Spoiler:

Sayuri had spent a good deal of time with Harichimo studying and practicing reading and writing. It was frustrating, just as she had imagined it would be, however unlike her imagination she also found it gave her a great sense of accomplishment. Not only could she now read the books that Harichimo had brought to her, she was also able to read the Mission boards for Iwagakure. She had not realized how much assistance the village required, and how important it was that those who were capable helped out. She wasn’t sure what she had thought had enabled the various villages to run smoothly before, but she knew now that there were many dangers that life as a shinobi presented. There were simple missions, the kind she had carried out in Konoha while she had been there. Rescue a cat, find a child who had run away and the like. But considering that she was stronger now she felt compelled to carry out more dangerous missions. She was also reasonably certain that if she asked, Harichimo would assist her.

With that in mind, she would take down two papers for A-Rank missions and proceed towards a man sitting at a desk and hand them over. “I would like to do these please.” She tried to sound as confident as possible, knowing that she looked as though she was still fairly young and inexperienced. The man sitting at a table covered in papers looked her over before accepting the papers she held out. With a small sigh he looked up at her and scratched at some invisible irritant on the side of his cheek. “These are fairly high risk you know. I assume you’re not going alone?” Sayuri would straighten her back before replying, a bit too excitedly, “Oh no, I’ll be going with my Sensei, Harichimo. I don’t think I’m quite strong enough to do those alone.” The man looked visibly relieved as he began writing in the book on his ‘desk’. “Harichimo? Well you’ll be fine then. These are high priority - we need to ensure that Iwagakure remains safe and free of crime. Please be careful, my dear. Your name?” She would blush a bit as she realized she had not provided any information to the man. “Sayuri, uh, Sayuri Kome. Thank you, and I will! Be careful that is.” With the paperwork out of the way Sayuri would hurry back to the University to look for Harichimo, she felt confident that she would find him on the lower floor. Skipping down the steps as usual she began mentally preparing for the tough mission ahead. She would bring her tanto of course, since she brought it everywhere for the most part. And her newly acquired forehead protector. She didn’t think it provided much armor, but she enjoyed that it brought attention to the fact that Iwagakure was her home. She thought that perhaps she should wear darker clothing, she didn’t have any particular reason for that thought, just that she had seen many people on missions dress in darker colours. Most likely for stealth, though there was something to be said for looking the part. She doubted anyone would take her very seriously in a sky blue summer dress.

549

Harichimo had only been Kage for a couple weeks now. And with it was huge amounts of change that he was dealing with. First was the living quarters. He was slowly adjusting from his old living to the new dwelling that all Kage stayed at. A much more modern looking house compared to the dark cave of an apartment he had been sleeping in. He no longer slept on a futon but rather a full king sized bed that seemed be carved by master craftsmen. He now had full rooms rather them just a big room of everything melded into one. During this transition period he was more concerned with helping around the village and helping Sayuri with her studies. He still wasn't going to be part of all the political games. All that mattered to him was making sure that the village was as safe as he could make it. As of recently there were rumors spreading through the ANBU and other enforcement agencies of an assassin putting the new kage as his target. Harichimo wasn't scared of the threats and rumors. In fact it only drove him more to cut the head from the snake and accept the challenge of whoever thought it was a good idea to place a target on his back. It was all he knew to do when someone threatened him or the village. He had to show that he was still the shinobi that Akira had molded him to be. He felt guilty not telling Sayuri that he was now the man in charge of everything but it was better not to get her wrapped up in the political games until he could handle them himself. He had sent the mission paperwork to Sayuri to take to the administration building for him in order for them to get the approval to take in the task. She seemed more then eager to actually help and take on a couple of dangerous missions for the village. Harichimo still hadn't seen to much from Sayuri combat wise but he was confident enough in his own skill to take on whoever it was. Harichimo stood in the bedroom of the kage dwelling and looked over his gear trying his best to hide the armor he was wearing. Even though he could no longer be part of the Monoliths he still wore his dull gray ANBU armor. It was still good armor and should hold up to the task. But he had to cover it up since Sayuri had no clue of what Harichimo really was or what deeds he had done when he had saved her from the bandits before when he had his mask on. He wore some thing black pants over his legs and just had the jacket buttoned up to conceal his chest. His arms were wrapped in their bandages and he was ready to go. He looked at the time and Sayrui should have left to turn in the mission paperwork by now.

Harichimo would leave the kage dwelling and start towards the university to meet with his student. He would arrive at the university and down to the Akira Kazako floor where she had set up residence. Harichimo would choose to walk into the kitchen area first. Harichimo knew this mission might take a good part of the day so he might as well eat something before they left. When he enetered he saw the cooks were just finishing up some of the food they would take to the upstairs parts of the university. "Morning everyone, do you mind if the Tsuchikage steals a quick bite to eat before he heads out?" One of the cooks would quickly grab a small plate of eggs and bacon slide it to him. "No problem at all Lord Kazako. Fresh off the griddles" Hairchimo would bow to them as he shook his head. He still wasn't used to all the formality that his position brought with it. Harichimo would then sit out in the main area and wait for Sayuri to return which didn't seem to take that long as the girl arrived dressed in darker colors then when he had seen her last and she was sporting her new Iwagakure headband which brought a smirk to his face. "Well you seem very chipper today. You excited to be taking on this very important mission?" Harichimo would ask as he scooped the last of the eggs into his mouth and set the plate down beside him to let her speak.



760

Sayuri was both very chipper and excited, there was a bounce in her step and a wide smile on her face as she would nod happily in response to Harichimo’s question. She thought perhaps she should be a bit more sombre given the circumstances, but all the same, the idea that she was being trusted with such an important mission left her ecstatic. Bounding towards Harichimo, she was careful to stop just shy of actually jostling the man before she would hurriedly explain what she had done. “I went to the, uh, mission. . . place? Place where we get missions from. . . you know I can’t think of what it’s called right now. Doesn’t matter. Anyway, we have two missions! I’m pretty excited, I uh, signed you up for them as well - I hope that’s okay. I assumed it would be okay. . . but now that I’m having to tell you about it, I’m not so sure. So! I’m really sorry if it’s not.” She would blush as she finished speaking, worried that Harichimo might be angry with her at the assumption that she had made. She would wait for him to chide her before continuing on in her explanation. “Apparently there is an assassin after the Tsuchikage! I wasn’t too sure what an assassin was, so I asked, and it sounds bad. I’m going to guess that you already know what an assassin is, and don’t need me to explain it. Frankly, I think it’s terrible that anyone would ever want to even hurt the Tsuchikage, let alone try to kill him. It’s just, so. . . horrible. So I guess we have to find this guy, uh. . .” Sayuri would pause and look at the papers in her hands, tapping thoughtfully on her lower lip with one finger while she tried to navigate the official looking document. “I don’t know who we’re looking for actually, but I assume they will be the one who looks angry and is trying to hurt people. Says here the assassin was last seen in the area around the Stone Bridge. I don’t know where that is. Do you?”

Realizing she’d been talking for quite some time without letting Harichimo get a word in edgewise, she would hold out the papers for him to look over, and stand as quietly as she could while waiting for his input. She knew that Harichimo had spent his whole life here, Tsuyo had mentioned as much. So it was likely that Hari knew the whole of Iwagakure like the back of his hand. Could probably even navigate it with his eyes closed. I’ll have to ask him if he can do that, it would be a pretty fun way to spend the day. Maybe not today, what with the assassination and all, but later, for sure. She was certain that Harichimo could tell she wasn’t entirely paying attention, what with thoughts of blindfolded adventures running through her head. So she would straighten her back and pull her shoulders back, looking at Harichimo full on. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was either disrespectful, not taking this mission seriously - or both.

550/1099

Harichimo would smile and nod as Sayuri recanted her completing the tasks of the morning. They did in fact sign up for two missions but the first one was of most importance. He did chuckle a bit as she fumbled around trying to find the words to complete her thoughts and as she apologized for her short ramblings. "It is fine Sayuri, now make sure you understand the mission for today, what are we trying to accomplish?" Sayuri would retell the mission details. And Harichimo would just nod along as she talked on. He was happy to know that no one had broken the news to her yet in the past couple days. Maybe after the mission he would tell her but for now they would have to go to the area of the Stone Bridge and try to find whereabouts of the assassin. The Stone Bridge was outside of the village so they would have to make their effort count since backup would not be able to get to them fast enough. The Sayuri would ask about the location and Harichimo would stand up and tug at his outer clothing to try and adjust the armor underneath. He knew where it was and it would be a bit of a run.


"Yeah I know where it is. The Stone Bridge lies outside the village walls and a ways into the mountains. It connects roads that would need to be much longer if we didn't have it standing. It overlooks this massive river and not many people go out in those parts , apart from traveling merchants. We can cut the trip short if we do some roof hopping and go straight towards the bridge." When he had finished he would see the Sayuri was half paying attention, probably drawn by the appeal of blind adventures and the mission. Harichimo would smile and extend out his arm to point towards the door. He knew it wasn't the most interesting explanation and he was more focused on the task at hand. But he would let her have her little day dreams for now. She seemed more then ready to step up when the times come and present themselves. "Are you ready to head out and stop whatever this bad man has been planning?"

Harichimo would lead Sayuri out of the university and onto the staircase outside. He would point in the direction of where they had to go. "All we have to do is skip across these buildings until we get to those warehouses and then vault from them over the top of the wall and then we can start following the road out and to the bridge. Sounds simple enough doesn't it?" Harichimo would take the lead and start off at a slow pace until he jumped to the first roof and looked back to make sure Sayuri was following. He was sure she would find it fun and treat it as a game of sorts to keep up and jump across the small gaps. Once he was sure she could make the jumps he would continue along at a pace she could follow until they reached the warehouses. The final jump would be a leap from the roof of the warehouse and onto the walk way on the top of the village wall. With a run and leap Harichimo was able to clear the small wall that lined the walk way and he would watch for Sayuri to clear it. Once she was across Harichimo would lead her down one of the guard posts that had a stair case down to the ground floor. Once on the ground they could simply follow the road towards the Stone Bridge.


621/1381

Sayuri was quite happy that Harichimo did not seem to be upset with her assumptions. In fact he seemed pleased at the initiative that she had taken. Which was more than she had been hoping for, and was quite a relief. It was a constant internal struggle for her to know what she was supposed to do, or say. She often felt as though she was making the wrong choices, and saying things that were inappropriate - even though the evidence said otherwise. Every time she was faced with the shame of having screwed something up, the people she spoke with and apologized to were constantly reassuring her that whatever she was embarrassed about was completely fine. It was a strange concept really, that she was so overly concerned with how the world viewed her and her actions, and yet it seemed that the same amount of judgement was not shared by anyone who viewed her. She had grown up thinking that the whole world was against her, which she had learned was understandable considering how she had been forced to grow up. But since she had left Kumo, it had seemed that the world was more in her favour than she had originally believed. She had made numerous friends and allies, and had - for the most part - been very well taken care of.

As Harichimo smiled at her, she smiled back and followed his lead out of the University and listened carefully to his instructions on how to get to the bridge. She was more than a little excited at the prospect of leaping across rooftops - it was one of her favourite things to do. She ran after him, taking note of the places he put his feet and hands so as to not only keep up, but be sure she wouldn’t tumble to the ground. She enjoyed the game of leaping across gaps, climbing over stacked goods and up over roofs. She saw Harichimo look back a couple times, she assumed to check that she hadn’t fallen to her death or lost track of him. She appreciated the concern for her welfare, it was reassuring to see. As they both took the last final leap that would put them on the road towards the bridge that he had mentioned she would hit the floor of the walkway in a somersault and stand up quickly a satisfied smile on her face. “That was fun! If we weren’t in such a hurry I’d ask if we could go back and do it again.” She followed Harichimo down the stairs of the guard post and onto the road, savouring the time spent doing athletic and fun things with her teacher. Walking quickly to keep pace with the taller than her man, her brow would furrow as she spoke quietly to him. “Do you think we’ll get there in time? I mean, we’ll save the Tsuchikage right? I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, I haven’t even met him. I had intended to, but I got so wrapped up in studying and whatnot, that I guess I just didn’t make time. I hope he understands.”

533/1632

Harichimo would smirk to Sayuri as he gave his answer. "I am sure the Tsuchikage can understand. They know that studies are important and I have a feeling he would be proud that you stuck to them like you have." Harichimo would lead the way down the winding mountain road that lead to the Stone Bridge. The road cut through smaller mountains with tunnels lined in the same glowing crystal as the underground stadium. There were times where it would run through areas where the walls towered above them and seemed good spots for bandit attacks on traveling merchants or unsuspecting civilians. But today they were fishing for a much bigger fish then some rag tag group of bandits and it worried Harichimo some what. Bandits wouldn't have the gall to call out a high ranking shinobi let alone the Tsuchikage. This one was either confident of his skills or thought Harichimo was going to be an easy target given his rank. But Harichimo was determined to deter these thoughts from anyone who might try in the future.

It would be a couple of minutes before they reached the bridge itself. A feat of builders from the past to carve out an entire bridge from a mountain and cutting a river through underneath. Very few used this bridge except for the random merchant and today it seemed exceptionally bare and untraveled. Harichimo would look around and make sure there were no hidden spots that a possible assassin could be looking down at them from. Once he was sure there wasn't going to be an attack from above he would turn to Sayuri. "Alright we are going to make a quick sweep of the bridge. I need you to watch in front and behind us while I use a sensory jutsu to see if they could be hiding out of sight as we walk. Just be ready to draw your sword or dodge an incoming attack." Once he was sure that Sayuri was ready, Harichimo would close his eyes and focus his chakra into his core. The chakra formed into a sphere and pulled towards Sayuri. That let him know it was working and hopefully the chakra should pull towards the assassin if they come close enough. "Alright just keep walking forward and tell me if anything looks out of place to you." Harichimo would try to keep pace with Sayuri as they would walk the bridge. After crossing the halfway point Harichimo started to get a bit frustrated that the ball of chakra had not pulled or snapped into some other direction to indicate some other strong entity was there with them.



"Alright we will walk half way to the end of the bridge and turn back I haven't picked anything up yet." They would walk a couple more meters and then Harichimo would feel the ball of chakra start to struggle and slowly pull downwards. It would cause his brow to tighten up as they kept walking. After a few more steps the ball would point straight down and snap completely back and away from them and cause Harichimo to snap from his focus. "There is someone underneath the bridge get your guard up!" Harichimo would flip back around and get into his fighting stance. "You have been found out get up here and face us with some dignity or leave our village before someone else comes looking for you!"

574/1955

Jutsu Remaining Chakra 235/250:

As she and Harichimo walked through the twists and turns of the caves and tunnels on their way towards the bridge Sayuri tried to keep her mind focused on the task to come. She knew that what the both of them would be facing was going to be challenging at the least. And more than likely someone was going to get hurt. If things went well, then they would easily be able to capture the assassin and transport him quickly towards the prison that she knew must exist somewhere in the village. But so far in her travels she had learned that things rarely went to plan, and that worried her, more than a little. What if there’s more than one assassin? What if we don’t get there in time? What if the assassin, assuming there is only one, is far more powerful than either - or both - of us? Sayuri would shake her head in a physical representation of her attempt to dislodge the doubts pervading her mind. She knew it wouldn’t do any good to dwell on any of the negative aspects of their current mission. If there was more than one assassin, well at least there was two of them; and they’d have to work together to stay safe. As for getting there in time, the more she thought about it the more she realized that it was unlikely that the Tsuchikage would be wandering out here in the middle of nowhere on what seemed to be a mostly unused bridge. And if the assassin was more powerful? Well if that were the case, and they had no hope of defeating this adversary, then it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to send under powered protectors. So that didn’t seem likely either. All in all as her ruminations came to an end she found that her fears were for the most part, unfounded.

Sayuri listened intently to Harichimo’s instructions as they walked towards and then on to the bridge. This was not something she wanted to only half pay attention to. Besides the fact that she wasn’t in any hurry to be horribly injured, more importantly she didn’t want anything to happen to Harichimo. He had been so kind and patient with her, he’d been her friend, and the last thing she wanted was anything bad to happen to her friends. So when she was told to walk along the bridge and look for anything out of place, she did her best to focus intently. Unfortunately she had not visited this bridge before today, so she was not entirely sure what was normally in place. The bridge itself was a wonder to behold, long enough to span the width of the chasm, keeping all who travelled on it safe from the rocks and water below. It’s stone work was incredible, clearly a great amount of skill went into placing the hewn stone together to form the architectural marvel. Overall, it seemed well kept, as far as her knowledge of bridges went. It was a bit dirty, which was to be expected, there were leaves and bits of browning vegetation that the wind had swept into the various cracks and crevices created by the interlocking stone. But despite all the detail she was able to observe, she didn’t notice anything that she felt was out of place; that was until a breeze picked up. It was subtle, the aroma that the wind carried with it, but it was there all the same - and definitely out of place. Cologne. Having spent the amount of time she had with Harichimo she was familiar with his scent, and this was not it. This smelled of richness and finery. Not that Harichimo lacked those qualities; however he was always more practical and had not - as yet - shown that he was willing to spend his hard earned ryo on impractical nonsense such as cologne. Her head would snap up as her eyes shot open, she had apparently closed them as she was trying to locate the scent on the air. And just as the words “He’s beneath us!” would escape her lips, the very same sentiment came from Harichimo.

Had it been anything other than a potentially deadly mission, she might have laughed aloud at the synchronicity. As it was though, she was merely glad that they were at least on the same page. Unsheathing her tanto she took a fighting stance, her weight balanced carefully between both halves of her body, feet planted firmly on the ground. She didn’t feel quite ready to fight, she was hoping desperately that the assassin came quietly, or at least with minimal violence. Hearing Harichimo’s challenge however steeled her resolve, and she would breathe calmly and evenly like Tsuyo had taught her. Were it not for her relaxation technique, the next bit of noise might have caused her to jump. A scuffle of limbs against stone off to her right as the sweet smelling assassin leaped nimbly up onto the bridge; and then a deep and velvety laugh. She would raise an eyebrow as she looked in the direction of the ill timed humour, it was just a man. Well dressed in a tailored black suit and tie, dark hair slicked back and a charming smile on his handsome face. Her brows would furrow together in mild annoyance and confusion as the man casually leaned against the stone pillar in the middle of the bridge. He looked far too calm, as though he were on a lovely evening stroll, not actively plotting the death of the Tsuchikage. Her mild annoyance quickly bubbled over into anger as the man stood there smiling, or perhaps smirking, looking from her to Harichimo and back again. Her hand would tighten on the hilt of her tanto as she moved her weight onto the balls of her feet, ready to charge at the man who was halfway between her and Harichimo. “You’re going to have to come with us now.” Her voice was stern, but still held the tell tale gentleness for which she was known. A soft laugh followed the mans own raised eyebrow as he looked directly at Harichimo, slowly placing his hand on the hilt of a sheathed weapon at his left hip. “It seems, my dear, that I don’t have to go anywhere at all. Your charming Tsuchikage was kind enough to deliver himself straight to me.” With his poisonous and alarming words spoken he fairly flew at Harichimo, withdrawing his sword as he went. “How thoughtful.” was all he said before what was once a sword curved itself up towards Harichimo’s right hip.

1128/2760

After Harichimo had shouted out the command for the individual to get out of hiding it seemed like only a blink before some man stood to challenge him and Sayuri. He didn't seem anything like Harichomo had imagined a possible assassin to look like. He was dressed head to toe in what would be formal attire. A black suit and tie were hardly the battle attire Harichimo would think to wear into combat. His face caught Harichimo's attention the most. Every other report on the man never had the same face description twice. A very skilled shinobi in the art of medical ninjutsu able to steal faces from his victims. The damage someone like that could do with that amount of skill made him uneasy. But it was two against one and in Haricimo's mind this was in the bag and a mission accomplished. But the assassin seemed to hold a high confidence in his abilities as Sayrui let out her stern command for the man to surrender. The assassin just seemed to smile as he looked over Sayuri and Harichimo. It made Harichimo tense up more and prepare for what may happen next. Either this man was delusional or had the confidence in his ability to take on the Tsuchikage and another shinobi. The man spoke as if his victory was guaranteed as he placed his hand on his sword and charged right towards Harichimo. The man let out his words about the convenience of the Tsuchikage being handed to him. Then the action was under way. The man seemed to move in a blur as the sound of the sword leaving the sheath and the flash of steel. Harichimo would focus his chakra to his skin to flash forward and create his sensei's Gado barrier technique. The sword then seemed to catch on his side and wrap almost entirely around him if his barrier was not up he may have been cut in half at a whim. Now face to face with his attacker, Harichimo grabbed his knuckle duster out of his pocket with his left hand. He would turn against the blade and unleash a strike with his left hand. He tried to bring it up and fast to uppercut the attackers' chin but he was met with only air as the man seemed to be able to pull back fast enough. He then looked down at his waist to double check that the sword had not cut into him without him feeling the hooks dig into him.

The man reappeared where he stood before as he withdrew his whip sword. "Come now Tsuchikage. You are no where near as strong as your friend Karumo was. What makes you think I can't just mortally wound you then slaughter your little friend here?" Harichimo would keep his eyes on the attacker as he spoke to Sayuri. "We need to figure out some way to slow him down and cripple his offense then I can render him harmless."


504/2459

Jutsu Used Remaining Chakra 220/250:

Tsuchikage? Harichimo? Sayuri stood still, dumbfounded, for several seconds. There were plenty of other things that she could focus on, but the only one that was drawing her attention was the revelation that her friend, her teacher, was the Tsuchikage. She started to doubt herself as she tried to recall if he had told her, maybe she hadn’t been listening, or worse yet just simply not understood. It was also possible that he hadn’t told her at all - but why wouldn’t he tell her that? It seemed like a fairly important piece of information to divulge, was she not someone that he thought could be trusted with that knowledge? Maybe it was supposed to be a secret? Do people usually hide things from me? Am I being kept in the dark about more than just this? Her skin tingled as a cold flush of fear spread throughout her body. Am I untrustworthy? How have I never noticed? What’s wrong with me? The childlike part of her was excited that her friend was the leader of the Village, but the adult part of her was now in crisis. Her version reality had just been challenged and probably at the worst possible time - during combat. She had always known that she had to be careful when listening to adults, they were prone to lying, and more often that not they spun falsehoods as truth. It was why she had always preferred the company of animals, or children. They were more pure, and hardly ever lied, and if they did you could rest assured that it was because they felt they needed something. Whereas adults lied for all sorts of reasons; worst of all was if they felt that lying was somehow helping you. She couldn’t personally recall a time when a lie had helped anyone. It was all too much for her to consider right at that moment, and with obvious effort she pushed the thoughts away, swept into a corner of her mind so that she could focus on the fight right now and deal with her existential crisis later.

She would snap back to reality and away from her ruminations with nearly violent force. Her eyes narrowed as all of her muscles tensed, ready to strike at the first threat that presented itself. She was torn between rage and despair, shaking in her stance as adrenaline pumped through her body and it was only when Harichimo called to her that she became fully aware again. "We need to figure out some way to slow him down and cripple his offense then I can render him harmless."  She nodded curtly to him as she would step forward towards the smirking assassin carefully resheathing her tanto as she moved, effectively closing the gap between her and the attacker to a mere twenty meters. With a voice that was far less gentle than it had been the last time she had addressed the assassin, she called out a challenge to him in order to distract him from her true intentions. She knew full well that standing this close to a man with a sword was dangerous, but she also knew that getting him to release the weapon would ultimately result in the success of their mission - without either of them being badly injured. “You want to attack someone? Come get me, if you can.” As the words left her mouth she drew her hands up in front of her, channeling raiton energy from her core, through her arms and releasing it through her outstretched hands. The raiton would flash out aimed directly at the assassin and a guttural cry would come somewhere deep within her as she saw the grip he had on his sword loosen and the unusual weapon begin to fall to the ground.


646/3405

Chakra 230/250:

Sayuri seemed to have understood what Harichimo had said but he was to busy keeping an eye on the assassin. His quick thinking had saved his skin underneath the coat that wasn't covered by armor. This man was quick but Harichimo felt he was faster and had a chance if they could make him miss a step. Harichimo had ideas running through his head on how he could possibly turn the tide to favor him when Sayuri would step forward. She seemed more determined then usual as she issued a challenge to the assassin. And with a primal shout cast a jutsu that made the assassin lurch and drop his weapon. The opening Harichimo was looking for. And with a mix of anger and precision Harichimo channeled his chakra to his back and with a burst of purple chakra he would launch himself past Sayuri. It all happened as a blur and Harichimo's body would reappear and land a blow connecting his shoulder into the gut of the assassin. The force would be enough to force the assassin to slide back a couple feet with Harichimo still flying with his momentum. Once he had hit his target Harichimo would get into a position to start his assault on the man's head.

Harichimo would let out a yell of his own as he landed a right to the side of the man's face and was bringing his left hand with the knuckle duster back to start his next attack when the man snapped and reached up to hold back Harichimo's attack with his bare hand. Harichimo could feel that the power of his strike had planted the knuckle dusters into the flesh and bone of the mans hand. The assassin would turn his head and with his other hand feel where he had been hit and notice a small spot where his face seemed a bit messed up as his pupils narrowed on Harichimo. The man's face started to morph and try to cover up the imperfection as he threw back Harichimo's attack and pushed him away to make Harichimo land on his back. The man seemed to shout hold his face as its shape would keep changing. "That's it Tsuchikage, we could have done this nice and easy but then you had the balls to touch my perfect face and ruin it. Now I am going to cut your face off myself and kill your little friend here then string her up for all of the village to see as I take your chair for myself." The man was quick to run for his sword as Harichimo was getting up and and felt a sting go right through his shoulder. He looked down and saw the sword was now plunged into his shoulder and being forced back onto his knees. He put his arms up to the man's arms to try and force it back to keep the sword from going deeper but he could feel the man overpowering him. Harichimo had to make a decision as fast as he could to hopefully let Sayrui escape or finish him off. With a quick motion Harichimo let go of the man's arms and grabbed him by the head as the sword now began to go more and more into his shoulder. "Pathway Dearraignment!! Harichimo would shout as a spark of chakra was forced into the man's body to make it go limp and fall on top of Harichimo.


588/3047

Jutsu Used Chakra 185/250:

The sword had barely left the assassin’s hand when she saw what she assumed was Harichimo launch past her and straight into the man’s core. A blur of violet chakra was all that she saw until Harichimo appeared in front of the assassin, blows striking at the man’s head. She hurried to catch up and close the gap between them, pulling her tanto out again she sped across the stones. She was very near the sword that the assassin had dropped when he screamed in fury at Harichimo "That's it Tsuchikage, we could have done this nice and easy but then you had the balls to touch my perfect face and ruin it. Now I am going to cut your face off myself and kill your little friend here then string her up for all of the village to see as I take your chair for myself." It was a horrifying sentiment, and maybe it was her horror, or maybe the man was just faster than her, but it felt as though she just stood there and let him pick up his sword again. No sooner did she realize what had just happened than she saw what she had feared most; the man’s strange sword was plunged deep into Harichimo’s shoulder. There was the tiniest amount of blood visible from the wound, she knew most of the damage would come when the blade was removed. As she watched the first drop of blood seep from Harichimo’s shoulder she let out a scream of rage as she near instinctually channeled white raiton into her weapon and leaped at the assassin, tanto poised to stab down into the man's neck.

She was beside herself with anger, she had been standing right there when he had grabbed his sword. She could have stopped him. But instead she had stood there, frozen. Anything that happened now, she knew full well was her fault. Harichimo had been so kind and patient with her, he’d taken pains to make sure she had been comfortable when she arrived in Iwagakure. He’d helped her with missions, he’d taught her to read and write, he had been her friend. And now he was in mortal danger because of her. As her body landed on what she had been expecting to be a standing assassin she was surprised when he collapsed on top of the Tsuchikage. The surprise did nothing to stop her attack however and the well cared for blade of her ancient tanto made purchase deep into the right side of the assassin’s neck. She pushed the blade in as far as it would go, hearing and smelling the flesh burn as the chakra infused weapon slid through to the left side of his throat, he made no snide remarks, no yelling or cries, there was only the quiet gurgling of his blood interrupting his breathing. She kept screaming as she held the blade there until all signs of life were gone from the man. It was only when she was certain he was dead that she realized what she had just done and she released her tanto and scrambled away from the man taking shuddering breaths as she tried to collect herself. There was blood everywhere and she didn’t know what to do with herself. It took a few seconds for her to remember where she was and what her next course of action should be. With effort she pushed the lifeless body off of Harichimo and with shaking hands would try to sweep the hair off of Harichimo’s face. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry Hari! This is my fault, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to let him have the sword.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she was very nearly in tears trying to make sure he was okay - relatively speaking. Once she had confirmation that he would be alright, she would gather her tanto from the neck of the now dead assassin. As she cleaned the blade tears flowed down her face and she shook violently, making it difficult to clean the tanto properly. She spoke quietly to herself, her tearful voice trying to make sense of what had just happened. “I know I said I wouldn’t kill anyone, I’m sorry Shiro. I didn’t know that would be a lie. I just couldn’t. . . I didn’t mean. . .” She felt lost and small, like the seven year old girl that had ran away from her burning home all those years ago. Memories of that time flooded her mind, the smell of burning, the screams. Everything had been so perfect up until that night, she didn’t remember much of her life before then but what little she did had been happy. Mostly she remembered her grandfather’s face, it was wrinkled and tired looking, but there was always a sparkle in his eyes. If there was one thing she could always count on it was that he had an adventure planned. It was almost more than she could bear now to think of it, she missed him so much, and in a way she felt as though she had let him down today. Her friend had been hurt and she had reacted by killing a man. Hugging her knees to her chest she rocked herself gently as she mourned the dead. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there on the stone bridge, blood on her hands and tears on her face. She would allow Harichimo to lead her back to the Village if he was so inclined, otherwise she would sit there until it became dark and then wander back on her own, convinced for all the world that she was now a murderer.

978/4383

{Exit Thread}

Mission Complete: 3500/3500

Training: PER B-1 > B-2 - 800 words + 200 ryo

83 words discarded

Chakra 210/250:

With the weight of the assassin bearing down on top of him and the sword now through his shoulder Harichimo was now down on his back. His eyes opened to see the nightmare image of the assassin's face wriggling and changing as his nerves were now scrambled by his technique. Every part of his body was trying to relay signals back to the brain but the jutsu had destroyed certain connections and rewired others. These scrambled signals and hectic nerve firings were culminating and deforming the man's face to be almost unrecognizable. It was then he heard a cry out that most would assume to have been from an onlooker and not the small Sayuri that had just plunged her weapon into the neck of the assassin to end his life. He smelled the burning of the man's flesh and did what he could to turn his face away as the assassin now let out his final breathes as gurgled sounds that carried blood from his mouth. Then he felt the weight shifted off of him as Sayuri stood next to him and checked on him. She seemed more shaken then anything as she spoke to him. "I am fine Sayuri it is not your fault. You did  exactly as I asked and made an opportunity for me to attack. I met him head on and he was just faster and stronger but he got cocky and forgot about the there being two of us to deal with." Harichimo would grab hold of the handle on the man's sword and slowly try to work it out of his shoulder. He knew trying to just pull it out in haste might cause more damage. In his current condition it didn't feel like a picnic to feel the blade slice as his bone and tissue as it scraped on it's way out. After he had worked it free, Harichimo would stand up and look over at the dead assassin before walking to the edge of the bridge and throwing it over the side. He looked over to Sayuri as she was now crying, shaking and talking to herself as she tried to clean her weapon. Harichimo himself would first kneel down next to the assassin and touch his hand to his chest. Harichimo would focus his chakra and activate the body elimination technique. In a flash all evidence of this fight would be gone. After the body was gone he would take his left hand and focus his medical chakra to start healing and repairing what damage had been done to his shoulder. He had no clue Sayuri would have had this kind of reaction after she agreed to take on this kind of mission with him. He would turn and walk towards Sayuri and put his right hand on her shoulder. "Sayuri, this is the harsh reality of the shinobi world. If we had not come out here to commit this act then this man might have succeeded to kill me. I thank you for agreeing to take on this mission and I would not have stood a chance without your help. There isn't any turning back the clock to undo what we have done. But we must see the side of good in this dark time. He will no longer be a threat to me or whoever sits in the seat after me." He had no clue if his words would be of any help. He used to be like Sayuri in his genin years and wanted to avoid killing if possible but after his mission with Karumo and the jounin Nanashi, Harichimo came to the understanding of his role as a shinobi of the village. Once he felt his shoulder start to feel better and mended, Harichimo would take off his monolith cloak and drape it over Sayuri's shoulder and lead her back to the village. "Once you feel better and want to talk about this please come to the administration building and I will be waiting to talk with you. For now lets get home and recover. We live to fight another day and protect the village."


697/3744


Exit Thread


3500/3500 Mission Completion
244 Remaining