Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
“Oh! Hello Izumi-Sama.” She climbed down off the bear and ran to stand in front of the kage with a big grin. “It just so happens that I am here to see you!”
She’d accept the Raikage’s invitation, following him to his office with an apologetic glance over her shoulder at Benjiro. She felt a little bad for abandoning him to clean up the mess on his own but not bad enough to actually stay.
“I was just in the neighborhood and I wondered if there was anything you needed any help with?” It was an obvious lie. Korogaru lived in the wilderness outside the village but had made the long trek into civilization specifically to see the Izumi.
She hadn't had a mission or anything really useful to do in a long while and she was getting tired of talking to the bear all the time.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Nomi settled down on his haunches, pulling up some berries with his claws and licking them happily. His snout turned to look at the sudden sound of movement and the bear’s eyes went wide. The bear tumbled onto his back with a startled groan.
"What are you-?" Korogaru looked over her shoulder with curiosity. The dark haired lady seemed pretty eager to play with her bear and that was fine. She’d probably abandon her post too… if it got her out of doing laundry. She supposed she couldn’t leave her sister hanging out to dry so she picked up a blouse or something and folded it sloppily.
Nomi rolled back onto his feet but now he was facing the wrong direction so he bent his head back to peek at Makoto from behind his massive back side and tiny nub tail. He waddled around to face her and let out a friendly growl of hello.
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Medical [Journeyman]: Korogaru has spent most of her life in the wilderness and uses her keen senses to quickly identify medicinal herbs and avoid anything poisonous. She is able to provide basic first aid to herself and other injured shinobi as well as animal companions. Her experience in hunting, tanning, and butchering of prey has given her a unique knowledge of the body.
Reason: Forum-wide change to starting proficiencies.
Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
There was no medic in the back anymore so Korogaru just grabbed some bandages and wrapped her own wound. She found some sort of pills back there and swallowed one of them with the hope that whatever it was would keep her going.
“Retreat?” Korogaru looked around at the battlefield. The tide certainly seemed to have turned against her group at the moment. Were things really that bad at the front?
She could hear the arrows falling as well. The Cloud shinobi didn’t see much reason for the cart anymore so she took advantage of the cover provided by their new leader to throw whatever supplies she could scavenge into a messenger bag. She climbed over the front of the cart, onto Nomi’s back, and cut him loose.
She nodded to Tenchi, “You guys grab our friend and get out of here. We’ll catch up with you soon!” Korogaru knew the enemy wouldn’t let the others retreat without a fight but maybe she could hold them off just long enough.
Nomi went tearing across the plain, using rock walls as cover wherever he could, as the Inuzuka made a few quick handseals. Her pupils dilated and her lips curled back into a feral snarl that revealed a row of pointed teeth. She leapt off of Nomi and ran alongside him until she was able to drop to all fours just past the last of the erected barriers.
“Gatsūga!” She called out to her animal companion to signal the correct timing. They moved with unnatural speed, rotating into parallel vortexes of fang and claw that wove around and bounced off each other in perfect synchronization.
The nature of their movement would deflect many arrows but both woman and beast had resigned themselves to the idea that they would need to fight through some pain. This was the fastest way to close the distance on the archers.
When they reached the treeline they would do the maximum carnage that a Chunin and a Bear could to the area that the volley of arrows had originated from.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru stood up and stumbled away from the body. She wiped some blood off her chin but the effort was in vain as her whole front was dripping crimson; some of it his but most of it hers. They’d cleared the area for the moment it seemed and she came to lean against the side of the cart. She reached in and grabbed some ointment that she spread across the wound on her torso before grabbing a clean rag of some kind and pressing it against the wound. She didn’t want Naoko to waste precious chakra on her when there were so many others with needs more dire.
She listened to the others discussing their next move from a little ways off. “I agree with Ryota…” She growled, her voice uncharacteristically small, “It smells like a trap.” The young man that had joined them ran off recklessly despite the warning and Korogaru would push herself up off the cart with the intention of stopping him only for her to stumble forward and slump onto her knees, the world spinning and herself feeling rather faint. Maybe she did need a medic afterall.
Someone asked who was in charge; a jounin if the way he carried himself were any reflection of her station. Korogaru glanced around from side to side and sniffed the air in search of Oda but he was out of sight. “He was here just a moment ago.” She shrugged with uncertainty. “He must have seen something of importance elsewhere or…” She did a quick scan of the bodies on the ground nearby. The sound jounin was thankfully not among them.
Korogaru swallowed hard. Their leader had abandoned them for some reason or another and the task at hand was seeming more and more daunting by the second. She knew that genin was putting himself in danger. She wanted to back him up but there was nothing she could do in her condition so she would crawl shakily towards the back of the cart to receive medical treatment.
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Summon [Rookie]:Ashioto - This enthusiastic miniature woolly rhino is small enough to ride in Korogaru’s fur lined hood. He watched with eyes wide the amazing battle between his father and shinobi from the various villages! Afterward, he became determined to learn such powers from the girl he now idolized. His father agreed to lend him to aid Korogaru and she agreed to take him on as an apprentice. He has learned basic ninja training (and has the potential to learn doton in the future).
Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru collided with the rhino, bouncing off harmlessly before digging her claws into the dirt to slow to a stop. She charged back in, sprinting forward on all fours before popping up with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head and a punch to the beast’s ear.
He ignored her attack almost like it were nothing. It was weird that he wasn’t moving anymore. Probably another doton attack was impending… Why wasn’t anyone else fighting anymore? The Inuzuka stumbled back, breathing heavily, and wiped some sweat off her brow. Her bangs stuck up from the wetness and dirt that had been under her fingernails. She could barely hear the rhino’s rumbling voice over the pounding of blood in her ears.
The rhino stopped talking but now others were chiming in. The chunin looked around in confusion. The rhino was staring right at her and there was a scroll rolled out on the ground. That guy she’d gotten lost with in the tunnels below the sound village signed the scroll in blood and wandered off. She looked at her brother for guidance but he just turned away to collect the body of his fallen subordinate; his companion limping at his side. Her sister urged her to hurry it up and she started to panic a little. What was she supposed to do?
Nomi lumbered up behind her and nudged her forward with his snout. She scratched her palm and spread the blood over her fingers and stared at the paper for a moment. She seemed more apprehensive than she had all day as she mouthed her own name, trying to sound it out like they’d shown her at the academy. In the end she noticed some other handprints stamped on the scroll and just pressed her own palm down on the paper. She looked up at the rhino to make sure that was ok.
“You’re pretty tough. But so am I. I expect a rematch someday.”
With that, she turned to mount her bear and together, the two followed after her pack on their journey back towards their own turf.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
As the samurai went tumbling back into his friend, Korogaru glanced over her brow furrowed and face contorted in annoyance as she spotted Nomi scratching himself against a tree.
“Awe, come on!” She shouted at the bear to express her disbelief. No matter how much training he had, he was still just a bear and the sense of urgency about this mission seemed to be totally lost on him. “We’re looking for the injured, Nom-”
Korogaru caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye and shifted her head out of the way just in time to avoid the pan. She didn’t see the sickle coming in time and as she stumbled backwards the blade still managed to graze her torso, leaving behind a dripping line of red.
She dropped into a crouch as he came at her again and slipped under his sickle, she’d attempt to tackle him to the ground, grabbing his arm and pushing it to the side while she’d sink her sharp teeth into the man’s neck hoping to taste blood. The Inuzuka was too bent on revenge in the moment to remember the other man she'd been fighting. Luckily she'd be saved by a new arrival.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru stared over the bear at the assistant with a furrowed brow. “Is that the Raikage? I’d love to have just a moment of his time-”
She was distracted by Benjiro’s hushed tone and she realized he must be worried that he will get in trouble for this. Korogaru didn’t really understand what the big deal about the door was; They really ought to have a bigger one for the kage tower anyway. Still, she didn’t want to upset the man more than she already had. “He’s gotten stuck once before. It just took 3-4 days of dieting for him to wiggle out.”
She would try to be as helpful as possible by climbing on top of the bear and bracing her feet and back against either side of the door frame. She pushed with her legs so the wood bowed out just a little further with a worrying creak but nothing was broken… yet. “Ok, Nomi!” She said, “Try it again.”
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
“Korogaru Inuzuka” She responded. If he didn’t recognize her, he should at least recognize her family. The whole lot of them were Cloud Shinobi and all of them had the same white hair like a pack of arctic wolves.
She followed Daichi down the fourth path. It seemed the most logical path so he must know where he’s going, right? She wasn’t really worried about running into anyone else this late so she just walked alongside the others casually with Nomi plodding along behind them.
“Well… I was looking for someone but I don’t think he’s down here anymore.” The chunin hung her head shamefully as she admitted to not possessing the skill to track her sensei in this environment.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru watched from the wall, her wild grey eyes going wide as a sudden burst of chakra sent rocks flying in every direction. She leapt down behind the earthen barrier for cover and signaled her bear to follow her around the side towards where her siblings and sensei had ended up.
She caught her sister’s eye and a plan was silently communicated between the two women who’d hunted together as children. I’ll go high, you go low.
The rhino hadn’t gotten far as he now trotted about in a circular pattern. His words were a challenge; Prove yourself worthy.
Her lips pulled back into an amused snarl as she sprinted forward in a sort of zigzag formation, dropping onto all fours on the approach, as she and Nomi weaved around each other in a rehearsed display of unpredictability. Korogaru approached the rhino with the expectation that she may take some damage if the rhino released another volley of attacks but she was willing to charge through it. Both girl and bear would attempt to slam into the Rhino’s shoulder, hoping to knock it off balance enough that the others could get in a few blows towards it’s underbelly.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
As soon as orders came in from the Jounin behind her, Korogaru would leap off her mount bounding to the right on all fours before veering back to attack the formation from the side. She slid in underneath the man as he swung his frying pan and with her left hand would attempt to grasp his wrist while delivering a powerful uppercut towards the underside of his chin with her right.
If she were able, she would position herself in such a way that her opponent might act as a barrier between herself and his companion who was hanging back ever so slightly. Her goal was to disarm her enemy and throw him off balance before hitting him with a roundhouse kick to the chest which would hopefully send him stumbling into his friend.
She could see that Ryota had gotten the short end of the wishbone and she hoped to handle these two quickly enough to assist him. Meanwhile, Nomi would continue on with the cart in search of others who needed medical attention.
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru stopped and looked back at the door Nomi had poked his head through. The chunin’s brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before she turned back to Benjiro with her response, “I think he can fit… We’ve come in here before.”
Her response clearly indicated a lack of understanding about the rules of the tower. Mrooo. A loud animal groan behind her caused Korogaru to glance over her shoulder at her bear. Nomi had squeezed his shoulders through the door one paw at a time but the pooch around his middle was thicker than the rest and the ninja bear could feel the pressure of the door as he attempted to pull himself forward.
“Hmm…” Korogaru pondered for a moment, “He has been binging on foreign food quite a bit lately, you know how it is.”
The chunin clambered over her bear and braced her back against his back side to push with her legs. Nomi decided to help by clawing at the floor as he desperately tried to pull himself forward, leaving long gouges in the previously immaculate floor. Nomi slid a few inches forward before catching on the door frame which was beginning to bow outward.
Korogaru stood up, panting from the effort with little beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She grinned sheepishly at Benjirro and called through the door from behind her bear. “I think you might have been right. He’s really wedged in there!”
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru looked a little crestfallen but she understood. If she had an excuse to get out of working she’d take it in a heartbeat. Sniffing out explosives was a specialty of hers. In fact, that was what she’d done most of the time during the war with the Mist and she was kind of over it. The Inuzuka glanced this way and that to make sure no one was looking at her before slowing her pace and following after Nomura Benkei as if that were where she was supposed to be headed all along.
“Ehm…” Korogaru winced at the sound and glanced over her shoulder. The instructor wasn’t buying what she was selling. “The gate is over this way.”
Note: The end! lol
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Deep in the forest a call was sounding... he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it.
Korogaru sprinted to the top of the stairs, her bear Nomi trailing just behind her and taking up the entirety of the ledge, causing several shinobi to lean out over the edge or climb up onto the cliff to avoid being knocked off of the mountain and sailing through the clouds. The Inuzuka didn’t seem to notice the inconvenience she’d created for everyone as she burst into the kage tower, beaming brightly.
She took a few steps and looked around. Korogaru didn’t have a particular reason for being there. She hadn’t been summoned or anything but she needed some attention so maybe looking for someone to inconvenience would help alleviate her boredom. Besides, Izuna always had the best stories.
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