Mission:

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Raphael let out a small sigh, once again finding himself in the Kirigakure border camp lending his services. Though a loyalist to the village hidden in the clouds and the Raikage in his effort to bring law and order to the land of wind, the young special jounin knew that the work that the village hidden in the mist were doing was just as important. Though the Kage's themselves did not see eye to eye on how to help the land of wind and the people that survived the fall of the village hidden in the sand, the mizukage and Raikage did share a common goal and that was the elimination of the criminals that were currently in power and taking advantage of the people who have already lost everything. So despite the differences that the Kages had Raphael would do what he must to ensure that peace was restored to the land of wind, one way or another. Today was different than in the past, normally the young special jounin worked alone or with his team of genin from the hidden cloud village however today he was working with someone from the hidden mist. Raphael did not know who it was that he would be working with only that they were to meet him near the front gate of the border camp, the boy did not care who it was that was to be his partner any more than he knew who it was, however he did know that if they slowed him down or kept him from doing his job he would take them out himself and write up a report stating that they were killed in action by the enemy. After all that has happened in this war what would one more death be, Raphael shook his head pushing such dark thoughts from his mind, what was he thinking he should not be plotting the death of his unknown partner but plotting their plan for dealing with this weapon convoy that they were being deployed on.

There have been reports of weapon shipments between the different bandit gangs, whether they were bought or stolen it did not matter the fact was that these weapons could not be left in the grasp of the enemy or else it could prove itself problematic for all four of the shinobi villages that are trying to help the people of the land of wind and eliminate the power that these bandits have over the land. The sun would be setting soon, which was when the reports about these convoys usually came in, so it would stand to reason that it is when they would find the convoy and be able to ambush it. The plan was simple, at least according to those that were assigning the mission claimed it would be, Raphael and this unknown partner of his are to sneak up upon the convoy in the cover of the night and do whatever it takes to ensure that the convoy does not reach its destination. The convoy is reportly heavily guarded meaning that stealth was going to be a key factor in this as the pair would need to take out as many of the guards as they could before the others were alerted least the pair become swarmed by the enemy. For now the young special jounin just needed to wait for his would be partner so that they can get a move on it, hopefully before the convoy gets away.

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583

A mission, they were sending her on a mission. She was being deployed in a mission with a Kumogakure special Jounin. She was supposed to meet him at the gates of their border camp. She had no idea why the powers that be thought she needed help, but there was nothing that she could really do about it. She was being given orders and while she would obey it didn’t mean she didn’t think they were stupid orders. She knew the job was to interrupt a shipment of weapons to the bandit scum that were all over the land of wind now. They were supposed to face some kind of resistance, but it wasn’t like she cared in the least. There was no number of bandits that could compete against her and the power of the Kaguya clan. Fixing her belt, and the various ninja gear pouches that she wanted to use in place securely she was ready to go. Walking to the gates of the camp she easily spotted the one that she was supposed to go on the mission with. He wasn’t hard to spot after all he wore the headband of Kumogakure much like she wore the headband of Kirigakure on her forehead as was tradtional for her when she was going to go on a mission.

She looked to the Jounin and gave him the respectful bow that did not lower her eyes from his own “I am Kaguya Machi. I am to be partnered with you for this mission that we have been given. I am ready to go now.” She said with the very simple and cold tone that was her usual speaking voice. She looked out to the desert with a frown “We need to get going unless we want to be caught in total darkness.” She said looking up to the moon which was only half full, and while it was illuminating the sands of the desert it was not bright enough. Once more her hand drifted down to her oobi touching the scroll that was tucked there holding the two weapons that were most precious to her. She wondered which one she would be better off using, and if she could use it safely. Still, this was not a point that she needed to bother with now. They had to get moving. She would look to Raphael and speak again “Lead the way, I shall follow. As a sign of respect for your rank.” She said in that same tone, but her eyes this time were hungry and seemed to size Raphael up. He was a special Jounin, but he didn’t look much older than her. If he was indeed a special Jounin as she was told, then she had hope for herself and what the world would be able to give her if she really tried. Her dream of being a hunter ninja was sprouting in her mind again as she looked the Kumo shinobi up and down once more.

When Raphael decided that the time was right, and he started to move Machi would be right behind him keeping up the best that she could. Granted he was much faster than she was, but still, she would do her best all the same. She would not bring disgrace to her clan, or her village. She would not be weak in front of this potential future enemy.

572

Raphael could not help but smile as he saw the girl approached, it was not hard to guess that the girl was the partner he had been waiting for considering that most within this base had been avoiding eye contact with him and this one was looking right at him as she approached. Raphael respectfully returned the girl's bow keeping eye contact as she had, "I am Raphael Kozai, it is a pleasure to meet you." The girl did not waste time getting to the point of why they were there which was something the boy could appreciate as he did not like to waste time either, with a simple nod the boy would take off leading the way to their target. The boy knew that the girl would not be able to keep up with him if he moved at full speed and he had no doubt that if he did they would find themselves separated in no time at all, this was not something that Raphael wanted no matter how much he wanted to rush to complete this mission or how much he believed that he did not need the girl's help he was now in charge of the girl's life and so her survival was now his responsibility whether she knew it or not. The boy moved at a speed that would keep him just a few meters ahead of the girl, not far enough that they would get separated in fact they remained close enough that if something were to happen he would be able to reach her within a second but not close enough that they would be capable of carrying on an actual conversation. Though the boy enjoyed talking and learning about people there was a time and place for everything, and this was not the time. The pair needed to focus on their task at hand, the mission was the only thing that mattered not making friends.

As the pair neared their destination of where the convoy was or travelling through, Raphael would slow his approach to a walk, giving Machi the chance to catch up the short distance she was behind him as he activated his wind sense at full range. With his jutsu the boy would be able to sense any movement within a hundred meters of him, which would allow him to sense where the convoy they were hunting was as long as they were moving. Unfortunately there was nothing which meant that the convoy was either camped out or had already moved passed this area and were now outside of his jutsus range. "There is no movement ahead but that does not mean the enemy is not there, we will need to be cautious with our approach." The boy stated in an authoritative yet calm tone of voice once the girl had caught up to him. Whether the girl agreed with him or not did not matter to him, as far as he was concerned this was his mission and so he would be calling the shots. As they topped the sand dune the boy laid his eyes upon the convoy that the pair sought, from this distance he could not see much but he saw enough to see that it was not the size that he was told it would be in his briefing and he did not see a single guard protecting it. "Something is not right, stay on your guard." Raphael said looking to the girl with a serious look upon his face as they approached the convoy of 3 wagons, he could not feel any movement but that did not mean that the enemy was not there. It was not until they were closer to the convoy that the boy's suspicion was justified, as a swarm of bandits leapt from the sand to surround the young pair.

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1229

Kozai. So, the name of the one she was working with was Raphael Kozai. She didn’t know of this clan herself, but that was likely because she really didn’t care for any village other than her own. She knew of clans that stood out, something as deadly or noteworthy as the Hyuga from the leaf, or her own clan. Yet, there were very few other beings that she actually cared to notice. She was busy with her own life, her own skill, and her own woes. She didn’t really have time for anything that wasn’t going to influence her life. Presently, they were already heading out towards their mission location. True that she was a bit slower than him, but that was nothing she could help. He was a special Jounin and if he couldn’t be faster than her, then did he really deserve such a title. No, it was only natural and despite how much she wanted to slay the man for being better than her she kept convincing herself that it was just the natural order of things and to be patient for her time would come.

She watched as Raphael was in the lead and slowed down. She caught up with him and then slowed down with him. As she walked along with him she readied herself the best she could. Raphael gave her a warning about there being a lack of movement up ahead. She wasn’t sure what that meant, or how that was of any benefit to know, but still, she said nothing. Instead, she only pulled out her scroll and summoned up one of her weapons. The pair of tonfa she summoned up appeared and grabbing them in one hand she closed her scroll with the other so that it was safely out of the way again. Now that she was armed and ready she nodded her head to the partner that she had “I am ready to fight as soon as you give the word.” She replied in a mechanical sort of fashion.

As the convoy came into sight she could see that there was something wrong. She didn’t see anyone moving around the convoy, securing it, or trying to defend it. Is that why there was no movement? Had something happened to the convoy? She couldn’t see blood on the sand, but that meant little overall. She stayed right next to Raphael as they approached the wagons. Still, she saw nothing that would cause the lack of a guard. No one was around, there were no signs of a fight, no blood stains, no bodies, not even weapons lying around broken or used at all. Instead, it was as quiet as if they had just fallen asleep or something equally stupid. That was when they were attacked. A group of bandits emerged from the sand in a fashion that told Machi that they had been waiting in a trap for anyone who came to investigate the convoy. They knew without a doubt that someone would be coming. The mission that they were on, was now an escape attempt. She looked to the convoy and immediately she began to attack it. She used her tonfa to smash up the boxes as best she could. The mission was to interrupt the convoy and so she was going to do just that. She used her tonfa to break down the wheel spokes of the wagons hitting them over and over again.

She had managed to demolish one wheel, and two crates of weapons spilling them onto the ground. That was until one of the bandits rushed at her with a sword, or rather the rusted steel that may be called a sword. She swore loudly as she brought her tonfa up to block the strike from the blade. Yet, she was not strictly defensive, and she used her right-hand tonfa to attack. She smashed the head of her tonfa into the man’s stomach. He let out a gasp of pain as he was struck. Still, Kaguya didn’t show any mercy, she didn’t have any to give. She brought her tonfa down to slap the man upside of his head with her right tonfa. He dropped to one knee trying to bring his blade up to strike at her again, but she moved away from the clumsy strike only to rush in again slapping the man in a double strike to both sides of his head as hard as she possibly could. The man’s arms dropped as his head was ringing from the blow, another succession of four quick strikes saw him into unconsciousness. He had been the fastest of the group it seemed, and she was quick to whip around ready for her next opponent which was coming at her quickly.

She smirked as she held her fingers out in a straight direction pointing them at the next opponent that was coming at her. He was wielding a pair of clubs that were small but were likely deadly. She was not about to let him get close and focusing her chakra. From her two pointer fingers, she shot the topmost bone out of them. They flew through the air and sank into the man’s chest. Seeing that her shots had hit home she dropped to one knee and began to weave the hand signs of her next jutsu placing her tonfa on the ground next to her. Dragon, Rat, Horse, and Tiger as soon as she held up the Tiger hand sign her chakra extended to the pieces of splintered wood, and to some of the weapons that had spilled on the ground. She had ten objects in hand and they formed into compressed sharpened pieces of shrapnel. The wood was more of a kunai than a shuriken, but it was well enough. All ten objects launched themselves forward. She aimed all of them at her target wanting to make sure that he was hit by most of the improvised weapons. As soon as they launched, however, she snatched up her tonfa to close the distance once again. She had to lay this one out. He managed to dodge most of the shrapnel, but four of them hit him and stuck into his legs as well as his torso. This slowed him down enough from the blows to allow Machi to close and she struck with all she was worth. She brought her tonfa up to strike at his head, his stomach, his legs, and his arms. She was not going to let him get away. With a third and fourth strike to his head, he was down, and she was backing up to the convoy a smile spreading across her face as she revealed in the battle that was now starting to really heat up.

1144
1716

Everything about the situation was wrong, the more the boy contemplated this thought the more the dread of the situation seemed to sink in. Why was there no movement at the camp, why was there no sign of any life, why was there only a few wagons, where was the rest of the convoy? All the questions had run through the boy's mind as they approached the small convoy but the last one made him pause, the whole reason he was deployed with this genin was to deal with a convoy of a large weapon shipment and it was said to be heavily guarded. What the boy saw before his eyes was not what was in the report he was given, it was something different. But it still raised the question as to why the information was wrong, the intel could of been corrupted some how. It was possible that the enemy got word about it and fled, leaving behind this little bit whether by accident or intentional. The wind and sand would of already covered the tracks if this was the case, so trying to track them would be pointless. This was a Kirigakure sanctioned mission, the knowledge of it would be limited. In fact the only reason the boy was even involved was because he had been loning his services to the village, so how was it that an enemy had gotten word of it. Could the leak had come from within Kiri, the boy thought as he glanced at his genin partner. Whether she could be trusted or not was still in the air it was possible that she was as clueless as he was, or it could be that this was something else entirely. It was in that instant the boy got the sudden feeling as if the pair of them had just stepped right into a trap, no sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he felt the movement in the wind as their assailants ascended from the sand beneath their feet and began their attack.

As the men charged at the pair, Raphael noticed the girl take off to the carts and begin destroying whatever she could. The boy had to hand it to the girl for trying to complete the assigned mission, yet he could not help but feel it was in vain. It was obvious that this was not the shipment that they were sent to intercept, no this was a trap set by a traitor and all of this was expendable. From the wagons to the crates they carried, even the men that were attacking them, to the one who orchestrated this it was all expendable. The question was why? The boy pushed his thoughts of his betrayal aside, he would have time for those thoughts later, for now he needed to focus on the task at hand. Raphael called upon is chakra within an instant, surrounding his fists in small currents of wind that could rip through those that met with his punches. The boy lunged forward at the one closest to him, with a couple of punches and a swift kick to the man's ribs saw to the man's fall. Looking to find one of the men had already made it to Machi, Raphael quickly moved to intercept the other two dealing with them as quickly as he had the first. If this was all the ambush had to offer then it was a wasted effort on the enemies part, however the numbers soon swelled as more and more continued to rise up from the sand making their way towards the pair that had unknowingly sprung their trap. The boy began firing of punch after punch knocking what he could to the ground, some made it past him but he could only hope that the girl could handle herself for the time being as there was no end in sight. The boy's fists tore through the rising wave of insurgents as the wind surrounding them ripped through cloth and flesh, their numbers were great and sure to overwhelm the pair if this fight was not squashed quickly. If the threat was not dealt with soon it could be the end for both the girl and himself, but no matter how many the boy seemed to knock down more just kept coming there was no question that himself and the girl would be out matched.

The boy's fist just were not going to cut it much longer and it soon began to seemed as if the more he fought the more enemies he was faced, there was but one choice left to be made. The boy channeled wind chakra down into his left foot, as soon as he had the chance he dropped to the sand performing a very quick leg sweep sending out the built up chakra in an arc, the arc travelled out before making a mid size tornado that crashed into the enemy forces as they charged the pair. There were those struck by the tornado and sent flying into the air, and yet others still that were only deterred by the tornado before moving around it and onward with the assault. It was clear that this enemy was not going to give up, but the delay in their attack thanks to his whirlwind was all that the boy needed. Using the brief pause in their attack the boy quickly closed the gap between himself and the genin Machi, "stay close," were the boy's only words as he quickly formed a string of handseals. Serpent, Tiger, Bird, Serpent, Dragon. Creating the Dragon seal the boy called out, "Kaze Ryūjin!" The pair was surrounded by a strong force of wind before it formed a large fifteen meter tall, five meter wide dragon made of wind flowing around them like a tornado. The swirling wind of the dragon would be capable of protecting the pair from the continued onslaught but it would not last forever, though the assailants had not used chakra yet it did not mean that they couldn't. It was possible that once they realize that they would never get through his dragon with normal weaponry, if they can use chakra they would start. The boy was not about to wait around to find out nor was he the patient type, keeping the attackers at bay gave him the time he needed to formulate a plan for him and the genin to escape. Forming a ball of chakra into his hand, the boy pumped it with even more chakra causing it to form a ball of light the size of his palm. This ball of luminescent chakra would not be able to rid the pair of the attackers, but it would cover their escape. "Cover your eyes," the boy stated in a low voice so the others could not hear over the howling wind of his jutsu as he looked back to his partner. Then with a wink the boy tossed the ball of glowing chakra into the air closing his eyes as well, launching it straight above the Dragon before exploding in a brilliant flash of blinding light that would render anyone looking upon it completely blind. Cries of pain could be heard from the attackers as they tried to late to shield their eyes, once he heard them he knew at least most of them had fallen for his jutsu. With that the boy released his dragon and grabbed the genin by her shoulders, "with me," he stated before bodyflickering away from the bandits. There was no doubt in the boy's mind that this was all a trap, and the person behind it was somewhere within the Kirigakure base camp. He did not know who it was but he was going to find out.

{Exit Thread}

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2538

Mission Completed: -1500
Remaining words Saved for training: (1038)

Machi knew that this many people were just too many. The convoy was small true enough and she had been doing her best to destroy the foes she had. She found herself a moment that she was free and again turned to destroy even more of the crates and the carts. She did not want to let this mission be a failure, she would do all she could to destroy the weapons. She was free for another moment and smashed up another crate. However, she looked back to see someone coming at her as fast as he was able to. It was clear that he had gotten away from Raphael. She turned to face him. He was the faster it was true, and he closed the distance managing to land a blow against Machi’s cheek. However, as she felt no pain this didn’t stop her in the least. She brought her Tonfa up to stab the man in the stomach with the two tonfa heads bringing him to his knees. With four quick slaps to his head with both of her tonfa she brought him down into unconsciousness. She knew that her weapons were not going to be able to kill anyone, but they would render her foes unconscious and that was all she really needed right now.

She had a break and was breathing hard. She knew that she had been hit in the face, so she spit and found that there was indeed blood in her mouth. He had done some damage, and she knew that the damage was likely worse than she knew. There was a negative to not feeling anything, and so she had to be careful. Still, this point gave her the ability to think and she realized immediately that this was a trap. Someone somewhere was trying to trap her. Her mind flashed back to the warnings of her father. Her clan had once been trapped before, they were led into a trap and slaughtered down to the last. Her heartbeat quickened as she realized what was happening. She hated it, but she couldn’t abandon the fight, she wouldn’t, it was just against everything she believed in. Her nature was to fight, even against odds as hopeless as this she would fight. Yet, at the same time she couldn’t bring herself to fall victim to the same kind of shady tactics that had murdered so many of her clan. She fought an internal battle with herself to try and figure out what her next step would be. What her next goal would be. She couldn’t retreat, not while there were opponents in front of her, she wouldn’t, she refused. Yet, she also couldn’t die here, she wouldn’t die here. Not like this. Her intellectual quandary was interrupted by yet another opponent. She only just brought up her weapon in time to block his kick, but the blow caused her arm to bend towards her. She didn’t like the way it bent like that, but she had no choice. Using her leg, she swept the man’s own and forced him to fall. She continued down with him smashing him again and again with her tonfa. Her right arm looked to be slower than her left, so she knew something was seriously wrong with it. Still, she battered the man into unconsciousness and only stopped when his body stopped twitching.

Standing he removed her scroll and resealed her tonfa inside. No sooner had she done so than Raphael was right next to her. Rolling up the scroll one handed she tucked it back into the holster. He told her to stay close and she nodded her head. She could feel it. The illness that was part of her bloodline. She had no way to stop the effects that were coming. As she knelt there she began to cough violently the cough a sick, rough, and disturbing sound. She coughed and coughed all while he started to protect them from the foes with that dragon. Telling her to close her eyes was stupidly redundant as she was forced to close her eyes with her coughing fit. She heard the cries of pain and well knew that the flash of light she had seen beyond her eyelids was something disabling. Her choice was made for her, she would be forced to retreat. There was no say in the matter. Her choice had been made for her, and she sighed shaking her head. When the dragon was down and the Jounin told her to follow along she did so using her own body flicker jutsu to keep up with him. When they were far enough away and running she quickly began to cough again stumbling, but she was not about to stop here. She glanced to Raphael, and then towards the direction of the Kirigakure camp, someone had betrayed her, and her village. She was not about to assume that it was her directly, but the paranoid side of her knew that the trap had been set for someone, and if not for her, then for who? Was the Mizukage going to try and kill off more of her clan yet again like the Mizukage of the past? No, that wasn’t going to happen. She shook her head coughing and trembling. She would report in, and if she ever found out who the traitor was, she would murder them as painfully, and as slowly as was possible.
(Exit Thread)

926
2636
Mission complete: -1500
Extra Ryo: 25 R 100/100
Training:
白菊の舞 (Shiragiku no Mai - Dance of the Chrysanthemum.) D rank Jutsu: 750/750 (80 Ryo)
Perception: E to E2 -225 words O R

61 words left and discarded.