Mission Details:

Though it happened a few days later than expected, it was inevitable that Rokumaru would eventually run out of the ryo received from missions undertaken so long ago. He could have made it last a bit longer, but the sights and experiences of the great Leaf village took advantage of how mind-numbingly boring it was in the ruins of Suna; having spent months without the luxuries offered by a Hidden Village, how could he not partake? The redhead had eaten better in the few days since his arrival than his entire stay in the desert. He was definitely getting his higher standards and snobbish demeanor back, an improvement if he could say so.

And so when his ryo ran out Rokumaru was forced to seek employment, something he looked forward to doing as it had been so long since he could claim to be doing anything productive. The fact that he had lost a spar to a stranger named Kisei also meant he had lost the bet the two had made, and Roku wanted to put that obligation rest as quickly as possible. To get the funds necessary for their social call over a meal he would need to finish a mission or two. Yet despite how out of practice he seemed to be, simple D’s and C’s were too low-risk/low-reward for him to bother with. Rokumaru wanted to finally finish a B-Ranked mission, but not on his own.

The redhead had harassed Kisei to join him on a mission during the travel back to the village after their spar the day before, claiming that he couldn’t afford to complete the bet unless he could pick up a mission from the Leaf-nin and finish it, and that as the victor in the duel Kisei would be valuable help on a dangerous mission. Mostly he wanted someone along to take the edge off performing a mission that was ranked higher than he had been in Suna, but another part of him wanted to see the youth’s umbrella and pinwheels go against someone that wasn’t himself. And if he was getting a meal out of that spar on Roku’s dime, the least he could do was help out, right?

The two had went their separate ways after their battle with plans to meet at the North Gate of Konoha, after Rokumaru picked up a mission scroll from the administration building, and the Leaf Chūnin seemed to have no issue handing out a B-Ranked mission to a lone foreigner to his surprise and irritation. He would not be alone, thankfully enough, and kept this in mind when selecting which mission to undertake. The variety included protection missions and hunting for criminals, but another scroll caught is eye. The paper detailed how a lone bear had been wreaking havoc on the rural inhabitants of Hi no Kuni, already having racked up a body count, and this was the mission he chose for himself and Kisei.

Taking a copy of the scroll (as apparently the mission had been taken before, to little success) and stuffing it in his pocket Rokumaru left the administration building and made his way to the North Gate, all while ignoring the various food shops and stands he passed along the way. He was not truly broke, having a few hunted ryo left to spare, but thinking about going bankrupt for real was an embarrassing thought that dulled the hunger he was feeling. There would be plenty of time for that after he and that violet-eyed boy were finished beating on some bear. Did bear meat have any value as food? He couldn’t remember hearing of anyone who ate bear, but it could have been a regional thing. Roku had not even seen a bear outside of a book on the fauna of Hi no Kuni.

The time was just shortly after 0800 in the morning and as the sun rose higher in the sky the streets of Konoha began to grow filled with civilians, many who moved aside at the sight of his Suna flak jacket and the hourglass headband hanging loosely from his neck. He arrived at the gate within a few minutes of leaving the administration building and, after notifying the guard on duty that he would require reentry after his mission was completed, stood beside the tall stone curtain wall that surrounded Konoha and waited for a boy with strange purple eyes to show up.

754

Kisei wasn’t too keen on getting on with jobs so soon into his move, although, when a cute guy keeps bothering you to take them on a duo mission are you suppose to say no? Plus he wouldn’t be able to go on lunch with Rokumaru if they didn’t get the money. So yeah, there was that. Kisei had left the choice of mission up to the Sabaku red head so he himself had no idea what kind of job they would be working today. So naturally, he took everything with him. His newly improved pinwheel and umbrella, and a single scroll containing his most recent creation. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, the Ushinatta would much rather surprise the sand puppeteer when he was more experienced, but he didn’t have any idea what kind of mission Rokumaru signed them up for so best to bring it in case of emergency.

As he left the laboratory he glanced patentically to a large machine in the corner and he sighed before he left, ‘I should really talk to him about that’. He thought solemly.

The trek through the village was short and stiff. Jumping from roof top to roof top to avoid the usual traffic of the ground bound roads and streets. The humid heated air of the summer leaf village blew through Kisei’s hair, making him regret in the back of his mind his choice of wardrobe. All black. His thoughts were quiet otherwise. The craftman touched two fingers to his lips lightly, contemplating how they would feel-

“Forget about me so soon, Kisei?” A long ingrained voice asked to his right side.

The Ushinatta didn’t even have to look to know who it was. “Strange to see you so soon, my love.” He hummed warmly. “Usually you wait a bit longer between your visits.”

He could almost hear them shrug.

“I thought I’d stop by a bit sooner, try and cheer ya up.” They giggled knowingly. Oh god, did they know about that thing that he did…? He thought dejectedly.

“And yes I do know.” Kill me now. “But I don’t mind.” At that Kisei snapped his head towards his first crush. Their golden eyes soft with love and warmth free of all judgement of disgust. He slowed his leaps to a crawl, and eventually stopped. The ghost of his love’s memory hovering in front of him. “You-u aren’t?” his hand in a loose fist. They shook their head side to side. “Of course I’m not mad. I’m dead.” They laughed, the joke soaring over Kisei’s head until he proccessed the lame pun.

“Not funny A-” he started, but they pressed a finger to his lips silencing him.

“I don’t mind Kisei, because I love you, and you love me. That’s enough.” They smiled, retracting their small hand. “I’m dead, you’re alive. We both have suffered plenty in our lives, you more than me.” Their gaze cast downwards, a bit guilty for bringing up past pains. “I just want to see you happy. So go, go and find happiness.” They beamed, giving Kisei that same, star beaming smile that never ceased to catch his heart. Their hair gradually turned pale, before breaking off like snow, slowly his entire began to dissolve but their smile never wavered. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget to drop by sometime.”

---

By the time Kisei had finally reached Rokumaru’s disegnated meeting spot the tears had dried up and he had managed to make himself look at least a bit presentable. He took note of their cloak and headband, a small chuckle caught in his throat. Ever the Sunagakure nationalist. His thoughts traced back to the discussion he had earlier and a blush filled his cheeks but he didn’t show any acknowledgement of it. ‘Go find happiness’.

Quietly he walked towards them with a quick wave. “Hey there Rokumaru. Looking good.” So, subtle. “So where are we heading today? Nothing too dangerous eh?”


686

To his immense satisfaction he did not have to wait around long before the purple-hued boy he had met the day earlier showed up, an amicable wave thrown up at the sight of him; Kisei seemed a bit red in the face which made Rokumaru hope he had not rushed to be early for their meeting, having hoped to ride his comrade’s coattails through the mission. The boy greeted the redhead and complimented his looks, Roku waving off the sarcastic comment while he rolled his eyes despite the amused smirk he wore. Kisei pressed him for information on whatever mission he had chosen, something not too difficult whatever it was. Rokumaru retrieved the mission scroll from his pocket and handed it off for his partner to read. “Just a bit of extermination on the Leaf’s behalf, some bear with a body count. Finding the thing should be the hardest part.” He gestured towards the well-traveled path that lead deeper into the dense forests of Hi no Kuni and set off to get the mission underway.

Though they could have made faster progress by traveling through the trees as many shinobi did Rokumaru instead chose to walk sedately to the location just a handful of miles away where the bear had been seen. The sun had hours remaining before it would it’s peak and the mission was not time-sensitive per se, so the redhead chose to conserve his energy on the way there. The prospect of fighting and killing a single bear did not hold much weight in his mind; from what he understood bears did not possess chakra and were simple creatures, and any animal could not handle the pressure of facing two shinobi at a single time. And if what he had seen from Kisei in their previous spar was any indication the boy could handle himself against a close-range fighter due to his evasion skills and the equipment he used.

As Konoha’s high curtain wall was finally obscured by the dense treeline behind them Rokumaru took a moment to appraise Kisei while they continued walking. He had no visible indicators of any clan heritage that the redhead could recognize, and his face did not feel familiar enough to think that they had met while Suna was still around, so the bright-eyed boy was somewhat of a mystery. Mysteries and enigmas in his line of work made Roku uneasy and he chose to begin relieving this feeling.

“So Kisei,” Roku broke the silence that had fallen since the clamor of the village had died out in the distance, “I’m curious about your life before the attack. Do you come from any sort of clan? Do you have any loved ones that managed to escape the destruction?” He looked at the boy expectantly, waiting for him to fork over his backstory, but realized that Kisei might not be as forthcoming about what had happened as he was. “Forgive my nosiness, I don’t get many opportunities to discuss the old times.” If Kisei was not inclined to share than he would not press the topic, but he would listen completely if the teen had something to say.

The mission scroll noted that this particular bear was dangerous due to its aggressiveness towards humans and mentioned that almost all attacks had occurred directly on or not far from the stone and dirt pathway that hundreds traveled through every day; Rokumaru knew that they had reached the right area when the trees to either side of the path began to show very recent signs of being clawed at. The redhead stopped walking to look at the marks, and closer inspection revealed that the gouges were at least a few inches in depth at even the most shallow parts. It must have been a truly large bear indeed, as he seemed to recall that domestic black bears were more frightened of humans than vice-versa unless someone began feeding them. The dark thought that a few unfortunate souls did end up feeding this one crossed his mind, and he smirked at the prospect of becoming a meal for some forest creature.

Turning to Kisei, he nodded at the clawed tree. “I have a plan, if you’d rather not traipse through the trees looking for this thing. I’ll make two or three shadow clones and send them out until one finds the bear. If it doesn’t dispel the clone I’ll try to lure it out here in the open so we can ambush it.” If Kisei had a better plan then he was more than willing to act it out; forming the necessary handsign and channeling chakra several puffs of white smoke materialized all around him, and after waving the smoke clear he stood beside 2 perfect copies of himself. The copies walked in separate directions into the forest hoping that the bear would catch their scent and be lured in.

Rokumaru, happy to leave the dirty work to his constructs, moved to the grassy expanse to the side of the path and sat down as he waited for his clones to be caught. The ground beneath was still soft and damp from the early morning dew and he ran his fingers through the grass appreciatively, admiring the landscape for what it was. He had another purpose for the earth, unfortunately, and patted the ground in apology.

Holding the Bird seal as he sat silently, molding Fūton chakra, the grass in front of him began to vibrate and shake from an unseen pressure acting against it. The carving vacuum his technique created bit into the earth and immedieately began to grind the grass and hard-packed dirt beneath into minuscule specks and shards. The grass drifted through the newly formed sand that flowed into Rokumaru’s lap as he continued to carve a spherical hole into the ground that caused a rather irritating grinding noise to pierce the surrounding area. Just another part of luring the bear to them, as it would hopefully check out whatever made this ungodly racket after being disappointed by a mouthful of dispelled clone smoke.

Before long the redhead had a respectable amount of sand piled up in his lap that he shifted his fingers through, a modest 5m³, but enough for his low-level Sabaton stuff. Standing up and stepping onto the pile of sand he turned to Kisei, hoping for some last-minute conversation in case his plan was successful. “Do you enjoy ramen, Kis?” Thinking back to the restaurant that had blown him away just a few days prior, he thought of places to go to uphold his bet. “There’s a pretty solid place back in the Leaf.”

1129 | 1883

Chakra - 78.3/300:

Strange job today... Bear hunting? Didn't really seem like a mission for ninja to handle. Although who knows what Leaf Village ninja have to do on a daily basis so Kisei supposed he shouldn't be complaining with a familiar extermination job. They were certain killing a soft fleshed bear would be easier than the steel exo-skeleton of the desert's giant scorpions. Who knows, maybe some poor leaf ninja are hunting giant snakes somewhere else. Though who would sponsor for a job like that Kisei couldn't say he would know.

As the two of them headed off for their assignment Kisei followed next to Rokumaru though let him lead slightly ahead of himself. Kisei had really that the land of fire had its fair share of enstranged and lethal beasts; but 'bear' did come up beyond the few random deaths in some obscure paper.

His thoughts on their target were interrupted when Roku asked about his life, before it went to shit; again. The Ushinatta hesitated a bit in his step at first but didn't give any more indication of his thoughts.  Now Kisei was under no impressions that life in the sand village was a walk in the park. Mostly because they didn't have parks, or cool ones at least. Just hot ones. Puns aside it wasn't too bad a life, a lot more work than he was used to at first but with both him and his brother working as ninja they were kept busy from the depressing grind of it all. When he looks back at it he couldn't remember being more excited or relaxed. A tiny bit cocky and reckless than he probably should've been, but come on, how could he not love being a ninja? How to explain that to this guy though...? Oh, and didn't they have other things they were wondering about too?

"It's no problem Rokumaru, just a surprise. While I don't hail from a clan per se, but my people are called the Ushinatta by the collective community of scientists and researchers who know about us from what I'm given to understand. Sadly we aren't too united, the only one I know of besides me is my brother..."  Kisei drifted off as he noticed something was wrong with Rokumaru. Following their line of sight he saw what they were looking at. "The trees..." There were dangerously deep gashes into the tree bark, on multiple adult trees. At first he may have passed them off as knife marks but on closer inspection they were much to wild for a precise knife cut.

The Ushinatta wasn't aware of the strength most bears possessed, being much more familiar with the steel hum of pure steel. But something capable of causing cuts this deep, they must be quite the threat.
Especially on common roads.

Kisei half-hearted listened to his partner's suggestion as he inspected the damage marks, but he still paid enough attention to make an informed decision. "Well I would much rather have them take a bite out of a clone than either of us ." He agreed to the plan. Listening as Rokumaru prepared another one of his sand techniques, judging by the grinding sound anyways, and asked him about his opinion on ramen. On another moment Kisei would engage more closely with his companion but he was seriously worried about this bear ambushing them and kept a close ear and eye out for any threats while measuring the trees and the distance between them. Calculating angles and spaces between them.  Hm.. he may not need his puppet after all.

Unraveling his pinwheel he gripped it tightly with his left hand, umbrella in his right. He turned to Rokumaru, "I sense they'll be here soon." And not a moment those words left his lips did he feel the ground trembling and the vicious snap of the thin trees snapping backwards behind the two of them.

"Get ready." Kisei warned as he turned to face their target.


680 | 1266

300/300:

Kisei did not react much to the mission that he had chose which made Rokumaru think he wasn’t too upset or excited about it enough to bother commenting on, which made it a successful pick in his books. The redhead snatched the envelope back when his companion had finished reading and folded it several times before stuffing the package back into his flak jacket. The two set off towards the area the bear was known to operate in without another word. The purple-hued boy followed behind him closely as they entered a denser region of the forest.

As they walked Roku interrupted his partner’s silent musing to question him more about his family, and if any had survived the attack. Kisei surprised him when the boy admitted the Ushinatta were not truly a clan but instead the term for whatever his people were coined by scientists and researchers. This information was far different from what the redhead had expected him to say; what exactly about the Ushinatta was there for scientists and researchers to study that differentiated them from a clan? It was like a frayed string poking up from his sleeve, tempting him to pull it out and see where it ended, but the sight of clawed bark and wounded trees made the boy remember what was at stake. Kisei took notice of the claw marks as well, and they halted on the road to appraise them.

Rokumaru laid out his half-baked plan to lure out the bear with some shadow clones that Kisei agreed to, stating that he too would feel better with a clone in danger than one of them instead. The redhead made a quick hand motion to bring a few clones into existence and went about breaking down some of the hard-packed soul beneath his feet into some useable sand. The gourd he kept sealed did not contain enough of the substance to justify the encumbrance of the thing, so what he made out here was all that would be available to use. Grimacing at the stones nestled in the soil that took more effort to grind down, Rokumaru remembered just why he liked the desert so much despite its drawbacks. Sure the air was dry and sweltering, and stepping in the burrow of a viper was not an uncommon occurrence, but at the very least there was more sand than even he could handle there. But here there was just packed earth and soil, and countless trees.

His silent complaints shifted to being unhappy with how much greenery there was for all sorts of creatures like bears to hide in here, and that shifted to thinking about how he would spend the money he made from the target bear’s corpse. Rokumaru called out to his partner as the young man stood silently while scanning the treeline, questioning him regarding his opinion on ramen- which was quickly becoming a staple in the gaunt redhead’s diet while here- but Kisei ignored him. Instead he continued to watch the trees for their target. Roku shrugged and returned his focus to the slowly growing pile of sand around his feet; Kis must be someone who keeps their business and pleasure separate. Or he was just as afraid and uncertain of what a bear could do as Rokumaru was, and was simply indulging his caution rather than shoving it down like the redhead did.

Kisei caught his attention when the teen unraveled the pinwheel weapon and held it at the ready before calling to Roku that he could sense something coming. The boy had sharp senses, as only a moment after came the sounds of wood snapping and the sudden memories of a clone who did not see what had killed it. Rokumaru shook his head to clear the haziness the dispelled clone brought, and sifted through its final visual memories; leaves falling all around, the loud crack of a branch and a shadow appearing on the ground beside it that grew to the size of what he now knew was a bear. The clone had died staring at the shadow, but it’s end had turned some some rather interesting info; the bear had been laying in a tree and pounced on his clone from above. The dreaded drop-bear. Roku had thought it a myth that Konoha-nin told to scare foreigners. It was out of the tree now, at least.

The bear had obviously been upset to have its prey erupt into a cloud of smoke rather than a pink mist and was now coming to them, if the slight tremors in the ground were any indication. Rokumaru’s sand erosion technique bit into a particularly dense stone at his behest that yielded an absolutely horrendous grinding noise that made his teeth hurt, but if the increased pace of the tremors were any indication then the bear had caught onto their location as planned.

Falling leaves from a shaking branch was the fanfare that accompanied the dreaded bear’s appearance. And, truthfully, it looked like what he had seen in books; it’s fur was a dull bluish-black color that had become grey around its face, back and legs and it’s overall build reminded him of a oversized, muscular rat. But the vicious maw of yellowed teeth that opened up to release a growl upon sighting the redhead making such a noise made the more unsettling features stand out; the blood crusted in the fur around its mouth, piercing yellow eyes that did not stray from him for a moment. A standard kunai stood upright at an angle from the bear’s left shoulder, as though it had been stabbed in rather than thrown in. The bear was a warrior, and by comparison Rokumaru did his best to stay on the mound of sand he had created rather than hoping he could outrun Kisei. Judging from its size, staring at Roku eye-to-eye despite the fact it stood on all fours and corded with so much muscle that looked like steel, it would probably beat both of them in an all-out sprint.

The bear made no further introductions as it immediately took off after Rokumaru, eliminating his hopes of escape after seeing the speed it could reach. So used to being an observer in such dangerous situations it took a moment for Rokumaru to remember it was just him and Kisei against this thing, and by then it had cleared nearly 20 meters. 20 more and it would have its jaws around the real version of what it had killed earlier, and this thought made Rokumaru’s first move against the beast certain.

Kisei had done an excellent job of keeping him harassed and bothered during their spar, so his plan was to leave the bear open to his partners attacks. Calling on one of his few one-seal jutsu, Rokumaru moulded Doton chakra and released it. Immediately the ground between himself and the bear became a stretch of thick mud that the bear stepped on to reach its target, losing its balance after placing its weight on a leg that slid out from under it and the bear slid along on its side as it let out a surprised yelp. It’s weight and speed still sent in in Rokumaru’s direction, along with a good deal of mud thrown up by its trashing paws, and the redhead had to throw himself to the side when the bear slid straight through where he had been standing a moment ago. He picked himself up as the bear came to a halt on the soil, a large chunk of missing sand with mud all around it an indicator that his precious mound had been defiled, and with a wave of his hand the sand moved like a wave to rain down on the bear. As the bear pulled itself to its feet a sudden extension of Rokumaru’s fingers solidified the falling sand into a pointed spike, which was stabbed forcefully into the bear’s flank. A deep yowl shook the branches of the trees around them as it thrashed, shaking the sand back into its lifeless form, and Rokumaru took the time to begin a new string of handsigns as it got back to its feet while walking backwards to add space between himself and the bear.

1401 | 3284

Chakra - 143.3/300:

Kisei braced himself as Rokumaru's digging prompted a wailing grinding noise. Not a few moments later a second tremor source moving towards them. In no time at all a massive bear appeared on the scene before them. It was the weapon smith's first time actually seeing a bear in the flesh. The experience left a lot to be desired. This one seemed less of a bear and more of a shell of a living being. His analysis was disrupted Kisei was near Rokumaru but not close enough to move him to safety or defend him when it charged forward. For now he would have to leave the sand ninja's protection to themselves.

To which he was pleasantly surprised to see their capabilities. With a single hand sign they produced a river of mud, forcing the massive bear to slip and slide through it, into his mud pile. Kisei kept watch on the encounter as he got into a better position for his attack. Taking advantage of the aggro Rokumaru drew to him. He pushed off the ground an into the treeline, a small backflip landing him a position onto a low branch. It was at that point that the bear howled, a deep, sharp roar that echoed through the forest. From his current angle he couldn't tell exactly what it was but just by tone alone it was most likely an injury.

"Prepare for retribution bear, your life will serve as tribute for the lives you have taken. Farewell." All emotion left Kisei, preparing himself mentally for what he was about to do. With his right hand he wielded his umbrella, pointed straight at the bear's left hind leg. With no remorse in his heart he clicked the trigger on his umbrella. Instantly the forestry around them was illuminated in pale blue light as a sphere of pure energy. A much more powerful blast than what Rokumaru had to deal with before.

Because unlike that time, this was designed to kill.

But even then Kisei had to bat an eye when the sphere engulfed the entire body of the bear. Scorching fur and flesh with third degree burns. 'It seems I underestimated how much a three degree radius blast can cover.' The Ushinatta thought, a tad bit embarrassed. He leapt down to the ground right next to the hairless bear. From afar it looked as if the blast had finished it off. However it was obvious they were alive, if only bear-ly. The minute twitches of muscle as they tried to move, only to fall to the ground: still alive.

Swiftly Kisei brought his pinwheel up above the bear's neck. "Farewell. Perhaps there will be a next life for you, let's hope you don't screw that up too." With his final words said Kisei flicked on the pinwheel, the buzz saw like sound almost hauntingly frightening. It almost was like it wasn't the same machine as he remembered. With no mercy the young ninja brought down the spinning blades of his weapon down on the bear's neck.

It took no effort to cut through the meat, the artistic curve of the pinwheel blades carving it up like a butcher shop, the flesh flying out the side in somewhat organized patterns. Having been recut again and again as it flew through the blades. As it sunk deeper the steel meet with bone and cut that too. Another moment and it would sever the head completely.

He turned to Rokumaru, going to wipe the sweat from his brow. Then realizing that it wasn't sweat. It was too thick for that. This was blood. The Ushinatta looked down on himself. Blood inside his body chilled at the sight. "Well, I probably should have changed into some less dressy clothes when I agreed to go on this mission with you." Kisei sighed. His one good eye centered back on the red headed sand ninja. "You head back without me. I need to clean up before I head back to the village."

Without waiting to hear his answer Kisei backflipped back up into the tree line, headed straight into the nearest river he could recall.

---

"You know when I said do what makes you happy I didn't mean vivisect a bear." Kisei's dead boyfriend complained. Their image already stripped down and swimming in the blue Waters of the warm river. The Ushinatta shrugged. Stripping on their clothes and emptying out his pockets of everything. Already having sealed the weapons earlier he only needed to seal his wallet. Another puff of smoke and the small void of a pouch was gone. Leaving a naked Kisei dragging his clothes into the waters with him. Taking thorough care to wash the blood out of the fabrics before laying them down on the flat grass by the river side, working on his own body next.

"You saying that I enjoyed killing that creature." Kisei retorted

His lover turned away.

"Well it wasn't as if you didn't dislike it."

"Doesn't mean I did like it though."

"Yeah.."

Kisei ducked under the water, scrubbing his face before breaking back to the surface. There was something refreshing about the whole 'washing yourself in a river thing'. It almost made him want to install a river bath in the lab. Though the logical path of him knew he could never handle the water bill, or the construction costs.

"Would be better if Roku were here though." Kisei sighed. It was kinda awkward to have him take them out for a meal after he brutally killed that bear. Shared baths had a way of making things like that less.... Awkward.

"You got that right." His love interjected.

"A-!" I started.

"Yeah yeah don't need to be so embarrassed I won't say anything." They teased.

Kisei slumped, taking another dive into the river to focus on his hair. Either way, it would seem he would be eating ramen alone in his lab tonight.


1007

The beast pulled itself onto its feet despite the wound in its flank, a single stream of dark red blood flowing down its right leg that matted the fur it ran across. Rokumaru had put some distance between himself and the bear but he knew how little that mattered; from what he could remember of the book detailing the fauna of Hi no Kuni, a bear could outpace a horse in speed on flat ground. The bears in that book were supposed to be average sized, and the information it contained applied to those of a certain size, but this creature had to be more than two feet taller on its hind legs and at least a few hundred kilos heavier than its more common cousins. Fifteen feet separated him and the bear as it used the iron-like muscles in its hind legs to push off the ground and charge straight at the redhead who had wounded it. While normally he had no difficulty keeping track of multiple things at one time the unfamiliar stress of combat distracted Rokumaru and he lost track of Kisei almost immediately after the bear had emerged from the tree line. The thought that his counterpart had abandoned him to fight this thing alone was completely unfathomable, as it would take more than a single woodland animal to scare off someone like a shinobi. He hoped.

The bear would clear the distance between them in less than a few seconds and Rokumaru did not waste any time forming the seals of his stronger Fūton technique, Vacuum Wave; the jutsu required him to spin as well, something that would eat up even more precious time, but he could only hope the bear was hindered enough by the wound to give him the moments he needed. It seemed unlikely, as the bear’s gait barely seemed affected by the shallow puncture wound it had taken from the sand. In three seconds it had cleared half the distance between them both, just as Rokumaru finished his hand signs, and he was unsure if he could finish the technique before the bear crashed into him.

A flash of bright light from the tree line was the only warning that preceded the orb of bright blue light that smashed into the mobile bear, knocking it off it’s feet even as it’s fur and flesh was seared to blackness from the considerable energy within the projectile. Rokumaru recognized the attack immediately, feeling no small amount of sympathy for the bear as he himself had been struck by the discharge from Kisei’s strange umbrella, but he was intrigued to see the youth could apparantly scale the damage that the projectile could cause. The ball of energy that had hit him was solid and he still felt the tenderness in his ribs from yesterday’s spar, but it had not brought with it extreme heat and excruciating burns like this one did. The bear was thrown off its feet by the attack and landed in a heap a meter away from where it had been charging towards Rokumaru.

Kisei landed beside the charred, moaning bear with a trajectory that revealed he had hidden himself among the trees while its focus had been on Roku. The redhead approached the two, shaking his hands free of the pent-up Fūton chakra that had been prepared for his jutsu while Kisei unslung the pinwheel weapon he carried alongside the umbrella. The blades whirred to life as they cut through the air audibly, rotating fast enough to make the blades appear as one solid mass from the motion blur. The violet-eyed shinobi brought the blades down on the bear’s neck to finish it off; the bear simply heaved with the breathes shuddering through its damaged body, looking off in the distance absently while awaiting death. It gave a single, low moan as the blades bit through the flesh of its burly neck like butter as the pinwheel continued to cleave its head from its body. The pained look in its eyes, and the involuntary tremors running through its limbs, faded as it died moments before the blades sawed through its spinal column with a sickening crackle that overcame the sheer volume of the whirring pinwheel as it rotated faster than the eyes could keep up with.

There were many philosophies among shinobi when it came to killing and the death of others, and it seemed Kisei followed a detached and solemn approach. The words he spoke to the bear before putting it out of its, and Konoha’s, misery were somber, though Rokumaru took some small offense on the bear’s behalf when Kisei voiced his hope that it would not screw up in its next life should it happen to reincarnate. The redhead knew that wild animals could only follow their base instincts due to lacking any substantial sentience, focused solely on prolonging its own life and seeking to bear children, and this bear had simply been overcome by a bloodlust its primal brain believed was necessary. True, it had killed defenseless civilians and underprepared shinobi alone, but the bear was obviously a true carnivore that had seen its own fair share of battle. Looking down on the bear for its aggressiveness felt petty to Rokumaru and he had to keep the sneer from his face as he watched Kisei behead the animal. He did not want to antagonize one of the few remaining Suna-nin for a perceived slight, so he simply watched while standing just far enough to escape the blood painting the ground around them.

The pinwheel sliced through the bear’s neck and severed its head, the blood-soaked body part rolling to a stop just a few centimeters from where it had been attached to its neck. Whereas the umbrella could be adjusted to produce attacks of varying degrees of severity, this pinwheel seemed to have a single setting: cut. Flashbacks of the spar the previous day revealed just how serious Kisei had been, as Roku could have been severely injured had the blades struck him. It made the spar seem like an actual life-or-death fight, at least on Kisei’s part, as Rokumaru began to realize just how much his counterpart had been trying to win. There was nothing about the dark-haired boy to suggest that he had sufficient medical training to treat such an injury as deep lacerations or even an amputation should he have struck true. He could have left Roku in a bloody heap and done nothing more than watch as he bled out, in a nameless clearing of the foreign forest of Hi no Kuni, alone. If Rokumaru had not spent the past months suppressing his anger and practicing his restraint, he would have challenged Kisei to a rematch that he wouldn’t hold back in. The anger was unjustified, as Kisei had likely been sparring as he was used to, and he knew it was only himself he had to blame for underestimating the smaller youth. A mistake he would not make again; when their rematch came, and it definitely would, he would make sure there was enough sand around to actually be useful. God, how he missed the desert.

The blood-soaked weapon user wiped a hand across his face, smearing the sticky substance across his forehead, and the look of surprise Kisei had as he realized just how coated in gore he was made the whole trip worthwhile; Roku turned his head as he fought down the pleased grin, schooling his expression before his partner could see it. Rokumaru had remained clean and proper in comparison, barely even sweating due to how quickly Kisei had dispatched the creature, and he took satisfaction at the displeasure the boy held at being covered in blood. More than enough to make up for his overzealous behavior in the spar, so Roku felt they were even.

Kisei noted how he should have worn something he wouldn’t mind dirtying in a way that forced a laugh from Roku, amused with his counterpart’s deadpan humor. The dark-haired teen told his red-haired associate to head back without him while he cleaned himself off as he was likely picturing he welcome a gore-soaked rōnin would recieve. “Good idea,” Rokumaru agreed, “thanks for helping out; I might’ve had to break a sweat if you weren’t around.” He smiled at the thought of escaping any real hard work, satisfied to have been little more than a distraction for Kisei’s deadly attacks. Giving one last look at the corpse, remembering that bear meat was reportedly sinewy and unfit for consumption, and let the temptation to take a chunk of flesh from the beast for his own appraisal pass without acting on it. Giving Kisei a nod, he turned to leave. “I’ll see you around the village. We’ll go hold up my end of the bet when we see each other again.” Taking a moment as he passed by the bear to stoop down and shut the animal’s eyelids before rigor mortis set in and pick it up by the fur to take with him as proof of the missions success, he returned to the Leaf while leaving the surprisingly deadly Kisei behind.

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[Mission Complete]
[Thread Exit]

Word Count Assignment:

After thoroughly washing out all the blood from his body moved towards the shore to inspect his clothes, checking on the progress they made for drying. Stepping out of the river's water in all his naked glory, he gracefully swayed over to where his clothes were laid out. Flicking some of the drops of water off his skin Kisei bent over to pick up his jacket, not minding his bare skin showing.

Kisei frowned at the slight dampness that clung to it but overall was satisfied with the overall result. After checking on the progress of his other clothes, all slightly wet still, he clothed himself. Cringing still at the chill. "Well as soon as I get back to the shop I can get comfy. Besides this summer heat doesn't let anything stay cold long." Kisei reasoned as he shrugged on his pants. Channeling his Mockery jutsu into his boots he leaned forward slightly before shooting off toward the village.

When he got to the gates he canceled his jutsu and started walking, waving to the guards as he passed by. They asked what he was up to, and he responded. "The usual." Shrugged and walked home.


2568 total
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2500/2500