Beast Collection: Part 3 [Mission/P]

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The border of Iwagakure drew near and the scenery changed once more. Snow had begun to fall when they first left but as their day progressed and to their surprise, this weather never altered. Nasamea and Mitsu had continued to Iwa at a fast pace, limiting their venture to half a day considering they didn’t necessarily venture through the whole village of Taki. Nasa held a determined expression the whole way, her senses on high alert as she searched for even the slightest movements. They had been dead silent along their journey as well for fear of talking could give them away had Nasa’s scent not already. Nasa stayed close to Mitsu, keeping him at her side in fear that had she turned to look she would find him missing. He was just at as much risk as she, even though he didn’t necessarily smell of her scent. He could still be mistaken for a Bohuki though and treated just the same as her in full form. Kaguya and strong boned or not, these were blood thirsty beings who didn’t mess around; especially when an outsider was in their territory.

Nasamea came to a halt once they hit the mountain range. She panted some as she glanced at Mitsu to see if he had been okay. They had traveled at a fast rate for half the day with only one small break to get something to drink. She listened to their surroundings to pick up any little sound as her eyes scanned the area. She sniffed some, scenting old trails of a unique scent matching the Kisaki and partially growling. The sound was low in her chest and barely audible. She then turned her attention to Mitsu, her eyes meeting his before she whispered, ”this should be the place. We need to find a mountain lion. I’m not summoning my roaches to watch over us and we need to be careful.” A sigh soon escaped her as she looked forward again, ”we’re almost done. After this we can head home. Let us hope we earn enough points and ryo. I need to pay the rent.”

She chuckled a bit, a sign she had obviously been joking as she aimed to enlighten them. Whether it humored him or not, which her joke wasn’t even that funny, Nasamea shrugged it off. She soon looked back at him again and motioned with her head to keep moving. With a swift silent leap she would then be off once more, her form venturing through the remainder of the forest towards the cliffs that lied ahead. There had to be a mountain lion somewhere around. She just hoped it came to them like the snake or at least was sleeping like the crocodile. Any form of felines were sneaky, she knew this much from Shi’s lions and alley cats she had seen around the village.

It was snowing yet again as they were walking to the mountain range. Once at it's foot, Nasa stopped and spoke. He chuckled at her little joke and they continued on up through the mountains to search for the mountain lion. Mitsu figured if he found a rabbit or something they could just use it for bait, so he started looking for one of those too.

It was about five minutes of searching had Mitsu found a rabbit sitting there nibbling on some foliage. He took a kunai from his pouch and threw it as the head. It was a harder target, but it would mean less blood loss. Maybe it could even be a light snack for Nasa. In fact, Mitsu decided he would do that, if he caught the rabbit of course. The kunai hit right between the eyes. A little blood spurt out and he body flew back a foot or two. He walked over and picked it up by its ears and lifted the corpse and looked over at Nasa with a smirk. "Quick snack?" Mitsu did have a look of seriousness about his face when he spoke though, actually meaning he wasn't joking around. Whether or not Nasa took the small offer he would have to tell her his plan. "I plan on using this little guy for a bit of bait. Carrying it on our person would be the best bet, although the most dangerous. One would have to watch the other's back, literally. We wouldn't want a surprise attack."

A shot to the head murdered the rabbit on the spot. It had let out a shrill cry of pain after being struck; something Nasamea found weird about the patient and quiet beasts. When Mitsu walked over to pick it up, she followed. Their feet made slush sounds in the snow as small patterns fell from the white sky above. The mountain was covered in snow, making Nasamea think that it was a wasteland and reminding her of how much she missed her warm bed at home. They were almost done though. One more beastie and they could return home. Better yet, this last one would probably be fairly easy aside from being fast. Nasamea remembered when her and Shi caught the saber toothed tiger for the Damiyo's wife; maybe this feline would be the same.

Nasamea had obviously been lost in her thoughts at this point. Her eyes seemed to be settled on Mitsu, a faint smile across her face before he offered the meal. She gave him a disgusted look and soon peered off over the distance. It was white for miles on end. What if Konoha was snow covered as well? She figured she would stay snuggled up in her bed for the next few weeks; only leaving her house to hunt until the snow passed.

The sound of a snap quickly drew her from her thoughts; her animal instincts already starting to kick in. At first she thought maybe she was hearing things but when another was heard she quickly turned her head to the top of a nearby cliff; her eyes widening at what she saw. Up above them crouched a mountain lion waiting to spring, it's teeth bared and face formed into an angry glare as it gazed at Mitsu. It was obviously ready to pounce and so Nasamea had to be fast. Once again she would be shoving him aside so he could dodge danger which was okay with her, she was faster and could easily heal faster.

With a sudden launch of power from her legs, Nasamea withdrew a kunai and head straight for Mitsu. She held a determined gaze across her face and the familiar black markings all over her body. She believed her expression had the look to kill, possibly startling Mitsu when her eyes took on a red color. She was upon him in seconds but rather than aiming to harm she suddenly shoved him away with her momentum. Not even a second afterwards is when the mountain lion came crashing down. It's claws pierced scratched at Nasa's should as she dodged, tearing her cloak and causing blood droplets to form on the snow. She immediately did a 360, turning towards the beast with her kunai raised and eyes blazing red. Chakra would start to form at her shoulder as she began to heal. Meanwhile, snarls erupted from her throat as she prepared to attack this raging lion. It was stalling though, it's form tensing as it evened out it's footing; waiting to assault her. She held her ground though.

"If I distract..." she said quietly to Mitsu, her eyes never leaving the lurking lion, "knock it down so I can use the scroll....but watch its claws and especially...its teeth."

The mountain lion then snarled at her, causing her to let out an open fanged snarl back and pissing the beast off. It leaped at her but was to slow to attack. Nasamea turned tail and began to run on instinct, her goal to run in circles if she had to. Hopefully Mitsu would attack it by then so she could use the scroll. Plans ran through her head as she ran; worry building up in her core.

Mitsu heard the snap of a random branch as well, and looked at Nasa's face and turned to see too. Well, looks like they were praying upon the same little animal. What luck for him! slightly sarcastic, but also happy, because they don't have to look for one anymore. Mitsu got a little excited, because he may have to face these during the chuunin exams. If they were really this easy, Then Mitsu would have nothing to fear, but then again, he had a special Jounin with him. Soon he was shoved out of the way, prepared for it during the short moment he saw Nasa rushing at him. Her look had an intent to kill, but it didn't phase Mitsu, she was just serious right now, perfectly natural. He prepared his body for an impact, so not to get injured. He took the shove and rolled on the ground to slow the momentum suddenly gained, and then took to his feet in a low to the ground position and slid a bit longer than expected. This gave Mitsu a bit of and idea.

He didn't see Nasa get hit, but he noticed the blood on the ground. There wasn't much, but Mitsu was slightly worried. Nasa hadn't gotten much blood, so her healing would most likely be slowed. Mitsu was thinking of a plan when Nasa spoke. A distraction...perfect idea Nasa, I'll be sure to thank you after this. Let's hope it works. "Nasa, hand me the scroll, I've got a plan. If it doesn't work, I'm going to be close to the lion so you will need to be ready to distract it if i mess up." Mitsu took the scroll she handed to him and then threw the rabbit while the lion was looking. Mitsu was dangling it in his hands, taunting the lion so it would fall for it. Surely enough, it went after the easy meal and snarled before going after the rabbit. Mitsu had very little time. he tossed the rabbit so the lion's attention would be drawn towards it and not notice him running. As soon as he tossed the rabbit he took off running to the lion. He then opened the scroll and took a slide under the lion for the few seconds it was nomming on the rabbit and slid right underneath. The snow had porvided a loss of friction, letting him slide quickly and a gradual slowing of momentum, instead of sliding for a few seconds then to a stop. If the lion took notice now, he could have been mauled and maimed, and probably killed on the spot and make a tasty meal with some strong bones to chew on for some time. But the rabbit was slightly larger, and provided the prefect distraction for him. He put on the seal on the lion and the lion was gone in a puff of smoke. "See? That was easy! Oh and thanks for the idea. Saying distraction gave me the idea. I thought to myself 'Why she she risk hurting herself to distract it when I have one in my hands!' and that was when it donned on me. Anyway, lets get going home, I'm tired and got things to do, like sleep for two days straight. Haha." Mitsu was actually a bit nervous and surprised that he pulled all of that off without hesitation. he had far too much he still needed to learn. He got lucky back there, and to some that would have been a stupid move had they not known exactly how to do it. But soon they headed off, Mitsu giving Nasa his spare cloak to use to replace hers.

On moment she snarling at the beast, the next she was throwing a scroll, and afterwards the mountain lion ended up in that said scroll. It all happened to fast and mostly left Nasamea standing their baffled. She felt kind of useless considering Mitsu did most of the work; his tone happy after completing the task. Nasamea soon came back to the world and smiled a tad. Her lips then twitched a bit before the wind casted a smell across her nose. She grew a straight face as she then sniffed the air and turned towards the base of the mountain. Mitsu had already started to walk away when she did this, the smell preoccupying her before she let out a low growl. It caused her chest and body to rumble as though she had consumed the mountain lion within her being; her eyes staring at the base. They had company. She then turned and made her way towards Mitsu, his cloak surrounding her and keeping her warm, before she moved a bit faster.

'We need to stick to the top of the cliffs and exit down in a bit, we have company" she said as she tried to push him to walk faster as well. She seemed determined to get the hell out of there right now and prepared to run all the way back to Konoha at a near full fledged speed. She wasn't ready to fight these odds, not yet, and Mitsu would be placed in a possible danger she didn't want him in. These could be full fledged S rank monsters compared to her; nothing she wished to mess with.

"We need to run straight back as fast as we can and not look back, especially if they catch my scent. Since I run faster, I will slow enough to stick by you, but you're going to have to run as fast as you can. If you're to tired when we get back then I won't mind carrying you to my place. But right now we need to move."

After her serious message was passed she pulled up the hood of her cloak to where it stayed around her head and began to move into a light jog. Once Mitsu was running as well they would pick up speed and begin to run as fast as they could. Nasamea would push him to his limit if she had to, her eyes carefully watching him though to make sure he was okay. They would need to race straight back and she wouldn't mind him staying with her if he needed to. He could have her bed and she could set up the couch if it came to him sleeping over. Maybe he would be fine though and could recover fast. A warm cup of tea could heal just about anyone on her opinion; maybe they both needed that and she was decent at making tea.

Nasamea and Mitsu raced straight back from the Iwagakure border to Konoha. Nasamea had summoned ten roaches to watch over them, her senses on high alert the whole way. It didn't seem as though they were followed but monsters were excellent predators; especially the higher ranked ones. They could be trackers and sensors too, making it even trickier. They both traveled in silence though, the sounds of their feet and the wilderness being the only thing they heard as they moved. No sign from the roaches either. No breaks, a straight run, and soon it grew dark. The two of them would have to travel through the darkness for quite some time too; Nasamea feeling her muscles grow tired from the strain and her mind from thinking so much. Her awareness never dropped though and soon enough the familiar forests of Konoha would come into picture. By then the moon held high in the sky, the stars all around, and the temperature low and cool. She started to see her breath after a while but they wouldn't have to stay out in the snow for much longer. Konoha's gate came into picture and soon they were home. All they would have to do is go through the checkpoint and decide what to do from there. Nasamea de-summoned her roaches as they neared.

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