A refreshing breeze of cool air brushed against Makoto's face, prompting the kunoichi to pause and take a deep breath. Other than the relaxing feeling it brought to her senses, she was actually using the wind to confirm her earlier suspicions. The prey was still close - still on the move - and coming straight toward her position even.
"...Mm."
Bending down onto all fours and growling to her ninken, she alerted the pack that it was time to spread out. Any minute now their tasty victim would come stumbling into the open, looking ripe for ambush. That's when she and her dogs would swoop in for the kill, claiming the best prize anyone could really ask for: a hard-earned meal.
Oh how she loved midnight hunts~
Compared to the selection of beasts that inhabited her island home, the mainland had so much more to choose from. Deer and boar were at the top of that list, though she wanted to sink her teeth into just about anything with a good amount of meat on its bones. Being in unfamiliar lands also gave the whole ordeal a sense of danger and challenge she had always been drawn to, making it well worth the trip.
Shortly after her dogs had dispersed into the undergrowth in preparation for the ambush, Makoto caught a whiff of something else in the distance. "Eh?" She crinkled her nose at the faint scent, looking a bit confused and wondering if it'd been her imagination. In a way it almost reminded her of...no, that couldn't be it. Not all the way out here. Not in the middle of nowhere. The Inuzuka shook her head and discarded those puzzling thoughts, shifting her concentration back to the hunt.
Skulking through the shadows as quietly as possible, she eventually found a good vantage point from which to watch the area. Makoto laid herself flat atop a large rock, diminishing her presence to the point that she practically blended into the stony surroundings. Her gaze then squinted against the darkness as she waited for the prey to pop into the open.
ruby eye and amber eyes watched with patient anticipation at a specific clearing, fingers and claws digging into cool dirt. green leaves lightly danced along long white tufts of hair and orange fur. the man breathed in with even breaths, matching with the breath of the ninken at his side. a black nose lifted ever so slightly in the air, sniffing before lowering it down to the dirt to let out a rumble of a soft 'wuff'. lips spread into a smile, fanged teeth peeking out from under. the anticipation grew even more, shivering through their bodies and yet they remained still as they waited.[break][break]
the two had been rather patient throughout dusk to night, having relaxed under the bushes as they waited for a worthy prey to appear before them. perhaps that was certainly a lazy way of hunting, but kegawa didn't feel like putting too much effort today. besides, good things comes to those who wait. tonight felt like one of those nights and kakimaru's response was a testament to it.[break][break]
the inuzuka peered cautiously at the clearing, certain that something would come bursting out into that clearing at any moment. as something came out, kegawa let out a growl as a command. the ninken dugs his claws into the ground to gain traction as he burst out from the bushes, his orange fur traveling along the ground in a blur. the inuzuka lifted himself up to a crouch as he formed a handseal, fangs enlargening, pupils slitting, and claws growing. a coat of chakra hung on his frame for a moment before dropping to all fours and sped after kakimaru in pursuit.[break][break]
a chase would be fine, in fact that would extremely fun. kakimaru had all intentions to sink his fangs into the prey's neck without any remorse, hoping to catch the prey off guard before it could react. the two remained unaware of the pack has been waiting, perhaps due to being more upwards in the draft of wind to not catch their scent.
Movement. Out of the corner of her eye Makoto noticed the slightest shift, all her senses honing in on that disturbance. The silhouette of a large, horned animal was creeping into the clearing, unaware of the danger it faced. Following behind it were two, three, no - five more!
Makoto licked her lips.
A little closer. A little more. She wanted to be right on top of them before the beasts knew what was happening. If she got the chance, ending the hunt in one swift blow was preferable, but she had to act carefully. Holding in a low growl, the anticipation was slowly gnawing away at her until...
"RRRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The Inuzuka jumped down from the rock with a ferocious howl, leading the charge with claws at the ready. Dashing in from multiple directions were her faithful dogs, the snarling pack descending on the herd with utmost haste. As luck would have it, during that split when she revealed herself, Makoto recognized something was amiss too.
Was that another beast charging from the side?!
There wasn't any time to think about it.
In the next second Makoto landed among the cluster of prey, crossing slashes meeting thick fur. She purposefully aimed for the biggest animal in the bunch - the one with the scariest horns and the meanest look. Turned out it was sturdier than she gave it credit for too, because despite getting part of its throat clawed out it had the gall to slam her to the ground!
