[log] Unlikely Heroes (...?) [Aki, Kureno, Jimaiya]
[ooc: Sorry for not posting this earlier! Set some odd hours before the asplosions at the gala.]
The biggest downside to being the world's most brilliant and super-awesome intelligence agent, Jimaiya figured, was that nine times out of ten you got bad news rather than good. Like how how this region had recently become ruled by the mafia, that nation just promoted several chuunin by ignoring the treaty laws, such-and-such a lord was secretly funding a rouge project, so-and-so an Akatsuki was planning on crashing the Daimyo's gala and killing a few people... Where was the news about Sound Country building an organization to save lost kittens when you needed it?
But seriously, the Akatsuki wreaking havoc. That was one that could not be ignored right now, especially considering the large group of unsuspecting people there right now and their very vulnerable country's leader. Well, granted, with as many ninja there as there was, Tsurude included, and all of the Twelve, the Daimyo was currently more protected than he'd ever been in his life. There was a priority on getting such information to Tsurude however and hopefully before all hell broke loose. Konoha was already on the way, Jimaiya figured she'd pick up some ANBU as she headed over.
However, the first people she came across were not ANBU. In fact, she thought perhaps these two might even be better...
-----
Aki was panting a bit. Not that he minded - nor did he mind the somewhat sweatladen bangs that persisted in getting into his eyes. It was a fairly warm day and he'd been doing a lot of moving around.
When Kureno had found him and suggested a sparring match, Aki had jumped at the chance to be free of the charge Ibiki had left him. Entertaining a sick person really wasn't easy, especially when that sick person was a certain cranky Godaime. Not that Aki blamed him but sheesh, the guy could lighten up a little. He was probably holding that whole brothel incident against Aki still, even though it had been an accident. Hmph.
And hey! It'd been good to spar with Kureno again, even though Aki had to move fast and think faster to avoid the genjutsu Kureno had thrown at him. It wasn't that unusual - Aki did like to tease the other nin that he used illusions way too much, neglecting of course to mention that it gave Aki good practice in avoiding it. And unlike his spars with Ibiki, this one was promising not to send Aki home all purple and blue. That woman had the devil's arm or something, Aki was sure.
A mischievious grin spread across Aki's tanned face, dark eyes glinting as he tensed his leg muscles. Just a few moments, and he'd spring from his leafy hiding place to tackle Kureno to the ground. That was always fun.
There was a rustle of branches, a whip of Aki's trenchcoat and a probably ill-advised battle cry, as the purple haired shinobi hurtled himself at his best friend.
It had been a long time since Kureno had actually sparred with someone. His team was no longer really available to him, Kakami had been either unwell or unavailable for the training they'd been doing (although after his sentencing Kureno wasn't sure if he was technically allowed to help her anymore), and nothing he taught Sachiko required this kind of physical activity. He'd kept up with his training and exercises for sure but it had definitely lacked a certain...heart to it. Being pushed around and confronted by someone really helped break him out of the rut. Although right now he'd just lost sight of his target, and it was rather difficult to cast an effective genjutsu on someone you couldn't locate.
That problem, however, was easily solved when Aki came roaring out of the brush behind him. Literally.
Pivoting low, Kureno was in mid-thought about whether he should grapple or dodge when a foreign presence suddenly leaped in and joined the middle of the fray. ...Also quite literally.
"Wha--"
A cloud of smoke exploded between he and Aki, bringing their spar to an immediate halt. As it dispersed, the third party became clearly recognizable. Despite that, they introduce themselves anyway.
"BEHOLD, THE GREAT JIMAIYA RETURNS~!!" The toad sage realized there wasn't really time for a lot of theater dramatics and so limited them to just the intro. Hands going to her hips, she looked at her two new victims helping hands. "Congratulations boys, you're going to have the honor of being my escorts~!"
Aki fell to the ground rather heavily, landing in a heap of leaves, twigs, coat and purple hair. He was on his feet in less than a second though, his grin somehow miraculously wider than it had been.
"Hey, Jimaiya-sama!" he exclaimed happily and waved enthusiastically at her - never mind the leaf that was dangling in his tangled bangs. It'd been a while since he'd seen the older woman and Aki had always considered her great fun. Seriously, who else could drink as much as he could and still manage to remain steady enough to pull off bad-ass pranks? Jimaiya, that's who. Because she was pure awesome. And fun to flirt with.
"Where are we escorting you too?" he asked quickly. Hopefully it was to the nearest bar. Aki was ready for a drink or ten.
"To the gala." Surprisingly fast, the silliness disappeared from Jimaiya's face as she got down to business. "I've gotten some intel that there's going to be an uninvited guest or two crashing the party. Akatsuki."
It was a good thing she'd gotten serious, or Kureno may have doubted her otherwise. Of course, once she mentioned the Akatsuki, perhaps he wouldn't have taken the chance either way. But the Akatsuki at the gala? Was it because too many of their country's leaders were gathered in one spot, making a for an easy coup d'etat? Or were they maybe upset that one of their own had been killed and were out for revenge or to make an example of any one who opposed them? In which case...
'Asuka.' And he had two students there, and other friends who wouldn't be about to step back and let such a criminal do as they pleased. Someone could get hurt. Badly.
"Why are they going to the gala?" he asked.
Jimaiya looked at him, briefly wondering how honest she should be since Kureno had already proven once before that even he could get emotionally carried away. ...But since there was no prior engagement for him to break this time, she couldn't see how it would hurt. A little motivation could carry a long way after all. "It seems Sasoriza's former companion isn't too pleased with letting her killer off the hook." She moved on quickly after seeing the twitch in his face. "Any way, as of right now our mission is to get there as fast as possible and warn Tsurude and the others. I'm taking you two along to help in case we run into any of the trouble before we get there."
"Wait, wait!" Aki waved his hands a little at Jimaiya, as if he could make her slow down. "Tsurude-sama ain't there! He got sick. I've been on babysitting duty ever since they all left."
This was bad. Akatsuki crashing in was always bad. Aki knew how much damage one of them had caused the ANBU's unprepared headquarters - what would the full group manage? And it wasn't like there were only high level ninja in attendance. There were civilians and chuunin.
And kids.
"We can send Tsurude a message and get going," he suggested, seriously. Ibiki hopefully would understand the abandonment of Tsurude-sama seeing as this was a much bigger threat. Shizuya would manage without him.
"Ehh!?!"
"He's right," Kureno confirmed before Aki mentioned the message. "Ibiki's gone in his place as the person in charge."
Jimaiya crossed her arms to think for a minute. Tsurude was sick? ........how ironic. Figures that with all the news she did get from around the nation, of course she wouldn't hear about the Hokage catching a cold. So the one person Jimaiya had been counting on to confidently handle this situation should it get there before she did wasn't going to be there at all. Wonderful.
"Alright. I want the two of you running ahead while I make sure Tsurude gets the message. I'll be just a few minutes behind you. If you do engage, stall and wait for me, don't go for the kill. If they reach the gala, keep the Daimyo and guests safe and the enemy at bay. Got it?"
"Jimaiya-sama," Kureno said. "Is there anything you can tell us about who the Akatsuki we might run into are?" Preparation was vital in regards to this group. His last two run-ins didn't have anything he'd like to repeat.
"One is named Deidara, but I don't know any of her specialties. I'm afraid I don't even have a name for the other one."
Deidara? Kureno hadn't heard of that one yet. Yet another encounter that was sure to be full of surprise. Nodding to Jimaiya, he turned to Aki. "Let's go then."
"Right." Aki gave a short, sharp nod of the head to Kureno and then glanced at Jimaiya. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't stop a slight grin from twisting his lips. "Just might want to shout the news at him from outside, Jimaiya-sama." he said mock seriously. "Tsurude-sama is hella cranky when he's stuffed up."
And with that, Aki was vaulting through the tree tops, Kureno nearby. The faster they went, the more his adrenaline spiked and although Aki knew he needed to be worried about how to work the finer logistics of getting the non-fighters to safety or how to stall an Akatsuki (or two or three) without dying, he was just looking forward to a good fight. Kureno usually worried about those fine details anyway.
After all, it'd been a long time since he'd had a really big challenge.
The biggest downside to being the world's most brilliant and super-awesome intelligence agent, Jimaiya figured, was that nine times out of ten you got bad news rather than good. Like how how this region had recently become ruled by the mafia, that nation just promoted several chuunin by ignoring the treaty laws, such-and-such a lord was secretly funding a rouge project, so-and-so an Akatsuki was planning on crashing the Daimyo's gala and killing a few people... Where was the news about Sound Country building an organization to save lost kittens when you needed it?
But seriously, the Akatsuki wreaking havoc. That was one that could not be ignored right now, especially considering the large group of unsuspecting people there right now and their very vulnerable country's leader. Well, granted, with as many ninja there as there was, Tsurude included, and all of the Twelve, the Daimyo was currently more protected than he'd ever been in his life. There was a priority on getting such information to Tsurude however and hopefully before all hell broke loose. Konoha was already on the way, Jimaiya figured she'd pick up some ANBU as she headed over.
However, the first people she came across were not ANBU. In fact, she thought perhaps these two might even be better...
-----
Aki was panting a bit. Not that he minded - nor did he mind the somewhat sweatladen bangs that persisted in getting into his eyes. It was a fairly warm day and he'd been doing a lot of moving around.
When Kureno had found him and suggested a sparring match, Aki had jumped at the chance to be free of the charge Ibiki had left him. Entertaining a sick person really wasn't easy, especially when that sick person was a certain cranky Godaime. Not that Aki blamed him but sheesh, the guy could lighten up a little. He was probably holding that whole brothel incident against Aki still, even though it had been an accident. Hmph.
And hey! It'd been good to spar with Kureno again, even though Aki had to move fast and think faster to avoid the genjutsu Kureno had thrown at him. It wasn't that unusual - Aki did like to tease the other nin that he used illusions way too much, neglecting of course to mention that it gave Aki good practice in avoiding it. And unlike his spars with Ibiki, this one was promising not to send Aki home all purple and blue. That woman had the devil's arm or something, Aki was sure.
A mischievious grin spread across Aki's tanned face, dark eyes glinting as he tensed his leg muscles. Just a few moments, and he'd spring from his leafy hiding place to tackle Kureno to the ground. That was always fun.
There was a rustle of branches, a whip of Aki's trenchcoat and a probably ill-advised battle cry, as the purple haired shinobi hurtled himself at his best friend.
It had been a long time since Kureno had actually sparred with someone. His team was no longer really available to him, Kakami had been either unwell or unavailable for the training they'd been doing (although after his sentencing Kureno wasn't sure if he was technically allowed to help her anymore), and nothing he taught Sachiko required this kind of physical activity. He'd kept up with his training and exercises for sure but it had definitely lacked a certain...heart to it. Being pushed around and confronted by someone really helped break him out of the rut. Although right now he'd just lost sight of his target, and it was rather difficult to cast an effective genjutsu on someone you couldn't locate.
That problem, however, was easily solved when Aki came roaring out of the brush behind him. Literally.
Pivoting low, Kureno was in mid-thought about whether he should grapple or dodge when a foreign presence suddenly leaped in and joined the middle of the fray. ...Also quite literally.
"Wha--"
A cloud of smoke exploded between he and Aki, bringing their spar to an immediate halt. As it dispersed, the third party became clearly recognizable. Despite that, they introduce themselves anyway.
"BEHOLD, THE GREAT JIMAIYA RETURNS~!!" The toad sage realized there wasn't really time for a lot of theater dramatics and so limited them to just the intro. Hands going to her hips, she looked at her two new victims helping hands. "Congratulations boys, you're going to have the honor of being my escorts~!"
Aki fell to the ground rather heavily, landing in a heap of leaves, twigs, coat and purple hair. He was on his feet in less than a second though, his grin somehow miraculously wider than it had been.
"Hey, Jimaiya-sama!" he exclaimed happily and waved enthusiastically at her - never mind the leaf that was dangling in his tangled bangs. It'd been a while since he'd seen the older woman and Aki had always considered her great fun. Seriously, who else could drink as much as he could and still manage to remain steady enough to pull off bad-ass pranks? Jimaiya, that's who. Because she was pure awesome. And fun to flirt with.
"Where are we escorting you too?" he asked quickly. Hopefully it was to the nearest bar. Aki was ready for a drink or ten.
"To the gala." Surprisingly fast, the silliness disappeared from Jimaiya's face as she got down to business. "I've gotten some intel that there's going to be an uninvited guest or two crashing the party. Akatsuki."
It was a good thing she'd gotten serious, or Kureno may have doubted her otherwise. Of course, once she mentioned the Akatsuki, perhaps he wouldn't have taken the chance either way. But the Akatsuki at the gala? Was it because too many of their country's leaders were gathered in one spot, making a for an easy coup d'etat? Or were they maybe upset that one of their own had been killed and were out for revenge or to make an example of any one who opposed them? In which case...
'Asuka.' And he had two students there, and other friends who wouldn't be about to step back and let such a criminal do as they pleased. Someone could get hurt. Badly.
"Why are they going to the gala?" he asked.
Jimaiya looked at him, briefly wondering how honest she should be since Kureno had already proven once before that even he could get emotionally carried away. ...But since there was no prior engagement for him to break this time, she couldn't see how it would hurt. A little motivation could carry a long way after all. "It seems Sasoriza's former companion isn't too pleased with letting her killer off the hook." She moved on quickly after seeing the twitch in his face. "Any way, as of right now our mission is to get there as fast as possible and warn Tsurude and the others. I'm taking you two along to help in case we run into any of the trouble before we get there."
"Wait, wait!" Aki waved his hands a little at Jimaiya, as if he could make her slow down. "Tsurude-sama ain't there! He got sick. I've been on babysitting duty ever since they all left."
This was bad. Akatsuki crashing in was always bad. Aki knew how much damage one of them had caused the ANBU's unprepared headquarters - what would the full group manage? And it wasn't like there were only high level ninja in attendance. There were civilians and chuunin.
And kids.
"We can send Tsurude a message and get going," he suggested, seriously. Ibiki hopefully would understand the abandonment of Tsurude-sama seeing as this was a much bigger threat. Shizuya would manage without him.
"Ehh!?!"
"He's right," Kureno confirmed before Aki mentioned the message. "Ibiki's gone in his place as the person in charge."
Jimaiya crossed her arms to think for a minute. Tsurude was sick? ........how ironic. Figures that with all the news she did get from around the nation, of course she wouldn't hear about the Hokage catching a cold. So the one person Jimaiya had been counting on to confidently handle this situation should it get there before she did wasn't going to be there at all. Wonderful.
"Alright. I want the two of you running ahead while I make sure Tsurude gets the message. I'll be just a few minutes behind you. If you do engage, stall and wait for me, don't go for the kill. If they reach the gala, keep the Daimyo and guests safe and the enemy at bay. Got it?"
"Jimaiya-sama," Kureno said. "Is there anything you can tell us about who the Akatsuki we might run into are?" Preparation was vital in regards to this group. His last two run-ins didn't have anything he'd like to repeat.
"One is named Deidara, but I don't know any of her specialties. I'm afraid I don't even have a name for the other one."
Deidara? Kureno hadn't heard of that one yet. Yet another encounter that was sure to be full of surprise. Nodding to Jimaiya, he turned to Aki. "Let's go then."
"Right." Aki gave a short, sharp nod of the head to Kureno and then glanced at Jimaiya. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't stop a slight grin from twisting his lips. "Just might want to shout the news at him from outside, Jimaiya-sama." he said mock seriously. "Tsurude-sama is hella cranky when he's stuffed up."
And with that, Aki was vaulting through the tree tops, Kureno nearby. The faster they went, the more his adrenaline spiked and although Aki knew he needed to be worried about how to work the finer logistics of getting the non-fighters to safety or how to stall an Akatsuki (or two or three) without dying, he was just looking forward to a good fight. Kureno usually worried about those fine details anyway.
After all, it'd been a long time since he'd had a really big challenge.