Mission:

Tossing the stone into the air he would allow it to ascend before it quickly began a rapid descent to his open hand, catching it in his palm he stared down at the rock that he had been given for the mission, he had tackled a few missions alone before but really they were not even missions all he did was teach a bunch of kids about some techniques, and then venture into some old ass mine for some bag of junk. This time around it was a real mission he had to travel further out, venture deep into the borders of the village’s territories, it would be a dangerous task seeing as he might run into some trouble this is why he employed the help of an old face. Someone he had not seen in years, hell the last time he laid eyes on her she was just another brat just like him, now though she was well she had filled out well, it took all he had to stop himself form gushing out in front of her. An internal sigh would curse the man as he hated his weakness for women, it was always a problem; nonetheless this one at least was familiar to him. Rolling his neck he would allow his muscles to straighten out a few pops, here and there “Alright then, we shouldn’t waste much time lingering, Ciera. Let’s get moving” he said would say pocketing the rock he was given, and then beginning his forward march in the direction which would lead them to the end of the border.

With the two having already walked more than halfway worth of the journey, they would be to the end of the border in a few minutes, golden eyes remained focused on the path ahead, watching as the mist seemed to split with their bodies pressing right through it. Despite the fact that he seemed so focus on the path ahead, he was actually alert to their surroundings this was the reason why he wasn’t talking at all, he needed to keep all senses on alert; besides if he wanted to catch up with Ciera there was other times to do that, a mission where his life was on the line was not that time. The male would stop suddenly raising a hand to stop the kunoichi if she had not done so, “We aren’t alone” he whispered in a deep tone. If one looked at his eyes instead of looking at the trees, or into the shadows of the wilderness as one would expect the enemy to hide, instead he was staring at the ground, because he had noticed a tripwire. “The mission details did mention the risk of running into trouble, I guess we found it” he would utter a smirk tugging at his lips until it finally stretched them out to fully form said smirk.

“Now decision, do we lure them out by tripping their petty trap? Or do we skip over it, and hope they do not find us…if I remember you correctly, I think you’d agree with me that some excitement would do us some good, no?” he would say to the girl, his golden eyes now focused on her seemingly wide with excitement.

526/1000

Imagine her surprise when she was asked by an old friend to accompany him on a mission. What was even more strange was the fact that they were both only Genin, despite how old they were. Ciera was 23 years old while her partner was 22 years old, only a year younger than her. She remembered him from the academy, but he was in a class beneath her year so they weren’t friends. They were more of acquaintances, as she remembered that he sometimes joined her horror story parties every once in a while. However, looking at him now, he had changed from the young boy that she knew. Was it for the better or was it for the worse? She didn’t know. Quite frankly, she had completely forgotten about him after she had graduated from the academy and was placed on a Genin. Of course, that was before she had quit being a Genin to become a simple fisherman for a few years.

So here they were, near to the target destination, but oh so far. After all, there was a new obstacle in the way. Ciera smirked a bit at the thought of what was to come. A green kimono with a brown sash probably wasn’t the best attire to be dressed in for the occasion; however, it was just what she needed. With a single motion of her hands, she loosened the sash and pulled off the kimono. Luckily, underneath was a more kunoichi style clothing of a black vest and short black skirt.

“It’s better to find out information on the enemy and eliminate them if we can. Just letting it go and hoping them they won’t find us will just get us a knife in the back.” There were some branches on the ground that she began to gather as well as pulling some off nearby trees. After all, this was a forest a little bit inland on the border of the country so there were plenty of trees and branches to be had.  She bundled the branches into the kimono and used the sash to bind it all together. “I will use this to throw onto the trap while we hide nearby and see what comes out. We will only have a few moments to decide whether to attack or run so we will use the hand signals. You will hide on one side, I will hide on the other. If we’re attacking, we’ll focus on the leader and then take out the rest. If we’re running, split up and regroup three miles to the west.”

It was a simple plan, but anything more complex would be useless to make without more information. As a Genin, she had no illusion about defeating a much higher ranked shinobi, but she was also a Hoshigaki; if there was no escape, she wouldn’t go down without a fight. And if it was weaker…well, the results would speak for themselves.

“Get into position and then I will toss it.” Ciera lifted the bundle onto her shoulder and with a quick leap, she ascended onto a tree branch. She moved so that the tree would be directly in the sun’s path, bathing her in shadows.

When her partner reaches his position, she would toss the bundle out and trigger the trap.

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WC 567/1000

Ah so she had a decent brain resting above that bountiful bosom of hers, the male would give her a nod of the head to signal that he understood her plan, when the girl had gathered her sticks ready to set off the trap he would bend his knees then push himself upward in a single motion he would reach the top of a nearby tree. Kneeling down on the thick base of the branch he placed a hand on the body of the strong tree, lucky for them the mist was a natural resource they would use to conceal their presence, he watched as the bundle of sticks was tossed towards the trap. The weight of the combined sticks would set off the trap as planned, as a result well at first nothing happened his golden eyes would squint trying to focus on the traps area, maybe it was a faulty one? Nope, soon after the two shadows emerged from the forest they landed near the area where the trap wire had been found earlier, there seemed to be no one else except for the two. The men seemed to look to either side, wondering what had set off the trap “Do you see any tracks?” one asked, the other would probably respond with a shake of the head seeing as no voice was heard, either way Tsurugi was ready to make the move. He raised his hand towards Ciera, giving her a slight wave he would signal for them to attack but he would first gesture for her to hold on her end.

Golden eyes would go from the girl over to the two men who seemed unaware of their presence, he would perform a single hand seal the tiger hand seal inhaling deeply he would begin to manipulate his own chakra deep inside his expanded lungs. Then without any warning he would excel releasing a single giant fireball that lit up the entire area around him with a bright hellish glow, the fireball traveled in the direction of the two men its massive size aiming to overwhelm them. It all happened so fast that before he knew it the fireball crashed exploding on impact into a single burst of wild flames that reached out in all directions aiming to burn the forest, but luckily the flames did not reach out so far to do so. Instead in the place of impact was left a single crater, now Tsurugi had not intended to hit these men with the single attack he meant to separate them which had worked the two had jumped to either side to avoid the attack. Pushing off the branch he began a rapid descent towards the ground purposely landing in the open, with that the two ninja emerged from the forest again their attention completely on Tsurugi.

Each rushed him from an angle, ‘She better take advantage of this opportunity!’ he thought to himself as he braced himself for the incoming ninja, one would throw a punch which he avoided but the other would deliver a swift low kick which struck Tsurugi on the thigh causing him to pause long enough to end up eating the other punch that was quickly thrown to his face. With a grunt the male stumbled back from the impact almost falling back, recovering just in time to see the men come in close he quickly performed a roll to the side; it was rough but it made due getting him out of their line of sight. Turning quickly as he stood upright he took a firm stance waiting for the two to come at him, form this angle Ciera would find both of the ninjas backs were to her, providing a great blind spot!

-Chakra: 135/150:

1152/1000

Really? Tsurugi was trying to fight hand-to-hand with two ninjas, the key word being “trying.” To be honest, it looked more like a brawl than anything else. If his taijutsu was that bad, why bother? He could have just used more ninjutsu’s to keep them off balance. Well, in any case, she wasn’t about to waste the chance. Those two shinobis were assaulting Tsurugi on one side, pressing their advantage without a care for their surrounding. That gave her the ideal position she needed to take them both out at the same time. Even as she leaped off the branch, her hands and fingers were working furiously to make the motions of hand seals. By the time that she landed into the fray, she had completed her jutsu.

“Suiton: Mizurappa!”

Water burst from her mouth like a fire hydrant, slamming the first enemy into the second. They traveled only a short distance before they were rammed into a tree, the full pressure of the water jutsu laying into them as if they were dolls. Normally, this technique would only cause them heavy bruises, but the thing about the Hoshigaki clan was that they specialized deeply in suiton. Their affinity with water granted them a huge advantage. That advantage being that it increased the power of the suiton technique.

Thus, the water technique hit them like a truck, breaking their bones and pressing down on their lungs. Though, when they opened their lips to scream, the water got inside their mouth and down their throats. By the time she released the jutsu, both were already dead and their corpses fell bonelessly to the ground. That tree that had acted as a wall had a crater at its trunk, its bark splintering out.

Ciera turned and glanced at her partner. “Are you okay?”

It wasn’t a question quite born out of concern for the man; rather, it was a question of whether it would hinder their mission and make it even more longer. Supporting Tsurugi on the way back was a hassle, but it wasn’t a hard or difficult task. Just time consuming.

The man in question simply stood up straighter wordlessly, seeming to have completely ignored her question. Or perhaps, that was just the response in and of itself. Whatever the case, it seemed he was fine enough.

She tapped a finger on her chin. Now that she thought about it, he only really took some punches and kicks anyways. He would have to be pretty frail to get injured from that.

“I’ll take that as you’re completely fine,” Ciera said, again getting no response in return. Just a disturbing stare. “Anyways, let’s finish this mission up.”

It didn’t take too long before they finally reached their destination and placed the stone, but at least by that time, Tsurugi had begun to speak again. It was going to be a bit of a travel back to the village, but at least he was talking again. Maybe she should tell him a horror story on the way back…

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WC 1084/1000

Chakra:

“Heh, here they come!” he said to himself as he took a firm stance ready to take on the next barrage of kicks, and punches that where intended for his face when suddenly in a single sweep, and from seemingly nowhere! A stream of water swept in taking both men from in front of Tsurugi, to a nearby tree relaxing from his stance those golden orbs of his stared off in the direction of the men hearing the gurgled screams, suffering until their very last breath all he could see were flailing limbs, and hear hopeless cries. When Ciera decided to stop feeding chakra into her jutsu, the stream of water would subside allowing the lifeless bodies to fall onto the ground; it was not even necessary to inspect them just from the sight alone their deaths were confirmed. Turning away from them he would give the girl a silent nod aimed both at her question, and meant to give her a nod of approval for such a good job, she had single handedly ended those men without much effort. ‘She will be of much use to me in the future’ he thought to himself quietly as he marched along with the girl, her words did not fall on deaf ears but he did not choose to answer her either, he was more focused with getting this missions done.

The entire journey to their location he was wary of their surroundings keeping his senses sharp just in case there were any more traps or ninja waiting in the shadows to ambush them, ultimately they arrived at their location, his golden eyes took in the details of the surroundings. “This seems relatively safe” he said to himself more than to his partner. Kneeling down he took the rock he had in his hands earlier, then set it down on the ground letting it rest there the symbol engraved onto the rocks solid surface reminiscent of the very headbands these two Genin owned. Rising upright he turned towards Ciera, giving her a silent not so the two could begin their journey back to the mission this way they could turn in their mission and get their reward. All the while he wondered, if Ciera still told those scary stories like when they were kids, not that he would openly ask but it would be nice to hear one; good way to pass the time.


1554/1000