Shadows behind the Sun

Baku, a tall, slendor young man, cracked his knuckles as he sat perched atop one of the guard houses that sat within the village gates of the Sun Village. The guard house sat directly on the inside of the walls, and was where shinobi sat on duty, watching those who made their way in and out of the village through out the day. Currently the hut was inhabited by two chuunin, who were on watch for most of the morning. Baku however was not here to operate the guard house, and instead was waiting the arrival of two others, for a mission that was handed directly to him from the kage herself. He had light tan skin, with sandy blonde colored hair that sat atop his head. He was no older than seventeen or eighteen, however his real age would not be in the documents for this mission. He wore a light brown colored kimono that was strapped to his person with a set of cloth, which also head a solid metal plate against his chest. His ninja gear and tool bag sat hidden beneath the flaps of his shirt, and wore the sun village head band across his forehead like any proud ninja would. The boys eyes were painted with a yellow color paint, which was attempting to cover up the bags and sleep deprivation he also wore on his face. The village was busy with its normal routine, as the day had already been going for a while. He was instructed to gather two of the villages shinobi who had yet to draw any attention to themselves, and take them outside of the village walls for a very important mission. He had been giving a ninja docket on both of the ninja, and had sent them a letter instructing them to meet here at noon.

The sun was high, clear blue skies entered the boys gaze as he let out a sigh, hoping that his mission would go by smoothly. Lady Nikkoukage had been keeping him quite busy lately, with plenty of trips and missions outside of the village walls. He could not blame her though, he was one of her best after all. She had tempted him with the offer of a month break from any shinobi work, and with the festival of rebirth right around the corner, it was going to be a well deserved break, he just needed to get through one more mission. The tricky part was he had to work with two lower rank ninja, neither of which he had the pleasure of meeting yet. However their instructors at the academy, as well as their prestigious family, gave them both high honors, so he was a bit more relieved at this fact. Neither of the two men had been told anything about this mission, just that they were to meet Baku at the village gates by noon, or they would be left and considered to have opted out of the task. Bake really hoped they were on time and had come prepared, the one thing he hated more than failing a mission given to him by the kage was to babysit those who did not respect the village or themselves. Today would be a test for both of these men who held a rich bloodline, and for sure had eyes on them for the completion of this mission. Letting his legs hang off the edge of the dirt guard house, Baku squinted his eyes and looked for the two, as it was nearly noon and he was starting to get bored.

Mikomi ran through the village, panting as she quickly strapped her weapons in place. The letter had been cryptic, just orders. So standard fare for the shinobi. She finished pulling on her equipment and rounded the corner. Seeing the gates and guardhouses up ahead, she slowed to a trot, and came up to the guardhouse.

She put her hands on her lower back, and pulled in a few breaths. Running still wasn't fun for her. And now that the sun was nearing its zenith, she was getting even more annoyed with the blistering desert heat.

It had been a while since Mikomi's first mission, and she was beginning to feel more at home as a shinobi. By the grace of Solinia, she wouldn't feel so nervous at the start of every one of her missions. As she did now, her heart's rapid beating was not just because of her run, but the building nervousness she felt.

Mikomi looked around, searching for her partners for the mission.

Judar was sitting at a ramen shop he liked being at. He savored the taste of the chicken and noddles to gather. Pork for protein, and just a cup of sake sitting next to his bowl. Reaching for his chop sticks he began to chew his food. Judar finished his meal and went off to do the mission he was given.

Not knowing if he could to trust the new people Judar took a different route from the stand then what he was used too. So Judar had a thought of things to wonder and to debate. His mind had to be forced to judge the skill of these people. If they could work good as team, and what if one of them was a spy. He will have to guess their skill level to compare to his own.

Judar stop in an alley where he he reached into his holster and pulled out a kunai. He shaped and his chakra in order to preform a jutsu on his kunai,. Making it seem as if he was disarmed and had no weapon. He kept his hands on the side of his pockets and walked as if it was normal till he spotted a man waiting as he walked roughly 15 meters  before stopping to give the man a gesture to see if he was friendly, As talented and trained as the Uchiha was many of them were still low rank.  Judar assumed that a high ranked ninja would be assigned the position of squad leader. Even though the life of a ninja was a deadly one and he had to stay on guard. From the edges of his eyes he noticed a woman coming from 25 meters from the right of the two. Noting in his mind that the woman looked somewhat familiar,still he pushed the thought out of his head and waited for what was to come.

Kensei watched the main guard building near the village gates closely, while perched up the rooftop of the Sun village temple from afar. Over the few hours since dawn the black cloak wearing Kensei had sat, feet dangling off of  the ledge, sipping his sake and pondering over the meaning of the meeting he had been summoned to. While in the Moon village a few days ago on another assignment he was notified via air mail that his immediate presence was needed, and he was to report to the guard house by noon on this day. Without a clear explanation, Kensei could only assume the gravity of the situation by the fact that the letter that summoned him was stamped and officially notarized by both the Nikkokage and the Clan elders. However, the timing of the meeting had filled Kensei with curiosity, to be summoned while on mission in the moon meant this meeting would have greater ramifications than his previous assignments. Kensei had waited eagerly and sometimes impatiently for the chance at real responsibilities since his return to the village, and while he was ultimately embraced by his clan members he had yet felt he had paid his dues to proudly honor his kin.

A few cups into his bottle he had realized he’d already gotten off to a rough start with minutes turning into hours, as the sun had reached its highest point passing the meridian. It was noon, and he was already late to meet up with the rest of his squamates and their leader Baku, a man he had yet to meet but had heard many things about from villagers and higher ranked shinobi. “Dammit late again” He called out to himself hopping up on his feet, sucking his teeth together as he dusted himself off, He reached down and grabbed the bottle of sake, taking a long swig of it before hiding it inside his cloak. He smelled of alcohol and smoke, his dark eyes shaded darker by the bags and creases beneath his eyes. He scratched his unkept short beard as he stretched, letting out an exaggerated yawn. “Lets go”

From afar he spotted two individuals that had made their way to the guard house, while his eyes made up the figure of a man sitting upon the its rooftops. Realizing he was the last to gather of the four he took off into a full sprint, reaching them after traveling several meters. He stopped as he landed on the ground directly in front of the guardhouse from a rooftop. He looked directly up to the Jonin that sat above them, his eyes ignoring everyone but the man.

A low sigh escaped the young Baku as he watched the group he was meant to lead today slowly begin to assemble. First was Mikomi, the only female Uchiha to be joining them today, and the oldest of the three. She approached the guard house, gear strapped to her person, just as she would have for any other mission. Next was Ikki, a man who was much more kept to himself than the others, in fact he often did not like using his clan given name. He was the youngest of the three and always weary of those around him. Finally was Kensei, an out spoken uchiha who was well known for his participation in the clans affairs. All three of them were skilled shinobi in their own respective fields, however they were chosen for this mission because of much bigger reasons. As the three gathered together under the large arch of the sandy gates, Baku heaved himself from the guard house roof, waved to the two chuunin stationed within, then made his way towards the three genin.

"Glad the three of you could join me today. I am Baku, and i will be in charge of our mission today. I apologize for keeping you all in the dark, i was given strict orders from madam Nikkoukage to not reveal any details of our mission before hand. Just Know, you have all been assigned a very important role in a very secret mission today. I will inform you of more we im sure we are alone, but what i can tell you for now is that we are headed for the village of Aryn, south of here." As he spoke, the young Jounin would tighten the cloth belt around his waist and fidget with the headband that sat across his forehead, as if he was uncomfortable with it being there. Once he finished, he did not wait for the others to respond, as he swirled around on his heels and began to make his way out into the hot desert.

Looking back over his shoulder, the sandy colored boy called out to the three uchiha. "I hope you prepared yourselves, the journey can be a tough one, and im not really the baby sitting type." He managed a dry chuckle, turning once more to leave the village.

Mikomi bowed to Baku, "Good to meet you sir." Then she passed her eyes over the other two. Kensei she had met recently when they were on a mission together. He was late, as usual. She gave him a friendly smile, "Good to see you again sir." And the other she didn't know, but she bowed to him as well "Good morning sir, I am Komi. A pleasure to meet you." She made sure to use as little names as she needed to.

Polite introductions out of the way. Mikomi set off in a jog after Baku. In spite of her calm and collected appearance. Mikomi was quite nervous. This was her first high profile mission yet. Her brief stint in the Moon Village as an ambassador was the most important thing she had done. Now she had been selected for some sort of secret mission? This set her teeth on edge. And she had never seen Baku before, did that mean he was an ANBU? A high ranker, who didn't seem used to wearing his forehead protector, that was certainly off. So unless the three were walking into a trap, he could possibly be part of that shadowy organization. She adjusted her gear again. It was becoming a nervous habit, she should probably break that.

Kensei crossed his arms over his chest, never breaking eye contact with the jonin above them, Kensei’s eyes themselves burning with a feary passion. “Another Jonin, Another obstacle, another hurdle towards progression. One day ill beat you as well”  He thought to himself, as his fist clenched tight together. There was something about being around stronger shinobi that filled Kensei with a competitive fire, a growing will sparked by his noticeable limitations, the feeling of inferiority was one that fully vexed Kensei. The Jonin in front of him only served as further motivation for his own success, an unspoken rival of sorts. “He assembles three Uchiha but isn’t one himself. Hm what games are being played here”


He caught the gist of Mikomi’s introduction in-between his thoughts and nodded in response.
“Good to see you again Mikomi. No need for formalities, I do hope you don’t expect me to call you Ma’am, so the “sir” won’t be necessary, glad to see you adjusting well here.”
His voice was low but stern and sullen, again his attention was fixed on Baku before him as the man turned to move out. Patting his ragged sweats he jumped up high unto the rooftop, popping a few buttons off of his cloak revealing bits of the leather flak jacket beneath, landing where the Anbu once stood. He flashed a quick look at the other two below as a messenger bird flew suddenly above them. Without another thought he took off following the Jonin without a word.

The Two shinobi introduced themselves, although it appeared as if they were some what familiar with each other already, and then followed Baku out onto the sandy dirt path that left the village. The young, tan skinned boy tucked both of his hands into the front of his robe, allowing them to rest on his waist band as he picked up a steady walking pace, moving out of the village, and out into the desolate, hot desert. He kept pretty quiet for the first part of their journey, just whistling here and there, allowing his mind to relax for a moment. About an hour in to their walk, his dry tired voice rang out, without any warning to the two Uchiha following behind.

"So, i guess we can discuss the mission now, as i doubt anyone is listening in on us way out here."He forced a chuckle out, trying to seem humerus and connect with the other two. "I am supposed to be meeting a very important individual in Aryn, you may have heard of him, Senoku Uchiha?" He paused for a second, then continued not really allowing either of them a moment to speak up. "You may be thinking, why are we going to meet a missing ninja? Well he just so happens to be an informant for me. He was tasked with a very special mission a few years ago, and i am going to do a status check on that mission."

Baku then stopped abruptly, allowing the two behind him to catch up, now side by side. He turned suddenly to glare at both of them, his eyes, which were once a bright blue, now replaced with the famous red Uchiha Sharingan, three black Tomoe resting in a circle around the boys pupil. "You two are going to act as my body guards as this meeting takes place. And this is a family matter, a matter of honor among our kin, i trust that you are able to keep your mouths shut and be respectful?" His tone had changed from one of laziness to a harsh, almost threatning tone. His gaze locked on to both of them, showing how serious he was, and how important this mission was going to be.

"When we get to the purple lantern, you two will remain outside the door and assure that no one enters, or exits, without my permission. Do we understand each other?"

Ah, so her birth was the reason she had been selected for this mission. Though her status as an outsider for most of her life made her question the true motives of choosing her. Then as she watched the young man before them reveal his Sharingan. Her doubts and fears began to fade. In spite of his tone, she saw an ally. A very strong ally. Maybe someone who could be trusted. Someone to stand alongside, she had few of those. He was also a jounin, someone who's power surpassed her's by a considerable amount. She was used to dealing with people far more powerful than herself. They always knew that they were. And that made them easy to predict. And if you knew what someone would do, then they could be used for your own gain.

She was familiar with Senoku, as much as any shinobi with access to the bingo book. His bounty was less than half of comparable A-Rank missing ninja, which made sense. If he was on a secret mission, then the Sun or whoever was responsible for his assignment would likely not want him captured or killed. She stared into the Red eyes of Baku, and the three tomoe, if he was a high ranker in the Uchiha, then that meant he knew her past. He would know her name, Petals, the one she hadn't used in almost two years. She gave a deep bow to him, "The Uchiha clan gave me life where there was none, a future where before there was only death for me. I owe everything to the clan and the village. you can trust me to act appropriately and to my fullest ability, sir."

As they walked Kensei eyes burned with fiery intent, his mind swamped with questions on the mission at hand, the jounin leading it, and his role in regards to the inner working of the land and village. "I guess there are things even I can't discern at eye level". His staring eyes would burn a hole on the back of the head of the jounin leader if looks could kill. The jounin's whistles had broken the silence that had followed them during the time, none of them willing to fill the emptiness with their own words. Every so often Kensei would look from the corner of his eyes at Mikomi, the Uchiha he had not known long, and again the jounin he had only just met with curiosity.

After the seemingly endless silent stroll through the desert the jounin spoke, his words sending Kensei into a state of confusion as he explained the status quo and the interaction required between the Mole and himself. He had known the name Senoku and was aware of the current status within the village and the suspicion that his bounty was lower than expected for espionage purposes. However, what had shocked him the most was the Jounins Sharingan revelation, eyes Kensei would avoid peering into, instead allowing his eyes to fall on the ground beneath them. "A Uchiha?! But I've never even heard of him before." He had made an effort to know and keep tabs on all of his kin, yet this one had gone under his radar with ease. What other secrets did his clan withhold ? Was he not a part of the clans inner circle as he was led to believe?

He nodded in response to the jounins words, nodding again in agreement to Mikomi's exclamation. Regardless of the competitive fire sparked by his interaction with the fellow Uchiha he understood what needed to be one, the responsibility of authority and his role here. Taking a deep breath he refocused his mind for the task at hand.
"Understood."
His voice was low and sullen.