Looking for Kami's Tomb [Free RP}

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

Hello there. I bet you didn't expect to see me again did you? You know what they say though, you can't keep a Yogi down for long!

For those of you who do not know me allow me to introduce myself. The name is Yogi. I have lived several lives. I was once the Daimyo of Rain Country. Another time I was the Medical Sennin of the Village Hidden in Onion. Just recently I was a turkey. Then Thanksgiving happened and here I am. Right now I am a retired teenage Leaf ANBU. I avoided the destruction of the village because I had been abroad at the time. After much effort though the village is back and here I am.

I stood next to the Hokage monument with a shovel in my hand. Next to me was my companion, George the orangutan, who was carrying a bag full of shovels. I used to be helped in my shenanigans by turkeys, but they had become too expensive to employ in recent years and I had begun hiring apes instead.

Behind me was a banner that read in bold lettering: "The 1st Annual Hunt for Hokage Kami's Grave".

"Now I want to thank everyone who came out for today's event!" I shouted as I stood up on a soap box, "As you may know we are here today in the hope of finding Hokage Kami's tomb. Rumor has it that before the old city was destroyed Kami buried his valuables underneath the Hokage monument. I should know. I was there."

I let out a loud laugh, "That's a joke of course. I'm not old enough to have been there! I'm only seventeen years old! My gramps was though and he says the old Hokage's treasure chest was filled with riches beyond imagination. Now does everyone have their shovels? Any questions?"

 

[Shinobu]

From the back row Shinobu stood on his tipsy toes and peered over the other watchers while wearing his headlamp construction helmet. His Leaf forehead protector peeked out from underneath the helmet as he bobbed his head up and down amongst the crowd trying to get a better look at the speaker. "Oh man, gravehunt for an ancient Kage, I hope there are secret tunnels and booby traps. Oh man she said treasure chest of riches! I should have worn my fedora like all the best treasure hunters in the movies." BANK CLANK, Shinobu was pulled out of his inner thoughts by the sound of equipment crashing to the ground next to him. Looking down the shaggy dirt covered, big nosed shinobi saw his two little two foot tall earth creations bumbling over a stack of supplies. "Dough, Pea, stop messing around! This is our chance to become famous treasure hunters, don't mess this up for me! Hey wait Dough what are you carrying there? No not the shovel and pickaxe, that! Yes that! Why did you bring the shower rod? And Pea is that my favorite ramen bowl from home? No stop using it to make sandcastles!"

After wrangling his small troublesome earth creations for a moment Shinobu turned his attention back to the task at hand. Pushing his way forward through the crowd he finally made it to the front and smiled at the sight of the orangutan carrying a bag of shovels. He was wearing his normal shinobi attire, forehead protector and all but in addition he also had on his oversized work boots and oversized work gloves along with his dirt and grease covered helmet to finish the odd outfit off. Smiling with a big stupid grin he raised his hand high in the air and began shaking it for attention at the speakers mention of questions. "Oh yes yes, me me. Helllo Shinobu village Chunin here, I have a two part question. How many spiders do you expect there to be? and part two do you supply the spider repellent or do we have to pull from our personal supply?" The serious concern and little bit of fear could be seen on the shinobi's face as he asked his question. The seriousness was cut however by the image of two small earth golems playing tug of war with a shower rod at his feet.


[Using CRPJ "Earth Buddies!"]

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"Spiders?" I repeated the boy's question. Spiders.. would Kami have placed spiders as booby traps in his tomb? I had not known the man very well to be honest and remembered only sketches of his personality from what the newspapers said. I suppose he might have placed spiders in his tomb? Sure why not.

"I am not sure how many spiders there will, but best be prepared. Catch-!" I said as I detached my left index finger and threw it at the boy.

"There is spider repellent in that. Just press down on the finger nail and it should come out. Once you have sprayed yourself pass it on to the next person."

Oh right. Silly me I forgot to mention that I was an android. Long ago I had been a normal human boy, but I slowly swapped out my organic body parts for puppet prosthetic parts. Other names for people like myself include "human puppet", "trans human", and "replicant".

"Now any other questions? If it is about how we will split the treasure I think it is best if we agree to share it as equally as possible, with the person who finds it receiving three shares."

 

[Shinobu]

Shinobu snatched the detached finger out of the air as it was thrown he gave it a cautious sniff. "Ewww gross, oh wait, she said shes a puppet.. ehh guess that ain't too bad. But wait it kinda smells like flowers? Guess that makes sense, flowers are a natural enemy of spiders." Shrugging in a nonchalant way then putting on a wide smile he tinkered with the detached finger until he could get a consistent spray from it. Turning he gave each of his two small earth creations, Dough and Pea, a healthy dose as well before passing it along to the next expedition member. "Remember to get your ears good!" Rubbing the spray in all over his face and arms he turned back to the leader.

"Yeah three shares for the one that finds it sounds great! Where do we start? Do you have a secret map? Will there be any puzzle rooms? I'm not very good at puzzles." Shinobu's eyes got excitedly big as he spoke of the potential adventure that awaited them. "Oops, sorry I am asking to many questions. I am just really excited! Lead on Yogi-san and show us where our ancient tomb awaits." At his feet his two earth creations had somehow ended up with the finger spray tube and were taking turns coating each other in a thick layer of the substance.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"A secret map?" I said, "Of course we have a secret map! Hokage Kami gave it to me on his death bed. What sort of two bit operation do you think we are running here. Of course we have a map.."

I pressed a button on my left hand and a piece of parchment popped out of my ears. I unraveled it and began to study it.

If someone wanted to really question things they could nitpick the fact that, if a map existed, why did we think that there was any treasure to be found? Kami was not a well known mapmaker, so whoever had made this map had a copy and could have gotten the treasure already. Even if he had not, surely someone would have found the treasure when the mountain was rebuilt after the village was retaken. For that matter, why would Kami have given me the map? Why not one of his Sennin? There were plenty of things someone could question. Let us waive those things aside for the simple reason that we are magical ninja and don't need to explain anything.

Incidentally I had dropped my shovel at some point in the commotion of things and it now lay on the ground.

"Okay we start off on top of Kami's head. He is the one with the red hair. We start digging from there and we should eventually hit a door that leads us into a passage way deeper into the mountain. Yeah that sounds about right.", I said toward the group. I rolled the map back up and put it back into storage in my ear pocket.

If no one said anything further I would lead us toward the elevator to get to the observatory at top of the mountain, and from there jump over to Kami's head.

"Yeah let us do this then. So- who wants to do the actual shoveling? Anyone know any fancy earth jutsu?", I said.




OOC: It just hit me that, after ten years of being on NC I have only seen people use maps for adventures once. Anyway you fine with using the White Plume Mountain map as a basis? We can start off over in area 7 (in the right side). Link here.

 

[Shinobu]

With his heart racing Shinobu eagerly watched as the replicant girl open yet another secret storage compartment in her carved body. "Hey wait, her weird carved body reminds me of someone, I just can't seem to remember who, ehhh I'll worry about it later. " The stray thoughts were quickly replaced by anticipation as the small map was slowly unfurled. Shinobu's eyes burst open wider than any humans should go and almost seemed to sparkle with glee. "Wowzers! You have an ACTUAL secret map! This is so cool. Look there are tunnels and underground rivers and everything. Dough, Pea check this out! oh hey wait, where did my two earth buddies go?" Stepping back from the map Shinobu started looking for his creations and quickly found them at the front of the gathering. They were playing tug of war over a shovel on the ground with each sea sawing back and forth over the tool. "Hey, stop fighting, that's not even our shovel, no, no it is not our shovel put it down. What did you do with the rest of our supplies? What? You give them all to the orangutan? Bah go get them back and try to keep up, it's adventure time." Looking back to Yogi as she put the map back in its storage compartment Shinobu smiled embarrassingly as he reached up and began scratching at his scraggly and tangled beard. "Sorry about them, I promise they can be helpful sometimes!"

Smiling and nodding as the final round of potential questions went by he barely waited for Yogi to ask about earth jutsu before he started running toward the rock face. "Don't worry Earth Jutsu's are one of my specialties I will find us that entrance in no time! But I got to get a head start up the mountain I am not allowed to take any elevators. Kenshin sensei has me training right." Without missing a beat Shinobu made a running leap onto the rock face next to the scenic elevator leading to the top of Hokage Rock. Staying near the exposed elevator shaft he began climbing with speed and efficiency up the treacherous cliff. The two small earth buddies continued to pantomime arguing with the orangutan until they noticed other people starting to get on the elevator. They rushed forward with their re-acquired supplies and tried to hop on the elevator with the others.

[MFT]
[WC=399]

 

[Yume]

Oh, shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot!

"YUUUUMEE-CHWAN!!!"

Tailing close behind her was one of the negative inevitabilities of being an idol. Eager fans, too eager she might add, emerged in a small group behind her with merchandise of her face flailing in the air and cameras in their hands. They were fast. One was fast enough to keep up with her and her special ability, even! Yume was starting to lose breath from the running, scrambling to keep the overbearing sunglasses on her face. Who knows what they would do if they caught a possession of hers.

"Ah… Manager, when are you coming back?!" she whined at the sky. "I thought it was my holiday too!"

At times, she managed to slow the perception of time of the fans, but they were only good enough in short bursts to turn a corner before her hair was caught. They had chased her to the base of the Hokage Mountain, a point in the village that she tried to avoid if possible.

Tch. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

She loved her fans, seriously. But sometimes they were too much. Looking over her shoulder, Yume blew a kiss towards the group, enough to mess up with time for just a split second to grant the opportunity to disappear. The genjutsu wouldn't last for long though, and she had an inkling that one fan was crazy enough to see through it.

A crowd of sorts was heading up the mountain. "Ah, damn it! Fine!"

Weaving into the mass of people and jumping into the elevator, Yume was able to slow down and catch her breath. The old man's head was good for something after all, she thought begrudgingly. Her invisibility melted away and she finally took the time to see what crazy event she got herself into now. Blue eyes darted around until she realised exactly where she was, or where she was close to being.

Her body chilled, uneasy. She was left here.

Reaching out to the person that seemed the least harmful, Yume tugged on Shinobu's sleeve. "Um. Can I ask what's going on here?"

Her voice was uncharacteristically small.

Hello everyone~ Hope you don't mind my crashing :3

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

This boy was really energetic. He reminded me of someone I had known a few lives ago.

"Okay I will leave the digging to you then. I would help but," I showed him my hands, "I do not have a built in shovel I fear."

I let out a sigh, "My father did not want to pay the extra gold piece for it when I got turned into a robot. You would think a Kage could afford to, but that guy was a big cheapo. He deserves to be grave robbed."

"Tell you what though, George!" I said, "Help the man out won't you? I am not paying you to look pretty."

George, who was still carrying my supplies, let out a grunt at me.

"Hey I am not saying you are not pretty. I am just saying you are not being paid to be pretty."

The orangutan let out a second round of grunts.

"Hey hey. The turkeys never complained about this stuff. Now are you going to help dig or do you want to see what my leg can turn into?"

The orangutan paused for a moment before taking one of the shovels and beginning to dig over by the statue's ear. I shook my head quietly. It is so hard to find reliable workers these days. Maybe I ought to splurge and hire a turkey next time. They may be more expensive, but they have a strong work ethic. Apes were lazy bums in comparison.

As I watched the apes dig a newcomer arrived. This one had more hair than the others.

"Are you here to help find the old man's gold?" I called out, "Because if you are you can grab a shovel from the orangutan and get to digging."

 

[Shinobu]

Shinobu finished his climb of the rock face right after the elevators let everyone out. He was at the back of the group trying to decide between two shovels before . "Kinda square one, or kinda rectangle one? Choices Choices." His two miniature earth golems kept taking odd items out of a sack and passing it to the other one before putting it back in the sack between them. Seemingly lost in thought over the shovels Shinobu was slightly surprised when someone tugged on his sleeve. "Huh? Do I know her from somewhere?" Shifting the miners helmet on his head he scratched at the side of his shaggy hair.

Smiling after hearing her questions Shinobu spoke up in an excited tone. "What are we here for? Why a great treasure hunt like in the movies!" No sooner had he spoke than Yogi called out to the newcomer to grab a shovel. Smiling again Shinobu turned to the red haired lady and offered the shovel in his right hand. "Here you can use this one." Seeming to hesitate for a moment he retracted the first shovel and extended the one in his left hand out. "No here take this one, its better." Suddenly pulling back the shovel in his left hand he offered the one in his right hand again. "No take this one, it will be easier to dig with. Oh my names Shinobu by the way, Village Chuunin. If you promise to let me name any secret tunnels you find then you can have a tenth of my share." In his somewhat excited state Shinobu was trying to clasp the shovel in-between his thumb and index finder while extending the rest of this fingers for an awkward looking handshake.

OOC: Crashers are awesome, but to be fair you have stumbled into an A-Rank Team Self Mod Mission! Check out the map Yogi posted above. You two seem to have the IC history of all this stuff so go ahead and lead on.

 

[Yume]

Oh it's a mission? It wasn't tagged, so I wasn't aware. It's too bad that the old Leaf RPs are gone, I could have linked back to what was hiding under here Q-Q Nevertheless!

The reply Shinobu gave her wasn't something she particularly wanted to hear. Treasure here? She wasn't sure if the old man had anything to do with what was underneath this rock. The uneasy feeling never went away as Yume stared rather dully at the shovel. No, no, she snapped out of it. An idol always has a smile on her face. It took a bit of effort to bring back the dazzling smile she wore for the public, even when she was in casual clothes, and took the shovel from him.

"Thanks. I'm, uh... Yume."

But don't do it, she wanted to say. It was baseless at this point; she didn't know why she was so intensely averse to this expedition. But she had a bad… very bad feeling about this place.

Her ears pricked up at the puppet girl's words. A supposedly dead Hokage? If she could recall from the history lessons back at the Academy, there was only one other than the current. Kami. For a split second and with the help of a trick of the light, her blue eyes flashed green as her expression dropped into a deadpan. Along with her red hair, it marked an uncanny resemblance of the old village leader himself.

She was a Yamaguchi after all, in the very end.

"So Kami is your father?" she asked Yogi in a low voice. "Can I ask you who your mother is?"

No matter what was answered, the reaction would be the same--though a certain name would light her up more than others. Yume stared at Yogi for a moment longer, reeling in the answers, the implications. Then she gave a yell, one of realisation, and made a beeline for the replicant.

"COME HERE A SEC!"

Almost like a spoiled brat, Yume began tugging Yogi away from the crowd's earshot. What was about to spill from her lips was to be kept top secret at all times. She looked around, scoping out the rest of the rest of the people before turning back to the person of interest in front of her. The girl looked like she was about to cry.

Yume gave--or wanted to give--Yogi a tight hug and pulled away two second later.

"Oh my gosh!" she whispered excitedly. "I didn't know I had a sister! Bastard abandoned you too? Oh, poor sister! What did he do to you?! Why didn't you come find me?! What have you been doing all this time?!"

She squealed, loud enough for the others to hear and jumped at Yogi again for another hug.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"Is Kami my father? Well let us just say my father's name rhymes with Gami," I said. That was all I had intended to say on that matter until the newcomer pressed me further. My mother? Sweat* began to drip behind my back. Was she a member of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? I knew it! I should not have claimed the orangutan rental service as a business exemption. I took a deep breathe.

"My mother? The name Yume was floated around, but I never met her. After I was born I was rushed to another room to be made into.. AH!."

I let out a shout as the girl pulled me away from the crowd and promptly embraced me in a tight hug. I shut my eyes. She really was from the IRS! When I opened my eyes I expected to have been placed in restraints and a tax bill glued on me. Instead I was asked where I had been all this time and why I had not reached out to my- WAIT WAIT.

I dropped to the floor, landing on my tushy. SISTER?

"Sister?!" I repeated, "I mean. Uh. After I was born I got turned into this."

As I stood up I briefly detached my left hand and re-attached it to emphasize my special condition.

"The doctors say I would have died if I had been kept in a normal body. I never actually met my parents. Father was a really big cheapo and never paid for the operation so I had to work it off as a dental assistant. That took me fifteen years to pay off I will let you know!"

The second time around I met the girl's hug with my own. Sister? Still a terrifying person to meet, but much better than an IRS agent.

"A sister? I always wanted one of those. WAIT. Do not tell me this is one of those sappy moments where I realize that Kami's real treasure was not gold but his children is it?"

I shouted toward the boy who was digging away, "I am not sharing my sister with you if that is the case!"

Hopefully the boy would not be too confused with that statement. Besides my initial shout I had lowered my voice to match my sister's for the duration of the conversation.

Sister. That has a weird ring to it. Sister. Sister. Hermana. Sorella. Onee-chan.

Throughout this whole exchange George the orangutan had continued to shovel away, pausing only to give newcomers their own shovels. Luckily for me it seemed that George had found the entrance to the lower chamber as he began to pound the earth after a while. Whew. For a moment there I was scared that the treasure really was a sappy one. Not that finding a sister was not nice, but I had bills to pay and could really use some gold too.

*Sweat did not actually drip from my back. Since I lacked real skin I could not really sweat. I could release fluids from my eyes, and elsewhere, on conscious command but that function was limited and did not produce the same smell as real human fluids.

OOC: I think some of the old RPs got mis-shuffled into the Earth forums. Not sure.

 

[Shinobu]

Shinobu popped his head up from the chest high hole he had been furiously digging in to find Yume and Yogi having a discrete conversation just a few feet away from him. Trying to focus on the prospect of gold and treasure he adjusted the miners helmet on his head and began to turn back to digging along side his two mini earth golems when they mentioned something about being sisters. "Oh wow! They are sisters? I should be writing all of this down, this is turning out to be an awesome treasure hunt. It would be a great made for TV movie, or even a great made for movies movie." Before he knew it he was sucked into the drama of their revelations and he was watching with teared up eyes as they hugged each other. Not wanting to be rude he tried to turn his attention back to digging when he heard Yogi's voice.

"A sister? I always wanted one of those. WAIT. Do not tell me this is one of those sappy moments where I realize that Kami's real treasure was not gold but his children is it?" She then shouted toward Shinobu who was pretending to dig away, "I am not sharing my sister with you if that is the case!"

With a now upset tone he furrowed his brow and shouted back at Yogi, "Hey, I was promised my fair share, no backing out now, if all we got was a sister then that makes her my sister..." briefly stopping he began to count on his fingers then continued, "... at least one day a week, and two holiday weekends a year!" The ever important discussion on splitting treasure/sisters had to wait as the orangutan began motioning and pounding on the ground to indicate he found something. "An entrance? YES! This is really happening, okay what do I need to .... what? what is it Pea? Stop tugging on my leg. what no we already found the entrance stop trying to di.... OHHHHH, that changes everything."

Shinobu popped his head back up out of the hole only to find two other people were waving with their shovels in different locations around the dig site. Apparently four different entrances had been located, calling out, Shinobu asked if anyone else's had writing on them, the one in his hole said 'Fortune', the other diggers soon called out the words on their entrances, 'Fame', 'Family', and 'Friends'. "Alright Yogi-san, time to get to work, obviously only one of these lead to the real tomb, and the others will probably be trapped. Does that secret map you have say anything about Fame, Family, Fortune, or Friends?" Looking back down into the hole he had been digging with his earth buddies Shinobu tried to leap in but was too late. "Noooo, Pea don't open that yet, we are not sure what it holds!" But the little earth golem had already pried the stone entrance open, suddenly a flood of flesh eating centipedes started pouring out of the hole and the little earth golem 'Pea' disappeared in a puff of jutsu smoke. People started running scared all around the dig site as the dangerous creatures began swarming anything that moved. Putting his hands together to form seals Shinobu called out "Dragon Fire no Jutsu!" as he did his best to suppress some of the insects before anyone got hurt.

[WC=504]

 

[Yume]

Yume flailed her arms in panic and then boldly covered Yogi's mouth before she could say anything more. "Ahh! Bleb blub blargh bap! Shh, shh, shh!"

She looked around cautiously. Perhaps the others were staring at her weirdly now, but that wasn't the point. The point was she was not recognised. Better put on her sunglasses just in case, even though they were about to embark on an underground expedition.

"Yogi-nee, don't say that so loudly. The tabloids will come after you!"

Her eyes darted about again. There weren't reporters here, were there? Well, there might be, but she was more concerned of ones of the paparazzi variety. No one looked particularly suspicious for now… but they did live in a ninja world though. There's no such thing as being too paranoid.

Shinobu's response almost made her laugh. For her sake though, let's hope that there really was treasure. Sharing idols was a big no-no.

'How am I gonna tell the manager this?' Yume wondered briefly. She shook her head, as if to push the issue aside temporarily and smiled at Yogi.

"We should catch up for tea later on! I wanna everything that you've been up to! As for the old bastard's tomb..." she trailed off, dropping her happy expression for a split second for a resentful one. The grin returned quickly afterwards though. "He doesn't have one. But I don't know what's hiding under here either."

Wasn't sure if she even wanted to know...

At the same time, teenage curiosity got the better of her and she threw a hand up in enthusiasm. "Okay, let's go! I'm sure Mama wouldn't mind us taking what's rightfully ours."

She began marching back, but stopped midway. Turning back to Yogi, she shot another beaming smile. "You can have my share, Yogi-nee!"

Returning to where Shinobu was and skimming a glance over to him, the idol smiled and brought a finger to her lips once his attention was on her. Her eyes, obscured by her sunglasses said 'tell anyone about my sister and you're DEAD,' but her image was of innocent mischief, as if she was letting him in on a juicy secret. It was a pre-emptive action, just in case somewhere during the dig he or another person realised who she was.

"So four entrances, huh?" she asked, hopping around to avoid the flesh eating centipedes. For the most part, animals didn't like her, but these were more aggressive than your average dog bite. What kind of sick joke was the old man pulling? She scoffed silently at the entrance titles she overheard. Friends? He didn't have any friends, she bet. Skipping over to the entrance that was titled 'Fame,' Yume eyed the title so intently that some faceless people had begun to think that she knew more about the treasure than she let on.

Totally not true of course. She just really wanted to be world-famous.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"The tabloids? But..." I bit my tongue. I had been about to mention that I was something of a journalist myself. I owned 106.7 KRKN ("The only radio station hosted by a sentient squid!"), a top forty hits radio station. I also had a controlling stake in the Daily Bugle, a rural newspaper, and a few other small media outlets such as the Sands of Time and the Iron Country Gazette. I dared not say any of this of course. My sister, blessed as she may be, could be an IRS agent and I could not afford them knowing that I hadn't been paying tax on any of those properties.

In defense though, with the exception of KRKN, they were based outside Fire Country and so should not be subject to taxation.

Before I could say anything further on the subject though centipedes popped out of nowhere. Well no that isn't right is it? Nothing comes from nothing. Matter is neither created or destroyed. It had been a few lives since I had been a physicist, but I remembered that much still.

Instinctively I outstretched my right arm towards the creatures and shouted. "Go go gadget insect repellent!"

As I said that a hole in the center of my hand opened up and a blue gas began to be emitted from it. I'll give you three guesses on what I was releasing.

"You know sometimes," I said toward my sister, "I think the old man lied about my health as a baby and just wanted to see what he could stick into me."

I threw a blast of the repellent towards one of the larger centipedes. It dropped and began to roll around in a daze.

"I am told he just loved sticking it to everyone. Real great guy he was no?"

While I did this George was helping out in the battle against the centipedes in his own way. He would grab those centipedes foolish enough to come close to him and swallow them whole. Lesson of the day: orangutans eat insects.

 

[Shinobu]

Shinobu saw the look in Yumes face when she brought a finger to her lips. "Ahhh, I know that look." nodding back at the red head he gave a subtle and quick thumbs up to indicate he understood. "She doesn't want me to make Yogi jealous, Ill cut it out with the sister talk. Hmmm but man she sure does look familiar, where do I know her from?" Shrugging he turned back to examining the doors for a way in then the bugs were loose. He burned a chunk up but was more impressed with how Yogi dispatched so many with her built in tools.

Scraping the dead bugs off of his work boots Shinobu hopped in a back and forth manner with his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth. "Hey, Good job everyone" Looking around with the others they went back to trying to find a way underground. Looking over he saw Yume examining the 'Fame' door and approached while scratching his scraggly beard. "Yeah, This door does look to be the most promising, I mean he does have a giant carving of his head on a mountain. No way to know unless we try," Without waiting he jumped down into the pit and pried open the 'Fame' door with a single big push.

The ground seemed to breath for a moment as a swirl of wind sucked its way into the newly revealed chamber. Hesitantly Shinobu flipped on the headlamp on his miners helmet and peered down into the bleak shaft. "Haha! Yes, this must be it. Last one down is a rotten egg!" Leaping with his legs and arms extended he began sliding down the shaft with a shinobis skills. After a short sliding fall he could be heard tumbling onto a hard floor and then oohing and awwing for a moment before yelling back up to the others. "Oh Wow. Hey come on down, you gotta see this."

[Entering chamber 7 on the map, from the ceiling]

 

[Yume]

Honestly, there were many things Yume could have said in response to Yogi's comment. Things that were just not appropriate for the general audience with all the cursing, hexing and profanity in her mind. So she gave the replicant a sympathetic smile before Shinobu took the lead in jumping down into the caverns.

"Don't look up my skirt!" she called down at the pitch blackness. Taking in a deep breath, she was intent on jumping in second. There was no way she'd let a bunch of strangers, whoever they are go in after her. What if they're the ones that would look up her skirt?! Needless to say, this outfit was not the best to go spelunking in.

She pinpointed an edge of the pit which had some semblance of a slope and slid down that way, like riding an invisible skateboard. The earth was somewhat kind to her, seeing her blood, and Yume landed with relative ease.

"Ah, figures it'd be super dark," Yume muttered, only able to see wherever the beams of Shinobu's torchlight landed on. "Let's see…"

The idol pretended to look in her pockets; not that there would be light in there at all. Giving up quickly, her left hand reached out in front of her. It was so dark that she could barely see its outline. It didn't matter though - with a snap of her fingers, a lantern emerged in a burst of blue flame. She held it by the handle, bringing it in to check on the light source inside the chamber. The flame, as blue as it first appeared, burned bright enough for her to go off exploring on her own if she wanted to.

Yume waved the lantern about as she examined her surroundings. Her body chilled again, though she wasn't sure whether it was the external temperature of the caves or her own anxious gut feeling. So far, the walls didn't catch her eye too much. They were what you'd expect in a cave. Her shoes stepped on something unlike the dirt ground though, prompting her to look down at where everyone stood.

There were tattered papers and weren't numerous enough to look creepy. Yume crouched down, picking one up from the ground. They were worn out, some of them torn in pieces but she could see the calligraphy of scriptures written on the paper. Talismans.

She had no choice now but to rush forward.

Sorry for the wait! Please feel free to skip me after two days if you want, since I’m not really in it for the mission!

Used Spirit Lantern [Master Rank]

Also marked for training. Word count 250+

 

[Shinobu]

Fixated on the natural cave wall Shinobu barely noticed when Yume started running. "Where in the world is she going? Should I be running?" With a curious spin of the neck he looked down at the ground and then answered his own question out loud. "Yes, Yes you should be runnnnning TOOOO!" Clasping one hand to his miners helmet and swinging his shovel in the other Shinobu bound forward trying to catch up with Yume. Boom, BOOM! The explosions echoed through the chamber and sent the two spelunkers hurtling forward, with shinobi grace they both jumped off debris in the air and tumbled into a passageway on the northern end of the cave. Peering back through the dust cloud Shinobu spoke for Yume to hear him. "Looks like the way we came in isn't going to be the way we get out now." Shaking his head and turning around he made handseals to create refreshing waves of water wash over the two of them. Afterwards they were dried off and clean of dust and dirt. "That feels much better, man when they show tomb hunting in the movies it looks way cleaner than this. Time to move, lets find a way out of here Yume-san."

Within a few sharp turns of the man made hallway they soon came to an underground river. Looking around Shinobu hopped off the platform overhanging the river and began chakra walking across the waters top. After a little exploration they soon discovered a four way intersection of the underground river. From there a little scouting revealed four choices. Back the way they came was a collapsed tunnel, to the north was a large chamber with a dangerous looking whirlpool, to the west was a platform leading to more man made tunnels, and to the south a staircase that led up and possibly out after a long walk. Weighing the options Shinobu looked to Yume and said. "We could try to rush outa here. But I would rather try to see if we can find anything in the norther or western passages. What do you say Yume-san? Lead on to the next step." He waited for her to choose next and would follow where she decided.

[MFT]
WC:372

 

[Yume]

She gritted her teeth to refrain from yelping, as the trapped explosions threw her and Shinobu further into the caves. Landing was not a problem, as she managed so like a cat, but her spirit lantern had broke from her dropping it. It disappeared in a gulf of blue flame, leaving the only source of light in here to be Shinobu's headlight.

"Ah, thank you, Shinobu-san," Yume said as the dirt and dust dripped off her being and onto the ground. Using what little light available to check her surroundings and the information given about the possible paths to take, Yume fell quiet for a moment. "Uh... the Western passage sounds the safest."

Letting Shinobu lead the way with his headlight, Yume trailed directly behind him to give herself time to check the walls of the tunnel. Her fingertips brushed against the dirt, uneasiness of being inside Hokage Rock finally caught up with her.

It was times like these where she would hum or sing to get rid of her fear and apprehension. Yume began to sing quietly, almost under her breath. It was one of her songs that was released last year. Her level of unease had reached the point that she didn't care if Shinobu realised who she was. Alternatively, perhaps he figured that Yume was a fan of U<3ME. Who cares now. She just needed to stay calm.

"When the morning comes, I think of you... Like a child, I only see you..."

The song was cheerful, unsuited for spelunking in the supposed tomb of the previous Hokage. What an odd lie. Footsteps continued on crunching and shuffling against the dirt until they had reached a fork in the road. Yume only had to take a quick glance between the two before she took a step towards the left, pausing indefinitely in her song. She only felt more sick the closer she stepped towards the left tunnel. Something was pulling her.

"Shinobu-san, perhaps we should split and scout down each tunnel. Up to you. We could meet up back here in about five, ten minutes if you want." At that, she looked at herself, figuring out what would be good to leave behind. Her gloves seemed visible enough on the ground. Sipping them off, she placed them on the ground where they stood and then continued into the left path no matter what. Shinobu could follow along if he was concerned about her, or go and check out the other tunnel to see if there was treasure lying about. That's what the gloves landmark is for.

Yume summoned her spirit lantern again, picking up the pace more and more as she fought against the uneasiness and almost nauseating dizziness. The path was cut oddly short, with a lump of earth looking like it was blocking the path or burying something. The girl instinctively took a step back, the soft blue flames of her lantern eerily illuminating the area.

She looked down, shifting back her foot to reveal a lost paper talisman. Her eyes stared at the paper, suddenly jerking her head back up to the pile of dirt. A hand reached out, hesitant to touch at first. Something was here. She didn't like it. But something was here. She had to know what her father or mother buried. Knowing the two, either one or both could have a hand in this.

There was no way she could dig this out though. Yume didn't know any jutsu useful to move earth, and the shovel that was given to her was lost during the blast. After about a minute of picking at the earth... tomb more or less, Yume stood before it, helpless, and way past the ten minute period if Shinobu went on his own.

 

[Shinobu]

Walking forward the two shinobi made their way deeper into the complex, forgoing taking the exit right away. As Yume began to sing to herself Shinobi almost spoke up. "Man, why does she have to sing one of those girly pop songs?" With a sudden flash of insight he came to a realization. "Oh crap, shes not singing A girly pop song, she is singing HER girly pop song! Heh, shows how much I really pay attention. Uhmm, hope she doesn't ask me if I am a fan of her music, never understood or liked that kind of music much, though I would be lying to myself If I said I never tapped my foot to it on the radio. Better to let sleeping dogs lye for now, we can discuss our day jobs after we are out of here." As they continued on they reached the next split and Shinobu took her advice to separate for a bit and try to cover more ground. With a nod and a quick word he went the opposite direction. "Be careful and call out if you get in trouble Yume-san."

Moving back across the river Shinobu eventually discovered another set of chambers, but nothing of importance seemed to be stored here except a few old books and loose leaf paper. Decorative chambers seemed to the theme of this tomb. "Well, I guess getting out alive and with nothing is better than not getting out at all." Finishing up his exploration he moved back out with the paperwork and books while trying to find Yume. As he rounded one of the corners a young kid with a Leaf Forehead protector was cautiously making his way to the four way intersection. "Shinobu-sama I presume, I was sent to scout the tunnels for you and Yume-sama, we have emergency crews up top ready to treat injuries, oh and there is something else..." With whispered tones the two of them spoke a few more moments before the scout turned around and headed back out of the tunnels. "Tell them we will be out in a little bit."

Walking back toward the way Yume had gone Shinobu eventually found her with dirty hands over the pile of dirt. The look in her eyes was a solemn one, he knew that this tomb meant something to her, "Hey Yume-san, may I help with that?" Placing a reassuring and supportive hand on her shoulder the blue haired shinobi motioned her back a bit from the site. Once clear he focused and tapped the ground firmly with his foot, the lines of chakra sparked out and in a moment the dirt seemed to part like a river and uncover the tomb. "Take all the time you need Yume-san, the southern entrance was a good way out and they have some medical crews up there wanting to check us for injuries. I told them we will be along eventually." With a kind smile on his face he looked her in they eyes, "I gotta say it was real fun doing a treasure hunt with you Yume-san, It was nothing like in the movies, but I have found most things aren't anything like the movies. I will be waiting at the exit to leave with you, I was told there are quite a few U<3ME fans crowded around up there, they want to know if their favorite singer is okay! If you don't want to deal with any of that when you leave then just stay close to me and I can keep the worst of the gawkers at bay." With a little joyful/sentimental tear in his eye that he wiped away Shinobu left Yume to discover whatever her family left in the tomb for herself.

Once at the exit to the tombs Shinobu waited for Yume to make her way out as well before doing his best to escort her through the loud and annoying crowd that had formed. "Stay back, make room, watch it with those hands buddy, cut it out with the flash photography, nothing to see."

[MFT WC: 686]
[Topic Left with/when Yume leaves]

 

[Yume]

"Ah... Thank you," she said, doubly so when she heard that he would leave her alone to her devices. Yume blushed, embarrassed that he had to see her, the idol, like this. But what's done is done, she would have to find a way to explain herself if she crossed paths with him again another time.

He left her to wait by the exit, after splitting the earth apart for her. Once she was sure he was gone, Yume stepped closer to the tomb and peered in. Iron spikes shot out from the earth in various directions looking like a giant geode of sorts. Or a battlefield of fallen swords. Her hand gingerly leant against an iron spire--the thing was still sturdy after all these years too--and Yume looked further in past the frontline of spikes.

Her sudden gasp echoed through the caves. Yume jumped back on instinct, her hands clasped together tight by her chest as her breaths became heavy. Gulping anxiously, Yume reluctantly reapproached the iron spikes, hopping over them into a small space that allowed only one person to stay in. Crouching down, Yume shakily reached out to pick up what was abandoned here. On one particular iron spire, was a corpse of a young child impaled from behind.

"You called me, didn't you?" she whispered, fighting back her tears. She had taken the body off the spike and held it close to her. Patches of its arms and legs ware scaled, and the body looked preserved as ever instead of decomposition.

"... Big brother."

She cried. In sorrow for the loss of the brother she never had, and in disbelief of the fucked up, dark ways only a demon mother would do. This was her work. Of metal and earth, Yume knew her mother--the real Yume--weaved spells similar to an Omyouji. It was a long story, she was told, only given bits and pieces of it like an incomplete puzzle.

Her mother probably had her reasons, much like how she probably had her reasons for leaving Yume here in the village that they wanted to get away from in the first place.

Collecting herself and stopping her tears, Yume stood up with her deceased sibling in her arms. How did she know in the first place that this child was flesh and blood... Well, Mother's blood did run in her veins, after all. What didn't run through her now was the callousness or concession for the dark actions. She wanted to give him a proper burial.

Leaving the caves with a dead body, even if she wasn't a known figure, would raise a lot of questions. Exhaling, Yume's chakra shifted. Her body now seemingly invisible, the girl slipped past Shinobu and the others under the illusion of never having being there at all. Once a short distance away, like a ghost that shows just as one blinks, Yume reappeared. Looking over her shoulder silently, she caught the eye of Shinobu for a second before turning away. No one should be seeing the expression she had right now.

Her brother looked like he was sleeping peacefully.

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