Mission:

In the village of Konohagakure the street's were bustling as it was a clear sunny day with lazy Columbus clouds drifting about in the sky making everything peaceful, children running about as they played a game of tag unconcerned with the trouble's of the world, shop owner's making a living by selling their ware's and forming connection's for good business, young lover's consumed by their lust as they engaged each other romantically as they enjoyed the peak of youth.

From above lying on top of a golden brown rooftop Mikumi Senju, a shinobi of Konohagakure watched the sights of her village smiling at its prosperity with a straw hat on top of her head tied by a black string while wearing a leather black jacket with belt buckles placed on each arm at the center of her sleeves that was open at its center revealing a black bra that covered her breasts, she wore black booty shorts with white stars placed randomly among it paired with standard black shinobi sandal's that made it slightly above her ankle's. She felt a sense of accomplishment as she watched her village knowing that she was just but one part of a whole that kept it safe, all the allies she made and the thing's she learned contributed towards the goal of making sure the village stayed that way, and for that purpose she kept training and learning the way's of the world so that herself and her allies could handle anything the world had to throw at them.

Speaking of that end, it had been the promised two weeks since Mikumi meant Aratana, Kaida, and Orochiyaru that fateful night at the ramen shop, she had promised after an eventful sparing match that around this time she would take them on a mission and it was time to keep that promise. Mikumi silently got up and started making her way towards the village administration office to sign up for a proper mission for her makeshift squad, sure she had lead something resembling a squad in the war but this group of genin was practically a match getting to close to gas, so she would make sure to pick a mission with little difficulty but still held a challenge of them working together to get it done, and if it came down to it she would complete the mission herself.

After nearly an hour of searching through the current missions for high skilled genin she finally found a mission that was perfect, a simple escort mission from another location back to the village, of course, Mikumi know there would be a high chance the road back would be meant with trouble that would be the part where the team truly counted, a perfect outing. Now with the mission in mind, it was time to gather up the three shaky genins, taking out a scroll and tearing it into three separate pieces of paper Mikumi wrote on each of them, "Time to go on a mission -Your Temporary Sensai" She would proceed to use a small amount of her chakra to make three wood styled messenger birds and attach the leaders to each of them, Mikumi who had already learned their locations four days prior sent the birds directly towards Aratana, Kaida's, and Orochiyaru's residences where the bird will tap on their windows.


WC: 572

Aratana rested in a large barren field gazing up at the clouds passing by Konohagakure. In the distance he’d hear the busy streets of the city, the joyous cries of children, and the gregarious laughter that filled the shops and restaurants scattered throughout the town. As he pulled himself up out of his dreamlike state, he began to trot back home to check in with his mom for lunch. He quickly glided through the trails and wooded areas until eventually he had sight of the section of Konoha that his home was located in.

He pranced up the steps and swung the door open, ”I’m home! he’d shout out loud, his voice reverberating throughout the house. With no response, Aratana proceeded through the rooms until he eventually came across the kitchen with no sign of his mother around. He glanced around for a few moments until eventually he came across a small bento box that had been set out for him by his mother. On top of it rested a small note, Good luck on your mission today! Aratana read out loud, before suddenly being hit with the realization that he had mentioned his spar and the people he’d met to mother, specifically stating that he was going to be taken on a high-rank mission in two weeks time.

Aratana had just begun to unravel the box, being hit by numerous scents of delicious home cooked food, before out of the blue a small bird tapped the window closest to where he sat. At first, his attention was directed towards the food that was out in front of him. Eel over rice, what a treat. he’d think to himself before the tapping continuously got louder and more consistent. Eventually he went over to the window, lifted it up, and attempted to shoo the bird away from his residence. However, after looking at it for a couple moments he’d come to realize this wasn’t an ordinary bird, but a wood bird of sorts. Huh, he thought to himself in confusion, A wood bird? he’d sit there in utter stupidity before suddenly being hit by the realization that this must be a bird sent by “The Tree of Knowledge”. Upon closer examination, he’d discover a small note wrapped around the birds ankle. After unfolding it and opening it, he’d read “Time to go on a mission -Your Temporary Sensai”. With this, he’d leap for joy, before resealing his lunch and collecting his items around the house before placing them in a small nap sack.

Soon after, he’d hustle out the door and begin making his way over to the Village Administration office to collect the details of whatever mission he was about to endeavor on. Eventually, he’d arrive at the door and stand proudly in front of it for a couple moment, smiling gleefully, yet having many questions crossing his mind about what he was about to take on. My first mission~ he’d think to himself, almost jumping from joy, before pushing the large door open and presenting himself to Mikumi.

524

Kaida gazed down at the little morsels she had made. These were simple creations, consisting of the most basic elements of her craft. She was still new to baking, but her skills were developing at a phenomenal rate. Why hadn't her mother wanted her doing this? She was good at it, and it seemed to make people happy. Her smile faltered briefly. That was probably why, she mused. Kaida's mother had been very careful when handling her social upbringing. She had to be distant and calculating but fair and friendly. It was a careful balance she needed to strike. To facilitate Kaida's development, Ichika had introduced her to social events for only a few minutes at a time. Long enough to fulfill a list of objectives and report her findings back to her mother, but no longer than that.

Cookies, Kaida silently reminded herself. Right. She had made shortbread cookies for her teammates and sensei today. It wasn't the cookies themselves that the young kunoichi was proud of, but the way she had decorated them. Painting had been one of her favorite subjects as a youth. It was the only approved activity that allowed Kaida to push her frustrations into more creative endeavors and relieve a bit of stress. She found painting with and on frosting just as relaxing, and combining it with her new hobby helped. For each one of them, she'd prepared a stack of six cookies, painted with portraits she felt appropriate to the recipient.

Coming up with images for Yaru and Mikumi had been simple. Yaru would receive three images of snakes, as well as three images of herself with different ridiculous expressions on her face. Hopefully at least one of them would make her laugh. Her cookies were bundled with a tag labeled, "Snake Girl." Mikumi received three portraits of flowering or fruiting trees and three of books with mysterious titles, and were bundled together with the tag, "Knowledge Tree." Aratana, she felt she didn't know enough about, but he was a child. Rather than random portraits, she had spent the time she couldn't sleep that morning coming up with a story about a young warrior chasing goblins in the woods, and illustrated its steps with each of his half dozen cookies. She bundled and tagged them with the words, "Little Warrior."

As she was finishing the last tag, a small bird with a letter attached flew in through her open window, landing on the counter by the cookies. It tapped on the wooden counter, its own wooden beak making a tiny, hollow sound with each peck. It caught Kaida's attention for reasons she didn't understand at first. Her focus was still on making sure her creations made it onto the scroll she had prepared to carry them with. Once all three bundles were in place and securely sealed away, she returned her attention to the bird.

It was a strange little device... or creature? Kaida couldn't tell which. And rather than ponder it, she handled it with care, just in case, as she retrieved the letter attached to its leg. Reading it, she glanced around at her meager apartment, spotting her clothes and ninja gear, and set herself to get ready. Ten minutes went by, and she was out the door.

She arrived at the Administration Building less than fifteen minutes later. She looked just the same as she did the first night they met, but was quite a bit less hungry, and was quite a bit more confident in her abilities. Letting herself in, she set herself to looking about for her teacher immediately, making a beeline for the most likely locations.

619/619

It was a beautiful day to operate. Yes yes. Orochiyaru would be near the window. A lot of sunlight brushing onto her body. Her skin covered in a white coat. Her face hidden behind a protective mask. Her coat clearly splattered with quite a lot of blood. Before her, on the table. A shell of skin and nerves. A flesh golem one could say. Neither human nor animal. Based on Yaru's experiments with the reflection clone technique. She was still on the search of creating life on her own. To find the sources of her own past and to eventually discover how her makers had put her into existence. The meat golem was shaped like a bunny. It probably had quite a few organs from deceased hares as well. Yaru was just about finished to have put all the little details, organs and nerve strings into place. Closing up the creature as she pulled forth a little vial containing green liquid cells. Mikumi's hair. Yaru shivered at the sight of them. Getting excited again. She extracted a single drop from the cell and dropped into the an already existing mixture of alchemic composition into a crucible next to the operating table. Watching how the previously red glowing brew turned green upon contact with Senju cells. Pulled a syringe forth, stuffed its tip into the brew and pulled back until some of the hot liquid was filling the syringe. With an absolutely overjoyed ecstasy she pushed it into the golem and took a few steps back.

The table began to shake. The muscles of the fleshy creature spasmed. Nerves were activated. The blood vessels pumped. The heart would beat and the creature would move for a split second. Yaru's face was torn with joy of finally reaching the climax of her studies! But alas, she did not. The creature exhaled but a short, pained gasp that was heart breaking in its noise. Before its skin slowly turned green. Its flesh turning into wooden, tree-like composition. Skin turning to bark. The supposedly living creature deformed into a lifeless statue of its former shape. Yaru clenched her teeth. Another failure. She quickly started to file a report. Writing her experiences down. As she checked on the crucible, she'd realize it too had changed its composition, the fluid had turned to grass and mud. Nothing of its chemical ground components remained. "No element can stabilize the Mokuton cells for longer periods in time." She would scribble on her paper. "Source of life within the element still not found…" She dropped her report and was about to remove her operating clothes. She would suddenly mention something; her concentration would return to the window. "Gorgon, windows." She hissed with her snake tongue exhaling from her lips. A rather huge snake slithered along the floor and casually bit its teeth into the window handle, pulling back to open it in an almost too humane way. Both snake and Yaru could see the bird incoming for them.

Gorgon would widely open his maw with a sudden loud thud it could be heard how the snake had snatched the bird away mid-air and swallowed it into his stomach. As he slithered to Yaru he'd give away a rather sick expression. "Gorgon no, bad snek. Give me burd." Yaru would speak and slap her snake friend on the head. Grogon reluctantly burped before returning the, now a bit slime covered, bird back from its maw, spitting it on the ground. Yaru quickly lifted it. Realizing once again what beautiful design came from the Mokuton element. Her heart skipped a beat as this bird perfectly mimicked the motions and actions of a true living being. Perfection. Yaru's skin raised goose bumps all over as her excitement peaked there for a second. She quickly grabbed the birds message and then put the bird into a little caged dome of glass. From a hole she'd fill the glass with water and then flash freeze it with cryogenic material. Another specimen for Yaru to study and it was free home delivery even. Yaru would put the new toy in the fridge and secure it properly in case it had the strength to fight its cage. Reading the message while caressing Gorgon's head and tickling the elder snakes chin. Gorgon hissed pleasantly. "Gorgon, where is Mayu? I'm going on a field trip." She spoke and Gorgon nodded quickly slithering off before he returned with around five little baby snakes. Mayu was an oddball of the kids.

Orochimayu had genetic alterations to it. She was dying from a malformed body at birth. Yaru fixed her and had infused her with her own cells. Mayu in return was showing very weird physical attributes. But being still a snake baby, they weren't all too visible yet. But still, she clearly stood out among Gorgon's other kids. Yaru quickly picked her up, gave her cheek a smooch and let the little snake slither along Yaru's arm and neck until it vanished between her boobs. Yaru would go downstairs. Waving to her step brother Yachi and winking at her foster parents. Two wonderful Hebi people. Sneaky she snatched one of Yachi's sandwiches as she walked by and as he complained she would send a flying kiss his way before exiting the door. The sun would shine brightly and warmly on her skin. It was a good day. Time to have some more fun.

In time either of the three would arrive at Mikumi's requested location. Yaru had hugged the rather reluctant Kaida after being presented with cookies. Instantly stuffing herself while Yaru was both immensely touched and overjoyed by the little details crafted into them. While she joyfully munched on them she'd pat Arata a few times on his head. Such a cute kid. Adorable. She could snuggle the little bud for hours if he wanted to. But whilst the three of them started to get along better than last time. It seemed like Mikumi was ready to explain the mission.


1010

While Mikumi began to wait inside the administration for her squad she reached into her bra and pulled out a pipe, she then reached behind her back to her pouch and pulled out a vile with green exotic smelling herbs inside it, she used her right hand to slightly tilt the vile and used her thumb to slowly tap out the contents of what was inside of it and then closed it back up, she once again reached behind her into her pouch and put the vile away but pulled out a lighter, she used her index finger to make sure the contents were snug in the pipe and from there she used the lighter to light the exotic herb from the right corner as she put her lips on it to enjoy a slow drag before her lips parted but she kept them close as she let the feeling of the herb course through her body.

Within eleven minutes the doors of the administration office opened and she was meant with the sight of Aratana, unlike the night they meant he was looking quite a bit more studier and she would make note of it, "Well, Well, look at you. I see the two weeks of free time has done justice for you're training, now to wait for the others and see if they look a bit better as well." Not long after Kaida showed up, unlike Aratana she didn't look physically stronger but her confidence seemed to be showing a bit more, and from her hands she had a few bags in which she handed one to Mikumi and Aratana and when she opened it there was cookies, Mikumi smiled as she said, "How sweet Kaida, more then meets the eye to you~" She would say as she took a cookie into her mouth to eat.

The last one to arrive was Orochiyaru who looked rather the same, the moment Kaida handed her the cookies Yaru had hugged her despite Kaida's struggles squeezing her right between her breasts, upon taking a few bite she acknowledged Aratana with a few head pats while Mikumi eat her second cookie, once the three were finished with their greeting Mikumi finally swallowed and put her cookies into her pouch and brushed her fingers together to get the crumbs off before she begun speaking.

"Well glad you could all make it, two weeks ago I promised I would take you on a higher rank mission and today I'm keeping up that promise. Today's mission is nothing too difficult," Mikumi whistled and a shinobi wearing a slightly different version of the standard Konohagakure headband came out, he had quite the slim appearance as if he was starved and shaggy black hair with a few stumbles on his face. "This is an escort mission to the border of the Land of Fire to get this man back to his village, there are reports of dangerous animals on the way so we must protect him and take them out when they attack, upon his return we then return to the village and mission accomplished~"

Mikumi would leave with that failing to mention that her intuition told her that there would be just more than a few wild beasts for them to take care of, but she would utterly leave that part out of her mission briefing as she told it with one hundred percent honesty in her voice, although she had promised to take them on a higher mission there was a piece of training no shinobi of any rank could prepare you for, and that was an unpredicted change of plans that often happened with lack of information, that would be something you would have to solve on the fly, but not as a individual but together as one unit.

Mikumi would then ask if there were any questions regarding the mission and if there was she would answer them truthfully without mentioning the possible danger that was to occur for the makeshift squad, if there weren't any questions, she would have the squad immediately move out towards the village gates where they would make their journey to the border of the Land of fire to take the famed ninja home.

WC:752

Total WC:1,325

"Well, Well, look at you. I see the two weeks of free time has done justice for you're training, now to wait for the others and see if they look a bit better as well." Aratana would hear in the instance he walked into the Administration Office, once again coming face to face with Mikumi. This time however, the terms were different. It wasn’t the same as just coming across each other in a ramen stand, and it also wasn’t like a training spar of sorts. This time, they were a team. He clenched his fist softly, offering a very minor smile. Team, he thought to himself a couple times, with each reverberation adding more excitement to the pot.

Aratana would excitedely smile and nod his head a couple times to her verbal query ”I made sure to train extra hard for this high ranked mission” he’d state, with daydreaming eyes. Aratana soon after quickly noticed Kaida come in the room, holding the same expression she held on that one fateful ramen night. As soon as he saw her beeline around the administration office, he’d wave his hands in an X like pattern to signal her over, smiling brightly now that he was able to see one of his teammates.

As she passed the cookies around, Aratana was gleeful to see 6 little cookies. Rather than acknowledge her handiwork, Aratana had been quite hungry since he hadn’t yet to eat after his morning venture. He’d yearn the bag open and begin to shovel the cookies into his mouth before suddenly the container that held them was empty. Following this, he’d smile to Kaida like a kid with a mouthful of cookies, before eventually swallowing them. “Delicious Kaida!” he’d exclaim joyously, “I had no idea you were such a great cook.” he’d say honestly, but wondering if she had some motive for this, or if it was on her own will.

"How sweet Kaida, more then meets the eye to you~" he’d listen to Mikumi say, offering a kind smile and nodding in agreement. Eventually, Yaru would arrive in the Administration Office as the last member of their team. As soon as she came in and was offered cookies, he witnessed Yaru give Kaida a nice tight hug. In this moment, he’d hold a smug smile, Her turn now, is it he’d think jokingly. Soon after Kaida was released, she’d come over to Aratana and a small bead of sweat would place itself upon his forehead. However, his anticipation had been released by a couple pats on the head from her.

Following this, he’d lend his ears to Mikumi as she had been about to explain the mission to the group.

"Well glad you could all make it, two weeks ago I promised I would take you on a higher rank mission and today I'm keeping up that promise. Today's mission is nothing too difficult," The mention of it being a high ranked mission brought Aratana to quite enjoy what Mikumi had done for them. She had held up on her end of the offer, keeping her promise to them. Aratana acknowledged this, keeping in mind not too many people keep their end of a bargain nowadays. Soon after, Mikumi would give a sharp whistle, and following this a skinny, unkempt looking leaf shinobi came out. "This is an escort mission to the border of the Land of Fire to get this man back to his village, there are reports of dangerous animals on the way so we must protect him and take them out when they attack, upon his return we then return to the village and mission accomplished~"

Escort mission? he’d ponder, Protect him from dangerous animals? he’d internally ask himself another question. Soon following, he’d look at the skinny starved looking man, before offering him the nap sack which contained his lunch. Giving a friendly smile, he’d state ”You need to be strong too. Who knows what kind of animals there are.”

After this Aratana would march about like a happy little shinobi. When asked by Mikumi’s if there were any questions, Aratana had none so he waited for Mikumi’s command. With this, he’d pull out a small piece of paper and write a short letter to his mother.

Today I am going on my very first mission. I have all these great teammate so who are also very strong! I am excited to travel with them, but I also can’t wait until I get back home. PS:I am sorry but I gave the lunch you made to someone who needed it more. PSS:I won’t be hungry since my teammates brought cookies! -Aratana

When he had finished the writing, he sealed it in a small envelope before placing it inside of a letter deposit within the administration office. He’d then glance to his team, ready to move.

702

As Mikumi explained the mission, she called out the subject of their errand. Mikumi had said something about this being a high-ranking event, but it couldn't possibly be the case. This man was scruffy and and plain-looking. That, and there was something about what her sensei said that didn't quite add up. Kaida couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, though. She looked between herself and the others. How many, or what kind of wild animals would it take to challenge five ninja? She thought back to the last time she'd had a run in with the animals in the Dense Forest. Thanks to her own lack of foresight, a pack of wolves had cornered her in a cave, and though she escaped, it was a near and exhausting thing.

But today. Today, her job was to escort this scruffy man back to his home village. Even without her teammates nearby, it was a pretty easy job, even if there were a few wild animals between here and there, and she'd make real money on this one. And the cookies were... well received. She quietly answered, "You're welcome," each time she was thanked, and despite Yaru's overly fond way of saying it, she found herself putting up with the snake girl's antics. Kaida did wish that she had known to bring some for the client, but on the other hand, the boy had offered up his lunch to him and that was likely giving enough.

Questions? For the Tree Woman and the others? Well, there was a single, moderately important question that hung in the air between them. The others were likely unaware of it, as they had almost certainly introduced themselves to one another at some point. However, none of them had yet given their names to Kaida. Even after two weeks, she still didn't know what to call them. But.... in front of the mission client, she didn't feel like that kind of thing would inspire the most confidence.

Kaida clasped her hands behind her back and took up a position beside the client. She wasn't the one who knew where they were going, so she left that part of it all up to the more likely masterminds. She suspected that Yaru would have the most questions, and if nothing else, would fill the air with talk about... science? Or something. Maybe something in the genre of creepy and awkward, too. Who knew? It was a grab bag. But at the same time that she dreaded what they might say, Kaida also looked forward to getting to know her teammates. People always seemed to have some secrets about them that came forward with time, she just didn't know what to do between now and when it was time to share those secrets. Or what she'd say when it was her turn...

Most of her life had been so uneventful, and she herself so boring. That and her horn usually kept people away. She touched the silk flower beside it and then put her hands down. Now, the mission. "What is our formation, sensei?" she asked first, then paused for a moment, considering a possibility before going on. "Also, I'm Kaida," she stated genially, directing her attention toward the client. "What should we call you, sir?"

565/1,184

Yaru kept casually munching on her cookies. She neither bothered to talk with the ninja they were to protect nor did she really have any questions. Though, in a personal moment of self-amusement she wondered, in response to Mikumi offering to answer ANY questions truthfully, to mock her with some weirdness like. "What's your bra-size senpai? …" but eventually Yaru figured that disrespecting her sensei would gain her a thick fat thwack on her head. Instead she just let the silliness flow through herself as they eventually started to march off. The lot of them would eventually move past the streets of Konoha. Yaru mentioned Ara having filed some sort of childish letter to send to his mommy. She almost burst in amusement over seeing the little one being cute as hell. Kaida had somewhat adjusted her attitude since their rather… lengthy spar after ramen. Yaru chuckled. Nothing better to tighten a bond between two people disliking each other, than to let them beat the shit out of each other until all the frustrations are eventually gone for good. Yaru yawned. Mikumi didn't seem to want to lead the bunch of genin ahead this time. Probably she was staying a bit back to… evaluate how the three of them were going to do on their own first? She seemed perceptive and speedy enough to quickly move in and disarm danger if things became too serious at last. Leaving Yaru in the certainty that they didn't have to worry too much over dying on this mission.

However, while the harm to them or their VIP was potentially safeguarded by their sensei, the genin still had to perform in order to meet Mikumi's expectations. Out of pure instinct, Yaru would gracefully use a few senbon to pierce whichever nasty E-Rank wolf was trying to sneak up on them for the first part of the road. However, she couldn't shake the feeling that this mission wasn't going to be much about defending against those low-level beasts. Mission HQ must know something is up and sneaky about this whole thing. Yaru kept noticing how the VIP had a permanently distressed and scared look on his face. He was in constant panic over what could possibly happen on their way home. He was obviously not scared from the wolves either. Yaru was getting a creepy feeling from the whole situation but she couldn't shake it off neither could she confirm it. She not rarely bit her lips and got nervous. Playing with one of her kunai in her palm as she eyed into the distance. Unsure if she was really able to spot the enemy that would be incoming from them? Eventually? She had no clue. To be fair she had not finished her training yet and her senses were as dull as the day she had left the academy. She felt about as useful as a dog on a cat beauty contest. At least she had her pet snek with her. Occasionally Mayu slithered from Yaru's cleavage and nommed on some cookie crumbs then returned back into its warm 'lair'.

Whilst the whole situation itself was uncomfortable, it was still a beautiful day. Yaru had to give Konoha props for having dips on gorgeous weather and sunlight. She revelled in joy from the sun on her skin. She'd go fully nude if she could. Didn't want to disturb the poor kid though. She eventually gave into the good mood of the group and started to participate in chit-chat. Asking Aratana about his family and mommy and eventually tried to poke into Kaida's family set up. It was a good thing to know about one's team mates living circumstances after all. Yaru would gladly tell them about her super dope Hebi Clan foster parents. Her cute brother Hebiyachi. Whom, technically was an extremely creepy, heavily tattooed and narcistic man, but still, in Yaru's eyes a very cute and adorable boy. But she'd casually leave out the part where she was dissecting animals and experimenting on weird stuff cause apparently, she was told before that many of these things were not socially acceptable. She didn't want to appear creepier than she was for them anyway. Not rarely still hissing with her snake tongue and giggling a rather awkward evil laugh that she just couldn't help but keep down. Being an artificial human after all. A weirdo. A young shell who still had to learn how to work and socialize in a functioning way. It was a good day.


770 / 1780

Aratana took a few moments to put a small letter in the mailbox of the administration office and then he was ready, Kaida seemed to be the suspicious one of the group which was good, although there were times you would not be the head of a shinobi group some amount of suspicion was needed to keep you on your toes or one may find themselves lured right into the jaws of death, when she looked over to Yaru's way she had been chuckling, although at first Mikumi couldn't understand her at all she was beginning to know and with time she would be able to get to know Yaru a bit more. It didn't take long for them to make their way out of the village, before they made it to far out thought Kaida who had been rather suspicious looking popped the question of what was their formation in which Mikumi actually hadn't thought about and it vaguely showed on her face, thinking back on their sparing mission however it didn't take long for her to think of one and verbally communicate, "Orochiyaru your in the back and will be our terrain changer or rather support shinobi, Kaida you're to the center towards the right and will back up Orochiyaru while Aratana will be to the left as our combat sepcialist along with me while I lead the front, our guest Mr.Hango will be between all us as we are the ones protecting him."

If there would be no futher questions Mikumi begun to run forward while the rest of the squad and Mr.Hango followed suit, it was a beautiful day as the weather was clear with lazy clouds drifting about in the sky and nature seemed to be silenced to low hums giving a feeling of serenity as they got further away from the village, Mikumi however would break the silence as this was their first mission as a team and there was some awkwardness they needed to clear up and the best way to do that was simply talking, taking on the lead for this Mikumi spoke first, "You know I been a shinobi for only an odd four and a half years now and lived only a good eighteen and I haven't quite seen a day like this since I had graduated from the academy at fourteen. I remember seeing my mother's smile as the instructor handed over my official shinobi headband, and the pride that came with it was so wonderful..." Mikumi would say while reminiscing back onto that day before pulling her focus back, "How about you guys? What were the best days of your lives?"

Mikumi and those who weren't speaking at the moment would listen to each other's stories taking in to account how they said it to determine rather or not they were lying, it didn't matter what they were but it just meant they were hiding something and she would later address them on it during their personal training with her to quell whatever memory ailed their mind. After each of them speaking and a few hours later it was now getting relatively dark and they were now at the entrance of the large forest of the Land of Fire, knowing it wasn't safe to travel through the forest at night as her team was ill-equipped to do so Mikumi would stop and turn around to speak, "It's not safe to travel at night, we set up camp here and rest for the night. Orochiyaru and Mr.Hongo you set up the camp, Kaida and Aratana you go on the lookout, and I will procure some food inside the forest for us to eat and I and Kaida will cook the food afterward and then were pack in for the night." Mikumi would say before heading into the forest to go procure the food.

WC :670

Total WC:2,041

Aratana trotted back over to the group after depositing the letter to his mom in the mailbox. During his return, he’d look over to Kaida, beginning to ask her questions in regards to the mission. “What is our formation, sensei?” he’d listen to her ask in a direct yet formal voice, meanwhile somehow still containing a sort of friendliness. She’d then proceed to pause, taking a moment to consider if she had any further questions for Mikumi. "What should we call you, sir?" she’d continue on in the same tone, still being formal with this man that they’d never met beforehand. Blah, “sensei” “sir” he’d think to himself, before a small smile had begun to tug at the corner of his lips. With this, he’d stick his tongue out at her ever so slightly. Soon after, Mikumi had begun to respond to Kaida’s questions, and Aratana had perked his ears up for her statement, withdrawing his tongue from its outward position. “Orochiyaru your in the back and will be our terrain changer or rather support shinobi, Kaida you're to the center towards the right and will back up Orochiyaru while Aratana will be to the left as our combat sepcialist along with me while I lead the front, our guest Mr.Hango will be between all us as we are the ones protecting him." Thoughtful considering she has only seen our abilities once before, is this the skill you have once you have her experience? he’d think to himself, curious about how quickly she could strategize that. Now that he reflected back on it, Yaru’s offense proved heavily tweakable into a support style. He’d zone out for a couple moments, continuously trying to get the best idea of the strategy possible. Kaida as Yaru’s backup... Me as, combat specialist. he’d ponder, quite enjoying the title given to him by Mikumi. Guess we will just see how it goes~ he’d then return his focus back to the group, holding the same slight smile on his face.

As he headed back winding his way through the desks and stands within the administration office, he’d notice Yaru’s snake Mayu pop out of her cleavage and eat some of the crumbs that had been left over from the time she had been eating them. ”S-snake?!” Aratana would exclaim to Yaru, had she actually been a snake lady? What if the snake bit me when she wrapped herself around me? a sense of panic would brush through his mind, making his thoughts race for a minute Yeah, a lady who kills people by hugging them, and then biting them with a snake! He’d put one of his hands in a fist before slapping it against a palm faced upwards, in a self guided motion of thinking he figured it out. In the end, he dismissed these thoughts, giving a soft smile to Yaru.

Soon, Mikumi would begin to quickly exit the building, making fast ground to the forest. At first, they quickly stomped through the dirt streets of Konoha. Passing by buildings, shops, houses and the like. Soon after passing through most of the districts, they’d eventually reach the gate which would guide them to their destination. After exiting these gates and moving along some trails, guided by a bright sky dotted with various clouds with the sun presented as a picturesque centerpiece. It was truly a beautiful Konoha day. Yaru would eventually question Aratana about his mother, alongside his family life. “My family?” he’d say with a smile. “Where to start? There is my mom, who isn’t around a lot but makes me lunches, it’s like we talk more in notes than in person.” he’d give a slightly embarassed laugh. “But I know she’s out there working hard to take care of my family.” in saying this, it’d lead to him presenting a humble smile to the group, before continuing. “Then there was my dad, who I didn’t know too much about. I don’t even know exactly where he left to, so I guess he’s just gone for now.” Aratana would say, doubtful if he would ever come across his father again, it had been many years since he had last seen him after all. Following this, he’d wait to listen to Kaidas response to Yaru, wondering if she’d budge.

Eventually, when he had fully regained himself in focus and redirected his attention back to the task at hand, Mikumi had taken a turn to the subject at hand. She had been reflecting on the best day of her life, gaining the shinobi title, as well as receiving the headband to become a fully fledged genin. “How about you guys? What were the best days of your lives?” she’d follow her spiel with, poking the group. Aratana would be the first to speak up out of the group, excitedely bringing his words out, ”The best day of my life?” he’d think for a moment, going through the archives of the warm childhood memories that tend to fade as people grow older. Memories of when times were simpler, life easier, and most of all everything seemed to be nurturing you. Soon, a bright smile would dance onto his face, soon followed by joyous words, “I really like it when my mom makes me lunch, especially when she makes eel!” he’d say happily, his mouth almost watering over it, “But for a favorite day? Hmm, well, my favorite day was probably my 9th birthday party. This was the first time I had ever got something called a present.” he’d state, with the word sounding almost foreign to him, as he has heard it very few times before.“I think that’s what my mom said it’s called. But it was my first wood sword!” he’d pump his fist, bringing a positive energy to his words, “That was the best day of my life, when my mom gave me a wood sword. Cool isn’t it!” he’d end it in a joyful manner, peering around at the rest of his teammates to offer their own responses, excited to hear what they’d have to say.

After everyone was seemingly finished with speaking, they eventually reached what had been where they were to set up camp. Aratana gazed deeply into the forest, staring into the darkness and seeing the tiny movements of whatever bumped in the night. Soon after, Mikumi would speak, presenting further roles. “It's not safe to travel at night, we set up camp here and rest for the night. Orochiyaru and Mr.Hongo you set up the camp, Kaida and Aratana you go on the lookout, and I will procure some food inside the forest for us to eat and I and Kaida will cook the food afterward and then were pack in for the night.” Lookout with Kaida huh? he’d think to himself. “Hey Kaida!” he’d look to her and call her over, twiddling his thumbs, thinking about the last time he used her for a plan, attempting to form a sort of apology, “Sorry, about last time,” he’d say, “I thought this time around, we’d use a plan of yours, lookout buddy,” he’d smile smugly offering her the title lookout buddy, after giggling softly, he’d say “Well, have you thought of anything Kaida?”
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Falling into the formation that the cell handler gave her, Kaida was content to run along beside her teammates in silence. Her eyes scanned the side of their route, checking constantly for signs of wild animals or interlopers. If it weren't for her experiences in the Dense Forest, the horned girl might have believed it was an idyllic partly cloudy day, like something out of someone's picnic fantasy. But Kaida had seen just the tip of the iceberg on what this fantastic forest could produce by way of monstrous creatures, and she knew it. Whatever it was that required five shinobi to take on, she would do her best to be ready.

Some time later, their leader started talking. The relative silence between them had been nice, but Kaida knew she couldn't be opposed to a little conversation, either. Still, the topic could have been a lot of things. Especially things that weren't family and childhood. While Aratana told a story or two, Kaida frowned, thinking back onto her life under the shadow of her mother's expectations. And then, how and how quickly that had come to an end. No, the best days of her life wouldn't be found there. She thought about the closet, and how the nameless man who'd taken her took over a month to give her something like a bed. The relentless elements she'd endured to cling to his side. And yet, her mind could not drift away from the terrible, tiny closet that was her home for two years until it had recounted the scratch marks on the wall.

These past two weeks, though? She had bought fresh ingredients every day and started from scratch every time. When she wasn't training, running errands or picking up odd jobs, she was at home, baking shortbread cookies until she had the recipe down pat, and painting with frosting and food dye until her eyes hurt. It didn't have to be perfect for her team, but a presentable effort had to be made. And as near as she could tell, the effort had come about to success. And then the future... "These are the halcyon days," she stated, though her voice was solemn, carefully-measured and almost automatic. On the subjects of family and nostalgia, she said nothing else.

When they came to a stop, it was for camp. Without thinking, her body began to go through the motions of setting up a campsite, but instructions from her sensei made her stop in her tracks, nearly blushing. Lookout duty, right... she nearly thought aloud. She had been paired up with Aratana for the purpose. He apologized for what had happened the last time they saw each other, and Kaida shrugged noncommittally. Glancing around the camp, the horned girl next cast her awareness out into the forest around them, listening closely for the signs of wild predators. After a moment, she shook her head at the younger genin. "Making plans is your thing. Practice makes perfect, yadda yadda," she told him, waving her hand dismissively. "I guess if it were up to me, one of us would go to the top of a tall tree nearby to get a bird's eye view of the area, and the other one would patrol the ground to get visuals on areas our bird's eye can't cover. But... you can probably come up with something better, I'm sure."

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Yaru casually kept an ear open for the conversations happening around her. Mikumi's slight insight into her career. Aratana's family life. Kaida's specific will to express but that she's having a good time now. Probably didn't before. It was all interesting. Yaru enjoyed it a lot when her team mates were casually exchanging like that. It'd send a certain, calm feeling through the group. Leaving each one of them to smile. Enjoy the weather. Keep the senses sharp. Knowing well that there isn't much that can go wrong. Knowing well that Mikumi was there to take care of the kiddos. That the main goal would be to show and impress right? Giving the elders a view on your skills. So, they might evaluate if you really got what it takes to be a shinobi. Oh, those innocent smiles. The passing grade from Genin up to Chuunin was low. Something no one ever talked about much. Yaru was aware that there was a high chance that either of her friends would eventually fail, give up, go home and return… before they could make it to the next stage. And that was the very reason. Why now was a wonderful time and as Kaida exhaled it as 'halcyon days' Yaru would smile. A fitting even if already melancholic way to express one's own feelings. But these days really were as such. Probably not the best in Yaru's life. But certainly, some of the most fun and exciting ones so far.

Yaru kept herself in position. Not much to do on the support bench. But then again, if someone actually attacked. Being support or not. She was the terraformer as it seemed. Leaving a lot of appointed squeeze room for her to create barriers and defences for the whole group. The snake charmer occasionally gazed down into her cleavage to see if Mayu was doing alright. In time, the group would potentially expect that it was her turn to express herself. Yaru smiled a bit awkward. Should she tell them how grand it feels to be born? To take your first breath. Find your naked body slowly exhaled from a tube. To glare up to the shaky image of your creator. Being patted on thee head. Being called perfect. Being accepted by your god. Being told that you are already at the peak of your marble. A wonderful feeling no? But she ought, it wasn't the time to shock time with another weird anecdote of her certainly unusual life. So what would it be? Riding a giant snake into battle? Wrestling with her step brother over whom gets the last piece of cake? Or being given the feeling, that she was actually part of her family. Despite knowing, that she is but a given item to them in addition. A burden. But seemingly a welcome one. That she is loved and cared for. Despite the fact that she is a monster. Would that be a good pick? Yaru chuckled to herself. It was way to melodramatic.

It did have something artistic to it though. It was quite nice… a ring that would make her put into the listeners good-side? By seeing how much of a… troublesome time she used to have? Nah. She kept thinking. Was it to be gifted her own first lab? To experiment on plants and little rats? To play with Gorgons children, the baby snakes? Or was it potentially when Hebiyachi hugged her and told her that he'd always protect his baby sister. It didn't seem to matter. Either of these things were cute and true. Either of them was worthy to become a perfect memory. In the very short existence that she had experienced since her birth from the tank. In the end she decided to go for something simple. "The first time I saw a human give life to a dead plant was nice…" she'd grin. Potentially teasing Mikumi. Yaru made no secrets over her absolute desire and obsession with the element of creation. But was it a bad thing? To honour the very bit that could have taken part in giving Yaru herself? Was it that bad to be obsessed with an Element that was the closest thing that Yaru would consider to be of godlike powers? It didn't matter for now. It was but a gorgeous fact that she was near a Mokuton user and would be able to get plenty of visual beauty from watching her work. But for a simple beginning. Yaru had to face that she'd be put to work first.

Eventually they started to set up camp. Yaru herself was tasked with the camp itself. She scratched her neck as Mikumi disappeared into the woods. Ara and Kaida went off too to get their defense strategy together. Leaving Yaru alone with their… esteemed guest. Yaru chuckled. They probably expected a simple tent. Why stop there? She inhaled a few times deeply and to the disgust of the VIP she suddenly started to puke out a large mass of mud. Burping a few times as it began to sink into the ground. A few seconds later she would start to just move her palms and the earth would move and bend at her whim. Raising a rather large 'tent' made of clay and mud. With completely 'furnished' insides. All made of earth and clay of course. Some seats. Some bed spots. A round table with chairs. She even raised lanterns of clay from the walls. A katon user could potentially burn something within them to raise some light in the darkness of the building. For now, the night was still young and provided just enough illumination that one could move around inside the 'building' without problems. Considering Yaru left some edges a bit thinner so they might work as 'windows' sort of. She moved around and also started to place various stones and small rocks in a circle. Placing a few broken-off wood branches in the middle and ready was the spot for a nice campfire.

With all that being done. The building created. Airflow as well as smoke-escape for the campfire taken care of. Yaru could tell the VIP to make himself comfortable before she casually unsealed a mattress from a scroll and put it down on one of the bed spots. Leaning back to relax a bit. Her job was to take care of the VIP for now and so, whilst he was in the very same 'room' as her she had all the senses in the world working and ready to react if someone tried to sneak in and snatch him away. "Don't worry boy. If they really come for you, I'll eat you first <3" she joked. Leaving the guest a bit uncomfortable, but she couldn't help it.

1150 / 2930

With her squad's tasks now given to them Mikumi set out into the forest to find food, she deactivated her special transformation jutsu and used a miniature amount of her chakra to turn her feet into tree roots and used them to slither along the ground without making any noise as her whole weight wasn't pushing on the ground like feet usually would. Now alone and with some time to think she recalled how her little test run to carve out everyone's personalities a bit went, starting with Aratana it seemed although he had no father like Mikumi for basically his whole life with only his mother for support he seemed to be friendly and had a certain level of admiration and respect for his teammates, Kaida however, was the opposite or rather she just wasn't as open as her only explanation was that she was going through halcyon days, although she seemed to have a knack for cooking or rather baking she was still rather secretive for now.

Orochiyaru, on the other hand, was still a rather difficult case, she was from the same clan as the legendary sannin of the past Orochimaru, although she didn't seem to want a knowledge for all ninjutsu like her late ancestor seemed to have as detailed in the many books accounting his life but it was clear she had an obsession with Mikumi's wood style abilities as she boldly stated the best moment of her life was seeing her give life to a dead plant, Mikumi constantly found herself somewhat strained on what to do with her but she was pleased that compared to before her behavior was much more...contained and the small interactions between her and Kaida seemed to not be too hot-headed, this squad was becoming something that could possibly work after all.  

Suddenly from about seventeen meters northwest of her position she was vividly hearing the sound of a bow's drawstring being reeled back in preparation of a shot that was immediately followed by the sound of its release and an arrow flying through the air towards her position, Mikumi quickly throw up her left hand catching the arrow between her index and middle finger before snapping it in half easily, it was clear whoever it was they weren't trained as the arrow quality was too poorly made to be for shinobi, If Mikumi had to guess it was bandits that shot the arrow at her.

Mikumi didn't need to wait very long as suddenly three figure's in the dark appeared, "Surrender now and give up your valuable's and maybe we will let you join, or go against us and die." One of the figure's said, Mikumi's response was short and simple, "Go to hell." There was no response because after that the moonlight that had been above her darkened as three figures turned into twenty-three in counting, now completely surrounding her all of the new twenty started to rain down shuriken at her from above while one of the three initial figures ignited it with fire, As Mikumi looked at the massive array of enflamed shuriken coming towards her she stomped her left foot on the ground causing a one and half worth of the ground surrounding her to turn into liquefied earth and she moved back towards the camp moving thirty-five meters all the way back to the camp at a speed of 25m/s when it had only been fourteen minutes since she left.

Mikumi whistled loudly alerting the members of her squad while grabbing Aratana and tossing him up so he was sitting on her shoulders  "We got a lot of company on our way, so I don't have very long to explain! We got twenty-three men coming our way with at least three of them being genin ranked shinobi Aratana you with me, your going to rush forward while on my back and activate the wind technique you used in our sparring session that day so you can  thin out the herd in which afterward I'll toss you back to safety, Orochiyaru once Aratana is away from me I want you to create an earth dome around me so a portion of their man is stuck with me then afterward activate your hidden mist to provide cover for yourselves to regroup and think of a plan to deal with the remaining man, you guys got it!?"

Moments later the twenty-three man came out of the forest rushing to their location, "This is it...ready Aratana?" After saying that Mikumi would wait three or four seconds to Aratana to mentally prepare himself before dashing straight into the twenty-three and yelling out to Aratana, "NOW!" once he activated his jutsu Mikumi would do a small leap so Aratana would fall off her shoulders in which she would also grab his shirt collar and throw him back towards Orochiyaru where she would yell out once more, "Now Orochiyaru!"

WC:857

Total WC:2,898

Stats:

Speed:
A-1 ~> A-2, 1150 words (1,748 Words Left)
A-2 ~> A-3, 1300 words (448 Words Left)

448 Words Wasted

Kaida frowned, watching the unfolding events in front of her. She lowered her brow, getting serious as the boy apparently froze up in the heat of the moment. Honestly, it made sense. Most ninja weren't exposed to a force of this size so early in their careers, let alone were most boys prepared for such a thing at his age. Glancing back at their escort target, Kaida grinned. Now wasn't the time to show their VIP that he was in any danger at all. First of all, there was still Orochiyaru between herself and those mere bandits. "We had better get to work," she told him.

Mr. Hango shook his head, incredulous, "We're going to take them on?" he asked.

Mikumi hadn't bothered to give Kaida instructions, as in reality, she had never stopped following the most important order she had already been issued. "No, stupid," she told him. He flinched and glowered at her in warning. She went on, regardless of his objection. "We have to hide you, just in case. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, though. My partner's practically a monster." She grinned and leaned in close to him. She quickly whispered the rest of her instructions to the man in a very matter-of-fact tone, who did his best to lean away from her but frequently nodded his understanding, despite his intrinsic discomfort at the girl with the red horn.

They would find him a place to hide, no less than four stands back, transformed into Kaida and then copied five times as bunshin. Then, she would transform into the target and use the doppelganger technique to create five copies of herself in his shape. At each stand of trees, the clones were maneuvered into hiding places that became progressively less concealed as they got closer to the bandits. If a clone were spotted, it would abandon its hiding spot and flee into the woods, taking bandits and genin up to twelve meters into the forest before hiding and dispersing. If anyone were to go for the most well-hidden Mr. Hango in Kaida's appearance, a final clone of him would jump out of hiding and flee to the depths of the forest.

Meanwhile, in the guise of Mr. Hango, Kaida hid up in a tree to give herself the bird's eye view of the entire production. While she waited, she retrieved her gauntlet from her pack and strapped it to her hand and arm. Should anything go wrong, she could leap down from her overwatch and take action to correct it. Come to think of it, her tactics had her up in trees frequently, and none of her weapons had any range. She'd have to collect a crossbow or something to make up for that. Damn, ammo was expensive. She sighed quietly, weeping for her poor pocketbook already.

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Chakra Use:

It wouldn't take all too long and the situation became as heated as Mikumi had foreseen it. Yaru took things calm as ever. Finally, something exciting was about to happen. She scratched the back of her head in slight discomfort. Miku had already requested backup and Yaru would gladly do so. Once the larger portion of enemies was nearby the wise tree lady. Yaru would jump a bit forward from her position near the camp she had carefully crafted. Forming the doton related hand seals to stomp to the ground and then move her palms to bend the earth around Mikumi and her enemies. The weak bandits were already shits scared as the walls of earth started to crawl up over them. Despite not being the fastest technique. The surprise factor was enough to confuse them and eventually have them all trapped together in the dome of muddy, dry earth. The dome itself had no thicker durability but neither of the bandits would have the time to figure it out. Yaru chuckled to herself. She could only imagine what their boss was gonna do to them in there. Meanwhile Kaida was taking charge of a defensive plan for their client. Yaru would have just grabbed the guy and used her earth technique on him to hide his body beneath the ground. Maybe use her earthen bending to grow a little hill on his head. None of these enemies made the appearance to have any actual detection skills. But hence, the way Kaida went with disguise and clones would work just as well.

Just to add a little of her own protection to it. Yaru would lift her palm and her little snake pet, Mayu would jump from her sleeve and sneak itself slithering into transformed Hango's clothing. She pinned some Kawarimi chakra to the snake. Giving Yaru a way of instant teleportation to the client whenever, if needed. Once that was done. Kaide was charging in. The client would be well hidden for now. His clone distracting. His body marked by the snake. There was no reason to just sit there and scratch herself idly while the others did their jobs. She did… consider doing so. Just hiding below Hango. Maybe with her palm reaching for any approaching enemy from below. Pulling them submerged. Or just surprise punching them in the nuts. She chuckled. So many fun ideas on how to mess with the bandits. Her worries ceased further the more she started to get the feeling that these common bandits were just after some quick money and not really after the VIP. But she could be mistaken. Cautiously she'd have to keep an eye on their client just to not suddenly catch glimpse of a nasty one sneak by them and steal the disguised target. But Yaru's palms were itching for a fight. She made her bones do this annoying 'knack' noise in a somewhat stereotypical preparation and then launched herself in all her might against whichever bandit was closest to her.

During the battle. Yaru could be seen going in mostly with hand-to-hand combat. Kicking nuts. Hitting faces. Using rocks and throwing them at people. Sometimes unsheathing her combat whip to launch it forth. Whip an enemy with a painful scratch to their face or just to grab on their leg and pull back to make them fall on their butt. She added a sweet mix of kunai and senbon to it, just to keep any unwanted fingers off her body. Yaru moved like a panther between pray. Despite not being much stronger than the bandits, her immense ego and certainty over her own immortality would once again make her an intensely dangerous foe. Skilled she'd dance between the bandits sliced of blades. Avoid arrows shot barely past her neck and face. Dodge melee counters and generally just using her time to degrade the poor men with mean tricks that not rarely involved a kick to their nuts. A trickster like Yaru had no specific code of 'honour' like most other shinobi and wasn't afraid to use dirty tricks in the slightest. As the lines of enemies began to become thinner a bit. Many of the bandits at least slightly scraped, hurt or shamefully pained by one of Yaru's low-kicks. It seemed to be a good time to get the whole 'cleanup' progress into stage two and so she formed the hand seals for the hidden mist technique. Nothing but her absolutely genuinely insane laughter could be heart as the whole area would slowly sink into mist.

Yaru would slice her kunai through at least two thigs and shove a senbon into one foot on her way back towards her snake pet. Making sure that, in the mist she would stay close to their VIP.  At least close enough so her snake-eyes could still catch glimpse of him from her distance.


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Techniques: