Borderline Boredom

Name: Scout the Border
Rank: C-Rank
Participants: Moon Village, Sun Village
Type: Group Mission
Reward: 25 EXP, 10 Ryo
Details:  Just like patrolling the village is important, it is also important to make sure the nations borders are secure. Your task is to spend time roaming the regions borders and making sure nothing looks out of place. This includes roaming the main road, outing bandit camps or arresting thieves. While it can be boring at times, you never know what is going to pop up out in the wild.
Requirements: Each person must make at least 2, 400 word post.

It was yet another sunny day in the moon village, birds were singing, flowers were blooming and on days like these, shinobi like Kenji would be sleeping. Alas that was not an option for him, he had recently thought of a new puppet design and he was eager to begin creating it, the only problem being the lack of funds he has and as such, here was yet again on another mission with someone to scout the border. At least this time, he was certain he knew what to do, just simply walk around and talk to any travelers, figure out what they're doing and let them go. Hell probably won't even have to do any talking if he's lucky, well besides talking to his partner of course.

Kenji couldn't help but wonder who his partner will be this time around, he was hoping they'd at the very least be willing to just walk around randomly instead of following some sort of arbitrary rules, it wasn't like there was much to worry about beside those murders... Still Kenji figured if Anbu couldn't figure it out, what hope would lowly genin have? The only real thing Kenji had going for him was designing puppets and he had doubts those skills would translate to solving the serial killer case.

Either way, Kenji only made sure to adjust his holster holding both his Tanto and Wakizashi, the two blades resting within a separate holster each that was tied together with wedges between the two holsters designed to create some space apart from the blades so he can pull one of them out with ease. Of course it'd probably be a lot more effective to buy or build a special holster designed to fit the two blades than Kenji's own thrown together design but he figured he'd just use some of the spare wood and clothe he had laying around after creating Lingchi, the seal for the puppet resting on the holster of his Tanto. He figured it'd help to look a bit more intimidating while out here and what better way to show that than using his two blades? Along with his equipment of course.

Like his previous mission, he wore his flak jacket underneath his own black sleeveless jacket and his forehead protector hung lazily around his neck and much like before, he held his white candy stick in his mouth, the cherry flavor helping him keep his mind from wandering too far. He was nearing his approach to the rendezvous point where he'd meet his partner and then the two would begin scouting, a fairly simple affair all things considered. He wouldn't be too surprised if the two shinobi basically just walked and talked for the next few hours until they both called it a day and returned to the village.

As he stopped at the rendezvous point, he looked around at his surroundings, figuring it'd be a good idea to familiarize himself with this place a bit before his partner shows up. There wasn't much that stood out to Kenji, plenty of trees surrounded him and it appeared the path he was on was currently leading into a valley as the road begun to dip downward in a rather steep angle while far on either side of him the land seemed to have curved upward. It'd probably be a few minutes at a downward angle before the two would be in the valley... If one considered this not part of a valley. He probably should've paid more attention in geography, he was terrible at figuring what his environment was.

As Kenji was familiarizing himself with his surroundings, he noticed a hooded person approaching him and said hooded person waved toward him, a gesture Kenji returned with a smile. Seems this was going to be his new partner and he simply waited for them to approach and as soon as the person came near, he took off his hood and revealed that this was a guy with long jade coloured hair, golden eyes and rather pale skin. Kenji had to admit this guy didn't look half bad, it takes a certain amount of luck to make the pale look work for you and this guy got lucky with the jade coloured hair and golden eyes.

However, once his new partner smiled, Kenji could only raise an eyebrow at the smile, it was off putting to him like the type of smile one would put on to try and hide their disdain for someone and Kenji had to wonder if he somehow pissed this guy off without knowing it way back in the past. An idea that was shot down as he introduced himself as Yami before asking what he was "called".

"Uh, Kenji Haruka, at your service." Kenji simply answered with a a shrug of his shoulders, it was a bit strange for him to ask what he was called instead of a name but he chalked it up to some sort of manners within his family or something. With introductions over with, the shorter shinobi begun to walk forward before asking what exactly they were going to do while patrolling and Kenji simply begun to walk with him, giving a shrug of his shoulders as he brought his hands upward and spread out to illustration he really didn't have much of a plan.

"Well I figured we'd just walk down the path, talk to whoever is coming by and see what they're doing, if they need help, you know all that boring stuff." Kenji explained his plan without much care since it was rather boring to scout the border and honestly Kenji really wasn't expecting to run into more than 10 people max. "Unless of course you got a better idea of what to do, I never really did much scouting outside of the village before." Kenji added as he gave a simple stretch of his back, it had been a while since he brought most of his equipment out with him and he was already regretting his choice of bringing both swords when he had Lingchi.

Kenji kept walking forward as his companion followed him, listening to the suggestion that the two go clear a nearby bandit camp that Kenji was unaware of. "Sure as hell beats walking down this path and doing nothing." Kenji told his companion as the shorter shinobi begun to lead them toward the location of the supposed popular locations for bandit camps. The katana resting on the man's back gave Kenji some sort of idea of how his companion was going to fight but he had to wonder just how skilled with the blade he was compared to himself, his skills with the blade may have gotten rusty due to neglect but he was still somewhat confident in his abilities.

"So I take it you use bukijutsu as well? I'm not too bad of a swordsmen myself, although I think we prefer different styles if you're using the katana." Kenji would comment as he examined the pale shinobi's choice of weapon before gesturing toward his two shorter blades resting at the back of his waist at an angle that was nearly horizontal. "Then again, I consider my bukijutsu to be more of a back up rather than my main form of attack." Kenji added as he let out a slight yawn, all this walking was a bit boring for the shinobi and his time could've been better spent napping. Or working on Lingchi, or even starting to design the parts for his new puppet.

"I consider myself a puppeteer first and foremost, just easier to sit back and let something else do all the work, you know?" Kenji would explain his reasoning for being a puppeteer with a shrug of his shoulders and grin. There were other benefits to becoming a puppeteer of course but Kenji would be lying if his primary reason for being a puppeteer wasn't the ability to fight someone just by wiggling his fingers.

Once Kenji asked his question about Bukijutsu, he knew he made a mistake as his companion drew his katana and begun to swing it around at him, an action that put Kenji on guard as he moved back slightly and placed his hand around the hilt of his Wakizashi, prepared to defend himself from his companions's seemingly random betrayal. An act that was unnecessary as the man didn't seem to be striking toward him but rather demonstrating his skill in the most bizarre way, all with the same strained smile he gave him earlier.

His companion only explained his reasoning for using the katana as nothing more than a distraction or if the enemy was focused elsewhere then he would strike but Kenji had to question what was the distraction for and what could take someone's focus away from the sword? "Right... Well I suppose that makes sense, nothing a good stab wouldn't deal with..." Kenji would add a bit hesitant about speaking further with his partner. Something felt off about him even before he swung his sword around like a mad man and this only confirmed it.

Regardless once the man revealed his preference for summoning, Kenji realized what Yami's sword was supposed to be a distraction for, an animal of some sort to deal a surprise blow to his enemy or at least take the focus so he could strike the blow. "Really? What animal do you sum-" Kenji would attempt to ask before his companion silenced him and knelt down to reveal footprints on the ground. Kenji didn't even notice them, but then again he didn't really care to keep an eye out for anything on the ground.

Yami warned Kenji about the sensory barrier before asking Kenji to trust him, something Kenji was really finding hard to do considering the man's earlier actions. "I see.... I guess that means we're going have to clear out some bandits then, huh?" Kenji would ask as his companion knelt down and summoned a trio of snakes, one of which that would go scouting ahead while the two other went up Yami's sleeves. Kenji wasn't too surprised, Yami was kinda creepy so it made enough sense he would combo with equally creepy animals, only thing to perfect this creepiness would be if an Aburame honestly.

"So a scout and surprise weapons, that's pretty sma-" Kenji would try to comment when Yami delivered a surprise strike to his gut that caused the lazy shinobi to stop talking as the air was knocked out of him. With the sudden pain and lack of air, Kenji couldn't really do much but slump forward and allow his creepy companion to carry him, the one eyed shinobi only remaining limp and in some pain from the strike.

Kenji only told himself that Yami must've had some sort of plan, he asked for the lazy shinobi's trust and sent a scout snake ahead and hid two snakes before delivering a sudden strike. If he wanted to kill Kenji, it would've been easier to simply deliver the blow and follow it up with the sword strike, not like Kenji could've stopped it. His suspicions were confirmed when he felt a snake going up his shirt and it took a surprising amount of will power not to freak out about the snake's scaley body crawling around him and free to do as it pleased. The only thing now on the lazy shinobi's mind being his desire to never work with this creepy snake guy ever again because it hurts and it's creepy and he's creepy and everything about this plan sucked.

Yami called out for some man named Sota and that's when Kenji found himself not trusting Yami once again since he apparently knew of this bandit camp before hand. His former creepy companion threw him on the ground and Kenji could hear about 3 people approach the duo, meaning he'd now have to fight a 4 on 1 without access to his sealed puppet... Right as he admitted to his former companion he wasn't as good as the blades as he could be.... Oh boy.

Yami would only explain he had stumbled across Kenji while coming this way for booze, a blatant lie that only cast more doubt on Kenji's trust. Either way, the shinobi knew he had to get rid of the snake that was currently in his shirt, if there was even a slight chance that his creepy companion was indeed against him, that snake could poison him and the fight would be over before it even begun.

Taking no chance, Kenji grabbed the head of the snake through his shirt and ripped it out in one swift motion, throwing the snake far away before he rolled into a kneeling position and unsealed his puppet from it's seal mark on his holster, the puppet appearing behind him in a puff of smoke. The puppet was in a sitting position with it's cloaked hood and face mask on, leaving only it's hazel painted eyes peeking out from the nearly covered puppet.

Suddenly chakra poured through Kenji's fingers as he pushed his hands back, palms facing the puppet and the strings connected to the puppet before it rushed overhead of the kneeling shinobi as the shinobi brought his hands back in front of him, his chakra pouring from his fingers and remaining connected to the puppet. Under the cover of the face mask, the puppet opened it's mouth to reveal a single metal tube within and with a single flow of the puppeteer's chakra, the device within the puppet's head sprung to action. To everyone else, they'd only see the puppet's head turn toward Sota and within a few seconds senbon begun to rip through it's face mask, 10 of them in rapid succession all aimed right at Sota.

Regardless of the leader's actions, the puppet itself rushed toward the bandit on the left, it's arms raised up and revealing it's bladed fingers that was seemingly ready to strike at the bandit. Kenji however had a different plan of attack, while he was attempting to draw focus to the puppet's bladed hands that were threatening to slash at the bandit from an upward angle, underneath the puppet's cloak a hatch was opened and it's weapon was ready to strike at the target in front of the puppet.

With another flow of chakra, Kenji struck, the tailed blade of the puppet coming from underneath the cloak and aimed right at the bandit's chest. Like before, Kenji didn't care if his attacks did anything and simply brought his puppet back in front of the him, the puppet taking a more defensive posture as it's arms were spread out with it's finger knives revealed, it's bladed tail hanging just slightly over head and it's mouth wide open, the hole ripped through the face mask allowing the bandits and Yami to see the tube hosting the senbon launcher within.

"Your move, dipshits." Kenji told the bandits, a scowl on his face from the sudden betrayal of his companion. He wasn't certain if he could take on all of them, his puppetry skills were fine but he didn't exactly take the time to create any fancy jutsu for his puppet to make use of and was stuck with it's basic attacks that he just displayed for them all to see.

---

Free Actions:
Kenji unsealed Lingchi
Kenji used Puppet String Technique [10 CP Cost]

Actions:
Kenji tried to hit Sato with 10 senbon from Mouth Senbon Launcher
Kenji tried to impale Sensory Bandit with Extendable Tail Blade

Chakra: 90/100
Stamina: 100/100

As Kenji brought back his puppet and spoke his warning, he realized one simple thing. The bandits were all dead and Yami was the only one standing there, now facing him with a creepy smile and open arms, as if he was intending to give the lazy shinobi a hug despite the distance. Kenji looked around at the bandits, noting the sensory bandit couldn't react to the sudden change of attack in time and was currently bleeding out quickly on the ground with a giant hole in his chest.

Besides Yami laid the body of Sota, the 10 senbon he launched at the leader embedded in the man's stomach but a second wound appeared from his throat that seemed to the finishing blow and lastly was the bandit Kenji had left alone that had somehow lost his head amidst the brief battle. If one could even call this a battle considering it was over in little as 2 moves from Kenji and 2 moves from his currently questionable ally.

"Your plans suck." Kenji would simply mutter as he lowered his hands and set his puppet down, deciding this was part of the mad man's crazy horse ride of a plan. "Maybe next time you decide to punch me silly and throw me in a 3 on 2 battle without my puppet, you could give me a bit of a warning?" Kenji mockingly asked his companion, clearly annoyed as he approached his puppet and knelt down beside it and removed his holster.

Placing the holster on the ground, Kenji moved to retrieve ink he kept in his pocket... That was now currently thrown somewhere around this bandit camp as he realized the snake's head must've been around his pocket and it went flying with the creepy slithering demon from hell. This was a bad day. A very bad day. With a sigh Kenji only reached for his interior pocket and grabbed another candy stick, placing it in his mouth and focusing on the cherry flavor in his mouth.

"Do you have any ink? I seem to have thrown my ink away with your snake during this confusing mess." Kenji would ask and explain why he was currently missing his ink that he uses to reseal Lingchi when he was done with it.

Kenji only stared at Yami with a blank expression as the snake declared he "found" Kenji's senbon, plucking them out of the bandit leader's stomach. Kenji only sighed and told himself it was the thought that counts, so standing back up, Kenji retrieved the senbon from the snake, placing them in a pouch of his Flak jacket for now. "Thanks." Kenji would tell his creepy companion as the two looked for the ink he had thrown.

The snake found it first, right besides one of his own snakes and he encouraged Kenji to grab it with an unsettling smile. Kenji quickly debated rather he should go and risk grabbing his ink from the snake or just carry Lingchi back. The bruise on his stomach however probably wouldn't really like having the weight on his back so with another sigh Kenji slowly made his way to the snake. He wanted to just go home and sleep... After getting some ice for his stomach. And maybe drink some golden flower tea. That would be nice.

Nearing the snake, Kenji eyed the actual snake carefully, he wasn't sure what his creepy companion was planning but he knew one thing was certain, whatever it was, it was going to suck. With one swift move Kenji snatched his ink and held it close to his chest, his eye still on the snake in case it tried to do something. Stupid demon from hell. Assuming nothing happened, Kenji would walk back to his holster and paint the seal for Lingchi once more, the stupid thing ended up getting smudged once Yami threw him on the ground.

Performing the hand seals, there was another puff of smoke and the puppet was gone, allowing the one eyed shinobi to put his holster back on and stand up before turning his attention to his snake companion. "Well, seems like we did enough for this scouting mission. Let's get back, I want to sleep." Kenji told the snake and begun walking forward, expecting the snake to follow him back to the village.