C-Rank Mission, A Call For Help:

Satoshi waited outside the gates of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. A raven had arrived this morning seeking assistance from their ninja brethren. The small community wasn't far from Kumogakure, as such Toshi had accepted the mission and extended an invite to his teammate Lin. So here he stood, well sort of stood. Toshi's right hand came to press one of his shell headphones to his ear as he bobbed his head and moved to the beat obscured by the pieces of plastic that pumped it into his ears.

He was pretty excited and the music matched his mood. Some eager high energy rock drove him this afternoon. He'd decided that they ought to set out just after lunch. It would give them plenty of time to get to their destination with the sun still in the sky. If the cry for help was to believed the village was being besieged on a near constant basis by a group of bandits. It had been putting a stop to their supply routes and if it went unanswered for too long would surely spell doom to the tune of starvation. It was hard enough to farm up here in the mountains as it was... And now they had to add bandits to their list of troubles.

The poor farming village had collected what they could from their neighbors and gathered a small purse, which they had sent with their avian courier this morning, and the transaction was complete. Lucky for them they were getting two of the foremost prodigal genin in the village... Well. One of the foremost prodigal genin. And one beat-freak. ...Listen. Beggars can't be choosers.

Satoshi checked his ninja tools in between sways of his hips and shoulders as he mouthed the words along with the singer soundlessly. Everything was in order and neatly organized. He hadn't mentioned to Kazue Obachan that he was going on a mission today, he didn't want her to worry. She'd been a somewhat skilled kunoichi in her time as well, but she'd vacated that career to pursue her singing and had garnered a small amount of fame from it. Because of this she often chastised Satoshi for pursuing such a dangerous path and was often worried about his wanderlust. So he didn't need to get her hair up over something as simple as some bandits! With any luck he'd be back by dinner with a fun new story to tell! Surely everything would be as simple as that... Surely...

[WC: 428]

Lin was dressed in her kunoichi outfit, her blue shirt, skirt, and scarf matching her eyes. It was a fine day to go on a mission, and she and Toshi were promised a sum of money for saving the village, but Lin didn't feel right about taking their money, especially because they had called for help and needed it themselves. However, rules were rules, and she had gone on a spending spree with Mifune a couple of days before. She needed a bit of extra money, especially with Dameon and Mifune now living under her roof. Dameon had offered to pay for some of his living expenses, so it wasn't too much of a problem, and so had Mifune, but she felt like she was in constant party-mode lately.

She had put on her Kumogakure vest and had strapped her six senbon to her side. She didn't have many other ninja tools at her disposal, she would rely on Toshi for that. She had her hair combed, but with travelling, it would probably be a tangled mess by the time that she got home. She showed up at the gate 10 minutes early for their starting time. She abhorred being late so she was chronically early. She had tried to put make-up on to hide her tiredness, but she couldn't quite get the circles out from under her eyes.

Lin watched as Toshi walked toward the city gates. It seemed that he was listening to something, she couldn't make out what over the din of the noon-rush. Probably something upbeat as he practically skipped towards her. Sighing she tried to summon up the energy for a smile, but it came out as a yawn. It wasn't exactly lady-like but it did fit her energy level. She knew that she would have to wake up before they got to the village, but they were at least an hour's distance away, so they would have time for her to wake up.

Waving at him she pointed to her own ears to signal for him to take off his headphones, "Are you ready to save a town?" She asked, feeling less than ready herself, but more than ready to be over and done with the mission and these bandits.

WC: 390

As Lin yawned Satoshi greeted her with an eclectic and rolling stones eclectic "Ow!" As he pointed a pair of gun fingers at her. It seemed that Satoshi, unlike Lin, was a morning person! He slowly slid his headphones down and Lin could vaguely make out some pretty upbeat, pulsing beats now that they weren't being muffled by his skull. He was chipper and as high energy as always... There was something about him that said the music had nothing to do with it. "Boy am I! Satoshi and Lin. Village heroes." He started to walk as he clapped her merrily, and not too strongly on her shoulder. "Do you think they'll erect a statue for us!?"

The walk to the village was a lot like that for about an hour. It seemed that Satoshi was extremely excited about his first mission! Well... Technically his first mission had been his spar with Lin, but that felt like cheating. It was something he was going to do anyway and he got paid for it. This was his first -real- mission. And unlike Lin he was thrilled that he was getting paid. Don't get me wrong. Satoshi didn't really care about wealth or material possessions at all. But the exchange made him feel like a part of something. They wanted a service, he provided, and they paid. There was balance. Harmony. And despite his seemingly erratic and discordant behavior... Harmony was of great importance to Satoshi.

They arrived at the village with little distraction other than Toshi's high energy low attention conversation. They were greeted outside the village entrance by a wizened old man. His skin was dark and leathery, tempered by the sun and the hard work the agricultural settlement demanded of him. A white wispy mustache leaned over his lips much like he leaned over his cane. The elder no doubt, Satoshi thought, for if there was one older than he, it would surely be a talking skeleton.

"Good tidings to you travelers." His voice was high but not weak. He was a working man and it was apparent by his body. He wore sack pants and a linen vest that covered the musculature one would expect of a field laborer. The utilitarian strength betrayed by a somewhat rounded belly and thick limbs rather than the cosmetic six packs of action heroes and bodybuilders. While he hunched over a cane, there was no doubt that the old man likely still worked the fields and from his demeanor, it didn't seem to bother him any.

He observed the pair carefully, expectantly. He made a sound that made it clear he was assessing them and then tapped his staff. "You are no seven samurai... That much is clear. But you will have to do. That is... If you have come to handle our bandit problem, hm??" He inquired to the pair.

Satoshi grinned stupidly, excited to be acknowledged and looked to Lin expectantly.

[WC: 925]

"Yes, we are here to clear up your bandit problem." Lin dipped her head in respect to the elder, keeping it there for a couple of seconds before she raised it once more and smiled, "I am Katonrai, Lin and this is Kazuhiko, Satoshi of Kumogakure. We were sent here because we got your missive and accepted the mission. Please tell me, if you could, what time and location do these bandits usually strike in. I would rather lay a trap for them than be caught in one myself. They should, if the missive was correct, have come into the village a couple of times before now, and have developed a pattern. It's Satoshi's job here," She indicated the youth with the headphones and white attire, "To disrupt their rhythm enough for me to incapacitate some of them. When they're sufficiently roughed up we'll be taking them back to Kumogakure for questioning and to stand trial for theft and destruction of private property." It was standard to introduce oneself in a formal way when meeting for the first time, and so Lin did just that.

She looked to Satoshi and expected him to at least introduce himself once she was done explaining why they were there. The walk over had limbered her up some and had definitely woken her up. She became more and more antsy for the fight that she knew was upcoming and it showed in her eyes. There was a gleam there that wasn't there before, one that was slightly reminiscent of the two youth's fights before this present one. It was almost like she was gearing up for a miniature sparring session.

Lin was, if anything, thorough in her calculations, she had heard that there were five bandits, and she counted on there being at least five more. She didn't want to be caught unawares and wanted to know the exact location and details of the landscape before the bandits struck. She hoped that they would strike soon, but not too soon for her to get a sufficient plan going with Satoshi. They had talked on the way to the village about a sort of strategy, but it was difficult to do anything without knowing the layout of the battlefield.

WC: 780

Satoshi nodded along with everything Lin was saying. She seemed to be an avatar of justice herself. Lin appeared to be possessed of rather naive ideals that meshed well with Toshi's. Neither of them were world-weary or bloodthirsty. Surely there were many who would just assume dispatch with the villains lives or maim the bandits such that they could no longer work in the field of brigandry. Lin and Satoshi though, intended to apprehend the cretens and bring them to justice at the village. If there was any luck involved,  it would lead them to the heart of the bandit incursion and perhaps they could be rid of them permanently.

"As my esteemed teammate said, I am Kazuhiko Satoshi! The Prince of Harmony! The Sultan of Sound! The King of Karla-" The old man cut the boy off mid-way through his fourth accolade... For surely Satoshi would have kept going.

"Yes. Yes. Very good Mr. Sultan." He turned so that half of him faced the pair of ninja while the other half gestured out to the fields before him. The farms were staggered throughout great terraces. Each of them sharing irrigation and being worked by a number of belabored citizens The sun beat down on their rice hats as they took hoes and various other tools to the numerous and large stalks. "These fields are very important to us. Our farms are unique you see! Many of our sister villages farm rice. In fact, a great portion of the world's rice comes from our country. But here, in our village, we produce a much finer crop."

The old man began to walk, leading them through the small village which was dwarfed by their great many terrace fields. He withdrew a pipe and stuffed some leaves in it before lighting it with a match. He drew in a long breath from his pipe and exhaled with a pleasant sound. "Tobacco." He didn't bother looking back at the relative children for their reaction.

"Our farming techniques are unique. Because of that, the tobacco we grow here is cherished the world over. You see, our terrace farming creates especially rich soil and lush plants. The flavor of our tobacco is so smooth that it has become a preference of many a noble in more than just our land. As such it is far more valuable than some rice." He spoke the crops name with no small amount of disdain.

"The bandits appear keen to this... And as such they do operate on a schedule. Every two days we send out a small caravan which brings our product deeper into the Land of Lightning. And it is every two days which our caravan is beset upon. The trade route is simple... A path down the mountain. They have grown emboldened as of late and do not wait for the caravan to be long out of sight of the village before they strike. Perhaps they know that we are far too few in number to protect our sacred crop ourselves." He frowned looking the two over, not quite convinced that they were capable either.

Satoshi's attention had long since drifted away from the old man. He instead watched some children play with a ball and a puppy. He smiled pleasantly, thinking about how much fun they seemed to be having. Ah farm life.

After a few moments of awkward and expectant silence Satoshi chimed up. "Have no fear! Lin and I will be sure to take these bandits out! We'll make sure they pay for their villainy!" Satoshi tone betrayed that he had -no- idea that anyone may or may not have noticed he stopped paying attention to the old man only a few sentences in. Whatever... He was boring!

[WC: 1557]

Lin carefully listened as the old-timer talked. It was clear that he loved his town, his tobacco, and his people. It was also clear that the entirety of the adult population would miss the recreational plant if they let this bandit group go. She would at least be in deep trouble with Gin. Sighing she put a hand to the back of her head and stretched. It would be a longer day than she thought. The bandits would be there any minute, since the caravan was getting ready to leave. She looked down the road and tried to make a plan.

"Toshi." She got his attention and then looked to the old man, "Excuse me, sir, we're going to go over here and  discuss our plans. No offense, but the least amount of people that know it the better." She trusted him, but didn't want to give preferential treatment to him over other people. There had to be a way that the bandits knew when the caravans were going out of town. If it was that they were scouting out the area, there would be no way to really ambush them and Satoshi would have to challenge them while Lin tried to hit them with long-range jutsu from afar.

She pulled him over by the hand. If the bandits were inside-informed or there was someone on the caravan, they would need to let as little people know that they were there as possible before beating up the bandits. She rounded a corner and tucked him into a back alley, before looking around to see that there was no one there, "We need to make sure to keep quiet." She cautioned. The plan would be simple, but would require flawless execution or the bandits would get away and they would fail their mission, "Stay within eyeshot of the caravan, but do not let yourself be seen. They have to be hiding in that forest there." She indicated the forest on either side of the road that led out of town, the one that they had passed on the way into town. It was too late to let the bandits know that they were there, they had all but announced their presence, but she was determined to at least have some element of surprise as to where she and Satoshi would strike.

Lin looked around again, "I am not so sure that we can trust everyone here. The old man seems to be in charge of the village and enjoys his tobacco, but to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if one of the bandits was part of the caravan detail. Keep cool, and when the caravan starts, we'll go to the left of it in the forest. Don't tell anyone your plan, just sneak off when no one is watching. Understand?" She needed his help with this one. Five on one was going to be tough, if the reports were true. If there were more than five, they might have to fight for their lives and report back to the village. This was the best strategy that she could think up, since the caravan was about to leave for its delivery.

"What do you think? Should we do something else?" Lin asked, making sure that there was no one around once more. She was paranoid that their plan would be ruined if it reached the wrong ears.

WC: 1372

Satoshi gave the village elder a reassuring thumbs up even as they trailed away from him. He waved them away... He'd delivered his exposition and didn't seem to have much invested in a long term conversation with the children. He hobbled off back to the fields, seemingly unconcerned as to whether or not they would be able to take care of the problem.

Satoshi looked at Lin as she spoke. He put a finger up to his lips as she advised they stay quiet. He could do quiet... Contrary to his typical high energy motor mouth demeanor he was in fact a (semi)trained ninja!

He nodded along with Lin's plan. It seemed reasonable. Follow the caravan, wait for the ambush, and ambush the ambush. It would also double as an opportunity to gather information from the bandits if they participated in a villainous monologue...

Which, if Satoshi knew anything about Villains... They would. He'd spent a incredible amount of hours studying the psyche of malevolent beings. In fact. He'd seen the entire Shin-Shinobi series at least 10 times each. All of the Fury of the Tiger films. And he had the entire Tai-Peng Clan box set... Just under 50 films. Oh... He knew evil.

"Good. I'll stick to the cliffs then and strike them from above! That way I can get in close! You come out once I've engaged and we'll surprised them with a two pronged strike!" He got into a boxing stance and threw a quick one-two combination for emphasis!

It wasn't long before the caravan in question started to move out. Satoshi did as he'd explained. He pursued the caravan deftly from the trees. A single hand pressed to his right headphone to make sure it stayed put as he silently lept from rock face to rock face. He moved with an impressive acuity through the fog and cloud obscured rocks. His fingers dexterously finding holds and his feet always landing on something even. It was a benefit of being able to feel everything around him. More than seeing the rocks, he -knew- them. And so, as he scurried and shimmied above the mountain path that led the cart away from it's destination.

The tarp covered wagon rolled out carrying the goods from the small tobacco farming village. It was a rickety wooden thing that wouldn't survive any of the drops from the sheer cliffs which it traversed. The chipped wheels and old axles creaked which each rotation that edged them ever closer to their destination. The mountain road was hardly wide enough for two of the self-same wagon's to pass eachother.

All was peaceful. It seemed, as they followed the wagon for about 30 minutes that perhaps it was a bandit holiday. But as the wagon turned a particularly sharp corner, malice reared it's ugly head. The horse that drew the small rickety cart reared up on it's hind legs and winnied in a shrill cry, heralding the incoming threat.

A single man stood blocking the road. He wore a set of rather bland tan rags. His top was open, showing bandages around his midsection that started just below his pectorals. He wore a top hat with a white sash across it's center. It's rather large brim was pulled down, shading his face and his features. A piece of straw jutted out from beneath the top hat, swaying gently in the mountain wind. His arms were crossed as he stared stoically at the cart's approach and the horse's displeasure.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you. I'll be taking it from here. And you get to see the sunrise tomorrow." He looked up, a finger pushing his top hat up to expose his grinning face. "Of course, if there's a problem... You can take it up with the Magpie, hm?"

The name drop seemed to put the driver into a panic! He scrambled out of the cart, flipping head over heals and landing on the back of his shoulders on the hard rock. Metal clanged as four sets of grappling claws gripped the surface of the road from below, ropes dangling beneath them. The bandits quickly climbed up the mountainside with inhuman grace. Each of the bandits also wore top hats, though none of theirs had sashes.

Satoshi had seen enough! He leapt down from the rocks above shouting dramatically! His body rotated gracefully in front of the first bandit who looked upwards with a quizzical glance. Satoshi stopped his momentum by planting his right fist into the cheek of the curious bandit, sending his body flipping in a cartwheel like motion towards White Sash. Who simply stepped aside as his comrade rolled past him, sliding to a stop just near the cliffs edge!

Toshi landed and waggled his index finger back and forth in a chiding gesture. "You picked a bad day to be evil! Can you hear it?" He asked as the carts driver scurried past him. "The Song of Justice!?" ...What...A...Cornball.

[WC: 2414]

Lin moved swiftly through the town, making sure to take in the surrounding people's faces. She wanted to know if there was anyone that was doing work for the bandits. Writing down a list of the people that she passed while walking made her feel a little bit better, and she would have a better look at them when they found the bandits.

She nodded when he said that he would take the cliffs, "I'll be 30 meters behind you at all times. I'll stick close to the wagon and off the cliff, that way if you want to make a scene I can get to you faster. After all, I wouldn't be much use up the cliff now would I?" Lin grinned, showing her pearly-whites. It was a good thing that he was so open to this plan. She had put it together helter-skelter but it seemed to be a good enough plan until they were able to make a better one in the future. She wanted to see what Satoshi could do in close-quarter combat when his life and the livelihood of the villagers was on the line.

He was a bit shorter than her, but already he showed promise as a genin, He would probably graduate to Chuunin about the same time as Lin herself, as long as he stuck with her. He seemed to learn faster than even she was able to keep up with and it surprised her to find a companion that was as passionate about moving up in the ninja world and travelling as she was.

Lin moved out and soon the trees gave way to cliffs, where she stayed 30 meters behind Satoshi, who was again about 20 meters behind the caravan. After thirty or so minutes, Lin began to get irritated. She had thought that the old man had said that they would be only a couple of minutes outside of town when the bandits would arrive. Frustrated she was about to call out to Satoshi when the caravan and Toshi himself came to a dead halt. Lin pressed herself against the cliff wall and waited for him to move. She couldn't see the caravan as it had gone around a corner, but she could clearly hear the bandit leader, or what she assumed to be the bandit leader giving orders.

She took out her senbon and waited for Satoshi to give the signal or move. It would be either or when she moved out behind him. Ten seconds. She didn't want to give her position away and have a couple of the bandits close in on her. Hearing the chink of metal-claws she understood now. The bandits came up the sides of the cliffs. There was no other way to come and go unannounced. But where did they take the caravans when they hijacked them? Before she could signal Toshi to wait he jumped off the cliff and made a pose like out of the movies.

Lin poked her head around the cliff in time to see him in the middle of the villains giving his speech. She noticed two things that were strange. The first was that the bandits all wore top hats. The second was that... Toshi was... well... a corn ball.

Sighing silently she waited counting the seconds until she was ready to strike. After the count of ten she loosed all six of her senbon at the bandit that was facing away from her.

Hearing the needles sink in she started to make the hand signs for a jutsu that she had just learned before. It hopefully would make the others surrender before they were hurt more than she wanted them to be. The one that was pierced by her senbon was hit in the places that she had learned were pressure points from her sensei, Gin, and made the bandit drop to the ground, trying frantically to pull out the needles from his own back that would probably be causing cramps throughout his legs and arms.

Lin was deadly with senbon, and even deadlier with jutsu. She wanted this over before they could launch a counter attack, but the time that she waited afforded them a bit of time to react.


The hand-signals she started were the ones for for the "Fire Style: Flame Bullet" And she was aiming it directly at the other ninja that had his back to Lin. There would be two left if she had her way and the leader would be the last to play.

WC: 2141

White Sash stared at Satoshi, equal parts rage and disbelief set in his eyes. The bandit Toshi had clocked wasn't stirring... It seemed he was down for the count. Good. That left only Four. Four on one wasn't terrible odds... And little did they know it was four on two. He grinned stupidly at the bandit leader, perhaps because he knew something White Sash didn't know or just because that was his default setting.

"What... Insolence is this? A child?" The bandit leader sneered. He pulled his top hat down a bit further over his eyes, hiding some of his embarrassment from being ambushed by some kid. "Kill him..." His other hand waved idly, dismissive of the young ninja.

The first to take up the charge was a bandit behind him. Brave man he was. He roared, charging at Satoshi's back. He didn't turn around to look at him. He didn't need to. In fact, he didn't even brace to accept the man's attack. He knew Lin was waiting in the wings and he trusted her... Also... It would look so much cooler when that bandit got taken it while he played it smooth!

The bandit raised a hand over his head. He flicked his wrist and produced a knife from out of his sleeve. He brought his arm down in a sweeping arc towards the back of Satoshi's neck. And then fell past him as he was struck in rapid succession by a series of senbon courtesy of Lin. He wailed in pain as he was struck in his joints and his knife slid out of his hands and off the cliff plinking harmlessly off the sheer cliff's many small plateaus.

"More of you?" The bandit leader asked, backing up in further surprise and disappointment. A ball of fire streaked past Satoshi and the cart, singeing some frayed ends of rope that bound the canvas to the caravan wagon's base. Lin's justu was too fast for any of them to dodge. Especially the bandit that the leader snatched by the back of his shirt and used as a human shield. He swung his subordinate at the fireball as if trying to bat away a baseball.

The bullet of fire seared deep into the bandit's body as he was discarded like yesterday's trash. And then there were two. The leader and his subordinate.

Satoshi put up a finger and waggled it to and fro in front of them in a chiding manner. He then resumed his stance after cracking his neck left, then right. He would stay a wall between Lin and the bandits. If they attempted to get past him he would be sure to intercept. But for now, he was content to let Lin have her way with them and instead taunt them into making poor decisions.

"You know, there are plenty of regular jobs out there. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking from the people who work hard for what they need. If you give up now I'll make sure you don't end up like your friends! You have my word!" He extended a thumbs up to the two bandits in a show of sincerity.

Lin's jutsu hit the man without a hitch, and as surprised as she was she wasn't done yet. She made the hand signs for another particularly nasty jutsu, the Tile Shurken Jutsu. It was a jutsu that allowed her to take the rocks and meld them into weapons, such as kunai. She decided that she would just make them into kunai and forego all formalities. She didn't want to kill the bandits, but intimidation wasn't something she was above either.

"It's as Satoshi says, I will make you look like swiss-cheese if you resist." The man that was set alight not six seconds before had not treated the fire that was on him and was therefore suffering minor second degree burns on most of his back. Lin would have to give him medical attention before tying him up. She didn't want to hurt these bandits too badly before they were interrogated, as they would provide some good information.

"If you wish to live, drop your weapons, and let Satoshi tie you up." She pointed five kunai at the bandit leader and five more at the subordinate. She was done playing games. They had made her wait for half an hour for this, and she disliked evil people with a passion. Lin hadn't used up much of her Chakra at all in apprehending these bandits, but she didn't want to use up more of it so that she could tend to their wounds before handing them in. After all, they had wanted to get information from them. Like, who was Magpie? Where did the carts of tobac go? There was a lot of things that she wanted to ask the leader, but she wouldn't get the chance to if she had to beat him into submission. It was just too hard. The carts and their horses didn't move. It was tense. Lin waited for their reaction.

WC: 2473

Jutsu Used this post:

Tile Shuriken:

Jutsu Used Last Post

Flame Bullet:

Remaining Chakra: 125

Satoshi's eyes followed Lin's tile shuriken technique as it worked. He'd seen it once before and thought it was pretty formidable. For those who couldn't use Jutsu at all it was sure to be terrifying. Pieces of the environment rattled against the earth that supported them. Rocks chipped off the cliffside began to float and turn and shave themselves into crude pointed objects.

He nodded along with her statements. Yeah! Maybe they'd give up! "Forget it girl. Your tricks are nothing in comparison to the Magpies." White Sash crossed his arms as he spoke, belligerent.

A moment later he had a knife in hand, having produced it from up his sleeve. He was charging in an instant. He was fast... Faster then his henchmen at least, of which only one was left. He yelled as he attempted to just run straight past Toshi. It seemed he thought that if he didn't give her time to conjure her Kunai that he'd be able to strike her before they became a real threat. It wasn't a bad thought actually. Unfortunately Satoshi was there to stop him.

The boy's body slid in front of the man's with a merry grin on his face. His hands were up in a defensive stance, blocking his upper body and face in a peek-a-boo style fighting pose. He seemed to be enjoying himself. When he practiced there was often no bloodlust involved. There was never any from Satoshi in general. But his partners had always been peers. And they didn't necessarily have his best interest at heart, but they rarely wanted to see him murdered. In this situation he was facing an opponent that he knew wanted to do him harm.

White Sash threw a sloppy overhand slash with his knife, trying to clear Satoshi out of the way as he charged. The boy's body ducked under the attack and he bumped the man backwards with his shoulder. It wasn't a powerful thrust, surely not enough to deal any damage, but it was enough to cause the man to stagger backwards with a growl.

At the same time the other thug came in from behind Satoshi. Sneaky sneaky! He lowered his knife to his abdomen and charged with intent! He wished to drive the blade into the small of the aspiring ninja's undefended back!

Satoshi could feel it coming a mile away. Well... Ten feet away. But for a mook like this, he may as well have sent the boy an R.S.V.P. for the attack. Satoshi spun, slipping the attack by mere inches. As he passed in front of him Satoshi drilled the man's mid-section with a left uppercut.

His body lifted off the ground onto his tip toes as his mouth gasped open, his head reaching out as if trying to recapture the breath and spittle that was passing his lips. His body fell limp onto Satoshi's now outstretched arm and he pulled it free, letting the man slump down in front of him.

"You got the other guy Lin?" He asked as he eyed White Sash with interest... The way a child eyes a bucket of candy.

Lin jumped back a meter before she realized that Satoshi had everything under control. It was actually quite impressive how he ducked in under the enemy's attack and then turned and uppercut the poor mishap of a man that had attacked him.

Kumogakure ninja were some of the scarier ninja in all the villages, and she knew that Raikage Sanosuke would be happy that the bandits were gone and would agree with her that the right to chuunin was harder for Kumogakure than any other village. Lin pointed the kunai at the remaining ninja and used the same technique that she did on Satoshi, aiming for the bandit's limbs.

Watching her opponent and able to gauge his reactions because of her speed and reaction time, all ten hit their mark. The bandit looked more like a pin-cushion than a man now, with ten make-shift kunai sticking out of his body. She had aimed one for either shoulder, another two for each arm, and two for their lower leg. The hapless man dropped without a word but a scream came out of his surprised visage.

There was only one for Toshi to deal with now. She nodded, "I'll start tying them up if you have that one. Otherwise..." She got into a defensive stance, putting both of her hands up and ready to make hand-signals. Her speed would allow her to move while making the symbols. Since it was only the boss left, she knew that they could take him with both of their prowess combined, but Lin was curious as to Toshi's growth. She wanted him to take the boss himself if he wanted to. It was almost too easy taking down these bandits. Then they would get to the bottom of who this "magpie" was.

"Make sure he's conscious, I have some questions for him when you're done with him." She was ready to either fight or tie up the prisoners. "I can start tying up his comrades and healing them if you would like instead." She watched Toshi move, it was fluid, almost like the wind, and it seemed that wherever he moved there was a bit of a breeze behind him. It seemed, well, natural. More like a deer running through the brush than a ninja barreling through.

WC: 2872

He winced as the hapless bandit took the full brunt of Lin's jutsu. It briefly took him back a few days when he'd experienced the same thing... He involuntarily shook his leg out a bit. He had been bitten by more than a few makeshift kunai... In fact Lin had perforated him quite a bit in their brief time together...

"Sounds good!" He looked over his shoulder as he gave her a huge thumbs up complete with a toothy cornball smile. While his head was turned White Sash took it upon himself to attack again. He lashed out with his knife hand attempting to drag a line across Toshi's throat. He felt it break his resonance field long before it got there and hopped backwards. He'd played with him a moment before but this bandit appeared to be a bit faster than the others. White Sash might have been a street thug, but it didn't seem like he was a -common- street thug. He had been placed in a position of leadership for a reason.

The attack missed, keeping Satoshi alive. But he didn't stop. He kept pressing. He swung again. And again. A silver streak following each of his attacks as sunlight gleamed off the steel of his weapon. He was persistent, his attacks pressing Satoshi as he struggled to keep away. It seemed the man was as fast... if not a little faster than Toshi. He also moved with a slight bit of expertise. Surely Lin had seen better, but he had enough skill for it to be clear that this wasn't his first rodeo. One, two, three slashes more and Satoshi had been pushed towards the edge of the cliff side. Pebbles skittered behind the boy's heels as they found themselves bracing against little but air. His toes curled forward, gripping the edge of earth that kept him from impersonating a flightless bird. The poorly dressed bandit in a dapper top hat grinned with menace as Satoshi's precarious situation became more evident.

"You've nowhere to run boy. And it seems like your partner is yellow too. Sadly, it seems our show is coming to a close." The bandit leader spoke matter of factly. His empty hand offering a slight shrug of disregard.

"Then I guess I ought to let you feel my beat then, huh? Sorry in advance for the ringing in your ears." The boy asked as his gaze narrowed in resolve. His heels lifted up off the ground and his knees bent slightly. His weight shifted to the balls of his feet and he brought his fists up. "I'll let you hear it."

And the world went quiet. At least for Satoshi. It was a haunting sort of feeling for him. He didn't much like using this... He was still a bit too weak to truly utilize this technique that he'd developed. But the situation was growing somewhat dire. Furthermore he didn't want to disappoint Lin. He had held back somewhat in their first match. He'd chosen to use an experimental technique and it had faltered. It made him look a bit silly. So this time he'd show her his pride and fight with his heart.

His fists clenched tightly. "Chowa: Kyoshinken." He could no longer feel his surroundings. His opponent. It was like being blind for him... Well... it was more like he had stopped listening to the music of the world. It was as if he'd stepped forward, gripped the mic, and presented himself for his solo. It was time to let his fists sing.

His eyes focused intently on his opponent. Who offered him an inquisitive look. Whatever the boy was talking about didn't seem to register on the bandit's scale of concerns. He instantly pressed forward! He intended to drive the blade between the boy's eyes or to push him to his death. Satoshi simultaneously pressed forward, his left hand opening up as if reaching for something to pull for leverage. His body leaned towards the blow to the inside of the attack. His head slipped the attack, the knife carving a furrow of red crimson down his cheek and past his ear.

"Kyoshinken! Kumo Cross!"

As the tip of the blade passed his shoulder his right arm came across his opponent's left handed strike. His fist passed over his foe's elbow and was on a collision course with his chin. A snap shot of the moment would show a cross created by Satoshi's forearm and White Sash's extended thrust. This was what was known in boxing as a Cross Counter. A devastating technique that left the receiver in an unbalanced and overextended posture, subject not only to the strength of his opponent but suffering the brunt of their own weight!

The man's cheek seemed to ripple slightly before the blow even landed... Perhaps from the sheer force of the attack? Perhaps...  The blow landed flush with the opponents cheek. Satoshi's fist pressed into the side of the man's face and his bone structure seemed to form around Satoshi's fist. For a moment, his body stayed in place until his head could no longer bear the force of the attack. His face gave first, shifting away from the blow. Then his shoulders dipped. And finally his feet gave out from beneath him as Satoshi followed the attack to it's ultimate conclusion, driving White Sash's head into the earth with the inevitable arc of his punch. His feet kicked into the air as the man's head bit into and bounced off the rock before crumpling over backwards. His eyes glazed over as his top hat gently drifted down beside him, rolling gently against Satoshi's feet. Lord. Who knew this kid had such viscous power in his fists?

"Uh... I might have overdone it a bit..." He smiled stupidly as the man was very clearly unconscious. Oops. Also his jaw was likely very broken. He'd be able to talk, it just wouldn't be comfortable or easy to understand.

Satoshi's fists unclenched and the world came stampeding back into his senses. He wobbled a bit on the cliff side and stumbled forward onto his hands and knees as the sudden explosion of sensory knocked him off balance. Oops again!

Jutsu Used:

[WC: 4592]

Lin stood at the ready, waiting for satoshi to need her help
Close quarters combat was toshis specialty. Lin trusted him, after all he has shown her how good his taijutsu was and had bested her both times in closer quarters than this.
She ducked and weaved empathically with his movements, assessing his progress, she hoped to find out how much he had improved. Indeed it seemed like it was quite a bit because white sash was always a step behind him. Toshi was holding his own against the man and indeed it was almost like watching a cat playing with its prey. When toshi said that he would let white sash hear his best, Lin knew it was over. Satoshi had won. In a flurry of blows he swiftly beat the man unconscious. It was beyond Lin's ability to heal him and she knew it.

Sighing she smiled to toshi, "I guess that you got a bit carried away?" She giggled, "when we get him back to town we will interrogate him. I'll heal those wounds that I can. Help me tie these up," she pointed to the bandits in top hats. "We need to m0ve before they give us more trouble. Good hit by the way." She lifted her fist for a fist bump from toshi.

"Good job toshi, I thought you would beat him and you exceeded my expectations. Good job. Though if you need me next time don't hesitate, he almost pushed you off the cliff!" Lin had worried about him. He was one of her best friends and a valuable partner. She would hate to lose him.

Wc:3047

|EXIT THREAD|

Would like to spend my mission on ryo and the remaining 2047 words Are going towards the Guanyin clan's jutsu...

Guanyin Medical Conversion Technique:

Satoshi put a hand on the back of his head and laughed stupidly as White Sash twitched briefly on the ground. Well. He hadn't killed him. Lin was right, once they were healed up they'd be just fine for interrogating.

He moved to the sides of the downed opponents and began restraining them. As he wound the rope around them he couldn't help but feel a swell of pride. He had completed his first mission as a Genin... Well, at least his first mission as a real adversary.

That, and the Kyoshinken style he'd developed worked! It really worked! He could feel the weight of his opponent fade under his fist. He'd felt his foe crumble with supernatural ease. It was pretty exciting... And he was glad that he hadn't tried to use it when he was sparring with Lin. He could have accidentally hurt her in a real serious way.

"I was never in any danger at all! And of course! Neither were you right?" He placed a hand on his headband-belt and showed it to her. "After all, we're ninja of the Kumogakure right!" He laughed boldly again.

He stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the world at large... How exciting this all was... It would only be a matter of time before he was out of this village and into the great big world... And he would be lucky if all of his challenges were this easy.

[WC: 4845]

|Exit Thread|

Spending the mission on ryo and WC on Stats as follows:

[WC=4845 (1k used for mission, Ryo)]
3845 Remaining + 29 (from Combat Practice Mission) = 3874 Remaining
Speed D-1 -> D-3 850/850| 3024 Remaining
Reaction Time D-1 -> D3 850|850 2174 Remaining
Perception D-1 -> D3 850|850 1324 Remaining
Endurance D-1 -> D3 850|850 474 Remaining
Strength D-2 -> D-3 450|450 24 Remaining
[Remaining WC = 24]
Stat Training