Mission Details:

It was just after noon when he recieved the letter by carrier pigeon, he had been summoned to the Administration Office. Raphael had just finished his daily training and was in the shower when the letter arrived on his window sill, jumping out and quickly rushing to the window flinging it open in one swift movement he grabbed the letter from the birds leg and read it. Without wasting any more time he threw his clothes on and busted out the door of his apartment, doing his best to push through the crowd of tourist as he made his way to the administration office. When he finally made it he was quickly ushered into the office of the Raikage's Secretary, who told him to have a seat while she let the Raikage know he was there. Raphael's foot tapped nervously on the floor while he waited wondering if he had done something wrong and he was in trouble, the wait seemed to last forever until finally the woman returned with a man that was certainly not the Raikage. "I am afraid that the Raikage is extremely busy with matters of much importance and will be unable to be here, as his representative I am pleased to tell you that the Raikage has kept a close eye on your progress since your arrival here a few weeks ago. The Raikage as seen it fit to grant you the rank of Chuunin of the Hidden Cloud, congratulations" the man spoke before opening the file he held in his hand. "Your new rank comes with more responsibility than before, as a Chuunin, you will be working with some Special Jounin and be assisting them during their patrol, the next patrol starts in about an hour just make sure you are out front and ready the special jounin will find you there." The man added before placing a piece of paper in the boys hand and moving to the doorway, just as he reached the door the man snapped his fingers "oh I almost forgot, the special jounin will be evaluating you during your patrol if something does happen, they will observe how you handle certain situations and whether or not you are truly ready for this advancement. So don't disappoint." The man added a wink at the end of his sentence before opening the door and leaving the room. Raphael stood in the office in pure shock, he had heard everything the man had said yet he could not believe it. His wish had finally come true, the village took recognition of his contribution and now he was going on a mission that did not involve getting a cat from a tree, or sweeping the floor, or any of that other nonsense.

Raphael looked down at the paper he was handed, it held a small statement that read verbatim what the man had just told him about how his actions brought him to this rank followed by the signature of the Raikage, Raphael's heart beat rapidly in his chest he con not believe that the Raikage himself felt he had proven himself beyond his station. Raphael was snapped back to reality by the slamming of a draw, noticing he was still in the secretary's office he quickly folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket as he left the room. He still had some time before the patrol start, so he chose to make a quick run down to the shop to grab some supplies just in case they were needed though he hoped they wouldn't be. Once he had what he felt was needed he headed back to the administration office to await for the special jounin he was to accompany on this patrol.

---

629

Patrol duty. A mission that never grew dull in the eyes of the kunoichi. Even now, as a newly appointed special jounin, she didn't mind picking up a task that was considered dull by most others. No, to her, patrolling was as much a relaxed stroll from point A to B as it was a necessary evil to keep a sharp eye out for infiltrators and trouble makers. An under-appreciated job that formed the first line of defence in the preservation of the Village. For a first time in forever, she would not be patrolling by herself. Two other special jounin and a chuunin would be joining, this in line with the increased necessity for alertness caused by the currently running Chuunin Exams. As such, Mizuki was wearing the Village's flak jacket partially hidden under navy blue robes bearing the Raiu kamon, her headband tied there where it belonged - around her head.

As she arrived at the Administration Office, a young boy arrived and seemed to hold halt at about the same place as her. Then two more shinobi joined, seemingly more self-assured and greeting them. Mizuki bowed to each of them in turn, introducing herself.

"Raiu Mizuki. A pleasure to meet you all."

One of the other special jounin seemed to take the lead, explaining the general route they'd have to go to optimally patrol their appointed area. While he hoped all would be rather fine, the area neared the slums and was therefore a restless place. Swindlers tried to lure in the tourists, bandits pried on the ignorant and the general up to no good local was out to ruin a good man's day. Mizuki knew the slums well - all too well - and hoped it would not be a cause for worry despite its reputation.

"I'm ready when you are."

The kunoichi wasn't quite used to work in a team, always having done missions by her own or with her mentors. Even her travels abroad had been done at her own insight, and as such she was not too familiar with team strategies or leadership. Keeping that in mind, the young woman would take note of any particular information that was requested or used, and remember strategies as they got executed.

---

381

Raphael arrived back at the administration building in his normal attire, white pants and black boots with a silk formal sleeveless collared dress shirt that is all black, with silver buttons fully buttoned so that the collar covers his neck with the Kozai insignia in bright blue over the right breast. His newly purchased Kunai and Shurikens stored safely within the pouches on the back of his belt, his Kumogakure Headband fashioned into the belt itself to look like a belt buckle. He normal would be wearing his Kozai coat, however he was no longer in possession of that having given it to a visiting friend to have. When he arrived there was a female that seemed to arrive just moments before, she looked older than Raphael but not by a lot. She wore a blue robe and if it had not been for the headband on her forehead he would of thought her to be just a normal citizen, Raphael was about to ask the woman if she was there for the same reason when they were joined by two others. "Alright looks like we are all here," said the female of the pair. "My name is Suki and this is my twin brother Kai" she continued. The female in blue then took her turn in introducing herself with a bow as Raiu Mizuki. It was at this point that Raphael noticed the flak jacket under the woman's robe, he had not yet received his own yet having just been promoted not even and hour before now. Once the girl finished with her introduction Raphael figured he should do the same though without a bow, "Kozai Raphael, thank you for having me." With the introductions now out of the way, Kai took charge and began explaining the particulars of the patrol. "Alright as you must know the current chuunin exams have caused a overflow of visitors to the hidden cloud, which is why we will be working together on this patrol. We will move out from here heading west down towards the slums, from there we will be covering the south west portion of the village. I am hoping everything will run smooth today, but we are to keep our eye out for any sign of trouble." The man paused briefly before looking at his sister,  "We will be slightly separated so that we can cover the most area, myself and Suki will go along the rooftops while the two of you cover the street itself. Just remeber that if you see something out of the ordinary you are to wait for us to join you before you act, is everyone clear?" Kai finished looking to Mizuki and Raphael, Raphael nodded as the girl commented that she was ready to go. With that Kai and Suki jumped to the rooftops leaving Raphael and Mizuki on the street.

"Well then I guess we should get started," Raphael said to Mizuki as he moved to start down the street they were directed to walk down. Raphael was very interested in talking to the girl and try to find out about her clan as he had never heard of the Raiu clan, which was uncommon since his clan was notorious for studying other clans and knowing as much as they could about all the clans in the world. At the same time however he did not want to draw attention away from the mission at hand, knowing that he would be evaluated by his performance during the mission. Raphael decided he would go ahead and ask his question while still keeping his eyes on the surroundings, "So I know this isn't a social visit or anything, but while we are walking and there is no trouble I was wondering if we might get to know more about who we are working with. I have not heard of the Raiu clan before, I was wondering if you could tell me more about your clan."

Depending on how the girl responded would determine how the rest of the mission would go, if she chose to not answer him then he would continue in silence to complete the mission. If she chose to answer his questions he would listen to her as closely as he could while keeping most of his attention scanning the crowd of the street as they passed looking for anything that might need the intervention of the team.

---

1368

The other shinobi introduced themselves as well. Suki, Kai, Raphael. It was good knowing names when communication would be necessary. Likewise, a good plan was crucial and it seemed Kai already had one in mind. Fanning out to cover more ground was a good strategy, though the idea of doing so in the slums was not much to her liking. She knew what gangs lurked there, and the risk it brought to be there even for shinobi such as them. With the increase in patrols, she expected the heavy criminals to lay low for a while, leaving the playing field to the smaller and more subtle swindlers and thieves, but even those could easily pose a threat to unsuspecting tourists.

Still, a strategy of going two by two was better than none. Being appointed to walk with Raphael, the two others hit the rooftops and left the young man with her. They started to move down the street, both keeping their attention sharp. With her long-term absence from Kumogakure, Mizuki had not been able to keep track of new shinobi through administration or gossip, and as such was not very familiar with the newest genin and early chuunin. This was made even worse with the influx of people and shinobi of Sunagakure moving out after its destruction. The administration had been increasingly busy lately. Luckily, it didn't stop Kumogakure's shinobi picking up a conversation, as Raphael proved.

"So I know this isn't a social visit or anything, but while we are walking and there is no trouble I was wondering if we might get to know more about who we are working with. I have not heard of the Raiu clan before, I was wondering if you could tell me more about your clan."

"To know each other's strengths and weaknesses is a good idea, even in a short mission such as this one.", Mizuki agreed before taking a moment to think about how to define her own clan. To a Raiu, everything came as it was, but to explain something that was obvious to them to someone who couldn't see that way was a different story. "Our clan has a long history with Kumogakure, going back to Darui, the Fifth Raikage who fought in the Fourth Great Shinobi War. We've traditionally served as shock troopers, bodyguards and advisors, harnessing the true power of Kumogakure's storms - Ranton."

The Raiu clan in a nutshell, probably. They included several families, each going about their own business while sharing a singular KKG, but the backbone of the clan was mostly that of a long tradition and a solid foundation that had allowed them to last through hardships and the teeth of time alike. And these traditions had not changed yet today, as Mizuki had experienced herself not that long ago.

"I consider myself rather familiar with Kumo's traditional clans, but I have never heard of the Kozai before. Is yours a young clan on the rise in Kumogakure?"

While she assumed the clan to either be ronin or a remnant from Sunagakure, she could not exclude the idea that new clans popped out in hopes to make a name for themselves among the Clouds. At any and all times, new names rose up to settle between the elder stars in the night sky, names that were once whispered turning into true legends. As Mizuki left an open ear to Raphael's explanation, her blue-green eyes darted from left to right time and time again, scanning the perimeter very alike to the grey hawk that circled above them. At times, she took note of the movement of her peers on the roofs, looking to catch any signal on their end, but all seemed well so far.

---

632
Total: 1013

Grey Hawk:

Descendent of a Raikage was something in itself to be proud of in Raphael's opinion, though he did not know the man she spoke of, he was interested to see what the power of the storm was. Raphael's clan had managed to stay out of the wars in the past, revealing themselves to the world only 75 year prior to now under his grandfather's leadership. Though Raphael did not recall reports of any Kozai travelling to the land of lightning before himself, which was why he did not know much about clans in this land and was one of the reasons he chose to come here to be unknown and to learn more of which he did not know. Raphael could not help but smile when the girl made mention of knowing the clans of Kumo and asked about his.

"Well its no surprise you have not heard of us to be honest, up until 75 years ago my clan lived in seclusion hidden within the desert of Kaze no Kuni under the protection of our Deity Raava and even after that I don't believe any member travelled as far as Kumo. We remained hidden from the world in peace staying out of the wars of others, it wasn't until my grandfather fell in love with a Kazekage that we first revealed ourselves to the world around us though Raava still protects our home from those wishing harm. I served the village hidden in the sand just as my father had, though with the destruction of the village I found myself in search of not only answers but also the power to prevent such an occurance from ever happening again. I came here mostly because it was unknown to me and I am unknown to this place, though I suppose now that the Raikage has taken interest in my development as a shinobi that will soon change."

Raphael stopped talking realizing that he had been rambling on and on, he scanned the area around them before looking up to the rooftops for any sign from the other two though there was nothing before looking back to the girl.

"I am sorry I don't mean to talk your ear off, to be honest I have not told many about my clan or my past and I guess once I start its hard for me to stop. To make this long story a little shorter, the Kozai are mostly known for our futon mastery as well as our unrivalled chakra control granted to us by the Deity Raava."

Raphael finish his mini speech just as they reached the slums of the village, he knew he would need to remain vigilant here though if everything remained calm he would ask the girl another question about herself. "So can you tell me more about this.. I'm sorry what did you call it Ranton?"

---

1854

The kunoichi listened to Raphael's story about his clan and regularly nodded until she heard about them being related to Kaze no Kuni. She had been there, in the Land of Winds, in Sunagakure, during its destruction. She had planted the black raiton rod as a beacon for the fugitives to gather and lead them to Kumogakure after she had ran through parts of the Village in search of survivors. Being there, being part of the war, even as an outsider, had left her changed. She couldn't say if it was a good or a bad change, but it certainly had changed her point of view on the world, shinobi and even the Executioner Arts taught by her father. But all of these changes were small things compared to what the refuges had suffered then, and even now. When Raphael stopped talking for a minute, ending with the notion that Raikage had taken interest in the development of a shinobi, she apologised for his loss.

"I experienced the destruction of your Village during my diplomatic mission for the Raikage. I'm sorry for your loss, Kozai-san. Here may not be Sunagakure, but I hope the Clouds will soften the wounds in time for you and yours."

She took a moment of silence herself as she allowed Raphael to weigh the sincerity of her words, before she eventually proceeded to answer his questions about her KKG. She was not to keen on revealing her clan's KKG, but the typically flashy appearance of the ranton techniques were hardly something that remained hidden anyway.

"Ranton, or Storm Release, is an advanced element made up from raiton and suiton. It looks very much like liquid lightning, giving off a bright light. It's not the best element during stealth missions, but it's speed, precision and flexibility make it great to bypass most, if not all, but the most perfect defences. It's a powerful element but a hard one to master as it requires a lot of concentration and a sharp eye to make the most of its precision."

Molding some of the ranton chakra and coating her hand with it, a blinding light covered her hand briefly before extinguishing almost just as fast. After another quick scan of the area to make sure she was not missing any sort of crime, she thought about Raphael's words on his Fuuton aspect. Her own mastery over raiton, along with the Kaminari clan's blood running through her veins from her mother's side, had made her susceptible to that element, yet at the same time it had improved indirectly upon her own KKG's power which was, in return, strong against the Wind element, thus forcing her to rely more on her KKG if she wanted to preserve the advantage against Fuuton. An odd symbiosis, as it were.

"My mother would not have liked you and your Fuuton mastery", she said with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes. "Forgive my ignorance, but who is Raava? I don't think I've ever heard of such a deity despite my travels."

---

522
Total: 1535

Raphael was more than a little surprised to hear that the girl had been in the village at the time of its destruction, though her sympathy meant a lot to him showing him that despite their different backgrounds they could come together now. Raphael listened intensely to the girl as she explained the use of her unique ability, to be able to mold chakra of two elements was unheard of among the Kozai themselves though they knew most shinobi could do so. The ability to take those two elements and combine them into a new element was rare, this proved to Raphael that this girl was one not to be taken lightly. The young boy marveled as the girl surrounded her hand in her unique chakra, nearly blinding him as he watched before it was quickly extinguished. "Amazing," was the only thing the boy could say, despite the fact that he had read many books on the subject of different elements seeing something in person was a while other story. The streets of the village remained peaceful for the time being, the girl made mention of how her mother would not have like him or his element which made Raphael wonder why but he did not ask the question. When she asked about Raava he smiled again, sometimes he forgot that just because Raava was known to him did not mean she was known to the rest of the world.

"Oh forgive me, Raava is a goddess, my ancestor Hitotsu found her temple deep within the desert many generations ago. He decided to make her temple his home and soon made the Kozai estate that now surrounds the temple, in return for his worship and offerings Raava granted both Hitotsu and all of his descendants a portion of her great power. It is the reason our eyes glow blue, even in the dark, and it is why our chakra is different from..." "Help!"

Raphael's words were cut off by a sudden scream coming from a few streets over from where the two shinobi stood, Raphael looked at the girl as if to say they would finish their talk later before rushing out to find the source of the scream. As they rounded the corner of the street they would see a small family of tourist surrounded by a group of 5 thugs who seemed to be harassing them, belongs that Raphael could only assume belonged to the family littered the street as the family cowarded in a small huddle. Raphael looked to the rooftops to see both Kai and Suki ready to descend on the group of trouble makers, making eye contact with Kai who nodded they would move in.

---

2304

It was strange to hear that a goddess would be the source of a chakra molding clan. Mizuki had never put much thought in worship of gods, generally too occupied with shinobi duties and imposed traditions by her clan and father to delve into a lifestyle where faith and future was placed into an invisible force. Even now, she had a hard time giving such claims a good place as her own life was forged by her own actions and decisions. Was the world truly populated by gods able to grant such unusual gifts as power and illuminating blue eyes? It was a possibility. After all, there were plenty of different clans out there and the Kozai certainly were not the only chakra molding clan linking their abilities to a divine. There was a group of fox monks walking a similar path, and even a dark cult believing in immortality granted through faith.

Mizuki's trail of thoughts were cut short by the sharp call of her hawk, and a second later a call for help a few streets further followed it up. Even though Mizuki was sure the other shinobi would have heard the call just as much, she whistled a series of tones to command the circling grey hawk in the sky, sending it off to warn the other team nonetheless. Seeing Raphael's look of determination, the two of them ran down the street, passed the corner, only to see a family surrounded by a handful of thugs. With the two other shinobi warned and ready to pounce down, the hawk had returned to the skies, crying out in anticipation.

Before taking action, Mizuki took out a senbon and charged it with raiton chakra, pricking it into Raphael to grant him a surrounding chakra shield as he did not have a flak jacket. While the technique would do little against basic attacks, she felt a little more at ease with him being provided a basic shield. Recalling her own B rank mission back when she was but a genin, one could never be guarded well enough against what was to come.

"I'll draw their attention so that the other team and you can strike them from a better angle."

With that said, Mizuki stepped forward with determined step and called out to the bandits. Upon being called out, they looked back, shifting their attention from the family to what seemed to be a lone kunoichi in robes, katana positioned on her hips in such way she could immediately draw her blade with deadly swiftness.

"Kumo Shinobi Forces. Please cease your hostilities, lest you oblige me to draw my weapon."

The bandits looked at each other for a moment, not sure if it was true what they saw. One young woman against five of them? They chuckled and one of them stepped forward, meeting her taunt with his own arrogance. As he inched closer towards Mizuki and the others seemed distracted enough to grant an ideal opportunity to the others, it seemed that only one of them kept a close eye on the family to make sure they would not escape just yet.

"And what are you going to do about it?"

---

535
Total: 2070

225/240:

Katana:

Raphael felt a sudden prick in his forearm looking down to see the girl pulling back with the senbon she just used to poke him, before his hairs began to stand on its end and the air around him became electrified. The girl had somehow produced a electric shell around the boy, though he knew not what the purpose was for. The girl then stated that she would draw their attention to her before stepping out away from Raphael and calling the group of harassers out and as she had told the boy drawing their attention away from the family save for one. Suki and Kai dropped down from their perch on the rooftops, and moved silently through the crowd to come up behind the group who was distracted by the girl. Raphael moved out as well though instead of following Suki and Kai to jump the group his focus was on the one still standing over the family, he had to ensure that the family remained unharmed he would leave the other four to the three special jounin as they were better trained and could no doubt easily handle the four men. As Raphael moved slowly through the crowd towards his target, the boy would focus his chakra inwardly to his very core surrounding it in his Futon chakra to provide him with more grace and maneuverability. His technique would be all the defense he would need as it allowed him to do things most would not be able to even conceive, but the main reason he used it was so that he could move quickly when the time came. As Raphael stalked towards his target he would be come oblivious to the others, as his full focus was on that of the man closest to the family. Once he was close enough the boy began to focus his chakra to flow into his left hand, Raphael saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye which also drew the attention of the man near the family. Raphael saw his moment to strike and leapt forward charging at the man ready to strike him with his charged fist, unfortunately he was not close enough before the man caught site of him. The man quickly performed a steing of handseals before unleashing a dragon of Raiton chakra at the young shinobi, Raphael went to dodge the attack however he could not move fast enough and was hit with the blunt of the attack. To the boy's surprise, and judging by the look on the man's face his as well, Raphael remained unharmed from the attack with it only pushing him back a few feet. Raphael felt the static that surrounded him fade as did the attack of the man, 'I am going to have to thank her for that' he thought to himself.

The man made a move to use another attack, however Raphael would not give him that opportunity. Fueling his core with more chakra Raphael released a surge of chakra that would propel him forward at the man at a rate of 15 m/s covering the 5 meter distance between himself and the man in a fraction of a second. Raphael readied his fist and struck the man square in the stomach with his left fist releasing the built up chakra upon contact with his target. This simple punch would not look like much to most at first, but once the chakra released from Raphael's hand the man was sent flying backwards until he slammed forcefully into the wall of a nearby building. The boy quickly turned to the family, "it's ok I promise I will not let anyone hurt you," he told them in reassurance before ushering them to follow him. Raphael would lead the family away from the thugs and the shinobi currently fighting them, once he was sure they would be safe he would return to the group to see if they needed help with the remaining members of this troublesome gang.

Raphael return was met with the sight of his three teammates standing victorious over the bandit thugs, having the four they had dealt with now in custody. Raphael looked to where the man he had hit, hit the wall to see the man charging at him with a Kunai pointed at his heart. Raphael would act in a furry of quick attacks aimed at the arm holding the Kunai on the man as soon as he got within close proximity of the boy. His final strike knocking the man's Kunai from his hand and flying up into the air, before landing a strike straight to the man's face knocking him to the ground. He would then proceed to drag the man over to the group, "Here's the last one, the family is also secure and safe." He said as though he was filing a report before looking to Mizuki, "thank you for whatever that was that you poked me with, I don't think I would of been able to survive the man's attack had it not been for that." With all the trouble makers now in custody Suki, Kai, Mizuki, and Raphael would escort them to the jail house for processing before parting ways. Raphael hoped that he would get a chance to work with Mizuki again, or at the very least get a chance to talk to her in a less official situation as he was still interested in getting to know the Kunoichi.

{Exit Thread}

---

3229
Mission: 2500 words
Strength from C-0 to C-1: 575 words and 95 Ryo
154 words discarded.

Chakra 185/220:

Opponent's jutsu:

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Those words could easily have been the signal for the team to come down crashing. Raphael stalked the man still keeping an eye on the family, whereas the two other special jounin dropped down on those furthest away from Mizuki. Not letting the element of surprise go to waste, the two special jounin quickly gained the advantage on their chosen opponent, and as their leader looked around to see what was happening, Mizuki moved in to sweep the legs from under the man's feet, forcing him to remain occupied with his own predicament so that he couldn't order the others around. Mizuki formed the hand seals of a simple jutsu that would allow her to bind a single person, but the man seemed far sharper than anticipated and prevented her from finishing the hand seals with a counter-offence of his own.

As the two of them seemed to engage in a dance of striking, dodging and enduring, a flash of lightning struck the chuunin in their group, leaving Raphael unscathed as she had anticipated herself, and fortunately at the cost of his opponent letting down his guard long enough for Raphael to pick up the advantage. Mizuki allowed herself a faint smile before she channelled ranton chakra throughout her body to turn herself into a brief flash of light. With her opponent this close, there was no way for him to avoid looking into the bright light, forcing him to look away and in turn allowing Mizuki to ram the hilt of her katana in the stomach of the man, making him double over before his face met her knee and slammed him backwards tumbling on the floor. As he held his bleeding nose in pain, she noticed Raphael leading the family away and decided to assist her fellow special jounin with the battle instead.

Looking to create another opportunity, Mizuki took in a deep breath and unleashed a stunning kiai on one of them. Paralysed by the technique, he was unable to proceed with his assault and was swiftly dealt with by Suki in turn. With the numbers turning out in their favour now, the three special jounin didn't take long to deal with the remaining bandits. As Raphael returned, he found them finishing off the last of the battle, standing victorious over the unorganised bunch of brigands. As they brought the defeated bandits in custody, it seemed the battle was not completely over just yet. Preoccupied, Raphael was forced to deal with one more bandit that didn't quite understood the situation he was in. Swiftly dealing with the thread, he succeeded at sending the kunai flying which, under a highly annoyed cry, was picked up mid-air by a diving grey hawk. As the bird rose to the skies again with her own trophy, Raphael finished the fight and dragged the man towards the others.

"Here's the last one, the family is also secure and safe. Thank you for whatever that was that you poked me with, I don't think I would of been able to survive the man's attack had it not been for that."

"Ah, shielding senbon? It's a technique the former Raikage taught me. I'm glad it was able to keep you from harm though I'm certain a shinobi of your skill would not have been taken out this easily. I think I speak for everyone here when I say you handled yourself well during this mission."

The two others nodded in agreement before Kai mentioned they had yet to bring the trouble-makers to prison. Escorting them to the place where they belonged, the group eventually parted, satisfied about a job well done.

---

[EXIT]

629
Total: 2699 / 2500

195/240: