Mission name: Dangerous Times
Mission rank: S
Objective: Kill the Assassins!
Location: Kumogakure no Sato
Reward: 3 EP
Mission Description: Would be assassins that aim to take the life of the newly appointed Raikage during the confusion and distractions brought on by the chuunin exams have entered the village. It is your job to sniff them out, then take them out.
Mission Details: There will be three assassins scattered about the village, waiting on the Raikage to make his way through the village for the exams. You will be tasked with discreetly taking them out and disposing of the bodies before they can do any harm. Two of the assassins will have all A-3 stats and S-Rank stiletto daggers, meaning to be a blade in the crowd. The third assassin will have S-2 stats and an S-Rank katana, meaning to take the Raikage in broad daylight. Each will be hidden about the village and will need to be stopped before they can reveal themselves or make their attack, kill them so that the exams may go on without a hitch.

Rippa stood on top of one of the taller buildings in the market district. His blue eyes scanning the market square like a hawk when A breeze caught his hair. Shifting it to the left as his shoulder length hair slightly covered his face. White as snow and catching in the breeze. If anyone were looking at him in that moment they might not know the kindness he held in his heart for those who would seek it. His warm demeanor turned cool for the moment as his sharp eyes took in every face and person walking below. Anyone approaching would know that it was impossible to get close without being detected. Or at least that was the sensation the Hokage gave off. As if his senses were pressed so hard they could be felt around him. He simply had the feeling about him of someone capable. As if his position was well named. He was designed to become the hokage. His chakra pressure filled the rooftop with a weight that might put a chunnin on his knee's. He meant business now. He usually refrained from killing but the mission he had taken held too much at stake. That someone would dare target a Kage during the exams.

He had been moving about the village and observing the natural wonders this place had to offer. The waterfalls had been a prominent point. Typically the cave behind the waterfalls was free from prying ears do to the crashing waves. However by mistake Rippa had chosen to meditate on top of a rock protruding from the falls some short distance from the bottom. Practicing his senses as he switched between vision, watching the people below and switching from face to face. Straining his eyes to see details even at a hundred meters. Next was a sense of smell. He could tell when something foreign passed him in the water and something else behind him and below in the falls. The scent of musk. And yet it was a dry scent which was odd since it was behind the water. So he had switched to listening as he closed off his other senses. It was then that he had heard a transfer of payment to three individuals. Swearing that they would do the job and expect the other half after. It was only by chance that he caught the name of the target. Hastur was to be assassinated.

So he had to make his way to stop this madness. If Hastur fell during the chunnin exams a great deal of chaos could come from it. Blame would be tossed randomly. Negotiations would falter and lines would begin to be drawn. Likely Kiri would face the most blame for it. Even Rippa couldn't remove his suspicion of them and they were allies. It could easily lead to picking sides. Which quickly split the world and led to a world war. Something he did not wish to see in his life time. However he knew he couldn't do this alone. He had heard the location where it was supposed to happen and a time but he couldn't take the time to convince the guard that assassins were coming buy simply saying he overheard it. Kumo had little reason to take the Hokage at his word. If it took too much time he might miss the window to save the man. However there was one Jounin that he did know in Kumo that might feel like aiding him. So he had stopped at an outpost and had an urgent message sent to Zetsume Zix to meet the Hokage on a specific rooftop as quickly as possible. The urgency of it couldn't be downplayed. He was clear on that.

So he had made his way to the rooftop overlooking the square where Hastur was scheduled to make an appearance. One combat boot placed on the raised stone edge of the roof and the other planted firmly on the roof itself. Dark shinobi pants were tied tightly to his ankles at the bottom and secured to his waist by a ammo belt with eight bolt heads in it. Tucked into it was a black zip up vest with the zipper halfway done up the chest and the neck sticking up. His red trench coat flared out behind him with a Konoha headband in each shoulder. Empty straps fro his katana marked the back of each shoulder. One sheathed katana crossbow, Eve, was placed with the handle up against a chimney stack. Already loaded with bolts. The other was in his hands. Idly he was loading this one with six bolts as well. The chamber pulled to the side in order to load the weapon as he stretched his senses. He was calm and careful. Though he did have one hope. He was loading a crossbow on a roof overlooking a populated square. He hoped Zix didn't assume he had gone mad. Still the square was only forty meters away and was only 35 meters long. Well within his range.

847

"Hey! Wake up and order something would ya? You are holding up my line." A manly voice said from behind the kitchen while looking at Zetsume who was pondering the choices of food to ingest. Even to himself he was taking a good deal of time to choose, but with the increase of people in his village everyone was trying to make as much money as possible even if that means rushing a loyal customer. Giving a small glance back towards those who were giving him glares, he finally chose the steak strips served on white rice. The crowd almost erupted in a cheer when he picked, but they kept their excitement to themselves. Some knew Zetsume was a Jounin, others were just oddly afraid of him. Perhaps they heard of his... ninja way. Kill first, ask question later, deny anything unless given full proof, and never trust anyone. He does well on most of them, though he has found himself far more trusting that he would have liked. Zetsume even managed to make a few friends that were outside his village, though he was unsure if they were friends or just leverage. Either way, Zetsume would always swallow his pride for the political stability between villages. Zetsume took a rather impressive sack of Ryo, went to count it out but gave up and just set it down. He told the server that he would pay and tip for all the people inside. It was not an uncommon thing for him to do as the Kyodara savings were quite vast. Despite him hating them for their cowardice, he did enjoy being head of the clan. Not one of them would question his spending habits, for they were afraid. He was ostracized because he did not want to join their agenda into getting a clansman to Raikage. To bring true noble meaning to his clan, but that was something that he did not wish. Zetsume was not political savvy enough to do it, he only knew how to do one thing, and that is to kill. Anything else he tries, he fails. Zetsume sat down at a small table enough only for two. He only needed one person to talk to, Repede, his dog. Sure, the dog could not verbally express a response, but at least the dog never judged him for making the hard calls. The dog soon came prancing into the store, his head held high as if he just got a large amount of affection. The workers went to shoo the dog away, but quickly stopped when they saw Zetsume's headband around his neck and that the dog sat at the table with the patron who generously tipped and payed everyone's meal. Zetsume smiled at the dog, but did not say a thing. A few people would try to thank him for his generosity but he would shrug it off as nothing before being somewhat rude towards them acting as if they were annoying him. He knew he should have just cooked at the house. He gave a small sigh before his food came to him. Two plates of sizzling hot steak strips with two bowls of white rice. Zetsume smiled and thanked the waitress who smiled back before going back to work. Repede gave a small bark to Zetsume to flirt with her, but was met with a standoffish glare. Before he could start eating, an out of breath chuunin came bursting through the door. He gave a look around before seeing Zetsume and dashing to him.

When the kid made his way towards Zetsume, he held out a small note and slightly bowed in respect. With an eye cocked, he looked at the note. It was indeed assigned to him, but from whom. He went to set it on the table, and look at it later, however, the kid insisted it was urgent and that he read it immediately as it came from the Hokage himself. Giving a little thought which came up empty, Zetsume tried to think of who was the Hokage. He did not particularly fancy politics, especially those from outside his own village and jurisdiction. There was a noted agenda of the names of The Kage's arrival, but he did not even look at it.  Zetsume unfolded the small note as his eyes widened. Proof of an assassination attempt on lord Raikage, meet at the highest rooftop near the square where he is to have a meeting. Zetsume almost knocked his chair over when standing up abruptly. Few people looked at him, but most kept to themselves. "Repede, time to go. We can eat later after the job, as for you kid, enjoy our meal for finding me. I am sure it was not an easy task." Zetsume smiled a little and patted the chuunin's head. In that moment, the rumors the kid heard about him seemed to vanish. The cold archer in the mountains did not seem as scary as people made him out to be. If only the kid could conceptualize the hatred Zetsume had towards those who wish harm on his village. Zetsume began to store four of his Lighting Bolt arrows. He did not know when he would need them, just knew he would need them. In but a moment, he left with Repede right behind him. He was not far away from the square that Hastur was to attend. Zetsume quickly ran up a building and began to move even faster.

If it were another Kage, Zetsume would have chalked it up to a trap or diversion, however, it was from the Hokage and he did have one person from there that he respected, Rippa. His only sensei who taught him in Ninjutsu and slightly changed his outlook of outsiders. From a distance he could see a figure loading something. His heart raced as he had the initial thought that this might be the culprit, but something seemed off. It was not till he got a closer look to notice it was Rippa himself. Zetsume landed softly and almost quietly next to Rippa, he spoke in a friendly voice towards his sensei, "Rippa, it has been too long old friend, what brings you here? Did the hokage also request your help in this task and did he or she inform you on anything about who these assassins are?" Zetsume knew not his former sensei is the Hokage, something that he would be embarrassed about later. Repede landed shortly after Zetsume spoke, wagging his tail fast from side to side staring at Rippa. Giving a glance around, he noticed that this was an amazing vantage point, but he expected nothing less from his sensei. He braced himself for what were to come, deep down hoping that Rippa was not the assassin because at this close distance he would not survive. Zetsume lacked true trust in others, as he felt everyone deep down had some dark agenda. Though something about Rippa's personality made it easy for him to trust him. For now, he would have to play it calm and see how it all plays out before. Somewhere deep down, he wanted Rippa to be someone who actually means well for the population and not to themselves.

WC:1212

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