One Way Trip:

The sun sat high above the dense forest, rays of warm light shooting through the thick canopy to illuminate spots on the forest floor. Aside from the faint and distant ambiance the forest provided, it was an otherwise quiet location. The beasts that lurked within and the rumours that were often centered around the woodland were enough to keep most of the villagers and sane shinobi away. Interestingly enough, the forest was where Takao's first meeting with the Hokage before him was, though that was a squad introduction. His reason for traversing the forest today was a bit different, and arguably a lot less dangerous than meeting a family of Inuzuka.

A quiet thud echoed from the thick branch he landed upon. His boots offered protection that shinobi sandals did not, though they sacrificed the lightweight mobility and silence that traditional shinobi footwear possessed. In front of him was a small clearing of sorts, the aftermath of construction for the cabin. Takao knew of it, he had learned about the compound during his time as the Hokage. It interested him and he had always wanted to explore it for himself, being the adventerous young teenager that he was at the time. The opportunity presented itself at the mission board, and he was actually rather excited to see what remnants of the last shinobi war were left inside. “Oh, right. I was doing this with somebody else, wasn't I?” he thought to himself as his attention laid on the path of tree branches behind him that had provided him an alternative to wading through the undesirable foliage and fauna that laid on the forest floor.

Takao figured that he would wait for his company to arrive before proceeding any further. Instead of bum rushing the cabin, he took care in observing his surroundings. The cabin was the only building in sight, and it certainly didn't look like it had been inhabited for quite some time. There was no clear entrance or door, but from Takao's research into the matter during his time in office, he knew right where the hidden way in was. It was a seal that kept the cabin sealed, though Takao didn't have much interest, nor skill for that matter, in breaking seals. His experience with them was lacking, and the best plan he could come up with bypassing it was to simply punch one of the walls down, a feat he could surely accomplish given the time. Further reflecting on what he already knew about the compound, Takao knew the foundation was likely stable despite it's exterior condition. It was made to house dangerous and powerful prisoners of the war at the time, so it was built strong and built to last. His explosive fire techniques wouldn't bring it down on top of them, but it would risk the already scarce intel they were searching for. He would be sticking to close quarters combat until an alternative became necessary, it seemed.

For now, he waited for his partner in crime to show up. Takao would brief him on what he knew on the way down.

What a time, a very desperate time indeed, a time where Atsumichi had been very calm on his first mission. Every since he officially became a shinobi, a Genin, he had spent his time lacking around in different parts of Konoha, lurking in the shadows and forming crazy hypothesis he desperately tried to find out the answer too, rather a boring task it seemed. Looking at the time, Mich noticed that he had been running late, but he didn't really seem to care, and he knew the reason why. His sensei, Takao-senpai, he was a very relaxed man by the looks of it, and plus he might already be there exploring the cabin's wonderful sites. Maybe exploring the ancient artifacts and such that had once existed in the cabin. Walking slowly towards the main road that he once was on, Atsumichi noticed the different patterns within the ground, and began to laugh. Such odd patterns in an odd place.

Of course he wanted to have fun on his first mission, since you could say he was a somewhat of a daredevil, taking on a higher mission that he maybe wasn't supposed to take. But after all, Mich could give two shits of what others thinks about his own actions, if he wanted to take a mission, he would take it with no problems expected. This mission had been a B ranked mission, which were most likely assigned to Special Jounin, or skilled Chunnin, but so be it. Atsumichi would simply prove to himself and his sensei that he was a skilled Genin that knew what the hell he was doing. Walking slowly towards his target, the over aged genin started to come in contact with the forest. He thought to himself it was about time to pick up the pace. Running in the most desperate looking manner, he had finally managed to reach the cabin, and the location assigned by his sensei, where they 'were' supposed to meet. But after looking around, he could find no sign of his sensei, until he saw the front of the cabin. There stood a proud ninja, black hair, black eyes, and a fascinated facial expression, this was the face of a pass Hokage. That now, even though he doesn't contain such power anymore, shows the true honor of being a shinobi by investing in different activites one likes to do. Atsumichi walked up to his sensei, looking down the stair case that had been connected to the cabin. 'Well damn, right in plain site and this place is supposed to have top-notch security?' he said as he approached his sensei.

Looking around for one last moment, a final glimpse, he noticed the broken down cracks and broken parts of the cabin, very old indeed. They were now both about to enter the pit of hell, for who knows where it would lead them.

486/???

Having down time was never a good thing for Takao, it usually lead to trouble. He had left his spot on the tree branch only moments after he'd arrived and begun waiting for his company on the mission. His right hand raised up to his lips and placed the burning cigarette between two fingers, exhaling smoke from his nostrils as he pulled it from the corner of his mouth. Soon he felt a gaze on his back as he glanced down into the black abyss, and he twisted his head over his shoulder. From what he could see was another male a bit taller than himself with white hair, and as he came closer, red eyes. If he was a shinobi of Konohagakure, there was no indication of it on his person that he could see. Takao wore his headband on his right shoulder, something he wouldn't be doing if he was beyond Konohagakure's borders. But on an expedition down into an abandoned detention center for high value targets and dangerous prisoners that was most likely inhabited by bandits? He couldn't give any less of a shit if they knew his allegiance.

Takao raised his right hand, still holding the cigarette between his index and middle finger, to greet the approaching male. ”Well damn, right in plain site and this place is supposed to have top-notch security?” Takao stifled a bout of quiet laughter as he heard the comment. He took one last drag off the cigarette before tossing it down to his feet and stomping it out.

“There was a seal here that hid the entrance. It was just a cabin in the woods, once upon a time.” Takao turned to face the taller male, offering him only a brief glance before his attention shifted back down to the black abyss the stairs lead into. “That was the vanguard of the “top notch” security. We'll be going through the part that was designed to be smart enough to kill or incapacitate anybody smart enough to see through plan A.”

His boots thumped against the stone staircase as he took the first few steps down the staircase, taking a second to let the other half of his party of two catch up. “Most of the documentation down here would have been gathered, but it was done hastily. There were some important papers reported as missing from the files stored here while the facility was still operational. Our primary objective is securing the compound entirely, and our secondary is acquiring whatever lost documentation we can." The briefing he gave was deliberately and, as the name would suggest, brief. There would be traps, there was a good chance there would be enemy shinobi, and there was no point in coming up with an oddly specific plan that detailed their every action. If a strategy became necessary he would make it on the fly and adapt it to the situation at hand, rather than coming up with a static plan that would ultimately fall apart when shit hit the fan. "I'll take the lead. We'll minimize the chance of both of us being caught in a trap if you keep a safe distance behind me."

The air became cold and damp the further they delved into the darkness, and the familiar smell of death and decay soon filled the air. The walls and floor were built with thick stone, allowing even the slightest of sounds to bounce off and echo into the darkness. The empty staircase and halls gave a generally discomforting and unnerving feel. “If we're lucky, the problem will have solved itself.”

Atsumichi had been quite surprised at the reaction of the fellow shinobi, a rather marvelous site at first. As the man before him would smoke in such a free manner, instead of getting to the arduous task of importance at hand, such a free man indeed. The man continued to smoke, and by the hand positions that he was moving in, Atsumichi managed to see his proud Konohagakure village headband on his right shoulder, the shiny light that the headband had emitted was almost impossible not to stare at, a rather annoying feeling. The man had raised his right hand, as if to greet Mich, but he just continued to view his surroundings, he wasn’t all that interested in greetings at the moment. Continuing to smoke, the man had begun to laugh. Most likely because of what Atsumichi had said earlier, even though it was never intended to be a joke at all. Mich stared very deeply at the cigarette that the konohagakure ninja threw on the ground below his feet, stomping his boots on it.

“There was a seal here that hid the entrance. It was just a cabin in the woods, once upon a time.” the konohagakure ninja had spoken.  

This seemed rather strange to Atsumichi, why would they send shinobi on a mission to recover files, and to protect and see if anything was going on around, and leave the entrance open. This had caught the over aged Jashin’s attention, and made him form quite a few hypothesis’s within his head. Though, he insisted to look at the placement of the seal that had used to hide the entrance, observing the broken down bricks and somewhat torn scroll, that may have been used to hide the entrance.

“Oi, you can answer this or not, but why would they send shinobi on a mission to inspect this place, but after all of these years the entrance has remained open?” Mich had spoken softly.

He just couldn’t shake the fact that the whole point of this mission, may or may not be a set up. The whole mission itself to Atsumichi, was quite weird.
Takao had continued his little presentation, babbling off about the whole point of the mission, but Atsumichi had already known most of the details for this specific mission, but he insisted to pay attention.

“That was the vanguard of the “top notch” security. We’ll be going through the part that was designed to be smart enough to kill or incapacitate anybody smart enough to see through plan A.” the konohagakure ninja had spoken.

Looking at the vanguard, Mich didn’t really notice anything interesting, a rather boring site, what he did notice was the his partner was leaving him, as the konohagakure ninja had already began to go down the stone staircase taking short steps for Atsumichi himself to catch up. The konohagakure ninja had begun to continue talking..

“Most of the documentation down here would have been gathered, but it was done hastily. There were some important papers reported as missing from the files stored here while the facility was still operational. Our primary objective is securing the compound entirely, and our secondary is acquiring whatever lost documentation we can.”

Atsumichi had seemed really concerned, where had these  lost documents and missing files had gone? Such questions started to fill Mich’s mind, thinking as hard as he can to form a reasonable hypothesis for the current situation at hand. It seemed their primary goal was going to be to secure the compound entirely, and the secondary was acquiring whatever lost documentation that they could find. In Atsumichi head it sounded like a very easy plan, and may have seemed very quick, but thinking things through, he sooner realized that maybe it wouldn't be so easy. Indeed, there may be traps, enemy shinobi, or anything else out of the blue that could pop up.

“I’ll take the lead. We’ll minimize the chance of both of us being caught in a trap if you keep a safe distance behind me.” the konohagakure ninja had spoken.

Nodding, Atsumichi just thought it was time to introduce him at a time like this. They both continued to walk deeper within the dark abyss, as the air became cold and damp. The farther that Atsumichi had walked, the more it had become darker, this was going to be a serious problem for him.

“Oh, by the way, my name is Atsumichi, but you can call me Mich. You see, I kind of have a fear of being blind, and I guess this can come close to that, since we are in pitch black darkness. Try not to walk so fast, will ya?”

1277/???

Silence had overtaken Takao on his descent into the compound, the only sounds he cared to listen to were their footwear thumping against the cold stone and the general droning ambiance that the darkness gave. He intentionally left the question unanswered for a time, focusing on their descent. He had slowed down as requested, yet still kept up a brisk pace. Light soon illuminated the stones as they reached the bottom, a single wooden door left slightly ajar stood in their path with no other directions to head in but forward or back.

Takao examined the door briefly, turning to face Atsumichi when his less than thorough examination was over with. “If you were a shinobi of Konohagakure, I would be more willing to discuss the details. All I'll say for now is that it was recently opened. The reason they've sent only a pair of us is because the documents we're looking for aren't all that important. They're just sought after 'cause they don't want incomplete files.” He turned back to the door and pressed his hand against the wood near the handle, yet not on it. With a slight push of his arm an flick of his wrist, the door creaked open to reveal a long hallway, illuminated with a sickly greenish blue glow from fixtures on either side of the wall.

As the door was opened, the smell of death and rot became much stronger. It flooded the small staircase and threatened weaker stomachs. Looking down the hall, the source of the stench could be seen. Many lifeless bodies, some seeming to have been there longer than the others, were strewn throughout the halls.

Proceeding down the hall would reveal only a single open door on the right side, and peeking in would reveal the room to be entirely empty, save for a single wood table that, like the room, was also empty. The end of the hall revealed another door that was open, and the staircase leading further down could be seen.

“They probably want to repurpose the building, into a barracks of sorts or maybe just another prison for small time criminals. Can't imagine they'd be putting more dangerous or high value targets here with the intel that exists on this place.” The bodies were carefully stepped over and avoided, not wanting to further disturb the traps that had been set off. Many arrows and darts rested in one wall and in the majority of the bodies. Takao examined them as he passed, and muttered something about how primitive their traps were at the time.

As the time for introductions rolled around, Takao figured he would at least give him a name. He wasn't keep on sharing much about himself. “Mich then, huh? Well, cool to meet you. You can call me Takao, 'cause it's my name.” He'd never been given much of a nickname as a kid, since his name was rather short and easy to say already.

(I figure we'll skip the first three floors, since the mission details there being no active traps are there and no progress to the mission can be made.)

The rest of their descent, at least for the next two floors, would be more of the same. Empty hallways that lead to empty rooms, with bodies strewn about the floor and activated traps in every direction they could see. Each of the hallways was dimly lit with the same glow by the same fixtures, easily disorientating a less observant shinobi as they made their way deeper down. The third staircase down lead to a closed metal door this time, and the stench of death was nearly gone on this level.

Hidden traps laid all over the hall, ranging from simple tripwires to more elaborate plates hidden amongst the rocks that activated invisible seals on the floor and walls. Takao had, like he said he would, taken the first step and began walking down the dimly lit hallway, avoiding the first obvious trap that he could see, which was a trip wire just past the door.

This indeed was going to be no ordinary mission, for Atsumichi had known this as he just began to creep down the stair case, only being able to hear the footwear thumping against the cold stone, and the ambiance of darkness that the area had given. Very creepy and scary this had gotten, Mich couldn’t stand the fact that he wouldn’t be able to see. But slowly, Mich had realized that this Konohagakure shinobi had slowed down as requested, a rather bold decision amongst the certain situation they are involving themselves in. What would happen if they moved to fast, and accidently stepped on a trap? But of course, Atsumichi shouldn’t be thinking of such childish things at such a serious time. He should rather be focusing on the task at end, trying to find a way to be able to see where he is going that is. As they had begun to grow closer towards the end of the staircase, Atsumichi had a somewhat smile of joy across his face. For he noticed that the stones had emitted light, creating a much more easier path to see and safer field of vision for himself. Remarkable at the fact, that such stones could produce light in such a dark place which looked like it had no-what-so-ever light. Suddenly, the konohagakure shinobi had stopped, had they encountered something? What was the mix-up? Peeking over the konohagakure shinobi’s shoulder, Atsumichi noticed that an obstacle had been in their way. A door. A wooden door. A wooden door that had been in the way of their objective, unacceptable. While the konohagakure shinobi had seemed to be examine this wooden door, he turned his, he did a full one hundred eighty degree turn with his head, staring dead at Mich.

“If you were a shinobi of Konohagakure, I would be more willing to discuss the details. All I’ll say for now is that it was recently opened. The reason they’ve sent only a pair of us is because the documents we’re looking for aren’t all that important. They’re just sought after ‘cause they don’t want incomplete files.”

Fascinating as this was, Atsumichi formed a hypothesis within his head, it must have been the only explanation as to why there was a tight security here within this cabin like prison.

“So, this must mean, that there was once very important documents here, correct? If we are here retrieving not so important documents, and this place still maintains good security then there must be a reason as to why.” he said in a low voice.

The konohagakure shinobi had turned back his head, concentrating on the door once more. Pulling out his hand, he pressed it against the wood near the handle of the door, and with a slight push of his arm an flick of his wrist, the door had magically creaked open revealing a rather long hallway. Mich had no problem with this hallway, mainly because it illuminated a sickly greenish blue glow from fixture on both sides of the walls. Enough light for him to see, and fully grasp his surroundings. When the door had fully opened, the stench of death and rot had become much strong, a putrid taste. The smell itself had spread amongst the small staircase, but it didn’t bother Atsumichi as much as he thought it would.
Mich looked down the hallway, noticing the source of the putrid smell, lifeless bodies. Some of the corpses had seemed too been sitting there for a longer period of time than others, but in the end they were all the same, dead. Continuing on, there was another door on the right hand side, revealing only a single wooden table, a rather empty room. Further down the hall was the next set of staircases leading down, deeper within this freak show.

“They probably want to repurpose the building, into a barracks of sorts or maybe just another prison for small time criminals. Can’t imagine they’d be putting more dangerous or high value targets here with the intel that exists on this place. the konohagakure shinobi had said.

A very good choice of words he had presented, because Atsumichi couldn’t agree anymore. But then again, how the hell would they manage to rebuild this broken down, haunted cabin?
They both had both carefully stepped over and avoided the dead corpses, because of course they wouldn’t want to set of anymore traps. From the side of his eye, Mich caught a glimpse of an older man who had been shot with an arrow, straight in the head. Such a pitiful death. Atsumichi, managed, but noticed something might have been wrong with the konohagakure shinobi, as he would mutter words within his mouth that made it hard to predict what he was saying.
They both continued to walk, Mich began to stare at the ground, for he wasn’t really worried about  where they were headed, more as what they were getting themselves into.

“Mich then, huh? Well, cool to meet you. You can call me Takao, ‘cause it’s my name.”

Atsumichi quickly looked up, taking in the situation at hand. For he just realized the konohagakure shinnobi  has spoken.

“Nice to meet you, your name sounds really familiar though..”

When they had finally reached the third floor, something had been different, there was a metal door. This was very strange. Atsumichi rushed passed Takao, putting his ears towards the metal door. Nothing could be heard.
Atsumichi opened up the locks that had been attached to the door, noticing the familiar pattern it had, and when the door had finally budged, he didn’t know what to expect, all he could see what a light..

1500/1500
{724}

Their descent was halted by the metal door that stood in their path, leading further down into the hell they had decided to tour. With his arms crossed, he watched with an amused expression at Atsumichi took the lead and thoroughly examined what laid beyond the door by pressing his ear against it. He assumed that, from what he could observe behind Atsumichi and the following actions he made to open the door, that there were no suspicious noises to be heard through the thick metal.

“Our definitions of importance may vary from the village and its archivists. We could just be picking up missing prisoner files, which would be completely useless to you or I, yet invaluable to the village. But in the end, who knows and who cares. We're not looking at them or keeping them, so I couldn't care less about what we find- or what we don't find.” His voice was kept relatively quiet, as to not disturb the unsettling ambiance of the cavernous staircase and hallway, as well as alerting any potential squatters deeper within the compound. In truth Takao did care about what they found, though his tone would never give off the impression of such. He was much more a man of knowledge than he was one of action, though he would resort to it the instant it became necessary without hesitation. There was just a certain curiousity that he had about what kind of documents might be laying within. A curious place for a curious person, the two never mixed.

“Takao is a common name in the Fire Country, so I would imagine it does sound a bit familiar.”

As the light from within the hallway illuminated the staircase and door that opened inward, Takao noticed something strange. Three puncture holes in the door that weren't visible in the darkness. He glanced down and saw a limp length of string on the ground, barely visible against the stone. Upon examining the door further he found no blood, no body, and a sprung trap with no victim in sight.

“Looks like somebody beat us to the cause.” His voice was lower now, speaking in a tone that was specifically done so that only Atsumichi, who Takao had moved closer to, could hear. He reached down to his belt and pulled the knife he kept sheathed there out, the metal ringing as it left the scabbard. “We'll do this the safe way.”

Takao placed the knife in his hands between his teeth and clapped the gloved extremities together. He intertwined his fingers and contorted them into a slew of hand seals, and as he finished, three clouds of white smoke appeared. The chakra fumes dispersed and revealed perfect clones of Takao, which pushed past Atsumichi and proceeded into the room.

“Let the clones take the fall, and stay a good deal away from them. If they do activate a trap and destroy themselves... Well... They're a tad explosive.”