Mission Details:

Lin had dressed in her ninja gear. That is to say, she wore her Village hidden in the mist flak vest, her black sweatshirt underneath, a white skirt, and a black set of leggings under that. She had decided to go with boots, as they would be heading into the mines near Kumogakure. She was meeting Syn at the gates to the city and would head out with him from there. She had managed to keep up with Gin when they had left to have her duel with Nozomi, and she wouldn't be left behind by Syn, she was sure of it.

Their last mission had gone south with Lin taking a beating from the red lightning user. She had thought that he was a flamboyant madman and that she would be able to avoid his lightning jutsu. She was wrong. It came at her, maw open from the front and then zipping to her left, biting into her left side and burning away her clothes. She shuddered from the remembered sensation of her skin burning, her skin tearing from the lacerations, and her clothes melting into her wounds. It was a gruesome way to disable an opponent and if Syn had not intervened at that time, she would have died.

Little did Lin know that Syn could have very easily had interfered, but had thought that Lin had the situation under control. It wasn't until too late that he realized that she didn't. The explosions having little effect on the lightning user and used a dragon to rip the head off of The Red Lightning before making his way to the hospital with Lin in his arms. It was lucky indeed that she had friends in high places such as Syn.

Lin had packed the senbon that she kept from when she had graduated from the academy, her scalpel, the set of tonfas that had appeared mysteriously on her doorstep, and her Hitae-ate. It was tied around her shoulder this time, not around her head, and her hair was in a french braid. She didn't care about letting everyone see her birth-scar. It was a proud symbol that she came from the Katonrai clan. Or that's what she kept telling herself when people would stare at it.

Sighing, she started to fidget while waiting for Syn. She had shown up early, and wanted to make sure they had enough time to go and clean up this bandit menace. They had stolen from the village hidden in the mist and the daimyo of the village for long enough, and were now very flush with money. It was a good thing that they were so flush with it, as it made tracing them back to the mines a piece of cake. She hoped that they would at least stay there for a good day or two, giving Syn and her a pinpoint location to go to. She hoped and fidgetted and waited for Syn.

WC: 500

Another day, another night.. Day in, day out.. The routine was almost always the same.. Duty calls again..

Crack.. Crack.. The sounds of bones breaking weren't new to him. He had done far more worse. Stabbing right through hearts and other vital organs weren't even close.. Ripping heads off? Maybe that was some level of brutality. Burning bodies to ashes may also count but the options he had right now were limitless.
The jounin stood his ground, fully clad in his own personal ninja wear, his legs apart, blood dripping down the blades of the weapon in his right hand, his wooden dragon coiled around him with blood stained wooden fangs. The pose was epic but it wasn't only for show. Countless bodies had fallen behind him and most of them had ended their lives at the edge of his blades and many more would do so too in a matter of seconds.
He had been ambushed for no reason and starting from a group of just ten men, the number of attackers had risen to an army and they seemed to have no end. Left and right he swung his blade with each strike falling an enemy. The adrenaline that was flowing was slowing the rate at which he would get exhausted. He pressed on, slaying more souls in his wake with both weapon and jutsu. The fight was never ending but he wasn't planning on giving up too. He put his hand to his mouth and spat out an ocean of water, drowning most if not all of the enemies. Little did he know that this was more than just a fight and it had only began..

Thunder roared and lightening sparked. The trees billowed to the wind and everything that had life wimpered in fear. The clouds opened and it came down. It looked totally out of this world at first but then it began to take on a more human form until it was fully visible. Eagle feet, lion tail, man body and three wolf heads. It roared and the echo reached to the ends of the world. It charged for Syn and the jounin's dragon raced forward. With a single swipe of the beast's animal claws, the dragon was shattered into a thousand wooden pieces. Syn activated his sharingan and sprinted forward, gathering chakra in his palm in the shape of an orb but before it was complete, he lost sight of the man- beast and even his sharingan was perplexed.

Swipe! A strike through his guts from an unseen force and he could only fall to his knees with a cry of pain.
The senju woke up suddenly only to realize that it was just a terrible nightmare. He rubbed his eyes and raised the bed sheets as he got out from bed. It was only 3am in the morning and it had been a while since he had had such a tormenting nightmare. He walked into the shower and stood under it for a few minutes, allowing the cold water to soothe his nerves. He walked out and sat in bed watching each second tick until it was morning. He did not really like being idle and so he began to prepare to leave his home. Suiting up in his usual black knee length coat with black pants and camelio armour underneath. He filled his ninja pouch and strapped his weapon to his back as he slid the village head band over his left eye.

He walked to the door and was almost exiting when he was met by a shinobi about special jounin level baring a scroll. He bowed and handed the scroll over before taking his leave. The jounin opened it up, a mission and he quickly skimmed through it till he got to the bottom. "Mission to be undertaken with Lin Katonrai". Her again, he breathed out through his mouth before going back to the mission details again. So a group had been stealing from the daimyo and instead of laying low, they were spending lavishly making them able to track. Well, it wasn't really stupid.. It might be an act of boldness.. Or maybe a combination of both. What matters is that they have it coming for them.

The jounin took to the roof tops as he headed for the rendevouz point while thinking of his partner on this mission. Their last mission was a success but the female had gotten hurt in the process. Really hurt at that. It was his fault, he had thought she had it under control whereas she didn't and because of that, the lightning jutsu had struck her deep.
Good thing he had taken her to the hospital on time but he hadn't gone to see her after that. But the fact that she was ready to take on another mission only meant that she was fine now and he wouldn't make assumptions this time that she had anything under control.

Syn arrived the meeting point pretty soon but Lin seemed to be always punctual. She was there, looking very clean and attractive. He noticed the scar on her face and he felt he had seen it once but he hadn't felt the need to ask. He would walk up to her and speak first..
"Hello.. How is your health now,Lin?"

WC:900

Lin smiled as Syn approached, he was looking handsome with his coat that hung to his knees, and his Hitae-ate, and of course the formidable looking scythe on his back. She had healed in the infrimary and had learned a thing or two. She had gone back to visit twice since she had left the hospital to learn one technique and had studied some scrolls for some other ninjutsu techniques. It was a good start, not having anything really to rely on besides her ninjutsu and her clan jutsu, she had also trained with her tonfas and had become a bit more practiced in the meantime.

"I am glad to say I am very healthy and will be more helpful on this mission than I was the last one." A determined grin flashed across her features and lit up her eyes. She hadn't learned much about Syn, but she would be relying heavily upon him for this mission. She had only been able to tag along for it, as it was meant for Jounin rank or higher. It was possibly to help her get stronger, to gain more experience in the ninja world than she had.

"I really am indebted to you for last time, if it weren't for you I would have been dead. My overconfidence in our plan and myself made me look the part of the fool." She bowed respectfully to Syn and kept herself bent for a little while. It was a show of gratitude, and she didn't know how, really, to thank him for bringing her to the hospital and completing the mission, pretty much, on his own. Lin had left Gora at home once again, and had told her that it might take up to a week to complete this mission, as it was meant for Jounin. That hadn't assuaged the two hundred pound feline, and it was only with great effort that Lin had finally convinced Gora that there might be someone that might break into the house and steal all of their food while she was away. Gora was to guard the house, barring sacrificing her life in the process.

Sulking, she had left the feline on the doorstep.

Lin's thoughts returned as she righted herself and nodded to him, "I'll follow your lead, Syn-senpai. I have learned a couple of techniques since we last met, and I hope to prove myself worthy of following you into the bandit's den." She wondered, once more, at the hitae-ate over his eye, but didn't question him for it. She usually wore her hair over hers, so really there was no reason to call attention to something that he wanted to keep hidden.

It was only once in a blue moon that she would actually let her scar be seen, but this mission was more dangerous than the last, and the attack had singed her last time came from the right, then bolted to the left after losing itself in her blasted hair. She wouldn't be caught like that again, hence, the french braid.

WC: 1030

"I am glad to say I am very healthy and will be more helpful on this mission than I was the last one."
She replied gleefully. He wasn't really relying on her for this mission and this wasn't because she was of no good. The fact was that the mission at hand was for special jounin level at the very least and Lin was but a chunin so her tagging along was just for her to see more of what higher ranked shinobis did and also to gain experience and the ability to decide in tough situations. The raikage had made the right call. This was a brilliant way of learning. Teacher and student stuff really didn't excite him but a thrilling mission to learn from? That was more like it.

"I really am indebted to you for last time, if it weren't for you I would have been dead. My overconfidence in our plan and myself made me look the part of the fool."
Dead? Yes, absolutely correct he thought but kept the affirmation of her statement within himself as his sarcastical other half tried to kick in. A more subtle appraoch would be better.
"No.. It was my fault for thinking you had it under control. I shouldn't have thought that way. You coming on the mission meant that you were my responsibility and even though the mission was completed, I still feel like I failed in some way. Sorry about that.." At least there was some truth in that and now she could raise her head. It felt awkard anyway but he knew it was probably some way to show she was sorry or maybe a sign of respect.

"I'll follow your lead, Syn-senpai. I have learned a couple of techniques since we last met, and I hope to prove myself worthy of following you into the bandit's den."
Since they last met eh.. If he remembered correctly, the first time they met, she was inflicted with burns from his puppet's fire blast. The second time, her skin was 'barbecued' by lightening. She was always getting injured and he wanted to change that. He didn't want her to remember him with injuries alone. Things had to change and that led him to the scar on her face. He hadn't been very inquisitive in a while and that was surprising. That attitude was kicking in now. The bandits had been tracked down to the mines and that could only mean that they had set up base there and so there was no need to rush. The journey down there was going to be a little bit stretchy so there would be time to talk and get to know her better and maybe vice- versa.

"You'll have the chance to execute those techniques Lin but I won't put you in harm's way for the completion of this mission. This mission would be tougher than the last, just have that in mind. So let's go."
He would finish while taking off at gentle speeds almost equal to hers. He would break to the right, the mountain paths which would be faster though very rough as they would climb higher and lower through the mountains. It would also serve as a sort of training for them both.
As they progressed, he would speak..
"The journey might take a while so we might as well talk about things.. So uh.. The scar on your face.. I don't suppose it's from the last mission. Is it?" He would ask her while hoping he wasn't prying into something private. Who knows, she might also have something to ask him too but hadn't found the need or the right time to do so...

WC:637/1537

Lin followed Syn along, it was a healthy pace, and was one that she could probably use for training later on. It wasn't like she had a lot of time to hike up and down the mountains lately with taking care of Gora. Now that Gora had grown, miraculously, into a two hundred pound ball of fuzz, she didn't need Lin's care. She could find her own quarry. Syn then turned around and asked, "The journey might take a while so we might as well talk about things.. So uh.. The scar on your face.. I don't suppose it's from the last mission. Is it?" It indeed was not. It was a scar from her birth. She blushed a bit and tried to cover it with her shoulder as they traveled.

"It's a scar that I have from birth, It runs from the crown of my head to the tip of my big right toe." She blushed brightly and the scar didn't change color. It was still the same color as it was, a white color, a dead color. It looked like the scar from being hit by a lightning bolt, but it wasn't, "My dad has the same scar, and he says that it is hereditary for Katonrai clan members to have the scar all of their lives." Lin sighed, tracing the scar on her face absently with her fingers, "And no amount of medical Ninjutsu will ever get rid of it."

She smiled and tilted her head a bit, looking at his headband, "I noticed that you're not wearing your headband on your neck anymore, may I ask... why are you covering your eye with it rather than wearing it around your neck? Did you have an accident and hurt your eye somehow?" She hurriedly added "If it's not too much to ask that is. Um. I um." She looked away, flustered, it wasn't nice to point out something that was different if it meant that they were maimed in some way!

Still, her eyes crept back to Syn with an apologetic look. She was still curious as to what had happened, if he was willing to share.

1416

The young female blushed a bit as she tried to hide the scar, an act that was almost impossible because the way she packed her hair, the scar just appeared as if it was plastered onto her face.
"It's a scar that I have from birth, It runs from the crown of my head to the tip of my big right toe." She replied.
That's a pretty long one, he wondered. So the scar ran from her head, down her body all the way to her toe ..that's really surprising. Even though he hadn't seen much of birth marks or scars, he did know that this one was pretty different ..perhaps the female herself was different.
"My dad has the same scar, and he says that it is hereditary for Katonrai clan members to have the scar all of their lives and no amount of medical Ninjutsu will ever get rid of it." So now that explains it. Syn couldn't say if that was some unique stuff or cursed one. Assuming the scar had some sort of special power, that would have been cool but a large scar with no use on the body of every clan member? That was ..not good. Maybe he was wrong, he did not know. Afterall who was he to judge her or her clan for who they were and what they held dear.. He would have loved to know more but at this point, that might seem like peeping into clan stuff which wasn't really an advisable idea. Everyone had their skeletons in their own cupboards and Lin was now knocking on Syn's cupboard.

"I noticed that you're not wearing your headband on your neck anymore, may I ask... why are you covering your eye with it rather than wearing it around your neck? Did you have an accident and hurt your eye somehow? If it's not too much to ask that is. Um. I um."
That was very observative of her. Anyone could have noticed the head band over his left eye which was very uncommon amongst shinobis but she did remember that he had it around his neck the first time they had met. So he was right, she did have something to ask him but she hadn't found the need or the right time to do so. She had answered his question and it only felt fair to answer hers'.
They would travel steadily through the steep mountains, crossing a very shallow river with the walking on water practice which was done by gathering chakra unto the feet to enable them walk atop water or climb places vertically. Lin was chunin now so he didn't expect her to face any difficulty while crossing the river. Instead of continuing on the level ground ahead, Syn would break off to the right in the path of a little forest. Kumogakure wasn't abundant in forests, too bad. People were often ambushed on open and level ground.

Travelling through the tree tops with her closely beside him, his mind would wander back to her question. She must have wondered why it took him a while to reply. She had earlier apologized if she was intruding on something private but meh ..it didn't matter. All that was behind the head band was burden. The sun would begin to go down as night would take over. The moon would be out soon and they were almost at the mines.
"With great power comes great responsibility, Lin." He would begin calmly. "Its a good thing to be observant, its another thing to be inquisitive and I'm a combination of both. This.." He would say while placing a hand over the head band. "Isn't an accident and I wasn't maimed in anyway. Only few know about what lies beneath. Some who see if feel its fascinating but others who know it's true nature knows that it's destructive if wielded wrongly. I don't know why I'm telling you but its not like you'll run off and tell it to someone else I believe.." He continued as the approached the mines and the moon began to make its appearance..

"The feeling of having your very own eye ball detached from its nerves.." He smirked at the expertise of the medical prodigy that did his implant.." The sensation of having something greater attached to you.. The scynchronization of will and power.. The taste of evolution.. The question of which path to take.. Destruction or Salvation.. Lin, I possess in my left eye socket the sacred sharingan of the uchiha clan. The cursed eye that gave birth to all the hatred that stems from that clan. How I got it might be talk for another time but I cover it because I don't want it to be seen unless required and because its drawback is far greater than it's advantage." He would finish.

They would exit the forest and up ahead was the mines. There were little rocks that could serve as cover for them till they approached closely. "Lighten your footsteps.." He would say as they would lower themselves behind a rock and seek cover. They would move forward from one rock to another until they were about twenty meters away from the mouth of the mine. They couldn't charge in without having any idea of the resistance they would be faced with.
Syn would observed the area and notice that the terrain was not the best. No water body or abundance of plant life.. At least the moon was there to give them light. The jounin would lift the headband from his left eye.. "SHARINGAN" he would call softly as the eye would pulse to life with chakra. A red eye with two tomoes eager to see in all direction as it moved non stop. The jounin would focus on the mine and look inside of it.. "One, two, three, four.." up to sixteen, he would count. The sharingan allows him to see masses of burning chakra and by the looks of it, the ones he saw were just rookies..

"Not much resistance ahead, let's go Lin.." He would say while deactivating his sharingan and drawing his scythe. He wouldn't put her in harm's way like he had said before.. "Just stay close to me ..Remember that."
WC:1073/2610

Syn talked about the eye and she remembered something, someone else who had the uchiha's signature eye. Maigo, of the Uchiha clan. He had been... maimed? Maimed, probably, by Hao, of the same clan. It wasn't every day that a person came across someone with the eyes of an uchiha. She had met another uchiha, one that had taught her some medical jutsu, Tsuyo, of the Uchiha clan. He had a miraculous ability to heal the sick, and she wanted to learn from him. He had showed her the technique of how to mend someone's entire body at once, at an enormous chakra cost, but it was still a good technique. Or she thought that it was. They moved from tree to tree as Syn talked about his eye being taken from him, replaced with something darker, more sinister, and more powerful.

She ducked behind the little rocks, darting in and out from behind them swiftly. She indeed did lighten her footsteps. Looking around, she wondered whether she would be able to duck behind these rocks indefinitely. This was, after all, a mine. She listened to his count to sixteen. There were a lot of people. The red of Syn's sharingan was something that she would have to get used to. She knew the power that it held, and the madness. She hoped that he would be able to control it, and wouldn't follow in the traitorous historical footsteps of the predecessors.

When he said, "Just stay close to me ..Remember that." She did so, moving closer to Syn. She felt safe around him, but she knew that she would want to help him in some way. She didn't take out her tonfas, as she didn't think that they would help yet, but she unbuttoned the top of the holders, so that they could be drawn at a moment's notice. "I'll stay close to you."

Lin then remembered something that actually might help Syn a bit with these small fries. She took a senbon and activated her chakra network, channeling Raiton into it. With a flick of her wrist she drove it into syn's shoulder, pulling it out quickly and wiping it off when the raiton chakra had done its job. It was a simple jutsu, but it would help to block some of the damage that would be coming Syn's way. It also would help her to heal him later, since the less damage he took up front, the less damage that she would have to heal.

"Sorry, it stings, but it shouldn't be too bad, all things considered," She said, seeing one of the people heading for them now, having spotted them. She waited behind his non-dominant hand. The arc of his scythe shouldn't hit her there, and she had learned to stand there if she was combating someone that was dominant with a certain hand. It was something that she had also learned, playing golf with her dad. He was a left-handed person, so she stood over his right shoulder, she was right handed, so he stood over her left shoulder. The club would never hit them, and even if they hit the ball someplace else, it had no chance of hitting the other person.

WC: 1975

Jutsu Used: Chakra remaining(135/150):

The female had moved closer to him as he had told her. Not only that, she had also channeled raiton chakra into a senbon and injected it into his shoulder. It didn't pain much but the feeling of a different chakra nature in his body system was felt. "Sorry, it stings, but it shouldn't be too bad, all things considered," she said. Perhaps this was another one of her medical jutsus since he had seen her shoot chakra bolts at injuries before. He appreciated her help, a little protection could really prove to be life saving. He couldn't help but smile inside of himself as he felt her goodness blossom in the area and bring warmth to him. He wondered if a time would come when he wouldn't want to be with her, she was everything when it came to company and even though having her around forever wouldn't be possible, he would still make the best out of the time that they had to spend together.

Before the two would have a chance to attack first, one of the rookies would spot them. Lin would retreat behind him as he drew his scythe so as not to be in the range of his strike. Very thoughtful of her. There wasn't any reason to hide anymore, was there. On another note, the jounin felt they would have the upper hand if the rookies were brought outside of the cave and into the open. That way, it would at least be a fair fight and if Lin was ever in danger, he would be able to help out quickly. So why not call out the rest of these rookies eh..
The one that spotted them would approach with caution, having a single sword in his hand. He was averagely tall and light weighted, no tough muscle to be seen and he wore light clothes too. Syn would come out from behind the rock they had been using for cover and would move just one step forward waiting for the young man to come to him. The rookie would approach and attempt to slice, he was pretty slow and Syn simply side stepped the attack as he smacked him with a fist which was just an attempt to make him call out to the rest of the rookies so they could all be taken out easily. Few more strikes and Syn simply avoided them all before he would disarm the boy and break his right arm and left leg, causing him to cry out in pain. As soon as he did this, Syn would snap his neck and stand alert.

The plan seemed to have worked as the remaining rookies trooped out of the cave like a swarm of bees, each man having a single sword in hand and probably possessing the same skills as the first victim.
"Lin, they are less skilled and you should be able to take them on." Syn would say hoping the female was up to the task. Regardless of the fact that she was a medic, he didn't know if she could handle instanteneous healing if she was hurt at her current rank and so he would giver her a little support. Placing his right hand on the earth, fresh green vines would slowly encompass her and form a light armour to protect her against these swords so she could fight with little worry.
These ones were just workers, the queen bee was still deep within the cave with better security, he was sure.

WC:595/3025
CP: -15 for jutsu -285/300

Plant style:Terrestial armour:

Lin felt the vines entwine around her body, holding her snugly, almost like an all body hug. It was nice, and it didn't seem to hamper her movement any, rather it seemed to move and bend and stretch and compress as she did. It was amazing. Lin hopped out from behind the rock and the dead genin worker. She had seen Syn snap his neck before she could even blink. He was far above her own skill, but she wouldn't be just a hindrance. What Syn had seen before was a show of skill using the reflection clone technique. Since, she had learned a new technique that wasn't her own, but was powerful nonetheless. "Thank you Syn senpai, I'll see if I can handle a couple of them, since you determined that they are about equal in strength."

She wove the handsigns of hers, she spread out her hands and created two clones of herself to either side of her. They were both covered by the plant jutsu as well, as the jutsu transferred in the creation of the clones. She and the clones gave a wink to Syn and all started to form hand-signals. They were as deadly accurate as her, possessing the attributes of Lin.

Lin rushed at one of the ninja on the outskirts, flying into him, she blocked his sword with one of her tonfa and drove the other into his nose, breaking it in one swift motion. Making sure that he wasn't able to do any further harm, when he dropped his guard and fell to the ground holding his nose, she stomped on his arm and broke it.

Her clones were also doing something, though they didn't want to be hit by anything and thus reduce her chakra stores. In unison they yelled, "Tile Shuriken!" And the rocks around them started to turn into kunai. Pointing at two of the genin-classed workers each, they sent 5 kunai at them, one at their torso, and 1 each for their extremeties. As the kunai sank in, Lin had dealt with 5 of the workers. Clearly someone to reckon with. The jig was up, however, the workers had figured out who the real one of her was, and had started to surround her, making feints with their blades. Well, they would be in for a surprise. This armor seemed tougher than the one that she had given Syn. And it seemed as though they were either saving their chakra for some big jutsu, or they didn't know jutsu at all. Brilliant.
"Syn!" She called, "They don't seem to be using ninjutsu, only Bukijutsu. Perhaps you can take them out from afar, I can more than handle their attacks." It was true, while she was still learning things as a chuunin, she had far surpassed genin in her reaction time and perception, making her a hard person to hit, since she saw almost everything coming for her before the person was even done winding up. It didn't mean that she was invincible, but it did mean that she could probably take the Genin herself. She blocked two blows on her right side, and one on her left as they attacked her, but one of them got through, hitting the tough vines, it made a "TACK!" noise. It must have been made of solid wood, but it didn't feel like it to Lin. Syn had a very impressive jutsu, and Lin couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.

Jutsu Used: Lin's chakra remaining: 45:

Clone 2 chakra remaining: 35:

Clone 1 chakra remaining: 35:

WC: 2576

"Thank you Syn senpai, I'll see if I can handle a couple of them, since you determined that they are about equal in strength." The armour he had cloaked her in seemed to have given her a boost in morale as she hopped out from behind the rock with some confidence or maybe it was because she had gotten better since they last met. He saw her weave hand seals as two clones appeared on both of her sides, both cloaked in the plant armour too. Winking at him, they all flung into action. Rather than face the ones coming at him, he focused on Lin and how she and her clones dealt with their attackers. She was pretty impressive and much more different from the girl that had been struck by a lightening jutsu.
"Syn" she called out to him, "They don't seem to be using ninjutsu, only Bukijutsu. Perhaps you can take them out from afar, I can more than handle their attacks." He nodded as a sign of thanks to the heads up. They couldn't use ninjutsu and their bukijutsu wasn't even near dangerous to him. As his heels met heads, so did his fists break bones and fractured ribs. In no time, all sixteen rookies were down and he hadn't even stained his blade yet though Lin had handled more of them than he had done. He wanted nothing more than to see her do well and get better.

Looks like the bigger fishes were coming out now. Two young men each armed with swords came out of the cave. Both men stood heroic as they stared down Syn and Lin as if they would take them out in one swipe. Their ego annoyed Syn and the way that they looked down on him and Lin was really getting on his nerves. The men were not here to play and they made this known as they channeled raiton chakra through their blades. Syn watched as static electricity leapt off the blades, it was impressive. Syn would take few steps ahead of Lin and say to her while smirking... "Let me be a gentle man and take care of this issue eh.. I'll be done in a few. I need no more than twenty seconds.. You can start counting.."
He really didn't mean for her to count but it wouldn't matter if she did, twenty seconds was more than what he needed. He would charge at both men with ruthless speed which was far greater than they possessed. The moment he left his spot, they would also begin to come forward but he would meet them where they were in a fraction of a second and the sharpness of his scythe coupled with his own strength would drop the non- dominant arm of one of the men and the other one would have a deep gash running through his center causing him to bleed out profusely.
The one who had lost his left arm would attempt to strike Syn from behind but the jounin would duck and roll out of the way allowing him to strike his partner after which he would slice the tendon at the man's leg causing him to fall. The attempted strike on Syn would have hit the second man's jugular vein causing him to drop and die in a matter of seconds and the one that striked would now be on the floor and at Syn's mercy. All along, he had been counting himself and making sure that he was working well with time. His speed was amazing and he was confident in it. This one would be no different from all the others that had died and so he would end this foe with a single strike.

Out of the cave, about a dozen needles of wind would be shot towards Syn but the jounin would perceive the disruption in the atmosphere and quickly react to this attack by diving out of the way. Out of the corner of his eyes, he would see a spiralling sphere of wind headed towards Lin with destructive force and without wasting anytime, he would string together hand seals and slam his palm unto the ground causing large and thick timbers to shoot out of the ground and form a dome around her to keep her safe. The defence would stop the wind ball but it would as well crack with great force though Lin would still be safe. The jounin would protect her at all cost. He would move over to where she was while scanning the area and once he had gotten to her, the attacker would surface. A dark shadow would step out of the cave and into the light, brown hair, tanned skin.. A young man it was and he didn't seem to be happy.

WC:816/3841
CP: -25 for wooden dome -260/300

wooden barrier:

Lin watched as the workers were taken out, almost beyond the reaches of what she could perceive. Syn then said, "Give me 20 seconds to take out these two. He made good on her promise, but as soon as he hit the jugular vein of the second one, she averted her eyes. She was a necrophobiac and hadn't had the chance to deal with it herself. She covered her eyes, as did her clones and by the time that she opened them, she was covered in a dome of plant. Well, great. There was no way for her to go out and help with the fight. She might as well send the clones to do something. Reaching out with her mind, she ordered the clones to attack the man who had done the Fuuton. Since he was, indeed, a fuuton user, and Lin had already thought that she would be using up most of her chakra with this fight, she sent one to Syn's right, and one to Syn's left. Both of them weaved hand signs in unison. They were still protected by his armor, so they had little to worry about, or so Lin thought.

At 30 meters away, they both opened their mouths simultaneously, a dragon erupting from their throats. They careened toward the man, coming at him from both sides at the same speed. Behind them, the clones ducked left and right respectively, they only had a little chakra left, but they were still deadly. They would be using their reaction time, that of Lin herself, to jump out of the way of any jutsu. The real reason for the jutsu, even though it was deadly, and could break bones, was not to kill or maim the man, though they would do that if they collided, but to keep him occupied for Syn. Lin had learned that keeping herself out of trouble, and using her Clones was the best course of action.

Lin sat down inside of the dome, looking through one of the cracks that had formed at the fight. She wasn't able to see Syn, but she could see the dragons spinning towards the man that used Fuuton. She wondered how he would react to the dragons coming at him from both sides. There was really nowhere to run, and they were coming at him fast enough that they were a real threat. Lin could probably tangle with this man herself, after the red-lightning user, but it was safer for her to let her clones do the work, and stay in the dome. It was safer for both her and for Syn. Syn wouldn't be distracted by her weakness, and she could still help with her clones.

WC: 3034

Lin Chakra: 45, Clone chakra each: 15, Jutsu used by clones::

This new enemy seemed more promising than the several ones that had fallen. There was no telling if this one was the boss or just another surbordinate. Both of the jutsus that he had used earlier were pretty high level ones. The wind needles were enough to keep anyone occupied and the sphere of wind carried enough destructive force and if not for the heavy defence that he had put up, Lin would have been hurt and he wouldn't have taken that likely. Syn was aware that the wooden barrier would be able to take at most one more of that spiralling ball if the man did attempt to attack Lin again but for the time being, she was safe within the dome and he could fight with less worry. To remind him that she was still on the battle field, Lin sent over her two clones as one stood to his right and the other one to his left side. Impressively, they strung together different hand seals and out of their mouths came forth a dreadful dragon which headed towards the opponent speedily. The attack was well coordinated and now the man had to deal with two attacks on his left and right and if he didn't act quick, he would get caught up in this.

Syn watched from where he stood as the lightening dragons roared towards the man in the shape of a wheel. In an attempt to save himself, the man quickly formed two massive wind balls and shot them at the incoming attacks. Both jutsu almost having the same strength level had a hard time overcoming each other and as a result they exploded in a large wave of chakra burst. The man being closer to the attack was flung backwards causing him to suffer from broken bones and other minor injuries. Syn who was also within range of the blast attempted to brace himself and let his camelio suit suffer the brunt of the attack before he felt anything but suddenly, he felt a barrier of lightening chakra form around him causing him to be safe from the force of the blast. Had Lin done this too? Her clones had been affected but he wasn't sure the force of the blast was enough to knock them out of play. Then he remembered the raiton energy that she had channeled into him before the start of the fight, that was the most possible way that this could have happened. She had played her part, it was time for him to end this.

Syn would put his hands together to form hand seals and summon forth an earth golem from the ground. The creature would heed it's master's call and rise to life. It would move towards the man even though it wasn't extremely fast. As it appraoched, the man would spit wind needles at the golem but all would be to no avail as the creature would be unaffected by them. By now, Syn had figured that the man could only spit out wind needles and create wind balls and he seemed to have run out of chakra. The golem upon getting to the man would grab him by the waist no matter how hard he tried to resist. The creature would take apart his right arm and fling it away while tearing off the second arm and flogging the man on the head with it, spilling blood everywhere. This man would pay for almost endangering the life of Syn's comrade which was Lin. The torture would not end there, the legs would be next and as the creature attempted to tear off the second leg right after detaching the first one, thick flames would engulf both the golem and the man in it's hand, incinerating them both. The real fight was about to begin.

Just twenty meters away, he saw the roaring flames and he knew that this was no low level technique. This was definetly the main boss and he must have done that to put his surbordinate out of his misery, the torture was really unbearable and his cries must have been enough to call for help. This one was no coward, he stepped up to the plate boldly. "Come in clean and we can discuss this.." Syn would say to him.
"You don't make the decisions here, I do." He replied as he formed hand seals and shot a great fireball towards Syn. The jounin quickly placed his palms on the ground as water burst out of the earth to form a wall in front of him causing the fire to hit it and slowly sizzle away before the water wall fell. Forming his own hand seals, water would once again burst from the earth and sending rocks and dirt flying apart before the water would take the shape of a large dragon with yellowish eyes. The dragon would charge at the man with great force and speed but the dragon would be met by a thick blast of wind coming from the man causing the dragon to lose it's momentum and fall just few inches before it got to him and only doing as much as wet his clothes.

This was like a game of tennins, each player having his own turn. If he wanted to end this quick, he would have to move in closer. Tensing the muscles in his legs, he would raise the head band covering his left eye and activate his sharingan as the eye would surge to life with chakra. The man on the other hand would gather chakra to his lungs and would begin shooting air bullets at the incoming jounin. His speed coupled with his enhanced reaction and visual prowess would allow him to clearly see the wind bullets and evade them properly. He would keep dodging till he would get within ten meters of the man but the immense speed at which he was running would almost cost him a fatal injury. As the man kept shooting the wind bullets, he then followed up with numerous volleys of fire causing the reaction between both elements to result in an explosion that the jounin was almsot caught within. His armour had absorbed much but he still suffered from few burns and his clothes had been affected.

He stood up and looked at his opponent who was untouched. The man had not only ruined his clothes but his skin too. The opponent was formidable, he had to give him that but his end had come. Syn would stand upright and form several hand seals as he would pour out water from his mouth to form a large pool with the man in it. Suddenly, bullets of water would be shot out of the pool towards the man before rising up into the sky to form a cloud. The man would try to evade but the bullets moving at a speed of twenty five meters per second would hit him hard and lift him up about ten meters in the air before another set of water bullets would attack him again thereby slamming him back unto the pool of water. It would take the man few minutes to get on his feet and as soon as he did so, he would inhale and attempt to attack again but the cloud that had formed in the sky earlier would bring forth a water dragon moving at thirty meters per second. The dragon would ram into the defenceless man and shatter his bones upon impact causing the pool of water to splash out angrily and leaving the man in the center as Syn would move in for the kill.

The jounin would reach the man that could not even stand and look him in the eye with his scythe drawn. "Stealing from the diamyo was a bad idea but having me come after you is the worst punishment you could ever receive.." He would say but slashing through the man clothe cleanly. It was over but both Syn and the area reeked of blood. Would he ever retire from this life? Hardly would a day go by without there being blood shed or even the slightest casualty. Was this what duty entailed? His grip on his scythe would soften as the weapon would fall and dig its blade into the ground before the jounin would also fall one knee to the ground. He was getting exhausted.

WC:1419/5260
CP: -25 for golem -20 for encampment wall -30 for dragon biting explosion: 185/300

jutsu used:

Lin's clones watched as the dragons collided with the fuuton balls, it was amazing to say the least, to see it through their eyes. The sparks sizzled and cracked the rocks around the jutsu as they melded, neither willing to give into the other. It was spectacular, and since they were both of equal rank, neither budged. Suddenly they both exploded, sending shards of rock headed for the clones. They put up their arms to shield their faces at the same time, but the shockwave reverberating from the initial blast was enough to break their bones, and make Lin lose their chakra. She felt their chakra disperse, so much for getting back that amount of chakra.

At the same time, the Lin inside of the dome was peering out at the shinobi Syn, who was bracing himself for impact when the wave passed over him. The lightning sizzled out from him, creating shield of sorts before dissipating. The wave broken by the barrier. Because Lin was in her little wooden dome, she wasn't affected, but could feel the force of the wave from even where she was at. It was a deadly jutsu that she had used, and it might have even killed him, if it weren't for the fuuton that he had used to block her. The man's arms hung limp at his sides as he lifted himself up only to see the golem engulf his body with one giant hand.

It tore off his right arm and flung it to the side, hitting the vines with a sickening splat noise. It was no different from any piece of meat then. Lin watched as the golem then tore off his left arm. The man probably couldn't feel them from both of them being broken as they were. With its right arm, the golem swung the left arm across the left side of the man's head. It collided, and the man's head exploded, ending it for him. The Golem didn't have orders to stop there, though, it ripped off his left leg with a sound like velcro ripping apart, and then the right leg with the same force. Lin had to keep watching. She had to. If she was going to be the best medical ninja she had to be strong.

Her father's voice beckoned in the back of her mind, nudging her in an itching sensation. One that she couldn't scratch, it built and built until it burst inside of her. Lin, if you're going to be part of this world, you have to be able to look monsters in the face, be able to take their ire and turn it against them. You are only a child right now, but if you train hard enough, you can do something with your life, and not be a worthless wretch like all of the other people who aren't active shinobi. Even your mother was a ninja before I married her. It is the solemn job of a shinobi to kill before they are killed. In my case, it is to kill the prisoners of Athos' keep before they get out and kill others. it is my job to put them down. This book is what you will need to look out for. People who kill indiscriminately, steal, and destroy others' property. There is no right and wrong in the shinobi world, only those with power and those without. Those with power can make their own rules. They can subjugate the people without power to their own ends. Don't let yourself be subjugated. Don't fall into that like so many others have. Become strong, see death, and know pain. Only then can I call you my daughter.

It was a speech that her father had given her when she was at Athos' keep the first time and had taken her first look at the bingo book. Now she needed to watch, watch as power met power.

Syn offered the man mercy, more than he should have, given that he had the power in the situation. More than he should have? Lin was turning into a monster herself. She shook her head, no... no she would have offered him mercy if she were in the same situation. Right? It was hard to tell, but the man quickly retorted with a great gout of flame. Syn's jutsu was on the tip of his tongue, and the gout hit a wall of water. Lin hadn't known that Syn could use water techniques. She had only encountered his head hunter, his mokuton, and his earth golem.

She had always thought that suiton, the chakra that coaxed out water was one of the more refined, more easily controllable, and more than that, more elegant of all of the chakras. She didn't have a mastery over it, or any other chakra like it yet, but she didn't know whether she wanted to do that, or something else. She would have to research it a bit more. There was the hard, unwaveringness of earth, the elegance of water, the power of lightning, the boldness of fire, and the adaptiveness of wind.

The man then opened his mouth and expelled a multitude of wind chakra bullets, capable of breaking bone. Lin wouldn't have been able to dodge them, but Syn did, and was singed as his technique and the man's collided. She cringed in empathic pain as she saw Syn, then perform a jutsu that she had not seen before. It was greaceful, and as graceful as it was, it was equally as deadly. It left the man barely able to stand. Syn then muttered something that Lin couldn't hear with the dome, and then killed him in one neat stroke.

She then saw him fall to one knee. Apparently he was hurt. She took out her tonfa, knowing that she could help him with his wounds at least, and started beating on the dome, trying to break it so that she could get to him. The crack widened, and she burst out of the dome in a hail of splinters. Sputtering, she jogged over to him, sidestepping the bodies and body parts. She ran up to him, "Are you alright? you know what, it doesn't matter." A teal glow shone around her for a split second before she touched his arm. It was a technique that would heal him until she knew that he was completely healed. It was the Healing aura Longevity jutsu. He would know it if he knew about medical jutsu.

She was utterly spent then, barely conscious as the chakra ebbed out of her.

WC: 4161

Lin's remaining chakra: 25:

His chakra was depleting, he had never gone this far into most fights and used up this much chakra. Sure, he had had some terrible encounters but it had been a while. Regardless of how strong his opponents were, he always analyzed them properly and found a weak spot to exploit. This one had been a little bit stressful but then the mission was complete and Lin was safe. With blurring eyes, he saw the female running over to him. Damn cursed sharingan of the uchiha clan, Neci sharingan was draining him of chakra more than anything else in his body and due to that he quickly shut out the eye. Even though the eye had it's uses, he now saw it as more of a burden that a use. If only Neci had turned him before hand, the young male just appeared to give the eyes to Syn willingly.. Definetly as punishment for killing him.
Lin asked Syn if he was alright and he managed to nod a head. The chunin then covered her hands in a teal green chakra and began to heal him. He appreciated her help but he knew that she also was almost drained out and this action of hers wasn't necessary but he had also been in the medical field once and he knew that medic were always obliged to heal others sometimes even at the cost of their own life. He knew the technique she was using and he also knew that it was meant to sustain him until he would receive better care. She was brilliant indeed. "Thank you Lin, I can stand now.." He would say to her, carefully getting up on his feet. He would look around and breathe out slowly. What in the world had he become? Was all of this neccessary? Tearing off limbs like he was a beast or some kind of butcher. This wasn't mere killing, it was massacre in it's highest level and he had done this along with Lin though she had just killed. He had no idea how or what she would think of him after this whole thing was over with. He wasn't feeling any sense of guilt no, this was duty. He just felt that she shouldn't have seen all of this. On a second thought, she needed to see it. If a war did break out, she would have to fight, see a lot of blood shed and massacre so if she started seeing that this early, she wouldn't have to be surprised later on.
"So the mission is done.. We can report back.." He would say to her as he would take one step after the other away from the scene and towards the village. "I have to admit Lin, your help did come in handy" he would add as a smile would escape his lips. There was something growing inside of him and he didn't quite yet know what it was. Perhaps it was the seed of friendship that had been sown there that was now germinating and getting ready to blossom. Whichever the case was, the future of kumogakure no sato was secured with upcoming shinobis like Lin and Satoshi who were skilled and both had an open heart. The potential that he saw in Lin was great and if she ever needed his help in scaling through any wall that would try and obstruct her progress, he would be there for her. This wouldn't be their final meet he knew. Perhaps the next one would be more promising.
EXIT
WC:601/5861
Mission complete: 2500/5861
Training mobile chakra barrier: 2000/5861
Training Rea time:A2-A3 ; 1300/5861
61words remainder

Lin collapsed on the ground, utterly spent, she didn't have much in the way of chakra stores. She had to let go of the jutsu that she was sustaining on Syn, though his skin, his bones, and his bruises would have all healed from the effects of the longevity technique. She smiled and laughed, "That was a close one! I am lucky to have had you as a partner on this mission. Thank you Syn. I am glad that I was a help to you." She got up on weak legs and kissed the top of his head, a gesture to show how grateful she was.

"Heading back to town sounds good to me." They were off, and made it back to Kumogakure without a hitch. She checked herself and him into the hospital for wounds, but the doctors found nothing. It was a miracle, her first A ranked mission done, and no damage done to her or her partner. Extraordinary!

The next couple of days were spent in relaxation. She knew what to do, and what not to next time. But other than that, she knew that Syn was a valuable friend to her, and... perhaps one day more than a valuable friend.

WC: 211
WC total: 4372

|Exit Thread|

Taking the Ryo for 2500 words
Training:

Cat's Soothing Purr:

1500 words

WC left over: 372 (discarding)