Mission Start:

The sun was setting, and the preparations were nearly done. A few questions asked earlier that morning, and Kenchiro had had his first glimpse of the thieves. Three of them, talking about their plans in a completely amateurish, unsecured way. Fools. Had they not ever heard of using code? And in a public place, no less; the Genin had no difficulty slipping into earshot and learning what he needed to learn. And he had no difficulty convincing the head of the village that he needed to protect their famous artifact, the so-called Chakra Enhancing Cube. Simple, simple, frustratingly simple. It was enough to drive Kenchiro up a wall. Where was the challenge, the danger? Perhaps it would come around tonight.

It was here, at the central shrine, that the theft was to take place. On his suggestion, the cube had been moved from its spot in the main chamber and taken to a safe in the head priest's private chambers. Kenchiro had the place ready for the event. He took down the candles, made the room as dark as possible, with the exception of one in the very center. He studied the layout of the place as well as he could. And, when he was certain that he had the sufficient advantage, he found that he still had time. What to do before he got into position? A wicked thought entered his head. Just how secure was that safe, anyway?

***

That night, seven ninjas filed into the building with all the subtlety of a pack of monkeys. Clearly, they were expecting to lock the building down, go for an unsubtle entrance and be away before the guard could be called. And that might have worked, if the priests were still in the building. Instead, all the ninjas found was a single young man sitting on a barrel, his face wrapped in silk, idly fiddling around with a deck of cards. Kenchiro's village headband lay wrapped around his waist, the metal plate reflecting the light from the one candle-holder to his side. "A question:" he said, breaking the silence that hung heavy over the group. "How can one win a game every time without ever having to play a single hand?" He shuffled the deck as he spoke.

"What's this?" shouted a sneering youth, who Kenchiro fancied was the leader of this little brigade. "'Sit just you? I woulda thought we rated higher than that. Tsuki's gonna pay for underestimating us once we get our hands on that cube. So why don't you just stay out of our way before we make an example outta you?"

Kenchiro smirked under the wrappings. He cut the deck into two equal lots of cards, put one in each hand, and began to bend them outwards. With a rustle, the cards began to break free, leaping into the air in a cascade of cardboard rectangles and scattering to and fro. In the very next instant, the Genin grabbed a senbon from his pouch and threw it through the mass of airborne cards, used his cloak to put out the candles with a dramatic flair, and was up in the rafters almost as soon as he heard the second ninja from the left cry out in sharp pain. The game was on.

The rafters above the temple floor stretched across the entire room, but the walls did not. As a place that had very little value for privacy, the rooms were basically divided by paper doors and little else. Except, that is, for the head priest's chambers, where the safe was being held. In any case, this idiosyncrasy of construction offered a unique advantage; a special vantage point over ninety percent of the temple. Except, that is, for the head priest's chambers et cetera, et cetera.

His opening ploy worked, inasmuch as he was not being pursued. His eyes adjusted to the new darkness, as he was no doubt sure that the group of ninja below were doing as well. From behind a beam, he listened in on the scattered conversation.

"Where'd he go? Where'd he go!?"

"My arm! He got my arm!"

"Everyone, shut up!" The leader managed to rein in the group with a bark that was more threatening than authoritative. "The plan hasn't changed. Six, Three, fan out and track down that monkey. Seven, Four, you're with me. Five, take Two somewhere and inspect that senbon. It could be poisoned."

"What? P-poisoned?"

"No back talk! Get to your patrol as soon as you're done. Kill anything that isn't one of us. Move it!"

They moved as one, showing a hint of practice, if not strict regimentation. Still, at least they were smart enough to use code names. Five and Two moved into one of the side chambers, closing the screen door behind them as they did so. Kenchiro could only thank his luck as he sidled from rafter to rafter, silently making his way to the beams directly over their heads.

"Oh, man Dai-I mean Five. What if I've really been poisoned? I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"It's going to be fine, Two." Five spoke in a tone that was far too gentle for this line of work. A born medic, if Kenchiro was feeling like taking a guess. The ninja grabbed the offending object and, with an exchange of nods, pulled it out with a straight, professional movement. Two bit back a growl of pain as Five began to put a handseal or two together, and in a moment a lonely little mote of light began to hover in front of his forehead, which he used to inspect the senbon. "I'm not seeing anything on here powder or liquid. Well, except for the obvious. Let's get you bandaged up. I'll stay with you just in case."

"Lemme see!" Five snatched up the weapon and held it to his face. Right to his face. "What is this thing? Why's it got paper junk on the end? To stabilize it in flight or something?"

Kenchiro closed his eyes and made the symbol of the Snake, biting back the urge to burst into maniacal laughter as the paper rose at the end of his senbon exploded in a flash of blinding light. He was off the beam and down on the ground in the next moment, Five's head in his hand as he and his prize landed with a soft thud. Two was down in the next moment; a springing punch just beneath the chin had a tendency to floor most flat-footed novices like that.

Kenchiro could hear the patrolling ninjas coming, attracted to the flash and the bang. Thinking quickly, the Genin rattled off a few familiar hand-seals and stumbled out the door with a puff of smoke.

"What happened?" The guy who's code was either Three or Six shouted as he rounded the corner.

Disguised as Five, Kenchiro muttered as he rubbed fake spots out of his eyes. "Spotted the Tsuki ninja. He used some kind of flashbang. I think he went down that way." He pointed down another hall, not bothering to look up from his ministrations as the novice ran past in pursuit. Kenchiro smirked under his hands. Two down. Only five to go.