Spoiler:

He was starting to wonder if there was some reason why he kept meeting up with that Yanagi girl. First she appeared in his temple; then he was shoved on a squad with her, and now she'd volunteered to run a mission with him. Gawd; it was like someone was telling him something. His reaction?

NOPE.

He was gunna keep passing it off as random; and a lack of meat in the village. Wasn't like there where more then what... not even a dozen active ninja floating around the village anymore. He was bound to get group with Mar fairly often. Meh. She was decent company; and could carry her weight. Thank the gods for that.

They'd met with the fruitcake in charge of handing out missions; and he'd had the usual pleasant conversation with him (it?). Or rather... he'd yelled he was taking the mission and grabbed the scroll. The walk down the mountains and into the lowland valleys was simple enough. Quiet, uneventful, just how he liked it; when he was stuck with people. They'd traded a few words of greeting; passed a few ideas around of how to deal with this. She was the tracker, not him. He was just the muscle for this, really. Better to let her plot and plan; and just wait for the beast to appear. He'd roast it before it even knew something was wrong. Roasted pork... yummy.

Spoiler:

Mission Taken:

Marquetta was amused to say the least; though she had every intention of hiding it. Houjin was one of the few people who honestly caught her attention and held it though she couldn't quite place the reasoning to it; other than his 'fuck off' attitude he seemed to have. Most people she just tended to avoid; but him? Well, she wasn't about to complain about being paired with him for this mission. Especially because he saved her from having to go in and get the mission herself; something about that... thing... behind the desk, well, it was just honestly creepy to her. No one should be that happy and bubbly, ever.

So, having left without much hassle was a god send, and after the trading of ideas back and forth as they made their way, she fell silent. It was time, after all, to concentrate. Not that it took much. She had gotten used to the way Houjin's stride felt as they had walked even though they had only spent a short time together, so it was rather easy to ignore the vibrations he was currently causing. What she was looking for now was the tell tale sign of an animal. Their movements, because of their short legs, were faster, therefore they occurred more often than a humans and given they had four legs that meant they happened more. So far, though, she hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary.

After a moment more of walking she stopped. She held her hand out for him to stop too, though she didn't touch him. It was just a simple gesture to catch his attention. "I feel something, definitely an animal.. about fifteen feet to the north-west of us.", she said softly, giving her head a nod in the direction of the rocky out-crop that could easily hide an animal. "Probably behind those rocks."

Word Count:

In the rocks? That was... almost too easy. This thing had been evading the locals for weeks; and was smart enough to get into the traps without getting caught. No way it'd pick a spot that obvious. But again; he wasn't a tracker; and she was. He had to doubts that something was hiding there; just that it was the boar. Or hell; the rocks could have been hiding a small ravine or creek bed; which would have given it plenty of space to hide in, as well as better cover. From the reports; the boar was half as tall as the average man; and those rocks where just barely tall enough to hide it if it was in the perfect spot. "Worth it to look. Might find some clues to where it is; if that's not him."

Houjin; much like Marquetta; did not wear normal ninja shoes; his boots where very soft soled and light. The cloth was flexible in the extreme; as good as wearing nothing at all. He did bandage his ankles and calves for support; but the shoes where little more then shaped covering. Because of this; and the added effects of his Taijutsu training; Houjin was extremely light on his feet; moving almost silently towards the rocks to investigate. The way his body moved; you could tell he was on alert; shoulders and feet shifting in a perfect ginga motion even when he wasn't fighting. He spent far too much time practicing in his spare time; it was like his body was incapable of stillness anymore.

Small animals began to flee from the rocks as he approached; mostly snakes and small rodents, even a few small birds; but nothing larger then a weasel. This wasn't looking promising. "Looks quiet enough..." He moved around some; until he had to crawl onto the rocks to get a better look. Oh... there was a creek bed down there. And tracks. Huh. The boar was here; and not long ago. Even he could see the fresh mud at the bottom of the prints. "We just missed it... it's following the drying creek. We need to go northeast; follow it."

Spoiler:

Marquetta was more than aware that there could be any manner of animals back behind those rocks; especially given such a great spot it might've ended up being. Therefore she kept her distance, figuring to keep a look out in case the overly aggressive creature wasn't back there, and happened to try and make a guest appearance - mainly a sneak attack.

So, she remained behind, though still close by, watching as Houjin moved to the rocks to investigate. She kept her focus on both him and her natural clan ability, concentrating on the vibrations in the ground. She could feel the animals that ran out of their little hiding area escape, but they weren't heavy enough to hold her attention. She knew the boar was going to be far heavier on the ground, therefore its vibration would be stronger.

At his words she nodded. "Alright." She didn't hesitate as she moved northeast, following the drying creek, though she was still being cautious and careful. Every so often an animal would wander past, either under the brush or skimming nearby it, but they weren't heavy enough to hold her interest for longer than a glance to ensure it wasn't something poisonous or with sharp enough teeth to take a hunk out of one of them.

For several very long minutes nothing jumped out at her, than she felt it. It felt heavy enough to be a child, but given the amount of vibrations she was feeling it definitely was moving on four legs compared to two. She could also feel it wandering, as if it were pacing back and forth. "Hnn.. I feel something else. Far heavier than what I felt last time, almost like it was a small child or something, but it's definitely got four legs. It's straight ahead, about six feet behind those bushes in front of us. It feels almost like its pacing or something, but its not in a straight line like a human would.", she spoke with her voice lowered, not wanting to send the boar on a rampage, or running off as it were, if it happened to hear her.

Word Count:

Somehow they'd ended up downwind of the boar; for the moment at least. The winds would be changing soon; the setting sun and the cooling air always caused the winds to swing around wildly. Make this fast; before they lost what surprise element they had. "You sure it's him this time?" Not that he was going to change his plans anyway; but he figured he'd ask. Try and be a team player or something. Yeah. Anyway... time to get moving. He could easily hold the beast; even mad boars where afraid of fire... and he was a walking matchstick.

Focus was what he needed; inhaling deeply and forcing his chakra to his feet; concentrating it until his feet where (literally) on fire. That was always a pleasant feeling; honestly. It was his natural fire; to him it felt like nothing more then the warmth of the sun over his skin. Very nice. At this point it was just a matter of chakra shaping. Houjin shifted his feet and condensed the fire below his feet into an almost rocket exhaust type shape before 'pushing of' into what could be called a skating motion. Although given the way he normally moved; it was just a quick run. He was already fast; but using this jutsu made him so must faster. It was like he'd dropped into a jog; but was moving like a sprinter on speed. The effect of the jutsu lighting the ground on fire behind him just made it that much better. Hah. Flare Blitz was showy as heck; but effective.

He started in a tight circle around himself and Marquetta; expanding outward until he was circling the brushy area. He could smell it when he passed closed; dirt, mud, sweat, musk. That musky stink that only adult male boars could produce. Ugh. It was gunna take days to get that out of his nose. But they did have him now; and with the speed Houjin was moving; he was basically the Ouroboros eating it's tail; the flames didn't have time to dissipate before he was renewing them. A roaring squeal and the shaking of the ground where their warnings. It was angry; and it was going to charge. The circle of flames was irregular; more an oval. On purpose. The boar had no choice but to head towards Marquetta if it didn't want to get roasted.

"Mar! He's charging. Be ready!"

Spoiler:

"Yeah, I'm positive it's him this time.", which she was. The animal that was walking around, pacing, was just far too heavy to be any of the normal little creatures that normally ran around this area, that much she was definitely sure of.

She watched Houjin begin to move, spreading fire in the oval shape and she couldn't help but chuckle, though she kept focused. She could still feel the difference between Houjin's movements and the boars. She could feel the boar moving in circles, trying to avoid the fire, to find a way out. Well.. the only possible way - or so it would look to the boar - to get out and away from the fire was directly towards her. This was going to get interesting fast.

Between Houjin's heads up and the fact that she could feel the boars movements she braced herself, taking her combat stance. She held her right hand out, palm down, facing the ground. Without hesitation she began to close her fingers and pull back on her wrist, lifting her hand upwards. As she did so the ground would begin to shake for a moment before the size of a rather large beach ball was ripped up. It hovered in the air as she turned suddenly, snapping her foot out to the boulder. When the bottom of her foot connected with the rock it caused it to slam forward with great force, heading straight for the boar which had just decided to charge towards her. The rock flew through the air fast and true, smashing into the boar before it had time to move off course, hitting it right on the forehead.

Because of the head shot, and the amount of force, the boar flew backwards, landing sideways. It shook its head several times, obviously confused now due to the head trauma she was sure to have caused the thing. Of course.. that didn't mean it was smart enough to keep from getting back up. It gave another shake of its head, already beginning to struggle to get to its feet.

Marquetta took her stance again, more than prepared to rip up another chunk of rock. Though, in the things stubborn but otherwise broken state of mind.. she doubted it'd notice the rather large hole now right in front of her, a hole big enough for the thing to at least fall face first in, and get stuck. That was, if Houjin didn't end up roasting the thing first. She kept her focus on the boar by continuing to focus on the feeling of its movements through the ground, while her gaze kept snapping between Houjin and the boar, wondering what the male's next plan of action was.

Word Count:

Jutsu/Chakra:

"..." Not bad. That was one hell of a pot shot. He'd hafta see if she could teach him the basics; he could easily tweak that for his personal style. He could see it already... work into a dance... scoop the earth with his hands then fling it over his shoulders.... yummy. A head shake had him refocusing before he ended up impacting a stunted tree; he'd zoned out enough to actually break the oval of flames; but it was fine for now. He could race up behind the boar and beat it from behind fairly easily; his whips would damage it enough to keep it running for that wonderful little pit she'd created.

They didn't need to be perfect; just long and hot and fast; and that he could do without much trying. The fire chakra was pushed to his hand; arms lifted to swing around his head and upper body as he ran; the force of the swings what pulled the actual whips from the balls of fire. Synchronize his arms and throw them forward; sending the whips towards the boar with a roar of flame and enough force to surprise and confuse it more. He was zig-zagging behind it; if he rushed it he'd easy catch up and overtake it in less then a second. This way he was able to whip it several times before it went flying face first into the pit; it's large bulk canceling most of it's momentum and sending it crashing into wall of the pit so hard it was solidly stunned this time.

Houjin shifted mid-run; angling his body and feet so that he could skid to a stop once the flames where extinguished. He kept the whips for the moment; they where a perfect detourant if it decided it wanted to try and climb out. "How we doing this? Drag it back alive somehow; or we taking a head and some pork steaks with us?"

Spoiler:

Marquetta watched the boar get chased and coerced into the pit, slamming head first. 'That... had to hurt.', she thought to herself as she turned her blue gaze onto Houjin. She gave a light shrug, a rather sadistic idea coming to mind. "Well, I think that overly bubbly, to fucking happy... it" she really had no idea if it was a guy or a girl, and she was in no hurry to figure it out "... would appreciate a nice bloody, burned, body on its desk...", she grinned at that point, and there was nothing but playful evilness in it. "In fact, I'm rather positive of it. So.. I can either crush it to death by putting that boulder right back where i got it from.. or.. we could cut off the things head and roast it. Then go and leave said head, bloody, and dripping all over that fruit cakes desk..."

This was all sorts of payback for being far too cheerful. It wasn't that Marquetta didn't like happy people, everyone had a right to be happy, but some people took it a little too far... annoyingly so, and that... thing... just happened to fall under that particular category. She'd leave it up to Houjin however, on what he decided to do. So far the boar was still out like a light, and given the massive brain damage, there was a chance it was going to remain such for a little while longer.

Word Count:

Chakra:

Right. Well. He wasn't about to complain. If anything; he agreed with her. Highly. That confusing bundle of what the fuckery that was manning the missions desk was... confusingly disturbing. And it needed a reality check. "Bloody head on the desk. I like the way you think."

Yeah. If this was how her mind worked... he could see them becoming buddies. At least for missions and shit. He could tolerate her prescience, and they worked well enough as a team. She had the raw power he currently lacked; but he was all the mobility, speed, and control that balanced that out. It worked; so far anyway. Now... how to deal with the still living boar. He didn't have any kunai on him; nor was his fire quiet hot enough to cut through bone just yet. Not in any kind of controlled way, at least. he'd burn the body to ash before he managed to sever bone; he still lacked the fine control for cuts that precise to be made with his flames.

Oh. Wait. The boulder. Pin it... find a sharp stick or something... it'd be messy; but it'd work. He slipped into his normal ginga movements; rocking until he could tune the world out and let the music of his mind flow through his very being once more. His body relaxed and shifted in time to the dance; moving in place until the melody only he could hear changed. He began to properly move now; circular and spinning in odd ways that spoke of cultures long gone and forgotten; silently dancing in ways that where powerful and raw and strangely appropriate for him. This was him falling into the dance state; when he used his Taijutsu training and the dances his clan was famous for. This was the only earth based technique he currently had; Dance of the Dragons: Earth Row Upheaval. He was using it to shift the boulder; the mass of rock far to heavy for either of them to lift without earth chakra. Simple enough; he circled and danced around until he was lined up perfectly before dropping the kick that released the burst of earth chakra; lifting the boulder and sending it forward several meters before it ran out of momentum; still short of the target. No problems; he just swung around again and again until the boulder dropped into the pit with a crash and a pain squeal from the boar. Simple indeed.

Houjin seemed to almost wake up; head snapping up and movements stilling as he looked into the pit. "Alright... I'll get the head." The upheaval had shoved plenty of broken rocks to the surface; and he easily found one with a rather sharp edge to it. That'd work. He clambered onto the boulder; hanging on as tight as he could because the damn pig was still trying to buck and get free. He flipped the stone knife around and used the blunt end to smash the bear's skull in; cracking the brain case and finally knocking it fully unconscious. It wasn't a killing blow; but the poor beast wouldn't feel anything else at least. He made as quick a work as he could; slitting it's throat before driving the rock through the cracked bone and into it's brain for the killing blow. The force of the blow broke the rock in two; but it left him just enough edge to cut away the flesh and bones until they had the entire mass above the second vertebra.

"You carry it. My arm is killing me now. Damn rock was barely cutting flesh. Basically had to dislocate the neck with brute force." His hands where bloody as all fuck; but he didn't care; his clothing was black as coal, so it didn't show a stain as he went to rub his aching shoulders. "Come on; let's get back already. I need a shower; and all this work is making me want barbecue."

Spoiler:

Marquetta watched him, curious like, her head tilting a bit to the side. Several strands of her white hair falling into her face and she mentally found herself thinking about either cutting it, or letting it grow out. Then she mentally scolded herself for not paying attention. She watched Houjin make quick work with the boulders, an eyebrow raising now. She'd have to keep in mind he was able to use Earth jutsu, that was indeed a very interesting fact.

Since she was standing mostly at the lip of the pit she was able to see inside without having to move; meaning she was able to watch every thing he did to the boar. She watched it all unflinchingly, having, because of her style of fighting, having gotten used to brutality at a rather young age. So, seeing something get its skull smashed in wasn't new for her. Neither was blood, for that matter.

Retrieving the head she chuckled. "Oh, this is going to be fun." She couldn't help but cackle as she began to lead the way back. Despite the fact that she was wearing white clothing she didn't really care about the specks of blood on herself, or worry really about anything else getting on her outfit. "I just want to see the look on the fruity persons face when their faced with this..", with that said she raised up the boars head, giving it a little shake. They'd be there in no time...

Word Count:

"No shit. Prolly shit himself." Herself? WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT PERSON ANYWAY!? "Drop it on the desk and bail. No point hanging out and regaling the tale." Like fuck he'd spend time in that office if he could help it. Uuuugh.

They'd left a good trail to follow back; making amazing time now that they weren't having to be slow as fuck and track things. The Admin Building was ahead in no time; and the thought of the fuckery they where about to cause brought a rare smile to his face as they entered the building.

-exit-