Within the past few days, one of Kirigakure's defensive forts and her builders were repeatedly forced into hiding due to the establishment being attacked by numerous mercenaries and bandits. From the depths of Kirigakure, only Yasutake of the Hattori Clan was deployed. Based on the information that Intel had received, their weren't enough bandits to be a problem for a genin as advanced he was in his studies. To Yasutake, he was the most well equipped shinobi for this job. In the future he wanted to be an assassin for the Village, his mission was to master the Art of the Silent Kill, and to become the perfect assassin.

He left the moment it had become noon. Although he had gone from the North. If the saboteurs had been attacking for the last few nights then it'd only be safe to assume that they'd have traps set up along the western road for those shinobi that decided to take the quickest route. If he came from a wider approach they wouldn't have a reason to assume that he, or anyone else was in fact coming to the aid of the builders. It was a good idea, and it'd only help him to perform his duty even better. His plan was to arrive before nightfall, make his presence known to the builders and let them know that he was going to be hidden with the darkness when the attack came and then do his job of protecting them and the fort.

"Well, the Village can always higher new builders, but I can always sacrifice them if it'll save the fort." He spoke without thinking. It usually happened in boredom, such as through travel. He didn't really mean half the things that came out his mouth usually, mostly because he didn't speak that often and when he did it was because he had a purpose in doing so. Usually, if he were to converse with another genin, it was because he thought them competent enough to survive on the type of missions that he went on and that they'd be good on a team together.

But, he was always careful to note two things. If they were strong, and if their styles of fighting complimented each other. Although he found that it was almost impossible to not find a synergy in combat with literally any other type of technique. What he truly wanted was a squad that could move without having to verbally communicate but were able to attack and protect each other as if they were one unit. Alas, he didn't have that teamwork with anyone yet, but he meant to achieve it with Team Nozomi when the Chunnin Exams were over.

The sky began to dark as the sun began to set over the horizon. Damn, I didn't think I was this slow. He thought to himself as he pushed himself to even greater speeds to the fort. He had to protect that place from the bandits! Plus, he needed the information the builds were going to be giving him!

The wind flapped through his dark clothes. The path North had really put their chunks into his time table. huh?

WC: 546

By the time he got to the fort the sun was practically below the horizon and the sky was orange. In the darkening sky the moon was already visible for the naked eye to see in all it's glory. At this rate, it didn't look like there were going to be many clouds that night, therefore the moon's light was either going to be extremely bright because of the clear sky, or still clouded due to the mist raising off of the surrounding lakes.

The shinobi moved through the generally flat landscape. The fort was just up ahead, and he was sprinting up the road at this point, moving as fast as he could to the gates. He only had so much time to get there before the fort was going to be under attack, and then he was going to have to do his job and kill the saboteurs. The mission details didn't specify as to how many there were, only generalizations.

Less than ten, huh?

In only a matter of moments he had arrived at the make shift fort, and he was allowed entrance.

"How many are there? Their equipment?" He immediately questioned the first man he saw, the doorman evidently.

"Wha-, uh, five t-to eight. We've determined seven. They attack in the night!" Was the man more scared of Yasutake or the men that were going to be attacking any moment? He had no idea as to what to assume, but to do his best to relieve the stress of the building he smiled and leaped upwards onto the battlements, and then he was gone again.

Resting along the path, a dozen meters away from the road, a group of darkly clad figures were moving towards the fort. They didn't even try to conceal their presence.

No ninja huh?

But he refrained from pulling out his own blade, instead he pulled his wire out of his ninja pouch, and tore out almost twenty feet of wire.

Drawing out his kunai in a moment, he began tying and tightening the wire through the loop at the end of his kunai. By the time he got to his feet, he heard a male voice, it was deep too crying out, presumably at the fort.

"Prepare to be burned down! Your village's shinobi haven't come! You have FAILED!"

By the time the man finished his short rant, Yasutake's kunai was pushed into the ground so that the wire was at about a ankle to kneecap height, and he tied it around a tree ten feet away. The gap between them was substantial.

If I can get more than one between here, then I'll be successful.

Drawing his shuriken from his hands, he was already spinning one into the air and through the treeline as soon as the first molotov was thrown from the midst of the group, knocking it out of the sky and exploding in the air above them splattering them in it's liquid as the fire spread.

They panicked and spread out, and that was when Yasutake leapt over his wire trap, and started to run forwards, releasing two of his shuriken at two figures while one burned to death from his own molotov attacked.

The shurikens were plunged into the necks of two of the bandits.

"You maggot!" One of them screamed as he ran at him, brandishing his sword and he was barely able to avoid it before it was thrusted just past his face and cut into his face, although not as deep as it would've gone if he hadn't seen the flash of the blade being drawn and then being pulled back.

Now this was a battle.

His left hand reached backwards and drew out his Odachi, whilst his right hand reached to the small of hsis back to where his wire was and he tugged more of it out as he leapt towards the man as he stabbed at him again. This time, he twisted away, but was still cut, deeper than he had ever been cut before below his ribs, but his wire had bypassed the man's guard.

By the time he realized that his arms were constricted against his own chest, Yasu had already performed the tiger seal and was gathering chakra into his mouth as there was a flash of lightning, and then he realized the fire from his mouth and lit the man alive. Within their close proximity, he was also feeling the power of the flames on his face as his lips began to chap and dry him out.

The man grew quiet, and then Yasutake had loosened the wire to let his body drop, and then he pulled it back into the wire. After a few moments he had replaced the wire into his pouch.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw one of the darkly clad figures coming out of the tree line, and as he rose up, he ran straight towards him, which caused the man himself to start running.

Idiot,[i] he thought just as the man hit the wire and fell face first into the ground. Slowing down into a walk, Kirigakure's 'fixer' picked up the kunai, and as the man started to crawl away, he received a swift kick in the groin, and his heart penetrated by the knife's blade.

[i]The others ran off.

Hmph.

He went about searching for the rest of his gear. He had spent the better part of an afternoon traveling here, the only thing he required of the builder's was a meal and a warm bed before setting back out. Besides...

There was a flash of lightning and then the rolling thunder that followed.

They didn't expect him to go back home in the rain did they?

--EXIT THREAD--

WC: 993

TWC: 1539