Mission Details:

Misaki stood, rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels. He never could sit still, even as a child. It was a point of contention between him and his mother after she had remarried and moved them both to the city. Her new husband disliked children in general, believing that they should be seen and not heard. That trait unfortunately rubbed off on his mother, who before then, had thought of his rambunctious behavior as something endearing. His uneasy behavior - a manifestation of his anxiety - only got worse after he was sold off into slavery, as little more than a bag of blood. He often woke up in a cold sweat, memories bleeding into his nightmares and forcing him to relive things that he would much rather forget. People who knew him were often none the wiser, however. He hid his insecurities behind a seemingly genuine smile and a penchant for kindness. His fidgeting was just attributed to a bit of hyperactivity and nothing more. Misaki was grateful for that. It meant that he didn't have to explain anything.

Misaki subscribed to the belief that if he didn't speak about his trauma out loud, it would remain something ethereal and intangible. Putting it to words would only make it... real. So he chose to put it in the back of his mind and forget. Part of him was sure that it would come and bite him in the ass some day, but until then, he would try to stall by keeping himself busy. Missions, part time jobs, occasional social outings - he would try to sitract himself by doing just about anything that didn't involve staying alone at his tiny apartment.

Today was one such case. A few days ago, the young boy had successfully retrieved an old relic that the Jounin of the village were looking to recover. It had been fairly easy, really, seeing as an old lady in the slums had been in possession of the book and had handed it over without so much as a fuss. Maybe for that reason, the people in charge of mission assignments had decided to send him looking for another one of the tomes. This one seemed... slightly more complicated. From what he had been told, this one was being held by a small group of bandits. For that reason, he had been assigned a partner for this particular task. It was why he was waiting by the Northern Gate of Sunagakure no Sato.

Misaki was confused. He suddenly felt a weight atop his head. He blinked a few times and felt a few - what was that, pecks? He reached towards whatever it was that was there. If the bird didn't fly away, Misaki's hands would gently find their way to its small back. He would run his fingers through the feathers. He would stop when the newcomer started waving his hands to shoo the little bird away. "It's alright," he said, chuckling. The blue haired boy was fond of animals. His favorites were reptiles - lizards especially - but he also found birds quite charming. This little one looked like it was particularly friendly as well. He wondered what place it had on the mission they were going on, though, assuming that this blonde haired boy was his partner. He would find out that that was the case after a brief introduction.

Misaki waved off his apology. It was alright, he hadn't been kept waiting for long. "It's fine, what matters is that we get the job done, right?" He said, his voice kind and calm but with a hint of enthusiasm to it.

"Oh, I remember you," Misaki began, now that he had had a closer look at the boy's face. "You were at the Dragon's Tongue a few days ago, right?" He asked. The young boy remembered his face and that of the young woman he had been with. He also remembered a glass shattering quite suddenly and a somewhat slow day. He didn't expect this boy - Sutaka, he reminded himself - to remember him, however. In his opinion, Misaki was very forgettable, despite his slightly odd appearance, largely due to the marking on his face. "I'm Karisuma Misaki," he introduced himself. He bowed slightly. He had been taught as a boy that it was only polite to do so when in the company of someone new.

He straightened himself up again. "I'm guessing you were filled in about the mission details," he said. There was no point in stalling or small talk. They could get to know each other better during their mission. "Just in case, what we're supposed to be doing is pretty straightforward. There are a few bandits hiding out at the Scorpion's Lair. The assignment wasn't clear on how many, but the Jounin suspect it's two or three. They're keeping an old relic that belongs to the village and we're supposed to get it back," he finished explaining. He assumed the boy already knew what it was they were meant to be doing, but it was good to get them both on the same page anyways.

"So! Shall we get going?" He asked, smiling just as broadly as the other boy had been doing before. As soon as he got an answer from the other boy, he would begin running towards the direction of the cave. It was a somewhat well-known to the people of Sunagakure as somewhere they should stay away from. Hopefully, their training would ensure a successful result without any mishaps along the way.