OOC:

Mission:

Kenji had to run back into town as a few loose ends needed to be secured. With both of his aliases came much responsibility. Kenji was called upon by the village as an ANBU, but they didn't know his true identity. They only knew his village, residence while in Kirigakure, and his codename: Jenito. Kenji had volunteered as himself, hoping to gain money and recognition for his acts of valor, something that wouldn't be obtainable fighting under the guise of a secret assassin operative. As to be expected, as an ANBU he was called upon frequently to endure missions that required the utmost stealth and an eerie level of combat ability. Kenji/Jenito exemplified both. As himself, well, his notoriety had spread somewhat far, but even without his miniscule reputaion, he had earned quite the respect just off of his performace in the war. Consequently, Kenji was called upon for duties that were of a very similar nature, the only difference being that he usually worked in teams when he fought as himself.

He finally got back in town and visited one of his many contacts he had obtained since being in Kirigakure. It was in the north of the village. Kenji shuffled through the wet terrain, the after effects of a slight storm that had passed over the area a few hours ago. Kenji was surprised that his efforts were still required.

-----

Flash back

"Kenji, I saw this letter outside 'Jenito's' apartment, it appears your work isn't finished quite yet." Kenji looked back at Kasfara as they were just nearing the borders of Kirigakure. The glance Kenji shot at Kasfara was deadly to say the least, Kasfara simply averted his eyes elsewhere. "Don't look away, why are you waiting to now to spring this on me?" Kasfara scoffed. "I had forgot, you know how easily distracted I can get." Kenji threw his head back as he couldn't really argue, it was true. His body slolwy came to a stop... He turned on his heels and calmly took the letter from Kasfara's paw. Kenji wore a smile, "thank you." The words sprouting from his mouth sarcastically. "Alright, I'll have to go on this alone if they're contracting Jenito for it, ok."

End of Flash back
-------

So there Kenji was, approaching the cabin where contact stayed. He was dressed in full ANBU gear. On his person was his long bow, attached to his back, his Supa Hane Katana along his hip, the ring of Supeketuro on his finger, and projectiles scattered on his person. The letter didn't give too many details, that was why he was meeting with the contact. Kenji was confident as always. Since coming to Kirigakure he is probably more confident than he has ever been, which is pretty scary. He strolled to the door step and readied his fist to knock on the door. Before knocking he adjusted his mask and voice to his perferred high pitch shrill. More war... more money. I mean more pain and despair. Remember, you're not that same selfish asshole. Okay, I'm ready now.


Mission Wordcount: 524/3000

Kenji had restored his new self and his knuckles pressed against the door over and over again. He looked off into the horizon as he waited for his contact to answer the door. He heard a yank on the door and it flew open soon after. The woman pulled Kenji in with near lethal force. The fully equipped ANBU stumbled in with a smile on his face, and from behind his mask spoke in his electronic voice. "You know, if you want to..." Kenji stopped abruptly as he realized he was acting out of "character", his ANBU personality was supposed to be serious... but then he realized that she would likely never see him again, so his identity really wasn't at any risk. "As I was saying, if you want me that bad, alls you have to do.." "Enough ANBU, we've been working together from the shadows for quite a while. There is a reason, a REAL reason, why we're meeting in person all of a sudden." Kenji's posture straightened up, he was still convinced there was something between them, but he decided to push those feelings aside for now.

The woman was a few years older than Kenji, but much shorter. She rose to Kenji's chest when she stood flat footed. She was also incredibly pale. This was likely an unwanted trait by most men, but growing up in the mountains of Kumogakure, he had met a diversity of women. From darker skinned to about the same complexion as the contact he stood in front now. "I'm here now contact, what's the situation." Kenji wanted to ask for her name, so he could stop referring to her as "contact", but they had long since agreed that they wouldn't exchange any personal information about each other. However, being the intelligence fanatic he is, he had gathered a little bit of info about the woman. He knew that about 4 years ago she was disappeared for an entire year. Kenji deduced that it was an undercover assignment, if not, she wouldn't be back in Kirigakure right now. One thing was certain, and that was she was involved heavily in intelligence espionage, much like Kenji. Working extensively in the stealth and intelligence apartment he realized there were only two types of people in intelligence. Those who clamored for information, needed to be abreast on everything, Kenji. And others who hoarded intelligence, giving much to be desired and living in secret, Contact. She was smart though keeping to that approach. Being ANBU meant a lot more than people realized. It meant you were experienced in combat, stealth, and intelligence. Giving any info to a foriegn ANBU operative was indeed ill advised. If I wasn't married to Katy Larry....

She led Kenji to her office. The contact was in a pair of blue silk shors. Lifting up on the tips of her toes was the only way for her to reach the folders that likely contained the details of the assignment they were to be working on together. "Let's go to the dining room" She said with a touch of seduction in her voice. "Don't do that." She looked back at him with quizzical expression. "Oh, you know what I mean. Those mixed signals." She scoffed, "get over yourself." She slapped the rather thin folder on the table. Turning on dime she took a pot of liquid off the stove. After retrieving two cups swiftly, she then carefully poured the steaming tea into each cup. Her hands held onto the handles with grace, as if there was nothing in the glasses. Kenji accepted one of the cups, and in his electronic voice, "Thank you".


Mission Wordcount: 1175/3000

"There has been some weird stuff going on in Bird Country... talks and sightings of sentient puppets. Living puppets that need no puppeteer. I have checked out the area and was lucky to make it out alive. The only person who is strong enough and willing to go in, I knew would be you, ANBU." Kenji's expression behind the masked matched the mask. He had seen just about everything in this war, and just because this lady was spooked, he knew that was no real inclination of the looming threat. "Alright, so what else did you learn about these living puppets from your experience." After being a bit shaken up she was beginning to regain her composure. "They were fast, had many hidden weapons, and were proficient in fire style techniques." "That's a nice combination there. Alright, that's all I need to know, let's get going." "One last thing." The contact opened up the folder. "These are pictures I took of the carnage of the area and a few of the puppets. As you can see the area is under some type of spell, it has to be the reason for this phenomena, look at the scattered symbols drawn in blood. And look at the aura orbiting the machines. I know I shouldn't say this to you, but don't underestimate them you arrogant for a reason douche bag."


Kenji rose to his feet. "Get prepared, we don't have much time, the war is coming to an end and it is up to us to make sure these machines are dealt with." The contact took about 30 minutes to fully get dressed in her combat gear. She stepped out of her room and into the lounge area in cargo pants and a cargo vest. She had several daggers scattered on her person. Up till this point, they had only done scouting and espionage missions together, so this would be the first time they would see each other actually fight. He was highly interested in her skill set. They finally set out into the direction of the site of ghastliness. Kenji had reached his tolerance threshold, he was ready to dispose of the opposition as quickly as possible. He knew that was easier said than done. But he did have a tendency to hold back at times, well, this wouldn't be one of them. Regardless of the opponent that lied ahead, he was going to go in with full blood thirst. Their travel took place mostly on rooftops, as they skipped and glided over the town the rays of the sun impacted their eyes. The luminous globe was at its peak and adorning their dismal trip.

As the roofs were no more they resorted to the very thin tree branches of Kiri, causing them to explode off extremely quickly before they broke under their feet. They landed in the heart of the ghost town, making no more sound than a pair of feathers. Looking out onto the ravished land... If it wasn't for Kenji's mask his expression would be similar to the contact. The air was suffocatingly thick and pungent. Slain bodies decorated the pavements. Kenji drew his long bow and knocked an arrow. Contact followed his preemptive motion by drawing a dagger. She flowed chakra through the dagger. "I'll check out the area for enemy targets." "What's your range again?" "Normally, 1 kilometer. What's yours?" Her head slumped "300 meters".

As his chakra swept effortlessly over the area he picked up five distinct sources of surging chakra activity. Kenji turned to his partner, "These things... they have chakra..." She gulped. "Let's keep moving." The two moved deliberately through the blood stained streets. He saw up close the images that were displayed to him, it was without a doubt unsettling to say the least. As they continued to move, rattling sounds clamored throughout the area. "That sound... it is getting louder." "Stay alert."



Mission Wordcount: 1840/3000

As the unlikely incognito couple inched forward the hairs on the back of their necks became more sensitive. More than any other sense available to the human anatomy there was one that could only be developed with the arduous training and honing that a ninja, a shinobi undergoes. A sixth sense some call it, others refer to it as intuition, some say nickname it their gut or instincts. Whatever its moniker may be, the two of them... Kenji and the contact had plenty of it. The amount of times that their mysterious sense failed them could be counted on one hand. A slight creaking intensified the sense, the smell of uncontrollable chakra poked at their chakra sensing networks. What was a mystery now, what kept them on edge, was the timing and method of attack. Where could it be expected? What could be expected? The carnage that seared its image into their memory banks gave them a inkling of what was to come... destruction and adrenaline.

Kenji's fingertips drew towards his hilt. The handle seemingly magnetized, attracting his metallic gloves. The elite elusive shinobi turned intelligence monger, turned Sennin, turned ANBU's murderous intent was easily quenched, but on this occasion he would have to be parched if he was going to emerge victorious. The contact with her daggers and experience was an adept partner, and would not require much concern on Kenji's part, but it would be common courtesy for him to ensure her safety, he couldn't however, say or even think in confidence if she would reciprocate the sentiment. In a synchronized halt, their dominant foot pressed into the soil as one of the more common senses sent signals of peril and urgency to the central nervous system, demanding the utmost coordination in response to the stimuli. The contact's pupils were the first to located the projectile, a harpoon of sorts. The spear tipped weapon was propelled, still connected to a rope. Its nose was sniffing out Kenji. His speed and reaction granted him the grace of defense, but the contact had better plans in mind. She knew the ANBU was a greater offensive force, so she would defend in this case even though she wasn't the target, allowing the assassin to utilize his full speed and sword skill to take out the first enemy.

As projected, the contact used a boomerang to defect the harpoon. While the boomerang returned to the thrower, Kenji was already air borne above the head of the... puppet??? This can't be right, I distinctly remember chakra emanating from this exact location. This was a surprise, puppets, with no nearby controllers, having chakra, moving on... The chakra infusion... that is how they're being controlled. Seven bells is using chakra, just chakra, as opposed to chakra strings. Smart. As of right now, there was no way Kenji could track down the person pulling the non existent strings, so he would just have to destroy the puppets. Kenji's Hane left its sheath, swooping down in a downward arch for the unsuspected mechanical enemy. It clashed violently against the puppet, but that was it. !!??

MY HANE... was unsuccessful what do I do?? He was in a moment of distraught, but he quickly recovered as another puppet revealed itself by spewing a stream of fire at Kenji. The nimble ANBU leaped backwards quickly, joining up with the contact. The two puppets stood in front of the two heroes now. They were slouched unnaturally, and then a disturbance in the earth around the two dark puppets. Three more puppets, rose, they all had a dark chakra swirling around them. Kenji's Kage level speed would front him the edge like in most situations. His Hane failed once, but it was only a matter of time before his blade penetrated their mechanical flesh. In a blur, leaving a look of shock on the contact's face. Kenji blazed forward at Kage level speed, leaving dust in his path. In a fraction of a second, Kenji's Hane didn't slash, it rattled off whack after whack against the puppet, eventually reducing it to rubble. Kenji speed not only applied to his body movement, but also the speed of his weapon's strikes. Three of the puppets lunged forward ejected multiple sharp bladed from their palms, torsos, and mouth.  They surrounded Kenji, but before they closed in enough for their blades to pierce Kenji's fragile body a seal spun along the surface under Kenji. From the symbols blasted a powerful shield of barely visible chakra that acted as Kenji's haven. Upon the puppet's contact with the barrier, a repulsive force was released, not only knocking them back several meters but also dented and detached a few of the puppets' limbs.

One puppet was already taken care of, three were just blown back, but there was one that had attacked earlier but chose not to attack this go around. The fire spewing puppet returned. As soon as the force field dissipated, a series of fire balls barreled forward for the contact who was already in a crouched position. She reached around her back, whipping out a scroll that unrolled in the process releasing a blast of water, dowsing the hot attack. Kenji had supreme confidence that she could handle such an attack, so while in their short lived engagement, Kenji had already finished off the three puppets that were knocked down and damaged. It was 2 v 1 now. Kenji was behind the puppet and the contact was in front. She tightened her fist, Kenji knew what that meant, she wanted him to restrain the puppet or at least make it vulnerable. If this puppet has chakra, then this puppet is subject to Genjutsu... In seconds an illusion of cloth tied around the puppet's form, immobilizing it. The contact launched two dagger that had fuuinjutsu symbols inscribed on them. The symbols spread onto the puppet and turned red. After a few seconds a red light so bright it forced Kenji to close his eyes, and the puppet was on the ground completely still. The contact was breathing heavily, that must have been a powerful jutsu.

Their job was done. They tracked down the source of the destruction. If they hadn't, the waste they witnessed would have spread. The experience of the two intelligent shinobi shined brightly on their war campaign this afternoon. What would come of their relationship though... that horizon still looked bleak. And of course, that outlook only mattered to Kenji.

They looked into their eyes and they scanned the area in admiration of their handy work. Neither of them sensed anymore chakra in the area. So those demonic machines, running off of pure evil was the weapon of choice that inflicted the scar left on this city. Kiri was lucky to have dedicated shinobi in this world such as Kenji and... whatever the contact's name is. The contact began walking back in the direction they came, ready to leave the area obviously , Hey  do I get to know your name now??!!


Mission Wordcount: 3000+/3000

EXIT THREAD