Mission Details:

Verdandi found herself roaming through the streets of Konoha again. Sunset was about to happen and she scratched her head at the inevitable thought that she was supposed to do something important at dusk. She ripped her space-time hole open to rummage once against into the seal where she had locked away her mission scrolls and snooped her nose through them until she found the one about the illegal fighting scammers. The ring was supposedly manipulating bets with staged fights. Making a lot of money while completely disarming the actual purpose of the participants trying to show off their real skills and actually be acknowledged to get their Chuunin rank granted. She sighed. In every little fun thing to happen there were always the party poopers that had to make a shady deal of profit for themselves. Verd kept that particular mission scroll at hand and eventually walked up a lamp’s pole to spy into the distance. Trying to figure out where that inn was, she was supposed to go to. The map she had gotten was neat and seemed pretty on-spot about the village’s outlines. Even the drawn Hokage faces were something she had to give props to whomever designed this one. Verdandi was however not going alone. She had, as usual in her exam missions, requested a little helper that would make her intrusion possible in the first place. So, in advance she’d have to find her Genin partner and then talk about the strategy of tonight’s job.

Verd would casually make her way to the little restaurant that sold some good barbeque that was neatly placed at the other end of the streets for the inn. She had marked the place to be the meeting spot for her Genin helper and was looking forward to find out whom it would be this time. Dandi already had a rather simple idea of him distracting the guards while she would sneak into the building. Considering she had enough ANBU techniques and stealth options at hand to do so unnoticed. She was looking forward to give the Genin a little taste of what future missions would be like for him. Infiltration was one of her specialties. It was the very way she had obtained her ANBU rank. But that was a secret. Verdandi had no tattoo on her shoulder. Neither one that would ever show that she was in the highest ranks of that secret organization. As a lead figure for her ANBU she had to be part of Kiri’s official political scene, but she always did so in the shadow of her aunt’s secretary job she had provided her with. Leaving everyone in the mere belief that Verdandi was not more than a helping hand for paperwork to the Mizukage. But at the same time leaving her conveniently close to Aya, to discuss official ANBU matters whenever they wanted. She snickered. The only person that knew her involvement was Nayoko and he had yet to show up. They were supposed to do a mission together as well. As for now. She’d wait for her helping hand.


500

Tomohiro had spent most of his day wandering around from shop to shop. He wasn’t sure what exactly what he was looking for. Tomohiro hadn’t spent much ryo since he arrived here. There wasn’t much he found interest in outside of the tea. The tea here was quite exquisite. A lot of the time he spent had been going from weapon shop to weapon shop. There was slight hope that he would be able to find something he could bring back with him. The catalogs of weapons and items he went through were vast. It was hard to make just a single decision. He found interest in a lot of what the shops had, but some of them were things that he wouldn’t even bother touching. The swords here were crafted differently than they were in Kumo. The cultural differences were quite astonishing. The way the metal was folded was similar, but the weight and the control of the weaponry was different from what he was used to. Each weapon was special in each way, but that was no surprise to him.

What he truly sought out was a new katana. His current blade was good, but he needed something more. It would be awhile before he reached the ranks of special jonin. The effort he put in to make himself more promotable, but it seemed like it wasn’t the right time to be solely focused on himself. There were people that needed his help. He already went out of his way to help other genin with missions. This was the prime season he could make a dent in the realm of the world to help other people. Tomohiro actually didn’t mind being a guiding force for others. It made him question that if he should teach at the ninja academy. He had already made up his mind that he would do what he could to support his village and the younger generation. Tomohiro figured that there would be no harm done in teaching. Though, he wondered if he truly had the patience to deal with academy age kids.

Tomohiro figured that he would try and take on a mission. Supporting genin was a big deal to him, but he would also need to support himself at some point. The chunin also needed others to help support him. Tomohiro didn’t have a lot of experience in completing higher missions. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the aptitude. It was just that he was never assigned anything higher than the traditional C-rank mission that were given by the administrative staff. The fact that Hastur hadn’t allowed him to go on higher level missions was a bit disheartening. Tomohiro wouldn’t let that get to him too much. There were plenty of opportunities that would await him or so he hoped.

Upon reaching the hub, he went through the missions and studied each one. A good number of them already had someone or a group working on them. The chunin would scratch his clean shaven face as he carefully looked through each one. Eventually, he would give up finding what he hoped would pop out at him. He just walked up to the desk and requested anything that made sense. The clerk gave him a mission and a map. Then Nakir went through the mission details and nodded his head. The clerk informed him that a genin had been requested, but none of the genins that came through were willing to take it on. Tomohiro could understand. The mission wouldn’t be a simple one. He may even have some trouble with it depending on how they were to handle it. The mission was to dissolve a fighting ring. Everything seemed in order as he sighed. He needed to follow the map that was given to him. It was...interesting to say the least.

Tomohiro would follow the map that was left for him. He wondered what he would need to be expected of him. Tomohiro wasn’t even sure who he was looking for, but he hoped that whoever was leading the mission wouldn’t be too disappointed in him. The map wasn’t as bad as he thought. The other maps he purchased the first day he arrived were a lot better, but he was able to figure out where he was supposed to be. There was even a marking on the map where he was supposed to meet this individual. He stood at the spot he was supposed to meet at. Tomohiro kept checking the map to make sure he was in the right spot. It seemed like he was. The chunin put the scroll away in a holster pocket on his pants leg. Tomohiro would wait for whoever he was supposed to meet. Hopefully, he didn’t look too much like an experienced chunin. It wasn’t like he was wearing any Kumogakure paraphernalia outside of the headband on his head. Tomohiro wasn’t too dependent on wearing armor. He didn’t like to stand out too much even though, he could easily wear the armor under a cloak or his super long poncho.

867

Verdandi would quickly spot the lost soul with an obviously similar pretty drawn map than herself. Mostly because he was basically standing right next to her. She chuckled and used some basic futon wind chakra to make the chair on the other end of her table slowly sneak in position before the pretty boy would basically drop onto his butt against it on his next slight step backwards. Verd was already highly amused by the scene and she couldn’t help it. The princess gently slid her hair back a bit. The long snow-white licks shimmering in the gentle light of the incoming night sky. The various lanterns above them at the restaurant’s outdoor ceiling, were gently flickering a mysterious light onto the young snow lady. She chuckled again and slid a nice piece of barbeque meat between her teeth. Glaring at the boy with a certain overconfidence that could be scary for less self-secure individuals. “Hello there handsome, lost your way? I’m sure I can help you find what you are looking for.” Verdandi flirted her intro right off the bat without much delay. She was playing a bit at best. She wasn’t really the black widow type. Her heart basically already belonged to a certain shapeshifter. But yet there was nothing wrong with a little teasing right? She smirked from ear to ear with a big happy smile. Slithering a plate of food in Tomo’s direction. He had an unusual complexion. A face that reminded more of sunaan features in the way his cheekbones were shaped.

His eyes were also showing a rather trademark of the sand. However, his stature was of more earthen country design. Verd would have wondered if he wasn’t one of the kin that were wearing the forehead protector actually on their head. The big Kumo sign was giving it away. Oh my. One of Hastur’s little toys. Interesting. Verdandi didn’t take long to activate her audio sensory in her earrings and switch on her Sharingan. Turning her head left and right. As expected, Konoha ANBU. This kid didn’t come alone. He was accompanied by his very own security. The leaf wouldn’t just let a Kumo-kin walk around their village without having them watched. Exciting. This handsome young fella was supposed to be a potentially dangerous entity to the leaf and yet they allowed him to take a crucial mission where actual lives and forth-goings in the exams would depend on. Intriguing. The ANBU were at distance. They didn’t try to hide their presence. But they were trained at stealth still. The boy probably had no idea that his every step had been closely watched since the very moment he had arrived in this village. These silly ANBU. Konoha HQ should have just assigned the mission to them instead of Verd and her foreign friend. But maybe it was part of their idea to test the merit and spirit of the Kumo-nin’s. Verdandi’s red glowing eye would at last stare right in Tomo’s face. Inspecting him.

Verdandi was the wielder of a Fūinjutsu body seal of her own creation. It enhanced her Sharingan in a wonderful way and allowed it to make her see many more things with it than normally possible by standard Uchiha means. It allowed her to see the color of Tomo’s chakra, it was red. Hence his primary element must be fire. It also allowed her to see a rough outline of a person’s chakra pool. Giving her a rather distinct idea, that the Genin she expected was not really a Genin. Unless they had Genin in Kumo that had the clear chakra levels of a fully fledged Chuunin. She’d wonder. Ponder but not bother. Her eye eventually stopped to rotate and turned back into a completely normal eye. He had been given time to react to her flirt. Eventually to be confused or misguided even. But the moment he’d lay a glimpse on her single Sharingan it should have been rather clear that Verdandi might be a bit saucy in her personality but she was definitely the person he was supposed to meet. The Kiri forehead protector lingering in her belt was imbued with a second village symbol that not many are familiar anymore. The insignia of Yukigakure. A reminder of Verdandi’s original allegiance that has now integrated itself into its bigger brother of Kirigakure. The fall of the north at Hao Uchiha’s hand was a well-known fact. Not many however were aware that the north was slowly rebuilding and reviving itself while the whole world was looking elsewhere.

Verdandi’s bond with Kiri was eternal. But her melancholy and desires were buried in the glaciers far away from here. It was her first time to visit Konoha actually. To be part of the Mizukage convoy was a beautiful experience too. But for now. Unspoken introductions would have to be over. The joking and teasing as well. It was time to turn more serious and let the actual professionalism surface from within. “Excuse the tease. I can’t help it sometimes. You must be Tomohiro, right? I’m Verdandi Yuki. I’m from Kiri as you can see and I’m appointed to guide you and make use of you while we do our job. We’re going to get to that in a bit. The party at the inn hasn’t started just yet. But we’ll be ready for when it does.” Verdandi glared with an eye over to the inn at the other end of the street. The bodyguards weren’t there just yet. But she knew they would appear once the guests were there as well. But for now, they still had time to be lazy. “Here cutie, take some barbeque, its good meat. One fights better on a filled stomach.” She chuckled. Not sure if she should tell him about the eyes of the leaf watching him. But why bother making him worry if he was here now with her and ready to have a fun time with the ice princess?


1000 / 1500

Tomohiro looked toward the woman that seemed to appear out of nowhere. His heart instantly seemed like it skipped a beat. Tomohiro usually wasn’t easily frightened, but she would definitely take the cake. The way it startled him reminded him of how his brother would scare him in a similar fashion. He didn’t expect that in a foreign land. This was the last place he would have thought that would happen. It was like he wasn’t going to be able to catch a break. The feeling in his chest was just more than a simple scare. The young lady was actually quite attractive he would think as his heart thumped loudly. The Nakir would stand still as he noticed an odd feature to her and it wasn’t that she had ghostly hair. The thing that stood out the most to him was the Sharingan. It was the first time he’d ever seen the Sharingan up close. Tomohiro wondered if the stories were true. Did Sharingan’s tomoe spin? It was vastly different than his Netsugan. He wondered what it was truly capable. Tomohiro came to the conclusion that the woman before him must have had it implanted. He made him curious. The first question that came to him had been if she was single. The second question was did she kill someone to get her Sharingan.

“I’m...supposed to meeting someone here for a mission,” he started as his voice was a bit nervous.

The woman pushed a plate of food toward him as he accepted it slowly. Tomohiro was trying to calm himself. It wasn’t often that he would meet a woman that would pick at his heart strings. The fact that he put off having a relationship started to eat at him. This was no time for him to be thinking about that. He was supposed to be on a mission. Tomohiro started blush as he willingly took piece of barbecue and took a bite. It was actually good. One type of meat that he appreciated more than anything was pork. The fact that it was handed to him by a gorgeous woman made him smile as he was eating. Pork tasted better with company. It almost made him forget what he was there for. Tomohiro approved of the barbecue and would definitely have to go back for more when he was able to. He was definitely in a better mood now than he was earlier.

“Ah, sorry. Yes, I’m Nakir Tomohiro. Nice to meet you Verdandi Yuki of Kirigakure. I also have to apologize for my...um guest. Out of all of the Kumo nin that are here. They seemed to take a liking to me,” he stated before shoving rib meat down his throat.

Tomohiro knew that the Anbu were watching him. They did less to conceal themselves after he yelled out to them after activating his doujutsu. The Anbu didn’t even seem to try and hide from him at all. Not really much with stealth techniques or that sort of thing. It sort of made him feel important that the village had to go out of their way to watch him like a hawk. The fact that he didn’t have a lot of personal time “alone” made him wonder if they watched their dignitaries this close. They occasionally made themselves noticeable to him was probably due to an attempt at deterring him from committing any crimes. Tomohiro wouldn’t even dare. There was too much at stake between the hidden villages to take any risk like that. It didn’t seem like they care. If the decision was up to him, he would try to make peace with the other villages even if temporarily.

“So, what’s it like in Kirigakure. This is actually the first time that I’ve visited another hidden village. I’ve been told by a little spider that it was ‘a lot of ice?’”

The way that Kyutai talked about Kiri made him interested in visiting some day. Though, he didn’t care for the fact that it was surrounded by water. His clan didn’t make is a habit to teach their younglings how to swim, but he did know how. The thought of being drenched in sea water made him a bit uncomfortable. He only had been to the ocean once and it was a sight to behold. Though, he didn’t want to take the risk of going out on the water. That seemed more dangerous than it was worth. The closest thing he could contribute to that was getting hit with a suiton technique mixed with salt water. None of that really made a difference because he had pork to finish eating. Nothing truly did beat the smell of and taste of good barbecue.

“Just let me know what I need to do and I follow it to the best of my ability, ma’am.”

829/1696

Verdandi smiled back at the cutie boy and winked at him as he eventually started to feel more comfortable and relaxed. She admitted to being slightly surprised that he knew the ANBU were breath into his neck, probably they didn’t hide themselves at all. A sweet little gift of Konoha for their guests from Kumo, showing them straight away that they are being watched at all times. A bit creepy, Verdandi had to admit, that was not the usual behavior she had known from her allied buddies. But to be fair, Kumo was being some sort of a wildcard as of late. Unlike most people, Verdandi herself had an open mind towards the persona that was Hastur. Knowing his reforms were pretty on-spot and he was generally a good leader. A reasonable person supposedly so while yet unforgiving against disrespect from anyone. In Verd’s opinion this guy just had a fantastic ego problem. Declaring oneself the new sage of the six paths without even having the Sage’s eyes and naming themselves a god. Creating a religion that tries to convert people? That was kind of odd. She had been working side by side with the high ranking Kumo officers Mizumi and Daremo in their joint venture into Suna. Mizumi was a wonderful and peaceful person and Daremo, while merciless was a quite level headed and collected shinobi. Obviously, one couldn’t determine the persona of all Kumo-nin based on the weirdness that their current kage seemed to exhale into the world.

But he’d be dealt with someday. While he was not waging frontal war against any specific nation, he was most likely just recognized for his immense power and given some leeway for not trying to exhale his religious idiocy in a way that would try to undermine the other countries. Still, being a nice person and being from Kumo as it seemed like this Tomohiro boy was, must be an awkward feeling he didn’t deserve in the first place. As far as Verdandi could tell, he didn’t naturally choose to be born in a country with a crazy leader and shouldn’t be held accounted for that. Verd just smiled widely and kept glaring at the cutie while he was basically devouring the pork that had been laid out for him. With a single motion of her palm, Verd was ordering seconds already before his plate had been empty so hopefully more would be ready for him to feast on once he had indulged himself on the first plate. However, all joy and luxuries had to be enjoyed within limits for now. She couldn’t stuff him until he would feel ill to the stomach and have it impaired his ability to do this mission now. Moderation had to be asked. So, when seconds arrived, Verd made sure to munch a lot of it down to lessen the burden on her friend but still allowing him to munch on some for the sake of having the taste in his mouth and the goodness in his stomach.

“Kirigakure has no ice unless a Yuki Clansmen creates it. The temperatures are mild. There’s a lot of mist that often obscures the heavens but we can have sunny days as well. Its preferred if you like moderate and cooler climate over hot climates like Konoha, Kumo and Iwa. Not as scorching as Suna and by far not as cold as Yuki, the land of snow. I am originally from Yukigakure before it was razed to the ground during the last war by Hao Uchiha. Due to the destruction of Yukigakure, as most shinobi born at the north pole, we have moved our forces to Kirigakure. While we are rebuilding slowly what has been destroyed in the north. Most of our kin make a good living in Kiri at the moment. The mild climate and the cool mist are very befitting for our needs. We love water and Kirigakure has always been our big brother. Not to forget that one of our kin, Ayakashi is the current Mizukage even. Snow people are deeply infused into the hierarchy of Kirigakure now and many of us have claimed high ranking seats in the mist’s society. Kirigakure has been the most powerful nation ever since the wrath of Hao has ended. The seven bells war being over. Aoi Bara age coming to an end. Kiri has enforced a new age of peace and prosperity in our current time. But is now facing many difficulties once again. The fall of Suna, frail peace with Konoha and the rise of a God in Kumo.”

Verdandi made sure that she would not try to sweet talk anything. She was going to be open and honest to give the Genin a taste of what is going on in the political scene and to be frank, it wasn’t pretty at the moment. Suna’s destruction and the failure of the reclamation project were weighing heavy on her. She was trying to help the sand people as much as she could but they would have to do most of the work internally and fix their corrupt and broken society. Konoha was having continuous issues with the alliance that seemed to be in place with Kiri. While the mist was pushing to keep peace, the leaf was trying to sabotage the relationship as they felt like it wasn’t going in their favor enough. And Kumo… well we had that thought already. It was a dangerous omen that yet could blow out into a full-grown war anytime soon.

“But you should just enjoy yourself darling, you are young and entitled to have fun whilst you raise in strength and rank. Let the politics concern you more when conflicts actually grow bad or you’ve obtained a position that puts you into politics. As for now. We have a bar to infiltrate. Let’s finish up our meals and get to work. I can see the guards are slowly appearing. As for the plan its going to be simple. I go in and you wait for me signal to cause a scene. Once they are distracted, I do my thing on the inside. Think you can do that?”


1000 / 2500

Tomohiro thought over what the pretty woman said to him. There was a lot of thing she said that cleared some things up for him. He only heard of Hao and the destruction that he brought with him. His clan was pretty much out of the loop concerning world events. They were pretty focused on dealing with themselves. If Kumo was destroyed, they would just regress back to what they were before. He hated the idea of his village getting destroyed or going to war with other nations, but there were a lot of things in play that he had no control over. Tomohiro would do his best to keep his clan alive and what he knew in place. It would take a lot of work, but he would do his best to represent a positive result of his village. The politics involved were deeply concerning, but he would try to hide it the best he could.

What she said about Kirigakure had been interesting. It actually made him want to visit even more than he already had. From what he gathered from what she said, the Yuki were very influential people. He knew that he didn’t want to get on their bad side. Fire versus ice didn’t sound like something that would be in his favor. He knew that Kirigakure was a strong nation that wasn’t to be toyed with. Though, that could have been said about most villages. He could only speak for himself and is current knowledge on Kumo’s condition. The fact that cults were becoming more prominent just ticked him off. They were a nuisance and what made it worse, Hastur was fine with what they were doing regardless if the rumors were true or not. His alt with Hastur was that the man seemed like he didn’t truly care for the village. To Tomohiro, Hastur was just someone who took watching over the village as something he could manipulate to his will. The man was an egotistical maniac, but maybe he was just misunderstood.

“I see. I have enough to deal with concerning clan politics. The only real reason I even came here was to look for family. I’m not an active supporter or even a supporter at all of Hastur. Maybe the villages can come together and make peace with each other. That is what I hope for anyway.”

His words were true. The Nakir clan had sent him here to find the exiled members of his clan. The other reason had been to scout out Konohagakure. Tomohiro liked that Konohagakure attempted to lay out the red carpet for the other villages. The village itself was actually quite nice. He couldn’t really see himself living there to be honest. Kumogakure would always be his home. Tomohiro was glad to be on this mission for his clan. It made him feel a sense of purpose. Training day in and day out seemed to be in vain most days. It seemed like he wasn’t getting anywhere. It had been months since he was promoted to chunin. He just hoped that his actions would be seen positively by all of those he met.

Tomohiro would continue eating as he would listen to Verdandi’s plan. It was simple enough. He could definitely cause a scene. Though, he didn’t know how well the ANBU agents would like it. There was definitely something he could do. Strength in numbers was always an option. Though, he didn’t want to cause too much trouble. He would have to leave his techniques out of this. Tomohiro decided that it was probably better to use his words or try and entertain the guards. He wasn’t sure of what Verdandi would do, but he figured that she could handle herself. She spoke like she knew what she was talking about. Tomohiro found confidence in knowing that the mission would be more than capable of being completed successfully. He would nod his head as he would finish up. After eating, he would actually have some energy. The food was a good motivator. Tomohiro took a deep breath as he was now prepared more than he ever would be.

“I’m ready when you are. I appreciate the meal and the words you shared,” he said as he bowed slightly.

725/2421

Verdandi gazed into the distance towards the inn they were supposed to clear out any minute now. Tomo was clearly in an unsuitably unfortunate situation regarding the state of his nation, but the nation itself should not define him. There were resistance fighters inside Kumo that were already plotting against Hastur and cleaning the nation from his religious nonsense. The lightning country was all in all a rather huge place and obviously not all shinobi of the local militia were in favor of their wannabe god. The resistance was slowly and silently growing. But this was disclosed information. Something Verd could not tell this young man. Neither did she like the idea of him getting involved with such matters at his rank and age. He should focus on having a good time. Neither would the Raikage see him as a threat as long as he kept his opinion to himself, nor would the resistance find reason to drag him into their plot. The fall of a god had to be planned perfectly. While he was a nuisance to world politics, he was neither dumb or unreasonable. He was a good leader to his own people, making Kumo strong in yet a rather brutal and merciless way. He had logic and experience at his side and he was most likely the most powerful being in the world next to aunt Ayakashi. Such power did never come without price. Aya too was suffering from the demon ice corruption within her that was threatening to consume her.

The Raikage was very much alike Aya, but while the Mizukage was still able to partly resist the corruption of her insane powers, the Raikage had long since given into the madness that comes with it. There was no living being that could stop him one on one in combat. Even Aya would face the suffering disadvantage of Hastur’s powerful Black Raiton that all Ice techniques were significantly weak against. Verd admitted, even though she would join the battle against him. Her techniques would do little against his godlike Raiton. Verd sighed. Many things would still have to be put in place before a coup of the resistance could happen. A long and certainly bothersome journey was still ahead of them. But for now. These thoughts had to cease at last. Too long she had already spent time on meditating in her dream space, brooding over things that were still ages away from becoming a serious topic. Verd would drop one of her earplug radio’s on the table in case Tomo didn’t have one, it was already tuned in on Dandi’s frequency and she would give him a wink with an eye. Pointing one last time towards the inn that was but their target. The bouncers at the door were looking grim and rather strong. How Tomo would end up trying to distract them from their job was up to him. Verdandi didn’t necessarily need the distraction so she could slip inside, she could do that anyway.

But the guards had sensory abilities that could disturb her flawless remain inside the inn. But sensory was something that had to be actively channeled and only worked over great concentration. Verd would practice such now as well. With a smile on her lips, Verdandi would suddenly, at the blink of an eye, vanish from Tomohiro’s sight. Her speed exceeded the perception levels of a Chuunin by far, she was behind the very inn she was aiming for in less than five seconds despite it being over 200 meters away. Yet those seconds were enough time to move her palms and form the handseal she needed to activate her stealth technique. Obfuscate slowly crawled over her skin and completely cloaked Verdandi’s body from sight, hearing and even smell. The sensory requirements to break through it were high, but even on lower ranks, mistakes could be heard and sensed and long time exposure could never fully cloak from all cues. Verd used her own sensory via the Sharingan in her eye socket and the earrings that could enhance her audio sensing field. Allowing her to listen into things further away and muffle down noises that were otherwise annoying ones ability to concentrate on the voices that needed to be heard. Verd could see the distinct numbers of guards, bought Chuunin Exam contestants and the ring leaders inside the inn. A rather big number of people. Apprehending them all would not be all too easy.  Verd crawled up the wall with the supernatural walking technique, concentrating the sticky chakra to her feet and palms.

Soon she would be inside the building. Glaring over the upper floor’s balcony down into the inn and seeing all the suspects accounted for, at the table. Sharing money from the last faked spectacle over betting profits. Exchanging over their own success. Verd had to get closer. She needed a primary recording of something that was clearly giving it away as to what kind of treachery they were involved. Once the evidence had been brought, she would most likely just find a way to completely knock out every last one of these dumbasses before they could make a run for it. Knowing that Tomo would most likely get his own chance to really deal with the two C-Rank bouncers once hell would break loose. Verd snickered. She wondered if he could manage them or if she had to run for the rescue later. But he seemed rather capable. Doubting her partners was not something Verd often indulged herself into. It would be fun at least either way. Verd got into position. Trying to get a first recording going from her distance but she knew she had to get closer. The sensory exposure would soon make it difficult for her to move. She tapped her radio and Tomo could hear the ‘Go’ signal on his own. It was time for him to mess around a bit. Verd would sneak further in on tiny footsteps, careful despite her powerful stealth technique.


1000 / 3500

The mission was a go. The pretty lady disappeared from sight as fast as she appeared. It was time for him to play his role in the great scheme of this mission. He took a deep breath as he would attempt to approach the guards. This was something that he’d never done before. The young chuunin was the straightforward type. This wouldn’t be the first time acted as a distractions, but it probably wasn’t going to be the last. As a shinobi, one had to be versatile. He knew this, but actually coming to terms was another thing. Tomohiro would need to act out of character to an extent. The food that was given to him was motivation enough that he would be willing to go an extra mile in trying to do his job. The task should be a simple one. He made sure to pick up the earplug before he started walking. There was a voice that said, “Go,” that could be heard through it.

Tomohiro began walking over to the two guards trying to gather his words together. He wasn’t sure what he should tell them. Maybe that he was lost or that he was looking for work. There was also a chance he could join the two possibilities together. It would have to work. There wasn’t much time for him to contemplate between the decisions. What if he messed up? Tomohiro had a small amount of confidence as anxiety started to kick in. He didn’t show it, but his chest sure felt it. The two guards watched as he approached. Tomohiro moved closer as he wasn’t sure what he would do. Whatever came out of his mouth would have to work. If these guys were truly criminals, he would need to play the part. The two men were quite sizeable compared to him, but size wasn’t everything.

“Hey you, what can I do about work around here? Is there any place I can make good ryo. I’ve just made it into Konoha a couple of days ago. Your employer needs an extra bodies right? I’ve been told that I’m pretty good with a sword.”

“Ah, you’re a Kumo shinobi? We could use someone of your talents. We’re a little short on guards. What rank are you? You aren’t a genin are you? That wouldn’t look good for us. We need those who are strong.”

“Oh, you’re in luck. I’m a chuunin. A three year veteran. Spent the last few years guarding caravans to the Kaminari no Kuni capital. I should be close to ranking up to chuunin.”

“Yeah, we’re supposed to be on guard duty here, but if you come back in a couple hours we may have something for you.”

“Don’t you think we’re trusting this guy too much. He could be an assassin sent to kill the boss. How much would it even cost to higher a shinobi?”

As the guards started to argue with each other, Tomohiro watched as enthusiastically. It was almost like a comedy routine gone wrong. This was definitely an anomaly in his plans. He wasn’t sure on how long he was supposed to keep this up. Tomohiro could have knocked them out, but a head on battle with an enemy without knowing their weakness wasn’t wise. He was going to intervene as one of the guards put their hand up to stop him. This wouldn’t be able to go on for so much longer. It actually made his job a lot simpler. Tomohiro wanted to go inside to help Verd. Though, he had no form of techniques that would hide his chakra signature. It may also have been walking into a den of lions. It was probably better if he just waited it out.

Tomohiro had been patient, but his curiosity may have been getting the better of him. He bent over like he was trying to tie his shoes. Under his poncho, he formed a single hand seal as he exhaled a cloud of smoke from his lips. The area became covered in smoke as he leaped backwards a few meters. The guards began to seem a bit confused before they started to charge him. It finally clicked that he was no ally. His violet eyes turned red as they would slightly glow. He took a deep breath as he exhaled a mighty flame from his jaws. The dragon head sized fireball hit the entrance of the door as the two guards started to scream from the impact. Their bodies became consumed with a rage of grey flame. Tomohiro hoped that he didn’t act too early. Tomohiro wasn’t sure of what their defenses were. He didn’t want to kill them, but this would be close enough. The chuunin didn’t see them getting up from that any time soon. One of them seemed to be getting up, then fell to his knees. Tomohiro pushed his way through the smoke and kicked the one to his right in the temple. The guard fell over unconscious. The second one was taken out with the hilt of his blade colliding with the back of the guards head.

Tomohiro stood outside for a moment before he would speak into the earplug, “Two guards at the entrance are down. Though, probably not dead. Waiting for further instructions.”

That was a lot closer than he liked. Though, he wasn’t sure how much good the two men were to the mission. It might have been better off if he killed them, but he had to remind himself that he was in Konohagakure and not Kumogakure. Killing them may have been in bad taste. With the chuunin exams going on, he wasn’t sure how the Hokage would put up with blood in his streets. Then again, did it really matter. It wasn’t his village that he was spilling blood. Tomohiro started to look at the unconscious bodies with his sword still drawn. He quickly sheathed it. With the hostile ANBU watching, he didn’t need to seem bloodthirsty. It would have made his village look worse than it already was. This may have also been a test to see what Kumo shinobi would do in this situation.

1060/3481

Verdandi moved through the corridors and kept her sensory flowing. She could see with her Sharingan how Tomo’s red chakra signature was moving towards the gate. The closer he came the less Verd would feel the scanning chakra trying to pierce her stealth. It seemed to be working quite nicely. However, there was a third guard inside, overlooking the situation from above the second floors stairs. Verd had not calculated a potential sensory risk to be inside as well. She crawled carefully to the wooden climbing-stairs at the southern wall and would idly make her way upstairs. She could feel how his sensory was trying to penetrate her A-Rank stealth, he couldn’t of course but he was growing uneasy over the feeling that something was not quite right in here. Verd would make things quick. Moving in behind him forming a single seal and putting her palm on his mouth to keep him from screaming as the ice prison technique would quickly move from her palms over her targets body. Soo leaving him as nothing else but a statue of frost. He would be well preserved in there and Dandi could just leave him like that and it’d appear from afar as if he was still doing his job. Meanwhile the distraction of Tomo was getting more intense, louder talking could be heard from the guards and some of the people inside were drawn attention towards it. But they didn’t seem to mind it for now. So, when Verd returned back to the ground floor, the fun part could start.

Dandi moved around the meeting table and lifted her ANBU Mask. The people that remained inside now were either lowly puny Genin that allowed themselves to be bought by shady money makers and civilian criminals. No one in here had any slack left against the overwhelming superiority of Verdandi’s ninja skills. She could see that time was running low and that Tomo would most likely end up in a clinch that could cause too much ruckus. She had to enforce the situation in a way where the conversation would go the way she wanted it to. Dandi moved to the guy that was sitting a bit separated to the rest of the people. She tuned her ANBU Mask to filter his voice and copy it, requiring a few seconds to tune in on the pitch of his voice. Once that succeeded Verd would stand up behind him. Still perfectly cloaked. Forming the hand seals for the temporary paralysis technique. The tech would literally cage the poor civilian in his own mind without the ability to move his body anymore. Instead, Verdandi would slowly attach chakra strings to his arms, head and face and starting to puppeteer him like a doll. Once this human was now her toy, Verd would activate the voice distortion tool in her Mask and start to speak aloud into the room. The primary frequency sounded a bit off compared to what she heard earlier but Dandi could quickly fix the tune-in to sound more on-spot.

“Alright, I need to get going soon. Let’s recap what’s going to happen alright? Javen and Ruby are going to fight our champion tomorrow. Both of you are part of the team now. So, in about… Round three Ruby will forfeit the match over some made up injury and in Round five Javen will take the hit of our champions suiton gunshot and ‘pass out’ if I understood right?”

The crowd were looking at the persona Verd was puppeteering. Aside from his little crack in his voice earlier the way he moved looked a bit alien now. But while it might appear suspicious one could also just assume that he was acting a bit drunk or sluggish.

“Yeah that’s it. We also have Round two and four bought. They aren’t here tonight. But James will lose against our champion in hand-to-hand combat and Tamaki will give him a bit of a beating before losing in melee combat as well. So, if we can get rid of the guy that is up in round one. We should have five clear wins in a row. Betting on a win streak will triple and quadruple our income…”

And that was it. Verdandi had the recording she was looking for since the moment she moved in here. She didn’t expect to require to become one of them temporarily to enforce the topic going that way but those stupid asshats were so busy talking about how awesome they are and how the weather is nice that it would have taken ages for them to cut to the chase and get to what Verd needed from them. If this official statement and practical proof of criminal activity, as well as having the names of all involved spilled out Verd would smile a rather wide smile under her mask. For a moment she wondered how the civilian was feeling that she was puppeteering. He could see, hear and feel everything. He knew that he was being controlled and he understood that someone just extorted this critical piece of information from this table. It must drive him crazy to be locked in his own brain and basically willing to scream loud but unable to even do a single thing. It was amusing Verd to know that it was kind of punishing him already. But since business was over, Verd could return to make some fun of it.

“I personally think our champion Maik should dress up as a girl... Maika... in the upcoming fights. Imagine the reaction of the crowd. People would totally bet against him… or her… at this point. Some weirdo gender shit always gets the people churning in discomfort. Our income would sky rocket like this!”

Verdandi was obviously making fun of them now but it still left the table confused. One of the Genin present even found this to be a brilliant idea. Verd laughed to herself, the ruckus outside the door however was getting louder and louder. Tomohiro had most likely failed in his negotiations to keep the guards distracted with words alone forever. Nothing too surprising. He had bought her a lot of time already and the main goal had been reached. Once the guards outside were taken care of, Verdandi pressed the button on her earplug, removing the mask and saying it in her own voice.

“Enter the inn.”

While she’d let go off her chakra strings and the paralyzed guy would just dump forward against the table like a sack of potatoes. Once Tomohiro would actually enter the inn. Obviously catching all attention of the Genin and remaining civilians Verd would have moved behind them. Casting the shadow clone technique while undoing her stealth. The now five Verdandi’s that seemed to suddenly appear behind the culprits would unsheathe their Katana’s and point it directly at the criminals before them.

“Your corruption and manipulation of the exams is hereby denied and revealed. You are all under arrest. Choose your next actions wisely or face the consequences. I want all of your little turds to sink down to your knees and put your arms behind your back. My lovely assistant here will come and cuff you. We will proceed to wait until the local ANBU come to pick you up for processing.”

One of the Genin would try to move in a way that implied he was trying to make a run for it. Verdandi turned around her blade and hit the boy with the hilt right in the face, knocking him out in an instant.

“Anyone else?”



1250 / 4750

Tomohiro took a deep breath as he would go on to enter the inn. He wasn’t sure of where he was supposed to be going. The young chuunin would have to take his chances with whatever else he found in there. Not sure what to be prepared for, he withdrew his Kenmei and started to push through the entrance. This was the best he could do as he felt his chest beating really fast. The adrenaline was flowing threw him like an enraged bull. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, it was that he wasn’t sure on how he would react if he met any one. Tomohiro did have a bit of confidence that he had been able to take out two of the men they faced simultaneously. It wasn’t much to be excited about, but getting through it was a one up in his book.

The entrance to the inn was quite wide. It was quite extravagant. He wondered if he would get a discount by helping clear out the occupants. Tomo also didn’t care for his current accommodations. He currently stayed in a one room studio with his cousins and tiger. It was quite the crowded space. The room was not suitable for the four of them. Tomohiro didn’t care for staying within the confines of the little space. He preferred to be out in the open where there was room to breath in the air around him. Tomohiro didn’t like tight spaces. Though, he hated the tiny space even more.

As he walked through the hall, it curved into a wider hall way. As he turned to face a group of people that would stop in their tracks. A few of the genin and civilians started to back up slowly as they met his red glowing eyes. His sword held across his body as he would put it between him and the other shinobi. Tomohiro’s eyes started to give off the appearance of rage. The shinobi backed up toward his partner. They then submitted to the woman’s orders except for one that tried to escape. He looked liked a chicken with its head cut off. Verdandi put an end to it. Tomohiro was more comfortable now that it everything seemed to be over and done with. Though, he knew not to place his cart before the horse. The trespassers would need to be subdued. This definitely made things easier with having a more experienced shinobi around. He would definitely like to thank her for getting him through the mission. Tomohiro was quite grateful, but a lot of it had to do with the food. Food was one of the paths to a man’s heart.

“Don’t try anything stupid,” he stated with a firm tone.

Tomohiro sheathed his blade as he pulled out a number of restraints. He would then begin to bind each individual one by one. This had to be the easiest part of the mission. The genin were too afraid to runaway which made this less complicated than it had to. Tomohiro would definitely learn something today. Tomohiro would take more interest in learning to be stealthy. His techniques were generally too bombastic to be considered stealthy. The young Nakir had a few ways to go to truly finding what would work for him. He constantly questioned himself about if he had meant to be the swordsman he was aiming for. Shinobi weren’t all about specializing in one specific area in the shinobi arts. It was doable to specialize in one or two things, but it also could be limiting.

Handcuffing the genin and civilians didn’t take too long. Most of them didn’t put up much resistance. Tomohiro sighed as he finished up. He then set his red eyes toward Verdandi. All he could do was smile. Tomohiro wondered how much time it would take for Konoha ANBU to arrive. They seemed to have enough time to watch and monitor him. It was part of the reason why he didn’t bother keeping the two guards at the entrance subdued. Tomohiro stayed silent for a moment. He wasn’t sure what else to say. Though, he did have a few questions that he wanted to ask, but he decided to refrain himself. Some questions were probably better left unanswered.

“Is there anything else we need to do? I...appreciate your help with this and letting me tag along,” he would say as he would take a slight bow.

759/4240

Verdandi nodded to Tomohiro adding with his presence to the persuasion of the subjects and watched him cuff the people while they lowered their heads in shame and knowing well that whatever was coming for them wouldn’t be all too nice. The Genin would most likely be expelled from their ranks and forced to return to the Academy whilst having to do a lot of community work to get this stain off their records. While the organizer for this fraud would certainly be more of age to get some proper jailtime and take the majority of the blame for the situation as a whole. Dandi watched how the very ANBU that had been stalking Tomo were already picking up the guards he had taken out. More of them would soon arrive to take in the captives. A paper would be handed to Verdandi as a proof of turn-in for the wanted suspects, so she may claim her reward later. Interestingly enough, the ANBU would also hand the same paper to Tomohiro, while not speaking a single word, the ANBU would bow before the very Kumo-nin they had been tasked to shadow up until now. A sign of respect towards a deed well done without the use of any greater violence. It reminded Verdandi that these men probably didn’t really thought all too badly of the Kumo Chuunin that was visiting the exams. Not much unlike she could give orders to her own division of ANBU, these people were simply executing orders and the actual command had been given by someone further up the leaf’s food chain.

Dandi almost felt bed for judging the ANBU earlier, she could now see that her thoughts towards them had travelled too quickly. Most of them had likely better things to do than putting their foreign guests under surveillance. But alas they couldn’t really know ahead if Tomohiro was the trusted kind of Kumo-nin or the one that would try to abuse the peaceful contempt of the exams. Dandi smiled and was actually happy to have been able to witness such a thing. It removed a certain dark thought she had been brooding over about how the Kumo’s were treated. She wondered if she would give a similar command if the exams would be held in Kiri and she had to admit, that in the shadow of peace and security to her own kin she would most likely act no different towards a suspicious nation with rather unclear or potentially hostile motives. Dandi would help to pick up the one she knocked out and hand him over to one of the ANBU until eventually the lot of them would leave, their Captain once again, wordless, bowing before the two of them as they ultimately disappeared from the scene. The inn would return to a more so calm behavior and like some sort of saloon that was used to the occasional lash out, the ‘music’ would return back up and all people involved would just return to mind their own business.

Verdandi would sheath her blade and let the clones quickly disappear as they were not needed anymore and simply were of means for intimidation purposes earlier. She grinned widely and sat her butt down on one of the nearby chairs on a smaller table and winked to one of the bar maids towards them. Offering in a politer way a chair to Tomohiro, in comparison to how she ‘invited’ him the last time to sit with her. She could see how some workers slowly moved to clean up whatever mess had been left on the meeting table in the room where the misdeeds had happened. Ultimately it was a rather short and simple task. Most likely due to the overqualified skillset that was available to the experienced Jōnin in combo with the Chuunin. Verd agreed that the B-Rank mission could have most likely been fulfilled by a single Tokujō as well. But payment was due anyway so why need to complain about it? Verd would order herself and her companion a refreshing, non-alcoholic drink as in means to celebrate their combined success on the quickly dealt with matter at hand.

“Well I guess this could have gone worse, but why am I even complaining, I am sure there will be other, more challenging missions waiting for you. No sense in refusing a gift of easy success once in a while. I see that the ANBU shadows have left you, but I’m afraid that by the orders of their superiors they will most likely return to watch over you. Don’t take it personal alright? You seem to have left a certain positive impression today as for that is sure.”

Verdandi would proceed to engage in a pleasant chit chat over their success on the mission and some minor small talk towards their own personal interest in the others character. She couldn’t help but keep her own facial expression hinting towards the idea that she thought her allocated partner this time was indeed rather cute. Yet as all enjoyment, be it a piece of art or a handsome young fellow would eventually have to pass by the Kunoichi of the snow, she had to gaze into the horizon past the inn’s windows and measure that her time to linger was up. She had personal business to attend towards and even Chigetsu would eventually start to make her feel guilty if she flirted too much. Not that he didn’t do the same with his own fellow Kunoichi that he met along way. But teenagers will be teenagers, uncaring of their rank and importance within their society. Why take away the joy of youth, as a famous leaf-poet ‘Gai sensei’ would have once framed this picture. Time for goodbyes.

“Fare well Tomohiro, it was a pleasure, until we shall meet again!”

Verd would get up and give the cutie a kiss on the cheek before she’d eventually vanish in a cloud of silvery snowflakes, off into the darkness of the night, as quick as she had appeared into his life, she was gone once again. Questions that lingered in Tomo’s mind would have to wait, until next time.

[EXIT]


1000 / 5750

WC Usage:

Not soon after he had cuffed the genin, ANBU would come into the establishment and begin taking the criminals away. Tomohiro watched as his red eyes changed back to violet. Everything that he saw then changed to black and white. This was something he had adjusted to. Had it been that long since he used his doujutsu that his perception started to change after he deactivated it? Tomohiro figured that his doujutsu was probably changing again. His father didn’t even have the highest stage of his Netsugan anymore. Everything was a bit confusing. The fact that he no longer could comprehend colors for the time being was weird. When he could, he would definitely talk his father about this. Not even at the lowest level of his kekkei genkai had this happened to him. Tomohiro rubbed his temples as he attempted to gain his normal sight back to no effect. The vision started to give him a headache. Why was this happening now? he questioned. The chuunin shook off the feeling as he was being approached by an ANBU member.

The ANBU member gave him a voucher as proof of the completed mission. Tomohiro would return a bow to the shinobi just out of respect. It was another thing out of long list of things that went on today that he didn’t expect. He figured that the shinobi were just doing their job. That was mostly what was required of their shinobi. Completing the mission was important to him and he believed that the ANBU thought the sameway. Tomohiro figured that the ANBU following him was probably a necessity. Though, the feeling of being watched was just eerie. He thought about how much they probably saw while he felt himself in his own personal comfort zone. A small shudder rolled down his spine as he casted the thought aside. That was a little too much effort put into that thought.

Tomohiro turned to face Verd has she sat down in one of the nearby chairs. He decided that it would have been rude not to join her. The chair next to her was vacant and he decided to sit down next to her. Tomohiro would adjust his belt as he sat down. The workers were quickly fixing the mess that was made. It sort of made him wish he had someone like this around his apartment. Having a pet tiger sort of made things a bit more messy. Cleaning up constantly had become the norm. He knew that his landlord would probably force him out if the woman found out that he had a noisy predator casually roaming around. It was bad enough trying to feed him. Tomohiro figured that when the tiger became an adult he would let him hunt on his own. The tiger seemed to eat twice as much as he did. That in itself was a huge problem. Buying simple pet food wouldn’t suffice.

He listened to Verd’s words about the possibility of the ANBU returning. That wasn’t something he was too thrilled about. The least they could do was give him some space every now and then. Tomohiro wasn’t quite convinced that he made any decent impression. If he got it from the ANBU, it certainly wasn’t going to be from the owners of the inn. He nearly blew up the front entrance. The act was with good intentions. There would probably be a D-Rank mission that would go toward rebuilding and refurbishing the place. Tomohiro knew if he had gone on the mission alone if were a B-Rank shinobi, the place may have been burned to the ground. It was definitely good that he had some more experienced help.

“I think it maybe too late for taking this personally. As long as I don’t have to meet them in combat, I think I should be okay.”

Tomohiro sat with and conversated with the Yuki woman given responses here and there. Throughout most of the conversation, he would spend blushing. He wasn’t good with flirting or dealing with advances. The young shinobi was very inexperienced to say the least. It wasn’t too often that a woman showed interest in. Though, he started to think about it and realized that he was more obilivious than he formerly thought. Talking to Verd was nice and it was easy to converse with her. Was this the woman of his dreams? Only time would tell.

“Good bye and…” Tomohiro paused as a kiss graced his cheek before she vanished.

He would sit there with a blank facial expression as his yellow skin changed to a deep shade of red. Tomohiro would feel a strong pounding sensation in his heart as one of the bar maids chuckled. The young chuunin was in utter shock. If nothing else convinced him to go to Kirigakure no Sato, that definitely did. He wasn’t even sure on how to find the woman, but he would duly make an effort. The sensation that he had was almost unexplainable. No woman had ever taken his heart away like this. Tomohiro took deep breaths as he would attempt to calm himself down. The next thing he did was plant his face into the table. He wondered how he could allow a gorgeous woman like escape. Now, he was feeling a bit depressed. Why couldn’t their conversation last forever?

905/5145
Total Thread WC: 10895

[Thread Exit/Mission Completed]


2500/2500 [Mission]

2645 Remaining

Jutsu Training:
900/900 [(-15% A-Rank Sensei) / (-25% Katon Clan)/ Total: -40%] Katon Doppelganger Overhaul
900/900 [(-15% A-Rank Sensei) / (-25% Katon Clan)/ Total: -40%] Armor of Veles


Stats Training:
REA: C-2 to C-3 (595/595)[15% A-Rank Sensei]

230 unused

Total EP: 7500/7500 = 6