Raphael had just finished his morning run and returned to his tent when a voice called from the other side of the material. "Raphael, your presence has been requested in the operations tent." The voice of a mid aged man said from the outside of the boy's tent, "be there in five." The boy replied as he watched the silhouette of the man disappear from the tent wall. Grabbing his anbu armor and putting it on before strapping his Kaminari Steel Windmill Shuriken to the back of it and placing Ikari his favored tanto into its sheath that ran horizontally along his belt in the back. With all his other gear stored within the different pouches and pockets scattered across the boy's body, Raphael grabbed his travel cloak and threw it over himself, ensuring that every piece of weaponry was concealed from prying eyes before he exited his tent and headed for the operation tent to see what it was that required his attention. The fresh morning air was refreshing after his run even underneath all the clothing and armor the boy wore, it was a small price to pay to ensure that death did not consume him. His arrival at the tent was noted as silence fell across the room, Jounin of all branches within Kumogakure eye's fell upon the boy as the silence grew. Finally the silence was broken by the one standing closest to the map table who quickly called Raphael to his side, "ah Raphael thank you for joining us. Please come on over here let me talk with you," the man said though his voice was kind as if it was a father speaking to his son there was the hint of superiority that stated I am not giving you a choice in the matter now get over here. The boy approached the table, eyes wandering around the room looking upon all the faces that were looking upon him. There was no fear in the boy's movements but rather curiosity, he had been among the hidden cloud shinobi for many years now and yet he had never once been greeted as he had on this day. As he drew closer to the table where the man stood he slowly began to piece all of it together and realized why it was that the man wished to speak to him about the situation. On the table next to the map sat a stack of papers and the paper on the top sat a picture of the man known as Ryuzaki, a man that the boy knew from his time living in the village hidden in the sand as well as a man he had encountered during his undercover operation to find the leaders of the different territories within the bandit's. "Alright so here is the situation, this man here," the man started pointing to the picture of Ryuzaki, "has come forward and shared with us some information. As well as sworn loyalty to the Raikage, him and his men have promised to serve the Raikage on the condition that we help them with the acquisition of some weapons to help them deal with the enemies set before them." The man paused as if to allow Raphael alone to process all of the information, everyone else in the room just looked at the pair at the table with glazed over eye's as if they had already received the debriefing. "Your job is to help this man and his group acquire the weapons they need so that they can serve the Raikage's will." The man said in finality, the boy looked around the room at all the capable shinobi that filled the tent. It was not like the boy to question orders but he could not help but wonder why it was that he had been summoned for this when anyone of these men could just as easily preformed the mission requirements. The man seemed to pick up on the boy's questionable thoughts as he quickly added, "you were requested personally by Ryuzaki for this mission. He said he would only work with you on this as he knew he could trust you."
Raphael nodded and without another word was out the doorway of the tent and headed for the rendezvous point to meet with Ryuzaki and his band of low lives. As the boy neared the gateway to the Kumogakure border camp he saw the familiar face of Makoto, a young shinobi from the hidden stone village that he had worked with on a couple of missions over the past few days. "Makoto, what is it that brings you here?" The boy would ask upon reaching the gates and the boy who stood there.
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