Keeping a low profile was a simple matter for anyone who had a basic grasp of social norms. Keep quiet, don't draw too much attention to yourself and blend into the background. Wear something ordinary and downplay your noticeable features as much as you can. Nowhere in that set of instructions did it say to sit across the table from a giant turtle, currently gripping a cup of tea between two rather large sets of claws and sipping calmly every few minutes. That, of course, was exactly what Kyo was doing at the moment. People passing by couldn't help but stare at the odd pair. Kyo, however, didn't seem to notice at all. In fact, she thought she was doing quite a good job at not standing out, since no one had yet come up to speak to her. It was probably because of the fierce looking turtle. The creature in front of her, known as Hibiki, was none the wiser either.

Since coming to Iwagakure a few months ago, this had become fairly routine. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they would go sit at the same table and drink the same kind of tea. Mostly, they spent their time in silence. Sometimes Kyo would speak and Hibiki would give his customary grunts in response. He didn't have the ability to speak, Kyo could understand the sounds he made better than she could comprehend what other people said most of the time. It made sense, though, seeing as she spent most of her time with the turtle instead of other people. It was the reason for her supposed low profile - people approaching her made her uncomfortable more often than not. And the purpose of this vacation of hers was to keep to herself as much as possible.

"You shouldn't fidget that much, you'll end up breaking the chair again," she said, taking a long sip from her own cup of tea. Her voice was dry and almost void of any emotion, only slight inflections indicating her emotions - a light admonishment. She didn't want to have to be charged for another one. They were pricier than they seemed and had a tendency to cave under the several tons of weight that was Hibiki. He merely grunted as if to say that it wasn't his fault.

"I know, but I get charged anyways," she explained. He grunted again. "No, if you turn small again, you'll just end up swimming in the cup of tea." The turtle looked a little downtrodden at that. He often made himself into a tiny little thing that traveled in Kyo's pocket. It was worth mentioning that he often got manhandled because of it.

Finishing her tea in a few more gulps, Kyo dropped the exact change on the table and got up to leave. Hibiki, of course, followed, looking sadly at the tea he had to leave behind.

[WC: 491]

The bazaar. It reminded Kashizudoto of Konoha's own marketplace, but there were some notable differences between the two centers of exchange. To start, Iwa's bazaar felt very throwback, a little rustic, while Konoha's own marketplace had a more modern atmosphere, with a metropolitan kind of hustle and bustle about it. Wooden stands erected atop plateaus of rock and many people bartering goods rather than exchanging capital for currency were two things in Iwa's bazaar that were unheard of in the more modern Konoha marketplace. That said, both seemed to be extremely successful despite their differences; after all, the economies of Konoha and Iwa were thriving right now.

On his way to purchase some fresh kyohos, Kashizudoto passed by a tea shop. He'd had enough of tea after meeting his friend Takashi, a compulsive, blind (literally and figuratively) tea addict who took tea packets wherever he went and even had a stand in Iwagakure to sell tea to passersby. The boy's tea was horrible, outrageous in fact. Yuck, yuck, yuck indeed. Hoever, out of the door of the tea shop came a woman, certainly not a blind boy. What was really striking was the accompanying turtle that followed her, which Kashizudoto gave only a cursory glance until the surprise of a frickin' giant turtle made him to a double take.

"What the- Is that... a giant turtle?" Kashizudoto inquired of the woman, who likely was the owner of this heavy beast. The woman would be greeted by the sight of a thirteen year old kid donning a Konoha forehead protector as a symbol of peace and pride. On his torso was a black swordsman's robe, a gift from Master Piandao before Kashizudoto's departure. On his left hip was attached a bamboo sheath that held a fine, onyx black blade that he crafted entirely out of a four billion year old meteor, the Tentetsutou or "the Sword of Heaven" for those who didn't know the ancient language. The katana truly was not only a beauty but also a representation of Kashizudoto's own maturation. Next to the sheath and the sword was a coil of wire holding fifty meters in total - he could use this to rappel, lengthen the range of his Dragon Fire Jutsu, or set up traps for enemies. Beneath it, on the side of his upper left leg, was a holster containing one kunai knife and three shuriken in case he needed to use some basic projectiles to get out of a sticky situation.

WC: 424

Any change of mood that Kyo had was barely noticeable in the way she acted. Only small twitches of facial muscles and slight movements of her body ever gave any indication. In this case - at the sudden exclamation from what sounded like a young boy - her step faltered for half a second. In that moment, her posture tensed and her eyes widened ever so slightly. It was a testament to how much she hated social interactions, how she had been conditioned to be skeptical of all people, despite age or appearance. However, she was back to normal before a second passed. She stopped and turned her head back to see who had pointed out her dearest friend's size.

Hibiki already had his guard up. If anything, he was incredibly overprotective of Kyo. He let out a feral growl and stared down at the boy, who - in his opinion - had an uncanny resemblance to an Uchiha. Dark hair and red eyes always spelled trouble. She initially thought the same before inspecting the boy more closely. His eyes were red, yes, but rarely were they that color without the Sharingan being activated. She relaxed somewhat, though her face was still expressionless as ever. Hibiki, however, was making a move to charge at the small boy.

The young girl sighed and lifted her hand and formed a sign. In a puff of smoke, what was once a giant and menacing turtle turned into a tiny little thing that was barely the size of the palm of her hand. She scooped up the now small creature and placed it into her pocket. It's small head peeked out. Upon close inspection, one could see a river of tears streaming out of its pinhead-sized eyes. "That's enough, Hibiki," Kyo said, to which the turtle sadly burrowed deeper into her pocket. He was being a drama queen, like always. She was about to turn on her heal and ignore the boy entirely. Kyo stopped, however, when she noticed his headband.

"Konoha?" She asked simply, tilting her head to the side in curiosity. People from her village were rare in these parts. Unless there was something actively being conducted or negotiated between the two villages, they usually kept apart. She considered herself an exception. She was simply here on an extended vacation - doing a little bit of soul-searching on the other side of the continent. She preferred to do these things on her own. That was usually the case most of the time back home, but she was still actively judged by most who saw her. Here, she was a complete stranger who had no consequence on anything that happened. She found that she liked this sort of anonymity.

[WC: 947]

While the woman had some slight changes in posture and facial expression, her giant turtle seemed to go all out loco at the sight of Kashizudoto. The turtle growled and hissed at the chuunin, who wasn't very used to giant amphibians being guarded around him. The girl made some sort of hand sign, very unenthousiastically, that made a puff of smoke as with most chakra-based jutsu and compressed her turtle into a miniature shell. Woah, wasn't that animal abuse? He felt a little pity for the turtle.

"That's enough, Hibiki," the girl said as she scooped up the shell into her hand, the turtle's head peeking out with tears in its eyes, and placed it in her pocket. She must've forgot about the boy for a second, as she looked like she was about to leave, but then she turned to him again.

"Konoha?" she inquired with brevity. Ah, yes, the site of a foreign shinobi was not normal to many in Iwa. So he'd have to explain that.

"Yes, yes, that," explained Kashizudoto, "I'm on a diplomatic mission here, escorting Lord Hokage so that he can see the village and meet with the Tsuchikage. I can't really reveal any more details to a stranger though, my apologies." He really was trying to be as transparent as possible about this, but he really couldn't risk jeopardizing the mission and, more importantly, possibly putting the Hokage, the man named "Satoshi", and the other escort at risk.

WC: 679

Kyo's own headband was tied securely to her upper left arm, the rest of which was covered with bandages in order to hide a series of burn scars that she was quite self-conscious of. Considering that some shinobi wore them a as a fashion choice, they never really raised questions. On her waist were a series of wooden dolls in place of where people usually kept kunai and the like. They were oddly detailed yet unassuming at the same time. The rest of her outfit was kept together neatly, almost meticulously so. Her head was currently tilted slightly in a show of odd curiosity. The boy was especially honest. It was somewhat of a rare trait these days. Most would have just said they were in Iwagakure for social reasons or would not have given a reason for their stay at all.

Nevertheless, it made sense. From what she knew, Kenta Inuzuka was brought out of a strange form of retirement - really most people had assumed he was dead - in order to take the post after the man previously holding the title disappeared. It seemed the post of Hokage was cursed. No one ever held it for more than a few months at a time. More recently, a new Tsuchikage had been appointed. It wasn't strange that the two heads of important shinobi villages wanted to come together for diplomatic reasons. Still, the climate was rather off for high ranking officers to be travelling.

"And the war?" She asked. It was a habit of hers to keep sentences short and simple unless they needed more context or explanation. She wasn't one to talk too much, which directly contrasted the first impression she had of this boy. She now realized that she had nothing to call him by. "Senju, Kyo, by the way," she introduced herself, bowing politely at him. Hibiki almost slipped out of her pocket and was left clinging to the fabric of her dress by his small claws. He was still crying. Kyo, however, paid absolutely no attention to what her partner was doing.

By now, the poor turtle was used to the abuse. However, he only ever tolerated such treatment from Kyo. Anyone else was branded an enemy unless proven otherwise. He felt a need to keep Kyo safe at all times. That was the reason why he had almost rushed the poor boy, aiming to break his rib-cage like it was made out of twigs. Now, in this state, all he could do was sulk and try to win back Kyo's approval. Hibiki began to try to slowly climb up her dress and towards her neckline. If she noticed, she gave absolutely no indication that she did.

[WC: 1404]

Kashizudoto, for some reason or other, didn't see the girl's Konoha forehead protector until just now; it was very strange considering that he was considered to be extremely perceptive among his peers. But what struck him more was that another person from Konoha was in Iwa. Why was she here? Perhaps she was also here for a diplomatic mission? No, no, that didn't seem to be the case.

"And the war?" asked the girl point blank. So at least she was aware of the war. Yes, yes, the war between Kiri and Kumo. A total power play on the Mizukage's part. Kashizudoto remembered his meeting with the Tsuchikage like it was just yesterday; in fact, it really was.

Flashback:

"Senju, Kyo, by the way," she added while Kashizudoto was still lost in his memories. Luckily, he was still able to catch the name. She was a Senju? Those were the ones who could utilize the famed Wood Style. Apparently it was an extremely powerful Kekkei Genkai. After all, the First Hokage and founder of the village, Harashirama Senju, was famous for his use of the Wood Style, even being able to beat his Uchiha rivals with it. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the tiny turtle crawling around the body of the girl.

"The war. A terrible, terrible thing indeed. Let me tell you: it's a terrible power play by Kiri to take over an undermanned village," said Kashizudoto, "No doubt about it. It's terrible. Basically, a rogue ninja from Kumo tried to seek asylum in Kiri, only to get murdered. As a response, Kumo imprisoned all Kiri shinobi living within the borders of the Land of Lightning. Rather than stage a covert operation that would rescue the hostages with minimal loss of life, Lady Mizukage used this as a casus belli to declare an invasion of the entire village!" The Sarutobi was passionate indeed about the issues facing the shinobi world; however, he couldn't attract too much attention here. What would the average citizen of Iwa think about a Konoha shinobi yelling about power politics in the middle of a marketplace? Still, he wished the public was more informed.

"By the way, I'm Kashizudoto Sarutobi, a chuunin of Konoha," he said, introducing himself to the girl.

WC: 1068

Though she didn't quite know the details of the war and its intricacies, she knew the basics. What the boy was saying wasn't anything new to her. Kyo nodded at his words. It was a terrible situation all around. However, war was inevitable, to an extent. Power was likely one of the most terrible drugs available to humans. People who had it always craved more, until it led to destruction and the death of innocents. The young girl didn't doubt, however, that there had to be more to the situation than what was being said. That was the way it usually went with these things. The truth was almost always hidden from the masses. Whenever she spoke that way, Kyo was often laughed at and called a conspiracy theorist, but she knew better than to listen.

Kyo shook her head. "Why would the Hokage leave the village when war is brewing close by?" She asked. This boy wasn't likely to know the answer, but it was still worth asking the question. If he was serving as Kenta's bodyguard, then there was something he must be aware of that she wasn't. Of course, that applied to most people. Kyo didn't often involve herself with what went on in the village unless it was of dire consequence. She had no need to involve herself in other people's schemes and secrets. The subject actually bored her quite a lot. People tended to be boring most of the time and she felt confident enough that she was no one's target at this point in time. She kept what was a low profile in her mind to avoid that very scenario. And even if there were people after her, she was always ready. Her entire house was strewn with traps and the like, even here.

The boy had spoken quite passionately. In some way, Kyo admired the display of emotion. She herself hadn't been capable of that in quite some time. Now, he introduced himself as a Sarutobi. Kyo didn't particularly dislike the clan, but their constant use of fire had always made her uncomfortable, to say the least. She feared the element more than she feared anything else. All it had ever done was take from her and leave nothing behind but pain and emptiness. She shook the thoughts from her head and chose to focus on something else. The boy was a Chuunin. it struck her as odd that he was given such a large responsibility. "Why does a Chuunin guard the Hokage?" She asked.

[WC: 1837]

"Why would the Hokage leave the village when war is brewing close by? asked the girl flatly. That was a good question and required at least a little pondering - as Kashizudoto hadn't really thought about that.

"Why does a chuunin guard the Hokage?" she then asked, giving him no time to interrupt. The truth was that the Hokage might as well be his own guard; considering his immense power as well as his ninja dogs.

"Right, with Sensei Rippa leading an army to garrison at Kiri as well as the Hokage over here at Iwa, we don't really have many high ranking shinobi over at the village, quite a few genin at best," admitted Kashizudoto, "Kumo can't invade us because they're getting besieged. Kiri can't invade us because we have an encampment literally within their village. Iwa can't attack us or the Hokage will literally roast them from within. That leaves... Suna. They could possibly attack, although once we heard about it, we would all be over there within a day or two to destroy Suna's forces, so it wouldn't make much sense."

"And well, I got assigned to this mission when I was a genin. I was only recently promoted to chuunin, y'know," said Kashizudoto, "My primary role was that of a forward messenger, guarding is secondary when the man that you're escorting is the most powerful man in the Land of Fire."

"Now, equally as important, Kashizudoto added, "What is a fellow Konoha shinobi like you doing in the Land of Earth? I've never seen you before."

WC: 1338

OOC: Sorry for the short post.

Kyo nodded, though being as paranoid as she usually was, she still didn't approve of the Hokage's travels. However, she had no need to approve. Being the most powerful man in the village made it so that he could do as he wanted. She was only ever needed to follow orders and that was what she would do. The young girl was used to trusting the judgement of her superiors. Or rather, she didn't trust their judgement at all. She simply followed along, but was ready to adapt at a moment's notice to any change. Every possible scenario went through her head almost all the time. She knew how she would be able to get out alive of almost any situation.

Her eyebrows lifted ever so slightly at the mention of the boy getting this mission as a Genin. That was... odd. She had heard that Kenta's leadership style was peculiar, but she couldn't quite see any reason to appoint a Genin as a bodyguard unless it was for canon fodder. "Congratulations," she said to the boy. It was hard to tell whether it was genuine or some form of sarcasm. In any case, it made sense to send a forward messenger in a situation such as this one. The impromptu arrival of a foreign Kage could be sometimes sensed as a threat, after all. She nodded at the boy's assertion about Kenta being the strongest man in their land.

At this point, Hibiki had managed to climb all the way to Kyo's shoulder. The tears had mostly subsided. He wrapped his tiny little forward fins around the base of her neck. Really, they didn't even reach to a quarter of her neck. Without looking at the turtle, Kyo lifted an arm to where he was. "Extended vacation," she answered, simultaneously flicking her fingers and launching the small animal somewhere across the bazaar. She wasn't worried. He would turn up again eventually.

[WC:2169]

OOC: Go ahead, explain what happened however you'd like.

"Congratulations, the stolid girl said in the same emotionless tone. It was really hard to tell whether it was genuine praise for his assignment to the mission as a genin or if it was sarcasm that suggested he would be sacrificed or something. He was always aware of that possibilty and on the chance that it somehow did happen, Kashizudoto would be alert and ready to escape, as he had a moral disagreement with sacrificing people against their will and/or without their knowledge; however, he doubted that Lord Kenta, who he had a great discussion with earlier, would be the kind of person to do such a thing, though shinobi were known for the art of deception.

"Extended vacation, she added, answering his inquiry about why she was there. A break? Kashizudoto really didn't need time off from the job. In a way, training and going on missions was fun in and of itself. Seriously, it was. He'd been dreaming of the shinobi lifestyle ever since he enrolled in the Academy, after all, why wouldn't it be fun? Of course, there were some hard moments on the job, but he could deal with it, no problem.

"So," said Kashizudoto, "Can you tell me about that giant turtle you have? It's pretty darn cool." After all, that was his original question before the girl changed the subject.

Boom! An explosion definitely wracked Kashizudoto's left ear, a few bits of shrapnel would fall on the faces of the two Konoha ninja. Didn't sound very big, nothing more than a paper bomb at the most. Still, those could cause a significant amount of harm to the innocents of Iwagakure, especially if all they were expecting was a peaceful trip to the bazaar. Why would something like this happen? Who would do such a thing? That didn't matter right now; his first priority was to save the innocents and catch the perpetrator. Although he wasn't a shinobi of Iwa, he felt that he had a duty to protect the whole world, not just his nation.

"Ok, let's show Iwa what we Konoha-nin are made out of," said Kashizudoto to the girl dashing off towards the sound of the explosion and adding, "Maybe your Wood Style can help us too." She was a Senju after all, who were famed for their use of the kekkei genkai. Of course, not all Senju possessed the element; he should've been mindful of that before blurting that out, but, of course, he had no time to care for people's sensitivities when there were other people out there who could've possibly been hurt - maybe even fatally - by an explosion with a bad guy probably also on the loose. Of course, there was an off chance that this whole thing was just a random mishap: someone's pots and pans exploding, fireworks gone wrong, etc.

WC: 1826

Kyo nodded at the boy's question about her pet. "Hibiki is my butler. He is also a friend. We have known each other since I can remember," she explained. Rarely did anyone ask about her constant companion, but she didn't see it as odd. The turtle, at least in her opinion, was quite interesting and compelling. The way she spoke even sounded somewhat prideful, if someone paid attention closely. Maybe she would get asked the question more often if she actually spent more time around people. Hibiki, though, was no somewhere in the outskirts of the bazaar, probably trying to slowly make his way back to Kyo. At this pace, he might as well head back to the hotel. She would most likely be gone by the time he reached her current location. However, Kyo didn't worry. He was capable enough on his own, even in his current form, diminutive as it was.

For once, she was about to elaborate on the topic and point out the many things Hibiki did for her both in and out of battle - which included cooking and cleaning, for one. Before she could, though, an explosion reverberated around the area. Kyo tensed for the briefest of moments. Anyone looking could assume that she was merely startled by the sound. However, that was inconsequential, albeit annoying, compared to what came to mind.

Fire.

Explosions led to fire. The same element that had taken so much away from her and had left her body scarred. No matter how many times she came across it, she could never get over her fear.

The young girl reacted anyways. She had a decent enough arsenal of water jutsu that would prevent any sort of fire from spreading. She nodded at the boy. Whatever had caused this had to be stopped before anything escalated. After all, the Bazaar was an area frequented mostly by civilians who had little or nothing to do with the dealings of shinobi. Her personal concerns were secondary to that. She ran towards the general direction of the explosion, passing Kashizudoto on the way. Kyo kept a hand near her belt in case she needed to use one of her dolls. Her mind was already racing towards the worst case scenario.

She arrived at the other side of the Bazaar soon enough. The people there were either running away or frozen in place. None seemed to have died, but a few had sustained minor injuries. What was most notable, however, were the four people standing among the crowd - one woman and three men - either cackling or looking cocky. It was easy to tell they were responsible.

"Water Style: Heavy Rain" she said, reciting the name of her technique after having formed the correct signs. Almost immediately, rain covered the area and began to put out the fire caused by the explosion. That gained the attention of all four people - most likely bandits that had sneaked into the village with fake papers. If the boy had already arrived by then, Kyo would speak to him. "Keep the civilians safe and act as support. Do not do anything rash," she ordered, her voice calm and void as it had been before.

The young Senju reached towards one of her dolls and threw it in front of her. It froze in mid-air, caught by a seal that was quickly wrapping itself around the doll's body. "Sealing Technique: Expansion," she stated, extending one hand towards the doll. As she extended the other, a second seal appeared on the doll. "Wood Style: Animation Seal," she chanted. Light wrapped itself around the item, quickly expanding. Now, standing at two meters was a humanoid creature made of wood, ready to fight and act upon Kyo's command.

[WC:2824]

Jutsu and Items Used:

"Hibiki is my butler. He is also a friend. We have known each other since I can remember," her reply registered as in his head after the explosion. Interesting, but he had no time to ponder it as he ran towards the resulting fires. The girl also ran; her speed was incredible, and she passed by Kashizudoto on the way - he began to sprint in an attempt to catch up.

By the time Kashizudoto reached there, it started frickin' pouring all over, getting his robe and his hair soaking wet. Drops barraged his meteor-forged blade as he unsheathed the katana from its bamboo sheath; the Tentetsutou gleaned the color of a fine onyx. Damn, he was primarily a Katon user; this would be bad. Then it came to him: it was also douzing the fires caused by the explosion. Right, he could cause a giant fire with the snap of a finger, but he - being averse to the Suiton - couldn't do shit to eliminate a fire. So it was bittersweet, really. On one hand, he was reliant on katon, which really would have been weakened by the pouring water; however, on the other hand, the rain did expel the flames from the bazaar, which the civilians would have surely appreciated. Perhaps the Senju, who - if she could use the Wood Style - would also have Suiton in arsenal, was the one who created this sudden onslaught of water. Surely this wasn't just a natural occurence.

There were four shady looking people, three men and one woman, who stood out from the crowd with sly looks on their faces. Those bastards. They probably snuck in to loot the bazaar! His blade was ready.

"Keep the civilians safe and act as support, said the girl quietly but assertively, "Don't do anything rash." Wait.. Did she just order him? What a total bitch! He was perfectly capable of handing himself fine! She had bo authority whatsoever over Kashizudoto. He was perfectly ready to fight those dudes.

"Sealing Technique: Expansion the Senju declared as she grabbed a doll, tossed it on the ground, and touched it. The doll, made entirely out of white wood, grew six feet tall - a true monster. However, it couldn't move. Why did she do it? What could this thing do?

Wood Style: Animation Technique!" the girl chanted. Suddenly, the doll began to move. It somehow became alive! So these were her powers...

All while this was going on, Kashizudoto would leap into the air and land in front of the four bandits with his black katana drawn. He wouldn't just stand to the side and passively defend, although he certainly would make it his number one priority to make sure that the civilians were safe; he would do that with an active approach, not a passive one as the stolid girl told him. Sure, he would be blatantly disregarding her orders, but what good were faulty orders anyway?

His shoes would make contact with the rock on the bottom as his blade was pointed towards the shady folks, saying "What caused the explosion. Perhaps it was you people? You seem a little too giddy to be innocent, correct me if I'm wrong." Fingers from all directions would point at the four people.

WC: 2375

The wooden doll moved rapidly and without hesitation. It's large hands sank into the ground, it's fingers drilling underneath, tunneling towards the group of bandits that had caused the sudden explosion. Fortunately, the fire was subsiding. The constant beating in Kyo's chest calmed significantly. She closed her eyes for a moment, regaining the composure that only she knew she had lost. Unlike Kashizudoto, she stayed silent. She didn't address the four bandits, who were now readying themselves to fight as the civilians ran from the chaos. Their weapons were basic - kunai, shuriken and tanto. It was unlikely that their strength surpassed that of an average Chuunin. Nevertheless, they needed to be taken care of. There wasn't any more to it than that.

The doll's fingers wrapped themselves around the ankles of each of the four bandits, holding them in place while Kashizudoto approached them. With him standing there, Kyo wouldn't be able to use some of her more devastating techniques. The range tended to be wide. She was much too used to fighting on her own instead of with a team. The closest she had to that was Hibiki, who she didn't need to worry about. The giant turtle practically knew everything about her. He was used to her battle practices and knew when to fight and when to get out of the way. There was also the matter of this being a populated area. Kyo sighed. What she could do was limited to her doll. No matter. Daichi was a force to be reckoned with.

Kyo stood a few feet behind the wooden doll, willing it to move through her thoughts and chakra alone. It's fingers began to retract once again, pulling the four into the ground to keep them from moving. They would be waist deep in dirt if she had her way. After that, they boy could do whatever he wanted to ensure that they stay there. After all, he was standing closer and didn't mind speaking. Maybe he could get some information from them.

The large wooden humanoid that the Senju had summoned earlier suddenly grabbed all four of the bandits, who Kashizudoto could see upon closer inspection were armed with some kunai, a few shuriken, and a tanto each, pulling all of them into the earth with such great strength. If this girl wanted to, she alone could have probably dealt with the bandits,; although, with Kashizudoto being closer, it was probably advantageous to let him do some of the work. Dealing with them was nothing that the young chuunin couldn't handle, especially with the girl's animated doll now having a strangling hold on them. All he would have to do would be to make sure that he and the girl could get them safely to a jail cell in Iwa. He had a versatile shinobi tool in his arsenal which could deal with this situation: namely, his wire.

He would grasp the end of his wire and begin pulling it out; there was 50 meters overall, but he wouldn't need nearly that much for what he was about to do. As the four bandits were still struggling in the ground, he would be able to run around them in a circle with his wire flying around them, making a loop around them. He would then take the end of the wire and tie together the loop very tightly so that the bandits would be rendered immobile.

"Hey, Kyo, wanna have your doll pull out these jokers from the ground so we can haul 'em over to a prison for investigation?" the chuunin would ask the older girl, hoping that she'd say yes, Then maybe we can catch up some more on Konoha and stuff." It was only a pretension of dismissiveness towards the bandits; he indeed would have his eye on them, ready to tackle them or slam them with his sword if one tried to escape.

If the Senju agreed and lifted the bandits out of their trap, the Sarutobi would double check that the wire was tightly tied around them before gesturing to the girl to give him a hand. If she would come over and help him, they would be able to pull the bandits all the way over to the nearest law enforcement station in order to turn them in for their crimes.

"So tell me,"  the chuunin would speak to the criminals, "Why did you cause such mayhem over there?" The boy would have asked a legitimate question; he could only ponder the reason why people would light fire to a bazaar. Perhaps it was supposed to be a distraction for committing theft while everyone paid their attention to the incendiary that went off. It was a good thing that the Senju had put out the fire in time; of all the things in Kashizudoto's arsenal, he didn't actually have anything to put out fires, only to make more of them.

"Bah!" the female in the group would dismissively sneer at the boy, "To hell with you, child!" The chuunin was used to getting disrespect by now pertaining to his age, but all he would have to do to get his revenge in this scenario was to pull the wire a little tighter, squeezing all the bandits tighter together.

"Damn, kid, what'd I do!" one of the bandits would yell as the boy would drag them along (probably with the help of the Senju) the path to the nearest law enforcement department, "I'm fucking claustrophobic!" The boy responded only with a laugh as he continued dragging them along.

Eventually, the Sarutobi (and the Senju if she decided to come along) would drop the bandits over at the nearest law enforcement department where they'd be dealt with and would part ways.

WC: 3007

[Exit]

Fire Style: Heavenward Slash: 3000/3000