Mission Details:

Appearence:

The forest along the mountainside was something not seen to much in the land of Shippuugakure. The wind continued to move the tree's around even here, even with the lack of an actual hurricane. A hand came out from behind a tree and would take hold of it and pull the figure into sight. The first thing one would notice is the face of the figure. Or more notably the lack-there-of. The area that would have had a face was covered by a mask of some sort and a hood completed the set to conceal him.

As the figure came into full view, there were now several different things that showed. The two massive swords on his back that formed a deadly 'X' and a katana at his left side. The figure stood in silence, its head slowly turning to one side as if to spot something that might be off in the distance but after more than a standard moment, the figure would turn back around and look in the direction it had appeared and waited in silence for its comrades.

Word Count: 182

Land of hurricanes, Shippuugakure. This had been the first time Sheffield had visited the village, sort of- they weren't really going to the village, but very near it at least. She took a mental note to actually visit the village itself sometime and study their shinobi. Not today though, she had arrived here for a specific reason, a dubious mission even- paid by the village of Shippuugakure itself. Unlike her other missions, she would be attending this mission with two others of Ouroboros; one of which she knew somewhat and the other, an unreadable enigma. This would be her first cooperative mission, she was always a person who worked alone... she working together with others was a bit uncomfortable with her.

When it came to her trade, the preferred and usually most successful method was working alone. The caliber of this mission was a bar above what she usually did though, she had fought and killed many people- both silently and loudly. This mission was not likely to be one of those silent missions, and who to bring better than an Uchiha and a mysterious sword wielding masked individual? Leaving the loud and reckless stuff up to them would be a good diversion for her method of fighting, she smiled at the thought of picking off the students while Lee or Storm distracted them with an awe-filled battle with their sensei & teachers.

She wore her usual garb, the tight leather suit that revealed every single crevice of her sculpted sin-like body. Her hair was no longer let loose around her shoulders, but bunned up to make sure no one could grab it. Her eyes focused intensely on the surroundings as she walked at a peaceful gait towards the pre-determined meeting point. Today she wore her Ouroboros cloak, it was an official mission, so she would wear it for the initial outbreak of battle. Her fighting style revolved around all five senses and her body was the most appealing thing she could use as a weapon... so why should she have to hide it?

It was an unusual mission, it would be difficult but very rewarding. Not only for the ryo, but also to strengthen ties with Shippuugakure and also to study her teammates fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses. As a woman of caution, it was never an inconvenience to study her allies and foes alike- often allies turned into foes and foes turned into allies. No one was to be trusted: this was one of the only two truths she knew. The second truth was that everything was a tool for her use, even allies. In this case, two very powerful allies.

Finally she had reached the meeting place, Lee was already there- most evident by the large weapons he carried across his back in an X formation. Out of her two allies, she was most intrigued to know his fighting style. Storm was an Uchiha by blood and his fighting style could vary on his preferred method, but a simple truth about Uchiha was that they used fire very well and were quick with body movements. Lee on the other hand, was a figure that Sheffield had only slightly clues about- he kept his face hid behind a mask and wore the Ouroboros cloak most all the time. This prevented her from gathering too much information on him, he didn't even say much up to this point. She trusted him the least, the ones she couldn't study posed a threat to her even if they were allies. His presence made her uneasy, she needed to know more about him before determining how dangerous he was.

She approached lee from directly in front of his gaze, not wishing to walk up behind him or in his blind spot. She smiled in a friendly was, her lips curving into the deadly grin she had lured many men to their deaths with. She waved to him from a short distance away and walked casually towards him, not wanting to give off an air of intimidation, rather- she wanted to be friendly and have him underestimate her. Hello Lee, I hope I'm not too late~ she purred innocently, knowing full well that she was at least ten minutes early. Punctual, that was one thing both of them had in common. She walked closer until she stood only a few feet from him and looked around, expecting to see Storm pop up any second. Her gaze turned back to the masked man who was looking at her through his shielded expression. Not much to look at, though I bet he's the smiling type.

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Storm sat inside a small darkened wooden room, restricted from standing or movement by the objects around him. His body laid against a crate that contained many bottles within. The smell of liquor filled the air along with the distinct aroma of animal fur. The wooden house Storm was in shook uncontrollably, causing the bottles behind him to bang into each other, making a clanging sound so loud that it registered in Storm's ear over everything else around him. However loud the sound was, Storm could still pay attention long enough to note the tapping of hoofs. He could also hear the neigh of a horse, the crack of a whip, and a man grunting when ever the whip sounded. All noises were muffles under the bottles, but just loud enough for Storm to distinguish.

Soon, all noise deceased. Quiet sprayed the air as the wooden room stopped shaking. Storm turned his head to the sky, trying to forget the constant clanging that now echoed in his ear. He believed that he could hear something from outside, a distinct sound of two heavy feet hitting rocky soil. Foot steps where then made, representing a moving body walking from Storm's back to his front. The sounds where outside, so he could not tell who it was that was making the noise, but he had a clue.

"We're here," a manly voice said with a hush tone. Separating him from the source was a curtain. A hand moved through it and lifted, revealing a face with a bald head and goatee near its lips. "This is as far as I can take you," the voice continued, connecting with the movement of the face's lips.

Storm made no reply and little noise as he shimmied out of the small room. He stuck his feet through the tiny opening to the outside first, following with the rest of himself. His sandals hit the ground, his garment flowing in the breeze. He was wearing his Ouraboros robe, his regular black clothing underneath, and a large bamboo hat that stretched down to his face. His eyes adjusted to the small light above, the very large moon illuminating so much that it burned.

"Will you pay me now or stiff me?" The man said as he closed the curtain behind Storm. Storm looked back at the man, his eyes as unwavering as ever. He pulled out a coin purse and tossed it to the man. The sounds of change all together jiggling brought much delight to the mans face, making him eager to count and even bathe in the Ryo.

"That is only half of your profit."

The man looked at Storm with hatred, showing his disgust for Storm's words. "You said I will receive it all!" He shouted so loud that the even the insects where disturbed. Storm caught this quickly, then moved to the mans front, swiftly waving his hand across the mans throat. He backed away from Storm, then began choking, struggling to make words form from his lips as before. The man fell to the wagon, eyes of surprise fixated on Storm. Blood began to slowly seep from the mans neck where a thin line of opening showed. The man grabbed at his throat so as to stop the blood flow, but his expression told that he knew this wasn't enough.

In an attempt to survive, the man ran from Storm and to his front wagon seat. There he had medical supplies that would treat him. He pulled out a syringe, possibly something that would help him nullify the pain, then went digging through more of the medical supplies. At that moment, the man had blood gushing from his wound and staining his clothing. He realized this and slowly began to cry. Tears streamed as fast as blood while his eyes started to cut from reality. The man fell over to the ground a second later, eyes as black as death.

"What a shame, I lost my only ride out of this... hell." Storm took off his bamboo hat and revealed his cold and human-less expression. He looked at the man who was now down on the ground, as motionless as lifeless. "What a shame indeed."

Storm turned his head to look at the forest in front of him, leaving the dead body behind. He lifted his feet off the ground, visualized his destination, then disappeared into the forest. He raced from tree branch to tree branch, moving in a less impressive speed. He wasn't moving very fast, all to conserve energy, but he would still be a little bit tired once he showed at the meeting location because of how far he had to travel. Unlike the others, Storm could not walk into Shipuugakure without the slightest worry of an Uchiha ninja suddenly attacking him. So he decided to avoid the village all together, start from the opposite side of Shipuu, and slowly make his way towards the meeting point using the long route. This was the  perfect option for him. It allowed him to avoid the need to stay close to the village borders, and make sure that he was not followed.

When he would finally get to the meeting sight, he would breath a little heavy, trying to lose his exhaustion. The journey was long, but thankfully for him, Storm had started early. So by the time it was time for everyone to meet, he was not late. Instantly did he catch a glimpse of Sheffield and Lee, and glide towards their position. "I am happy to see you two aren't sweating." Storm said to them when he finally stood near them. Was that him trying to make a joke?

His fingers then moved to form a tiger seal, charging up chakra to his vocals. "Have you scouted out the area yet?" said he, addressing Lee and Sheffield. A bunch of birds began to gather above Storm's head, circling around then dispersing into trees. This was his doing, the realization being clear as a bird would fly on his shoulder and stare at his comrads.

Word Count: 983

The Ouraboros were now like a second family to the masked individual. While he might not trust them as far as his knowledge went on each of them, he did know that they were not simple pushovers and that was something that he looked for, in all things. Be it people or objects such as weaponry. One needed to be able to weather the storm and even if at first they could not, if he could nurture such a thing, then it would be worth the venture.

He was one that might find those that others would think to be weak or misguided and cultivate them into loyal subjects. Loyal enough to follow him into certain unknowns that the normal person would never dream. To follow that one person into the depths of hell itself and so long as that one person was there, still weathering the flames, so would they. It was not an army that he longed for, that would be useless bodies that would do nothing but get in his way.

He needed the Ouraboros for their ability to traverse around and to have that ability to look overall intimidating upon contact. This was something that he would use to the best of his ability to get to his overall goal. It was not his only goal, he also used the Ouraboros to use their contacts to keep an eye out for rare swords, such as the Seven Swords of the Sages. Just the thought of the weapons in his hands was enough to actually get him excited but he was quickly brought back into the here and now as the first voice would speak out to him.

The swordsmen would turn his attention toward the woman that was of the Ouraboros and someone he would have to saw that he was interested in, though she was not the only one. She seemed nice in her reply and who was he to judge otherwise. He would nod his head in her direction in a sincere greeting of his own "No, you are actually ahead of schedule which in this case, is a good thing." He would continue to look at her as she moved closer and it brought up things, one of said things was just how much he could trust the Ouraboros themselves.

Surely he wouldn't have to worry about getting back stabbed in the midst of a mission but he was not above the thought that he would be thrown to the wolves if it meant the mission or furthermore further their reputation but these were not things that he needed in his mind during this. He needed to focus on his own survival and keeping his teammates alive when it came down to it, it would aim to further his skills and his resolve. It was then that he heard the voice of their third and final companion.

Storm came up speaking of how good it was that they were not sweating. While indeed it was not the coldest of weathers that he enjoyed but thanks to his bloodline limit, temperature was not something that concerned him. Lee would then listen as he continued about if they had scouted the area to which the masked individual would reply with movement.

He would reach into the inner part of his cloak and lowly withdraw a rolled up piece of paper "I have not scouted the immediate area but I have this which should come in handy." He would unravel the paper to show an illustration of some sort but upon closer inspection, one would take note of the recently drawn in lines stating the certain areas on the drawing. A drawing of the complex that was the dojo to which they were to have their mission.

Spoiler:

"I was able to...obtain this for our betterment." He held it out for either of them to take or look upon. While it did not have the entire area, he figured that he knowledge of at least the layout would aid them greatly and cause them to have a easier time once inside the compound.

WordCount: 687 + 182 = 869

Sheffield had continued to remain near Lee, not saying anything but enjoying the silence. Both were practical people, killers and manipulators to an extent. Both desired useful allies and tools, willing to cultivate them for their own causes. In this case, it was mutual cultivation- Lee and Sheffield were enigmas and got along very well on a fundamental level, interaction or not. I do not know much about this man, but I get the feeling that he may be useful. I wonder if I could trust him... she thought to herself. So. You know of me. What do you know? she asked in very flat tone, not at all too happy someone knew of her. She was referring tot he other day when Lee recognized her during her first official introduction.

After that, Storm would appear. he was wearing the usual Ouroboros garb and slowed his pace. Sheffield could tell that he had been in a hurry to arrive on time: His anticipation in gait and the sweat on him told her as much. She greeted him with a wave of the hand and took a step away from Lee to position herself at a more neutral distance between both of them. Whether that sparked any feelings of dominance or rivalry between the two males, that was up to their own rationale or irrational minds and how exactly they felt about her. Ever the manipulator, Sheffield enjoyed the silent games she played.

I have already scouted out a bit myself on the way here. In light of this mission the other day, I had visited the compound as a possible candidate. In which time, I had infected a couple of them with my chakra. On the way here, I used a nifty Genjutsu to check their dreams and comb for intelligence. She paused for a moment t let the seriousness sink in. A good number of the disciples are asleep yet, though their time for daily wake up is soon. We should move quickly and strike them while they are unprepared. It was good news that a majority were unprepared for combat, namely because they were sleeping. Whether the three Ouroboros members wishes to strike them silently and swiftly or strike sudden and harsh: that had yet to be decided.

Storm had begun his own method of gathering information as Lee pulled out a rough map of the compound and allowed both Storm and Sheffield to look upon it. It wasn't really necessary for Sheffield since she had been here jut a day or so ago, but a refresher never hurt. She would lean back and stand straight after a moment of studying the map. Her bosom standing firm in her leather outfit underneath the cloak. She began to take the cloak off, disliking the flashy nature of it. She was an assassin after all. She folded it up and sealed it away, her body now easily seen and a fair bit of skin showing. We should decide our roles before entering. The targets are many, some skilled and some unskilled: though all are atleast Special Jounin with the exception of the wife and son. I recommend having the two of you make a diversion, dealing with the stronger targets first while I deal with the weaker foes silently. afterwards we can all three deal with the master himself.

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