“An escaped prisoner this time?” Bokuden mused as his eyes scanned the briefing that had been given him for his latest mission. “Very little specifics as well,” Bokuden continued, “All we really know is that it was no one of real consequence due to the fact that there is so little information on him and that the escape seemed to be more a result of the guards’ incompetence then of his own strength. Sounds interesting at least.”

“Ugh, these briefings never give us the information we really need,” Satomi wined as she sat next to Bokuden, reviewing the assignment, “How does a prisoner escape a maximum security facility like a shinobi prison and there not be an entire file detailing the convict’s past and abilities made available to those who are assigned to hunt him down. People don’t just go to prison and not have a file made specifically for them. What kind of system are they running in there?”

“Relax Satomi, the fact that this is a B rank mission implies their own admission that this is a potentially dangerous assignment,” Bokuden explained, trying to calm Satomi’s frustration, “Besides, the good news is that we know that we should be able to handle him.”

“And just how do we know that? They gave almost no information on our target!” Satomi yelled in response.

“We know we can handle him because of where he escaped from,” Bokuden replied, placing the briefing down on the table and turning to face Satomi, “Well to be more accurate, it is that we know where he did not escape from that is more helpful.”

Satomi’s ears perked up in curiosity upon hearing Bokuden’s last sentence. “Stop speaking in riddles and say what you want to say,” Satomi grumbled, “This needs to be done as quickly as possible. We don’t have the luxury of sitting around here and playing guessing games.”

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Word Count: 322/1500

Bokuden smirked and paused for a moment before answering. “Athos Keep,” he stated bluntly, “The fact that he wasn’t a prisoner at Athos Keep tells us all we need to know about him. We can take him. He’ll probably be dangerous, but we can take him.”

“Alright, we know that he isn’t some internationally wanted madman, a super villain, or a former elite shinobi and nothing else about him other than that he is potentially dangerous. You know, somehow I’m not feeling the same easiness about this situation as you are,” Satomi explained in a snarky tone.

“You always did worry too much, you know that Satomi?” Bokuden replied jokingly, “If you are afraid I won’t force you to go. I can handle it myself.”

Upon hearing Bokuden’s words, a burning rage consumed Satomi as her pride would not allow her to just let things be. “Who the hell do you think I am?” Satomi yelled hastily, “Afraid? Please, the only fear I have for this mission is that you might be too stupid and get yourself killed without my help. Now let’s get going, we have a convict to subdue.” Satomi began walking towards the door before turning her head back to look at Bokuden, “Hurry up, if you fall behind I’ll complete the mission without you.”

An amused grin appeared on Bokuden’s face as Satomi continued walking out of the room. Pride is such a useful tool, Bokuden thought to himself as he grabbed the envelope that the mission briefing had come in and followed Satomi into the hallway. “Satomi!” Bokuden yelled, causing her to turn around and acknowledge him, “How exactly do you think you are going to find this guys without me? You don’t even have a physical description of him!”

Her head sank as she realized that he was right and though it pained her pride to admit she needed his assistance after that show she put on she didn’t have much of a choice. “F-fine,” she called out, flustered, “Just make sure you don’t slow me down!”

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Word Count: 678/1500

Bokuden took out a piece of cloth from the envelope the mission briefing had arrived in and stuck his hand out in Satomi’s direction. “This cloth was torn from him during his escape. It was all that coud be recovered that the prison was willing to release to us for the mission,” Bokuden explained, “We can use this cloth to track his scent as we sweep the village. Reports indicate that he is still in this city, so if your nose is as good as it used to be then it should only be a matter of time before we find him.”

Satomi reluctantly turned to face Bokuden and trudged over to him in order to pick up the scent from the cloth. “Fine, we’ll do it your way Bokuden,” Satomi grumbled. She sniffed around the cloth and drew her head back quickly, “Ugh! That’s disgusting!”

“He was in prison for several years, what did you expect it to smell like?” Bokuden mused , “I’m sorry that they didn’t have round the clock laundry services for all of the criminals that they were holding.”

“Shut up!” Satomi snapped back, “If you have time to make jokes you have time to get searching!” She hesitantly sniffed the cloth once more, “I’ve got the scent, let’s move.”

Their first destination was where the last reported sighting of the escaped convict took place, an alleyway over at the edge of the city. It was likely the sketchiest area in all of Kumogakure, not even the village’s internal police force poked around in that area without explicit orders. It was best to travel by rooftops to avoid any unnecessary confrontations. They were here to catch an escaped criminal, not get into pointless fights with a bunch of free ones. It appeared as though the convict was using this area to hide out in until the heat died down as Satomi picked up his scent almost immediately. He was definitely close, now all that needed to be done was sift through the filth that inhabited the area and draw him out. The trail led them to an unmarked building, the scent was unmistakable, he was just inside those doors.

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Word Count:  1049/1500

Bokuden carefully opened the door, revealing what appeared to be a bar of sorts. Bokuden performed a quick visual scan of the room, taking note of all the shady looking characters who now were all glaring in his direction. They sure know how to make a guy feel welcome, Bokuden thought to himself sarcastically as he stepped into the establishment, Satomi following closely behind him. “No pets allowed,” A large, bald man said in a threatening tone as he rose up from his seat.

Bokuden glared at the man from the corner of his eye as he walked towards Bokuden and Satomi. “Good thing she isn’t a pet then, isn’t it,” Bokuden said bluntly, “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Bokuden’s nonchalant attitude infuriated the thug whose face grew red with anger. He then reached out to grab Bokuden’s shoulder as Bokuden walked away from him, “You deaf you little shit? This is-“ Before he could finish his sentence Satomi wrapped her long tail around his throat and tightened. The man attempted to grab the tail constricting his neck and choking him, but his struggle was in vain as he could not free himself. Satomi then swung around and threw him against the wall before turning back to Bokuden.

The rest of the people in the bar stood up from their seats and stared at Bokuden, who they now had completely surrounded. “It looks like our charm won us some new friends, Satomi,” Bokuden said in a snarky manner with a grin on his face.

“What the hell is going out here,” a man shouted swinging the door in the back of the establishment open.

“Bokuden, that’s him!” Satomi yelled identifying the man as their target. Bokuden and Satomi immediately lunged at the man, Bouden activating his Current Perception: Close Combat Range. The man ran through the back of the building, up the stairs, and out the window onto a nearby rooftop, Bokuden and Satomi following closely behind.

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Word Count: 1382/1500

Upon reaching the next rooftop Bokuden was met with two shuriken flying straight towards his face. He immediately performed a quick draw with his katana and deflected the projectiles sending them both flying into the wall of the building directly next to this one, where they stuck. Bokuden and Satomi darted in opposite directions attempting to flank their target, but he was smarter than he looked and ran back to prevent being surrounded. Bokuden formed two water clones and sent them charging straight at the convict who countered by using his great fire dragon bomb jutsu to blow away the clones.

Satomi and Bokuden leapt out of the way of the surging flames, but the clones were destroyed in the process. “They couldn’t have warned us about THAT?” Satomi yelled from the other side of the rooftop. Charging head on was out of the question apparently, but Bokuden had another plan. He used hand signals to communicate to Satomi what jutsu he would be using next. They had practiced them enough times that she picked it up instantly. Forming the necessary hand signs Bokuden used his Raiton: Blind Faith justu to blind his opponent.

He and Satomi both knew to close their eyes during the confrontation and were more than capable of locating the man without their sight, especially considering he was yelling about the bright light. As they attempted once again to flank him he once again countered, this time with the water encampment wall jutsu. The 360 degree defense blocked Bokuden and Satomi’s attacks and caught them up in the torrent, throwing them both aside. Annoyed Bokuden realized that the man was maintaining the jutsu, presumably until he got his sight back. Bokuden smirked and used his Raiton: Wave of Inspiration jutsu to electrify the water he was expelling from his mouth. The lightning flowed through the water and eventually into him, electrocuting him and cancelling the jutsu where a transformed Satomi was able to knock him to the ground and step on his neck to pin him down. “Well, let’s take him in then,” Bokuden told Satomi before stomping on his face to knock him out and turn him in.

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Word Count: 1748/1500