Mission:

She wasn’t sure how to feel about the letter she’d been sent. Backpack strapped on her shoulders, Misoka came to a halt in front of the administration building, deciding to stay there for another five minutes until 10 o’ clock am. That was right. A mission with the Kazekage; a simple fact which evoked both pride and anxiety within her.
Pride because Suzume-sama must consider Misoka worthy of this mission despite her rather low rank as Special Jounin.
Anxiety because Misoka feared a ulterior motive behind the invitation, may it just be to test her abilities or tell her to show more faithfulness towards her hometown. It was certainly not a secret to the Kazekage that one of her shinobi tended to travel for long periods of time.
A gust of wind swept through the area, making Misoka’s hair flutter and block her view for a moment – enough to convince her to tie it up with a hair band. Frankly speaking, the weather didn’t seem to be that nice today; the heat one would expect in Suna had gotten replaced by a rather coldly blowing wind.
Not sure what else to do since she'd arrived a bit too early (and she didn’t want to interrupt just yet), Misoka took the mission briefing out of her flak jacket’s pocket and read through it one more time.

“Discover the source of threats made from the Land of Water.” Again, a grin formed on her lips at that point. “Here I go, travelling again,” she muttered, amused. After all, she had just arrived in Suna roughly two weeks ago.
Aside from that, the mission didn’t sound any less than a challenge no matter how often she looked at it. But she didn’t mind, no. She was used to dangerous situations and she liked to believe that she could take care of herself just fine. There’s always more than meets the eye.
What still worried her, though, was the possibility of making a fool out of herself in front of the Kazekage. She really didn’t want to fail this mission.

A short glance at her wrist watch revealed that she was good to go now. Taking light, graceful steps, Misoka entered the building and walked upstairs to the Kazekage office. The words of the mission description crossed her mind once again, “The shinobi must first meet with the Suna operative currently researching the distressing messages.”
Maybe Suzume-sama had already invited that Suna operative to her room or that person was in the Land of Water and they would have to meet him there. Either way, she'd find out soon enough.
After a split second of hesitation – there was no going back anymore - , Misoka knocked on the door and would walk in upon hearing the sound of approval.
“Kazekage-sama. I am here to undertake the mission with you.” She bowed elegantly, face pointing downwards. Sometimes she still didn’t feel comfortable showing her glowing eyes, which looked even unusual for a person with Karisuma ancestry.

---

513/600

Sitting in my regal attire, my legs resting atop my desk, I read up on a Suna-nin that had caught my attention the other day.  She was skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even knew her medical ninjutsu. From looking over her dossier I could see that she had traveled around quite a lot, most notably to Kumo and Kiri.  She moved around quite a bit, though that didn't really mean anything.  Even I had traveled around when I was of her rank.  Seeing the places she'd visited brought fond memories of my own traveling days.  Now those times seemed to have passed, having been locked behind this desk for so long.

A knock came from the door and I checked the clock hanging over the door.  Ten o'clock.  She was on time.  "Come in," I called and the doors opened up in response.  The girl took a couple steps inside the office before bowing gracefully before me.  “Kazekage-sama. I am here to undertake the mission with you.”

The formality caused me to take my feet off my desk and sit up straight.  I cleared my throat before speaking.  "Karisuma, Misoka, I've been expecting you."  I waved my hand to the girl's right where a man stood silently by the wall.  "This is Kazuhiko, the informant for our mission.  Fortunately he has done quite well in gathering intel for us.  Kazuhiko, if you will."

Kazuhiko slowly stepped forward, giving a slight bow to me.  "Thank you, Lady Kazekage, and a pleasure to meet you, Misoka.  Now as you both already know, the Land of Water has been making many threats against the Land of Wind.  I was sent to look into things and found quite the nasty little plot is being orchestrated from no other than Kirigakure no Sato."

Kazuhiko slowly stepped forward, giving a slight bow to me. "Thank you, Lady Kazekage, and a pleasure to meet you, Misoka. Now as you both already know, the Land of Water has been making many threats against the Land of Wind. I was sent to look into things and found quite the nasty little plot is being orchestrated from no other than Kirigakure no Sato." He paused for a moment to let things sink in before continuing. "However, this isn't under the Mizukage's orders. In fact, I doubt even she knows of this plot happening. According to my research, I believe the people responsible for this are n--"

Abruptly, Kazuhiko exploded into a small cloud of smoke, his body disappearing in the middle of his sentence. "No!" I cursed, slamming my fists down on the desk. "Something has happened to Kazuhiko, he must be in danger to have lost control of his clone jutsu like that."

I looked up at Misoka who would most likely be alarmed at Kazuhiko's disappearance. I had forgotten to mention it was Kazuhiko's clone and not really him. "We'll need to leave immediately. I'll get changed into something better for fighting and meet you at the eastern gates to head out."

I jumped up from my seat and opened up the wardrobe leaning against the wall opposite of where Kazuhiko once stood. My caché of extra clothes ready for picking.  I waited until I was alone to begin changing into a more combat-ready attire.

561/600

Misoka listened to the man closely, nodding a few times. Threats from Kirigakure… With the recent war in the land of water, this didn’t even sound so far-fetched. But why Sunagakure? Who held a grudge against them?
Kazuhiko continued, "However, this isn't under the Mizukage's orders. In fact, I doubt even she knows of this plot happening. According to my research, I believe the people responsible for this are n--"
That was when he suddenly evaporated into thin air, making Misoka gasp in shock. A clone? So his real self wasn’t here with them! Which meant…
The Kazekage let out a frustrated cry and slammed her fist down on the desk. “Something has happened to Kazuhiko, he must be in danger to have lost control of his clone like that.”
Misoka nodded, the surprise replaced by a look of determination as she bowed one more time and then made her way to the door. “I understand. I’m ready. We’ll meet at the gates.”

After she had left the office and the administration building altogether, she moved towards the Eastern gates, thoughts running wild with possibilities of what exactly could have happened to the Suna operative. The worst case scenario wouldn’t even be his death. The enemies might have caught him in order to squeeze more confidential information out of the poor man. In that case, torture would be a given.
She stopped at her and Suzume’s meeting place, leaning against the gate, hands stuffed in her jacket’s pockets, still in deep thought.
At the very least, an attack on Kazuhiko, planned by the enemies – and this was just highly probable since they wouldn’t want someone to reveal their identities – might help to find their hideouts. Kazuhiko’s approximate whereabouts should be known to the Kazekage. Even taking into account that he had likely been kidnapped and dragged away from that place, there might still be traces.
“If only we knew who we were dealing with or how many,” Misoka sighed, shifting her gaze back to the village. Her mission partner would surely be here any moment.

---

600/600
270

“I understand. I’m ready. We’ll meet at the gates.”

Misoka left with a bow before heading out the door.  She would arrive first to the gates.  I quickly changed my style of dress, grabbed my stockpile of weapons, and headed out of the office.

My mind raced as fast as my feet.  What had happened to Kazuhiko and what was he trying to say?  Had he figured out who were behind the threats?  "I believe the people responsible for this are n--"  I could hear his last words repeating inside my head.  Kazuhiko had at least an idea of who were behind these threats.  Now with Misoka and I on the job, soon the curtain would be pulled back and the true enemy revealed.

I quickly approached the eastern gate where Misoka stood in waiting.  Her hair flickering in the cold breeze, which brought my attention to the wind.  It was unusually cold this time of year.  Almost as if the wind was to be a warning of something bitter lying ahead.  Coming up to her, I only nodded in recognition before heading outside of the gates.  It would be a long journey to Kirigakure no Sato, but I intended to get there as soon as possible.  Believing that Misoka would also understand the emergency of the situation, I assumed she would be with me as I began to relay some more information about Kazuhiko.

"There's some things you should know," I started.  "Kazuhiko's clone reported that he was hiding in the Residential District, in an abandoned and dilapidated house that was sinking in a patch of marshes.  Once we're there, we should find it easily as the area has been zoned off so no other buildings are by it."

I would look over at Misoka as we journeyed on, making sure she was listening.  She would be crucial in this mission, having been to Kirigakure before and just recently as well.  My personal knowledge of the city was year's old, though I had plenty of information coming through reports to help me find my way around if I ever did visit.  Still, what's written on paper and what's really out there can often be two very different things.

I would have to keep my calm composure throughout the entirety of the mission.  This mission could very well get more dangerous than it's A ranking already implied.  No doubt, from what Misoka's dossier had said she could handle such a mission.  Yet as important as this mission was, I would ultimately be watching her closely.  It probably wasn't wise to place an ulterior motive on the girl or even on this mission but I had no choice.  The elders wanted this.


600/600 Travel WC Completed
1023/2500 Total Mission WC

[Travel complete, continues here -> http://www.narutosaga.com/t11711-absolutism-a-rank-suzume#108489]