Kuniko in trouble! A prince appears... (IO)

Mission:

Kuniko was lying on his back at the foot of a tree, nursing a large bruise on his left arm. It was still morning, and a light fog had descended upon the forest. The mist wasn't blinding to common eyes but Kuniko still hoped it might hide his position from the beast. He was wearing a rather fashionable Hakama of a muted purple color, which was now unfortunately covered in dirt and a splatter of blood. Kuniko's long dark hair was practically a mess, but he was managing to quietly straighten it back out to keep it from getting damaged, while also observing his surroundings. 

Three meters away was a bloody arm, severed at the elbow from its owner. Kuniko instantly recognized the bright green cloth around the arm as belonging to Ryoanko, a fellow genin who was on the same team as Kuniko. "Ryo-San..." Kuniko let out the brief whisper while thinking of his fallen squad mates. As the sound of branch snapping echoed through the woods, Kuniko thought of how he ended up there that day...

~ ~ ~

A week earlier, Kuniko had been travelling back to Hoshigakure for the first time in years. His immediate family were weak, unimportant members of the vast Hyuuga Clan that had deemed him fit only to provide assistance and possible protection to a group of traveling merchants. Kuniko's three years of service to the merchants had helped hone his love of beauty, fashion, and aesthetics but left him rather lacking when it came to physical combat. The merchants in question were expert weavers, barbers, and makeup artisans, and after three years they had decided to go their separate ways. 


A genin team was sent to retrieve Kuniko and escort him back home. Ryoanko, Chinatsu, and the jounin Keiji made up the team, with Kuniko to be the fourth member. They had picked up Kuniko at a hot springs near the country borders, and began the long trek back home. Their leader, Keiji, was an unconventional man who had taken up a second ninja mission to track down a beast which had been terrorizing the Tachibana Wildlife Reserve. Perhaps he wanted to kill two birds with one stone by taking on a fourth member of the team so he could proceed with his mission to hunt the beast. The genin team would have to pass through the forest on the way to Hoshi after all. Kuniko was never really sure what Keiji was thinking. 


Shortly after arriving in the forest at dawn, the team widened their formation to cover more ground. Kuniko hadn't been in any real danger for almost three years, so his guard was down. The other genin where fresh out of the academy and were too eager for action. Ryoanko in particular was practically shaking Kuniko and shouting for him to "activate his eyeballs" so they could track down this creature already. Keiji had given him such a poor description of the beat that Kuniko didn't know what to look for with his Byakugan. Perhaps if the jounin had impressed upon Kuniko the sheer size of the creature, Kuniko wouldn't have mistaken the behemoth for a small hill and cave when they ran into it. 


Keiji was the first to go. In the light mist which had fallen over the forest he also had mistaken the beast for apart of the environment and jumped literally right into its cavernous mouth. Before the genin of the squad understood what was even going on Chinatsu was sliced in half, vertically, without even letting out a scream. Kuniko and Ryoanko tried to flee, but the beast was incredibly fast and able to keep up with them with ease. Kuniko would describe the creature as like a gigantic panther, with legs thicker than tree trunks, a mohawk like an unkempt wheat field, and curled horns like demon bull.


Kuniko was able to see Ryoanko jump up towards the top of the trees with the beast on his heels. He didn't make it far, but his scream echoed through the forest over the crashing of tree trunks uprooted by the giant creature. Kuniko's Byakugan allowed him to see the giant monster descend from above after having dispatched Ryoanko. Kuniko did a backwards flip to avoid the impact, but was struck by wooden debris and sent flying. The beast had left a small crater where it had landed. Between the mist and the dust and blood, the beast had lost sight of the last remaining Genin. 

~~~

Kuniko had finished reminiscing with only seconds to spare as the beast leaped through the trees towards him. Kuniko was able to see the beast coming through the trees and mist thanks to the Byakugan. "I have to stay focused on surviving", thought Kuniko. The monster had attacked Ryoanko in the upper branches of the trees, and must have smelled where Kuniko had run off to before leaping down after him. The surviving genin had already used a lot of his chakra keeping the Byakugan active while searching the forest and he was getting tired. The wooden debris that knocked into Kuniko had also weakened him. In this moment Kuniko regretted not regularly keeping up with his training and exercises. 

Kuniko rolled backwards up onto his feet and leaped away from the beast as it came pouncing down. Though the creature had only just missed Kuniko with its claws, the young man was still flung back by the force of the attack. Kuniko managed to reach out and grab a branch, then used his momentum to swing around, release his grip, and land on top of it. Kuniko now had a full view of the beast before him. He could immediately tell that there was something terribly odd about its chakra system, but had no time to dwell on it before the beast jumped towards him once more. 

If Kuniko was any faster he may have been able to dodge the attack but the most he could do was leap towards the beast in such a way that he was able to avoid its teeth or claws. He slammed into the large shoulder of the creature and bounced down onto the ground at its feet. The blow knocked the wind out of Kuniko but at least he had avoided being shredded by the attack. But before Kuniko could raise himself off the ground, the giant beast placed its right paw down on Kuniko's legs, pinning him to the spot. 

The giant claws of the creature were doing a number on Kuniko's clothes, and were dangerously close to his perfect long hair. The beast was currently looking down at Kuniko with a grin, like a cat pinning down a mouse. Kuniko quickly grabbed up his hair from the reach of the long claws at his waist and cradled it like a child to his chest. His hair after all was more precious to him than his own life. Truly Kuniko believed that he would rather take a fatal blow and leave a beautiful corpse than be hideously deformed and survive. The present situation didn't seem as though it would accommodate for either possibility though as the beast began to lower its face towards Kuniko. 

As Kuniko looked up, he saw what looked to be a glimmer of intelligence in the beasts eyes. The creature was staring right back at him and was withholding the final blow for some reason. It's gaze was transfixed on Kuniko's eyes and it gave a powerful snort, as if almost in triumph. The powerful burst of air from the beast's snort blew back Kuniko's bangs, revealing the small X of the Hyuuga curse mark on his forehead. Upon noticing the curse mark, the giant beast suddenly had an expression of what seemed like disappointment followed by unbridled rage. As its lips pulled back into a snarl, Kuniko shouted "Someone please save me!"


Word Count: 1350

Somewhere in the Castle surrounded by forestry, a wolf howled. The sound hung over the old stone castle, like a banner of mourning. The taijutsu master raised his white eyes from the book he was reading and trembled like a leaf. Though the library of the castle that was to serve as the new Hyuuga compound in Hoshi was snug and warm, Ayato could not stop shivering. Something about the bestial cry of the animal took the ANBU Commander of his current location and dropped in a haunted forest of the mind, chased naked by a pack wolves.

When the familiar screamed into the night again, Ayato closed the leather-covered book he was reading - a hundred-year-old fiction about Hyuuga’s on the moon and a magic eye of theirs, written by a long-dead Hyuuga from Konoha. The young boy shielded a yawn with the back of a pale bony hand. The reading lantern was flickering, the oil within all but gone. 

As the first beams of sunlight entered through the windows. The taijutsu expert had been at through the dark of the night, but nothing out of the ordinary in there. Ayato of Clan Hyuuga was never a big fan of sleeping.

Those legs of his were sore and heavy, too heavy to move as he made to rose from the bench. With a rough callused finger, he massaged some of the vitality back to them and limped heavily on the table where the scholar was snoring softly. He was using an open book as a pillow in front of him.

Ayato glanced at the title “The Life of Akihana Akari as Queen of Hoshi.” No wonder he had fallen asleep. “Takeshita,” The boy said softly. The branch member jerked up blinking, confused the curse seal on his forehead showcased by the flicking light of the lantern.

“I’m off to breakfast. Been eager to taste the pancakes since I took this cook into my service. See that you return these books to the selves and be gentle with them, the parchment is dry. The “Clan in the Moon” is quite rare, and whatever it is you are reading is the only I’ve ever seen.” Not that this was bad by any means. His librarian gaped at him, still half asleep. With a soft sigh, the Byakugan heir repeated himself and clapped the man on the shoulders and left him to his task.

As he took his first step in the outside world, Ayato took a deep breath of crisp morning air and began his laborious descent of the steep serpentine steps of the old tower that was going to serve as the library in the new Hyuuga compound. It wasn’t the fastest pace, to be honest, the corkscrewed steps on the exterior of the tower were long and narrow, while his legs were still and sore.

The dawn had not yet clear the walls of Summerhall, the Hyuuga compound in Hoshi but his kinsmen were already hard at it. Seijuro’s voice drifted up to him. “The boy is a long time dying. He is certainly taking his sweet time though.”

Ayato glanced down and saw Seijuro standing with the Prince he was sworn to protect with his life from any harm, as Genin swarmed around them. “At least he dies quietly.” The Byakugan prince replied. “It is that mutt of his that makes the noise. I barely closed an eyelid last night.” 

Seijuro cast a monstrous black shadow across the hard-packed earth. “I could silence the familiar if you want, Akihito-sama.” He said through a set of crooked teeth. His boy student took a gentle fist stance. Locks of black hair falling to his shoulders. He tested that with an empty thrust at the morning air. Behind him, the training yard rang to the thud of punching bags, ragdolls, and training.

The notion seemed to delight the Hyuuga prince. “Kill the dog sensei!” He shouted, “This family is so infested with mutts, they’d never miss one.”

Ayato hopped off the final step of the yard. “I beg to differ sweet cousin.” He said “The Mukai’s can count past three. Unlike some Hyuuga princes, I can think on the top of my head.” Akihito had the decency to blush at least.

“Was that the voice of the dead?” Seijuro let out and feigned awe “Cursed land of spirits.” The auburn-haired Hyuuga laughed as he when the bodyguard sensei of his did that usual bullshit. Ayato was not going to get provoked by that.

“Right in front of you.” The tall man look at him with those onyx eyes and pretended to notice. “Oh is that not the great Ayato.” He saluted him with a hand meeting his bright blue beret emblazoned with a Hoshi star. “I saw some squirrel in your yard. Careful they do not scratch you, that would put you to sleep for the next six months.”

“I am in no mood for your insolence today.” The taijutsu expert turned to his cousin. “Akihito, it is past time you visited the Mukais and offered them your comfort.”

Akihiko looked as petulant as a boy prince can look. “What for? It is done, the boy had his eyes destroyed. My comfort won’t bring them back now.”

“No it won’t” Ayato admitted, almost guilty.” But it is expected of you.”

“The hell it is. The Mukais are nothing to me. Some base-born filth family that started from the loins of a Hyuuga bastard a hundred years past.” The brat had the right of, the Mukais barely claimed any distant kinship to the Hyuuga, and in extent any manifestation to the Kekkei Genkai. Theirs was a lesser family, specialized in breeding familiars. 

Useless mouth to feeds, freeloaders, opportunistic lot. Everyone had told him that and more, but when they had asked for shelter Ayato had given them nonetheless. They were his people, and they had a young boy with them. No older than eight and with a pair of white eyes of the Byakugan, that could have come from any drop of blood remained in him.

And someone hurt him for it. 

“Besides, I cannot stand the wailing of women.” A better man would have brushed this defiance under the rag. Ayato was not a better man. The back of his hand caught his cousin hard across the face. “The boy's cheek began to flare and his nose drip blood.

The boy prince should have stopped at baseborn filth.

“Open your fucking mouth.” Ayato said, “And you got another one coming.”

“What is the matter with you?” Akihito exclaimed. “We are a family! I'm telling mother!”Ayato hit again, this time harder. Now both his cheeks reddened.

“You tell your mother. Go tell grandfather too.” Ayato told him.”But first you go to our kinsmen, and you drop to your knees and announce how very devastated you are, and that if they ever need anything they can come to you. Do you understand me?”

The boy looked as if he was about to burst into tears. The nod Ayato wanted to see was there though, albeit weak. He ran away from the yard, holding his cheek. The taijutsu expert watched him as he went.

A shadow fell across his face, he turned to find Seijuro looming overhead like a mountain. The scales of his dark armor seemed to drink the light of the sun. The man, in every way, was a darker version of Kyousuke, Ayato’s deceased sensei and former Kage.

“The boy will remember that, young heir.” The Jounin warned him. His laugh turning into a hollow rumble through his teeth.

“I hope so,” Ayato replied. “Be a good sensei and remind him if he forgets.” He glimpsed around the training yard. “Do you know where I might find my uncle?

“Shiki is breaking fast with his wife Lady Hanako.”

“Excellent,” Ayato said. He gave Seijuro a courteous nod and walked away whistling. He pitied the first shinobi who would take on the titan today. The man had a temper bigger than he was.

 A plate of cold pancakes along with other snacks had been laid out in the morning room of the Great Hall. Shiki sat at the table with Hanako, talking in low hushed voices. The intermarried cousins looked like peas in a pond, black locks of hair falling to their shoulders, the same white-lavender eyes.

“Is grandfather still abed?” Ayato asked as he seated himself uninvited at the table. But this was his house now, so he’d do as bloody well pleased.

“My lord father has not slept at all.” She told him “He is with the Mukai’s. He has taken their sorrow deeply at heart.” Hanako peered at him with the same expression of distaste she had masked her face ever since Ayato came into the world and replaced -the unborn yet- Akihito in the line of succession.

“Big heart, your lord grandfather, hope it doesn’t burst in his chest someday.” Shiki Hyuuga said with a lazy smile. He always had smiles for Ayato despite not knowing when to stop joking. During the long years of his childhood in Konoha, only Shiki had ever shown him the smallest measure of affection or respect, and for that Ayato was willing to forgive him almost anything.

A servant approached. “Caramel syrup, and sugar powder to go with the pancakes,” Ayato told him. “And two bowls of those blueberries. Ah and black tea to make my digestion easier. Some bacon too. Burn it until it turns black as my aunt’s heart over there. “ The servant bowed and moved on. 

“Do you have news of Neji Mukai, cousin?” Little Ryuho asked. 

“I stopped by his room last night,” Ayato announced. “Little has changed, the doctor thinks this is good.” 

“I don’t want him to die Ayato! “ The girl said. “He plays hide and seek with me all the time as Akihito used to before he became Genin.” She had all of her mothers' beauty but none of her nature.

“There was a Neji from the branch family during that war,” Shiki said. “Turned into a meat shield protecting Hinata of the main house. Seems to be an unlucky name.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ayato told them as the servant brought his plate. He spread syrup over the pancake with the end of his butter knife.  Hanako was watching him with white lavender eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Why maybe your daughter gets what she wishes for. The doctor thinks the boy may survive.” He took a sip of black tea.

Ryuho gave a happy gasp that then turned into a nervous smile, but the glance that passed between her parents momentarily did not go unnoticed from the Ayato’s eyes. Then Hanako moved her gaze back to the table. “The gods are cruel, the boy will suffer more if left in such pain.”

“The doctors think that if he to move on to the afterlife, he would have done so. Three days and no change.” 

“Will he get better?” Ryuho asked, timeously.

“He will be blind little one,” Ayato told her. “The bad man who attacked him also shattered his spine.” And would have tone much worse had not Neji’s spiritual companion get in the way. Ayato remembered the red saliva oozing down from the gray wolf’s blood-encrusted muzzle, as it stood by Neji’s s broken body. It was the familiar’s cry that led Ayato and the rest of the search party for the boy to their location, deep within the Tachibana Wildlife Preserve. 

“The man!?” Hanako frowned. “Neji ran into some creature in the forest.”

Ayato took a bite of that crispy bacon and chewed. “I would like to see a list of animals that remove eyes with surgical precision.” 

"There is a someone after the Byakugan, is this what you mean?" Sharp as a blade that Hanako. "I don't want my children out leaving my side in the castle, even for a minute."

“There is always someone after the Byakugan." Ayato picked a blueberry with the end of his fork. "But yes, do that, You all stay in here until the threat has been dealt with.”

“We should stay?” Hanako echoed “What about you don’t tell you are planning on going out there getting yourself killed.”

Ayato replied with a shrug that accentuated the twist of his thin shoulders. In truth, Ayato was a man on a mission. A Hyuuga branch member from faraway was coming in to join their Clan in Hoshi. He had sent a team of Genin to escort him back across the border. With a Hyuuga predator around he had left deep within the orders, they should prioritize Kuniko's safe return above everything else. But knowing Keiji -The Lead Jounin for the mission- and how beneath him put escort missions, the exact opposite of that was very likely to happen. Ayato would have to go himself as well.

"No monster posses any threat to me, not even a Bijuu. I have survived you back in Konoha remember?"

"I don't have to stay here and hear this. Ryuho let us excuse ourselves." She rose from the bench and took off, her long dress and baby girl trailing after her.

Shiki smiled, but his eyes did not. "Sometimes I wonder why to invite us here if you hold so little love for your family."

Ayato's mouth was full of blueberries and pancakes. "Family comes first, uncle.”

----------------------------------------------

The Byakugan heir moved into the forest engulfed in the pale mist of the morning, his sable trimmed cloak moving softly behind him. Ayato did not need his Byakugan to notice the bestial print across the stream.

However, he would most likely need to find Kuniko Hyuuga. Ayato was not going back to Summerhall without him. One way or another. When the young branch Hyuuga member and the Genin Team escorting him had not shown up to their rendezvous point, it left little to the imagination as might have happened. 

The Hyuuga nobleman moved on the opposite side of the bank to examine the print further. Most definitely a beast. Ayato peered closer scouring the hard-packed earth until a second small crater identified itself. The boy stepped closer and continued until he had a solid trail to follow.

Crushed branches and caved bushes through the otherwise untouched Tachibana Wildlife Preserve created a track not difficult to follow.  At the end of it, Ayato happened at what appeared to be a battle scene. A bag of kunai lazily rested against a round-shaped rock. Ayato noticed a short log on the ground then, red color oozing
from it. It took him a long moment to realize it was a severed arm. The young man felt his stomach turn and almost threw up his breakfast.

A good twenty meters away, three hundred pounds of scaled muscle and ugliness loomed over a white-eyed youth. The monster's own eyes were yellow, open but unaware. Ayato crept as close as he dared, the dirt seemed to soften upon contact with his feet muting any sounds his footsteps might have made. When he was close enough, his knees jerked upwards and b He dashed towards the bright scaled horned monster trying to blank it from the rear.

"Alright you piece of shit, let go of the boy."  

A disc of chakra formed around the palm of his hands - Gentle Fist Art Sever- as he thrust into the back of the beast's neck. Blood sprouted out from the gap between the scales, steaming in the cold morning air. Ayato took a quick step backward when a massive claw swung at his face in retaliation. The Fuinjutsu Barrier Ayato had placed on himself earlier that day tanked the blow, and shattered immediately after with a loud crack.

That was closer than he would have liked.
 
The white scaled giant with the black strip across his forehead gaped at him. Azure colored set of fangs opened and then...Laugher. Deep, boastful, taunting laughter. "Boy.." The monster let out, as the gash in the nape of its neck began to heal. "I thought thith one wath a girl from the way he thcleamed."

WC: 2784

Kuniko's cry for help was answered no more than a moment after he screamed. His master, Ayato, had arrived. It had been years since Kuniko was last allowed to gaze upon his young lord, but now was the sweetest sight of all as the young man came to Kuniko's rescue. A look of brief elation passed over his face at the sight. Meanwhile, the great beast had its attention caught by the daring interloper for Kuniko to formulate an escape. As he looked down towards his waist where he was stilled pinned, a burst of blood and saliva began to shower down from above. 
 
The pale creature had is jaws nearly agape and the putrid stench of its breath wafted downwards. Kuniko gagged at the smell of the breath, the drops of oozing saliva, and the splash of the beast's blood. Kuniko had to avert his gaze and began quickly making handseals. He used the elementary substitution jutsu to replace himself with a nearby wooden log. 
 
No sooner had Kuniko substituted himself with a piece of debris that the giant beast then closed its grip in a crushing motion. Perhaps it had deemed Kuniko no longer worth keeping alive; but thankfully its claws, which had pinned down the boy, had just destroyed a small log instead. Their intended target was now nine meters away and running for cover behind a tree. 
 
"Never have I been so glad to see you as right now, young master!" Kuniko shouted, before running for cover behind another tree. He feared for his master's safety, but also knew of his own uselessness against such a terrible creature as the giant pale monster that killed his three comrades. The boy looked through the tree to watch the battle unfold while straightening his hair with speed and precision which outmatched his combat ability. Kuniko did not wish to get in the way of a true master yet he couldn't just allow the prince to fight alone. 
 
While taking stock of the situation Kuniko heard the beast began to speak. It appeared to be mocking him. The boy drew a kunai without hesitation. He decided that he would attack the moment he saw an opening. Kuniko's thoughts began to focus on what he could even do in this situation: "This little kunai won't do much against a beast like that, but maybe I can distract it... if only I had studied any taijutsu techniques while I was away..."

WC:410

The enemy let a serpentine tongue out. “Thith one hath a theal on hith forehead. He ith utheleth.” The slobbering of the eight feet tall monstrosity made him more mentally imposing and frightening in Ayato’s eyes.

Pinned down at the end of his bestial arm, Kuniko’s head looked like an eggshell. The claws digged deep, but the sound was that of splintering wood. Ayato had seen the branch member cast the substitution jutsu while the enemy had his attention turned towards him. A good window of time, which to his relief Kuniko had capitalized on.

“You are going nowhere you foolth! A pair of Byakugan is worth a bag of thappireth!” The berserker said. Ayato had been around his deceased sensei, Kyousuke Snow to recognize this particular Kekkei Genkai. “And I want my bag of thappireth!”

Ayato interlocked his fingers together to execute the handseals for a Fuinjutsu barrier. But before he could, the beast moved like a white whirlwind and was right at his face. Slashing once again and this time there was no barrier there to stop. Ayato tried not to frown as ribbons of his sable trim cloak flew everywhere. Some of his blood too.

The Byakugan heir’s breath steamed on the crisp morning air, before turning into a roaring white tongue of fire. It split into several orbs that engulfed the Hyuuga Crippler. Ayato’s mastery over the Phoenix Flower allowed him to cast the Jutsu without hand seals. Oddly enough he remembered Hikari Namikaze and how he taught her the Fire Element in this very same forest clearing all those years ago.

“I had chothen to be merciful!” A voice called out to bring him back from his private musings.”I wath going to give you a quick death. You thould have not fought back. Now I have to cut you to little pieceth.”

From a curtain of yellow and red, the beast emerged unsatched, unharmed, unburnt. To Ayato’s dismay those white great scales were too great to be melted.

“And you should have stopped at attacking defenseless young boys.” Ayato said safely out of range of the enemy’s attack. “Messing with my clothes is a line you don’t cross.”

Ayato despised that feeling, the feeling of battle. Right in front of him of him and only a few meters away. It was slaughter, it was men stumbling through the mud with their entrails hanging out. It was severed limbs and broken bones and pools of blood. How the worms come out after a hard rain? He had heard they do the same after a big battle if enough blood soaks into the ground.

That was death knocking on his door. Gruesome and poetic but Ayato was terrified. He thought that but still made japes, yet japes are one way to keep fear away. Wine is another.

Byakugan.

Ayato activated his clan's Kekkei Genkai, his chakra pulsing along the veins and nerves of his face. They bulged up in a manner almost grotesque, reaching up from the top of his spinal column and across his cheeks, up to his temples, and into his eyes. The pupil became distinct, the outline etched into the iris via a flexing vein, giving the Taijutsu user a fierce and hostile appearance.

The young man raised his hands and slid one foot out in front, taking a traditional Gentle Fist stance; both knees were bent, his weight resting slightly more on his back leg than his front, with his hands facing his opponent. His fists were open, so that his palms and fingertips were loose for parrying and quick strikes, his body turned slightly at the waist to point his shoulder at the Jugo and create a smaller target region. Ayato wasn't certain how effective his Jyuuken would be on an enemy with thick scales for skin, but he reasoned that his precise attacks should at least be capable of disabling one...provided he could actually land one of them on them.

The Byakugan's long-range vision would have little use here....instead, Ayato exhaled and a single additional nerve flexed under each eye - his vision narrowed to a normal range, focusing on the Crippler monstrous body, tracking every flash of his nervous system to predict the missing-nin movements.

The enemy flew at him again, footsteps bestial as they were echoed through the clearing. Ayato met him swiftly as if they were in dance, but instead of his partner being the blonde haired noblewoman of his dreams, there was a creature as big as sin and twice as mad.

Under the black wool of his tunic, blood trickled down Ayato’s chest as he pressed the attack. The Crippler stumbled backwards absorbing the shock of it. When he raised a bestial arm in retaliation Ayato went underneath it with a sweeping blow that met against the ribs of the slobbering beast and sent him back, staggering. The downcut was met with a looping gentle fist thrust that dented one of his horns. When he attempted a wild side swing Ayato pivoted and slammed a naked palm into his chest. The Hyuuga Crippler lost his footing, and sat on the ground.

With those rough calloused fingers of his hand Ayato reached for two thin senbons in his weapon pouch and threw them. The beast screamed in a literal blind agony when they pierced through, cursing aloud. His scaled skin was sturdy, insanely so, to take head on several of Ayato’s best shots and keep coming. However his yellow cat eyes were a different story. The two needles that pierced through them made red worms of blood to trickle down on white scaled cheeks.

The Konoha native took one step back and then another, burned leaves crushing underneath the heels of his leather shinobi sandals. Ayato’s prior elemental attack had left the ground hot and blackened, and for a moment it felt as if they were standing on burning coal.

With the Byakugan, Ayato took note of the how the beast directed his unique colored chakra into damaged eyeballs trying to apply the healing factor once again.

“Welcome to Hoshigakure Kuniko.” Ayato said right before the beasts head exploded from within, spraying brain and chunks of skull everywhere. The young man had wrapped explosive tags around the needles, and hid them from plain sight with Genjutsu: False Surroundings. The headless being collapsed to his knees, and stayed there useless and heavy. And that was the end of it.

“I had hoped that wouldn’t show up with that purple hakama you have been wearing for the past ten years.” Ayato said to Kuniko, as he turned to face him with eyes colored like dirty snow. “It looks like I didn’t get my wish.”

Ayato Hyuuga was querulous and stubborn with an iron will and a sharp tongue but he did believe of taking care of own. All of his own, even those who were disappointments or those so far down to the chain of succession that were barely a step above a commoner.

WC: 1165

While Kuniko waited just outside the clearing, the real battle had finally begun. Claws and death were met with brilliant pale flames and all he could do was watch from the sidelines. More precisely, all Kuniko could do was watch through the cover of trees as his young master clashed with a horrid pale creature. It seemed to Kuniko that the two were trading killing blows as easily as they were trading banter with each other. The young man was but a child, staring in awe at a battle unlike any he had seen before. 

Kuniko recognized the gentle fist stance that Ayato had taken, but not much else. His only guess could be that his young lord had decided to pay a modest fraction of his attention to fighting the gibbering beast before him. Kuniko held onto his kunai, but decided against stepping into this arena for now. His presence would only be a hindrance to the prince in the burnt clearing, albeit a minor one. The fight would continue on without him interfering. 

The beast did not last long. 

When the fighting stopped, Kuniko came from behind the tree he was using for cover to observe the area as he released his Byakugan. 

The mist was beginning to lift from the forest. The trees around them had a pale sheen with their bark ripped off from the battle, their tops still obscured in a grey haze. A few golden rays of sunlight were peeking through the woods from the east as displaced leaves floated through the air. A large white mound of scales glimmered on the blacked forest floor. Two figures stood there, with dark red splatters of blood dolloped about the environment. Kuniko was nearly overwhelmed by the picturesque sight of the young master standing there, but really he was still in shock. 

Kuniko did not want to keep his lord waiting. He made a mental note of the color pallet of the scene and walked to a respectful distance from Ayato, then bowed deeply. He kept his eyes closed and his head low as he said in a soft, even voice "I have been saved. My young lord, thank you for personally greeting me on my return. I apologize for my embarrassing performance this morning. I am ashamed to enter Hoshigakure in such a disgraceful manner. If you would allow, I will scrounge whatever money I can to purchase a hakama more suited to your liking." 

Ayato's words had struck Kuniko's heart like a spear. Had funds allowed, he would being enjoying a massive wardrobe. But the merchants he had traveled with only gave him enough ryo to live off of. To have his clothes brought up in his first discussion with Ayato in so many years... the shame was almost too much Kuniko to bear. Almost. But the boy persisted through the shame with a determined look on his face which was tactically obscured by his hair as he bowed. He could not lead his lord to believe that he received a mortal blow just now. His purpose was to loyally serve the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, above all else. 

The boy opened his eyes and looked up to observe Ayato. Kuniko was somewhat tired from his overuse of his clan's Kekkei Genkai but he tried to put on a brave face now for his lord. 

WC: 562

“It was a jest, Kuniko. But as it happens you made more than enough ryo today to buy whatever garments you want.” Ayato rolled those white eyes of his in disbelief as he placed his hand on the bark of tall sentinel. The seventeen-year-old boy ran his hand through his long black hair while taking a moment to consider this. His pale skin turned almost bronze in the sunlight, highlighting the scar underneath his cheek. This was an official mission completed, killing the Hyuuga Crippler brought a reward. A reward that could have been split in more ways than two.

“I have to find a new team for you it seems.” The Byakugan Prince clenched his teeth so hard, he figured they could be heard back in Konoha. Ayato had almost forgotten about the deceased, during his earlier battle fever, but now they were there again. Keiji’s head had been smashed against a great stone boulder behind them. The man’s head was red and pulpy as a melon, his cloak flapping in the cold air. Of red linen, it had been, bordered in a cloth of red and patterned with black lightning bolts.

The body of the first of the two genin who had followed their sensei on the afterlife had been split in half.  the shallows of the nearby stream. Of the second Genin, only an arm had remained for his family to bury, which was better with an empty casket he supposed.

“I had chosen Keiji to be your sensei because he was known to be fearless,” Ayato said. Keiji had gone out of his way to track down the Hyuuga Crippler and meet him in combat. While he was supposed to escorting Kuniko Hyuuga of all people back home.

“Brave is not the same as fearless. Fearless gets you killed. Make a note of that, I shall too”

A loud *tsch* exited Ayato’s lips as soon as he finished, pain painted all over his long face. The claw marks across his chest were burning fiercely now that the adrenaline was abandoning him. A token of the Hyuuga Crippler, when his claws had cat through his fine sable trimmed cloak and black wool underneath. There was no way to tell who he was, or how he entered the village past Ayato’s sentries at the gates. Or why he targeted Hyuuga specifically. Thinking about all that made his head hurt.

“We are going home. The cleanup crew can do a sweep of the scene later.” The Byakugan heir announced, averting that steel gaze of his away from Kuniko. “I go quite fast, so do your best to stay close.” Ayato’s mud-caked sandals sank into soft moist earth with two quick long strides that turned into a sprint a moment later.
 
Provided that Kuniko had followed, Ayato would slow down his pace whenever he saw his brethren struggling to keep up. If he struggled.  Soon the tall mossy covered granite walls of Summerhall Castle made their appearance on the horizon, the Byakugan sighed in relief. He was blessed to live another day in the shinobi and make it home in one piece. And a beautiful home it was.

[EXIT]
WC: 524
TWC: 4473
Claiming A-rank mission rewards, 10 AP, 4K ryo and 1.5k bonus ryo from rank.

1060 to rainbow fort seal which I already have at 440.[1500/1500]
1000 to Hiding in Fire [1000/1000]
250 to invisible seals [250/250]
250 to mastery of genjutsu release 2 [250/250]
500 to temporary paralysis technique mastery 1, [500/500]
500 to temporary paralysis mastery 2 [500/500]
500 wc to Chakra Disguise [500/500]
413 wc to Earth Element  [413/4000]

Spoiler:

Kuniko sighed in relief upon hearing his master's words. The fighting was over, and he had not offended Ayato. Standing in the clearing a moment longer, the boy looked around at the remains of the ninjas who he traveled with the past few days. The sight was to grim for his eyes to bear, and he instead decided to focus on the trees around them. With Kuniko's return to the village, two missions would be accomplished, and he did not want to keep his lord waiting. 

Kuniko listened to Ayato's words while he was taking in the surrounding forest. 'Fearlessness was not the same as bravery,' or perhaps courage? The thought swirled about in Kuniko's mind while he avoided looking at the blood-splattered ground. "I don't need bravery if this is what it gets me," Kuniko thought. But he did not let his thoughts be read on his face. He simply bowed again to Ayato and began to follow him as he departed. 

Kuniko slowed only for a moment, as he turned to look down at the body of the dead beast on the ground. He narrowed his eyes and spit on the creature as he walked past it, then broke into a sprint to follow after his lord. In order to keep up, the boy had to run as fast as he could, but he wouldn't complain or show his weariness as he did so. 

Finally in the distance, Hoshigakure began to appear in view. Kuniko was incredibly tired by the time they arrived at the castle. In fact, he felt like he had been running forever. 

[EXIT]
WC: 268
TWC: 2588
Claiming A-rank mission rewards, 10 AP, 4100 Ryo, Hoshi Headband


250/250 Basic Medical Ninjutsu
250/2500  Eight Trigrams: Palms Revolving Heaven
1000/1000 Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms
500/500 Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms
250/250 Gentle Fist Palm Bottom
250/250 Genjutsu Release

Approved at both

I forgot to claim 6 stat points.

Approved for that