Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[Princess Tracy]

At Jun's confusion, Amon gets to work explaining the inconsistency. "No, my dear," she says with a shake of the head, still looking a little dazed. "He was not in our direct captivity at that moment. While travelling, we were attacked by the Garou, and in the confusion, Uchiha let himself be captured by them instead, they knowing less of his powers than we. Clearly he intended to do away with the Garou and slip away, but after healin Yousuke as best I could, I decided to tail them all and wait for an opportunity to strike. After all, Uchiha Kaede is too valuable to leave unwatched and in the hands of some nomad bloodline-thieves. He must have spotted me during all this, and in the confusion of an attack, knocked me out with his genjutsu to slip away under our noses."

---

Houshi... I take back everything nice I ever said about you, is her only thought as Houshi drops the pretense entirely. When the other group starts reaching to do them damage, Amon dumps her bag, pointing to her headband, her arms held up in a sign of peace. "Wait," she beseeches, more expectantly than desperately, as if not fighting them was the most casual thing in the world.

"We don't wish to fight allies over a misunderstanding - especially with Yousuke in such a state, I wouldn't be a responsible medic if I allowed this pointless scrap. Houshi's sense of tact could be compared to a doornail, though perhaps you will trust us more if we lay our cards on the table." Especially since he had to go and force us to do that anyway just now - that or fight. Amon keeps a pleasant smile and even tone of voice the whole way through, as if not being threatened. "You have nothing to charge us with and no reason to bring us in, for we have done nothing wrong. Uchiha is an available, powerful ninja of Soragakure, and we a genin team whose normal jounin is indisposed, so he was assigned to accompany us this mission in her stead. We met him all of a week ago through a mutual acquintance, and our relationship and accessory extend little beyond knowing of his existence within our borders; it is not our place to police the doings of our superiors, only ourselves, and we ourselves have no association to Kaede Uchiha beyond that which I have laid out. Yousuke and Houshi may yearn to see if he is okay out of some misguided loyalty - some sense of kinship with their fellow shinobi beyond their immediate mission, but I for one have bigger concerns - did you see the miles of dead bodies, woman and children leading into this forest? If you won't help us complete our mission and our personal prerogative, to save them, at least don't keep us here."

"I am quite annoyed that by taking Uchiha away this way, we've lost the option to use him as bait for the Garou, so help us track them back to their base if you know how - as none of us do - and we'll call it even and let our villages work out what is to be done with this valuable criminal, or let us walk out of here and brute force our way there like blind monkeys." She makes it a point to cross her arms, looking cross, at all 5 other ninja, but takes no other aggressive action and seems to expect the same of Houshi and Yousuke. "Perhaps you could place us under parole if it would help you sleep better?" she suggests, half-jokingly. Even looking cross though, she still has a bit of a smirk, as if merely annoyed at a good friend's shenanigans - a sign she was willing to think of their threats as such if they let her.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Jun looks on with pure amazement on her face as Amon talks. "Do you think I'm stupid? Your entire group has repeatedly lied to us. You've finally openly admitted to having an S-Rank criminal on your team. And now, after lying to me yet again, you're turning around and using the same breath to try and convince me you aren't lying."

Jun goes on. "Why should I believe you now? Because you told me you're not lying? No, that'd be foolish. Surrender peacefully, or we will use force to bring you to heel. We'll deal with the Garou after you've been restrained."

[Bad Situation]

"As fellow shinobi you all should understand the importance of obscuring information from other villages, allies or no. I did not mean for Yamana-san to lie to you boldfacedly but she is sometimes overzealous in her attempts to protect us," at this he shoots a glare at the Amon, "even if her protection is wholly unnecessary." Whether they won or lost the ensuing fight would make little difference, he knew. If they won they would surely draw the ire of Sanagi and he shared none of Amon's baseless confidence regarding their abilities. The Thunder God would destroy them with little more than a flick of her sword and their lives would surely be forfeit. Losing, of course, had similar consequences which meant that fighting was out of the question. There would be no 'winning' in the long run which meant his priority was to keep the team safe and most importantly, alive. Biting down on his pride, Yousuke lets his sword fall from his waist to clatter uselessly against the ground and sinks down to his knees to beg. "I apologize for speaking out of turn but please humor this humble swordsman and hear my apology."

"You have no reason to trust me, not after this debacle, but I promise you with my pride as a swordsman on the line, that I harbor no ill intentions in relation to your team. I do not wish to fight those who I still regard as my allies, in spite of these trying circumstances." As much as he wanted to prove his innocence to the leaf team the lives of his teammates took precedence over his petty concerns. "I am deeply shamed by the actions my team has taken against yours. I cannot ask for you to trust me but please allow me the opportunity to redeem myself in your eyes." Looking directly into Jun's eyes and then Mako's he continues, "I would not have survived today were it not for the kindness you so graciously bestowed upon me, Jun-san. And I do respect your skills, Mako-san. That was nothing but the truth, I promise."

"I do not expect you to change your opinion of me after what has occurred but I felt that I should relieve my guilty conscience before I submit myself before you."

With a strained voice he adds, "I would have liked to complete the mission as it was assigned to my team but for the sake of my comrades I will restrain myself if it will keep them safe from your hand.

[zeone3000]

Houshi just face palmed at Amon's forked tongued facade, "You just don't know when to quit. You don't lie to the people who save your friend's life." He shakes his head, sighing deeply, "You can trust me when I say, she doesn't speak for all of us and that this guy..." He thumbs over to Yosuke, "If you know he's a Konpaku and he's staking his swordsman's pride on it, you should know that he isn't lying. As for me, I forgot to my mention that Kaede was the team mate, I didn't think it was important because I didn't know he was a criminal. Did any of you know that?" He turns to his team with a puzzled look.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Jun frowns at Yousuke and Houshi. She clearly didn't like the situation. Mako remains focused on the entire sky-nin team, but she still speaks her mind. "Jun. He's not lying about not wanting to fight." She hides her emotions behind the mask of a ninja as she maintains her fighting stance. Jun nods, then looks toward Amon and Houshi.

"You too. Weapons on the ground." Regardless of whether the sky-nin comply or not Koji speaks his mind.

"We can't take them with us, but we can't leave them here either. We'll have to withdraw." Mako suggests their next course of action.

"We can withdraw to Sonada and wait for Bea-sama to return." Jun looks toward her.

"What about those people?" Koji shakes his head.

"The Garou don't take prisoners without bloodlines. They're dead, or soon to be."

[Princess Tracy]

I can't decide whether Houshi is too stupid to lie or too smart to think lying is a good idea. Amon actually has to search herself for any weapons to discard when ordered to - she talks more of her inane prattle as she finally finds a bag full of shuriken at her hips to drop. "In my defence, I'm not very strong and yet seem to be constantly confronted by strong people - deception is a useful tool for someone in that position. I've gotten to the point where IU don't trust my own village's ninja except these two - I don't imagine you would react favourably if my team found one of you unconscious and woke you up with the news that we had abducted your jounin of the day and that mere association is apparently illegal." If nothing else, she hoped the dojutsu users couldn't see through wood, otherwise they would see the small arsenal of weapons for her puppet, along with Shanghai herself, in her case, nestled in her bag. She keeps the bag clutched against herself as they discuss their plans unless told to do otherwise.

As they discuss their plans for her group, Amon turns her bag towards them as a sign of good faith as she rifles through for something. She pauses for a second as she thinks of something; as she pushes her wild card to the bottom of the bag, she feels for it and sure enough Cybele's crystal isn't there. Which means... surrendering was the right course of action anyway. "Ladies and gentlemen, I must object. We made a promise to the villagers of the last town that we'd do what we could to save their wives and children - there's been too much innocent blood in our last few missions for me to go back on that when there's a nonzero chance that some of them still live. After all, they are trying to lure a specific bloodline user in the area to them, as our interrogation of one of their members that we battled en route revealed; they've used the villagers as bait, leaving a trail of bodies so even the most inept tracker would follow them - at least up until the ambush we staggered into that left Yousuke in the state you found him in. They're using them as bait, which means if they're exploiting someone with a sense of honour they may have left a few of them alive to better lure him out. Which reminded me, I was meaning to ask - you've been to Sonada already, right? Did you happen to hear any rumours of a 'Red Eyes' user?"

At last, Amon produces a set of paperwork, bundling up a series of scrolls in her arms, particularly her mission scroll. She thrusts the scroll out to the leaf-nin. "There. I get why you don't trust me, fine, but that's our mission scroll - if not my mouth, trust the writing. Cybele-sensei is indisposed tending to her sister, so Kaede was assigned to our mission, beyond that, it's as it is written. I am Amon, this is Houshi and Konpaku or Team 5 of Soragakure, Genin-ranked all. Not the lapdogs of a missing nin or an external schemer, merely business associates. I have my passport, my cerrtificates of achievement in certain disciplines of ninjutsu including my diploma from the Academy, my - now voided due to injuries - drivers licence, my birth certificate, my record or performance in my last dozen missions including my previous team, my medical bills, and, for some reason, a picture of a far younger me posing goofily with who I think is Kai. Maybe she was on the campaign trail or something... Anyway, point is we are who we claim we are. Also I really need to clear some of this crap out of my bag - I don't even remember leaving a photo in much less half this paperwork, but I guess it is all still in the one ringbinder for the most part." Sure enough, she provides such evidence if asked for it. "So who are you people anyway?" She's acting much more genuinely friendly now taht she senses teh don't intend to beat her up and drag her back to Konoha. Granted, they could only keep them at Konoha for so long in any case - surely there's some sort of justice system there, though getting interrogated painfully and under genjutsu for Kaede's secrets - until her parents caught wind of her injust imprisonment and used some series of political and economic pressure to bust her out like a harshly grounded child - was not her idea of a good time

[zeone3000]

Houshi doesn't drop his weapon but doesn't draw it either, raising his hands, "Or, and this is just a suggestion, you can come with u, save the innocent from a terrible fate, possible find that other guy you're looking for all while keeping an eye on us." He shrugs, giving them a look like it was a decent idea or at the very least, an idea, "Either way, as I said last time something like this happened, time and essence don't mix."

[Princess Tracy]

"Houshi just drop your sword, sweetie. Even if we fought, I would forbid you from using your blade anyway, since anything lower ranked than a jounin will die outright from that hit of yours, and it's making the leaf-nin uncomfortable - and rightly so, you're otherwise the only person here they seem to trust," Amon advises. "And did you really not piece together SOMEONE would be out for Uchiha? I guess no one told you, but he's hopped from village to village at least twice to my knowledge and seems to be some sort of spying specialist - if nothing else, that makes for an abundance of people looking to silence you. It really pays to stay informed." Amon dons her headband as she speaks, pulling the hair away from her eyes. "And if they don't trust us, they certainly won't want to fight alongside us - if they think we'l turn on them at any moment, they'll be too frightened to actually fight, for to turn their back to us to fight the obvious enemies would just give us a chance to flank them, or exploit the confusion of battle. 'Nakama' (ally) is a more valuable title than you realise Houshi. One cannot engage in battle with anything less than nakama; for to do otherwise is an unnecessary complication of trust or rather the lack thereof, it's quite distracting."

Amon does seem confounded at teh comment of who they're looking for though. "Ah, so you didn't come out here specifically for Uchiha then? Not that it's any of my business, it's just taht the sight of Konoha-nin all the way out here on the one day we were assigned a konoha-deserter seemed like a bit of a setup, as if some invisible hand was stirring us to a more 'interesting' turn of events for their own amusement."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Jun shakes her head at Houshi's suggestion. "No. Koji's right. The Garou would have killed them as soon as their usefulness ended. More over, I simply don't trust you enough to allow you a weapon. Drop your sword." None of the leaf genin have dropped out of a fighting stance, and neither doujutsu has stopped. If Houshi didn't release his weapon, then the leaf-nin look ready to force him to do so. Jun either ignores or doesn't acknowledge Amon's questions, as the situation with Houshi is much more pressing.

[Princess Tracy]

"I could disarm him if you want?" Amon suggests helpfully, preparing to take a step towards Houshi and swipe off the belt that was holding his sword in place. "And I still insist on the nonzero chance of there being survivors - live bait must have some merit for the Garou, and they seem to have their eyes on the prize with the dojutsu user they're after."

Spoiler

Show

Stupid zeone. Now they won't respond to any of the stuff I said because you had to be pointlessly stubborn - I'm not gonna repeat all of that again, and even if I did, the reaction wouldn't be as fresh as I needed it to be. I'm totally using Sleep Technique on you if I'm given the excuse

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Koji shakes his head at Amon's statement. "Think what you want, but you'd be wrong. The Garou do not take prisoners that aren't part of a bloodline."

[Princess Tracy]

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about the Garou to be insisting that so thoroughly and repeatedly. Did your homework?" Such a thorough assertion requires personal experience. She kicks Houshi in the shin. "Yo, Hosh, drop it or I'll drop you."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke breathes out a sigh of relief and bows his head in appreciation. Conflict was averted, at least for now. "Mako-san, I would be honored if you would carry my sword while we are in Sonada. I am, once again, at the mercy of your kindness." It seemed only fitting that the one to talk her teammates down from a fullscale battle should carry his sword, at least for now.

[zeone3000]

"No, I don't care about a person's past. If I did, I wouldn't the girl who is missing body parts because of a mistake she made to be on my team so she can do it again!" He looks down at Amon,"You can try and if you ever kick me or try and tell me what to do again, I'm kicking you." He drops his blade but he's obviously not happy about it, "I don't want to hear anything from you from the rest of the trip."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's good mood doesn't last, for Houshi's words instantly awaken a look of shock and horror from Amon, as she has an expression that suggests she just walked in on him dancing covered in her family's entrails. From the rapid twitching of her eyes one could be forgiven for thinking she was about to tear up - in fact if not for their company she might have - before she pulls her expression into one of pure hate and violence. Of course, she wasn't going to actually start something with the giant, but her remaining fist clenched like there was nothing she wanted more than to beat him down somehow - if she couldn't afford to be absorbed in self-pity, she at least wanted to get angry. Finally, she turns away to better keep her temper. A thousand comebacks come to mind - you don't know anything, you ****ing idiot being prime among them - but she resolves instead on the basis of 'if he wants my silence, he'll get it'. She tries to calm down if only to complete her mission, she tells herelf 'he may not look it, but he's just a boy, a stupid boy with no depth or experience yet - what more did you expect of him but fairweather friendship' but it does nothing to make her feel less righteously wrathful.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

When Houshi drops his sword all three leaf-nin relax. The leaf-nin break off to watch over each of the sky-nin individually.

Jun moves over to carry Houshi's blade. "What do they teach ninja in Soragakure?" Jun looks a bit surprised at the giant sword, but carries it all the same. She lifts the massive blade with ease, and that brings into question exactly how Konoha trains their medic-nin. She doesn't have a sling like Houshi to carry it--and couldn't make one to fit her even if she wanted to--so Jun just drags the sword along the ground. She's certain to drag it with the edge facing the sky, because she doesn't want to dull the blade. She stays close-ish to Houshi. Not close enough to let him grab the sword away, but still close enough that she can keep an eye on him.

Mako takes all three of Yousuke's swords. She takes out a small scroll, draws three quick symbols on it, then performs a technique. The swords explode into smoke, and the symbols on her scroll glow brightly for just a second before growing dim. She tucks the scroll away into the folds of her baggy jacket, then gives Yousuke a somber look. "I do not know what Sanagi-sensei will do to your friend, but I am certain he will live. Sanagi-sensei always taught us that true skill lies in capturing an enemy rather than killing him."

Koji takes Amon's weaponry, but otherwise does not say anything. If Amon's content to sit and stew in silence, then Koji was content to let her. Koji watches Amon for any sign of dangerous activity.

---

The six genin arrive at the outskirts of Sonada within the hour. The village is small, and built around a series of rice patties. A large two-story traditional style home rests in the center of the village, and six smaller wooden homes are clustered around it. The whole mass sits off to the side of a series of very large rice patties built in a steppe-style. Several farmers are busying themselves in the fields when the group arrives. One of them runs toward the large central home, while another approachs the group slowly. He introduces himself as Shige Seiryo, and questions the group's presence in the village. Jun explains that they're looking for a place to stay for awhile, and Seiryo points toward the large central home.

When the group gets closer to the home in question a trio of people--two men and a woman--step out of the home. One of the men looks just like the farmer who ran inside earlier, but the other is a hunched over older gentleman. Beside him stands a much younger woman who couldn't possibly be over twenty-five. The older man beckons the group forward, then introduces them both. "Greetings. My name is Sonada Nakazo. This is my daughter, Ueki Yu."

Mako steps forward and bows to the older couple. "Hello again, Sonada-sama."

"Oh? Have we met... Hm... Ah, I remember you young lady. You've grown lovelier since I've seen you last." The old man gaffs loudly, and Mako simply smiles before continuing.

"Sonada-sama, we need a place to stay for the evening. Would you be so kind as to lodge us for the evening?" The Hyuuga girl bows her head as she asks, and the old man just laughs.

"Of course, of course. Please, come in. Bring your new friends too. My home is your home young lady. Though... I'm afraid that will have to stay outside." The old man points at the giant sword Jun's dragging around, and the medic-nin casually props it up against the side of his house. She retrieves an all-weather cloak from one of her hip pouches, and covers the sword up.

Jun leads the way into the Sonada household, and takes up residence in the house's living room. It seems one of the farmers got sick, and she's dealing with his sickness. The Hyuuga girl remains behind to speak to Sonada, and informs the older gentleman of their separation from Sanagi Bea. He agrees to send them any information he gets concerning the jounin. When asked about the sky-nin Mako covers for them by simply saying that they're fellow ninja on their own mission. Koji remains outside, and watches both the weather and the farmers doing their job.

[zeone3000]

Houshi nearly screams as she brags his sword, "Couldn't you at least shoulder it? I mean I know its big but it was a gift and..."

---

"Can I least wipe the dirt off?" Regardless of the answer, he wasn't one to stand around. He turns to the farmer, "Do you need a hand with anything? Mine are pretty big."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The farmer shakes his head. "No, but thank you. We're not quite ready to harvest, but if you've got time then you should come back when we are."

[zeone3000]

Houshi shrugs, "Even I won't know until happens, life of a ninja and all."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon breaks out of her mood as Mako speaks of capturing Kaede. "True enough," she whispers, "we never seem to take anyone alive..." She's reminded of her purpose; she looks for some way to help the entire trip, some sign of him, or some way to get away, but has none. She can't guide them, she doesn't feel like speaking to them, she can't outrun them and they have stupid broken dojutsu. She could take down the medic, but then what? Yousuke and Houshi could hold the other two as SHanghai got in position, but if they were any kind of decent fighters they might overpower the team with Yousuke and Houshi unarmed as they were. With Yousuke's wounds, could she really afford it? As she exits the forest, she makes up her mind; the chance to save anyone is long gone. They'd slip off the first chance they got and head straight for Soragakure. If we go at top speed, tracking us in a timely manner should be impossible, right? if hey couldn't save ****ing anyone and the person they were hired to retrieve was with the enemy, it was time to call it a day. She didn't even care to hear the roundabout explanation for why they were deceived and she kind of didn't want to know the villager's fate. The thought they were still alive was far worse and one she was already too strained to entertain.

As they travel, Amon can eventually not handle the sight of a need not being filled: in a quick flurry of tool use, she somehow fashions a vine into a crude belt to holster the sword, tossing it to the medical nin so she can better hold the beastly excuse for a weapon.

When they draw up to the house, Amon taps Yousuke in that curious way when she had a plan, but she could obviously not voice it yet; he was to wait until their first available opportunity to speak. Still not wanting to speak in front of Houshi, she instead catches the farmer's eye and makes a symbol with her fingers to express the use of a phone - clearly 'can I use your phone to call someone?'

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke sticks close to Mako's side, on the off chance that she relinquishes his swords, and does his best to remain silent and courteous to both the household and the Leaf team. When Amon taps him on the shoulder, Yousuke brushes it off brusquely, having had enough of whatever it was she had planned. If she wanted a fight, she could pick one herself. With that spiteful thought in mind, Yousuke approaches Mako for conversation, eager to improve Sora-Konoha relations and make Amon angry.

Pointing to the baggy clothing, he asks, "So I take it that sort of clothing is popular in Konoha." What did he know about clothing? Not much, but if a girl was wearing it, she probably knew more than him. As he offers his compliment, another one of Youki's lessons sprung to mind, "You are better served complimenting the girl, Yousuke. Not her possessions." Youki's lessons, albeit strange, had never failed him before so with that in mind he adds, "They are indeed quite eye-catching and yet I feel as though they pale in comparison to your own loveliness."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The farmer shakes his head at Houshi's statement. "One should prepare for all things. Death as well as life." With that said he shrugs when Amon bothers him. "I'm sorry young lady, but we do not have a phone out here. Even if we did, the River Country does not have phone lines in the area. Unfortunately we're just a small farming village, and access to such things for our area is simply too expensive."

Yousuke's complement meets the stone wall of Mako's poker face. She simply throws the boy a casual and non-committal smile, but speaks with a razor sharp tongue. Even as she smiles at him, she berates the young boy for his earlier actions. "I have taken your wisdom to heart, Yousuke, and will tell you this: The Leaf's fashions are not for outsiders to know. Perhaps you would be better served seeking the attentions of a farm girl than a ninja. After all, you can trust her." She levels a steely gaze and a warm smile at Yousuke at the same time. A wonderful skill for what seems to be their group's negotiator.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke smiles in turn, none too disappointed by the girl's demeanor. Complimenting people, girls no less, was much easier when the other party plainly wasn't interested. His experience with Camille taught him how dangerous it could be when somebody mistook his words for actual romantic interest. "Ah, but could a farm girl compare to one such as yourself I wonder." It irked him that she was wearing a mask to hide her reactions but in return, he would wear one of his own. "I believe my trust has been well placed, thus far. We are of course, at your mercies."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon places her hands at her hips in annoyance. She'd be outright furious if she wasn't sure there was a good chance Kaede was handling himself fine, even against Bea. Was she really stupid to engage a genjutsu master from the front, I wonder? she laughs on the inside. Next priority, getting some peace and quite to investigate the Wild Card. I hope the time to use it hasn't passed - the charge will still be there, but it may prove to be futile if the key opportunity has come and gone. She ignores Yousuke's stumbling attempts at chatting up the girl - was he just determined to chat one of his swords out of her? Maybe if he uses his raw animal magnetism, he can keep her distracted at least until I slip away... if I use my Hijutsu on the dog... Should I wait until Bea gets back? There probably won't be any outrunning her so if I'm to run I should do it now, but on the other hand it's our only lead to Kaede... I guess I'll... One step at a time, Amon.

Trying to make it look like an accident, Amon takes a step back, fumbling over a patch of earth before catching herself in just the wrong pose she knew all to well; there's a deadening crack of wood as some joint in her prosphetic leg gives way and she's left to fall to the ground, catching herself in a kneeling position as she gives a pained expression; sticking out her hand, she seems to expect someone to escort somewhere she can sit down while the other awkwardly works at fixing the leg. Really, she didn't even mean to deceive them; she just wanted to communicate getting into a more private room without talking where Houshi will hear her. Plus her experience with the leg told her she was ripe for this particular breaking down today - she went through it every few hours of walking after all; she was 10 seconds of tightening a bolt away from perfect health again and it was just an unpleasant thing that needed to be done regularly anyway. She was really falling apart, but a metal replacement seemed like it would be too heavy to walk properly with. Still though, she was already hard at work thinking of ways to get herself alone with thsi excuse of her limbs. Maybe one would pan out and she'd get to use the precious wild card,. I'll be so pissed if this was a combat technique

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke and Houshi

Mako shakes her head at Yousuke's attempt to get past her defenses. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you are best suited to the pursuit of farm-girls. Your unique ability to say exactly what you don't believe would no doubt impress them greatly." The Hyuuga girl speaks with a smile on her face and an even tone, but her words betray her feelings. "Now, if you do not mind, I have something useful to do. Good day, sir." She does not use Yousuke's name as she dismisses the swordsman. With that said, she turns to the farmer, apologizes for the inconvenience, then heads outside.

Amon

Outside Amon's fall is just met with unamused eyes from Koji. The leaf-nin just watches her act out a fake injury. He makes no overtures to help, and instead just leans against the house's outer wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His cold stare follows Amon to the ground, then follows her hands to her wooden foot. He doesn't say anything until Mako bursts out of the door. The Hyuuga girl looks toward Amon, then back to Koji. She points at Amon off-handedly. "Did something happen to her?"

Koji shrugs. "Faking it. Might be a trap." Mako levels an incredulous look at her teammate, and it's returned by Koji's blank stare. He shrugs, and Mako dashes over to Amon. The dark-haired Hyuuga kneels down beside the sky-nin, and asks her plainly.

"Are you okay? Do you need any help? I can go get Jun if you need any medical attention." She looks Amon in the eye with a legitimately worried look on her face.

[Bad Situation]

Not one to give up easily, Yousuke follows after Mako when she leaves the house, making sure to apologetically bow before the farmer before continuing out the door. When he makes it outside and sees Amon on the floor, Yousuke winces and points out the broken prosthetic. "It's her leg. The wood is too splintered for her to stand so I doubt Jun will be able to do anything about." Entering a more authoritative tone, he approaches Amon and helps hold her up while looking at Mako, "Help me carry her inside."

Even without help, Yousuke manages to get Amon inside but unless he gets help this is a decidedly slow process.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon is taken aback as one of the barbaric leaf-nin actually seems to care, looking a bit stunned for a second before releasing the pressure on her foot causes her to jump in pain as a component falls out of place. "It's fine, just some routine - ah - maintenance. I can actually feel pain through this thing, don't you know - because it runs off chakra," she says truthfully. "Can I get somewhere quiet to fix myself up? I don't have any 'traps' that would work on the timescale or being dragged into the house anyway," Amon adds jokingly (and truthfully) to Koji - another tinge of pain shutting her up before she can chuckle. When Yousuke comes out to help her, she actually smiles a little as she's heaved up. "Ah, see Yousuke, you're a pal. Why's it Houshi who's being mean this mission - did you two swap faces or something?" she kids as she slings her arm around him, hugging him a little closer than before - she was still glad to see him just breathing. "Need any pointers on dealing with exotic women?" she grunts as they stumble together. Dummy, lean a little more forward - someone give us a hand.

At the first opportunity away from Houshi's earshot, she collapses onto anything that can take her weight and starts tinkering with and repairing the joint in her leg. It was a pretty substantial crack at the ankle; only by the grace of her mechanic skills and some chakra control was she able sto stop it giving out anymore. She's have to learn from Alice how to make a new one when she gets back Amon will be back on her feet in short order and form their bides her time until she can be alone, unless Yousuke has something to add. She doesn't intend to wait until Bea returns though, not unless she can think of something better as she intends to.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Mako happily helps the two sky-nin into the building. Koji follows, but does not offer his assistance nor does he speak. Once they're inside Mako asks Sonada whether he has any free rooms, and the old man happily points the crew to a vacant room. Mako helps Yousuke bring Amon to that room, and leaves once she's certain Amon is okay. Koji on the other hand remains behind. He watches both Amon and Yousuke from just inside the doorway. The boy is leaning up against the open door to prevent it from being closed, and simply observes the two sky-nin.

[Princess Tracy]

"Ah, I'll be fine dear," Amon reassures Mako, waving her off as she finds her room.

Amon pulls out her tools from some unseen pouch in her dress and tinkers with the leg as she collapses on the sofa. "Yousuke, push that in a bit, would you... thanks either way. Hey I have an idea, maybe I should teach you how to repair these prosphetics. Granted maybe he'll be a bit more careful with his than I am with mine and not need repairs, but it couldn't help. It's like first aid training - you'll be thankful you have it." Cheerfully making conversation as she's out of Houshi's earshot, she fixes her leg up quickly; she makes sur eto channel the chakra out of the leg as well as possible to limit the pain as she tinkers iwth her own leg but can't help a grunt or two of exertion as she drives a screw into her shin. "Ah, good as new, see?" she says, admiring the ugly wood as she lets her dress fall to cover it again.

"Yousuke, we should see about commissioning another jounin before we proceed in our mission. If there is no one left to save, we might as well move at our own pace." Which is to say, 'screw this mission' we have way bigger things to worry about right now'. "If we play our cards right, maybe we can salvage this situation. Though on card analogies, perhaps we should play them close to our chest. Or something, I don't know cards - do you know how to play poker?" She descends into her goofy pally attitude after the first card reference, it seems

Spoiler

Show

Secret message - I take 10 for 12
'Get me some time alone with the wild card'

Amon acknowledges Koji in the doorway. "I don't suppose I could convince you to tag out with one of your female team mates as I get changed, could I? I've run out of tricks that are worth playing, don't worry, and 15-year old girls need privacy every now and then, prisoner or no." She smiles jokingly. She paces a little, trying out her weight on the repaired limb. "So what's your deal anyway? Lot of dojutsu users out in this wilderness all of a sudden~"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Koji shakes his head. "I'm not leaving you alone with this card, whatever it is." Amon's ability to lie is clearly inferior to his ability to detect them, and he casually deciphers the sky-nin's secret message. "And why would I tell you anything? You weren't forthcoming, so you'll get the same courtesy from me." The leaf-nin crosses his arms over his chest and just glares at the two sky-nin. He wasn't happy about the situation, but he certainly wasn't going to give them any time alone.