Kuno nodded slowly to himself as he watched the sun go down past the horizon in the distance. With that, the sky that was previously a painting of purples and reds faded to a dark, star filled sky over the Land of Wind. It had been a couple of days since he had spoken to Syekren Uchiha in the Sandy Arena. Kuno had gone to him to seek out a partnership that would benefit him in his quest for vengeance, as well as protection of the village. Kuno had been tasked y the Kazekage, Midori Ningyou, with seeking out and gathering information on a new gang that had recently sprung up in the village Hidden in the Sands. They were new enough that people did not seem to know their purpose, but they were easy to identify thanks to the black cloaks that bore the kanji of their namesake on it: Autumn. Soon after his investigation had begun, his mother was murdered in their home and his sister was kidnapped by these people. Thanks to that incident, he knew he had to get help to continue with his mission, which led him to looking for older, more experienced ninja.

His search had led him to a special jonin of the village who also happened to be a fellow clansman, Syekren Uchiha. Their encounter had been a brief one, and it had confused Kuno slightly when the older Uchiha had launched into a speech about the fires of youth that supposedly burned within Kuno. But ultimately, the man had agreed to meet with Kuno in a couple of days’ time to help him with his mission. It was going to be a simple one; infiltrate the hideout, find out whatever they could about any other outposts that Autumn had in or around Sunagakure no Sato, and then eliminate the remaining criminals. Nobody would be spared if Kuno had anything to say about it. Syekren had told him that Kuno would have to follow his lead if he was going to help him, but if that meant sparing even one of the thugs inside, he would be happy to be reprimanded by the senior ninja.

Climbing down from the rooftop that he had been standing on, the newly promoted chuunin found his way down to the sleet level, just outside of the slums on the west side of the village, closest to the administration building. It had been where he told Syekren to meet him just after dark, and yet as he stood in the quiet evening air, he could see no sign of Syekren anywhere. Shaking his head, he began to pace back and fourth in the middle of the street, anxious to get on with the mission at hand. Eventually, realizing that his pacing would not make a difference in how long it would take for the older Uchiha to arrive, Kuno grunted and leaned up against a nearby wall. Resting his left hand on the crimson blade strapped to his him, Kuno tapped his toes in the sand of the streets, waiting for his partner to arrive that they might get on with what had to be done.

WC:529

Dressed in black, with eyes of blue, a lone man jumped from rooftop to rooftop. It was nigh impossible to see the figure that used his agility in such a way that his form would flip and leap, covering the distance of the village without any true effort. The stars shone brightly tonight, but shadow was everywhere in the village. In the cracks and the crevices, in the roof tops and the alleys. Shadow lived and thrived in the absence of light, within those shadows thrived the warriors and protectors of the villages, tasked with carrying out the duties of their leader the 'head shadow.'  They were called shinobi, and one such shinobi stopped on a rooftop just before  the entrance to the sand dune slums, a hive of wretched villainy and criminal activity. The light of the moon showed only the silhouette of this man, casting everything else, even his face in shadow. He stood there quietly for a few minutes, surveying the area in its' entirety. He was looking for something. For some one. There was an absolute certainty in the way he moved and the way he presented himself. Finding his target, he went into action.

The shadow leaped from this rooftop to another a ways down, and continued to leap to the ground. With cat-like precision, he landed upon the sands softly, barely making an audible sound. Once he stood up again, he stared straight ahead some four meters to the back of a young red and black haired chuunin. His target was none other than Kuno Uchiha, of the village hidden in the sand. The man moved quickly, closing the distance between the two in a few strides, barely disturbing the area between them. He stopped on the left side of the other ninja, looking around to ensure that no one was watching or listening. The light caught his form and illuminated it: Syekren Uchiha. He was clad in his black shinobi tights with black tabi and soft step shoes. His torso had a black shinobi netted shirt with black out sleeves to hide his arms and even a black shinobi gi vest. On his head he wore a black cloth hitai-ate that bore the Sunagakure no sato gourd with a bar above it on the metal protector. He was dressed for the mission, as always. The man continued to survey the area, looking around before he spoke, silently to not draw attention.

"I'm here. What exactly are we doing? Give me the mission briefing and we can get this underway. I'd rather not hang around here too long at night. I've been here during the day and I can tell you the state of affairs here doesn't improve much during that time." With that, the shinobi continued to look around at his surroundings. He'd just recently been promoted to Jonin level and was once again taking his job more seriously than ever. Especially a mission such as this. It was important to practice stealth on any occasion a ninja finds themselves on a mission. For this sort of mission, stealth was key as they'd need to first ascertain a hideout, and then make their way inside. This is what Syekren assumed, at the very least, as per their last visit he'd found out little about the gang save they were a secretive lot. He was hoping that his companion had more to share on the situation and possibly shed some light on a lead or two. The records of the village held next to nothing about a gang called "Autumn" save for a few reports of the symbol and one matching Kuno's tale.

619

Kuno had barely been waiting for five minutes since leaning against the wall when he saw it. There was a black blur of movement on one of the rooftops, but as soon as he had seen it, it was gone again. Squinting in the darkness, he began to wonder if he had just been seeing things out of boredom and impatience when he heard a sound like the padded feet of a cat landing on the ground. Turning his attention toward the sound, he was surprised to see a man striding toward him with a calm precision that was impressive to say the least. His movements were nearly silent and fluid like the flow of a calm stream. Even so, the strides he took were very deliberate, and Kuno knew that this man who stood before him, who was none other than the mean he had been waiting for, Syekren Uchiha, was a force to be reckoned with.

The younger Uchiha looked the newly promoted Jounin up and down, taking in the form before him. Head to toe, the shinobi was clad in all black, similarly to Kuno, who was waring his black pants with a single red stripe down the left leg and his black jacket over a white T-shirt. He had also acquired a black scarf to cover his face, but he proudly displayed his forehead protector. Tonight, Autumn would know exactly who brought their reckoning; the shinobi of Sunagakure no Sato. Not needed to straighten up any further due to his nearly perfect posture, Kuno merely stepped forward to hear what the senior ninja had to say. "I'm here. What exactly are we doing? Give me the mission briefing and we can get this underway. I'd rather not hang around here too long at night. I've been here during the day and I can tell you the state of affairs here doesn't improve much during that time."

Kuno squinted in agreement at the man’s last statement, watching him as he took in their surroundings with the precision that only an experienced tactician could. Kuno himself had been in the slums during both the day and night, and he knew that what Syekren was saying was true. The slums were always dangerous, but more specifically at night, when the local rabble believed that there were no consequences because nobody was watching. They weren’t entirely wrong, considering that the village’s shinobi presence in the slums was significantly lower than the rest of the village. There were enough problems in the rest of the Village Hidden in the Sands, and there simply was not enough man power to quell the rebellions in the slums while also keeping the rest of the village in line. It had become dangerous work, but Kuno was prepared to take it on.

Nodding his head in the direction of the slums, Kuno began to explain the plan that he had managed to formulate since beginning his recon on the hideout that he had found. “If we head in and move stealthily on the either the rooftops or on the ground, we should make it to the hideout for the new gang in town known as Autumn. I can lead us there if you want, but you’re in charge, so you let me know. Regardless of the route we take, we should move quietly, as I’ve caught a glimpse of the numbers inside of this place.” The young Uchiha turned his gaze toward the slums, sighing to himself as he did so. This was not going to be easy, but at least he had help. “I’ve counted twenty distinct men and woman guarding the place in total on my scouting missions. The twelve or so that usually watch the perimeter seem like pushovers, but the ones that mostly stay inside seem more formidable. Specifically, there are two guys that I saw carrying pretty nice looking katanas. They’ll probably be the most difficult to deal with.”

Pausing, he turned back to the older Uchiha and locked eyes with him, ensuring that he had his full attention. “The mission is to infiltrate the hideout, find any information we can on where more of their hideouts might be and what they are doing in Suna, and then eliminate every last one of them. They can’t be a danger to our village any longer. I’ll follow your lead sir, all the way to the end. But they all have to die.” With that, he stepped back from the jounin and rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword one again, awaiting his orders.

WC:779+529=1308

OOC:

Syekren listened, quietly looking around the place. It would be much easier for the two should they decide to take the rooftops.  The male beside him seemed rather keen on killing everyone in the base off, which he could understand. If Syekren had come home to a family member dying in front of him, he'd probably feel like going for revenge as well. With a sigh and a shrug, Syekren finished surveying the area. The vantage points would definitely come from the roof tops, taking the street level would be much too dangerous. They would instantly be seen, and as such, the mission would instantly become much more trying on the two of them. While Kuno seemed to think that they could take either route, checking things out for himself, Syekren knew that only one way would be the option for stealth. The other would be a guns blazing suicide mission, so to speak. He rubbed his chin silently, the scruff on his face scratching the skin upon his forefinger and middle finger, as well as his thumb.

"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but the roof tops are our only option. Stealth is obviously critical to this mission during this point, and taking the streets are not a wise decision. We'd be leaving foot prints everywhere, leading onlookers and possibly more troops to our position. Our best course would be to jump from here.. to there." He'd use this time to pause the conversation and point from their current spot to a balcony about six feet above their heads. Then point to another, "To there..To.. The last point would be at the roof of a building, cloaked in shadow, which would conceal their movements perfectly. "There. That would be our best mode of operations. We should  definitely move quickly if we're to wipe all of them out before they can gather a larger force or do anything unsightly. I'm not here to give orders, Kuno. I'm here to assist you, so.."

Syekren trailed off, jumping up to the balcony, grabbing onto the railing with one hand, flipping his body up. In mid air, his body turned, kicking off of the wall to jump to the second balcony he pointed out, landing upon the railing casually. His eyes scanned the distance, making sure he wasn't seen while he tracked the foot prints and movements of those they were tracking. He then looked down to his counterpart, sitting upon the railing, waving him up. "I'll let you lead, this time. I may outrank you but make no mistake, this is your mission. The kazekage entrusted this to you and entrusted you to my care. I'm here to provide support and my own muscle, while you go on to complete your mission. Think of me as your own personal shadow. Except I can kill those who stand in our way." He chuckled softly, and looked up to the sky, tilting his head while waiting for the true mission to get a move on. This was going to be quite exciting, and it would improve the village.

529|1,148

Kuno was sure to watched the older Uchiha as he explained his plan. Syekren appeared to be listening, but he was already looking around the area that the pair stood in for some sort of tactical advantage. This was a shinobi who was experienced, and why knew what he was doing. With every word that left his mouth, Kuno felt nearly certain that the senior shinobi would interrupt with a plan of his own, one that would be much better. But it didn’t happen; much to Kuno’s surprise Syekren listened to the entirety of the younger Uchiha’s plan before giving his verdict. "I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but the roof tops are our only option. Stealth is obviously critical to this mission during this point, and taking the streets are not a wise decision. We'd be leaving foot prints everywhere, leading onlookers and possibly more troops to our position. Our best course would be to jump from here.. to there…."

Kuno watched as the man pointed from rooftop to rooftop, detailing the optimal path for the duo to use on order to move swiftly and silently through the night. Kuno had to admit that he was right. A frontal assault from the streets would be suicide. Nodding along with the plan, Kuno was infinitely more glad that he had opted to seek out the jounin in the first place. Without him, this mission may have ended before it even began. The next words out of Syekren’s mouth were not what Kuno had expected though. “That would be our best mode of operations. We should  definitely move quickly if we're to wipe all of them out before they can gather a larger force or do anything unsightly. I'm not here to give orders, Kuno. I'm here to assist you, so.."  Kuno raised an eyebrow and watched as Syekren jumped up onto he balcony, grabbing onto the railing with one hand, flipping his body up. In mid air, his body turned, kicking off of the wall to jump to the second balcony he pointed out, landing upon the railing casually. Kuno’s eyes widened slightly out of respect for the grace with which he could climb and not make a sound. He then glanced down to the nineteen year old. "I'll let you lead, this time. I may outrank you but make no mistake, this is your mission. The kazekage entrusted this to you and entrusted you to my care. I'm here to provide support and my own muscle, while you go on to complete your mission. Think of me as your own personal shadow. Except I can kill those who stand in our way."

Kuno was confused to say the least. When he had last spoken to Syekren, he had made it abundantly clear that he did not want to babysit, that he was going to give the orders and that Kuno would probably just be along for the ride. He was not sure what had changed; perhaps he had just been having a bad day when Kuno had first approached him. But regardless of the reason, Kuno was not being put in charge by the jounin, and so he had to deliver. Nodding, Kuno followed Syekren’s lead up to the second balcony, not quite as gracefully but quick enough that it was worthy of a ninja. Placing a hand on the older Uchiha’s shoulder, he spoke quietly and with a slight smirk. “Thank you Syekren, I appreciate the assist. I promise I won’t get used to such a powerful shadow though.” He chuckled as well, “And hey, maybe someday I can be a shadow for you, if you ever need another Uchiha from Suna to help you out.” With that, he glanced up to the rooftop that Syekren had previously pointed out and nodded, “Let’s get this underway.”

Springing up off of the balcony rail that the pair were standing on, Kuno propelled himself up to nearly to top of the building, pushing up again the wall and climbing the rest of the way until he was on the roof. Glancing back to make sure that his partner was following him, Kuno began jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading into the darkness of the slums. As he had previously said, it was not a very long trip into the Sand Dune Slums, about seven minutes of running overall, but once they arrived, it was very easy to pick out the hideout in question. Kuno stopped on a rooftop two buildings away from the hideout to brief Syekren. He pointed out the nearby building, which was a run down, three story structure with six guys wandering around two large doors. “It’s an old packaging facility of some sort,” Kuno explained. “Those six guys near the front in those black cloaks are some of those guards I mentioned. There are usually six more around the back of the building where the other door is. I’ve only caught glimpses of the interior, but I don’t think there are three distinct floors. Just a big open area with a high ceiling and then some metal stairs that lead up to an office type room. Probably an old supervisor’s office or something."  

He glanced back down at the men outside of the building and squinted. The two Uchiha could take them on no problem; the only issue was stealth. Once they started, there probably wouldn’t be an end until they could incapacitate everyone. Even so, he was ready for a fight. He needed it. Turning to his comrade, he let a smirk spread across his face as he unsheathed his crimson dao, Adolescent Ember. “After you.”

WC:966+1308=2274

Kuno commented that he wouldn't get used to such a powerful shadow after joining Syekren on the railing of the second balcony, although not as gracefully, it was quite quick to be worthy of the movement of a shinobi. When he mentioned that someday he could be a shadow the older ninja, Syekren tilted his head, wondering exactly if such a thing would be able to happen. True enough he already had a squad, but if this young Uchiha decided to go for ANBU that could become a reality. With a shrug, he nodded an agreed that he could possibly use another Uchiha from Sunagakure no sato in missions, or for what he had planned for his goals. With that he looked up and said they should get it underway. No more words, the Uchiha  jumped from the railing up onto the roof that Syekren pointed out, with the older ninja following behind, springing upwards. He used a graceful flip to kick off the wall and land beside his counterpart and looked around silently. There wasn't much more time before they would be approaching the area where the mission would begin.

The two would jump from rooftop to rooftop, heading into the deep darkness of the slums. It wasn't that long of a trip for them to reach their destination, especially on the rooftops. For shadows of the village, this was definitely the best way to travel. As they traveled, Syekren noticed a few passersby looking suspiciously as though they were searching for foot prints, or searching alleyways for  anyone that shouldn't be there. Probably scouts for the new gang, eyeing the territory and making sure that those in the cloaks described by Kuno wouldn't be disturbed in what they were doing. It was very clear the two would have been seen had they decided to go the low route. It took only seven minutes for the two to arrive, stopping on a rooftop about two buildings away from the hideout in quest. Kuno pointed it out and Syekren quietly observed it, noting the three stories to it and six men hanging about outside. There was a lot of them for two ninja, but Syekren was sure there were more around somewhere.

Kuno explained that it was an old packing facility of some sort, the six guys in cloaks near the double doors being some of the guards he'd previously mentioned. He mentioned that there were usually six guys around the front of the building, guarding the other set of doors. What he said about the interior was rather surprising to the older Uchiha though. Apparently it was actually a high ceiling with stairs leading up to an old supervisor's office, and not a building with distinct floors. It meant a harder time of hiding and sneaking in, but an easier way to find the targets. That was if they themselves were not found out just as quickly. Kuno unsheathed a sword, crimson as coals being coaxed alight. It was truly a masterful craft of a weapon, and when he heard the words: "After you." The uchiha nodded and looked to the men walking below them. Three were patrolling, making it easy to discern a sort of hierarchy. After a moment of watching the men walk, he counted foot steps of the enemies and quietly hummed, slipping from the rooftop to slide against a wall. He then jumped to an opposite building's wall, doing this until he landed quietly in the sand within an alley.

The Uchiha looked out from the alley, counting the foot steps again, then made a note of how wide their strides were: mostly the same, give or take a few centimeters. After looking at the distance between the alley's entrance and a nearby dumpster, he smirked to himself and hid behind a dumpster. On his way to doing so, his foot 'accidentally' clipped a bag of garbage, knocking it over to have noise spread from his position. With his back against the dumpster, he waited, one of the lower guys being sent to check it out. The jounin silently leaned against the dumpster, listening intently with his eyes closed, focusing on the sands' sound as foot steps approached. The man was about to turn the dumpster and discover Syekren but before he could blink, the jounin reacted with lightning fast speed, launching from his spot. It took a blink of an eye and the deed was done. The jounin had latched onto the coming assailant and with his hands on the man's chin and back of his neck, a quick movement came to a snapping. The thug dropped dead, his cloak ruffled and crumpled when his body fell onto it. Without wasting a moment, the ninja picked up the body and leaned it against his former position, moving to crouch behind a stack of boxes, counting the seconds and steps.

Hearing a disturbance, two more came to investigate, calling out for their comrade. It was over for them as soon as they entered the ninja's domain. Without missing a beat, as soon as the two looked around the dumpster to find their friend's corpse, Syekren sprung again. He pushed their heads together to disorient and damage them, then made two swift chops to their throats.  Each man's windpipe closed and they began to choke, asphyxiating to death before they started to fall. The Uchiha moved their bodies to a wall, leaning one on his left shoulder, pointing away from whence he came, and having the other to lean on his back. They'd look as though they were just posted up, waiting around unless approached. After this was done, Syekren moved his body to the end of the alleyway, crouching within the shadows to lean around the corner slightly, watching for any signs of his charge to be taking care of the other three before he was spotted. This was easy enough, but he could tell it would be harder, should they get spotted. If they could enter before the other six came around the other side of the building, they would probably have to deal with those inside first. That's if those left outside didn't decide to go inside and guard the interior after not hearing back from their buddies. It was all dependent on how the two Uchiha made their way into the building and whether or not the bodies were discovered. Such was the way of stealth missions, and such was the way of assassinations. All Syekren needed now, was for his counterpart to do his part of the mission and take out the other three. Syekren quietly pulled a kunai from his tool pouch, looking around to make sure that he wouldn't be spotted and slipped around the corner.

Syekren watched the men at the double doors, looking around for signs of Kuno as he slipped into the shadows of a stairwell not far off. His body was crouched in the sand under the stairs, with shadows completely consuming his body. He was unseen and unheard getting this far, but charging the other three or splitting them up was going to be a hassle.  He could have jumped down on top of them and surprised them, killing all before they could utter a peep, but he'd opted to stick to the ground level. He could use a jutsu to take them out, but that might alert the enemies around the other side of the building with noise, it all seemed to rest on Kuno's shoulders to take these three others out so they could continue their mission.

1,284|2,432

Kuno watched silently as Syekren slid down the wall of the building that the two were perched on before launching himself onto the opposite wall to finish his journey to the ground. His landing was nearly silent, and that alone was impressive to Kuno. From his vantage point on the rooftop, Kuno found it fairly easy to follow the older Uchiha’s movements. He smirked as the senior ninja clipped a bag of garbage to make a loud sound, attracting the attention of the three patrols that were coming towards the ally in which he was hiding. The first guy into the alley lasted less than a second, with his neck snapped in a moment. It was not long until the two other patrols moved in to investigate as well. Kuno had to admit that he was impressed by the older man’s taijutsu skill. He was much faster than Kuno, and obviously these low ranked guards were no match for him. Once again, before the two men could even breath their lives were ended.

Kuno continued to watch as Syekren moved the bodies into a hiding position while also keeping an eye on the other three men that were guarding the large double doors to the entrance of the abandoned packaging facility. Seeing the older Uchiha post up at the end of the alley, Kuno knew it was his turn. He had a few options, namely large, flaming jutsu, or more precise swordplay. He figured that stealth was probably the duo’s greatest asset at the moment, so he decided to shy away from unleashing a fireball on his unknowing opponents. Instead, he jumped to the next building so that he was right next to the warehouse in question. He then followed Syekren’s lead and slip down the wall, landing not quite as quietly as the jounin, but still quiet enough to not bring attention to himself. He watched them for a minute, trying to determine their level of focus. It seemed like they were more bored than anything, so he decided to try something out. If worst came to worst, he knew that Syekren would have his back.

Channeling katon chakra into his fingertips, Kuno then slowly ran them across the blade of his sword, channelling the flame into Adolescent Ember. No fire sprung into existence, but the heat emanating from the blade could be seen by the ripples in the air around it. Then, reaching into his pouch of ninja tools on his left leg, Kuno pulled out a simple shuriken and tossed it up and down a couple of times, testing it’s weight. Then, with a flick of his wrist he let the metal star fly through the air, over the heads of the guards and into the building on the far side of the street, making a distinct sound as the metal hit the concrete. Much like Kuno had hoped, the guards reacted, and two of them went stepped forward about fifteen feet to see if they could see anything. It was all of the room that the Uchiha needed. Channeling fuuton chakra into his Chinese dao, he threw it in an arc that peaked at the throat of the one man that was left at the doors. Since the other two looked away, they did not notice the blade slice open the wind pipe of their comrade, singing the wound and stopping the bleeding thanks to the heat of the blade. Simultaneously, Kuno dashed forward and caught his blade as it returned to his hand. Not stopping, he continued his forward rush, and drove his blade through the throat of one of the remaining unsuspecting guards, leaving only one left that could make a sound.

He could not stop the man from turning and exclaiming “Hey what are you-“ before he managed to cover his mouth and slide the sword between his ribs, ending his life. It was an unfortunate misstep, but one that could not be avoided by the young shinobi, as he was not nearly as fast has his jounin companion. Regardless, Kuno wated no time pulling the bodies into the alley where Syekren had been. Turning to his partner, he nodded. “Well, that’s taken care of. I hope they didn’t hear that. We should move quickly just in case.” Extending his hand, he pointed to the upper level of the building to where there were a few large windows, probably for ventilation back when the place was still in use. “Through there and into the rafters. That way we can still try to maintain some semblance of stealth.”


With that, he turned and moved forward to the building, not waiting for Syekren to respond. Activating the Supernatural Walking Practice, the young Uchiha ran up the wall of the compound as quietly as possible and arrived at the third story in a short order. He then slowly opened it and eased his way through it, staying on the ceiling in hopes of not being spotted. Inside, he found almost exactly what he expected. On the ground floor of the building the other eight people he had seen at this location stood, seeming having a conversation. Unfortunately, the young Uchiha could not hear what they were saying, but he did know that whatever it was, they had not seemed to have taken notice of whatever sound the man outside had made. It was time to take them out and get the information they needed. It was easy enough to identify the two in charge by their katanas. They would be trouble for sure, but with Syekren’s help, he knew that they would take care of it. Patiently, Kuno waited for the older Uchiha to join him.

WC:958+2274=3232

Chakra: 175/200:

It was like clockwork when things started again. With his heightened perception, he could hear the sand disturbed as his young counterpart landed not so quietly as Syekren had. But he seemed prepared to take things to the same level as the older one had when he ran his fingertips across his blade, applying chakra to coat the weapon in what looked like heated energy. He then used another justu on the weapon to coat it in what looked like wind, then threw it. The entire weapon, just threw it. Syekren had been watching the first blade touch that he had barely noticed the other ninja had tossed a shuriken across to an opposite building to distract the guards. Two of them had walked away, allowing for the opportunity that was presented for the thrown blade. It reached the fulcrum of its arc and sliced open the windpipe of the guard left behind. The heat from the blade itself seemed to cauterize the wound to keep the man from bleeding outwardly, sealing the wound so not only would he be unable to breathe correctly, but the alveoli within his lungs would soon be flooded with the crimson, coppery liquid that was his own blood, drowning him to death.  

When the first body slumped to the ground, Kuno dashed forward, catching his blade before it fully returned, driving into into the throat of his adversary, leaving only one left. The other turned, beginning to shout out before Kuno pushed a blade between his rips, causing major damage and killing him where he stood. It wasn't the most silent, but it would have to do. Syekren sighed and moved from his position under the stairs, cracking his knuckles. He was ready to finish this off. He was sure that there would be more than they expected inside but he was ready for it. As he approached his young Uchiha companion, the male spoke on how it was taken care of and how he hoped that the disturbance wasn't heard. Syekren nodded silently, looking around to make sure no one was watching, or coming to check on any noises. He set about dragging bodies to the shadows underneath the stairwell, hiding the three new ones from site. He considered using body destruction on the six of them, but figured he would just make a report to the lady Kazekage about it later. Speaking of: he'd realized he hadn't actually been assigned to Kuno by the kazekage, rather he'd been asked by Kuno to join him as the young man had been asked to find a partner. With a sigh, he made a mental note to fix his mistake to the young one.

He went back to Kuno, when the male extended his hand, pointing upwards at the facility, to a place that would allow them into the rafters. He said that was their point of entry so they would be able to maintain stealth.Without a word, the chuunin activated supernatural walking practice and ascended the side of the warehouse as quickly as possible, leaving Syekren to watch him quietly. He seemed quite eager to get all of this over and done with, but was murdering everyone here really a priority of the mission? Or was it some sort of coping method? The jounin began to reconsider his part in this entire thing, trying to decide if killing all these people was really worth it. Having a few left alive for information was usually protocol for these things, that way information could be gathered and they would find out exactly what was going on or what their reasons were. This though, was just extermination. If this was how it had to be, the Jounin would not get in the young Uchiha's path of revenge, but he wondered if the Kazekage knew about this?

Syekren sighed and activated his own supernatural walking practice, the chakra flowing to his feet precisely and quickly. He then moved to the building and pushed his right foot against the wall, leaning back as he brought his left foot up to hit the wall as well. The change in his equilibrium was quick and concise, but didn't bother the jounin much.  With a quickness that was characteristic to him, he made his way up the side of the building in short time to catch up to the young Kuno and move into the building on the third floor. The pair made their way up to the ceiling, staring down at the eight remaining members of the autumn gang. More flunkies like those outside accompanied by two katana toting men. These were obviously the higher ranked members, probably the leaders of this small band of villains. With a yawn, the Uchiha tilted his head, considering everything.

The bottom floor consisted of nothing but dirt, there was nothing to hide in. Or behind. The rafters posed an opportunity if used correctly. The man watched the patrols quietly, noting that the group of men stayed at least sixteen to thirty feet apart at all times so that they could not be quickly taken out if there was an intruder. Stealth would be out the window as soon as they made the first strike. Not all of the men below them needed to die, at least one could live so they could extract information. The choice being obvious: one of the leaders of the group. They would know the most and have the most useful information to give. It would be a simple matter to incapacitate him if they could disarm him. The problem was fighting off eight men with only two of them. It seemed bleak. Until he had an idea.

With a focus of chakra, he activated a second jutsu, watching a poof of smoke appear on a rafter  a few feet from their position. Perched there would be a second Syekren, looking just as the man on the ceiling did. Down to the eye scar, he was the same. Syekren nodded to the clone, who nodded back and jumped across the rafters stealthily, reaching a point fifteen meters away, above two patrolling low ranked guards. With a nod to his companion, Syekren jumped down, as did his clone. The clone hit the ground first, spinning as he fell to bring a heel drop towards the head of a guard. The man felt the full momentum of the falling attack, a horrendous crunching and snapping noise breaking the silence and stopping conversation. The man's neck was broke, the spine pushing down into itself as if crushed. When the body hit the ground, Syekren himself had landed, the jounin smirking with a fire in his eyes. He moved out of the way of a strike, countering with a throat punch to stun. It had started and it was Kuno's move. Syekren and the clone were fighting off grunts, while the leaders drew their weapons.

1,161|3,593

250/300:

Kuno did not have to wait very long for the jounin to join him the rafters of the warehouse. Swiftly and silently, the older Uchiha followed in the younger’s footsteps until they were side by side, staring down at the group below. Kuno waited for an assessment of some sort from the senior ninja, and busied himself with investigating from a distance while he waited. Glancing about, it appeared that Kuno’s initial investigations had yielded accurate results. On the far side of the warehouse, Kuno could see the set of metal stairs leading up from the dirt floor to a small, office like space that overlooked the rest of the structure. There were a number of filing cabinets in the room, and it also looked as if there may have been a few notes and documents of other kinds strewn about the place. The chuunin made a mental note to investigate it thoroughly if he was given a chance, hoping that there would be something containing some sort of useful information laying amongst the refuse.


As Kuno finished his brief analysis, he glanced over to Syekren to ask for an update, but instead watched as a poof of smoke appeared next to him, and once it had blown away, a perfect clone of the older Uchiha remained. It had not been formed of any surrounding element, so Kuno guessed that it was probably a shadow clone, which was impressive to say the least. Waiting for some sort of instruction, Kuno watched as the two Syekrens nodded to each other and spread out across the room, essentially boxing in the group below with only the two of them. Then, much to Kuno’s surprise and without any warning, the jounin and his clone leapt from the rafters. Kuno’s eyes went wide as the clone dropped its heel into the skull of one of the men below, completely shattering his spine and killing him instantly. The real Syekren landed shortly thereafter, stunning another one of the men with a swift punch to his throat. And just like that, the fight was on.


It did not take long for one of the men with a katana to draw his blade and shout out the command to attack Syekren, leaving the two leaders to Kuno for the time being. As the group spread out slightly, a couple of the weaker thugs stayed behind, closer to their bosses just in case the jounin made it through. Fortunately for Kuno, they were not expecting an attack from above. Taking advantage of the older Uchiha’s distraction, Kuno sprinted across the ceiling until he was directly over the two leaders and the two criminals that fancied themselves as bodyguards. Without hesitating, Kuno inhaled deeply and released a spray of highly flammable gas, allowing it to fill up the space below him. The nearly opaque mist caused the men below to panic, but before they could react and leave the cloud, Kuno inhaled once again, releasing a projectile in the form of a fireball with a five meter diameter. As soon as it came into contact with the gas, there was a flash of an explosion that ignited it all, burning up the unsuspecting victims below. Luckily for Kuno, the force of the fireball colliding with the two weaker men along with the ignition of the gas was enough to cause them to pass out from the pain of the burns now covering their bodies. They would probably die like that if left untreated, but Kuno would make sure of it with a blade in their throats when this was all over.


With the explosion now cleared, Kuno released the supernatural walking practice and dropped down between the two leaders, his sword still drawn and rippling with chakra induced heat. Smirking, he activated his Sharingan, allowing his irises to rotate slowly before becoming like pools of blood, both with a single black tomoe present. Covered in burns, the two men still raised their blades to Kuno, and without hesitation the young Uchiha rushed in. It was a fight that he believed he could win on his own while Syekren and his clone were wrapped up with the grunts. He would soon fin out that he was sorely mistaken. He was able to keep up with the duo for a short amount of time, their blades clashing in combat leaving sparks flying around them. But before too long, the young Uchiha realized that he may be out of his depth. He had began to breathe heavily as he became more and more tired trying to keep up with his opponents. Taking advantage of this, they separated as much as possibly to the Kuno was having to deflect blows from both sides, which did not last very long.


He first felt the steel of a katana connecting with his lower back as was blocking another blow, causing him to flinch out of surprise, and leaving another opening for his foes. After that it was all downhill. The duo was relentless in their attack as they proceeded to slash and stab at the young Uchiha, opening wounds up all over his body. It was not long before he could no longer maintain concentration of the jutsu that caused his sort to emit heat, and shortly after that dropped, he felt his grip on the crimson blade loosening. With a swift movement from one of the thugs, the young Uchiha was disarmed; Adolescent Ember was flung through the air and landed, tip impaled into the dirt floor of the warehouse, only a few feet from Syekren. Kuno managed to look over to him, his eyes wide with surprise as he let out one word, “Syekren!”


With that, one of the men slashed his katana across Kuno’s back, cutting deep and rending flesh from bone. The force of the the blow caused the chuunin to fall to his hands and knees, shuddering with pain. He tired to look up, but could see very little as his eyes began to cloud over with darkness. But as this happened, a memory pulsed through his mind. The image of his mother, dead in his arms. I cannot die here, he struggled to think through the pain.

I will NOT die here…

WC:1049+3232=4281

Chakra:

Syekren heard his name shouted out, distracting him so he felt two fists meet his face. He was knocked to the ground, and his head looked up to the kid that was now in trouble. Kuno had been sliced across the back, Syekren noting that his sword has flown away and landed by the older Uchiha. Syekren had lost focus and allowed this to happen, the clone he had conjured poofing into smoke instead of exploding due to him releasing the jutsu. Syekren quietly stood, clenching his fists. He'd failed to protect the young chuunin on this mission,  and had allowed the young man to receive a grievous wound while Syekren himself only had a slight bruise on his cheek. There wasn't much time to wait on his self loathing, as the three grunts were moving around to his front to block his path to the two leaders who held their swords in hands, circling the downed Kuno. There wasn't much that someone could do in such a situation, ordinarily. Syekren was no ordinary person however, and raged filled him from within, a glare pointed to the ground. His chakra gathered in his limbs, as well as his eyes. A jaw clenched, the Uchiha shook his head. He would not count this mission up to a failure. This was not going to be the last day for Kuno. He had a lot to do in life yet and would not be denied that chance due to the mistakes of Syekren.  There was so much for the young Uchiha to finish. He had to find his sister and avenge his mother. Syekren knew all too well the pain of loss and he refused to allow Kuno to be unable to complete his mission. It was like he'd promised to help. His fist clenched harder while the grunts laughed and the leaders circled their prey. Never again would he lose someone trying to help them. Never. Again.


Syekren brought his head back up, his glare upon the grunts. His eyes had the spinning black tomoe and their burning crimson colour. In both eyes there were two tomoes, staring death into the grunts and past them.  His arms and legs became alight with crackling and thundering electric chakra. There was surprise on their faces when the Uchiha moved forward in a flash of speed. The middle grunt, the only actually in his way, felt the wrath of a flying kick to the chest. The jump was sudden and didn't seem to move as quickly as his normal speed, but the strength behind it was that of a man enraged. The flying kick from the electrified foot sent the grunt flying back, knocking over one of his leaders who hit their head upon the ground, knocking him out. The grunt started to stand, feeling the shock from the kick still and his clothing had burned in the shape of the ninja's foot.

There was no time for them to collect themselves from the sudden outburst and the Uchiha had already grabbed the sword of his companion, tossing it up into the air. It was watched, as it twisted and turned, but the Uchiha did not wait for it. He moved with a quick and concise methodology. The leader left standing was surprised to see the ninja in his face, moving to duck back, with a sliding kick coming up. The kick would lift his adversary and Syekren grabbed the ankle of the man in the air with lightning speed. A spin in place, giving a full circular rotation to which the grunts took notice, before the leader was flung at them, knocking the two to the ground with the man upon them.

The sword landed in the dirt beside Syekren, tip stabbed into the dirt. He was far from finished. Everyone on the enemy side had gotten to their feet, save for the knocked out man with his katana still in hand.  Syekren turned to the three in front of him, the one behind him trying to take this opportunity to attack. It was a mistake, as he'd learn, when Syekren felt the hands upon the back of his head in a full nelson, he moved his head back into the bridge of the assailant's nose, breaking it. Before the other could react, the ninja had turned, giving a quick five punch combo to the middle of the solar plexus, delivering crunching hits that caused the man's heart to stop beating within his chest. As the grunt fell to the ground, dead before he hit, Syekren had dashed forth again, anger in his eyes. There was a katana swing, that was kicked away to rend the flesh from bone within the leg of a grunt. While a spinning motion brought a kick to the neck of the other grunt. There was a scream from the cut one and a gurgle after a loud crack when the kick connected. The second grunt's neck was snapped and Syekren made no waste of his time as he stomped upon the blade in the grunt's leg, severing it. Before the leader could react, Syekren reached up to grip his windpipe and rip backwards. The man's throat was effectively ripped out while the grunt sat there crying over his leg. Syekren shook his head, muttering 'pitiful' before he stomped upon the man's windpipe, ceasing his whining and watched him asphyxiate.  Syekren stood there amid the bodies, the man's insides of the throat still in his hands. This was the power of an ANBU.

OOC: The music really ties in for me, IDK

938|4,531

205/300:

Stats:

As Syekren began to engage the enemies in his dance of death, Kuno could hardly do anything. He was still on his hands and knees, heaving for breath as the pain of his wounds wracked his body. The edge of his vision had begun to go dark despite the chakra pumping through his eyes. But all the while, the young Uchiha repeated the thought over and over in his mind. I will not die here. I will not die here. Over and over again he thought it, pushing through the agonizing pain of his injuries to stave off unconsciousness. His head was pounding, and he could here little more than the scream of dying criminals as the blood pumped through his head, sounding like a raging storm in his ears. Unable to bear the pain of the sweat that was dripping down his brow and into his eyes, he closed them for a moment, leaving them closed tightly as he gritted his teeth and spoke for the first time since falling down.

“I refuse to die here.”

Kuno Uchiha’s eyes flashed open again, just in time to watch the older man tear one of the leader’s throat out of his neck. Though the eyes that watched the scene were different from before. They were still the colour of blood, that much had remained the same. But this time, the single black tomoe rotated slowly around his iris, spinning faster and faster until it elongated and eventually split in both of his eyes. Now they both held a pair of tomoe each, showing the evolution of Kuno’s Sharingan. Despite the raised power of his clan’s famous dojutsu, Kuno was still struggling, and yet with a heave of breath and a grunt of pain, the young Uchiha slowly but surely rose to his feet. Blood soaked almost all of his clothes as he stood to watch Syekren stomp down onto a whimpering man’s windpipe, silencing him for good.

Kuno coughed into his hand and glanced down at it, encouraged by the lack of blood in it; apparently, the thugs only managed to tear him apart on the outside, not the inside. He then began to shamble over in the direction of Syekren, his eyes darting from one lifeless body to the next in search of at least one survivor. Finally, as he arrived at the spot where his blood red blade had impaled itself into the earth, he caught a glimpse of one man whose chest still rose and fell slowly with pained breaths, similar to Kuno’s. Grabbing the hilt of his miao dao, Kuno pulled Adolescent Ember from the ground and spoke to his elder. His voice was barely a whisper due to the nearly overwhelming agony that the young man was in. “Thank you….I’d be dead without you.” Without another word, he turned and slowly stalked over to the one man that was still alive, his body still bleeding profusely and the edges of his vision growing darker and darker.

Soon he was standing over the man who was still unconscious. Kuno wasted no time, “WAKE UP!” He shouted as he drove his bade through the leg of the former leader of this small sect of Autumn. The pain of the wound seemed to do the trick as the man’s eyes shot open while he released a scream of anguish. Kuno was on him in a moment. He was too exhausted to actually do anything more to him, so leaving his sword in the man’s thigh, he dropped down onto his chest, holding him down with his weight and nothing more. His blood showered the man as he continued to yell, now more out of fear than anything. Kuno shut him up pretty quickly with a punch to the jaw. “Quit your whining. You are going to tell me what I want to know, and then you will be taken into custody. Or you will die.” The man nodded in response, his face bloody with not only his own, but Kuno’s blood as well.

The young Uchiha leaned forward, both to intimidate the man and also out of his own exhaustion. “Good…now all I want is a name. Who’s in charge of Autumn?” His voice had dropped back down to a whisper, but the former leader of the group could definitely hear him. Even so, the man kept his mouth shut, trembling with fear but unwilling to break for Kuno. Well, his patience was at an end. Reaching back, Kuno ripped his sword form the man’s leg and brought it over his body, slamming it into the thug’s forearm and cutting him nearly to the bone. He screamed again in pain, and Kuno responded in kind. “If you wat to save that arm, you’ll tell me what I want to know! A NAME!!!” Pulling the blade back, to swing again, Kuno shouted in anger and began to swing, but something stopped him part way down.

“Kafu….Hattori…”

Kuno stopped dead in his tracks, the name burning his ears. “What….what did you say?” He breathed as his head began to pound again. “Ka….Kafu Hattori….” That name…it was a name that Kuno hoped he would never hear again; the name of his father. Slowly Kuno rose, standing with his sword in hand, the man’s blood still dripping down it and mingling with his own. “Thank you…” he whispered. There was a silence that hung for a moment, before Kuno reached back and swung his sword, slicing open the criminal’s throat and leaving him dead on the ground before him. He stood there for a moment, unmoving in the darkness of the warehouse. Eventually, he looked over to Syekren, a small smirk on his face. “Well...it looks like out work here i-“ was all he managed to get out before collapsing on the ground, passed out from blood loss. Though in the unconsciousness, Kuno would have a nightmare that he had not experienced in years. The nightmare of his father, Kafu Hattori, finding his family and killing them all.

[Exit Thread]

WC:1028+4281=5309

Training

B-Rank Jutsu: Fire Release: Lesser Burning Vortex (Katon: Yori chīsai nenshō uzu - 火: より小さい燃焼渦) (1500/1500)

B-Rank Jutsu: Fire Style: Giant Flame Bullet (火遁・大炎弾 ~ Katon: Dai-Endan) (1500/1500)

Two Tomoe Sharingan (2000/2000)

Unused: 309

Syekren heard a cough from behind him, being pulled from his extended moment of rage. It was not like him to be so out of control, but something in him erupted when the thought of someone bearing the same blood as him being killed in front of him became a possibility. Not only that, but he felt for the kid, who was on a path to avenge his mother and find his sister, possibly the only family he really had anymore. Syekren could relate to some small degree, but couldn't completely feel as this kid did, since he'd been growing more and more suspicious of his parents. When he'd gotten his transplant and awakened the second tomoe of his new eye, their support and vigor towards him unleashing his kekkei genkai had more than tripled. They were not only vying for him to mature the dojutsu fully, but sometimes he felt as though they actively asked him to do dangerous task to put his life in danger so he would one day be able to rise up with the fully matured Mangekyou sharingan he'd seen from only one other Uchiha. Things were getting suspicious around his family now, and with how Kuno was suffering now, Syekren only grew more suspicious and made a mental note that he would check up on his family when he could, maybe tail them to figure out exactly what was going on with them. Perhaps he'd learn the truth.

There was the noise behind him still and Syekren turned to watch Kuno stand, huffing and seemingly out of breath. He was badly injured but still he continued to stand, almost desperate to finish the fight. While the older Uchiha could also relate to this aspect of the young man's personality, there was a time and a place to be heroic or fight. Being sliced open with every enemy in the room dead or incapacitated was not one of them. Still, the kid had heart and Syekren saw a bit of himself in Kuno.  Speaking of, the young uchiha seemed to be looking desperately for something, until his eyes fell on the one living member of the former Autumn gang. Kuno grabbed the hilt of his sword in the ground, muttering thanks to Syekren and saying he'd be dead without the older Uchiha. It seemed to Syekren he could die even with his help. Still, the thanks were noted and Syekren threw down the gore he still clutched, walking over to the Uchiha who was now focusing on the man on the ground. Syekren was about to speak to him when it seemed that his companion had other ideas.

"Wake up!" A simple shout and then a blade was drove into the leg of the unconscious man. The pain seemed to bring him back to the world of the living and he howled in agony. The uchiha watched silently, a mere meter from the spectacle, tilting his head. It was basically the way he had intended to gain information: pain. Of course, he had no weapons to speak of, but he had other torturing methods he could rely on in cases such as this. It seemed Kuno was doing fine, however, as he fell upon the man in an instant after the painful howl. There was a punch to the jaw to silence the man and then the questioning from the young Uchiha began. He told the leader that he would speak on what he knew and then he would go into custody. Or he would die. Something rather odd to tell him after they'd just slain every one of the other Autumn members. But if he wanted to play it that way, Syekren was all for it. He looked around the place, making a note to send a body disposal squad out here to take care of everything once they had left. It would take a few ANBU or someone with the body disposal jutsu to clear this place and the streets outside before the day started and people were out and about. The life of a ninja was quite the perilous one, and bodies were not uncommon. The public did not need to know about the bodies though.

Syekren had spaced out in his thoughts for a moment and didn't realize that Kuno had leaned forward and continued the questioning of the autumn leader. He was miles away in his thoughts and was only brought back by another sudden outcry of pain. Kuno had removed his sword from the man's leg and shoved it into his forearm, possibly down to the bone. He was questioning still for a name from someone who looked too scared to mention it. Syekren would normally step in at this point, but he wanted the young uchiha to be able to finish this battle on his own. Then Kuno began to speak about saving the man's arm wouldn't really be possible if he didn't give up the information that the Uchiha wanted. Syekren moved closer and reached out, as if to tap Kuno and speak to him but stopped when the man upon the ground began to speak.

Kafu Hattori? What? Who the hell was that guy supposed to be? It seemed that Kuno knew him though because incredulously, he asked the man to repeat what he said, listening rather closely. When the man repeated, Kuno thanked him and stood off of his body. It seemed they were ready to go and Syekren was making ready to restrain the autumn member until Kuno swiftly swiped his blade across the man's throat. Killing him in agonizing fashion. The older Uchiha watched the man look up helplessly as he choked and drowned in his own blood. Kuno looked over to him and smirked, beginning to say something before he fell over, blacking out. With a sigh, Syekren caught him and hoisted the Uchiha over his shoulder, muttering to himself about pushing oneself too hard. Their business complete, Syekren grabbed the dao that had fallen to the floor and walked out of the empty warehouse.

It took a good forty minutes to reach the main part of the village and get into the hospital. Kuno was taken to the emergency room for surgery and would later be put into room thirty-eight. Syekren joined the young male for a bit, waiting for him to wake up. When it got too late, he'd set the kid' sword by his bedside and go into the hall, meeting with a ninja who had come to assess the situation. "Inform the Kazekage that Kuno Uchiha was injured on his vendetta mission. She may want to know about that and tell her he's in Room Thirty-Eight should she wish to speak with him. After that, ensure that a body disposal squad is sent to the warehouse in the slums by the old business district. There are about twenty or so bodies in all, six being outside in the back." With that, Syekren watched the other ninja depart and he did the same, asking the nurses to notify him if Kuno's condition changed.

1,203/5,734

Trained Chakra Suppression; Jutsu: 4,000/4,000
Trained Genjutsu Sharingan: 1,500/1,500
234 Discarded
[EXIT]