SCORPION IN THE DESERT

[Subori]

What is hidden is more interesting than what is obvious. A single eye opened. It scanned the sky above, a navy blue square of velvet, terminating in maroon ruffles at each of its four sides. Below the ruffles, four small walls of more navy blue velvet. Behind the velvet, some form of wood. A single door on one side, a small window in front that was kept closed. The voluptuous figure owning the eye moved beneath waves of silken fabric. Loose sheets clung to the form of the naked body that writhed beneath them, as she seemingly woke from a long slumber. Her back began to arch as she lay on the bed-like floor of the carriage, until her neck and shoulders were all that met with the bed. She drew up further, her head leaving the bed fully until she could prop herself up with her hands. She continued to stare skyward, but gradually lowered her eye to the window, though it remained closed. The carriage slowly came to a stop. The silk covering her skin slipped away to reveal her, but she remained unexposed in the confines of the grand carriage. Her eye narrowed slightly, as if she knew something. Outside the carriage, a large arachnid readied its massive tail. The scorpion postured itself, attempting to look threatening. Seated on the carriage, in the driver and passenger seat, were two ANBU from Hidden Grass. Two pairs of ANBU, each on the left and right of the carriage, stepped forward to position themselves in front of it in a defensive manner. On the horizon, one or more figures approached. This was meant to be an envoy from Hidden Grass, on a mission of diplomacy. The carriage was made easily identifiable, with the insignia of the Land of Grass adorning the small structure, visible from every angle. Its importance was made clear, and approaching the carriage in the middle of the desert was not wise. Whoever was approaching them should give them a wide berth.

[Shu]

After the mental rendezvous with his brother and his little brat Shu's mood was notably deflated. He still could not fathom as to why he would share the story of Rinkō's downfall with them. Perhaps it was the child's inquisitive nature he found appealing. Who knew? At the end of the day, he was still in a pretty shitty mood, guilt and anger tugging at what theoretically would be his heart. He had hoped working on Instantaneous would help to clear his mind, but it was for naught. His skill with the ability was growing by leaps and bounds, but the pocket dimension seemed to pick up on his thoughts. Every now and then he would hear Rinkō's voice whisper to him or catch a flash of a scene from their past.

So, he decided to do the next best thing; he took a walk.

Out in the vast desert he could truly feel at home, in his element. The sand beneath his feet seemed to come to life upon feeling his chakra, clinging to his soles as if begging to come along with him. Shu soon lost track of how long he had been walking. Was it an hour? No, the shift from day to night happened a couple of times. A week? It really didn't matter. Besides, if anything important came up Cezerny would find him.

Plopping down on a dune he simply enjoyed the evening air. It had been a while since he took the time to do something so mundane. Far too long if he figured in his captivity. This desert was once his kingdom. He let out an amused huff as memories of those long forgotten days returned. Before the humans discovered the arts of sealing they would seek him out, offer sacrifices to him in order to coax him into fighting for them. Or at the very least not crush their village or impede their travels.

He was Suna no Keshin, the Incarnation of Sand, practically a god to these weak and fragile meat bags. But like the pestilence they were, the humans sought to control him and power. It took centuries and countless lives, but even Shu had to hand it to their tenacity. But they would soon learn the price for meddling with power that was not theirs to control.

Through the sands he could feel something approaching. Closing an eye he used the Daisan no Me, Third Eye, to spy in that location. To his surprise it was an envoy from Kusagakure no Sato. The place had never really been on his radar. He remembered Gaara studying the country once. Rinkō had encountered ninja from there as well, but they just talked so he could not bring himself to care.

Nevertheless, this group could prove useful.

At the very least it would be entertaining to hear them die. A smirk slipped across his face as his body disappeared into the sand only to reappear just out of their line of sight miles away. As he made his way to the carriage it was nice to see them raise their guard so hastily. Even the scorpion, which looked rather tasty.

"Greetings!" he called out as he made his approach, arms spread as a gesture of peace. "I have come to offer a deal!" He paused as he mulled the thought over. "Well, technically, a message to relay informing your leader of a deal. But…," Shu waved his hand dismissively and smiled at the ANBU. "Will you hear me out?"

[Subori]

None of the ANBU replied verbally. The two pairs on either side of the carriage slapped their hands together to form a set of seals in rapid succession. Each one slammed down one Detention Embrace after another, four stacking to form Amplifying Detention Embraces. The two sitting up front on the carriage, the ANBU driving and the one next to him, hopped from the carriage to either side of the large scorpion. The one on the left side readied himself to perform Heavenly Prison on the target once he was initially subdued. The one on the right, the driver... he hung back in case the others needed him. He was the team's ANBU Medic. The others were front line ANBU, not him. A lone man approaching the Grass carriage, which possessed clearly official markings, in the middle of the desert... it was a red flag. This man could not be immediately trusted. Paranoid as they were, the ANBU would subdue him first, and then ask questions. It was doubtful he would get his message out.

[Shu]

Shu simply watched as the ANBU ran through their hand seals. To say that he was underestimating them would be somewhat inaccurate. He knew what it was like to be in the presence of the strong, the presence of once such as him. These ANBU were not different than any of the other countless shinobi he killed during his long life. Capable. Skilled. Probably an exceptional weapon for their village. Yet insignificant to him. That is why he awaited to see what jutsu they would pull out.

When the compounded waves of pressure slammed on him it forced him down to one knee. "Whoa," he said with a light laugh as he began analyzing the technique. It was a barrier of sorts. He could feel that it was draining chakra from him, but something of this level was the equivalent of a paper cut to the tanuki. With that in mind, he would not tolerate the jutsu for much longer. With a mild flare of chakra he raised the arm he was not using to support himself and snapped his fingers. At that instant the sand beneath the four ANBU maintaining the jutsu erupted around them, cocooning them in sand, and then rapidly bringing deep under the desert sand. All in the matter of seconds. There was a slight tremor and then the jutsu faded away.

"I do not think my friend appreciated that," Shu said simply as he picked himself up. Underneath the sand a clone began to form, waiting to drag down any more ANBU should the need arise. "Now, shall we try this again?"

[Subori]

The two remaining ANBU did not fall to pieces as one might expect. No, they were trained better than that. They kept their composure in the face of insurmountable odds, despite having lost four of their number right before their eyes. One of them unsheathed his sword, using it to free the horse-sized scorpion of its harness. As the arachnid charged at the enemy, the two ANBU leaped onto the carriage so as to no longer be standing on hostile sand. The scorpion would make every attempt to grab at Shu, and sting him with its deadly tail. Inside the carriage, a now dressed Subori peered out from the small window. She was well cloaked in shadow, none could see into the carriage, but she could see out. Her solitary eye watched the scorpion approach its target, and she waited to see what would happen to the poor thing. The pair of ANBU attempted to layer two Detention Embraces upon Shu once more, though this time, their number was lacking. Their enemy would be able to break the imprisonment technique even more easily than before. The scorpion was their trump card. It was more suited to fighting in these conditions, in the desert. It could feel the vibrations in the sand, from tiny hairs on its legs and body. It would not be trapped as easily as the four ANBU the man had already disposed of.

[Shu]

This was not exactly what Shu meant by trying this again, but he wasn't complaining. Nope, he was having fun killing these guys. Though, he really had to question the quality of their training. A shinobi from Sunagakure would have at the very least attempted to gather some intel from an unknown aggressor. Oh well, to each their own.

"Oh, c'mon guys," Shu said with feigned grief as the ANBU released the scorpion and sent it to attack him. However, the smirk on his face betrayed his acting. It was unfortunate for the beast. They had sent it in hoping that it would have a better advantage fighting in this desert terrain, but Shu had no intention of using sand in this instance. As it snapped its claws at him Shu jumped onto its back, taking a deep breath as he did so. The tail followed only seconds later, but Shu's reflexes were spot on. Deflecting the tail with his arm the tanuki finished kneading his chakra into the air he had inhaled, unleashing the powerful bullet of air¹ point blank on the scorpion.

The impact crushed its body and caused it to explode a little, getting some of its innards on him. Shu then jumped off of the dead scorpion and grinned at the ANBU, almost daring them to continue. "Can we," he managed to get out before a familiar, but weaker feeling of pressure dropped down on him. His knees buckled once more but he caught himself this time, forcing himself to continue standing. "You really need some new tricks," Shu said as he performed a backhand motion, unleashing a highly dense wave of chakra² towards the ANBU and the carriage. The sheer force of the attack would be enough to destroy the carriage as well as debilitate the shinobi.

---

¹Fūton: Renkūdan = Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet

²Tailed Beast Shockwave

[Subori]

[/td][td]

Just as the carriage splintered apart, a subtle blur of motion shot away from it. The pair of ANBU atop the carriage were thrown from it, organs ruptured and bones broken from the blast, no doubt dead or dying as a result. Even if they survived, they would be incapacitated and likely unconscious, imminent death certain without a medical ninja to tend to them. They would not survive this encounter.

Thoom.

"My, my..."

The blur of motion had shot off to the side, where it impacted in the sand with enough force to kick up a large jet of sand, obscuring the owner of the voice. As sand rained down and the cloud of dust settled, a feminine form gradually took shape within it.

"The infamous Monster Tanuki, Incarnation of Sand... One-Tailed Shukaku. What luck I must have to run into you. What terrible luck, indeed."

Subori delicately feigned reverence toward the monster.

It was difficult to tell whether she was mocking him by speaking those titles, or praising him. Her tone suggested the latter. He was, after all, a great and terrible thing. A monster who plagued Hidden Sand for generations. A thing that could never be subjugated by another.

"I am Subori. I run the Village Hidden in Grass. Though not common knowledge, I am also the boss scorpion. I would have you answer for murdering both my subordinates and my kin. What say you, Shukaku of the Sand?"

Subori introduced herself to Shukaku, bowing deeply to the tailed beast. She was so beautiful. Long blue hair, ultramarine with a greenish tint when the light hit it a certain way. Bright, healthy pale skin. A gorgeous wide mouth. A healthy, well-endowed bust.

[/td][/tr][/tbody][/table][/ul]

Note: This plays as the dust settles: link.

[Shu]

Shu's eyes narrowed when a figure escaped from the carriage. It would have been kind of nice if things had ended with that. He would have gone to pick up ANBU that were cast aside, checking to see which ones were still alive. From there he would have brought them back to the fortress and tortured them a little bit. If they were truly unfortunate then they would still be alive by the time Cezerny returned and their souls would be devoured. However, it seemed he would have the opportunity to be entertained by this diplomat, who at least displayed above average speed. Her attempt to mask herself in the sand were for naught though. He could sense her within the cloud, but made her presence known quickly enough.

"Ah, the Lady of the Grass," Shu said with a tone of mild surprise as he looked her over. By human standards she was rather attractive, finding his attention being drawn towards her largely exposed chest. His brow furrowed. This fascination was borderline obsession, having grown more annoying when he assimilated that green haired kid from Kaminari no Kuni. Shaking it off he shifted his attention to the tail, which, as far as he was concerned, was all the verification he needed that she was a scorpion. "I can see how you would jump to that conclusion, but my name is Gunsenkai Shōgō."

The sand beneath them began to shift as the clone rose closer to the surface, moving through the sand like a shark in water. "I like how this one talks," the tanuki clone's voice resonated from the sand as he circled around the two. Those his words were favorable they still carried a tone that inclined he would just as easily enjoy skewering her as he would listening to her continued praise.

"I act as an envoy for the Bijūtsukai," Shu stated as he snapped his fingers and the human sized tanuki clone rose out of the sand behind him. "The deaths of your subordinates and," he looked at the innards that stained his clothes, "kin are of their own doing. I came to talk and they responded with hostility. Though they serve as perfect examples. The Bijūtsukai are going to be making their move very soon. It is advised that all villages stand out of our way. All who dare to interfere will meet with the same fate as your subjects."