Skye had started his day like any other. He woke up at a decent hour, ate breakfast, checked in with his clan and started to get to work in his home. It was only when he received a message summoning him to meet with the Raikage. Based on what he had heard from passersby, as well as other Shinobi, Sanosuke had become the leader of the village and was leading quite effectively. Skye knew as an ANBU, he had a duty to serve his village and the Raikage. Seeing as he had been summoned, it most likely meant a mission.

Having been a bit busy with his clan throughout the years, it was somewhat odd to put on his ANBU gear. Putting on the pieces of clothing, as well as the armor overtop of it, the only thing he left off was his mask. Sitting down for a moment, he held the mask up and simply stared at it. Skye had done many things and killed a great deal of people using the mask to cover his face and hide his identity. In a way, he had the mask take the blame for everything that he did. It served as a barrier which kept him from going insane. With a light sigh, Skye placed the masked over his face and made sure it would stay there. When Skye was first joining Kumo’s ANBU, he was given a multitude of ceramic masks to pick from. It didn’t take Skye too long to pick one. The mask he chose resembled the basic features of a bat. It was detailed with purple triangles around the bottom and top. Making sure each piece of equipment was secure, Skye grabbed his scythe, holstered it on his back, and sneakily made his way to the administration building.

Knowing one of his good friends was Raikage gave Skye a bit of an uneasy feeling. Though as an ANBU, he was taught to be devoid of emotion while on missions or even in mission briefings. There was a bit of concern in the back of his mind that he’d didn’t want getting in the way of reconnecting with his friend. Shaking his head, he slowly cleared his mind and began to take on a more professional and serious demeanor. Walking through the main door of the administration building and up a few flights of stairs, Skye finally made it to the Raikage’s office. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way through the door and confronted Sano. Skye grinned behind the mask the moment he got a look at his friend’s face. Walking forward and taking a knee, he bowed his head exactly the way he was taught to. “Greetings Raikage. You asked me to see you?” His voice was slightly deeper than normal, thanks to his mask. Disguising his voice was something he had to do in order stay unrecognizable while on missions and assassinations, but having Sano personally know him was a bit of a perk in this case.


[Word Count: 513]

This was a pain. Tapping could be heard from the administration building as the Raikage was impatiently tapping his pen on the mahogany desk loudly in frustration. In front of him were numerous papers and maps that were detailed with marks in red and black ink. There were X's and O's along a hornet nest of lines connecting the two of them. The leader's eyes were weary from how long he had been looking at the papers. They were possible leads on Tame, the assassin rumored to have taken the life of the former Raikage; Reika Misora. So far they have come up with nothing. Hell they didn't even have the evidence to legitimately nail Tame down as a proper suspect. For the past several months since he had taken office, Sanosuke had taken great strides to reform his village for the better while continuing the investigation. So far him and his team of investigators have run into dead end after dead end. Each time taking a chunk of the team's moral. Some of them were talking about discussing to Sanosuke about just dropping the investigation. Of course he couldn't do that. Every fiber in his being was against the whole idea of him giving up and letting Reika's killer get away.

Then it happened. Two nights ago a shadowy figure that was not identified by the new and tightly heightened security of Kumogakure was spotted at the place where Reika was killed. The figure was masculine built while wearing what looked like a buraku mask on. Of course ANBU confronted the man and engaged on him with means of capturing. The intruder escaped, but was injured and the forces chased him in the abandoned mine shaft where it's unknown where in the shaft he is. The ANBU forces were guarding the entrance of the cave so that escape through the main entrance would be impossible.

It's quite possible that the man they have cornered in the mine shaft is linked to the Reika's killer since he did come to the crime scene looking for something. But now he needed help with someone to capture him alive. Sanosuke would have no problem fighting the man, but the issue is the Raikage had no subtle approaches of capturing the man without killing him. So he would need a genjutsu user for this mission. Looking through his folder, Sanosuke had looked through all the operatives that would bring about the most success in this mission. Kenji was the the moment dealing with affairs with his clan, and even so was order to head to Kusa immediately to pass along a trade agreement with their forces for importing weapons and goods to their village. There was another name he saw on the list. On the list was the name: Skye Nekito. The name brought a smile on his face. He was his former squad mate and one of his few friends from back when he was a genin. It would have been too long since he's talked to him. Last time he checked the man was fairly skilled in subjugation. Perfect for this mission indeed.

Which is why he called Skye to meet him in his office for the mission briefing. That was 45 minutes ago. The entire time, Sanosuke was analyzing the maps to be sure that everything was in order. Should everything go according the plan, Kumo will be that much closer to seeking vengeance on the man that murdered their beloved Reika. But if they screw up this one solid lead, then this will demoralized the troops to the point where the Raiakge couldn't see his troops recovering. Failure was not an option.

The door opened to reveal the ANBU that he requested. Wearing a mask that featured his distinguished purple markings on his face and resembled a bat. Skye took a knee to bow down to him and say his greeting. Sanosuke looked at him and got up from his desk. His Raikage hat materialized from behind his chair and placed on his head. Sanosuke glided around the desk so he was standing in front of the bowed ANBU agent. His hands were behind his back as he spoke to Skye. "As the Jyuudaime Raiakge. I normally have my ninja refer to me as Raikage-sama." Sanosuke said voided of all emotions. He knew that this would cause some awkward silence regarding the irony of what he said in contrast to how close Sanosuke and Skye were. Sanosuke reached his right arm outward towards the downed ANBU member. A smile was beaming from his face as he let down his guard. "But as a friend, you're an exception." He pulled Skye up from his bowed position and into a one armed hug between the two men. He broke out of the hug shortly before returning to his desk and relaying the information about the task at hand.

A small bead of sweat slowly formed along the side of Skye’s face. Though he kept his eyes neutral, he quietly bit the edge of his lip, worried that he had angered his friend. Lowering his head slightly, he inhaled and started to hold his breath. Glancing up, he noticed Sano had extended his arm and quietly responded to his greeting. It was a positive tone of voice and immediately caused Skye to calm down. With a quiet laugh, Skye accepted Sano’s hand and immediately went into the one armed hug. “It’s been way too long Sano.” His voice was no longer disguised, seeing as he was safely inside the Administration building. Though he was acting a little less professional, Sano didn’t seem to mind. Silently returning to a neutral stance he followed Sano with his eyes as he walked back behind the desk. Skye kept his mask firmly adjusted to his face. To him, taking it off in would have been rude and incredibly unprofessional. Sano called him into his office, so there had to be something going on. As Skye listened to the predicament, he nodded slowly, absorbing all the evidence he could. While he was on the way to the Administration Building, Skye had a feeling what he was being called to do would be dire. Unfortunately, he was right.

Skye showed very little emotion when Sano mentioned that the man could possibly be linked to the death of the previous Raikage. He knew the Raikage from a few encounters he had when he was just a Genin. Though he had a bit of a personal reason to add to the mix, he quickly cleared the thought from his mind and brought his attention back to Sano. With a sigh, he put his hands behing his back and tilted his head slightly. “So the situation you have to put up with is that serious, huh?” Skye paused and silently moved closer to Sano’s desk. “If that man really was involved with Reika’s death, there’s no doubt he would need to be captured and interrogated. Judging by what information you have, he’d definitely be somewhere in the mine. As for where… There would be only one way to find out.” He quietly pointed a finger towards the map. Leading his finger along one of the lines, he ended it on the map and tapped the location. “Someone heads in, searches the mine, finds the man, and brings him back alive.” Skye smiled behind his mask, returning a bit to his natural, cocky attitude for just a moment. “Which is why you called me in, correct?” Although Skye wasn’t an extremely smart person, he had enough intelligence to predict enemy’s moves and figure things out a few steps ahead of time. Based on the information he was given, there were only a few ways the situation could come about. The best outcome would be going into the mine, apprehending the suspect alive, and interrogating him to see what he knew. The worst and most feared outcome would be if the man had an upper hand and was able to kill any of his fellow ANBU or even make an attempt on Sano’s life. “If you want to send me in and trust me enough to get the mission complete, it will be done.” In almost an instant, Skye snapped back into his emotionless tone. He took a step back from Sano’s desk and put a hand over his chest to show he was dedicated to whatever his Kage commanded.

[Word Count: 1103]

As expected from his old friend Skye, so very quick to be put into action without a moment's hesitation. In just the short amount of time of the debriefing he gave the man, Skye had already understood the gravity of the situation to an extent and more or less know the roll he has in the mission. This meant either 2 things: Skye's critical thinking skills has sharpened over the years(most likely from the clan dealings he's had to deal with while in retirement) or Sanosuke has learned to better make debriefing statements with all his orders he's been giving out as Raiakge to his subordinates. Honestly, he'd like to think it was a combination of both. Sanosuke sat down at his desk and intertwined his hands into one another while thinking broadly of the situation at hand. "It might not be the best idea to assume already the man is related to Reika's death, but he definitely knows about the person who does. And that person I believe is him." Sanosuke explained to Skye as he slid one document from one folder to his right over to Skye. It was facedown but upon flipping it over, it would be the face of the kage assassin: Tame. It's very likely that this man might have tried to clean up any evidence found at the scene of the crime to tie up loose ends and make Tame's trail that much harder to pick up. But the mistake was being overly cautious, and that will cost the murderer dearly.

Other than that, Skye had the right idea of the mission and what was at stake. In no way could they kill this man in cold blood. If they did, then they would be back at square 1: trying to find some connection to Tame and Reika's death. This was the only solid lead they had in months. Sanosuke nodded as he looked into the slits of Skye's mask. From just his eyelids, Sanosuke was seeing right through him. Even if he did have a mask on, the Raikage had good enough vision to read the ANBU agent just by the small bit of his eyes that are seen because of the slits of his masks. They showed confidence and arrogance of his abilities. Sure Skye was a capable shinobi, but he was still rusty on the field. "The team for this mission will have to be rather small. Small enough to not alert the intruder that someone else has entered the cave, but large enough so that the target can be subdued. A team of two would do nicely." Sanosuke continued and stood up from his desk once more and put down his Raikage hat on the table. The entire time his eyes never left Skye's for an instant. Silver beads clashing with porcelain like a venom entrancing its victim, Sanosuke was making sure Skye's eyes were on him the entire time.

"You will be teamed with me. You and I will enter the mine together in an attempt to capture the intruder. Once we encounter the target, we will engage on him immediately before he has the chance to prepare. He's reported injured and must be treating his wounds. I will engage on him while you support me. When his guard is down, you will place him in a genjutsu to subdue them. Once finished, you will alert the ANBU surrounding the only exit of the mine. They will come in and help extract the package." Sanouske informed Skye of what the plan would be. It sounded fairly simple considering the risks that were at stake. Sanosuke was sure that he could kill the intruder, but keeping him alive would be difficult. Making one hand seal, Sanouske transformed himself back into his signature black cat transformation. Everyone in ANBU has heard about Sanosuke's new habit of turning into this creature whenever he goes out and is bored around the office. When he first started doing it, few operatives asked him to revert back to his normal state but they were ignored. Ever since then, nobody from Kumo really asked about it.

Hoping down from his desk, Sanosuke landed on his paws with grace and ease. Not a single sound could be heard as he gracefully landed. He turned his head and looked at Skye. He already swore that he'd do as he commanded so it was unlikely that there was any discrepancies in his plan that Skye had. "Lets go. Navi is having the ANBU squad on standby while we arrive." Sanosuke said with his voice still unchanged from his transformation. He took off rather quickly out the window and on the rooftops. He would navigate through the rooftops of his village until he reached the lower mountain ridges. That is when he would use the main forest path as his main way of traversing through the trees. He'd slow down his speed to have Skye catch up with him of course so he wouldn't be too far behind. At the rate they were going at, they would reach their destination in approximately 15-20 minutes. Sanosuke mentally informed Navi of their ETA. She understood and relayed that no changes has occurred and the intruder was indeed still in the mine.

---

WC: 1729

Skye drifted his fingers over the documents before sliding the sheets of paper closer to his view. Flipping the page, his eyes widened slightly. Immediately setting his gaze on the picture, he grit his teeth slightly and picked the photo up. “Tame…” He knew the name, as well as the stories that followed along with the face. Ever since the day the Raikage was murdered, there was an uneasy air around the administration building, as well as a closer eye on whoever went in and out of the building. Seeing the face of the Kage Killer made Skye’s blood heat up. Though he wasn’t born in Kumo, there was still a love for him home and a desire to protect it. Tame was still at large and could easily come back to Kumo to try his hand at another Kage. With a shake of his head, Skye focused more on the mission at hand. His head shot up and stared at Sano when he mentioned that he was coming along. Skye wanted to protest with Sano’s decision to join in the search, but knowing his friend, his mind was set on finding out who the man was and what he was hiding. There was nothing he could say or do that would change his friend’s mind, so he simply stood up straight and nodded to show his acceptance.

As Skye listened in on the plan, he quietly played the situation out in his head. Given what knowledge he had on Sano’s abilities, if they were used in tandem with his own, whoever might be caught between the two wouldn’t stand much of a chance. Then again, it would all depend on if they were able to get the jump on the man hiding out in the mines. There were multiple outcomes all of which would either end in success or failure. The scenarios would all be in his mind the moment he would see the target. With a calmed exhale, he looked up at Sano and gave his own opinion on the plan. “If I can pull a genjutsu off on him, it’ll be over in a matter of seconds. I’m just worried about you. If this man has enough to do with Tame as I think he does, he’ll be dangerous and will try to take your life the moment he sees you. And as much as I’m against you coming along, I trust you can handle yourself.” Skye gave a smile, showing he was fine with Sano’s involvement of the mission. Just as he stood up straight and kept eye contact with Sano, something happened that he didn’t expect.


He blankly stared as Sano transformed into a black cat. He had heard the rumors and had thought nothing of them, but actually seeing his friend take the form of a cat nearly caused him to burst out with laughter. Luckily, he was able to control himself and hold his laugh without even making a face. A cat of all things was something he decided to turn into. It was even odd to hear his friend’s voice coming out of a small feline. Whatever he thought of the form his Raikage took, it would have to wait till he was no longer on duty. For now, he would have to focus on the task at hand. Bringing his mask back up, Skye fitted it to his face and quietly exhales. Now that the mission briefing was over and Sano was heading out to the mine, he would have to take on his expressionless and emotionless ANBU mentality. Walking towards the window, he silently hopped onto a nearby building and jumped across the rooftops. He quickly caught sight of Sano and followed behind at a distance. As soon as the two hit the mountain range, then the forest, Skye slowed his pace to hop across the branches and eventually reach his destination. He landed on the ground floor and noticed the other ANBU agents guarding the entrance into the dark depths of the mine. Walking up to the first agent, he started to talk about the situation, what the man may look like, the overall layout of the mine. Once he had what information he needed, he took the scythe off of his back and stood in front of the mine waiting on Sano.

[Word Count: 1827]

At the pace the two of them were going at, they didn't take long for them to hit the mountain range. The entire time they were traveling, Sanosuke was using his senses to feel out what condition Skye was in and if he was truly ready to be back in duty. Looking out of the corner of his eye, Sanosuke saw that he was keeping up with him at a moderate pace. However the Raikage could hear the ANBU's breathing was slightly off and fluctuating between breaths slightly. So he wasn't at full peak condition as he used to be. It makes sense considering that he was off duty for so long. This mission shouldn't put Skye in too much danger, since of course Sanosuke would be doing a majority of the fighting while Skye will only need to put the man in a genjutsu once he was done with him. It'll be simple, in and out of the cave. But just in case, Sanosuke would keep an eye on Skye to make sure that nothing happens to him.

When they reached their place of destination, Sanosuke landed gently on the grass on his paws. The ANBU standing at guard of the entrance of the cave looked more like statues; not moving an inch until they were given orders otherwise. As soon as Sanosuke arrived, they looked towards their leader and bowed to show their respect for their supreme commander; even if he was in the shape of a feline, they still showed respect for the fearsome warrior they all knew him to be. Sanosuke nodded at them as Navi flew past one of the ANBU agents and circled around him. It caused him to chuckle as the reminants of the chakra particles that dropped from her tickled his fur.

"My Lord" Sanosuke turned to the agent who called for his attention. It was the voice of a female. She had on the mask of an owl and was wearing a white hooded cloak. Her weapons were at her sides and concealed, but Sanosuke could already hear them due to his advanced senses. Sanosuke nodded for the ANBU agent to continue her report. She noticed that the nod of his head was his way to do so and she continued. "We have the suspect still trapped in the cave as you ordered. His skills are extraordinary; verging on the strength of a sannin but not quite there yet(A-2)." Sanosuke nodded as he listened. There was already a report of how the man had already killed 2 ANBU agents during his escape. He wasn't someone that should be underestimated at all. More information needed to be collected about the informant.

"What of his abilities? I need to know who exactly we're dealing with." Sanosuke asked.

"He's proven to be a skilled weapon specialist skilled with using numerous knives. And also has access to a rather large library of genjutsu techniques." The last part caused Sanosuke to groan to himself. Genjutsu. He hated those techniques the most, they only continued to irritate him. A fight between shinobi should be fought with their own strength that comes from their body, not by simply placing them in an illusion. It would be rough but he believed he could manage to fight him despite the advantage of him being a genjutsu user. Letting out a sigh, Sanosuke shook his head to get him focused. "Navi you stay here and help the ANBU should he somehow slip past Skye and I. I'll be going ahead now " Sanosuke told his partner. Navi understood and went back to standing guard. At least she was able to listen to him without throwing a temper tantrum of not doing anything. She knew how important this mission was. This wasn't the time to be screwing around.

In a poof of smoke, Sanosuke reverted back to his original form. Wind wished his kage robes as he stood looking at the entrance of the cave. He didn't want his robes to get tarnished or torn in the fight. After all this man could kill even him if he wasn't careful. Taking off his robes and placing them in a scroll, Sanosuke was left wearing his shinobi attire. It consisted of baggy blue pants with a belt that matched the tribal patterns of his skin tight black V neck short sleeved shirt. The details were from the collar of the shirt working downwards. Each of the patterns of the shirt was embedded with power that treated his clothing like a suit of armor. It took a lot of strength within Sanosuke to be able to wear it for its weight was equal to that piece of armor. His gloves were on, and with a snap of his fingers turned into his signature gauntlets that housed his swords. Sanosuke Flynt, leader of the village hidden in the clouds was ready for battle.

"Skye, we're moving out now." Sanosuke barked out before walking himself into the cave with his ANBU at his side. As he walked, Sanosuke sensed the barrier go up to make sure that the suspect wouldn't run out. Now the man was trapped with the Wasp Sage of Kumogakure. It was rather unlucky for him.

Skye silently listened in on the conversation that Sano was having with one of his fellow ANBU agents. The man they were tasked with apprehending seemed to have exceptional skills. Knives would be a tricky weapon to deal with though. With thrown weapons such as knives and kunai, there was no telling the amount or special properties of each individual blade. There were a number of uncertainites that made listening to the known abilities of the man rather tough. Upon hearing Sano’s audible groan at the mention of Genjutsu, Skye held back a small chuckle. Knowing the Raikage on more of a personal level, he knew of Sano’s dislike for the ninja art. Physical strength was a large part of the shinobi way of life, but control over the mind was equally important. Most ninja in the current world seemed to be focused more on being able to overpower foes instead of outsmarting or intimidating them. Skye’s personal method and fighting style always involved more brain than brawn, but having Sano on this mission would certainly help tip the odds in their favor.

Seeing that Sano was now through with his investigation of the man, he nodded once as Sano ordered him to follow. With a small twirl of his scythe, he gripped its handle and followed closely next to Sano. Thoughts started to assault his mind, thinking of how his own Genjutsu would be fare against this foe. Both would have knowledge of illusions and be able to pick them out and break them rather quickly. Luckily for Skye, his Kekkei Genkai would tip the scales in his favor if he needed to distract or control the situation with the man. The man’s Genjutsu seemed like nothing to scoff at, but it would be a battle of the minds if it came down to just him and Skye. Shifting his thoughts away from the possible upcoming brawl, he started to think more on Sano. Given that he was the Raikage would definitely be intimidating and could easily be used to frighten the man. Then again, if his involvement with Tame was greater than anticipated, Sano’s life would be at risk.

Picking up the pace and drifting past Sano, his footsteps became silent and his feeling of his presence seemed to fade, even though he was directly in Sano’s sight. Having been trained for stealth and assassinations, his ability to notice details in his surroundings and track chakra would be helpful on the mission. Lowering his head and shoulders slightly, he took deep breath and quietly scanned the area. Skye focused on the ground, seeing small pebbles and dust that was displaced. The man looked to be in a rush to escape the ANBU. Even though he was able to kill two of the ANBU that pursued him, he was smart to take to the defensive and hide in the mines. However, it was only a matter of time before people came in after him. That is where the man’s mistakes began. By hiding away in the mines, the man wouldn’t be able to tell where any pursuers would come from, or even how close they would be. Not only that, but not knowing what equipment or abilities Sano or Skye had, or how the two worked together would also cause problems for the man. Slowly but surely, Skye weaved through the many halls of the mines, tracking the disturbance of dust, as well as the miniscule amounts of chakra the man left behind. Eventually making to a large open section of the mine, Skye put a hand up to halt their advance. Standing up straight, he looked over at Sano and prepared his scythe. The trail had gone cold, so much so that Skye wouldn’t be able to track the man’s path through the mine. Most likely, he had wised up to the trail he was leaving. That, or he was close by.


[Word Count: 2481]

Chakra 290/300:

As Sanosuke and Skye ventured farther and farther into the mine, Sanosuke was using his acute senses to detect any disturbances that was in their immediate area. It's true that Skye was rather skilled in the ANBU arts of tracking since it was a skill that all ANBU were taught to perform no matter what specialty they had. But there was also the fact there was no real gurantee that Skye would be able to react to a stimulus that was in the area. So Sanosuke used his ears and nose to detect everything around them. The smell of mildew filled the cave as water droplets splashed on the ground from the ceiling. Each droplet echoed through the cave with an audible pitch that Sanosuke could hear as the sound traveled farther and farther. Echolocation was what this was called. He was using the echos of the water droplets to listen to the sounds of it bounce off the other surfaces of the cave. His ears were a radar, and his nose was sniffing out anything that smelled metallic like a knife of the faint smell of gunpowder. If they were going to walk in a trap, Sanosuke would be the first to know.

At the moment, the two men were walking in the dark without any source of light to guide their eyes. This wouldn't do at all, thought Sanosuke as he momentarily stopped in his tracks and walked towards the wall. From this close in the dark, the Raikage could make out what resembled a lamp that was attatche to the wall. There must be more nearby, but was most likely broken due to either the intruder rushing into safety or just overall corrosion. Either way, Sanosuke had a use for them. If he focused chakra throughout the cave, Sanosuke was sure it would illuminate the entire cave with light so they wouldn't be truding blindly. His fingers glided over the wall in search of the lamp, as soon as he had it under his fingertips Sanosuke gripped it tightly. Sanosuke made a seal with his other hand and pumped chakra through the lamp. That pump acted like a large surge and brought energy throughout all the other torches in the cave that it was connected so the mine was no longer plagued in shadows. "Ah much better, if I had to walk in the dark more than I had to I'd go insane." Sanosuke let out a sigh of relief and scratched underneath his nose as he continued walking.

Of course, Sanosuke was well aware of the fact that what he did just brought attention to the intruder that there was someone in the cave. That surge of chakra he released was large enough to power the mine for two days straight. The entire time, Sanosuke wasn't stopping his stride not in the slightest besides the time to pump chakra into the mine. Knowing Skye, he might be alarmed that Sanosuke made their presense so easily tracked now with the lights on. "It'll be okay. I have a plan." Sanosuke assured his ANBU as he was beginning to take the league. They would soon approach an opening in the mine that should be rather large for them. Most likely where construction started and never finished. When they reached the area, it was lit because of Sanosuke's chakra. Looking around, they were abandoned as well. Not much being there to get in their way in case something went down. Now was a better time than any. Taking up a rather large quantity of oxygen in the air, Sanosuke inhale deeply. Then he let it out with a yell:

"HEY YOU BASTARD! I'M COMING TO GET YOU! MAKE MY JOB EASIER AND GET YOUR ASS OUT WHERE I CAN SEE YOU! DON'T MAKE THIS RAIKAGE DRAG YOU OUT OF THIS CAVE HALF DEAD!!" Sanosuke yelled into the cave, with his voice cords being laced with his own chakra to further his voice to every corner of the cave so there was no way nobody couldn't have heard him. After he was done, Sanosuke chuckled as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. As quick as lightning or perhaps even faster, Sanosuke felt his mind being touched by a presence he knew rather well. It was Navi. She was deeply aggravated with Sanosuke's large claim, saying that he was an idiot for doing such a thing that would attract unwanted attention. She was screaming at him in the wasp language that Sanosuke learned during his senjutsu training mixed in with high frequency ringing from his voice from how mad she was. "I wonder if he heard me Skye..."

Before he could say anything else, the ground began to erupt around them. Smirking to himself, he knew that he was heard and the intruder knew where they were now and must have activated this jutsu to defend himself. So he was right, there were traps in this mine for anyone trying to capture him. The ground began to rise into shapes of rather large blobs of ground and gravel. There was a count of about 15 of them. The blobs were turning into man shaped creatures with horns on their forehead and wings on their backs. Their fists were colossal in proportion to its body. Their eyes were golden colored and beaming with chakra. This was a trap all right set by their lovely intruder. So not only was he a bukijutsu specialist and a genjutsu specialist, but also was skilled in summonings. Fantastic. So he's most likely around the skills of a newly appointed sannin. Shouldn't be too hard to deal with. But first he had to take out the trash that was in front of him.

Clapping his hands together, lightning danced around his fingertips. Lightning crackled with each other mixed in with static friction from the colliding chakra. These pops in electricity were the summonings required for Sanosuke to summon 1 of his swords was remained sealed in his gauntlets. Grabbing a hold of it, Sanosuke got into a stance and looked at the golems. They didn't look so tough, about the same strength as a seasoned chuunin(C-2 stats for all of them). Nothing too difficult, perhaps even Skye can join in. Since they are artificial life, Sanosuke doubt that typical genjutsu would work on these creatures. They'd have to do things with their own two hands, which was what he preferred. The creatures were eyeing Sanosuke and Skye like a buffet. Sanosuke smirked at them and clenched his swords. "Now that's more like it..." Sanosuke sneered as he adjusted his stance to make it more offensive. He was going to attack those bastards before they had the chance to do the same to him. And with that, the Raikage launched himself at the creatures with his sword held high.

---

Chakra Used 382.5/385:

The room lit up suddenly and Skye stopped in his tracks. The light wasn’t just in their room, but was making every room bright, and alerting the target that someone was in the mines with them. Although the light would make it simple to see, the price of a sneak attack was much more of a loss. Hearing that Sano had a plan made him a little more comfortable, thinking that the Raikage knew something that he didn’t. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Skye’s eyes widened as Sano took in a deep breath. Preferring to be stealthier on this mission, he could only assume what Sano was about to do. Quickly dropping the pole of his scythe down and leaning it against his shoulder, he brought his hands up and covered his ears. Though the Raikage’s voice was muffled, he could still tell the sheer volume of it was incredibly loud. Not only would the shout attract attention to their location, but it would also give the man information that the Raikage was in the mine with him. Taking his hands away from his ears and gripping his scythe, he took a few steps towards Sano. Skye was a bit irritated that his friend broke their stealthy advantage, and would clearly have a scowl hidden behind his mask. With a shake of his head, he twirled his weapon and took a place next to Sano. “You’re an idiot… You’re the leader of our village, and you’re an idiot.” His tone was angered, yet forgiving. There was nothing he could do to change what events would unfold from Sano’s actions. The chance to capture the target was still possible and it would certainly make the mission go quicker. “Whoever is in here definitely heard that… And they are most likely going to come for us now…”

Feeling the earth beneath him rumbling and watching as the golems quickly began to outnumber the two, Skye grit his teeth and scanned the area around him. With a flick of his wrist, the bottom of his scythe was flung into his hand and the chain began to separate. If the man who summoned the golems was close by, Skye wasn’t going to be willing to show all his abilities until he met the man face to face. “Speaking of which, that must be him now. Or at least a trap he set up…”

Seeing as Sano was aimed at taking out a section of the golems, Skye would have to follow up and take on a different group. Just based on the appearance of the golems, it looked as though Skye’s weapon could slice through them, but he’d only have to attempt it to fully see. With a deep breath, he planted his right foot into the ground and thrusted himself into the fight. Dropping the chain only a few feet away from one of the golems, he ducked underneath its arm and took a large swipe upwards with his scythe. The blade had enough momentum to grind into the rock that made up the golem’s body. With a heavy press on the pole, the blade left a near perfect slice that left the golem in two. The chain was then pulled to him and followed up with another slice through the golem’s head. Catching the end of it, Skye turned towards another, ready to take out his half of the golems.

[Word Count: 3079]

Sanosuke knew he could handle himself just fine in an all out brawl between these golems. They didn't seem like much to him, they shouldn't be too much trouble. But he was worried about Skye. They might prove to be too difficult for him. He did however just get out of retirement, so asking him of this might be too much. However he had a responsibilty to his village to bring this man in. And if the intruder was among these golems then that was more of a reason to wrap it up quickly; to get that bastard out and to make sure Skye is unharmed. Though something in Sanosuke told him that the intruder wouldn't just appear to them like that without good reason. No he was else where, hiding and watching from afar. Don't worry you bastard, I'll get to you at some point. Sanosuke snorted and turned is attention to one golemn that had its gigantic fist that was the size of his table raised up and ready to strike the Raikage down in one blow. If the golem was dealing with a shinobi that wasn't Sanosuke, then maybe the blow would have landed. However Sanosuke was no ordinary shinobi, he was the leader of the village hidden in the clouds.

Catching the fist with his very own, Sanosuke stopped the motion with little to no effort on his part. The golem creaked as it tried to put more pressure on its fist to push Sanosuke off. But the man stood firm where he was without budging even the smallest bit. The golemn tried wrestling with the kage for control over his fist with no avail to try and push him off to overtake him. Finally realizing that pushing its target off wasn't going to work, the golem tried to instead retract its fist to try again. The arm wouldn't budge as Sanosuke was still holding onto it tightly. His fingers were lodged deep in the rocky clobbered fist of the golem to make sure his hold wasn't going anywhere. The golemn pulled and pulled trying to get away, but Sanosuke wouldn't let it get away so easily. With a smirk, Sanosuke rose his sword up high in the air before swooping it down thus cutting the golem's fist clean off. It felt like a hot knife cutting through butter when Sanosuke's sword cleaved the creature's limb off. From how it was standing, Sanosuke made the creature buckle backward from the sudden change in gravity due to its arm was missing. Now the creature was plummeting down into the ground like a fallen tree. Before it hit the ground, Sanosuke leaped and cleaved the creature's head clean off. The golem's head clattered on the ground when Sanosuke landed.

Without missing a beat, Sanosuke barely touched the ground before he whirled around and rocketed the cleaved off golem arm he dismembered at another golem that was close by. The rock upon rock collision caused an explosion of dust and minerals that left the standing golem with the top half of its body missing while the legs of the golem collapsed suddenly without much effort. Now that he was leveled on the ground, Sanosuke dashed outwards at 2 golemns that thought cooperation would be best if they wished to kill the Raikage. Both of them sent their fists at Sanosuke hoping that at least one of them would land. The creatures threw their weight into the punch from what Sanosuke could see as they were leaning into the punch they had just thrown. There was a small gap between both of the golems' arms when they were thrown simultaneously. That gap was just enough for him to get through. Leaping directly into the punches, Sanosuke spun between that gap of the punches to get pass their offense. Effortlessly, Sanosuke got in and was now between the rocky golems.

Just as he escaped the gap, Sanosuke tightened his legs around one of the golem's arms that was extended from the punch. The pressure was enough that the arm itself was being crushed from the pressures between Sanosuke's legs. Ramming his sword in the ground, Sanosuke pulled himself parralel to the ground by balancing on the sword. From his movements, Sanosuke also had the golem that he was holding captive with his thighs while he was balancing on the sword. With a mighty heave, Sanosuke swopped back down on the ground and crashing the golem he captured with his legs down on the other golem. The entire area around Sanosuke exploded with debris and smoke from the collision. The smoke was thick and was used for Sanosuke to mask his movements as he went towards the next golem.

Blasting out of the dirt cloud, Sanosuke decapitated its head with one leap and using the momentum to help him cleave the monster's head in half. Sanosuke skidded on the ground to look at his handiwork. He had already dealt with 5 of the 15 golems. And he has barely built up a sweat. They were just annoying him, Sanosuke had to end this quickly so that they can put an end to this case. Letting his sword dematerialize, Sanosuke flashed through several hand seals and finally ended them with clasping his hands together. Sanosuke made a claw with his right hand and focused on raiton chakra gathering in his palm. More and more lightning crackled in the air as more raiton chakra was being gathered. Finally a disc of yellow chakra was levitating an inch off of Sanoske's palm. The disc spun with such a high velocity that the high pitch whirling filled the cave. Dashing with the disc, Sanosuke charged at one golem and flicked his wrist to cut one golem in half right down the middle. Another golem was right behind Sanosuke, the man whipped around while low and cut the golem behind him in half from its waist. Both of them collapsed with heavy thuds.

"Destructo Disc!" Sanosuke called as he finally released his attack and tossed it at 3 golems that were about 40 meters away from Sanosuke's position. The disc soared through the sky, the screeching from the technique whistled through the air as it swerved and cut all 3 of the golem's in half from their hips. Just like the other group, they collapsed lifeless like the others. With a majority of the golems dealt with, Sanosuke looked to see how it was going on Skye's front. He seemed to be handling himself well. That was when he saw one golem sneak behind Skye when he wasn't noticing. Sanosuke dashed quickly to get to his comrade before the creature did. "Watch out!" Sanosuke called out to Skye.

Swiftly, Sanosuke wrapped his arms around the waist of the golem and leaned all the way back from standing while holding the creature to suplex it to oblivion. That should have been the last golem, Sansouke dusted himself off and looked at Skye. Sanosuke was covered in dust and rubble that it was annoying him. The Raikage shook himself like a dog to get all of the debris out of his hair. "That should take care of all of them." Sanosuke said and looked towards the mouth of the tunnel that led deeper in the mine. Now that he fought against something the intruder made, Sanosuke could sense his chakra. He knew what he was looking for. It wouldn't be long now. "This way. I can sense him now." Sanosuke called out to Skye and ran towards the tunnel to advance further into the mine. This bastard wasn't going to get away so easily.

---

Chakra 357.5. Techniques Used:

Skye hated to admit that in his brief retirement from the ANBU, he had been a bit rusty when it came to fighting. Holding the scythe felt odd, but the uses of it were slowly coming back to him. The golems, though rather tough, were a fair enough warm up to the man they would soon have to face. As Skye sliced through another golem, he started to think out his own limitations. Even though Skye preferred to fight at a distance and maintain a control over the battle with Genjutsu, golems, being mindless and unaffected by illusions, they were a direct counter to his fighting style. He was notable for his strong and difficult to break Genjutsus, even though he also had ration to stun or deal damage. Skye felt that if he were to come out of his early retirement and serve Sano to the best of his ability, he would have to work to getting back into fighting shape. Snapping back to the action, he gripped his weapon once more. As soon as Skye was about to take another swing, the rocky fist of a golem struck him in the back and caused him to roll forward along the ground. Immediately standing, he took note of the pain on his right arm. Skidding across the uneven ground ripped small strips of skin off his arm, causing them to bleed slightly. The injury wouldn’t affect his ability to fight, but he would have to be more careful if he was going to get used to fighting again. Stumbling forward,

Knowing the battle would last much longer if Skye simply used his weapon, he felt like it was about time he used a jutsu and eliminated a good amount of the remaining golems. With a fluid motion, Skye holstered his scythe and widened his stance slightly. Clapping his hands together once, Skye began a stream of hand signs. As he continued to do so, electricity began to crackles and spark around his feet. “Lightning Burial…” Opening a palm and moving all the raiton chakra into his hand, he slammed it down into the ground. The bolts of lightning caused the ground to split and crack as they traveled directly towards a group of three golems. Upon reaching them, the electricity split into three tendrils and shot up out of the ground and into the golem’s center of mass. The force of the jutsu caused the rocks that made up the golem’s chest to split and crumble, making them fall to the ground in pieces. Soon enough, Skye couldn’t see any more golems for him to fight. With a slight exhale, he glanced over at Sano, hoping his friend was through fighting.

Sano’s voice hit his ears immediately and registered what was yelled at him in a matter of seconds. Darting his eyes around, he could only assume a remaining golem was out of his line of sight. Bending his knees and whipping around, he prepared to block any incoming attack with his scythe. Fortunately, Sano had reached the golem before it was able to complete an attack on Skye. Watching as the golem was lifted up and slammed backwards, Skye straightened up simply stared. The golem was smashed into tiny rocks, leaving Sano standing in the aftermath, covered in the rubble. With a small nod, Skye spun his scythe once before resting the end of it on the ground. “Thanks.” With a small glance around, it seemed as if the golems had all but disappeared. That, or each of them had been destroyed.

Remembering what the ANBU agents outside had said, the man was a fan of knives and Genjutsu, but now seeing as he created golems as a trap, he could only assume the man had spent quite a fair amount of chakra with summoning the rock monsters. Now that the trap had been sprung and disarmed in a sense, the two would now be able to track their target with ease. With a small nod to Sano, Skye closely followed behind the Raikage, hoping they would be able to capture the man without any trouble.


[Word Count: 3,767]

Chakra 280/300:

As Sanosuke and Skye traveled deeper and deeper into the mine, Sanosuke would take occasional peeks from the corner of his eye of Skye as they ran. Even though it was only due to peripheral vision that the Raikage was able to see his friend but with the sharp silver eyes like his Sanosuke could see perfectly fine. Looking at him closely, Sanosuke could tell that the scrap that he personally thought was child's play was something more to Skye. Just looking at him, even though he knew his friend wouldn't want to show right now, he was in pain most likely from an enemy attack while they were fighting the golems. It didn't seem as though he was seriously injured considering that Skye was running just fine, but still Sanosuke would have to be more careful next time they run into a trap like that. But even so Sanosuke had to give props to his best friend; he was still rusty from not being in the field for so long yet he was strong enough and able enough to hold his own against the golems that were slightly stronger than himself.

Sanosuke stopped running to cause Skye himself to stop running as they reached a fork in the road. A curse flickered from his lips as Sanosuke cursed his luck when he saw said fork in the road. Before the two shinobi were 2 tunnels that branched off from the main path the two were going on in search of the intruder. Each tunnel was branching off the main path in opposite angles(left and right). That normally wouldn't be a problem from Sanosuke since he is a sage and could sense out the intruder's chakra that'll take him directly to the user of technique. It seems as though their friend had counter measures even for the Raikage's senjutsu mastery. The tunnels were all giving him the sensation that they were in each of them at the same time. The flurry of chakra signatures were interfering with his chakra sensory. So essentially it was down for a vote: stay the course, go left, or go right. That was the choice before them, if they chose right they'd be free to go, they chose wrong and they'd continue suffering.

"Okay I give up, where do you think we should go Skye? Sanosuke crossed his arms and tried to figure out where they should go with the most benefit for the team.

Although Skye couldn’t see it, he felt pressure on his stomach and chest with each step he took. There was no doubt in his mind that he sustained a few large bruises on his torso, but he refused to let it show. It was no longer to show the undying will of Kumo’s ANBU, but rather proving he could beat his own limitations and continue on, despite the pain. Behind his mask he was cringing, and simply hid it from Sano. He would continue to do so until the man they were after was apprehended. Of course, he had thoughts of celebrating their success with Sano later on, but for now, he had to remain focused on the mission.

Seeing as Sano slowed his speed, Skye did the same. Stopping and staring at the fork in the path, Skye took a deep breath. Standing with his weight to one side, he quietly scanned each direction. He only glanced at Sano for a moment when he cursed under his breath. After a few seconds of blank staring, Sano asked Skye for his take on their current situation.
“There’s too much chakra here, I can’t accurately get a read on any of them, and seeing as you’re asking me which direction we should go makes me think it’s the same for you…” With a brief moment to recollect his thoughts, he turned to Sano and extended his pointer finger to the tunnel on the right. “I say we head right. Can’t say for any particular reason, but I just have a gut feeling he’s there…”

[Word Count: 4030]

Nodding his head while his arms were crossed, Sanosuke inspected the caves. He was was also listening intently to what Skye had suggested. Going right huh? Sanosuke thought about it and was considering going towards the right cave as well. With both of those cave entries having the same chakra coating of the intruder, it really was a matter of luck. Walking over to Skye, Sanosuke placed a hand on his shoulder gently enough so that it wouldn't wound him too greatly from the strain of having a hand on him since he was wounded already. "I'll stand by your call. Let's move." Sanosuke said to his friend to say he respected his decision quickly enough so Sanosuke could already get himself on the move. Should this not be the correct cave for them both to enter, it could easily be a trap for the two of them laid by the intruder. He had to be prepared to retaliate should it have been the case. Skye was wounded, he might not be able to participate in another brawl like the other one, but he was sure that the ANBU operative would still have the strength to put the intruder in a genjutsu to capture him. That was the important part of the mission: to capture him alive.

As they ran through the cave, Sanosuke noticed an interesting smell that flushed through the air. It was peculiar because it obviously didn't belong in a cave like this. So what was it doing here and why? Sanosuke began to wonder what could the smell be as they traveled. Snapping his fingers, the Raikage illuminated the tunnel they were traveling in so they could see more of where they were traveling in. What alarmed him was the amount of paper bombs that were in the tunnel they were traveling in. "Shit." Sanosuke cursed under his breath from what he saw. It covered the entire tunnel. How long have they been traveling in such a state? That would explain the gunpowder. Either way, he had to get Skye and himself out of this tunnel before it was too late. They wouldn't make it out if they ran back to where they came from, so there only hope was to make a break for it moving forward; holding onto the hope there's an opening before them.

"Hey I know you might be pissed about me giving away our position earlier but, I'm going to need you to trust me for a second." Sanosuke joked darkly while laughing as he prepared their escape. Focusing chakra in his left hand, Sanosuke shot out the chakra in the form of puppet strings towards the end of the cave. He hoped the strings would hit something soon or else they were done for. They could only hope they wouldn't fall short. His heart flew as his chakra strings did indeed make contact with something. Focusing more and more strings, Sanosuke smirked. This could work. Sanosuke tested out the durability of the strings and noticed they were indeed elastic. Throwing Skye over his right shoulder, the Raikage made a gigantic leap backwards in mid air. The elastic from the puppet string jutsu chakra strings snapped backwards as Sanosuke reached the peak of his jump and launched the two forwards at a velocity that they wouldn't have reached should they have ran.

As they rocketed in the air, the bombs were going off behind them leaving explosion after explosion in their wake. The flames licked Sanosuke's cheeks as they were coming closer and closer to the two. Almost there, Sanosuke thought as he was seeing light at the end of the tunnel. They were almost out, just a few more feet and they were there. Heaving Skye through the entry way as they soared, he hoped his friend would have landed correctly without damaging himself too badly. With less weight on him, Sanosuke was able to soar himself out of the tunnel easier. Using those same strings, Sanosuke flung them behind him and at the top of the tunnel entrance so he could be like some spider moving through the air with the help of the chakra strings. When he got himself on the wall right above the entrance of the mountain where the explosions were still going off and threatening to spread into the opening they were end. Clenching his fists, they turned themselves from his black gloves into the signature golden gauntlets that housed his swords. With a battle cry, Sanosuke brought his armored fists down on the wall he was propped on with enough force to cause a cave in from just his brute strength.

Rubble and debris sealed the tunnel by the large rocks falling into place to seal the cave off and save them from the explosion traps. Leaping off the wall and getting his chakra strings retracted back into his fingertips, Sanosuke skidded right before Skye with his gauntlets still out. His eyes flickered around them scanning the area. If Skye said anything, the words reached deaf ears as the Raikage's attention was elsewhere. "We have company." Sanosuke said quietly to Skye and finally found the source of who had laid the trap out for them. Right before them was a woman with blue hair and piercings on her face. She had orange eyes with the whites in her eyes just black. So the Reanimation technique, he had access to that as well. Perfect, it would make sense that he wouldn't come back to Kumo without an ace in the hole. Smirking to himself, Sanosuke got himself up to look at the woman.

She was about 20 meters from them and wearing what looked like black pants along with a kimono like top to match it with an ocean blue color scheme. On her back were large paper wings that were the cause of her being so elevated off the ground. She looked like an angel, just flying so peacefully in the air. If he looked closer, it would seem as though her skin itself was made of paper as well. She looked at the two with boredom, and flapped her wings to cause a gust of wind. Sanosuke didn't allow the wind to bother him as he braced it proudly without flinching. Once the wind died, Sanouke looked around the area. If this was indeed a trap, as they might have picked the wrong tunnel, why would there be a guard there as well. That just means they were in the right area looking for the intruder. Without much looking, Sanosuke saw that there was only one entrance out of this opening(the other one was sealed off by himself) was right behind the woman.

"I take it your master, he's in that cave right there yes?" Sanosuke said while pointing his armored finger at the entrance behind the woman. All there was were silence before she spoke. At first it looked as though she struggled with the words when she first opened her mouth. She closed it and opened it once more to give her thoughts more voice. This time it came out clearly.

"Yes. The man he summoned me is behind me. I was given the task of stalling Kumo reinforcements that would enter the cave as he prepared an ellaborate Space/Time Technique that would allow him an escape." That was what the woman said as she referred to Sanosuke's question. Damn it, so that's why the intruder wasn't so desperate to get out. He actually had an escape plan. If he escaped, who knew exactly how much information he gathered. And once more, he could report this to Tame directly. This was their one break in the case. He wouldn't allow it to slip through. His fist clenched around the handles of his blades as he looked at the woman with fire in his blue orbs.

"You know I can't let you do that. Tell me do you agree with your master's ideals?" Sanosuke said as he summoned his two swords by clapping his hands and releasing them out of his gauntlets in a showmanship of lightning. No doubt Skye was getting himself ready to support him. It seems as though if they were to get to the intruder, they would have to get by this animated corpse first. They had to do it soon, or he would escape. Time was another enemy against the two Kumo shinobi.

"No I do not. But I must protect him, that is why I was summoned."

"When you were part of the living, what was your name?"

"Konan of the Akatsuki"

---

Chakra Used 345/385. Jutsu Used:

WC: 5227(Endurance S--->S-2)

As Sano mentioned the previous action that gave away their position and ultimately got his stomach injured, Skye simply rolled his eyes and nodded at his friend. Though Sano’s methods were unorthodox at times, he still had a good amount of trust that the Raikage would lead them right. Watching as Sano shot out his chakra as a rope, he could only assume his friend has a plan.

The moment Sano grabbed ahold of him, Skye began to panic. He knew what was about to happen, and he wasn’t too fond of what was going to happen next. Bracing himself for the whiplash, the two flew through the tunnels, bypassing other passages and caves. Opening his eyes for a brief moment, he could see the bombs going off as they flew past them. No doubt they were left there to provide their target more time to escape. Luckily for the two, they completely bypassed them and continued on. Seeing that the traps were placed in such a way gave Skye the idea that their target had definitely come this way, and was desperately trying to escape capture. Once he heard the Raikage yell and glanced over his shoulder, he braced himself for the impact with the wall. Of course, Sano was able to smash through the wall with ease, causing chunks of rocks and stones to fly outwards. A few of the rocks grazed Skye’s head, but thankfully, he and Sano made it our uninjured.

Feeling that he was slowing down, Skye quickly removed himself off of Sano’s grasp and turned towards him. Though his face was still covered by the mask, the body language alone would be enough to show that Skye was incredibly irritated. Getting somewhat close to Sano, he started a short rant. “You have to be kidding me?! I know you fight loud and hard, but I would’ve like at least a tiny but of stealth! Just something I could use as an advantage! Seriously!” Skye had taken a breath to start the next section of his rant, but stopped once Sano mentioned they had company. Immediately quieting down, he turned his head and noticed the figure standing a good bit away from them. He was rather surprised at this ‘trap’ that was laid out for them. Part of him expected more golems, yet to be confronted by a person confused him slightly. Her appearance was off putting, but Skye simply straightened his back and stared. The gust of wind that brushed past him didn’t faze him in the slightest. If anything, it started to make him think of ways to beat the woman as quickly as possible.

Upon hearing the name of the woman, Skye shifted his stance. “An Akatsuki…!?” He seemed to hiss the title behind his mask. He had heard the legends of the Akatsuki and heard of their many dangerous exploits, but never imagined in his entire life that one would be standing in front of him. He kept his composure and made sure to remain focused on this new opponent. “Sano… if we waste too much time here, our target is going to get away. If it comes to that, leave Konan to me and keep going.” His voice was quiet, and almost sounded as if Skye wanted to take the Akatsuki on himself. He quietly stepped forward and put his hands together. Starting and ending his stream of hand signs in a matter of seconds, he forced his palms outwards. A massive surge of electrical energy crackled out of Skye’s hands and went directly towards the woman. The shock was almost instant, reaching his target rather quickly. If the jutsu hit, the paper wings behind the Akatsuki would surely be burned and no longer useful, as well as the Konan herself being burned severely.

[Word Count: 4,664]

Chakra 260/280: