Mission details:

A raven soared through  the evening sky, bringing itself to the silent mansion that was Enlil’s home. The shinobi was in the small training grounds of his backyard, trapped in a dead sweat. Envisioning an opponent in front of him, his brown eyes locked on to the phantom. He whipped his front leg prodding the knee of his opponent with a steady barrage of side kicks. He waited, pressuring the phantom forwards with jabs. His right hand cocked behind his chin, ready to burst at a moment’s notice. His mind had been completely focused on his training, so much so that it had given him tunnel vision. The blackbird cawed, hoping to get the young man’s attention, but it had proved impossible to do so. The phantom, reading a pattern in the shinobi’s strikes, threw a straight left hand just as Enlil made the motion to jab. Predicting the counter, Enlil retracted his left fist. The phantom’s blow whizzed just past the top of his head as Enlil ducked down. Contorting his body to create a near ninety degree angle, he shot his right fist upwards landing it square on his opponent’s jaw, causing the phantom to dissipate from his mind. Just then, the raven landed on his shoulder, cawing right at his ear in a frustrated attempt at gaining his attention. He looked to the angry bird and bowed his head in apology before it would explode. He guided the raven towards his forearm to get a better look at the creature. “What brings you here?” The shinobi asked. The bird, as if able to understand him, cawed once more and showed off the small piece of paper tied to its talon.

As soon as he took the letter in his hand the bird flew away in a hurry. He thanked it just as it flew past his sights and turned his attention to the letter. It was a miniature scroll that was sealed shut with fuinjutsu as to avoid anyone but it's recipient knowing its contents. Enlil flowed his Chakra through the scroll and the seal began to unwind. He opened the scroll, carefully reading the letter. He had been assigned a mission to guard a popular weapons store that had been recently the subject of multiple robberies and apprehend the thief red handed. Beside his name on the section that read ‘assigned shinobi’ was the name of another. Yukino Sarutobi? A partner? He almost took it as an insult that the administration couldn't trust him to catch a regular thief on his own, but in a way he appreciated that this wasn't a solo mission. If nothing exciting happened and he was left to go watch the store by his own then he would be bored out of his mind. At least this way if no thief showed themselves he wouldn't be the only one to suffer.

As there was still a bit of time before he was set to begin the mission, the shinobi grabbed a white cotton towel and proceeded to the bath. He would need a bit of rest before he pulled an all nighter… and a bath wouldn't be the worst thing considering he had been working out the entire day. Two birds, one stone. An hour passed and Enlil was woken by the alarm he had set. He took off the blindfold that covered his eyelids and proceeded to get out of the bath. He dressed himself in his regular casual clothing, a black long sleeved shirt that had its buttons open to his chest and a black and red hoodie zipped down to match the buttons. Though the mission required him to remain inconspicuous, and by association dress like a civilian, he chose to don his trusty fighting gloves instead tucking them under his sleeves. If things were to pan out exactly as he wished, then he would surely need his fighting gloves. With everything set to go, he turned off the lights, locked the door, and headed out.

The shinobi moved from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the set rendezvous point listed in the missions scroll. It was another rooftop, though this one overlooked the weapons store he was sent out to guard. A perfect vantage point. He looked around the area both vertically and horizontally, it looked as if he had been the first to arrive. The early bird gets the worm… now if only the worm would show up and save him the trouble of spending the entire night out in the dark.

767

“I’m starting to find that I’m disliking night missions more and more.” the young girl said as she sat around the low table, tea in hand. “Yes well, it’s part of the job Yukino. Maybe you’ll find the guy tonight.” the older woman who sat across the table replied calmly, tea also in hand. “That’s one way to look at it Mom.” Yukino said as she finished her tea, setting it down on the table. “What clan was your partner apart of again? Hatake?” her mother said as she rose and cleaned the table of dishes. “Yes.” Yukino replied simply as she fixed her hair into a simple ponytail. “Our clans have a history together, did you know that?” her mother replied over the sounds of dishes being cleaned. This caught the blue eyed Sarutobi’s attention, having been unfamiliar with this information. As if sensing her daughter’s confusion, the older woman continued.

“Our clan head managed to talk the Hatake clan into moving to the village. Something that both the Senju and Uchiha failed to do.” The mother said, a sense of pride welling up within both herself and Yukino. “I see.” Yukino said, rising from the table with this new information. “That means you must treat your partner as a friend. And do try to not be mean this time, Yukino.” her mother as she walked away from the now clean dishes. “When have I ever been mean?” Yukino said with a sarcastic tone, something her mother picked up on causing her head to tilt slightly. “Fine, I’ll be good. Promise.” the young Sarutobi said as she made her way to the door in front of her.

Once her shoes were on, and goodbyes were said she found herself jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the cool air. The sun was already down, and the night’s crowd was out in full force around her house. It didn’t take long for her to gain some distance from the sounds of drunk laughter and mischievous behavior as she made her way towards one of the darker spots of the village. While on her way to the rendezvous point, she couldn’t help but wonder what her partner would be like to work with. While he was the first one she worked with up to this point that came from clan she was familiar with, it didn’t ease her. She wondered if he knew their clans history, and if he’d honor that history.

Even if he didn’t, Yukino was sure to do that, especially now that her mom was on the scene. She’d be the first to find out if the young Sarutobi been acting out of place, though how she still found out was a mystery. With her return from a mission, her mother was bound to be in a bad mood, so it would be Yukino’s ass if she got in trouble. Wincing from the possibility, she quickly figured out that she didn’t want those problems tonight. She still hadn’t decided which one she feared more, her father or her mother. The thought of sparring with her mother always made her sweat, though now was not the time to be lost in those thoughts.

As she approached the spot the mission entailed, she saw a figure already perched on the roof. “He must’ve got here early as well.” she thought to herself. Landing on the other side of the roof, Yukino assumed that this was her partner who had came a little bit earlier than her. While she did worry it would make her look bad, her attention shifted to greeting her new partner. Sure that her arrival would be detected, she decided to walk a little closer to the man before beginning to introduce herself.

“Hi, I am Yukino Sarutobi. I’ll be your partner tonight, nice to meet you.” she said in a energetic tone. While her voice always said one thing, her eyes always conflicted her. Carrying the same aloof look she always had towards other people, seeming to look through them instead of at them. With how dark it was, it wouldn’t be quite as apparent to her partner, though even if he did notice, it wasn’t something Yukino could control. She waited for her partner to introduce himself as she night wind pushed her ponytail towards her right shoulder. It was a pleasant night, and part of her wished that tonight would be just as peaceful.

WC: 761

A few minutes passed since he had set his watchful eyes on the weapon store below and exactly nothing had changed. The young shinobi shifted his gaze to scan the surrounding area; across the street from the store was a bustling section filled with bars and restaurants alike, from the way people lined up in a queue outside the establishments it was highly unlikely for anyone with half a brain to rob the store just next door of a pooling crowd. Clearly the thief in question would strike at a time when potential witnesses were scarce or entirely absent. A delicate patter to the other side of the rooftop would alert the Hatake to the presence of another, his eyes affixed to the source of the sound whilst his hand seamlessly slid into his kunai pocket. From the corner of his brown eyes he would spot a small girl and while she was assuredly a shinobi, her demeanor didn't strike him as one of hostility. As she walked closer to him, it had grown clear that she was the partner he had been waiting for. He dropped the weapon back to its pocket and stood himself up from his crouched position in order to greet his would be companion.

“Hi, I am Yukino Sarutobi. I’ll be your partner tonight, nice to meet you.” A bright and energetic tone greeted the young man and though it had felt a tad bit forced he would aim to match the same tone that she had set. “I am Hatake Enlil, but you can just refer to me as Enlil. In return, I too will call you by your first name.”  He extended his right hand towards her, gesturing for a handshake. “It is nice to meet you as well, Yukino.” had she accepted his gesture, his eyes would meet hers and in the brief instance of their handshake the young shinobi would study his partner. From the blank look on her face to the way her ponytail draped over her shoulders, he would peer through it all. The two differed in stature, and though there was an immense height difference he placed her age to be somewhere around his. Nothing of importance would be of particular note, no gigantic sword or bright red fighting gloves to give away her abilities or preferences in combat. However, as he looked into her blue eyes he found himself drawn towards its gleam, causing him to look away just slow enough for the girl to notice had she been perceptive enough.

With introductions aside, the young shinobi would return his sights on the weapon store. Going back to focusing at the given task at hand, he decided to share his findings and thoughts on the situation. “While I was waiting for you, I took my time to inspect the surrounding area.” He pointed towards the piled up civilians in front of a bar. “I think there's too many people around for the thief to pull off their robbery. If I were them I'd wait ‘till midnight to strike considering there would be a lot of potential witnesses right now.” His hand moved now to the building directly in front of him. “Additionally, while this rooftop serves as an excellent vantage point, we don't have a good view on the other side of the weapon store. If the thief were to enter from a window on that side, then we would never know... I suggest we split up. You can take this rooftop and I'll take the other side, but before that let's go and talk to the shopkeeper while we still have time. I highly doubt that the thief is anywhere close to this area right now, so we wouldn't be at risk of being spotted if we entered the store.” Finished with sharing his exact thoughts, he would continue to scan the area to see if he could come up with anything new while he waited for her response.

671 | 1438

“I have no problem with that.”Yukino said as she met Enlil’s hand with her own. It was during this handshake that the young Sarutobi noticed just how short she was compared to her partner. “How old was he?” she sarcastically thought to herself. At this point in her life, she had gotten used to being the short one in the group, and resigned to the fact that she may not grow much taller than she was now. Still, she never let that interfere with her training or confidence levels. Still, it never made her happy to have someone tower over her as Enlil did, though she kept this to herself.

At the end of their hand shake, Yukino could have sworn that Enlil had stared at her for a little longer than he should’ve, but she brushed this off as her own imagination. They both turned their attention towards the store they were supposed to guard. The blue eyed girl would stand there as her tall partner told her everything he had came up with. While he may have only been there for a short amount of time, it seemed to her that he had already came up with a plan of action for the entire mission. “It seems like I’m working with another planner.” she thought to herself as the Hatake clan member finished his briefing.

“I don’t see anything wrong with your logic, Enlil.” Yukino started as she walked closer to the edge of the roof. “ I agree that we should probably split up, it’ll definitely cover more of an area than to simply stick together. Besides, it’s not like we can’t respond quickly to the other’s position, right? We are fully trained ninja.” she said sarcastically. “Well, like you said, I guess we should check in with the owner before we get set up for the night.” she finished as she would jump down to street level. Should Enlil follow, he and Yukino would be greeted by the old man that owned the store.

The old man would look like he only an inch or two taller than Yukino, which would explain why he needed the extra protection for his shop. “We’ll do everything in our power to protect your shop. You won’t have to worry for a while once we get done.” the young Sarutobi would say. “That’s all I can ask of you young whippersnappers.” the old man would reply in a joyful manner. Seemingly unaware that his shop was even an target of robbers. She would wait and allow Enlil to have his time to speak with the elderly man before continuing.  Yukino would treat him with the respect that an elder within the village should get, bowing before returning her attention back to her partner.

“Then that settles that!” the fiery young girl would say as she looked back to her partner. “I’ll go take up my position, you’ll know if I encounter any trouble.” she would say, a smirk on her face. The Will of Fire was already burning within her as her eyes were a clear indication that she was ready for any altercation that may befall them. She knew that she could handle most any problem the Genin may face on her own, though she didn’t let this cloud her judgement. If it happened to be more advantageous for them both, she wouldn’t hesitate to call upon her partner. “His presence alone would scare most people away.” Yukino mused to herself as she took up her post, waiting to see if anything out of the ordinary happened.

WC: 613
TWC: 1,374

Hearing his partner’s response, it seemed that the two were in perfect agreement with Enlil’s plans. He wondered if there was anything she would like to add, but from her words it appeared as if he had already covered everything. “Well, like you said, I guess we should check in with the owner before we get set up for the night.” The Hatake nodded in agreement just as his partner dropped down to the street. He trailed shortly behind her as the two slowly walked their way towards the front doors of the weapon store. Upon entering they were greeted by a short old man that, from Enlil’s estimations, looked to be no younger than seventy. Almost immediately, the young man’s partner would approach the old man and make short conversation.

Too preoccupied to listen in on their conversation, the Hatake’s brown eyes wandered throughout the store. His pupils moving from weapon to weapon, it became clear why the old man’s shop had often been the common target of thefts. The collection of swords hung up on the walls were far from just the work done by your everyday smith. Though he found himself more fond with hand to hand combat than swordsmanship, he couldn’t deny art when he saw it. The young shinobi was awestruck, he felt one particular blade call to him. A jet black katana with an equally darkened blade, hung from a grandiose stand placed inside a glass display case. “You interested in her youngin’?” The old man asked, creeping up on the Hatake. Enlil looked to the old man and then back to the sword. It was a tool that would certainly come in handy when the day came. “Maybe,” Enlil shrugged along with his words. “I’m not well educated on how to use one however.” He would add. “I can teach ya a think or two whippersnapper. Just make sure ya catch the one robbin’ up my supplies.” He took another look at the sword and contemplated. After a few seconds passed, he looked to his partner wondering what she was up to. It reminded him that there was still a mission that was in need of completing.

Refocusing himself, he began thinking of relevant information to the mission. He looked around the store, this time with a more analytical mindset. He scanned each window, counting them and searching for a lock on each one. His hand would instinctively move to stroke his chin as he tried to point out any weak spots that could provide the thief any easy points of entry. Ideally he wanted to set out a trap for the thief and eliminate all possibilities of a chase, but he failed to bring any wires or rope that would do the trick. Along the door was a wired keypad that was likely the shop’s security system. At least if somehow the thief managed to slip by the two shinobi, an alarm would do the job and alert them. “Thanks for the offer, I’ll go and catch that bad guy for you now.” The Hatake would say as he exited from the front door.

Meeting up back with his partner, there were a few things he wanted to know. “Then that settles that!” The Sarutobi girl exclaimed. “I’ll go take up my position, you’ll know if I encounter any trouble.” Just before she could hop to the rooftop Enlil would pat her shoulder in an attempt to gain her attention. “Before that Yukino, you wouldn’t happen to know any fuinjutsu traps would you? If so, it might be a good idea to place some over the windows. If not, then I would like to know about your abilities.” He held his fist up, showing the red fighting gloves he wore tucked under his sleeves. “I’m a taijutsu specialist, but I also know a bit of ninjutsu.” After giving her answer and assuming she didn’t have anything more to say, Enlil would make his way to the rooftop opposite of his partner.

684 | 2122

Having a man who was so much more taller than herself tap her shoulder wasn’t pleasant. In fact, her first reaction would’ve been to hit him in a more sensitive area; just as her father taught her to do. The only that saved Enlil from this fate was the fact that Yukino knew who he was and his position to her. She whipped her head around, the flame within her ignited though it fell to a simmer once she came to the realization it was him. She listened to the man ask her if she knew any fuinjutsu traps. While it would’ve been a good idea for sure, she didn’t know any fuinjutsu of that level. “I don’t know any fuinjutsu techniques.” she said as she shook her head no. She would then listen to him as he asked what her specialty was. While she would have answered his question easily, she decided to have some fun instead.  

“My abilities? Hmmm..” she said as she feigned to be deep in thought, moving her hand to her chin. “ I’m nothin special, just a your average ninja.” Yukino said while waving her hand in a nonchalant way. She didn’t have a specific reason as to why she didn’t tell her partner her abilities. In fact, it would’ve been smart to do so. She just felt like it would be fun to do, and it was indeed funny to her. She tried her best to hide her chuckle as she leapt to a nearby rooftop to observe the area. She was sure that her partner would do the same thing, so she crouched in a ready position, pumped about their mission.


What she didn’t expect was how boring the whole affair would be. She had abandoned the crouched position from earlier a hour and half ago. Instead, she had been sitting on the roof of her building with her legs hanging off. Her forehead protector was hanging from her neck as she looked as though she could literally die from boredom. A part of her wanted to go over to where her partner was, though she didn’t wanna move over there and end up missing something. So she was pretty much stuck in her position, her head angle up to look at the starry sky. She sat and wondered about the mission ahead of her. She thought about how she could improve herself and meet the requirements to progress in the rank. “How do I become a Chunin?” she said to herself. “I wonder what the average age of a Chunin is.” she said to herself as she continued to muse to herself. The hours ticked away as she the young Sarutobi regretted being assigned to this mission in the first place. She couldn’t help but wonder what her partner was doing a that very moment.

“Uuuuggghh, I should’ve brought a book or something!”

WC: 494
TWC: 1,868

“What happened?” she thought to herself as the sun started to peek above the skyline of the village. “Why did it turn out like this…?” she continued to think as she rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t used to staying up all night like this, so the sun pierced her eyes like bright daggers. Looking around, she noticed how the people of the village were starting the morning routines. For some, it was already time for them to head to work. “The whole night, and nothing happened.” she grumbled. While nothing in her mission stated that it would be a multiple day operation, it was no less annoying. She stood up from her spot, her knees popping from lack of use.

Then, from behind her, her partner appeared, slightly startling her in the process. He suggested that they leave their post for the day and prepare themselves for tonight. “I guess that would be the obvious solution to this, huh?” she said, her mouth dry from dehydration. “This is painfully annoying.” she said as she turned away from Enlil. “We should let the old man know we couldn’t get the guy.” the young Sarutobi said as her eyes shifted towards the old man’s shop. While it wouldn’t be as apparent to Enlil, the blue eyed girl felt disappointment well up inside of herself. While she was sure the old man wouldn’t be mad at them, she couldn’t help but feel responsible. Still, she looked back to her partner for a brief moment before more or less falling back down to street level.

Landing softly on her feet, she found herself at the door of the old man’s shop. Knocking, it took mere moments before the old man was in front of them. “Oh! I thought you were the milkman. How’d it go last night lass?” the old man said, his head shaking slightly due to age. “He didn’t show up last night, I’m sorry.” Yukino said, sadness and irritation showing fully. “Oh, it’s quite alright. You’ll just get him tonight.” the old man replied happily. He was seemingly unfazed, though Yukino couldn’t figure out why. Her brain was absolutely fried from lack of sleep, so after a few more minutes worth of exchange with the old man, she started on her way to her family residence. Before that however, she turned to Enlil her expression mostly vague, though her attitude poking out through her eyes. “So, I’ll see you here later on today. Hopefully he comes tonight, otherwise I might lose my mind.” she said sarcastically.

After securing the time and place with Enlil, she leapt off at high speeds. It didn’t take any longer than ten minutes to make it to her home. Walking in, her mother was sitting in the living room, probably waiting on Yukino to return from mission. The young Sarutobi didn’t even notice her mother, making her way to her room, and into bed. Her mother didn’t move from her spot in the living room, tea in hand, she simply smiled. “Poor kid, I remember my first night mission.” she said to herself as she took a sip of her tea. She was sure her daughter fell asleep the moment she walked through the front door. It was only due to her Will of Fire that she was able to make it to her room. “As tough as thinks she is, she really is still a girl.” her mother said, rising from her spot and making her way to Yukino’s room. “Somebody has to take off her shoes.” the older Sarutobi said to herself, giggling in the halls.

WC: 620
TWC: 2,488

“Well then perhaps it's better to simply seek out this thief by yourself.” said a woman who looked to be no older than thirty five. “How’re we supposed to do that without any information about the thief, mother.” Yukino quickly retorted as she continued to fix her hair. Her mother continued to sit at the low table with tea in hand. “That’s what being a ninja is all about. You have to go out and get that information.” the elder Sarutobi said as she took a sip. Yukino herself was in the bathroom located in the nearby hallway. After she finished braiding her hair, she walked out and joined her mother in the living room.

Instead of sitting, the younger Sarutobi took her position against the nearby wall, arms crossed. “Not everyone is as good as you and father.” Yukino said almost sarcastically, not doing a good job in hiding it; if she was even trying to in the first place. “Then again, we aren’t Jounin either.” the blue eyed girl said, her sarcastic tone persisting accompanied with a smirk. Her mother matched this smirk with her own. “I suppose you’re right. You youngsters should have a couple of hard knocks on your own. Otherwise you might get made fun of for being coddled.” the elder Sarutobi said with a small laugh. “In any case, I wish you good luck tonight. Just remember your training.” her mother said as Yukino began to make her way to the door.

“I don’t need luck if I have your training.”

“Indeed.”

The young Sarutobi left her house at around the same time she did yesterday. As the same as yesterday, the night crowd was ramping up for another long night. The sky above her was a bit darker than the previous night, but that didn’t affect her ability to maneuver the rooftops.  As she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, she couldn’t help but to wonder if the thief was somewhere below her. The young girl would never be able to understand why someone would put so much work into breaking into an old man’s store. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind however as she made it to her destination. Instead of stopping at the specified rooftop, she went down to the old man’s shop.

Landing on street level, she noticed that there wasn’t as much traffic. The neighborhood was quiet for the most part, so this wasn’t too strange. Yukino still made note of this as she went to go knock on the old man’s door. The old man greeted the young girl, even warmer than before as he went in for a hug. Normally, this would’ve been a red flag causing to beat the man down. In this case however, she had grown to be quite fond of the man. While she didn’t necessarily meet the man half way, she didn’t outright reject the man either.

“How’re you doing young one! I see it looks like you got plenty of rest.” the old man said as he broke himself away from the hug. “Yes sir. I didn’t have a hard time falling asleep.” she replied followed by an awkward laugh. “I tell you what! I have a good feeling about tonight. You’ll get him for sure.” the old man said, his eyebrows wiggling in excitement. “Yea, we’ll get him tonight for sure!” she said intensely. The blue eyed girl was determined to not spend another sleepless out on a rooftop. “Haha, I love to see youngsters like you take their work seriously.” he said with a hearty cackle.

WC: 618
TWC: 3,106

Yukino watched the old man walk out of the shop, turning off the lights, and locking the door. She turned her head to face the item in the case, wondering how such an item had survived so many years of being out in the world. The blue eyed girl turned her head to face Enlil when he asked her about how she slept. “Honestly, I don’t even remember falling asleep.” she said with a small chuckle, careful to hide it from her partner. “How did you sleep?” she would reply to continue the conversation. The young Sarutobi would listen to her partner as replied to her question before asking something else. “Say, how did you come up with that idea?” she would pause before looking over at the case. “The one where you display a piece of history like that for the thief to come and take it.” she would finish, turning her head back to Enlil.

The girl would once again pause as she listened to Enlil’s response. She had been mildly impressed with his creative thinking, something that earned a bit more respect from her. While she wouldn't elect to voice this shift, it would be clear due to her more open attitude with him. Still, her awareness would be constant and ramped up to one hundred. Maintaining her conversation with Enlil while being aware like she was no problem for her. Always finding it easy to divert her attention two or even three ways.

That being said, she could hear the sounds of insects singing their tunes, and the distant rumblings of drunk men. While there was no real way to say for certain what was going on outside, these sounds gave her a vague idea as to the events of the outside world. What she found interesting however, was the dogs in the area that were starting to bark. This caused her to raise an eyebrow as she raised a single finger up to show Enlil that something was off without making a sound. While it wasn’t uncommon for dogs to bark at nothing, or even if someone was walking, there was one issue.

“You hear that?” she would say to Enlil in something a little louder than a whisper. “The dogs are barking up a storm outside.” she said as she made eye contact with Enlil. “Remember last night? They didn’t bark at all, and there was nobody that walked these streets either.” she said, her voice rising just a bit. Yukino sprung up the wall and attached herself to it, she easily blended into the dark corner, her small size making it even easier to do so. It was entirely possible that she was overreacting, afterall, the old man left barely twenty minutes ago. Who would come to his shop this early in the night?

“It would’ve definitely been smarter to come later” Yukino thought as she watched a man crawl in through the nearby window. It looked as though he had a special tool that made it easier for him to unlock the window before opening it. Yukino had plenty of evidence and reason to engage the man now, she decided to wait however. She watched his movement in order to get a read on his capabilities. Due to this, she was easily able to tell that he had no training, and his guard was completely down. It was as if he had assumed that he would be able to walk in and out with no issues. She had seen enough, and she was sure that Enlil would say the same, so gave him a nod before moving in on their target.

WC: 615
TWC: 3,721