Spoiler:

This was it, this was what years of studying, training, and dreaming had all lead to, his very first mission as a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. And he was going back to exactly where he'd just left. The deja vu was uncanny, Kenzo had been quite the troublemaker himself, and now he was being entrusted to discipline those he inspired? One of the instructors was behind this, he was sure of it. There was no way his assignment wasn't someone's idea of a joke.

He'd deal with that later.

Trotting along at a steady pace, Kenzo pushed a strand of hair hanging over his headband up and out of the way, proudly displaying his most prized possession as he neared the academy building. The children he'd be disciplining were no doubt ones he knew, he suspected a few boys from the orphanage in particular. He'd dragged them into his trouble making habit after all.

Supposedly two other shinobi would be assisting in the matter, one was another Genin who's name he recognized. Did he know Kennosuke in any major capacity? No, but he'd seen the name before. As for Shikei? The boy didn't have a clue what to expect.

Strolling through the gates he set eyes on the troupe of troublemakers, the three of them sitting in the grass rolling their eyes as one of the sensei stood watch. He knew this one, he'd overseen some of his class' weapons training. Kenzo hadn't left a good impression.

"I was worried you'd be late to this too." Sneered the man, smirking smuggly as the boy came to a halt. Kenzo didn't bother with a response, instead simply staring up at the man with a deadpan expression.

"You taught Oruki to behave this way, and he taught the others, so I see no one more fit to punish them. Don't bring them back until their attitudes have been resolved." With that, then man left, leaving Kenzo looking down on the boy with shaggy black hair. Oruki had slept in the bunk above him for a couple years, and he'd become almost a little brother to him. He was not happy about this.

"I thought I told you to behave yourself from now on." Kenzo snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, like you ever listened when people told you that." The child groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Before Kenzo could even be angered by the disrespect, the boy let off another burst of attitude, "So you're gonna let us go right?"

His face grew hot at the audacity, and embarrassment at being put on the spot. Even if he'd wanted to before, he wouldn't have been able to, but now he didn't even want to. "Get up." He ordered, Kenzo was going to make sure the group didn't forget their manners from now on.

WC 470

Kennosuke had been awake since pre-dawn enjoying the relative quiet the time provided. He spent those quiet hours by himself, flippping through a book he has read many times before. He had finally graduated the Academy and became an official Leaf Shinobi, same as his parents before him. It was a nice feeling, he had to admit. Being a Genin was the firsy step in his journey to becoming the best Shinobi he could be and he had already been assigned his first mission. He would be working with another freshly made Genin, a boy named Kenzo whom he had only seen in passing, and somrone by the name of Shikei, whom he hadn't heard of.

Of course, it was a D rank mission that took him back to the Academy, but everyone had to start somewhere. He touched his headband, running his fingertips across the metal protrusions that gave the appearance of horns. It was his father's before he died and was the only thing of either of his parents that he had.

"Well, I guess its time to get started." He mutters to himself as he sees the boy he assumed to be Kenzo enter the gates of the Academy. He began strolling toward he and the three troublemakers as their Sensai walked away. He came up behind the troublemakers, oposite of Kenzo just as the boy sprouted an attitude. The boys words make Kennosuke chuckle as he shakes his head. "The instructors must have gotten nicer since I became Genin. If i had spoken like that to them, I'd be missing another finger." He says, glancing down to his left hand that was missing the pinky and ring finger. He had hoped  the boys would take it that the instructors did that to him and that thought might make them a bit apprehensive.

"Hey Kenzo, lets go dangle them off the Hokage's. Maybe if we drop one the other two will straighten up." A wicked grin spreads across his face and his emerald eyes watch the troublemakers reactions intently. He had no real intention on hurting these kids, but they didnt know that. "Or perhaps we should send them out on a mission. Obviously their behaviour means they think they are ready to take on other Shinobi in battle, though i doubt any of these punks have actually been in a real fight yet." His facial expression was one of slight disgust. He couldnt stand kids like these who felt they could act any which way during class when all their instructors are trying to do is make them good Shinobi.

434 wc

It would seem that Granny was back at it again, signing the young man up for another mission almost as soon as he had returned with Amaya from dealing with that Missing Ninja. Shikei had scarcely even put his gear down when the old woman had called his name from the kitchen, urging him to wash up and eat as he had another mission that was waiting on him to attend to. Upon questioning the insane old woman as to why she kept scheduling missions in his name, Granny had simply smiled at Shikei in that knowning way of hers and stated that she did not want him getting lazy while he was home, and that he needed to be kept busy or else he would get into trouble..

Grumbling something about home being a place of rest as he snatched his gear up once and ducked out the door, Shikei would head to the Admin building to pick up the mission briefing. As the male made his way through the streets of the village, he would take his time; afterall, there was no real need to rush, was there? He could not help but wonder what, or rather, whom his target was this time. While he was still fairly low ranked on the village totem pole, Shikei knew where his specialties lay; The young man possessed an unnatural gift for infiltration and assassinations. While he knew he was considered too green to be sent out on anything high profile, he made a comfortable living off taking down bandit camps and thieves. Having been a thief and street child born in Suna himself gave him a slight advantage over those born in a 'proper' family enviroment. Though Shikei had traded in the sand dunes for the forest and the slang was slightly different, the game was still the same. He knew what to look for, and knew how to appear to be what he used to be in order to get the job done.

The young man would arrive at the administration building in short order, and step inside. After giving the secretary his identification numbers, he would take the briefing and open it, eyes skimming over the page quickly.

"....goddamnit, Granny. Why do you do this to me?"

It would seem that the mission was not one of the usual mission he would request for himself, but rather another mission that seemed to be filled with another lesson from Granny. The old woman was always telling Shikei that he was lucky that it was her that he had attempted to rob on that fateful day; if it had been Amaya alone, Shikei's body might have never been found, screw survivng the beatdown he had recieved. No, if it had not been for Granny, Shikei might have been dead somewhere, or rotting away in jail. He had her to thank for his current situation: despite him attempting to mug her at knifepoint and her not knowing him from the next fool, the old woman paid Shikei's bail and convinced the judge to let the young man stay with her on the promise of making him into a better person.

For the most part, it had worked.

Compared to where he was in life several years ago, Shikei was indeed a better person. Despite his choice of career, the young man had never taken the life of an innocent, not killed anyone who did not deserve or was not a target for his bounties. His only source of income was made from his work, not stealing it like before. It was not easy, but he was somehow able to do it, and for that, he could only thank Granny. Many a time, the young man had attempted to take the old woman out for dinner, to shows or on trips to as a show of thanks. Each time, the old woman had refused, saying that he would pay her back another way some day.

Given the contents of the mission briefing that Shikei just read, he could understand what she meant now. According to the mission briefing, he was to 'educate' a few unruly students on the finer points of paying attention to the lesson in class. He could see what was required of him by Granny; he himself had been in the same situation before, and so now it was his turn to keep the cycle from repeating itself...

Tucking the briefing into a pocket, the male would head to the rendevous point. According to the briefing, he was to be joined on this mission by two other persons, neither of which Shikei knew. With his state of dress, Shikei was not looking to impress someone: Shikei can be found wearing an armored chest piece over a high collared black shirt; covering the lower half of the face is most often a large white scarf. On the lower half of his body, Shikei wears pants made of a strange material that seems to dampen the normal sounds of movement (i.e, running, walking and the like) that are tucked into a set of high boots made of soft, worn leather. The boots are covered in belts and buckles, each meant to support the leg and hold the boots in place as the wearer moves.

In the distance, the young man could see the rendevous point, just outside the academy gates. It would seem that his mission partners were already here, as well as a trio of what appeared to be students. As Shikei approached from the side, he caught the tail end of the coversation between the elder shinobi...

"Hey Kenzo, lets go dangle them off the Hokage's. Maybe if we drop one the other two will straighten up. Or perhaps we should send them out on a mission. Obviously their behaviour means they think they are ready to take on other Shinobi in battle, though i doubt any of these punks have actually been in a real fight yet."

A small smile appeared on Shikei face as he came to a stop a few feet away from the group, arms crossing over his chest. He would not speak just yet, simply observing the exchange for the moment.

---

1041 WC

As fear spread across the faces of the academy students, Kenzo flashed a devilish grin of his own. While he'd failed to notice the arrival of the Chuunin, his fellow Genin's arrival had done wonders. "No, no, maybe something a little more mutually beneficial than all that. We don't get much out of it by just dropping one, and I doubt they'd put up much of a fight." He sneered, hand reaching into the pouch on his thigh and drawing out a kunai.

Spinning the blade around his finger, he put on his best sinister expression before turning to his comrade.

"I could use some target practice, and if they can't dodge a few kunai they won't make it long anyway." He suggested, bringing the rotation to a sudden halt, clamping the grip of the blade in his fingers.

It was only then that his eyes caught Shikei standing behind them. "Unless you've got an even better idea." He said with a nod to the higher ranking shinobi. Frankly he hadn't come up with a viable punishment yet, he wasn't going to hurl knives at the kids, but all that truly came to mind was physical conditioning, and he knew that wouldn't phase Oruki in the slightest.

The damn kid could run for days. So his options were either to keep thinking, or hope that someone else had a better idea, which they always seemed to.

At this point, the boys were beginning to lose the color in their faces as their eyes slowly moved to the assassin. They all jumped to their feet, unsure of whether to run, or to stick out whatever was to come. Something in Kenzo's eyes dared them to choose the latter, just to see how quickly they'd be taken down.

They were real shinobi now after all, there was no way a couple of kids would be able to outrun them for long.

WC 319

Kennosuke watched the boys. They were nervous. Apprehensive of if these were empty threats or if these things would actually happen to them. Kennosuke knew they wouldn't actually harm the boys, he wouldn’t allow it, and he was pretty sure the boys knew that they were empty threats. Empty threats are just words and if words were going to work, then it would have to be something other than threats. He tucks his thumbs into his sash and walks around the boys, his eyes sizing them up with an intimidating look on his face. He hadn’t realized another Shinobi was standing there until he was on the other side of the boys and he silently cursed himself. He let his guard down and very well could have been killed. He would have to work on that.

Now in front of the boys, beside Kenzo, Kennosuke tilts his head, making his black hair sway in front of his face. Most young ninja in training with behavior problems normally had one of two issues. They were either too advanced for the content being taught or they didn’t fully understand. After a few long moments of silence, Kennosuke reaches up with his three digit left hand and brushes the hair from his his face.

“Why are you here?” He asks, his emerald eyes intent on the boys before him. “And I don’t mean, why am I talking to you, I mean why are you in the Academy?” He raises a hand as the boys start to talk. “Don’t tell me. I don’t need to know. I know why was here.” He pauses and glances from Kenzo to Shikei. “To become a Shinobi. To join the ranks of the men and women that stand at the line of this Village’s defense. And this Academy is the first step to becoming a good Shinobi.” He resumes walking around them, his thumbs tucked into his sash again. “What happens when there are no good Shinobi? The village gets attacked. Innocent people murdered. Your families? Friends? All dead. Homes? Burned to the ground. Do any of you want to be the reason that everyone you love is dead? Or that your home is not but ash?” He stops where he started and smirks. “So either you want to be a good Shinobi and pay attention in class and listen to your Sensai, or remove yourself from this Academy. There is no room here for half assing.” He finishes up, hoping that perhaps his words would make it through to these boys.

Maybe the Chunin had better words, or a better idea on how to rein in these kids behavior. Thus far he had only watched, but this was a bit under his pay grade so to speak. Regardless, Kennosuke stood there silent now, the horns on his headband catching the light slightly. These kids had to want to do better, they couldn’t be forced. That’s not how being a Shinobi works.

WC 524

"No, no, maybe something a little more mutually beneficial than all that. We don't get much out of it by just dropping one, and I doubt they'd put up much of a fight. I could use some target practice, and if they can't dodge a few kunai they won't make it long anyway...  Unless you've got an even better idea."

At that particular moment, Shikei had an inkling of an idea. A hard head made a soft ass, but he was not in the mood to beat up on a few kids simply to teach them a lesson, despite that being exactly what he himself had recieved to straighten him out. No, these kids lacked respect, and respect came from admiration or fear. Since these children did not admire their elders, then perhaps Shikei would inspire them to fear him. The chuunin was about to step forward, when the other male spoke up.

"Why are you here? And I don’t mean, why am I talking to you, I mean why are you in the Academy? Don’t tell me. I don’t need to know. I know why was here.” He pauses and glances from Kenzo to Shikei. “To become a Shinobi. To join the ranks of the men and women that stand at the line of this Village’s defense. And this Academy is the first step to becoming a good Shinobi."

At this point, Shikei dropped his arms, blue eyes fixated on Kennosuke as the make began to walk. "What happens when there are no good Shinobi? The village gets attacked. Innocent people murdered. Your families? Friends? All dead. Homes? Burned to the ground. Do any of you want to be the reason that everyone you love is dead? Or that your home is not but ash? So either you want to be a good Shinobi and pay attention in class and listen to your Sensai, or remove yourself from this Academy. There is no room here for half assing."

A good speech. While Shikei did not necessarily agree with a few points, that was not the point. They were here to get these kids back on track, no matter what it took. Turning those blue eyes towards the children, these Academy 'Students', they would narrow somewhat as a hand was lifted to tug away the scarf from his face, allowing his words to be heard clearly and without confusion. He wanted what he said to be remembered by these kids.

"You all are fuck ups." Those eyes blinked slowly, but still took in every detail of what was before him. "Yes, you heard me correctly. You are all fuck ups. I could be out making ryo by cutting through some bandit camp and yet here I am, dealing with you." His  face twisted into a mocking glare, a slim hand reaching for The First Curse that was hanging from his side. The Kunai Blade flashed brightly for a moment before growing dull. "So, this is the deal, kids. You're fucking up in the Academy, yea? If I were you, I would get my shit together right now, because I swear to god, if I have to hear about any of you fuckers screwing around in class.."

At this point, the male would all but vanish from the sight of those present; he would cross the short distance in a fraction of a second, driving the Kunai Blade all the way to the ring on the end into the chest cavity of the child known as Oruki. If one had blinked, then they would have missed it. Shikei would remain in place for a moment, to allow the implications of what he meant to be driven home. Pulling the knife free, it would come out clean; bloodless. There was no damage done to Oruki's body, but the psychological damage was undeniable.

"...they will never find your bodies."

Respect came from Admiration or Fear.

---

285/300 Chakra [-15 for (Sei-shō - 整相]

667 | 1,708/750

Kennosuke's speech had even Kenzo a little inspired, but to the boys it would mean little. Kenzo had been on the receiving end of more than his fair share of those. Genin would come and lecture him on the virtues of shinobi life, and he'd shrugged them all off in the end. He'd taught Oruki to do the same, something he regretted now.

The children had listened, but there was still defiance in their eyes. Then the Chuunin stepped forward and began to speak. He laid into them without mercy, tearing down the egos they'd built up with words as sharp as any blade, shredding the what resolve they had. Kenzo could see it in them now, they were done, but Shikei wasn't.

As the Chuunin vanished, Kenzo barely had time to raise an eyebrow in confusion before he reappeared, kunai in Oruki's chest. They weren't supposed to hurt them. Kenzo's anger flared before he took the time to observe the situation, muscles tensed as he slid his kunai back into its pouch and his hands came together. Oruki was a little shit, but he was still like a brother to him, Kenzo was responsible for him.

He'd be damned if he let some psycopathic assassin hurt him. Then, as the eyes of the other students turned to him, he saw the bloodless blade. Kenzo stopped himself from flashing through the hand signs of Lightning Javelin. It hadn't been obvious what was going through his mind, but it hadn't been a mystery either.

Just another reason he hated genjutsu, always messing with his head.

The children all nodded in fear, they wouldn't cause trouble again, to them even sitting quietly in class was a preferable alternative to staring down Shikei or wondering just how serious the two genin were being about getting some practice on them. They scurried back inside without a word.

"Well, I guess that's it?" Kenzo thought aloud.

"I hope all missions aren't so dull."

WC 328

Kennosuke had hoped his speech would be good enough to turn these screw ups into good students. He was wasting valuable time that could be better spent training, or anything else really. Granted, the coming generation of shinobi was important, he failed to see why it was up to this rag tag team of Shinobi to convince these kids other wise. Soon, the otherwise silent Shinobi began to speak and Kennosuke listened to him. If Kennosuke’s speech was to inspire the kids, Shike’s speech was straight intimidation. The guy didn’t look like your average Genin and if Kennosuke had to guess, the blond haired guy was a Chunin. That in and of itself should be intimidating to these kids, if they even realize what he was.

It was then Shikei reached for a Kunai. Kennosuke was fairly sure he wasn’t going to actually hurt one of the boys so he stayed fairly relaxed, with his thumbs still tucked into the sash around his waist. Shikei then flickered from where he was to in front of the Oruki and seemingly plunged the kunai into the boys chest. Before Kennosuke could even process what had happened he had already began drawing in a deep breath, infusing the air with Katon Chakra. Of course, once he realized it was some sort of Genjustu he released the jutsu with an slow exhale. He felt foolish, drawing in chakra to hit the Chunin with a Great Fire Ball Jutsu without even knowing the guys plan, but that’s how his mind was wired, to defend the weak. It seemed Kenzo had the same reaction so that made him feel a bit better at least.

Kennosuke smirked as the boys seem to run away. Between the three of them, the intimidation and hopefully his speech, he was sure these three kids were set on the right track. Especially with that scare from Shikei. Kennosuke shook his head slightly and then turned to the other two Shinobi. None of them had properly introduced themselves to each other so he figured he would go first.

“Kennosuke Kimura.” He says with an incline of his head, settling back into his relaxed stance with his thumbs hooked into his sash. “Seems like they got the picture. Guess that's mission complete right?” He says with smirk. This was at least easy Ryo, and all shinobi did have to start somewhere. So what if it was dealing with punk kids?

WC: 407

At the sight of the Academy students running back into the building, Shikei allowed himself a small smile. It would seem that his bit of intimidation had a serious effect upon the children, judging from the look of fear in their eyes. Giving The First Curse a twirl by its ring, the young man would slip the weapon back to his side in its holster. Shikei could only hope they had gotten the message; he really did not want to have to take on a mission to find these kids later of involved in some criminal activities.

Granny was right. It just takes a few words at the right time to break the cycle...

"Well, I guess that's it? I hope all missions aren't so dull."

“Kennosuke Kimura. Seems like they got the picture. Guess that's mission complete right?"

Those blue eyes would turn, taking in the sight of the two other shinobi whom he was assigned to work with. One of them had introduced himself as Kennosuke Kumura, and the other had yet to do so, but in the meantime, perhaps it would be polite to do so? Yea, that would be what Granny would want him to do.

"Yiga, Shikei. I would call it a success, and no, they are all not as dull as this was." The smile returned to his face as he crossed his arms over his chest once more. "Just be happy its something simple. As you get more experience, they start throwing harder shit at you. Eventually, you will hit the point of 'go clear out a bandit camp' and they will look at you funny when you ask where the rest of the squad is." The male took a deep breath, exhaling into a chuckle. "That was one scared Chuunin."

301 | 2009/750

Kennosuke nods his head listening to the Chunin speak. He knew as he became stronger there would be much tougher missions. This was literal child's play and he knew it. He looked forward to the day when he could go on those tougher missions and test his mettle in a actual battle. Regardless, he needed to make some Ryo to get some gear so he would be ready for those higher rank missions.

"You dont look like the type to scare easy." Kennosuke says through a wolfish grin. "Next time take me along, ill hold your hand so you wont be scared." He begins to chuckle and shake his head. "Only joking..Shikei was it?" He realized the blond Chunin might not take it as a joke, he certainly didnt look like the joking type and really wasnt ready to fight someone of his skill level yet. Either way, Kennosuke wasn't sticking around to find out. The mission was done and he had training to do. He lifts his hand in a half wave and turns. "Nice meeting you guys. If ya need a hand with another mission, you know my name. Till next time." He says as he begins to walk away. He hooks his thumbs into his sash and hums softly as he makes his way out of the Academy and toward the Kimura Compound. He hooks his thumbs into his sash and begins whistling a soft tune as he walks. He did hope the Chunin would ask him to go on a mission, but either way he wouls be going on C-rank missions soon enough. He refused to rest until he was a strong Shinobi and that ment training, which is what he was going to do for the rest of the day. He still had a few hours before dark, plenty of time for a good training session.

[Exit]

WC: 311/1676
Mission: 750 Wc
Extra Ryo: 150(600 WC)
Training: Strength, Speed, Perception, reaction time trained from E-0 to E-1(300 WC)
26 WC discarded

"You don't look like the type to scare easy. Next time take me along, ill hold your hand so you wont be scared." The other male began to chuckle and shake his head. "Only joking..Shikei was it? Nice meeting you guys. If ya need a hand with another mission, you know my name. Till next time."

Shikei only smiled, but did not laugh. He could appreciate a joke, but at the same time, the story he told was not about himself, no. It was about a former squadmate of his, one of the other people of his genin squad who was promoted a while after Shikei was. When the young male was turning in a mission, he came across his old squadmate having been given the task of clearing out a bandit camp. Knowing that that particular person was not the most combat savvy, Shikei offered to go along and assist him. The young male had never held anything against his former squadmates; he just felt that the pace of learning was too slow for his own tastes.

To Kennosuke, Shikei simply nodded and waved, turning to walk away from the scene. The types of missions that he went on himself were far too dangerous for a typical genin; he would never request for Kennosuke to accompany him on them, not until he knew the other male could carry his own weight and not slow him down. No, rather if Kennosuke needed help, Shikei would happily assist him if he could. Besides, it was a good opportunity to make money and possibly an ally for another time.

For now, he would let the situation be what it was. He had no need to take money from this experience; the fact that the kids were headed back into the academy to learn properly was enough payment for him. He would head off towards the administration building, hoping to score a new mission. Hell, if anything was going to happen, Granny would probably have something lined up for him as soon as he got there. She never let him rest -- well, she did, but she prefered him working. 'Idle hands are the devil's playthings' or something like that. Not that Shikei seemed to mind working; apparently, his 'clan' [The extended family of those he knew growing up] if he could even call them that, had a long standing contract with Konoha -- missions that required them to kill would cost the village 30% more. As to why, Shikei could only wonder; something about being from a long line of renown assassins. To keep up with the terms, the village payed out to Shikei as he was currently the only active member of the clan residing in the village. There were others, but they were retired, and thus did not gain the benefits of the contract. For Shikei, he never knew them growing up, and felt no need to seek them out. They never helped him growing up, and he saw no reason to assist them right now.

Besides, he had Granny to look out for, someone who had done more for him than someone who shared a surname with him.

---

534 | 2543

2543/1190 [1700 - 30%] = 1353 D-0 SPD to C-0 SPD

1353/1190 [1700 - 30%] = 163 D-0 END to C-0 END

163 words remaining