash under the boys feet and if he was still in the water he would go towards those water splash sounds.-
Kare: - He took a mental note of the toads Fumetsu had captured and listened to what he had to say in regards to partnering up. As Fumetsu rejected shaking his hand and instead slapped it off to the side, he was caught a bit off guard, but he knew that Fumetsu's reaction was to be expected. After he activated the explosive tag, he ran into the smoke and noticed that Fumetsu had run off in another direction, possibly to flank any of the toads heading in that direction. As Ban ran through the trees, tailing a couple of toads, he came to another pond that was much larger in size compared to the previous one. - "This doesn't seem to be natural..." - He said to himself as his eyes scanned the surrounding area and all he saw were dozens of smaller craters filling up with rain water and projectiles impaled on tree trunks and the ground. On closer inspection, Ban noted about a quarter of a dozen solid yellow toads slowly returning to the man-made pond, so he hid himself within the trees and wove the following hand seals, ram, snake, and tiger. An identical clone of himself separated from his body and formed on the tree branch he was perched on. As the clone jumped down and ran around the tree line to come around behind the yellow toads to scare them towards where Ban was, Ban could hear Fumetsu shouting out the color of the toads he had caught and would make a mental note of it. - 'So the yellow and brown toads are the remaining two.' - . As the toads rushed through the pond, a few of them dove under, causing some brown toads to leap out of the pond. One of the yellow toads kept hopping over to Ban alongside two brown toads that shot out of the pond. With ease, Ban swooped down with an open jar in his hand and caught the yellow toad while it was jumping in the air, but the brown toads managed to just make it through. He quickly sealed the jar and wove the hand seal rat and possessed one of the brown toads with his shadow. - "Sorry, little guy." - He wandered over to the brown toad and packed it up. Just as he finished up arranging the toads in his bag, Fumetsu would come walking out of the trees. - "I've got the last two... We should head back to the merchant and turn this in." - Ban rose to his feet while placing his backpack on and began to head back to the village to meet up with the merchant and hand over the toads alongside Fumetsu. -
Guest_pxJeffTheKilleRxq: -He glanced at Ban after he spotted him. He listened to the other's suggestion and nodded silently before beginning to walk back towards the merchant, this time slowly even if he didn't like Ban's presence... well he didn't like anyone's presence really but... for Ban... it was slightly obvious... from earlier. He continued to walk and as they were halfway there he parted his lips... beginning to speak in a cold tone.- "Nara Ban... I'm warning you... remember that the moment you get in my way I won't hesitate to kill you... I would do it right here right now but It's not worth the trouble... so... if you lose in the exams against me... pray to whatever god that a higher up steps in... as for me losing?... well... then so be it... I do not care if I die or not..." -He walked ahead silently and soon got to the merchant giving him the toads he asked. The merchant was happy to look in the container and find four toads, all different colors. After he checked Ban's catches he would happily thank them both and hand both of them a coin pouch, each containing four thousand value in ryo. The man was originally going to give them only two thousand, he said but since the other gave him the double he normally asked for, he returned the favor. Fumetsu gave the man a nod before walking away, soon doing the Tiger hand seal to vanish out of everyone's sight and to get back to the comfort that the rooftops offered him. He decided to casually make his way back home afterwards and take his mind off Ban.-
Kare: - The two of them walked along the path to the village in silence, until Fumetsu decided to share his thoughts about the Chunin Exams. Ban didn't turn to face him, but listened to him closely and took note of his cold and harsh tone. - "I'm aware that our lives are on the line during the exams and honestly... I'm afr—" - Ban stopped himself before revealing too much of his inner thoughts. Without any close friends or friends at all, Ban was having trouble emptying out his thoughts and emotions. Everything was just building up within him and sooner or later it's all going to come bursting out. Fumetsu would pick up speed and walk ahead of Ban, but the two eventually reached the merchant at the same time. - Ban: "Here you go." Merchant: "Thank you so much, I'll make sure to let your them know of your work at the office." - Ban gave him a faint smile and took his reward shortly after Fumetsu, who had vanished from the scene at this point. He wandered off from the merchant's cart and lost himself within his own thoughts. -
== Results ==
Ban and Fumetsu partner up to gather all the toads on a local merchant's list and share their two cents with one another. With Fumetsu still holding his grudge after this first encounter with Ban, it seems that smoothing things out as Ban had intended, to some degree, was going to be harder than he originally anticipated.