Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( Guys, I promise to post soon. I've just been having issues with 'lalala, don't want to pay attention for longer than 10 seconds' brain when it comes to posting, so I'll try to cough one up sometime this week. Hopefully, it'll get things going again. I'm also waiting for any leftovers to post about the whole 'OMG! things are blowing up!' event. wink ))

Kinu almost fell out of bed as she was awakened by a bomb detonating not far from her apartment building. The next second she jumped again as the heavy book she had been reading before she fell asleep hit the floor. Once again she had fallen asleep while reading. Damn! Then a second explosion shook the building and she quickly realized now was not the time to be worrying about the way she fell asleep. With amazing speed and agility Kinu only took a few seconds to get up from bed and dressed, yes she actually even managed to tie her hair up in that short period of time. As usual she only slowed down when it came to her weapon kit. Standing there undecisive and still terribly groggy she held up her belt with fighting gear and another belt with pouches filled with medical gear. The third blow finally woke her up enough to knock some sense into Kinu. Immediately she dropped the weapons and strapped the advanced first-aid kit to her waist.

It didn't take Kinu long before she found someone who needed medical assistance. At this point she had had a chance to see that this was no mere evacuation practice anymore, smoke pillars could be seen all over the town and new bangs could be heard every now and then. The ground shook and people were panicing, it seemed like full on war had suddenly broken out in the before oh so peaceful streets of Konoha. Her first patience was a little girl who Kinu soon realized more needed comfort than actual medical assistance. After giving the little girl a pat on the head and some comforting words as well as a point in the direction Kinu thought she should be moving, Kinu soon moved on. Sure, it didn't feel good to leave a lone youngster all on her own, but these were Konoha kids, ninja children a big part of them, they should be able to handle it. At least that was what Kinu was hoping when she rushed on to find more seriously injured villagers.

Gaen was with the lesser number of his family. They were at the outer boundaries of the forest, patroling, trying to find the ones responsible. In some ways, they were a last ditch effort to protect the mighty village.
Gaen was posted close to his mother, a special jounin who found fame with the invention of the Tod Wolke jutsu. Gaen himself was siting on a branch, being fueled by a soldier pill. He already had his Zehntousend Krallen armed and ready should he be attacked. The spines on his back russled making a sound like a rattle snake. He heard a similar sound come back from the direction of his mother.
Gaens' father, the Green man, was keeping watch on a large section of the forest with a mixture of shadow clones and the Grune Mann jutsu. With this active, Gaens' father felt no pain, could move at ludicrous speeds and deliver devistating and surgical attacks. Being the most advanced ninja in the art, he could keep it up for a little more than an hour before having to rest. Gaen would hear the brief rattling sound from his left, an update on his actions.
Gaen had his eyes open and ears strained to detect anything that may be amiss. He knew the forest birds and animals, knew what sounds were right and what sights were wrong.
Keep a vigil son. Gaen heard in the rattling from his right.
Don't distract the boy dear! He heard from his left.
Go take a lap around the forest!
Fine! I just did!
I love you honey.
Mom... Gaen interupted.
Hmm?
What's for supper, I didn't get a chance to eat when I got home.
Boiled chard. There is pumpkin mash on the side.
Oooh, pumpkin. You hear that dad?
Yup. Some chuunin have come by for a situation report.
Okay, so, pumpkin you say?
Not now hon, but you can have some desert if you catch an enemy of the country.
Gwee!
The rattling in the forest died down as the conversation reached its' end. Gaen was now driven to gretter sesory acuteness by the promise of desert.

Roque wasn't surprised when Kae hopped up beside him, just a little defensive since he and Kiesel had managed to find six more explosive tags, and they were all slapped onto Roques' body. The armour was keeping them from being activated, but Roque was still touchy about being too close to people at present.
"I can live with that. Kiesel and I were actually heading your way anyway." Roque gave a glance down at his obsidian coloured body and the tags stuck to it. "Managed to pick up some exploding souvenirs along the way too. My armour disrupts chakra around it though, the tags can't go off until I let them or they're removed." He explained. Regardless of his secure feelings of how well the armour worked, he was jumping high in order to avoid the crowds of fleeting ninja below him.

"We're heading for the Hokage Tower, I figured that's where you would have gone. " Kiesel added, noting the surprise in Kaes' look. "I'm Kiesel by the way, if you hadn't figured. This is my real form, a little more practical than a kitten in some circumstances." She said bluntly.

"Don't be rude Kiesel, she's still our sensei." Roque said with a certain amount of calm. "Regardless, we're almost at the tower. Change back into a kitten until we're out and about again." He took Kiesel by the paw and she returned to her smaller kitten persona with a puff of smoke and a 'humf' of dissatisfaction.

"Mew!"

Yuki arrived at Hokage Tower only moments after Kae had. He had seen her and other jounin around as they had undegone a group lecture the day before the students arrived. At her partial smile, Yuki returned with an upward nod. Information was traded between many there as discussions were springing up and dissolving rapidly. The sense of urgency hurried every dialogue. No tallies or records were made, so it wasn't known who came or went during the confusion. Throuhg the multiple voices, Yuki understood that all teams were to be assembled at the tower.

Sending the intangible message along to his metal clone, Yuki walked while talking with a few ANBU members. Most of their speech involved trading potential theories on what was happening, who was doing it, and their motivation for such an act. Conspiracies juggled together with solid facts made circles in the minds of Yuki and the others.

Yuki's clone was racing back to the apartment. The metal construct, possessing the conciousness of and having an un-inhibited mental connection with Yuki himself, he received the message about gathering his genin. The metallic form concentrated chaka into his feet and eyes, enhancing his speed, agility, sight, and observation. The doppelganger landed atop the roof of the apartment building where the original Yuki was minutes earlier. Scanning the general area, he spotted two of his students. Ran, found. Batafurai, found. Isaaku, pending. Yuki's replica lept down in front of the girls who still seemed confused but were helping.

"I'm glad I've located you two. You are to return to Hokage Tower with me once Isaaku is found. have either of you seen him?" Even with its enhanced vision, Yuki's clone couldn't pick him out of the escaping people. He's probably helping somewhere. While I commend him for his effort, I wish he would've stayed closer to the apartment area.

The actual Yuki, still conversing and strategizing back at the Hokage Tower, received the mental return message from his clone. I'm glad we were able to get two at once. Tiem is of the essence, so Isaaku must be located swiftly.

~~~~~~~~

Tonbo was nearing the end of his supply of detonatable tags, and he had recently encountered a few Chunin. They were dispatched easily enough, though them finding him impeded his ability to move about freely and execute the bombs properly. He made every attempt to only knock the opposing ninja unconcious, but he was forced to detonate a paper bomb from under a particularly valinat Chunin. The detonation of his tags followed a more strict timed pattern, though it seemed random when mixed with the frequency of Berai's.

By now, the majority of the population was en route to the undergound shelters. While weaving throughout the city, he spied a Jonin notice something moving about in the shadows, Tonbo himself. Quickly executing the handsigns, he utilized the undetectable-unless-expected genjutsu of false invisibility. After a few moments of inspection, the Jonin continued onward. Heh, I almost wasn't prepared for a higher-level ninja on ground level. I'm glad that that didn't turn into a battle, ofr it would have cost me a great deal of time. I should probably be heading the the rendezvous soon. With that he repeated a single handsign several times before forming a different kata. In a finale of sorts, the remainder of Tonbo's tags detonated simultaneously. Due to the citizens filtering through the streets, the loss of life and incidence of severe injuries was much greater than it would have been. I will never comprehend how Berai can derive enjoyment from the slaughter of the innocent...

Berai, Tonbo usually let him do most of the talking in their conversations, and Berai's cynical and sadistic attitude was a perfect match with Tonbo's more reserved hatred and wistfulness. Tonbo began to wonder if remainign concealed during this event would delay his reputation to come. Will the ANBU initially assume I was killed? Will they possibly think that I was captured and tortured? Well, they'll probably realize if they investigate my room. The slip of paper containing Tonbo's name was later filled in with a short Haiku below. It read: 'Black domination; The flame which will flicker on; Outcast memory' Tonbo continued to make his way to the meeting place just inside the wall.

Ran blinked as Yuki's clone appeared before them, and stated that they were to go to the Hokage Tower when Isaaku was found. She shook her head slightly, then glanced around as the sound of explosions dimmed. Was it over? Attention returned to the clone of her Sensei, she coughed. "No- we were actually discussing whether to search for him, or just heading for the tower." She blinked and covered her nose and mouth when a building nearby fell over, marking how close the criminals had really gotten to them- or at least the damage from the explosions.

Holding her breath a little, Ran worked on waiting for the dust to clear a bit so she wouldn't erupt in a coughing fit. She really needed to work on control, or it would be her downfall. "Let's search for him." she said through the fabric of an arm-warmer, still filtering the air to her lungs.


(( Makes sense ))

Kae's clone observed Kinu, noting the shaking, and contemplating on how things would turn out. Eventually, she decided, and nodded lightly. "You should stick with your team. I know for a fact that there's a few Jounin that may need your attention in the Hokage Tower. Finish up here, and start heading there. It will be only three of us, anyways, as Gaen is more then likely working with his parents." She glanced around as the noises of the city, distinctly marking a time where it was noticeble that there were less explosions, and sometimes even none.

"Finish soon, and meet at the Hokage Tower. I'm going to go see what's up." the clone disappeared in a poof, leaving Kinu to finish with the head wound, and to head to the tower.

Kae herself looked around for a moment, before shifting from where she'd been standing to go talk to some ANBU. They'd definitely noticed it, too, and she wondered about the teams out to search for the criminals.

Isaaku was just out of sight of the his cell's group. He gasped as a building collapsed near them. He threw together the katas for the tortoise shell again. Lifting the building before it could get half way down to the ground. The pillar was wide enough to keep it stable for a while, but it wasn't quite tall enough to easily make the building escape friendly. He ran around his corner, leaping through a window, only to nearly crash when he spotted his cell. He tossed a kunai towards them to attract their attention, but he still went inside to make sure the building was empty. Which it fortunately was.

He swung back in and landed in front of his kunai, a hand raised to the side of his face, "Howdy!"