Tsume's head dropped between her shoulders at the snarl of thunder, lightning turning the world blue and black for an instant. She needed to hurry. But first--

She stepped into the cave, ducking past Genma and peeling off the ANBU mask, then her sandals. She could move faster without them. The rest of the armor she paused over; on the one hand, it would keep the rain off longer, create insulation. On the other, it would slow her down that much more. She stared out the opening for a long while before finally stripping off the belt and emptying her pouches of all but a very few weapons. She left everything on her torso for heat, stripped one long glove off, and bit through the base of her thumb, too-sharp eyeteeth meeting briefly through flesh. A moment's focus gathered her chakra and she spilled intention into it, snapping up a bit of bandaging and letting chakra-steeped blood soak in. She dropped it beside her mask and the bits of armor she was leaving behind.

"Give this to Kuromaru when he returns," she said quietly, pulling her glove back on. It wouldn't tell him specifics, but they knew each other well enough that he'd pick up the generalizations--he needed to stay here so she could find her way back being the most important. She didn't bother to mention to the men that there'd be no way for her to scent her way here, again; her trail would be wiped out soon, too. In heavy rain she'd probably be able to come back by sight and instinct alone, as most ninja could. It was a stupid chance to take, when Kuromaru could remain here and help guide her home.

Tsume hesitated at the opening, peering out at the rapidly darkening sky. It might as well have been full night already. The wind was bitterly cold, the rain icing wherever it hit rock. This was not going to be a fun hunt. Her lips pulled up off her teeth in distaste. She debated a moment, then finally decided the chakra drain was worth the added scent boost and speed, not to mention the heat it'd provide. She could always start with the basic version, and work her way up through wolf forms if she had to. "Shikyaku no Jutsu," she murmured with the appropriate hand signs, and felt power sizzle through her, chakra forming into claws and longer teeth, more an impression than anything. Not-fur bristled along her arms and shoulders, seen with the chakra if not with the eye. Hopefully it'd deflect the worst of the rain.

"Three hours," she said, flashing a feral smile at Genma and Raidou. "Then you can come and find me." She ducked her head and headed out into the rain, flying back along the path they'd been on, to where the trail had last been scented.

Now she didn't have to focus on anything but the hunt.

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Genma looked in dismay at the small pile of armour and equipment Tsume left behind. It wasn't as if the mask or arm and shin guards were particularly heavy. The abandonment of shoes and weapons seemed especially risky. But she obviously had method to her madness, and he knew as well as she did that that scent trail was dying steadily faster with every second of rain.

"Inuzuka. They're nuts," he told Raidou, who had stared with him in silent fascination at Tsume's preparations. Genma took off his mask and combed a gloved, aching hand through lank, dripping hair. Cold and wet. Winter always had to be cold and wet. "Hey Rai, how come we can't get the shitty weather like this when we have someplace nice and warm to bunk down with beds and quilts and shit? We had gorgeous weather on that last mission." Not that it had done them a bit of good. Well maybe. It certainly would have been an even more miserable journey back to Konoha, sick and injured and poisoned, if they'd also been getting shat upon by the skies, as they were now.

He sighed heavily and sat down as close to the little hearth as he could, with his back against the damp clay wall, and started unbuckling arm guards and stripping off his sodden gloves. While he doubted the wisdom of Tsume heading out on the trail without armor, he knew very well how poor an idea it would be to sit around with his hands in cold, wet gloves.

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"Definitely nuts," Raidou agreed after a moment, shaking his head. He turned his attention back to his pre-fire and coaxed the wood into flame with a small jutsu. The mellow light that flickered and rose turned the cave into a much more inviting place. Raidou managed a half smile, dug the pieces out of his kit necessary to assemble a small tripod, and took a flat-pack metal container outside to collect some rainwater. Once he'd set everything up to his satisfaction--and added some water purification tablets to the slowly heating water--he sat down and began to strip off his armour. "I figure that if the only thing that goes wrong on this mission--" besides teeth sinking into his shoulder, "--is the weather, I can live with that."

He didn't miss the hasty way Genma was yanking his gloves off, nor the slightly pinched cast to his face that spoke of pain. Raidou pulled his own gloves and arm guards off, and turned aside to yank his shirt off, replacing it quickly with a dry one. He hung the wet one up near to the fire with his gloves and Genma's, then turned back to his partner. "Speaking of shitty missions, you still got that heat pack I gave you?"

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"Yeah, actually," Genma answered, and followed Raidou's example with a little wince at the stiff ache in his fingers as he worked at the rain-soaked buckles of his chest armor. Next came the shirt, which hadn't been exactly keeping him warm, but with it off the tremors turned to outright shivers while he knelt bare-chested and searched through his pack for a fresh one. He used it as a towel to dry his shoulders, then shrugged it on and handed his wet shirt to Raidou. The heat pack he extracted from one of his belt pouches. He flexed it a few times to activate it, delighted when the chemicals inside immediately burst to life.

"This thing works great!" he said and held it out to Raidou. "Here." When Raidou didn't take it right away, Genma looked up, puzzled, and found the Genma, you're such a moron scowl on his friend's face. "Didn't you just ask me for this?"

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Definitely not the sharpest kunai in the holster. At least on occasion. Raidou gave his friend an exasperated look and got up again to finish his hot drinks mission. "Yeah, for you, numbskull. I said you could keep it, didn't I?" He'd meant to replace it when they'd gotten back, but other things had taken up his attention. Couple days spent in hospital would do that to a man.

Raidou draped Genma's shirt next his own, pleased to note the cloth was already steaming gently--that was probably something in the design, he wouldn't put it past intel to have come up with some sort of jutsu to make their uniforms quick-drying--and rubbed his hands briskly together before leaning over the fire again.

Success! Boiling water.

He was making tea for Genma and a tin mug of scalding coffee for himself when Kuromaru padded back into the cave, dripping water and glaring around the brace of hares hanging from his jaws.

There was also, Raidou noted with a blink, a baby leveret.

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One glance at the cave showed a complete lack of his human. Kuromaru dropped the rabbits into a pool at his feet, ignoring the blood one leaked slowly from a tooth puncture. Red slid down a crack in the rock, catching along his talons and soaking slowly into his fur. His head dipped threateningly, sniffing as he peered into the corners.

Then he smelled her blood. He eyed the men, lingering over Raidou, and stalked to her bundle of clothes, searching out the blood- and chakra-laden bandages. A good sniff gave him the information he needed, and he looked up at the two men huddled in the corner near the fire. "You let her leave?" he yeowled, whipping back around to stare out at the storm. "In that?" He stalked to the door, sticking his head out into the sleet and sniffing briefly.

There was, of course, no sign of her. He backed inside again and shook, hard, sending water droplets flying from his heavy coat. He whined once, circling around to sniff her things, turning to look out the crevasse again. Then, with a final keen that turned into a whuff halfway through, he scooped the rabbits up in his jaw and took them over to the fire, dropping them on the stone.

The fur around his muzzle was lightly frosted over, tiny icicles hanging from his jaw. He left the rabbits for the humans and turned back to Tsume's things, pawing through her pack until he could carefully tug her spare set of clothing free. Despite the fact that they were dry, he took them to the stone the other clothes were laying on and gently draped them nearby, pulling his lips off his teeth in his attempt to delicately place them flat.

He growled at them when, no matter how he tugged, wrinkles persisted. It wasn't always easy not having hands.

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"Do you actually think she would have let us stop her?" Genma asked, hunching over the hot pack Raidou had left in his hands when Kuromaru showered them with his shake. Raidou himself dodged quick as the shadows from his nascent flames to protect the fire from being doused, flinching at the icy water that spattered his broad shoulders and back.

Genma pulled out a pocket watch, snapping the cover open and holding it so Kuromaru could see it. "She left at 18:26. It's 18:43 now. I told her she had three hours and if she wasn't back by then we were going after her." He sighed and his brow creased in a slight scowl. "I don't exactly like it either, but you know as well as I do that scent trail won't last in this weather. And we can't afford to lose our quarry.""

He watched the dog struggle with Tsume's uniform for a moment, then moved to help, hanging the clothing so that it could absorb the heat of the flames.

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And now he was wet again. Raidou scowled and shook himself off with less vigour then the dog, avoiding the fire. He picked up the two mugs and set them aside to stew, out of range from giant paws and people not watching what they were doing. Then he had a look at the hares, careful not to touch them--he didn't know a great deal about Inuzuka and their dogs, he didn't work with them much, but he definitely knew something about hunters being protective of prey. One scrap between teammates was enough for one day. They could snarl at each other tomorrow when they each had someone to step in for them.

Setting that slightly bizarre logic to one side, Raidou went back to his pack, dug a well-folded blanket out, and walked over to crouch next Kuromaru. "Don't bite me for this," he said, and draped the blanket around the dog's heavy shoulders, before giving him a quick, rough rub-down. His muscles tensed slightly in preparation for a snap. The cave stank of wet dog. "Your lady will be fine," she had damn well better be, "how about we stop you from playing canine-icicle before she gets back?"

You could dislike your teammates all you wanted, just as long as you didn't forget what was important.

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