Mission name: Rising Sky
Mission rank: C
Objective: Climb up the Sky Forge or Sky Point and plant a beacon for exploration
Location: Kumo Sky Point or Sky Forge
Reward: 220 ryo
300 ryo, minimum 1500 words.
+ 25 ryo / 100 words, up to a maximum of +300 ryo for 1200 extra words

Mission description: Rise up the mountain side and gather a bit of information on the wildlife or plants as you go up. Do not travel too far as the mountains are dangerous and falling off can be risky. Remember to look after the beacon and plant it once you done.
Mission details: Rise up the foot of the mountain a short distance and gather any information then plant beacon to finish mission after meeting the 1000 word count

Dressed in the traditional grey and white style of Kumogakure, Mizuki had opted for a reinforced knee-length robe, tight together with a white sash around her middle, and wearing a fishnet patterned pair of shorts underneath it. As usual, her katana rested on her hip, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice, while her forehead protector was worn there where it was supposed to be worn for a chance - around her forehead.

The mission on itself seemed easily enough as it were. Wandering through the moments, taking note of fauna and flora and planting the beacon after that. Considering the mountains were treacherous enough as it were, she expected to meet little opposition but one could never be cautious enough.

It had been a while since the Kunoichi had accepted a ninja mission after the whole ordeal during the B rank mission with Lin and her self-imposed long-term mission in the slums, but it seemed Kumogakure needed her to take on missions again. The Village had seemed quite devoid on shinobi presence lately, so those that were around had to step up to do their part. Her disciplined nature had refused to deny the mission, but unlike usually she'd not be alone to undertake it. It was said a young genin would assist her this time - Kaminari Kiriya. While his name didn't ring a bell, the clan certainly did. Her mother, born as Kaminari Siri, and being a proud member of that clan certainly knew how to handle the raiton chakra well, in addition to having a 'thunderous' voice anytime she decided yelling was necessary to pull her sister or her father in line. Much like her mother, Mizuki had inherited a natural affinity for kiaido and a strong bond with raiton, and the explosive power they brought  forth when unleashed. She was just more disciplined than her mother due to a slightly different upbringing. As such, she had high hopes for and expectations from her partner. She was curious to know what he was capable of.

---

wc 344

The letter from the Raikage came the night before. It stated that Kiriya was assigned to do an ordinary exploration mission. It seemed simple enough, maybe too simple. Kiriya had a bad feeling about what might happen and he could not shake it. The other thing that he was worried about was that he would not be doing the mission alone. The partner he was assigned was Raiu Mizuki.

There was this time when he attempted doing a mission with someone and it resulted in both of them failing the mission. He had never felt so frustrated in his entire life. Kiriya was not considered a team player. His best performances came was when he was working alone. He needed trust in order to work with someone. And Kiriya knew that trust was one thing that could not happen overnight. The roots of his inability to work with a team were buried deep in his childhood. After a while he noticed that the object of his thoughts was not the mission but Mizuki. He could remember only one time that he seen her. He happened to lay eyes on her on a Kumogakure event. He saw her only for a few seconds but was astonished by the black raven hair she had.

Kiriya didn’t notice when the sun rose above the horizon. That indicated it was time to get going. The rendezvous point was at the point that the forest began. He couldn’t wish for better weather this day. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go wrong, he just hoped that it would not turn out to be a failure. When he arrived at the assigned point there was no one around. He had this bad habit for arriving for appointments earlier and waiting for the other people to come. The second thing he really hated was waiting. He couldn’t stand waiting for someone.   What was he expecting?! Most people usually arrive late for appointments, the best case scenario was arriving on time. He felt incredibly stupid sitting on the bench.

---

WC - 348

Arriving at the place of appointment on time, with one minute left, Mizuki's eyes glided over the area to see if someone else was present. Aside from a youngster sitting on the bench, there seemed to be no one around. Leaving nothing to chance, the kunoichi quietly approached, footsteps muffled by her shinobi training. If he was a Kumo-nin, she guessed he'd keep his wits about him and remain alert, but if he was just a villager, there would be no harm done. He'd just not realise she was around. Since she had no idea how Kiriya looked like, however, she had no idea who she was looking for exactly and so hoped that the only person actually present would be her mission partner, being on time rather than too late.

Having moved to about a meter behind him, Mizuki awaited his reaction. If the person would turn around, and perhaps reveal a Kumo forehead protector, she'd smile faintly, bowing towards him as she presented herself. If not, perhaps she'd just flicker away to stand on the roof of a nearby building so as to have a better view of the surrounding and possible approaching people.

In any case, she hoped Kiriya wouldn't be too late as that wouldn't be quite the good start for the mission.

---

wc: 225 + 344
= 569

OOC: Slow start is slow, but we'll get there. My bad for forgetting to write out Mizuki was waiting for you, or not writing out the current weather and stuff. Not sure where my mind was. Feel free to add whatever though.

While Kiriya was sitting on the half-broken bench he suddenly noticed that someone was standing behind him. “Impossible…” Kiriya thought to himself. He was quite confident in his training and therefore in his shinobi skills. He should have been able to notice the figure approaching. But he didn’t. The only reasonable explanation was that the figure had exceptional skill. One glimpse was enough for Kiriya to determine that he was severely outclassed. The figure turned out to be a girl. For a split second he realized that this was Mizuki. Kiriya could recognize that black raven hair anywhere.

“You … you should be Mizuki.” Kiriya muttered. Being socially awkward around  girls, especially those older than him, he couldn’t keep his mind straight.

Mizuki faintly smiled and bowed to him. Kiriya blushed slightly. “My name is Raiu Mizuki, nice to meet you.” As she laid eyes on Kiriya the first thought that came to her mind was that he was lacking the skills for this mission. That is the primarily reason she was assigned this mission with him. What did she hoped for? Kiriya only graduated from the academy recently. On the contrary, she could see the strength hiding in his young body. He was from the Kaminari clan, every single person in Kumogakure knew that they had exceptional strength. However, he was not the typical Kaminari shinobi, while the most of them war visually muscular he was quite lean.  “We should get going, the mission would not do it itself.”

As they started going in to the forest, enriched with green and brown colors, Kiriya remembered that he had not stated his name. “My … my name is Kaminari Kiriya.” he slipped this one sentence from his mouth. Mizuki turned his face to him and smiled ever so slightly.

“Our first objective is to measure the height of three to four Red-crowned cranes. This species of cranes only lives in this part of the land. And it is one of the rarest cranes in the world.”

Kiriya was fascinated with the wild-life knowledge she had. Or rather, the thing that was worrying him was that he did not know about this species. “How can she surpass me both in skill and knowledge?!” he thought to himself. Kiriya was determined to prove himself to Mizuki. As they continued walking he sensed that something was following them from their left side.

---

WC  - 348 + 402
= 750

While the rich canopy of the forest provided plenty of shadow for the two shinobi, it hardly served them well as Kumogakure's weather wasn't the greatest to begin with. Dark clouds loomed above, passing by quietly and seemingly refraining from dropping thick raindrops on the earth just yet. Perhaps the rain wasn't meant for them today, but with the canopy of the leaves, it easily draped everything within the forest into a darker shade. A little darker, and a villager would require a light source in the middle of the day.

As the two of them walked through the forest towards the area where the red-crowned cranes appeared most often, the young genin decided to reveal his name. Kaminari Kiryia. She had already assumed him to be the shinobi that she'd have to assist, but it was nice to hear him actually say it.

"A pleasure to meet you.", she replied. He seemed to be the quiet sort, few of words, which Mizuki found fine. As long as he didn't forget to share needed information during the mission. Mizuki herself wasn't one to strike a conversation soon either, and the last thing she'd do is expect someone else to be social with her because of that. "Is this your first mission?", she then asked as she wanted to have an idea of his skill and abilities. Much like her squad leader had taught her by example, it was important to know what a team member could do and not, so as to assess the potential of combined attacks. She was curious to hear Kiriya's answer.

---

wc 274 + 569
= 843


[OOC: Nothing bad happened now, but do mind that, unless actions are stated by the player, controlling someone else's action is forbidden. Double so if it would involve a combat situation.]

At first it looked like Kiriya did not hear Mizuki’s question. He did not show any visual signs of hearing it. Million things were going through his mind. “Do I really look that unexperienced?” This was not his first mission, in fact it was his second one after graduating the academy. One thing was for sure, it was his first C-rank mission and he did not want to fail it.

“No, this is my second mission” Kiriya replied and unconsciously smiled. The two continued walking in silence. Not long after that they saw three red-crowned cranes not far from their location. This was the moment where he could impress Mizuki. In a split second Kiriya moved behind the cranes and grabbed one. The crane clearly was not bothered by Kiriya’s presence. He thought that the crane would try to get away, but it appeared that the two other cranes were sitting silent by their side. Kiriya started to take the measures of the crane and after two minutes the first task was done.
Their second task was to get two to three leaves of Cycads. Cycads were cylindrical trees with leaves that grow straight out the trunk. The special thing about their leaves was that medicine was created when crushed together and mixed with some herbs. However this tree species was rarely seen in this part of the forest. The two started looking for it. After two hours had passed, they both stumbled on one extremely large Cycad. Getting the three leaves was fairly easy. Kiriya climbed the tree with zero effort and quickly putted them in his pack.

The third task was to measure and weight a wild boar. “This is the most difficult of the whole list. We should be careful, those things can turn out to be quite troublesome.” Kiriya spoke without directly looking at Mizuki. Kiriya still could not shake the feeling that they were being followed. At first he thought his mind was playing games with him but then he caught glimpse of a dark shadow when he was on top of the Cycad tree. On the other hand he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Mizuki. Something about her fascinated him. It did not take long for him to realize that Mizuki was not the typical nineteen year-old girl. Although she didn’t talk a lot it clearly appeared that she was quite skilled.

---

WC - 750 + 408
= 1158

Her question seemed to have imposed a certain self-doubt in the boy as he questioned his own experience. A moment later, he stated it was his second mission. Mizuki nodded. Much like she had once been, he must have been fresh out of the Academy. Being mostly on her own or with high ranked shinobi like her father or Lin, she had no real means to measure herself with the level of abilities she used to had, and thus wondered if there would be a huge difference between the young genin and herself. Perhaps they could spar some time later, if Kiriya was interested in such, but for now they had a mission to do.

As the red-crowned cranes came in sight, it seemed Kiriya was eager to prove himself. Even before things were settled, he already ran up to them to grab one. Oddly, despite being in their natural habitat, the animals didn't bother to run off. They didn't move at all, causing Mizuki to rise an eyebrow questioningly at the state of the animals. Had they been sedated perhaps? While Kiriya was measuring the unfazed cranes as the mission had stated, Mizuki approached to see if there was any sign that could explain why they had remained so calm.

First, she checked the cranes themselves, running her hand through their plumage to see if she couldn't find any hidden senbon that would possibly hold traces of whatever products or chakra that had been used. As Kiriya measured them, Mizuki checked them, but it was only on the third crane that she found a senbon. She assumed the first two cranes had already removed their senbon or had lost them somewhere in the area. In any case, Mizuki frowned in worry. Lacking the medical jutsu to properly identify what had been used on the senbon, she decided to tuck away the needle for a later investigation. Considering the birds seemed to show no sign of struggle or wounds, it was possible the previous visitors had no harmful intentions but until investigations would prove this, she could take no risk. These animals were on Kumogakure grounds and as they were of rare breed, required proper monitoring.

Next, if the birds had been assaulted for whatever reason, she might be able to find some clues in the nearby area. She couldn't say if Kiriya had considered the docility of the animals to be normal, but as she didn't want to be too hard on her partner, she left him with taking the proper notes on their sizes as she dashed to check upon the nearby area. Brushes, trees, tracks... anything that could reveal the presence of visitors would suffice, and since they birds had been extremely calm, she assumed they couldn't have moved too far. Indeed, after searching for a while, she found another lost senbon near a brush, but not the slightest of tracks. Had they been shinobi...? Returning to Kiriya, she tucked away the second needle.

"Well done measuring them.", she said with a smile. "You may have noticed how docile they were, which for wild animals shouldn't be the case. I found two senbon, one in the crane and one near a bush and though I can't say what it was used for, spotting things like that can help the higher ranks with their investigations."

Allowing the lesson to sink in, Mizuki hoped it would help him grow stronger for the benefit of Kumogakure. Things as these, after all, were never truly stated during a mission as the higher ranked often tended to forget genin weren't aware of subtle tasks as these, but having picked up a thing or two from her own missions and the lessons Lin had given her, she now hoped she had been able to provide some insight in return.

---

The second part consisted in finding a rare tree of sorts, which really was nothing else than walking around until they actually found one. To search for a single tree in an entire forest... at least Administration could have given a better location than this. A few hours passed as the two walked in silence until, finally, they stumbled upon the rare tree in question - a cyad. Their leaves were known to be used in medicine, but that was about all Mizuki remembered. She hadn't really had much time to pour herself over medicinal knowledge even though her sensei was a medical shinobi.

Kiriya proved rather eager to help out, disappearing into the tree in a matter of moments and returning triumphantly with the leaves they were requested to procure. Once more, Mizuki smiled at him, and checked the second task of their list. One more task to go - measuring a wild boar.

Kiriya had remembered the task well as he stated it to be the hardest of them all, and Mizuki nodded in agreement. That was to say, it would be a hard task for unprepared shinobi, but since Mizuki had quite a bit of experience under her belt by now, she also had quite a few jutsu available that could make the task considerably easier.

"Alright, for this task I'd like you to let me deal with the hardest part as boars can be dangerous if you aren't careful. I have a few jutsu that should make the task considerably safer for the both of us, namely 'Starch Syrup Capturing Field' that should be able to slow it down and even immobilise it, and 'Arc Restraint' which will allow me to leash him."

It was important to share information as this. Tactics, and how they'd approach something. She couldn't tell if Kiriya knew or even had these techniques as he had sounded inexperienced despite his eagerness, and as such she felt it was her duty to keep him safe - something the Raiu were historically known for both in and outside the Village.



996
Total: 1839

As Kiriya was measuring the animal’s height and weight he noticed that Mizuki was looking quite distracted. Maybe she was thinking about something else, no, she was definitely thinking about something else. The fact that she started checking the animals and looking around just confirmed his suspicions. Kiriya had missed something, something important about the mission at hand. As he was taking the measures he did not stop following Mizuki’s actions. It appeared that she found a senbon in the third crane. Kiriya felt ashamed that he did not notice the senbon. Mizuki then continued the search in the nearby bushes. She returned with one more senbon. Kiriya was starting to get suspicious. What could have happened to the cranes?

It was a little suspicious when the cranes did not act on him when they were grabbed. Kiriya did not consider it worth thinking. From an infant Kiriya had been playing with wild animals and it appeared that the animals liked him too. He had one time encountered a mother wolf with a cub. It is widely known that wolfs that have no pack are the most dangerous, especially when protecting their little one. At first the wolf started growling against him but then it miraculously stopped. As Kiriya stood perfectly still the cub came to his feet and started playing with them. This was the first time something like this had happened to him.

As for the sedated cranes there was only one logical explanation. In the land of the lightning red-cranes have been endangered species from as long as Kiriya could remember. Thus, hunting them was forbidden with law. The only logical explanation Kiriya could think up was that someone was hunting them. That would explain the two senbon found at the place. Following the logic, some must have hunted the cranes but these three must have escaped. That would explain why they were not scared when Kiriya grabbed them.

“I think that the cranes were sedated because someone was hunting them. There probably were more of them but the logical explanation is that they were caught. I think we should report this to the Raikage. Hunting the red-cranes is forbidden by law as long as I could remember.”

For the third task Mizuki had told Kiriya that she would like to take care of it and stated two jutsu that could be used for it. Kiriya had heard the Arc Resistant jutsu. It was a jutsu used primarily for the immobilization of targets, which would prove quite useful in this situation. On the other hand, he had not a single clue for the Starch Syrup Capturing Field. What was this jutsu and how could it help them?

“I was thinking of using the Body Flicker technique to appear behind the boar and then immobilize it with Lightning Rod. On second thought this approach seems to have more violence than needed. Your tactic is better suited to handling this task.”

---

WC - 1158 + 496
= 1654

As Kiriya stated his own idea on how to approach the situation, following his own knowledge on jutsu, Mizuki nodded empathically. The Body Flicker Technique might work even though she hadn't heard anyone use it to get into position just yet. It was most commonly used to appear and disappear without leaving a trace. Thinking about it, this could have been a technique the hunters had used to leave no trace, but that would also mean they had some form of shinobi training.

"The Flicker technique might work, but Lightning Rod would leave burn marks on your target. The last thing we want is to scare the boars, or have them come at us with a vengeance. It's better to avoid techniques that could prove damaging."

As the two looked around for the boar, eventually spotting a large specimen grunting around from tree to tree, seemingly boring its snout and short legs between the trees' roots in search for something edible. At times, it seemed to snort in disappointed, but the other moments where it did find something, it dug up some odd looking mushroom which it gingerly proceeded to consume.

Considering its search for food as the ideal distraction, Mizuki focuses chakra into her feet and ran up a tree nearby before jumping off from branch to branch to close in on the boar. Arriving within 10 meters of the boar, she once more assessed the situation. The boar was now digging in between the roots of a big, old tree. Molding the chakra necessary for the jutsu, she proceeded to spit out the adhesive chakra water, which splattered around the boar in a 10m radius. As it then attempted to escape the uncomfortable situation it was in, finding the sticky water around it rather difficult to walk through, Mizuki jumped to the nearby tree it had been digging around and leashed the slowly escaping boar with the Arc Restraint jutsu, allowing her previous suiton technique the time to achieve its full immobilising effect on the boar. While the boar remained unharmed, it kept squealing in blind panic as it was now stuck in the chakra syrup.

"The boar's captured. If you would like to do the honours of measuring it, we can wrap up the mission. Just be sure to channel chakra in your feet, or you'll end up stuck as well."

Mizuki would wait patiently for Kiriya to measure the boar, hoping the boar wouldn't be able to tear its tusks through the genin since his head would still be free. Then, once Kiriya would sign his part of the task to be complete and walked himself to safety, she'd release the effects of the two jutsu to allow the boar its freedom again.

---

463
Total: 2302

Chakra 120/150:

Kiriya watched Mizuki while she caught the wild boar with her jutsu. He was fascinated with the finesse that she performed the rather difficult task. Kiriya’s first strategy was to use force in capturing the boar but Mizuki turned him down. After giving it some thought he got to the conclusion that Mizuki’s choice in strategy was better. It was not that surprising, she was miles ahead of him in terms of skill. But Kiriya was determined to change that. He was thinking about the way he could change up his training routine to give faster and better results.

Kiriya got carried away but was awaken from his deep thoughts when Mizuki offered him to finish the rest of the task. On a first glance, the difficult part was over. Kiriya just had to measure the weight and the height of the boar. On a second thought, the boar wielded extremely sharp tusks which could easily harm a human being.

Kiriya started by channeling chakra to his feet in order to stay above the adhesive water. Slowly approaching the boar from its rear view, the boar began howling his tusks in the direction he was coming from. Kiriya quickly adjusted and moved behind the boar. Then he proceeded to gently pat it on its hairy back. The boar continued to swing his head wildly but after a few moments had passed it seemed that it calmed down. Kiriya used these few moments to take its measurements and write them down. He jumped to the tree branch that Mizuki was standing on and waited for her to release her jutsu. Upon the release of the adhesive water the boar looked at them, made a low and short guttural sound and before they could notice it was gone in the woods.  

The final task was the simplest of them all. It was to discover an area with no trees and to plant a beacon.

“This should be easy enough. After you doing all the hard work on this mission I think you should let me finish it. We should find an area where there are no trees in a radius of five meters. If we put it somewhere dense with trees the signal will not get through the leaves and trunks.”

They were lucky enough, not far from the area where Mizuki had trapped the boar there was the perfect place for planting a beacon. It was getting dark and the light shining through the tree leaves was leaving shadows with various forms. Kiriya took out the beacon from his backpack and preceded planting in on the ground. After the final task had been gone they started making their way back to the village.

“This mission was more exciting than I had anticipated. The way you captured the boar was magnificent. I tend to perform worse when doing missions with a partner. After thinking about all the tasks we achieved today I realized that you taught me how important team work is. If you are okay with having me as a partner we could go on some more missions together.”

---

[Exit thread]

WC - 1654 + 520
= 2174

Using all words for ryo payment.
Mission: 1500 wc
Extra: 600 additionals words for +150 ryo

Mizuki kept a close eye on Kiriya as he approached the boar. Even when captured, its tusks proved dangerous, but the genin seemed to sagely stay out of its line of attack. Taking the measurements of the boar once it had seemingly calmed down, he then proceeded to jump to the safe spot where she was standing. On his signal, she released her jutsu and allowed the boar to let go about its way. All that remained now was one small task to do.

Hearing Kiriya's request to do the last part, Mizuki nodded. It was a small device, really, but sensitive as it was it required quite some care before being placed. Since he seemed to have found a place already, Mizuki simply followed him to watch how Kiriya planted the beacon and finished the mission with that. Glad to see an end to this long day, she smiled warmly at him.

"Thank you for your kind words.", she said with a small bow. "Team work is just as much shinobi training as anything else, so it goes without say that a good shinobi should hone his skills side by side with others, may it be by training or during a mission."

Hearing his offer to take on even more missions together, Mizuki gave it some thought. She had been doing missions for far too long by herself, and even went out of her reach to take on missions that surpassed her skill. The escort duty, the investigation in the slums... they had changed her greatly, teaching her why exactly such missions were generally not for genin. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take on a few simpler missions for a change. It'd help the Village, and she'd be able to assess her own growth while possibly improving that of others as well.

"I'm sure we can arrange a few things with Administration to be grouped together.", she confirmed eventually. And as they returned home, time to depart had made its appearance just as well. Bowing before Kiriya once more, she bid her farewell. "Remain strong, Kiriya-kun. I'm sure we'll soon meet again."

She then left the Administration Office to return home, where she'd take a late shower, grab a quick bite and finally crawl into bed for a well deserved night rest. Tomorrow would be another day, with new opportunities.

---

[Exit]

400
Total: 2702

Using all word count for ryo payment.
Mission: 1500 wc
Extra: 1200 wc, for +300 ryo.