Sujin woke with a start. Rough hands had shaken him awake. A bright light lit up his unsettled pupils. The blinding light soon faded enough that his eyes could finally make out the familiar sights of his messy bedroom. The clothes hanging over his desk chair, and the desk itself piled with cluttered papers and books. His eyes drifted around the room, passing the various posters lining the walls, until finding the perpetrator. His father stood at the foot of his bed with a stern frown.

This can't be good, Sujin thought to himself. He sat himself up and blinked groggily at his father. ”What’s up?”

His father, Kotau, folded his arms and spoke with disappointment. “If you really are trying to become a shinobi of this village, at least make an effort to wake up on time.”

Peeling the blankets off his legs, Sujin eased out of bed and stretched. ”Yeah, yeah… It’s a slow and steady process, Pops.”

“Slow and steady, my ass.” Kotau grabbed one of Sujin’s shirts and tossed it at him. “Get yourself to the Missions Office.”

Sujin wiped the shirt off his face, giving a glare back at his father. The shirt happened to be clean, or at least it smelled clean when he sniffed it. He decided to slip it on then walked past his father to his dresser. ”I’ve already done some missions.”

“Just doing missions isn’t what makes a man a shinobi.” Kotau turned to face his son, scratching at his head. Sujin hated it when his father did this. There would always be the disappointing sigh that would follow, as if what his father was saying would never be understood by him and it was the worst tragedy to have occurred. “I don’t want you to do just any mission, there’s already a mission lined up for you. This time with a partner.”

Sujin finished buckling his pants and was about to grab his sandals when his father finished. ”Wait, a partner?”

“Yeah, and you’re supposed to be there in thirty minutes, so get dressed and get outta here.” With that, his father left the room.

Sujin blinked. Thirty minutes to get suited up for a mission and meet up at the Missions Office? Maybe if he had been told the night before, he wouldn’t have slept in so late. He quickly put his hair in a ponytail, tied on his headband, and grabbed his umbrella as he ran out the door. The worst was over, but he still would have to make it to the Missions Office on time. Whoever his partner was, he didn’t want to show up late and get another person to look at him with disgust. He got enough of that from his parents and the other Jounin.

He pushed forward with as much speed as he could muster, weaving past the people in the streets.  A quick swing through the front doors of the Missions Office, and he was there. But only a few minutes to spare him time enough to find out which Missions Officer he was supposed to meet with and get to the officer’s office. Sujin took a few breaths to cool off from his run, trying to slow his ramped up heartbeat as he approached the receptionist’s desk. A quick check with the receptionist and he was on his way, now in a brisk speedwalk, to the third office along the back. Sujin grabbed the door handle, took one last deep breath, and walked inside.

Here we go…



Post WC: 601

Yuuto turned toward the door as it opened to admit a boy, perhaps roughly his own age. He unfolded his arms, and stepped forward. His back had been against the wall, and now he still stood off to the side. Yuki was perched atop his head, and let out a bark at the newcomer.

"You must be the guy I'm supposed to be working with..." Yuuto said, his arms hanging at his side. Yuki barked again, and a soft rumble escaped the little dog's throat. Yuuto's eyes flicked up to the dog  without his head moving, he was clearly quite good at it. "What do you mean? He looks alright..." Yuki whined, and barked again. "I... what?" He looked down at Sujin now. "He said you smell... wrong. Like you do things you shouldn't. Something about..."
Yuuto paused, sniffing the air. "Actually, yeah... I smell it too... You a Nara? I knew a Nara at the Academy, and he smelt the same way... I'm Yuuto and this is Yuki"
WC - 173

The office was just as pristine looking as always. The officers usually kept things simple, and besides the hardwood flooring and leaf-green painted walls, there wasn't too much to look at. On the left wall was a cabinet drawer, no doubt filled with mission reports and briefings, and on the right was a portrait of the current hokage. There were no chairs except for the officer's chair, which was a simple wooden chair behind his desk. The single window behind the desk was closed, but gave plenty of light streaming in from the morning sun. The one light of the office room was part of the room's ceiling fan and was kept off while the fan itself spun slowly with a soft hum.

Upon opening the door, the very first person Sujin saw was the missions officer. A tall, brown haired man that showed signs of graying in the hairs around his ears and in his stubbled beard. His hair was combed back, with his headband hiding most of his forehead. He still wore a flak jacket with the Uzushiogakure symbol on an armband that he wore on his left arm. A very old model, an antique from the days after the Fourth Shinobi World War. It looked brand new, without even a scratch or wrinkle from previous wear. His wrinkly eyes wrinkled further upon making eye contact with Sujin, even with his arriving on time.

Before either the officer or Sujin could get a word in, a dog's barking drew Sujin's attention to his left. A very small dog laid on top of a short, brown haired boy's head and the two of them were watching him as he walked into the office. "You must be the guy I'm supposed to be working with..." The boy trailed off as the dog seemed to make a low growling noise. The boy's eyes shot up to his dog, "What do you mean? He looks alright."

The dog made a soft whine and then barked once more.

"I.. what?" The boy looked back at Sujin, this time more inquisitively. "He said you smell... wrong. Like you do things you shouldn't. Something about--"

The boy stopped and sniffed the air. Sujin shifted his eyes very briefly to give a questioning glance at the missions officer, who seemed to only be smirking at the situation, before returning to stare at the boy and his dog.

"Actually, yeah," the boy continued. "I smell it, too. You a Nara? I knew a Nara at the Academy and he smelt the same way. I'm Yuuto and this is Yuki."

Sujin's right eyebrow arched up. The boy and his dog were able to nail his clan just based on smell? Quite impressive for such a small kid. "Uh.. yeah."

He closed the door behind him and took a stride to stand next to the kid and face the director.  Trying not to show the comment bothered him, Sujin took a moment to wipe a bead of sweat rolling down the right side of his face, allowing him to also take a quick, discreet sniff of his right armpit. He may have forgotten to shower, and the run had made him sweat a small amount, but he didn't know what the boy meant by his smelling odd. Sujin would attempt his best to play off his body odor check by keeping the conversation going without too much of any pause. "What's the job?"

The missions officer only chuckled at the situation. "Before we get to that, I think it's smart to follow Yuuto's lead in introducing each other. You both should already know me," The officer tapped his right index finger on his desk name plate which read: 'Moichi Tsurui. so go ahead."

Sujin huffed before turning to face the boy again. "I'm Sujin, nice to meet you and your pooch there." He pointed to the dog laying on the boy's head. His immediate thought was if the dog were to pee, it would get everywhere. "He's potty trained, right?

Moichi would wait for the two boys, leaning back in his chair to see how the two would get acquainted. Once it was over, or nearly there, he would chime in with details on the mission. "Now that you two know each other's names," he would say, sitting upright and pulling open a folder on his desk in front of him. "The job I need you both to do is quite simple. A sting operation down by the Sanchi Family's Jewelry Shop. We've been having a few break ins around the village with jewelry being stolen. The Sanchi family have been kind enough to allow us prime bait to lure the burglar in. All we need is the two of you to stand watch and grab the thief before he can make off with the goods."

The officer would slide the folder forward, turning it around so the two boys could look at it if they so wished. "Just don't muck this up. The Sanchi Family have a lot of expensive jewelry and will come out of the both of your guys's pockets if the thief gets away. Got it?"



Post WC: 878
Total WC: 1479

Out of the two, it was difficult to tell who was more offended by the potty-training remark. Yuki leapt from Yuuto's head, to land between the two boys and began barking angrily. Yuuto in turn reacted.
"Of course he is! What kinda question is that!" he shouted, perhaps a bit louder than was necessary.
This went on for several minutes, until the Mission Officer cracked his hand down on the table.

"Quiet! You two are Shinobi, act like it!" he yelled, his gaze boring into Yuuto and Yuki both. The boy noticeably flinched back at the sudden hostility, but quickly regained his feet. The dog promptly climbed Yuuto's leg, and disappeared into the heavy jacket the boy wore. Before Yuuto could so much as answer, Sujin had quickly deflected the subject onto the mission, and the Officer slide the folder across the table, speaking as he did so. Given a new avenue of interest, Yuuto and Yuki both seemed to suddenly lose interest in Sujin, Yuki poking his head out of the neck of Yuuto's coat, and Yuuto flicking through the folder, a look of intent interest on his face.

"Springing a trap huh? Sounds fun!" He slapped the folder closed, and made a snappy salute, that all things considered looked a little ridiculous. The wild hair, the clan markings, the dog in his coat, and everything he wore just simply didn't fit the image for one who saluted. At all. He was grinning though, so it wasn't clear if it was intentionally awkward looking, or if he was just clueless.

WC 267
total WC 440

Both Yuuto and Yuki took huge offence to Sujin's question on the dog's potty training. Something he thought would be just a simple question that the guy probably got asked a hundred times.  Apparently not, he thought to himself as the both of them continued barking at him.  At first, he had jumped from fright when the two began barking at him, but it soon became just an annoyance that pried at his patience, which there is barely any to begin with.

He was about to yell back when Moichi called them to attention. And then once the mission had been explained, Sujin watched as Yuuto and Yuki both quickly became enraptured in the mission briefing. He thought the pair were some genuine oddballs with a shinobi hard-on for doing what they were told. Seeing as the kid had eyes and teeth more alike to his dog than to the officer or himself, it only made sense that they both were eager to do what they were told.

Sujin scoffed when the boy spoke up once more. "Springing a trap, huh? Sounds fun!"

"Sounds boring," Sujin chimed in, a teacher-like tone to his voice, as if correcting what Yuuto had said. "We could just end up waiting all day and night, and then the guy never shows up."

Moichi seemed to have enjoyed Yuuto's enthusiasm, even nodding in response to the boy's little salute. Clearly, even with Yuuto and Yuki's jumping at Sujin's throat earlier, they were still favored over Sujin for he quickly dropped his smile when Sujin began talking again.  "He'll show up. And even if he doesn't, it's better that you two set up for the possibility than leave the Sanchi's Jewelry store open for the taking."

"You sound so confident, Moichi." Sujin smirked. "Pride cometh before a fall."

"Quiet, you." Moichi growled, further angered by a genin calling him by his first name. "You're only on this mission because I owe your father a favor. At least I know this kid can do the job and he's six years younger than you!" His finger pointing towards Yuuto as he finished his sentence. "And I bet he'll make Chuunin before your lazy butt is willing to put in the hours."

Sujin rolled his eyes angrily. He hadn't wanted his age or his laziness brought up in this whole job he was forced to do, but lo and behold his big mouth had made it much too easy for Moichi to go at him. "Whatever. Can we go now?"

The Missions Officer would switch over to Yuuto, checking if he had anything to say or question. If he did, he would make Sujin wait until they were finished. If not, he'd simply wave his hand for Sujin to leave and leave the young man would.



Post WC: 484
Total WC: 1963

Yuuto's ears pricked up at the mention of him becoming Chuunin. It was certainly a goal he hoped to achieve, hopefully as quickly as he could. But he had to be clever about it, no point rushing in before he was ready. And he saw this mission as just one more opportunity to get ready.

He also took note that Moichi-sama seemed to be less than fond of Sujin. Perhaps they had history? Perhaps it was just the inherent lack of respect that seemed to exude from Sujin. Yuuto wasn't a fan of being pushed around either, but he knew when to bite his tongue... mostly. He had to wonder what this kids game was... Why was he a Shinobi? He didn't seem to enjoy it, in fact it felt like the boy had been opposed to practically everything said in the room so far. Something about the whole thing felt wrong to Yuuto, and Yuki seemed to pick up on it, growling at Sujin.

Yuuto turned to the Missions Officer, shaking his head. There wasn't anything specific he needed to know, it seemed a simple enough mission. Watch the store, take down anyone who tried to break in. If noone came, well, it was a good chance to just chill out with Yuki. The pair had been on their feet from dawn until nearly midnight for the past weeks, training, practicising jutsu, and just generally filling the day. He hadn't had any real chance to sit down and relax for a while, save when he slept. He'd never been one for needing a lot of sleep however, often eager to get going before his alarm.

He turned to the door, and set out for it. Best get there quick, see if they could find a prime place to set up.

WC- 308
308+440= 748

To Sujin's delight, Yuuto didn't have anything to ask further about the mission and they both exited the office. A ruffled Moichi left to wait for their eventual return.

Heading out the doors from the building, he was flooded with the sense of time again after being in the missions office building. The sun was already making its descent to the western horizon, and the afternoon would only last a few more hours before nightfall. He took this as a good sign, as the quicker it got to night time, the less time would be spent waiting on the mission for something to happen and the faster he would be able to get back home to his comfy bed.

He sluggishly strolled through the streets, assuming that whoever the jewelry thief was wouldn't be going in broad daylight to rob a store while people were around and plenty of shinobi were up and about. In fact, he began to question why he and this kid were even taking on such a mission. Something dealing with crime within the village walls would be more for the Konoha Police Force. Just what was Moichi and his father trying to pull by making him do this mission, anyways? His thoughts were boiling up with questions inside his mind like a stew. And seeing the kid and the little pup poking through the kid's coat collar only made more questions pop up in his mind.

"Alright, kid," Sujin said to Yuuto as he walked. He had some doubts that he wanted to express before things got complicated later on, if they ever did. "I get that you're an Inuzuka, but are you going to be carrying that pup around during the entire mission? He doesn't really look old enough to be on a mission yet."

He would continue walking, shifting the umbrella from his right to his left hand as he awaited the kid's response. So far, he wasn't making any friends with Yuuto or Yuki, but his curiosity and doubtful mind didn't see how things would work. The dog should be ready and able or not, and with it hiding in the boy's coat things did not look good.



Post WC: 376
Total WC: 2339

Yuuto and Yuki both glared at Sujin. If it weren't for the serious nature of the question, it may have looked comical. "Yuki is more than ready, he and I have trained together since he could walk!" He paused a moment, seeming to think, before forging on.
"He may look like a pup, but he helped me get through the Genin Graduation Exam, and he's going to help me reach Chuunin. And then Jonin, and maybe one day, Kage. You either have both of us, or neither of us."

Yuki barked in affirmation. It occurred to Yuuto that this Sujin character may have never seen an Inuzuka and his ninken in action before, which would explain his skepticism. A slight smile touched his lips. He half hoped the thief would show up, give him and Yuki a chance to strut their stuff. By the time this night was out, he'd prove to this boy that the Inuzuka were a force to be reckoned with.


It wasn't long before they reached the store in question, the target of their mission. It all felt rather hastily thrown together, but there was plenty to work with thankfully. The store was practically wedged in place between a store selling various trinkets and oddities, now closed as the sun descended over the city, and what appeared to be a store specializing in scrolls. The scroll store appeared to be open, but there were no lights on, nor were there signs out, so it was anyones guess in the end. In front of the store ran the street, a wide avenue that seemed to almost cut the village in half, ending at intersections at both ends, just past where the eye could see. But what was of more interest to Yuuto was what lay on the otherside of the street. Various shops, stalls and other village commonplaces stretched across the opposite side of the road, all facing toward the jewel store as if accusing. 'You bring trouble to this neighbourhood' they seemed to say. 'Before you came, we got to sleep peacefully at night. Now there are burglars, and shinobi trodding all over the place, making such a racket!'

Yuuto barely spared Sujin a glance, instead leaping up to clear the building, and landing on a store of unknown purpose, at least from the outside. It had a clear view of the jewelry store, but also plenty of cover and shadows to settle into. Once atop the roof, he settled into place, sitting with his legs crossed under him. Yuki leaped from the boys coat, and started pacing the roof, sniffing at the surface. Yuuto's eyes began to search the darkening village, looking for anything out of place, or anything that could be helpful, or a hindrance to them.

WC 468
Total Word Count 1216

Even after he saw the two glares, he continued to feel it as Yuuto responded. "Yuki is more than ready," he had said confidently. "He and I have trained together since he could walk!"

Sujin chuckled at that, as the sight of the dog looked like he had only been walking for a short while. Yuuto must have understood this because he went on further.

"He may look like a pup, but he helped me get through the Genin Graduation Exam, and he's going to help me reach Chuunin. And then Jounin, and maybe one day, Kage. You either have both of us, or neither of us."

Now the kid was being bold. He was hoping to be Kage, one day and that would mean a lot more effort. Sujin wondered if the kid would really make that dream come true. He also wondered why the kid would even think that was a good idea. Jounin, that was something Sujin could understand. But Kage? That was way too much responsibility than he would ever want to have. Of course, someone would need to take the position eventually. The current Hokage wouldn't live forever, but most likely would retire before even death removed him from office. Sujin bit his tongue, however, realizing it was better to not provoke more anger from his current partner.

The two instead made their way to the store in silence. Once there, he saw the store was a rather small shop, wedged in between two other shops along the road. Around them, people began to head home. Soon the streets would be relatively quiet, illuminated only by the street lamps and the various indoor lights reaching across the streets.

Sujin was about to say where they should both hide when Yuuto leapt up on top of the store. He watched as the kid sat on the roof while his dog hopped out of the coat and started sniffing the air.

"Seems like somebody is anxious to get started," he mumbled under his breath. He figured since Yuuto had the top of the store, he'd get the bottom.

He quickly did the hand seals for the Transformation Technique and in a puff of smoke, he was gone. In Sujin's place outside the store's front door was a streetside trash can. With the street light off to his left, the trash can's shadow reached across the entrance. Prime spot for stopping the thief, and all with the benefit of staying in one spot throughout the night.

Chakra 145/150:

Post WC: 424
Total WC: 2763

There was a puff of smoke from the street below, and when Yuuto glanced down, he noted the Nara boy was gone. No... Not gone. Yuuto could still make out the scent, barely. Perhaps a transformation jutsu? Or substitution? Either way, if he was still down on the street, it wasn't obvious.

He set back to his watching, his eyes scanning over the buildings. Slowly, the village wound down to night, and the steady stream of people eased to a trickle, then ceased altogether. The moon rose slowly into the sky, a thin sliver of light in the pervading dark of night. Yuuto found his eyes straying to the stars that spotted the heavens, admiring them as he so often did. Yuki was still pacing about, sniffing and ensuring the area was clear. Eventually, he came to sit by his human companion.

Yuuto looked down at the little dog. He couldn't help but feel a swelling of pride looking at him now. Yuki had been like his brother, in the same way as Ana was his sister. More than that, he was a friend, an ally... And Yuuto felt he would do anything for the little bundle of fur at his side. The night slowly dragged on, and the moon had reached its apex, when it shone straight upon the village... Or, it would if it weren't for the clouds. Thick clouds had roiled in while they were waiting, blocking out much of the night sky, and causing the light levels to fluctuate widly as they rushed past the moon on the way to parts unknown.

In order to keep himself awake, Yuuto had spent much of the time practicing handseals, flowing through the motions for a specific jutsu, or just random combinations, and seeing how his chakra reacted. He had just finished yet another series of handseals, when he noticed movement. Yuki let out a low rumble in his throat, a sound that would barely carry, but reached Yuuto's good ears with little trouble. Being an Inuzuka benefited his senses massively, however his hearing and eye-sight were only really improved when he entered the Four Legs Style. But even so, he was now alert, his eyes watching the movement as it progressed down the street. One man walked along the street, his collar turned against the cool of the night, and he made his way methodically down the road. However, visible from where Yuuto was crouched, he could see something else. Two more men travelling quickly across the roofs. Toward the jewelry store. The man on the street glanced up to the roof, and kept going. That settled it. These guys were obviously in cahoots.

He waited, and watched for a moment longer. The man on the street made his way over to the door, and after another cursory glance, tapped his foot on the road three times. The two men dropped down from the roof, and while two kept watch, the other set to work on the door.

Showtime. Yuuto leapt from the roof, with Yuki right behind him. He landed right next to a rubbish bin. Had that been there? He couldn't remember... He pushed it away from his mind, as he stared down the thiefs. "Bad move you guys" he said, pointing at them as he did so.

WC 558
Total WC 1774

OOC:

While sitting in his Transformation Jutsu, it was rather difficult for Sujin to keep his wits about him. It wasn't long before his eyes grew weary and he found himself drifting off. At first, he fought the urges, thinking it would disrupt his control of chakra keeping him transformed but then he remembered his father had done a similar trick when he was younger. They had been playing hide and seek, and his father had transformed into a chair. Sujin could never find him because of this, instead giving up in the very chair his father had transformed into. There, Sujin fell asleep and his father had too, as he would later confess, all while keeping the chakra control to be the chair.

---

"Daddy, where'd you go?" Little Sujin called out, his feeble, six-year old hands curling up into a fist. "If you don't come out, I'll never share a cookie with you again!"

Immediately his fists unclenched, the tuff of anger he used to shout out completely fading after he had said it. He had just shared a cookie, but now his dad was nowhere to be seen. Frantically, he searched, rummaging around the house to find him. First he checked the closet. Not there. Then his parents' bedroom. Not there. The kitchen? Only his mother was there and she was sitting at the table holding her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking and he could hear a terrible, arrhythmic breathing pattern coming from her. It wasn't even breathing, just varied gasps, as if she was swimming and struggling to get breath.

Little Sujin ran up to his mom and pulled at the hem of her skirt. "Mommy, mommy! Where's Daddy?"

His mother seemed to only get worse after this, standing up and turning away from him. "Get away! This was your fault!"

Little Sujin didn't understand but before he could ask she had run off into the other room. He gave chase to her and rounded the corner to find himself out on the front porch looking out into a strange garden. There were people in dark clothes placing flowers at the front steps. Looking for answers, he looked about to find his mother. She was gone now, too. The flowers kept piling up on the steps. Each one unnerving little Sujin as they were laid down.

He ran away from the porch, hiding back inside the safety of his own house. This time, however, the lights were off. Suddenly the darkness of the house seemed to be moving. He watched his own shadow extend off the floor, absorbing the darkness of his house as it stood to tower above Sujin.

"Bad move," the shadow said as it reached down to grab little Sujin. "Bad move."

---

"Bad move, you guys!"

Sujin woke up from his dream in a puff of smoke to see Yuuto and his dog standing just ahead of him in the street staring down three men. With the Transformation Jutsu was gone and Sujin was now in view of everything, and everyone around him.

The three men had turned to face Yuuto already, and now all eyes shifted to Sujin. The dream was a bit rattling, but he focused his attention back on the task at hand. He would need to bag and tag these guys as quickly as possible. Fusing chakra with his shadow, he pulled his shadow over himself, to be used as a shield for whatever these guys decided to throw at him.

"I got dibs on the lockpicker," Sujin said to Yuuto out of the corner of his mouth. He pulled a kunai out with his free hand and got ready to either charge or defend.

Chakra 135/150:

Post WC: 591
Total WC: 3388

Yuuto was slightly thrown by the rather sudden appearance of Sujin behind him. He didn't turn, instead sniffing to feel out what was going on. That and Yuki could check it out for him. No barking, and he noted that familiar smell. It was the Nara boy.

He grinned, seeing the thieves hesitation. Before it had been two on three, and now it was three even. They might not deem Yuki to be much of a threat, but they were about to learn the hard way that was a grave error. "I got dibs on the lockpicker" Sujin said, to which Yuuto felt his grin grow. "Perfect" he replied, before dropping down onto his haunches. Time to show these fools what he and Yuki could do!

Spoiler:

The lockpicker, bent back to his work, apparently convinced the others could take two kids. Yuuto snapped a handseal, tiger, and smiled again. "Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry! Four Legs Style!" With that, he fell forward onto his hands and feet, as chakra began to visibly exude from his body. He now stood like a dog, as his hair grew out more, his eyes shifted to become more canine. His teeth became sharp, and even his nails became claws. Yuki was growling, and now a sound unnervingly similar was coming from Yuuto. This gave the thieves pause, their resolve somewhat shaken. Then, faster than anything, Yuuto moved. He cleared the roughly meter distance between him and the first of the thieves, slamming his elbow into the man's gut. THe force of the strike sent the man hurtling backward, cracking into the wall, where he fell unmoving. Yuuto spun on his heel to confront the remaining man. This man, pulled out a kunai. "Come on then you little bastard!" he shouted, before moving in on Yuuto. Yuuto took a lunge, and the man barely ducked in time. He was quicker than his friend, that much was clear.

Regrouping for a moment, he seemed to change plans. He made his way toward Yuki quickly, apparently seeking to get past the dog, or take the dog hostage possibly. Instead, he was surprised to find Yuki gone. "So, you like picking on little dogs, do ya?" Yuuto snarled. "Well, time this little dog showed you he's got bite!"
Then, in a puff of smoke, Yuki vanished... Replaced by a Second Yuuto. "Man Beast Clone!" both Yuutos declared. Then they set on the man. It was over quickly. While faster than his friend, he was no match for the two together. Very quickly, the man lay unconscious on the ground. Yuuto and Yuki then turned, to see how Sujin was faring.

WC 448
2222 Words total

Spoiler:

Yuuto seemed excited to get into the fight, as was obvious by how quickly he rushed in. Not to say that he jumped in too fast, but with the chakra in the air, Sujin could almost taste the boy’s eagerness to fight. So while Yuuto got on all fours to attack the other men, he focused on the lockpicker.

The man was still stooping, thinking he was safe with his two buddies watching his back, and continued to work the store’s lock. This provided Sujin with ample time to spread his shadow towards the man, using his Shadow Gathering Technique to pull up a strand of shadow that snuck up from the ground behind the man’s back. Sujin was just standing there, holding his hand seal while this happened, so with no noticeable movement of his own, he was quickly able to wrap his strand of shadow around the man’s neck and tighten it down. It was also advantageous for his entire body to be cloaked in dark shadow, making Sujin very black in tint and quite the shady character.

Immediately the man dropped his tools and began clawing at his neck. No matter the amount of clawing, Sujin knew, his shadow wouldn’t be something that could be clawed at by others. He waited for the man to really start to lose his breath and thus weaken himself enough that Sujin could pull him down to the ground. Only then did Sujin step forward, placing his right foot down on the man’s hands which were still at his throat trying in vain to release himself from the shadow’s vice grip. Once he felt enough pressure was pinning down the man’s hands and throat, Sujin released his strand from choking the man’s neck.

At this point, he could hear Yuuto talking aloud and looked up to better pay attention to what else was going on. One of the men had been thrown into the wall, and with particularly strong force. So strong, Sujin wondered if Yuuto was truly genin level. Maybe that’s what Moichi meant by him getting to Chuunin so fast, he thought to himself. The third man was quickly taken down by Yuuto and his dog as he performed the Man-Beast Clone Technique before Sujin’s eyes. It was spectacular to see, especially with such a small dog next to Yuuto when the jutsu began.

”Seems like this went a whole lot easier than expected, huh?” he called out to Yuuto and Yuki. ”Let’s round up these guys together so we can send ‘em back with us.”

Another mission down and out.

Chakra 120/150:

Post WC: 445
Total WC: 3833
Trained Speed from D-0 to D-3: 1175/1175
WC Remaining: 2658
Trained Endurance from D-0 to D-3: 1175/1175
WC Remaining: 1483
Trained Perception from D-0 to D-3: 1175/1175
WC Remaining: 308

Yuuto watched as Sujin held down his target. He hadn't seen how the boy had done it, but it was clear he wasn't a push over either. Releasing the form, Yuuto shifted back to looking more human, his teeth and nails returning to their previous lengths, and Yuki returned in a puff of smoke.

Sujin advised they scoop up the men, and deal with them. Yuuto looked at the men. He sighed, realising the situation. There were three men, and Yuki had just released the Man Beast Clone Jutsu. He picked up the smaller of the men, hoisting him over his shoulder. That strength training had really paid off... He then looked at the other. The one he had struck out against the wall. Yuki was tugging on the man's clothes, apparently trying to drag him. "Hang on bud, take this" Yuuto said, digging into his jacket. He retrieved a food pill, flicking it to Yuki, who caught it and ate it.
Yuuto looked to Sujin. "Give him a little boost" he said with another grin.

Soon enough, the three were making their way down the street, Yuuto carrying his prisoner, and Yuki doing a surprisingly effective job of dragging the other. In no time at all they had dropped the men off, cashed in the mission, and were free to go their separate ways. Yawning widely, Yuuto scooped up the exhausted puppy. "Well, I'm beat... See you around Nara" he said, as he set off down the road, headed home. Did he have a story for Ana, or what!

~Exit

WC 264
Total 2486