The ship reached Kirigakure in the late afternoon, which didn’t seem to be the best time of day to find criminals in the befogged village. Even so, waiting for the next morning to come around was out of question, wasn’t it? If Kizohiku still lived by any chance, they had to save him no matter what.
“My…” Misoka began with slight hesitation as they got off the ship and walked towards the gates. “My eyes might be helpful. They make me see a bit better in the dark than… non-glowing ones. Of course it’s not much, but…yeah.”
She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders. The cold mist clung to their clothes with every step they took just like the silence the village had shrouded itself in.
One of the men guarding the gates observed them suspiciously; a thoughtful expression as though he had an idea of who the taller woman was, but he didn’t say a word.
Even Kirigakure’s streets looked empty. Misoka let her gaze wander slowly, eyes cutting through the dense fog, trying to make out any movement behind it.
There was nothing; no sound except for their soft footsteps, no other person in sight – only said strange nothingness. Kirigakure resembled a graveyard or from a different point of view, a ghost village – and Misoka couldn’t say she was completely free of any superstitious beliefs. The mere thought of dead transparent people watching them sent a shiver down her back.
She swallowed and shook her head ever so slightly, reminding herself to keep it together. She was on a mission with the Kazekage; no time to behave like a kid and get frightened.

However, it didn’t help that their destination was an old, abandoned house on the outskirts of town, which gave you the impression that it could collapse any moment.
Suzume and Misoka found it easily since it was zoned off from the other buildings. Misoka came to a halt about ten metres in front of the house, throwing a sideways glance at her mission partner.
“I suppose we should go in, huh?” she noted calmly in order to make sure they agreed on that matter. Part of her doubted that Kizohiku was still in there. In case they hadn’t killed him, the criminals had probably dragged him to their own hideout. Then again… what if this building was their hideout? Or they’d set a trap, mischievously waiting for them to come inside.
All of these questions could only be answered by doing exactly that – entering the abandoned house.
“I’m ready,” Misoka continued in a hushed voice.
Ready to face whatever they might encounter in there.

---

450+600 (travel)+270 from former thread
1320/2500

The ship arrived in the late afternoon, the entire day of sailing making me queasy.  I liked traveling on land much more but the ship was our best and quickest way to the Hidden Mist.  My first few steps back on land felt heavenly, the swaying journey on the boat had made me forget how wonderful it was to stand on level ground.

“My…” Misoka spoke, some hesitation in her voice as we approached the fog-filled village. “My eyes might be helpful. They make me see a bit better in the dark than… non-glowing ones. Of course it’s not much, but…yeah.”

She shrugged, I could see she wasn't so sure how much it'd help.  I was rather surprised by what she told me, never had I realized the Karisuma clan's Stunning Eyes had a better affinity to seeing in the dark.  Whatever advantage and aid we could get here would help save Kazuhiko.  "Very good then, I can't make too much out in this fog.  My eyes are trained but not special."

I let Misoka take point as we walked through the village.  One of the guards watching us enter seemed to be highly suspicious of us so I walked over and flashed him an old diplomatic permit that I had made.  It was forged but it stated that I was here to speak with the Mizukage and stated that I was the Kazekage.  Not many shinobi would be willing to question the business of two Kages.  After he had relaxed, I hurried to follow Misoka through the village.

It took some time getting to the zoned out area where the abandoned house was.  Somewhere in there would be an answer to what happened to Kazuhiko.  The area around the old house was very open, too open.  There was nothing to tell us who we were up against, and since entering the village the streets had been completely empty.  The lack of people unnerved me.

“I suppose we should go in, huh?” Misoka asked.  Her voice was calm and controlled which was more than I could say about myself.  I was relying on my kekkei genkai to hide the fact that I was nervous.  My instincts told me this could turn sour any second.  “I’m ready.”

I looked at her and nodded.  "Normally I'd go in from the back and have someone else take the front, but I'm having a bad feeling about this.  We'll head in together."  With that, I moved forward and approached the decrepit house and stepped through its front entrance.


1459/2500 WC

OOC: Sorry it took so long, I had an exam yesterday >__<

The old door creaked when Misoka pushed it open. There were no windows, no light shining through: In the house, it was even darker than outside.
Misoka blinked, making use of her slightly superior night sight and told Suzume to stop for a short moment. Then she took a candle out of her backpack and lit it by spewing a small flame. The room was ravaged, several chairs lying on the ground, dust and spider webs everywhere. But she could neither spot any enemies nor feel someone else’s presence close by.
“At least, we can see better now,” Misoka whispered, hand grasping the candle. After volunteering to take the lead, she crossed the room and went up the old stairs leading to the first floor.
Carefully, Suzume and she checked the two rooms on their right side, but they both appeared to be empty. There was only one other door left then. Not daring to let her guard down once, Misoka pushed it open, the candle lighting the room.
“Kazuhiko?” she mouthed as soon as the light fell on the motionless body in front of them. Together with the Kazekage, they rushed to the man, Misoka checking for a pulse.
..There. A faint heartbeat.
“He’s alive,” she reported. “But barely breathing.”

At that moment, a loud crashing sound could be heard from downstairs as though someone had just smashed the entry door. Deep, male voices followed.
“They took the bait.”
“Nice. Let’s see what we caught. I hope we get some doujutsu users. I’d like one or two new eyes.”
“Me, too. But we can share if necessary, hahahaha.”

The stairs creaked loudly, announcing the men's soon arrival. Misoka’s whole body tensed up.
“We’ll have to fight and protect Kazuhiko at the same time,” she mumbled and bit her lower lip nervously. “And unfortunately, I doubt those two are the only ones we’ll have to deal with. Who knows where the others might be lurking right now.”
Just then, the door crashed open and two tall, muscled men each holding a torch entered.
“So what do we have here,” the black-haired guy mused with a smirk, which wavered when his gaze fell on Suzume. “Shit,” he hissed, looking at his blonde partner. “The Kazekage herself came. That’s unexpected, Tako.”
“Are you afraid, Zen?” the other man replied in an amused tone. “The Kazekage and a Karisuma. Nice, I’ll definitely take the stunning eyes. Look better than my brown ones.”
Misoka huffed. “Just try it,” she thought to herself, standing up and assuming a fighting stance.
A shrill childlike scream coming from downstairs threw her off course. “What was that?!”
The blonde guy laughed. “Oh, sounds like Ritsuki brought some hostages again. I wonder how old the girl is. He’s really a bit of a pedophile.”

---

1797/2500

OOC:

Entering the old, weather-beaten house I could only make out the silhouettes of the walls and furniture.  I followed behind Misoka and let her unique eyes lead us further into the building.  The striking of a match as she lit a candle in her hand nearly caused me to jump.  Being so far from the sands of my home and having been years since I had traveled out of the Wind Country, I felt out of place.  My whole body was tense in the dark room.

With the candlelight as our guide, we made it up the creaking staircase and checked the dusty, dirty rooms on the second floor.  There were three rooms, the first two were found empty.  Entering the third, Misoka paused, “Kazuhiko?”.

I rushed in after her and approached the silent, still body of Kazuhiko as he lay on the mildew-ridden floor.  Misoka, being the one with medical knowledge, immediately pressed her fingers to Kazuhiko's neck.  “He’s alive, but barely breathing.”

"That's better than nothing." I said just as a loud crash thundered from downstairs followed by a pair of voices.

“They took the bait.”

“Nice. Let’s see what we caught. I hope we get some doujutsu users. I’d like one or two new eyes.”

“Me, too. But we can share if necessary.” The other man cackled.  Their footsteps could be heard as they raced up the stairs.  I turned to the doorway in time to see the two men enter, stopping shortly after entering.

“We’ll have to fight and protect Kazuhiko at the same time,” Misoka spoke in a hushed tone. “And unfortunately, I doubt those two are the only ones we’ll have to deal with. Who knows where the others might be lurking right now.”

I nodded, whipping out my bo staff in my right hand and lengthening it to five feet and readying myself before the two, keeping Kazuhiko behind me.  Misoka got ready as well while the two men exchanged remarks.  They hadn't expected me to arrive but they would soon expect to regret their actions.  Tightening my grip, I began to spring into action when a bone-chilling cry reached my ears, stopping me in my tracks.

Misoka spoke my mind, “What was that?!”

The blonde guy laughed. “Oh, sounds like Ritsuki brought some hostages again. I wonder how old the girl is. He’s really a bit of a pedophile.”

His laugh infuriated me.  I leaped forward, noting that the blond was on my right and the darker haired man to the left.  With one hand I let out a sweeping strike from the right, my bo staff came rushing for the blonde man's torso.  Catching him in his ribs, he was flung into the side of his companion.  The doorway was clear for a brief moment and I called out to Misoka, never taking my eyes off the two men.  "Save the girl, Misoka.  These fools won't take me too long."

As the two men rolled to their feet I closed in on them, backing the two into a corner of the room to allow Misoka leave.  Hopefully I could back up my words and get rid of these two before more showed up.  Still, to hear the muffled screeches coming from downstairs was enough to burst my anger.  I kept my face calm throughout the ordeal, my clan training displaying its discipline, although my eyes burned with an intense desire to see these two men burn.


2048/2500 WC

“Understood.”
Wasting no more time, Misoka dashed out of the room and downstairs. Candles flickered everywhere, held by the small group of men standing in the middle of the chamber. Another scream resounded. Misoka’s gaze shot to the little girl – not older than 12 years, long raven hair, dark brown eyes with nothing but fear in them  - , who was cowering on the ground.
What a pack of evil bastards. They didn’t even have mercy on innocent children.
“Let her go,” Misoka hissed, but all she got as an answer was mocking laughter.
“Come on then,” one of the men called out, suddenly turning around and motioning for the others to follow. “We’ll settle this outside.”
And having said that, they all stormed off at top speed, dragging the crying girl with them. Why did they want to go outside, though? It seemed more than fishy. Misoka cursed under her breath, but had no other choice but to leave the building herself. She couldn’t let them harm the girl in any way.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise, yet the arrival of at least a dozen other fiend shinobi evoked a mixture of fear and anxiety inside Misoka. Automatically, her eyes shifted back to the entry door, hoping Suzume would come soon and offer her help.
Until that, however, she needed to handle this on her own. “Let the girl go,” she repeated, making sure her voice sounded as firm and confident as before.
Not that it mattered. A wave of laughter rolled through the group of shinobi. “Defeat us first,” the same man, who’d spoken just a minute ago, taunted.
“I thought so…” She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the upcoming fight.
“One… two… three.”
Go.

And then she felt it again; the adrenaline pumping through her veins. A bittersweet sensation, indicating both excitement and fear. Relentlessly, she swept through the enemy’s army, knocking out as many men as she could on her way. Some of them stood up again, which forced her to pool her molded chakra into her lungs and spit fire. She wasn’t too fond of killing, but if necessary, she didn’t hesitate.
To her relief, most of the enemies didn’t pose much of a threat; some even ran away out of fear. Others, however, gave her quite a hard time.
A while later – she didn’t know how much time had passed – she finally found herself standing in the middle of the battlefield with numerous motionless bodies around her. Her enemies had inflicted several minor wounds and gashes on her. This wouldn’t faze her in the slightest, but unfortunately, she believed she had strained her left wrist as well.
Five men remained, one of them holding onto the innocent child, the others running back inside, probably to distract Suzume.
Misoka dashed forward with a kunai in her hand, initiating the battle. At once, the enemy drew his sword and parried the attack. The child took the chance to flee. As the man wanted to catch the girl again, Misoka held him back.
“You bitch!” he growled and glared at her. “You killed some of my best men! You’ll die for that!”
Leaping back, Misoka replied angrily, “You won’t ever lay a hand on an innocent child again! Certainly not if I kill you here and now!”

Her superior speed gave her an advantage over him even though she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep it up for too long. The moment she’d brought some distance between them, she slammed a fist into the ground, causing the earth to quake and crack. –Earthquake Slam-
He let out a gasp and lost his balance. “DAMN IT!” he shouted, quickly struggling up to his feet again.
This was her chance. Immediately, Misoka rushed towards the bandit leader, ready to give him a chakra induced punch with her right hand. She hit him straight in the chest, sending him flying backwards.
However, she strongly doubted this had been enough to defeat him. And she was right. Loudly cursing, the shinobi stood up and glared at her from afar.
Misoka tried her best to suppress her panting; the truth was that the various fights with all the other bandits had really exhausted her and sapped almost all of her chakra. She had to be careful not to pass out before this was over.
At that moment, her enemy suddenly raised his voice once more, but his words weren’t directed at her this time. “YES, GOOD WORK, CATTAIL! You’re just in time with the two kids! Kill them right before her eyes!”
In complete bewilderment, Misoka whirled around, only to see another criminal, who had just arrived by horse, dismount and holding two crying little children.
“What are you doing?! What's going on?” Misoka called out, eyes widening. “How many children have you captured?!”
The man, Cattail, took out a long dagger and was about to drive it into one of the kids’ throats. As fast as she could in her current state, Misoka ran towards him, already forming hand signs midway when she suddenly felt a familiar presence right next to her. Shit! That was her other enemy beside her! But how had he come so close already? Had she been too distracted by his comrade’s arrival?

And then everything happened in a blur.
One moment she saw the criminal tightening his grip around the sword. The next, he stabbed her in the abdomen… once… he removed it and shoved it back in forcefully… twice. Her breath hitched as the blade sliced through her stomach like butter, drawing out pools of crimson coloured blood. White searing pain flared up inside her and clouded her mind. All she could think about was the agony coursing through her veins and that she was losing way too much blood… too fast.
With the last ounce of strength she could muster, Misoka reached out to stop her enemy almost blindly, trying to get a hold of his own hand, but her fingers trembled so much that she missed him.
The only thing that kept her from passing out was the knowledge that she wouldn’t wake up again.

---

2843
2500/2500

Misoka ran out of the room as I watched the two men carefully.  The blonde one was the first to his feet.  My staff clipped his left leg just as he was regaining his balance.  The blow crushed his ankle and sent him falling back down.  As my staff made a revolution around my body, it surged back to the next man in a forward thrust, catching his Adam's apple.  He sputtered and choked, his trachea punctured.  No air would reach his lungs.  In a matter of minutes he'd be dead.

I redirected my attention to the blonde man that was now cursing at me, waving a knife at me as he crawled backwards and out of the room.  I saw his eyes look for something to support him.  He was hoping to get back on his feet.  My foot stepped hard on his broken ankle, soliciting a scream from the man.  In the background, I could make out sounds of fire and fighting that came from farther away then just the first floor of the building.

"Tell me why you've been making threats to our village?" I asked, giving an obvious fake smile as I twisted my foot on his ankle.  He gasped in pain.  "You do realize now how bad an idea that was, yes?"

He took several heavy, panting breaths before answering me.  His eyes trying to send all the pain back at me through his stare.  "Not so bright, are you, Kazekage?"  I twisted my foot again.  He threw his head back and cursed at me.  "Girls.  We gather and sell girls.  Mainly we worked with your little strip club that you have over there.  Except with you taking over, our girls stopped selling.  And then you took out our sellers and forced us out of a very profitable situation."

The man spat, his blonde hair spraying some sweat with him as he jerked his head away.  I raised my staff and delivered the final blow.  He had said enough.

Now with those two dealt with, I quickly turned back to Kazuhiko.  He was still unconscious and barely breathing.  Carefully, I pulled him over my shoulders.  I could tell he was definitely not a lightweight as I slowly rose to my feet and made for the exit.  The fighting sounds still coming from outside.  When I came to the stairway, four men rushed in from the outside, immediately stopping at the sight of me.

I crouched down and let Kazuhiko's body roll off my back and onto the floor as all four rushed at me.  My bo staff still ready, I quickly fueled raiton chakra into my bo staff.   Two men leapt up to the hallway while the other two moved up the stairs, effectively cornering me. All four rushed at me as I pointed my staff up in the air.  Lightning buzzed around me for eight meters, a protective coat of chakra was all that kept me safe from my own jutsu.  I stood over Kazuhiko, my foot resting lightly on top of him to keep him connected to my protective chakra.

The four men didn't even make it to the eight meter long branches of bright blue lightning.  Instead, they were all stabbed by longer reaching lightning bolts that cut deep into their arms as they were running.  Their outstretched limbs were targeted and each one getting split and burnt by the many volts that struck them.  The jutsu ended and each man fell, holding their cut arms in agony.  I picked Kazuhiko back up and headed down the stairs.  The smell of burnt flesh stung my nostrils and I desperately needed fresh air.

Rushing outside, I was greeted by one of the worst sights imaginable.  Not even two steps out of the front entrance and before me, among many dead bodies, was Misoka.  A man was at her side holding a knife.  I watched it plunge deep into her body, her eyes wide as she, too, watched the blade pierce into her.  There was another man that stood by a horse holding two children by the collars of their shirts.

That was when I lost it.  Seeing Misoka being stabbed was too much.  She was a fellow ninja of my village and also my partner in this mission, but then she was to be more than that, too.  This mission that I had put her on was to show off her skills and test her abilities.

Suna was in need of strong leadership and I knew I couldn't do it alone.  Misoka had been a candidate to be in my inner circle and help lead us.  Now here she was, standing only meters away and being stabbed to death before my eyes.  If she died, I knew Suna would be dead as well.  Maybe not right away, but without her the village wouldn't have legs to stand on.

She probably didn't even know how important she had become to the village.  Only I had seen it, as fewer and fewer shinobi filled our ranks.  And during this mission I had already seen enough of her skills, not to mention the devastation she had caused all on her own as displayed by the littered ground of corpses.  She was as smart as she was lethal and that was exactly what the Hidden Sand neeeded.

I cried out in a loud shrilling voice.  My mask that I kept on every minute of every day momentarily broken.  Like a javelin I launched my bo staff directly at the head of Misoka's enemy.  Next, I sped in between the two kids and pounced upon my prey.  The overwhelming speed knocking his hands from the kids.  My hands clasped around his face as I spread chakra onto my palms and placed a seal on his head.

Immediately I had to leap back, turning around to face the man with the knife.  He had dodged my bo staff.  My shrilling cry an early warning of the throw.  Yet he had released Misoka for the moment.  The seal on the other man erupted into a blazing ball of lightning behind me.  His screams only lasting for the brevity of my attack on the one with the knife.

I had taken out my own kunai, running my free hand along it's blade before charging forward.  The man stood little chance against me as I used my overwhelming speed associated with my high rank to close the gap between us.  We exchanged blows as I did not care for personal safety.  His knife having lodged into my chest and mine cut across his neck.  He had reacted well, and the knife had cut deep, but his own cut was more severe as his neck spilled over with blood.

His gurgling body fell to the side, his hands releasing the knife stuck in my chest.  Carefully, I removed it and bit down hard on my lip as the blade exited the wound.  Letting both knives fall to the ground, I rushed over to Misoka and held her up in my arms. "Don't you die on me!" I ordered her.

Unfortunately I was untrained in the medical field and knew no medical ninjutsu that could save her nor owned any medical supplies to stitch her stab wounds.  Looking at her cut up state, I could tell she had fought bravely.  My own wound caught up with me and I coughed up a small spray of blood.  We both needed medical attention.

"Stick with me, I'm gonna get us out of here." I said, not knowing if she was making sense of what I said.  I couldn't tell if she was conscious or not.

My attention turned back to Kazuhiko, his body lying where I had dropped it back at the front entrance.  He had fallen when I lost it. I quickly picked up Misoka and carried her over one shoulder, then ran over to Kazuhiko and pulled his body over the other.  The process took a couple of tries as my shoulders were weak from fighting and the open wound in my chest.  But I had to pull through, both of them had gone through more than I did.  It was my job now to get them to safety.

I ran through the streets of Kirigakure no Sato blindly, seeking directions to the hospital to anyone that I came across.  And after what felt like forever I arrived, handing both Misoka and Kazuhiko to the doctors.  They took care of me as well, but only after I made sure that first Misoka was tended to first and Kazuhiko placed safely to rest and recover.  

As soon as my wound was bandaged did I come to Misoka's room.  There the doctors had placed Kazuhiko as well.  I sat at a chair in the corner and stood guard over the both of them.  Silently, I cursed myself for having pushed things so close and put both Kazuhiko and Misoka's lives on the line.


2500/2500 Mission WC Complete
1060 WC
975/975 Trained Perception D-2 to C Rank
85 WC Remaining

Chakra:

With every last ounce of strength she had left, Misoka focused on Suzume’s lips moving, speaking to her. “Stick with me, I’m gonna get us out of here.”
Yes. I will. I won’t die.
The blurry memory of her aunt returned. I was wrong. I can’t let it end yet.
But her surroundings distorted again and again, until all colours melted together and the light successfully blinded her.

~~

Misoka blinked her eyes open. Where… The smell of medicaments crept up her nostrils. Of course. The hospital.
Ever so slowly, the memories of her previous fight filled her mind… the last thing she knew: Suzume leaning over her… carrying her.
She had almost died, hadn’t she? In wonder, she stared up at the ceiling. She had always avoided to think about how thin the line between life and death truly was. One misstep, one wrong move… and it was over.
Her gaze slowly shifted to her right as she caught sight of Kazuhiko lying in the hospital bed next to her. A wave of relief washed over Misoka. So he was safe. Had they finished the mission with success then? Suddenly, her eyes started watering.

---

3186

[Mission complete, continues here --> http://www.narutosaga.com/t12485-restoration-misoka-a-rank#113120]