A Sunless Mission! (Group Mission)

Kannagi didn't know how she felt about killing others, especially in a mission designated to be assassination without exception. The young Irezumi woman had to assume word had made it around of her confliction and that was why she was being placed on this mission in the first place. To her somewhat fortune, only one of the shinobi was a name she had not yet heard while the other was her boss outside of shinobi dealings. Kannagi had the desire to help infiltrate herself into the community and Sojiro had needed an assistant in his new clinic. It hadn't been a long time, but she had proved herself reliable there and developed a better relationship with the man than she would have through missions alone. Though, Genkumaru's near death experience kind of jarred the both of them into the state they were in.

Kannagi had short blue hair, bright blue eyes, and wore tight clothing like a gymnast might for best maneuverability. Her top was dark, sleeveless and neck high. Her shorts were overlapped by her long flowing skirt, a sheer purple color today, despite that in the dark it wouldn't seem to have a color to it at all. She had cleaned up around her studio apartment that morning and feeling in a productive mood, she had taken a quick nap and then headed to the clinic to do some organizing. She cleaned the place thoroughly, organizing files, and adding a short succulent plant in a rose colored pot beside the door's entry way. She cared for the place enough that making it more inviting than some cold steel hospital room might entice locals to try Sojiro's healing and methods as an alternative.

The sun had set by the time she had finished sweeping and mopping up, grabbing herself a cup of coffee from the counter top with a sigh. When she went to look out the window and see the time, the girl had been required to use a little wind jutsu to cool the coffee down enough to gulp it down and race out the door. She sped towards the meeting place, grateful that the day's work had kept her mind off the assassination ahead but annoyed that she had been so distracted she hadn't seen the sun itself go down. When she arrived, only Sojiro stood present and she let out a breath of relief that at least she wasn't the last one there.

WC:408

The small ember of Tatsuya’s cigarette would be visible before he was, bobbing slowly down the road in the dim moonlight. The Nara’s smooth black hair was pulled back behind his head with a hair-tie, as usual. A simple black patch covered his left eye and he wore a black jacket over a white dress shirt with the first two buttons undone, black leather gloves one of which had the seal for his puppet on the palm, black slacks, and steel-tipped dress shoes. He had a few weapons on him but those were hidden.

The mission itself wasn’t particularly notable for him, he had killed before, even before he was a shinobi. This wasn’t the first or the last time he’d kill somebody on the orders of the village

His body shook and undulated as he approached, dancing to a tune only he could hear. He finished it off with a spin and snapped his fingers, pointing at the gathered group.

“Sakura-chan, always a sight for sore eyes~!” He said before taking one last drag on his cigarette and then flicking the butt straight at Sojiro’s left eye. He turned and looked toward the woman, “And you must be Irezumi-san, Tatsuya Nara, nice to meet you.” and gave her a nod.

Kannagi watched the new shinobi, one she had never seen or met before, approaching. He moved like he had insects in his legs, doing a dance walk that she couldn't imagine trying to imitate. By her own admission, she saw or heard no music and that made Tatsuya's arrival all the more foreign. The blue eyed kunoichi wasn't opposed to strangeness and when he greeted her employer and herself, she found it a pleasurable introduction. "Kannagi, if you please," She gently corrected with a half bow in reply. He seemed too well dressed for a mission and as a result she stared at him curiously. Could he really move well in such attire? Perhaps whatever his techniques were they did not require him to move swiftly or flexibly. She turned her pale face to Sojiro and listened to his plan carefully. This time she would be sure to follow it, a dedication she instantly regretted when he explained his idea.

She chuckled, "It's a bit simple and crass, but if you have faith in this plan, I have faith in you. Which of you will be playing the part of old man? And Sojiro, where can we intersect this first collective?" Of course, there was no way Sojiro had considered putting her in the position of actor. Kannagi wasn't much for lying and she doubted she could make herself seem helpless either. Unless the mission depended on it and Sojiro had just wanted to see her try.

WC: 408+247= 655

Tatsuya cackled, “I took a nice vacation for sure. If the gambling houses didn’t take objection to finding out I was a shinobi I might still be hanging around. I’ll give them a few months to cool down.” He had never been to the Moon Village before going on a mission with Sojiro and Genkumaru that tasked them to deliver some supplies to it. He’d asked Sojiro to point him to some good party spots afterward and the man had delivered. Tatsuya spent a week there gambling and drinking and carousing, though he probably wouldn’t be welcomed back any time soon. That was ok, it was time to get back to work anyway. Sojiro seemed to have a good plan and Kannagi was down with it, Tatsuya just had one small idea to broach.

“I like where your heads at Sojiro, I like your plan, but I have one small revision to offer. I call this “Get Help” Tatsuya would go on to explain it to the assembled group...

Kannagi had let out a sigh as she listened to Tatsuya's plan. It was completely foolish. There was no way anyone would fall for such mediocrity! Sojiro on the other hand grew bright eyed and bushy tailed at the description of this plan. Of course he would, using humor and a distraction was different from how they had handled their last set of bandits, but seeing as how that hadn't worked as planned it was like he knew Kannagi could not protest. She had the sense to keep her mouth shut and hope for the best, prove to Sojiro that she could follow his direction outside of the clinic as well. Kannagi couldn't help but laugh herself when she saw Sojiro and Tatsuya changing demeanors and appearances for this ruse. "I hope you are right about this," the kunoichi said in a mild tone of disbelief.

Kannagi hid herself behind a tree and waited. She felt the rumbling of the cart on the road and then heard the clicking of the turning wheels and the relaxed chatter of comfortable riders upon it. Soon, they would not be at such ease. When Sojiro and Tatsuya made themselves known, the cart had stopped and the distraction had begun. To make their plan go smoother, Kannagi revealed herself slowly from the tree. She drew on her chakra and made quick shots from her prior hiding place with her senbon projector. There were two heads which poked out the back of the caravan and then the bodies had followed. The two guards stood at the back squinting around the area suspiciously while the driver had slowed to deal with her team. Her senbon were well shot, about six piercing through the eyes of one of the guards so deeply he collapsed. She didn't know if he was alive or dead, but would need to say a prayer over him later. The second had seen her attack, and then had discovered her. Before he was able to breath a sound of warning, Kannagi made handseals and slashed wind out towards him.

One of the wind slashes sliced through one of his legs and it fell off, oozing his life blood profusely. Her other wind jutsu had missed as the guard fell to the ground and had effectively broken and removed the rear wheel of the cart instead. The loud scream of the man and the broken snap of the wheel alerted the riders to the presence of danger and she made an annoyed face. Hopefully, Sojiro and Tatsuya's act had gone as far as it needed to to be successful.


WC: 655+435=1090 / 1600

This was Tatsuya’s most daring plan yet. If it worked they would achieve the same level of success if they had used a more reasonable plan, but this was much more fun. It did not take too long for Tatsuya to track down a boar, they would need a decent amount of blood for the disguise. He supposed they could have just had the Transformation Jutsu include bloodstains but that would not have looked as realistic and he was a professional goddammit! It took Sojiro a few times to get a Transformation that looked like a familial relation, it wasn’t perfect, but time was short so it would have to do.

They got into position and waited for the caravan to start passing by. Tatsuya and Sojiro would come at them from the front, drawing their attention with their ruse, and once they were distracted the attack would begin with the two of them hitting from the front while Kannagi hit them from the back, a classic pincer maneuver. As the caravan came down the path Tatsuya limped out from the woods carrying the disguised Sojiro in his arms.

“Please help! My brother and I were attacked by a bear on our way to work at a soup kitchen for orphans!” A sympathetic backstory was important in situations like this.

“Please, can you help us get back to town, I don’t think I can make it!” The wagons stopped to gawk at the bizarre pair, whether they would actually help or not was a toss-up given the character of the group but that didn’t really matter in the end. Some of the guards walking along the side of the wagons approached the two, most likely about to tell them to fuck off, and Tatsuya threw Sojiro with all his might at the pair, bowling the two of them over with the sheer weight of the man,

“Fuck em up!” Tatsuya threw and detonated an exploding note in the driver seat of the front carriage, removing it and the driver from play. He could see and hear commotion coming from the back of the caravan as well, it seemed like Kannagi was holding up her end of the plan just fine and Tatsuya definitely had an appreciation for women who could look that elegant while cutting people limb from limb.

So there were only three men left, Kannagi observed as she moved into position. The kunoichi has filtered herself back into the tree line, the crunch of leaves underfoot the only indication that she was present. The driver of the cart had lunged forward and been killed nearly instantly. If there were equal amount of men on each carriage, or even similar, that was enough to tell the woman that those still upon the carriage had chosen not to make themselves known. Additionally, the only explanation for why that might be would be to plan some sort of hearty defense or ambush upon the first person to enter the cart, allowing those inside to have a chance at catching the upper hand. The carriage was wooden and small, not particularly ornate or rich and Kannagi imagined it could hold three men within. Three, just as her first guess had assumed.

The kunoichi fixed her hair over her eyes and then made the hand seals to create a clone. Though it appeared identical to her, it was no better a shinobi than a twig or a flashlight might have been. It could not make sound or fight, it couldn't survive even a single attack. This clone wouldn't have to do any fighting, as all Kannagi needed from it was to draw the people inside the carriage out into the open. She wanted them to make themselves vulnerable in order to not create unneeded risk for herself. Her clone approached the cart openly and obviously, boarding it with a slight jostle. When the clone moved to open and enter the carriage, weapons jolted outwards. A spear, a sword, and a scythe: three different weapons, three different assailants. The clone vanished in a poof of ink like vapor and the door of the carriage closed tight once more. Her attempt to draw them out had failed. Kannagi needed another plan. She glanced over at the two men she partnered with and considered their ridiculous Get Help plan. It had worked in the end, so it might not be too much to use such a facade to get through to the ones inside of the carriage. Still, something as ridiculous and complex as Get Help required time and the willingness of others to believe that they were not still being duped. It was hardly an option now.

She puzzled it only for half a second before realizing it was much easier to get them out into a vulnerable position than it was to play a trick on them. Kannagi moved swiftly across from the tree line toward a tall tree not far from the road. She climbed it with chakra in her feet to hasten herself. From a limb above, Kannagi next moved to leap down on top of the carriage below. It rocked a bit and she heard clamorings of surprise and uncertainty from inside. She drew out a kunai and stabbed into the roof of the carriage hard, revealing a blade tip from above. "Come out or I will kill you from where I stand," Kannagi threatened. After a moment there was a metallic clanging. Kannagi stabbed the roof again and again and before she could do it a fourth time, the doors opened on either side of the carriage and the three people from inside spilled out. Two revealed themselves on her left and one man from her right. They looked ready for a fight, staring right up to where she was presently. Kannagi leapt down on the man who was by himself, knocking him to the ground with her weight. He hadn't even had the chance to try and use his spear at her. Kannagi cut his throat swiftly, the same way she killed during a hunt, so that the animal would not suffer.


WC: 634+1090= 1724/ 1600

It was good to see that this was not Sojiro or Kannagi’s first rodeo, he didn’t have enough sake to comfort two people through their first time taking a life. Between Sojiro’s brute strength and Kannagi’s precise strikes they had made quick work of most of the caravan, leaving only two guys left for Tatsuya! He barked,

“Hey you greedy bastards leave some for the rest of us!”

Tatsuya would charge toward the remaining two men and as one slashed a sword at him he would lunge forward, spreading his legs to do a split and dodge the slash, while at the same time punching the man directly in the groin. While the first man let out a dry choking sound and dropped his sword to clasp both hands to his groin in pain the second would charge Tatsuya and, without getting up, the Nara would flip to one side and start to spin on his hands, pistoning his legs out as he spun to sweep both men off their feet with a crazy break dancing maneuver. Quickly returning to his feet with a kip-up he would kick the second man in the head hard enough to send him rolling over into the first and, as he did, would deposit an exploding note on the back of his head with the dispenser hidden in the bottom of his shoes. As he rolled Tatsuya would jump out of the way before detonating the exploding note, taking out the remaining two baddies. He’d smooth his hair back and laugh,

“Not bad folks, not bad. Now how do we decide who pays for drinks when we get back?”