Collaboration(B-rank Mission: Thug Mobsters)[Kakusa,Ren'ai]

Kakusa Makoto ;;Jounin ;; Tsukigakure ;; Male

Kakusa was escorted outside by the village anbu, he wore his usual grin with pride. There was a feeling of victory in his heart that he had accomplished what he wanted to. The Uchiha girl must be thinking that it was outrageous that she was being sent on a B-rank mission. More ever, she had to look after a ‘defenseless civilian’; that must be getting on her nerves. ”I wonder if she’ll even go to this mission. It seems hardly likely that she’ll disobey the orders of her officials but this is just the perfect time for a human’s true nature to surface. Oh how wonderful it would be if that happened”. Just the thought of her going against the authorities and going berserk made him ‘excited’.

He made his way back to where the two had departed: in front of the Uchiha elder’s house. While he walked his mind was formulating the possible strategies to deal with this mission. Of course he wanted to keep his participation to a minimum but it wouldn’t be possible against stronger foes. There was a rumor about the mission leader as well: he was a rogue shinobi. Not only that but also the other two were also in a league of their own and Ren’ai would have her handful with each of them. Even if she was able to take down one of them somehow, the other won’t have much problem with her then. That’ll most likely be the perfect time for Kakusa to step in. This however was only a hypothesis, just a basic structure, he would devise the real strategy based on what happened.

By the time the large doors opened, Kakusa had arrived and was awaiting Ren’s return. ”I got the Kage’s approval for a B-rank mission for us, what about you? did the elder approve of it?” he inquired from the Uchiha beauty. After the two united, he wanted to go back to the inn he was staying in and collect his cape. The cape would prove most useful for him since it would enable him to help Ren’ai without her noticing. Kakusa was a genjutsu user and an efficient one at that, so the less she knew the better for him. ”Before we depart on our journey, I’d like to go to the inn to pick up a few things. If you want to bring something along then you go take care of that and we’ll regroup at the village gate”, said Kakusa as he began to take command of the situation.

For a moment he felt that it may give off the fact that he was the senior in the mission and he was uncomfortable with that. His cover was of a weak civilian scientist, if he took command or gave orders then that definitely wouldn’t go along with his disguise. Thinking it over he thought that she might not interpret it that way, it was still an annoying possibility though. ”If she found out too early, it would ruin the fun for me. I need to be more careful, I can’t let her know just yet”. He scratched the back of his head and smiled in an awkward manner, ”That is what we should do, right Ren’ai-chan?”. That was his way of making a comeback and covering up the mistake he almost made.

Location;; Shipuugakure
Muse;;8 /10
Word Count;; 557
Tags;; Kakusa, Ren’ai, B-rank Mission
OOC;;

Template (c) Yuki Seika

Ren scoffed softly, shaking her head as she went over the little meeting with the Umikage; he had given her a B Rank mission and expected her to protect a civilian scientist the whole time? Ren had expected a D Rank mission, or maybe even a C Rank mission... but a B Rank mission? She was a Genin and being sent on a Special Jounin level mission! Her sharringan powers were not even active yet.. how did they expect her to compete with shinobi several ranks above her? If the Umikage hadn't given me this mission themselves, I would have thought this was an elaborate prank or something... Ren thought to herself as she headed back to the Uchiha compound to where she had last seen Kakusa.

She had the permission from both her Clan leader and the Umikage for such a mission- possibly the Clan leader assumed that such a trying mission would surely stir something within the talented girl and evoke the powerful emotions to awaken her sharringan powers. She arrived a bit before Kakusa had and was standing idly by while she waited, her thoughts full of how difficult this mission would be. Her perplexed expression was evident on her face, her hands were sweaty with both excitement and dread at the thought of the mission. She had killed before, several times and all on missions similar as this. She had killed without mercy or hesitation- and she wouldn't this time either. Even still, she had to plan carefully. Now that the life of a civilian was in her hands, she had to plan more wisely. Surely the civilian dying on the mission would prove the mission a failure, even if she did manage to slay the three thugs.

Finally Kakusa arrived, smiling a little as if knowing he would get what he wanted; sure enough, he had indeed been given the permission and was now passively excited. Yeah. It looks like you will be accompanying me on this mission; please understand that this is a dangerous mission and I expect you to follow my commands without rebuttal, otherwise I cannot guarantee your life. I don't want my new friend to die so easily. Her voice was more serious than ever and her face not full of cheer as Kakusa had normally seen it. Though her facial expression of determination and the way she spoke with conviction, would tell Kakusa that the young girl was confident that she could accomplish the mission while keeping him alive. If he listened to her.

Then Kakusa had said he needed to grab a few things, even going as far as to suggest they meet at the front gate once both party members were ready for the short trip. She didn't mind his suggestion, it was smart, something a leader would say. Maybe if Kakusa had chosen a shinobi life, he could have made a valuable leader; possibly even a Jounin or at least Special Jounin by now. She eyed him, curious about what kind of man he would be during the midst of combat... hopefully calm and collected as he was now, nearly never breaking his seeming façade of emotional mask. He disturbed her a bit on a personal level with how he could be friendly towards her one moment, and then emotionally detached the next. I have a few things to grab, Kakusa-san. I will meet you at the gate after I tell my senpai Kazu Uchiha that I will be gone for a day or so on a difficult mission. She explained and then bounded off towards the home she lived in alone.

Word count- 605

Kakusa Makoto ;;Jounin ;; Tsukigakure ;; Male

”Thank you for taking me along with you, I’ll do my best to follow your instructions to the dot”, replied Kakusa upon receiving Ren’s instructions. Her tone was quite serious, so she was actually worried about his safety. The other interesting thing was that her demeanor reflected the confidence she had in her abilities. Not for a moment did it appear that she thought she would fail. Was she naïve? No, she didn’t look the type. She was more of the determined type, who managed to accomplish even the impossible by sheer willpower. This wasn’t according to what Kakusa had hoped would happen but that made it all the more interesting. Kakusa wasn’t the type to listen to anyone, unless it was for his own gain. This situation demanded that he listen to her, only then could he attain what he wanted, so he decided to play along.

”Kazu Senpai? A veteran Uchiha, Hmm. I wonder what kind of guy he is?”, for a moment his mind lingered. Ren’ai was an interesting Uchiha and a prodigy at that, he wondered how her teacher would be. If he could find the time, may be he’ll go visit this person after returning from this mission. Ren hadn’t even unlocked the first stage of her sharingan, her teacher must be some exceptional person. So it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that this person had quite a few stages unlocked of his sharingan. Those eyes would be very interesting to see in person. ”Alright then, see you in a bit” said Kakusa as he departed.

After separating once again he headed outside the Uchiha clan’s area, heading towards the inn. Along the way, he looked around but mentally he was lost in a different world. He was working through the provided details of the mission, devising a strategy. Each time he engaged in battle, his way of fighting was the one that required the least effort and produced the most results. His specialty really complemented his fighting style also his clan’s abilities went along with it as well. As long as Ren would think that she can handle the situation, Kakusa intended to stay out of it. Only when she was pushed to the very edge, would he step in. He wondered whether she was able to pull it off on her own, a genin going at a B-rank mission wasn’t normal. He too was a prodigy when he was young, even as a genin he had done chunin rank missions. This however, wasn’t that it was something that demanded a lot more. A normal genin wouldn’t even dare attempt such a mission but here she was thinking that she might be able to pull it off.

Kakusa arrived at the inn’s front door after a little walk. Walking inside he was greeted by the smiling inn owner, ”Welcome back sir, should we prepare lunch?”. He shook his head in reply, ”No thank you, I will be skipping lunch. I’m heading off somewhere, so I might not return for a day or two. Here’s the rent in advance.” Kakusa paid the rent for the next three days just in case. He went up to his room, grabbed his cape and walked back outside. He hadn’t brought along any kunai or shuriken so for this mission he had nothing but his skills to rely on. Not that he relied on anything else than those anyway but those things made everything pretty easier. After that he headed for the village gates, he had collected what he wanted to.

Location;; Shipuugakure
Muse;; 8/10
Word Count;; 593
Tags;; Kakusa, Ren’ai
OOC;;

Template (c) Yuki Seika

Ren didn't plan to be gone long; the mission wouldn't be too far away from the main village; but a few essentials were definitely necessary. Chances are, they would be gone two days at the most & that was if the mission was a success. If not, it didn't really matter because they would both be dead; so there was no point in taking a lot of belongings. Taking a lot of stuff would only slow them down, hinder their ability to track and possibly even escape or remain hidden if necessary. Hmm, let's see. Maybe one change of clothing and my sleeping bag. I can always hunt for deer or something in the woods when we need to eat... but I could probably bring a few snacks to sustain our energy while we travel.

Lots of things went through Ren's head, making sure she wasn't forgetting anything. She laid her sleeping bag out and put a change of clothes inside, identical to what she was wearing; then she put in some packaged granola bars and a frying pan with a bottle of cooking out. A few seasonings were tossed into the sleeping bag and then she rolled it up tight and tied it to her waist as a small pouch. Small and maneuverable was best, carrying bulky things would just slow her down.

After she was all set, she replenished her little ninja pouch with kunai and shurrikens as she then logged the door to her little home and bounded off towards where she figured her senpai Kazu would be. She would greet him in more of a friendly way than a proper way, though still plenty respectful as an accomplished Uchiha shinobi. She explained to him that she was being sent on a B Rank mission with protecting a civilian, but she was in too much of a hurry to really catch any reaction from him. She left the area and quickly headed towards the front gate; she looked at the sun to guess the amount of time had passed and figured that Kakusa might arrive just as she got there.

Not exactly right, he was already there when she arrived, a little short of breathe from running. She noticed that he was a very punctual man, always arriving a little bit early each time they met- that was a good quality in a person. Alright, Kakusa-san. Are you ready to go? She would ask, a bit excited but in controlled amounts. This was her first B Rank mission and it would not be easy, let alone protect a civilian; if she was successful, this would bring her clan much praise. She didn't care about the praise too much herself, everything she did was reflected for her clan's glory.

Ren was a kind girl, trusting and a bit naïve in the difficulties of facades, but she was intelligent and made up for her short-comings in skill and willpower. Unlike most of her clan members, she focused her power and skill through love. Hatred was much easier to grow into and become something normal, but Ren wasn't that kind of person, she was very altruistic and loyal.

After Kakusa told her he was all ready, she would pull out a mini-map and show him the marker and a red line that as to be their intended direction. She pointed out several important land features to help the "unexperienced" civilian identify their travel and understand how a map worked. They began their travel, which would take them about eight hours by foot to get there, they would probably stop four or five times to rest and drink water- but it'd be a fun trip as Ren would explain to Kakusa about several tips of molding chakra and a few of her own insightful experiences with elemental affinities. She thought she was telling him something useful and interesting as a scientist, being completely unaware that he knew all of this and was much beyond her shill level.

Word count- 666!

Kakusa Makoto ;;Jounin ;; Tsukigakure ;; Male

Now he was dressed in the same manner as he first met Ren’ai, the only difference was the bag. He was wearing his glasses, the cape and had his notebook along with him. He didn’t intend to take any notes but he could pretend to do so anyways. So the only instrument or weapon he had on him was that, not exactly very useful but for someone as resourceful as him, even that was enough. Kakusa never was the patient type so he always tried to be early than on time. Ren’ai wasn’t one to waste time either, he didn’t have to wait long when she arrived. Before she did, he had already notified the village gate guards about his identity and had asked them to keep it hush hush. ”Yes, I think I’m ready”, the uncertainty in his words was to show the unease of a novice going for a mission; just another attempt at deception.

He stared at the map listening to Ren as she explained how to get to their destination. His disguise had really played well, she thought of him as a civilian researcher and hence unaware of what to do. Kakusa already knew how to get there so he paid little attention to her words, he paid more attention to how she explained it. This girl was innocent, caring and respectful towards him. She was the kind of girl he would hate because she was one of those people. People who hid behind such veils only to hide their true self, only to tell themselves that they weren’t the monsters that they actually were. People who believed that monsters only existed in closets or underneath the bed but the truth was, the real monsters were inside them. He couldn’t fathom how much he would enjoy unveiling her true self. When the veils of kindness and care would disappear and the true beast would raise its head.

She was supposed to be a prodigy of a clan who in his mind was cursed to hate. Only when they hate would they grow stronger, so how could she not? It was only a matter of time when she too would walk the same path as any other Uchiha. That was what he wanted to witness by his own eyes, that’s why he was taking so much time with her. The more thorough he was, the more satisfying it would be for him.

After the explanation before the two could set off, Kakusa extended his hand, ”Alright, give it here” he said. His hand was pointing at her bag. Being a civilian researcher it was only fitting that he would carry the luggage since she had plenty to do: do the mission and keep him safe. Even the real him wasn’t a sexist, he considered both genders to be equal and in this case, he wasn’t being one either. Besides her kunai and shuriken, Kakusa would continuously insist until she would finally give in and he would carry her luggage. After that the two would set off, heading towards their destination.

Along the way, while he listened to what she said about chakra molding and her insight about it, he had his guard up. They weren’t up against normal foes and if he slipped up it would be troublesome. The kage knew that he was the higher rank and in truth, it was he who was responsible for Ren’s life. If anything were to happen her, it would be his neck. As long as she wasn’t caught off guard though, he wasn’t going to step in. After walking for five hours straight, finally their first stop was now near. The luggage wasn’t heavy, he was used to carrying around such weights when he went on missions. However, he was pretending to be a researcher and if he wasn’t troubled with the load, it would be suspicious. So he kept wiping his head off as if it was sweating and he kept tripping every once in a while so as to pretend that he was struggling with it. He was also trying to pretend to be a gentleman, so he didn’t say a word about it though. He was sure that Ren’ai must’ve picked up on all these little details; she was a shinobi after all and an Uchiha at that.

Location;; Outskirts of Shipuugakure
Muse;; 8/10
Word Count;; 722
Tags;; Kakusa, Ren’ai
OOC;;

Template (c) Yuki Seika

Ren had been surprised when Kakusa insisted to take her bag and carry it; at first she refused in a very solid way, but Kakusa kept insisting. Finally she agreed, knowing that as a civilian, he would be more useful as a pack mule than a fighter. She wanted to be able to show him she could carry her own weight, but had to agree that if he carried the luggage, she could focus more on the mission and combat. She handed him the bag, fortunate for him, it wasn't heavy at all- even luckier that she didn't pack as many things as a normal girl would. She was more practical than girly, yet still quite beautifully fragile looking.

She continued to discuss the map and chakra molding with her new friend as they continued to travel. She enjoyed "teaching" him things that she thought might be useful to him in the future; incase he ever got in a fight with a Genin at least, maybe he could deter them from trying to bully him. She hoped as much at least, not knowing he could do so much more. Finally, after running out of useful information and tips for her new friend, she folded up the map and put it away. She had studied the map enough to ascertain the land feature without looking at the map anymore. She fell silent after about five hours of travel, knowing they were within the danger zone now. Her careful movements could have told Kakusa that they were near the end of the first half of their journey.

Even though they were close, Ren had noticed Kakusa wiping his brow and slowing down a bit, Poor guy must be tired; doesn't have the stamina like a shinobi.. He is carrying my bag, might as well give him a bit of a rest before we run into trouble. Wouldn't want him too tired to run away if necessary. Ren stopped suddenly and pointed to a clearing along the side of the road that was covered by a lair of bushes, We'll rest here for a bit and get our strength back, can't have us too tired to fight if we run into the thugs suddenly. She would explain and go to the clearing, she checked the immediate area but saw nothing.

She finally sat down on a log and motioned for Kakusa to stand close as she pulled out some granola bars from her bag and handed a couple to Kakusa. She chewed slowly on a granola bar herself and thought about how her strategy would work while carrying a civilian with her. Ren's battle tactics could be effective, but maybe a bit violent or over the top as well. She didn't want to get her new friend caught up in the fray either. Still, something didn't feel right.

A shadow in the background had been following them for over a mile now, two shadows at that. They were swift and skilled, silently moving about and trying to listen in on Ren's discussion; all they heard were bits of a discussion about map reading and a little chakra moldings. So, this young girl was a shinobi then... couldn't be more than maybe a Chuunin, although she had a very developed body. A smile crept across one of the shadow's faces, reflected by the other shadow not too far away; it was time that they ended the tracking and introduced themselves.

Thug 1 moved at a rapid speed, stopping just short of Ren'ai and behind her back; his sword drawn and raised. With one quick swipe, he brought his steel blade down in a clean cut right through Ren's body. He grinned, waiting for the blood to spray- his smile faded in confusion though as her body suddenly turned into a wooden log, which he had chopped clean in half. Kakusa would have been standing in front of Ren and noticed the movement; but as a shinobi, Ren had picked up on being tracked, abeit not too far back.

As a replacement, Ren had substituted herself behind the assailant; she performed some quick handseals while yelling to Kakusa, Roll to your right & find some cover! She yelled at Kakusa in a demanding and urgent way; the thug would back-swing with his sword at Kakusa as the thug turned to face Ren. By the time he turned around, there were three Ren'ai- all three of them ran towards the thug and performed handseals. All three clones pulled out a small foldable fan from between their revealing cleavage and waved it in an exaggerated manor.

A gust of wind picked up and sand began to blow out from the fan, dashing into the eyes of the ex-shinobi and rapidly lairing the area in sand. This would make it difficult for the swordsman to move about and keep his balance for skilled techniques. That wasn't all though; the second shadow moved in on Ren'ai's movements as she created the sandstorm. With three clones, the second swordsman had a thirty three percent chance of getting it right. He guessed wrong though, his sword slicing through air as his blade passed through a clone without harm. Ren noticed his movements to her right shoulder and leapt to the side to evade a second chop. The sand slowed his feet movement and allowed Ren'ai to evade the swing fully.

By the time she evaded the second swing, the first thug had dislodged the sand from his eyes and lunged straight at her prior position, now standing side-by-side with his thug ally. Ren's eyes glowed red as she was mid-air, performing quick and skilled handseals; she brought her hands up to her mouth and released a large fireball from her lips and directed it to the centered position of the two thugs. She kept her hands up though as she fell backwards, a sudden burst of air being released from her lips and propelling her backwards and sending the fireball even faster towards the thugs, increasing the size of the flames that the wind emblazed. Between the sand layer beneath their feet and the sudden increase in size and speed of the fireball; the two thugs had little choice but to accept tie fireball head-on as they tensed up suddenly, fearful for underestimating the young girl.

She landed lightly on her feet in the sand, happy to see that her elaborate trick had worked; there was more to her trick than appeared though. The two burning swordsmen were staggering about with their clothes on fire; their flames giving off a special scent of cherry that Ren really enjoyed. The mission had spoken of three swordsmen though, three thugs that worked together and only to had brazenly attacked her; which meant the third was close by. The cherry scent of the flames carried a special powder with it, a powder from the small pouch on her fan that assisted her with genjutsu. She figured the third thug, the leader- was near and could smell the powder.

While the two burning shinobi burned, they also were stuck in a Genjutsu about them burning. The leader would smell the powder and be stuck in a Genjutsu about him burning. Likely screaming out in agony and giving away his position; though he was likely skilled enough to figure out the flames weren't real.

Word count- 1,228
Chakra pool- 60/100

jutsu:

Last edited by Kakusa on Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:24 pm; edited 1 time in total

Kakusa Makoto ;;Jounin ;; Tsukigakure ;; Male

Kakusa stood beside Ren’ai as she took out some stuff she had brought along. He had been having this feeling for quite a while now, something like the two were being followed. However, he had been cautious and had been looking around, so far nothing had caught his attention. This worried him even more, his intuition or gut feeling was usually correct so this meant that the enemy was quite skilled at being stealthy. It could also mean that since there’s a first time for everything, this time his sixth sense was wrong. Either way he couldn’t help but remain at unease, there was something near that had hostile intentions towards them. His animalistic instincts could sense it.

Sadly though, his sixth sense wasn’t wrong, two swordsmen appeared from out of nowhere and attacked. The Uchiha girl’s first order of business was to tell Kakusa to take cover. Indeed she was a pretty caring girl to think about the defenseless civilian in the heat of battle. ”Fast”, the both of them were. They were as fast as Kakusa himself, so they should be faster for Ren’ai to take on. May be this was the time for him to step in instead of back out. Their attacks were sudden and quite brutal, he decided to make his move and take them on. Ren’ai though, wasn’t one to be taken down so easily. Instead in a moment, she had already turned the tables on the attackers. Kakusa had stepped aside, he was still quite close to them, contrary to what Ren’ai had asked him to do.

If she slipped up or if the two got the upper hand, then he needed to be at a distance at which he could help her. Currently, his cover didn’t matter it was Ren’s life since his true identity was already known. He couldn’t slip up, not even for an instant. If she was hurt badly or worst, if she suffered a permanent injury it would be his neck. So far, he had maintained a perfect record and he intended to keep it that way. His shinobi life would not be stained by the word of failure, only then could he attain his true goal.

In a quick succession of movements and jutsus, the battle was already over. It seemed a bit too fast though, would these two be taken out so easily? ”Hmm.. huh? Behind me. “ he tried to turn but the swordsman was already behind him. It appeared that when Ren’ai launched her big final attack, both of them had used substitution jutsu. Now one of them was behind Kakusa, holding a sword at his neck from behind, hence holding him hostage. The other swordsman had appeared behind Ren’ai and was holding his katana at her neck in the same manner. The back of the swordsman had been burned a little because they weren’t able to substitute right at that instant. Once again, the tables were turned. ”Even though the attempt was impressive at first but useless. You’re gifted but reckless, kind of a waste of talent. It’s about time I stepped in then.”

”The trigger for you will be eye contact” he thought as he looked into the eyes of the swordsman who had Ren’ai captive. That set in the trigger for the genjutsu he planned on using on him. While he attacked his demeanor was still calm, he didn’t move at all nor did he stop grinning. ”Ren’ai-chan, I think I owe you an apology and an explanation” he said as he slowly turned his hand towards his back. The genjutsu that he had cast on the first swordsman (the one holding Ren’ai) was a bit delayed. So, for a little while that swordsman didn’t feel anything. In that time span, he moved his hand to the back, which was hidden from plain sight because of the cape. Black colored surface appeared on the palm of his hand and turned into the shape of a small dagger.

Two things happened simultaneously: the swordsman behind Ren’ai let her go and began to scream, ”what is this? What’s going on? How did he turn into ants? Where are all these ants coming from??!!”. While he did that, Kakusa moved swiftly and his hand shoved right through his cape and into the left kidney of his captor. He had knowledge of medical ninjutsu, so he had some know how about the human body. Despite being unable to directly look at it, he was able to calculate where the vital spot would be. To make sure though, he didn’t only stab him but also dragged the black colored blade across a bit. The second swordsman fell to the ground and his katana dropped at Kakusa’s feet. ”You see Ren’ai-chan, I didn’t tell you the entire truth about myself, for that I apologize”, he picked up the katana at his feet and headed towards the first swordsman. ”My name truly is Kakusa Makoto and I really am a researcher and a scientist by nature but that’s not my complete identity”, he plunged the katana into the heart of the first swordsman. The attack was sudden, precise and efficient, hence it silenced his screams. ”I am also a jounin of Tsukigakure” he said as he picked up the other katana and sheathed both of them.

Kakusa turned and looked at the swordsman he had injured, he had decided not to kill both of them. They were supposed to either kill or bring these thugs for interrogation, he and Ren’ai would do both. It would be inconvenient for the two to carry both of them, so he killed one. Now this one was gravely injured, so it wasn’t possible for him to do anything. It shouldn’t prove too difficult for him to carry this one back to the village. Then he returned his gaze to Ren’ai, ”I didn’t lie to the kage about myself, this is why we got this mission. About your village elder, I didn’t mean any disrespect. Considering his age and experience, he most certainly knows who I am, so that doesn’t count as deception either. So in my book, I only owe you an apology. This was meant as a prank, a humble joke, I hope you can overlook it” the grinning fiend sure did enjoy himself. He was holding both the katana from the swordsman, the two swords looked quite nice. At first he decided to keep them with him but then thought a better use for them.

Location;; Shipuugakure
Muse;; 9/10
Word Count;; 1086
Tags;; Kakusa, Ren’ai
Chakra;; 235/255
OOC;;

Jutsu used:

Template (c) Yuki Seika

Ren had stood confident but careful, knowing the leader of the thugs was still unaccounted for. Yet she had great enjoyment seeing the two skilled swordsmen burning; her somber smile changed suddenly- as their screaming stopped abruptly and their bodies turned into logs. Substitution! This caught her off guard, fully expecting to have gotten the drop on the thugs who had thought they had gotten the drop on her. Even though she had her guard up, she hadn't counted on these two skilled swordsmen being able to outwit her in such a fast amount of time. She had been paying more attention to the surroundings than the actual thugs, so by the time she realized they were substituted, it was already too late.

She gulped hard, feeling hot steel against her throat. Guess this is it.. I should have tried a bit harder, sorry Kakusa-san.. She thought to herself, then smiled a grim smile as she could feel the hotness of the blade against her throat. By looking at the thug who held Kakusa hostage, she could tell that the two thugs hadn't fully escaped her reckless counter-attack. He was covered in burns, Ren could only guess that the one behind her with the sword was likewise because of the heated temperature of his sword against her throat. The only regret she had, was getting the civilian caught up in this ridiculous mission. If there was anything she could do right then, she wasn't too sure- surely she could somehow let Kakusa escape?

No, that wasn't possible. With his being a civilian and unskilled in fighting, he wouldn't stand a chance... not even with escaping, he had been carrying all their supplies and had already been slowed down and tired. She looked defiantly at the thug holding Kakusa hostage, not showing him any fear- these two thugs would undoubtedly kill Kakusa without hesitation; but what would they do with such a young girl with a gifted body? She shuddered a little at the thought but remained as calm as possible, not giving the thugs the satisfaction of gloating over her fear.

One thing puzzled her though, she had fully expected Kakusa to show fear... or even beg for his life since he wasn't actually a ninja. His face was calm and composed though, maybe showing a little concern- she knew he was a controlled man, but didn't death bother him at all? Especially when having his life in the hands of such an incompetent female shinobi?

Ren's face suddenly went from slight confusion, to a bizarre dumb-struck expression as Kakusa spoke up despite being held hostage; even further that he was apologizing to her for some unknown reason. She had started to respond with, It's okay Kaku- but she stopped short as the thug holding her hostage suddenly let go and backed up and started yelling about ants. Quicker than Ren'ai could register in her shock, Kakusa had stabbed the thug holding him hostage and gutted him. By the time Ren had noticed the movements, the thug had already fallen backwards, dropped his sword and vainly grabbed at his belly to keep his intestines from falling out. He fell backwards and began to slowly bleed to death in a grotesque way. Kakusa picked up his sword and swiftly plunged it through the thugs heart and silencing his painfully fearful screams, begging not to die.

It was brutal and efficient, but she understood why. What she didn't fully understand, was why her new friend had hidden his true identity. He explained it as a prank- quite the serious prank... but maybe he and the Umikage had just wanted to test her? She assumed it was that; Ren knew almost every shinobi in Shippuugakure and their ranks... it would have been hard to find a shinobi in the village that she didn't know if. So she deduced that the Umikage had gone to Tsukigkure for a trusted and skilled shinobi to take her on this mission and test her.

At first, she was mad; but the situation was nearly over and she was just relieved that both of them had lived. They would take this thug back to Shippuugakure for interrogation and get the reward for the mission. It was nice to know that Kakusa was a skilled shinobi; she had more respect for him now. She suddenly felt embarrassed, for sharing such useless information to him along the trip, showing him just how inexperienced she really was compared to him.

I'll forgive you this time, Kakusa-san~ She teased him a little, but also letting his know she didn''t appreciate being deceived, even if it was for her "own good". The sudden realization of Kakusa's true identity had thrown her attention spam for a loop; the sudden screams of the thug leader not too far away caught her attention. The man fell from behind a thick tree, he crawled on the ground and rolled in the dirt and grass as if he was trying to extinguish invisible flames. The cherry smell from Ren's burning flames had indeed caught up with the thug leader and caught him inside the burning Genjutsu she had intended to catch all three of them in. Luck was on her side and the thug leader had been within range.

She reacted quickly, her temper flaring and her skill kicking in before her judgment could weigh the importance of the man. He was skilled, more skilled than her and she didn't want the battle to turn in the thug's favor if he managed to break the Genjutsu. She turned and faced him as he staggered to his feet and patted desperately at his body. Her ands began to move in quick succession, moving into a second jutsu before she finished the hand seals. She suddenly raised both hands into the air and pulled in the wind between her fingertips; small blades of condensed wind collected and then one by one, weaved into one another into one giant blade of wind.

She threw both of her hands forward in an exaggerated manner suddenly and brought one of her hands to her mouth as her mouth bulged with elemental chakra. She loosened the grip on her hand as she opened her lips and released a sudden violent stream of flames. The flamethrower from her lips connected with the blade of wind, the continual stream of flames becoming a dangerous blaze as it danced with the wind and invigorated the flames into a blazing inferno blade. The blazing blade of fiery wind rocketed forward as the thug leader stood there, unaware of the danger he was in- the attack sliced him clean in half, passing through him and exploding into the dirt behind him as the flames singed his two body parts to an ashen corpse that smoldered on the ground.

Ren panted as she leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees- feeling the fatigue from using up so much chakra in such a short time. She breathed for a moment and let the last wisps of her fiery chakra escape her lips so she could taste fresh air again instead of ashes. She stood up straight and looked at Kakusa in a blank expression- half between wanting to apologize for destroying the prime suspect for interrogation... and halfway telling him that her recklessness was skilled, even if reckless in itself. Before you object to me killing that man; we already have one of our three targets. No need to carry around the extra weight, though the leader would have been more useful.

Now they just had to get back to the village, it had been a long day of travel and even if they travelled all night, they wouldn't get back until early the next morning. Travelling in the dark was dangerous, especially with a prisoner- but sleeping was also dangerous with a prisoner. They needed their strength though, at least Ren did from using up almost all her chakra. We should move away from this spot and find a more suitable position for camping. I need a couple hours of sleep to regain my strength before we travel back to Shippuugakure.

Word count- 1,362
Chakra pool- 30/100

Spoiler:

Kakusa Makoto ;;Jounin ;; Tsukigakure ;; Male

As expected, Ren’ai was a kind hearted girl so she looked over his ‘prank’. The third remaining target was the leader, after being located the Uchiha girl didn’t waste a moment. This time she was right on spot but as reckless as before. However, this time she produced results and sliced the opponent in half. This third target was supposed to be the leader of the previous two and hence even stronger but he couldn’t do a thing. Kakusa couldn’t help but be impressed by how she had done that. Using air to boost up her fire type jutsu hence producing devastating results, this was no ordinary feat. ”I may have underestimated you a bit, you might be reckless but you’ve earned the title of a prodigy. How interesting..”.

Kakusa wasn’t interested in taking the leader as a prisoner since they had already taken one captive. It was true that the leader would provide much more useful information but he still was expendable. So he wasn’t much affected by the fact that she had taken out the leader. ”It’s okay, I concur. One of them alive should be enough” he replied as he grabbed the fallen swordsman and began to tie up his hands and feet. ”Now, don’t try to be smart, it’ll prove fatal” he whispered into the ear of the swordsman. His voice was cold and so was his demeanor, it sent chills down the spine of the injured foe.

Ren’s previous and current attack was amazing but had used lots of her chakra. The two couldn’t possibly return to the village with her in this condition. ”I wasn’t planning on returning either. I’ll carry him and your luggage, you just focus on resting. I’ll keep watch, so you needn’t worry about anything” said Kakusa as he picked up the shinobi on his shoulder and in his other hand he picked up the luggage that he was carrying earlier. Obviously there was no longer a need to pretend to be a weakling. Now that his disguise was gone, he could return to normal. Well almost normal, he wanted her to think of him as a firm, calm and kind person. The more idealistic he was in her mind, the better it would be for his future plans.

After that Kakusa began to head in the direction of the thick forest, the better place to camp would be among the trees. Walking after an hour or so, the two would arrive at a spot suitable to camp out. Kakusa let go of the swordsman who fell on the ground, due to blood loss the poor guy had lost conscious. The fall woke him up but he didn’t had the energy to complain or struggle. He placed the bag on the ground, so Ren’ai could do what she wanted to do. ”This spot should be okay. You can set up camp but refrain from lighting a fire, I’ll take a look around, just to be safe”, he looked at the swordsman and the knots he had tied. The rope was sturdy and it didn’t look that he could break out of them, so he went ahead. Climbing on to a nearby tree, he headed straight for the top. Using chakra to balance himself, Kakusa ran along the side of the tree. In a minute, he was at the highest branch. The cover of the dark had already fallen, if anyone was around there were sure to have something to light their way.

Being an Onmyoton, he was used to the dark, lighting a fire was considered a text book mistake. In such darkness, it was a bull-z-eye sign, just asking to get hit. Looking around for quite some time, he jumped and landed on his feet, next to the swordsman. ”I believe it’ll be safer here, get some rest Ren’ai-chan”.

After the Uchiha girl fell asleep, Kakusa sat on a stone next to his captive looking around time to time. There was nothing but the sound of little creatures moving around and the troubled breathing of the swordsman. When Kakusa looked at his captive their gaze met, he was bleeding and shivering because of the loss of blood. Even then, there was a grin at Kakusa’s face, this was what had caught the swordsman’s attention. ”You grin too much” said the swordsman. Kakusa cast a gaze at Ren’ai, making sure she was asleep and then he stood up walking closer to his captive. ”Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now?” he whispered. The swordsman looked at his face and noticed that he wasn’t kidding. ”I’m not sure if I want to carry you anymore. Unless you have something useful to tell to the village, you don’t deserve to live” said Kakusa as he placed his hand on one of the sheathed sword. He was still carrying both of the swords he had confiscated from his foes.

Sweat began to appear on his forehead, he was really scared. Kakusa had killed one of his comrade in front of him and was also the reason of why he was in pain. ”The leader was planning to take the Uchiha eyes, then we could use their doujutsu”, Kakusa looked into his eyes. His demeanor was calm and still unaltered but his thoughts were in chaos. ”Take the Uchiha eyes? So these eyes can be taken and then implanted? Of course, it’s so simple, it’s so stupid, why didn’t I think of it? A clan who’s ability revolves around doujutsu, their eyes are the center of their power. If I wish to attain that power, all I need is an eye”. He went back and sat on the stone again, satisfied that he had attained quite an interesting piece of information. ”yare yare, you guys were really planning an awful thing. Serves you right then, endure the pain and I’ll take you to the village. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die, I know medical ninjutsu”, this wasn’t like him. The reason behind his kindness was that he couldn’t see the face of Ren’ai, so if she was awake and heard the conversation, he made sure he was the good guy.

Now he needed her to trust him even more because he had just thought of something else. The Uchiha was most certainly an interesting clan, it had caught his attention ever since he heard about them. Based on this new piece of information, he could attain the visual capabilities of an Uchiha. His mind began to race through all the possibilities, being a specialist at genjutsu and then owning the sharingan. This was an opportunity of a lifetime and he didn’t intend to let it slide. ”A little change of plans is in order, I no longer need Ren’ai as a pawn. Whatever data I need on the Uchiha, I’ll collect it with a more direct approach. After all, all I need is an eye”, he turned and looked at the Uchiha girl that had come along with him. Maybe it was fate or it was the luck of the devil, in either case he had his eye on this prize.

The night passed away without an incident, by morning the captive was once again fainted. In order to make sure that he didn’t die, Kakusa had performed a minor surgery on him. His wound was now closed but he was far too weak to do anything. He didn’t have anything else to do and just standing around keeping watching wasn’t the most efficient way to pass time. By his estimation Ren’ai would take at least the entire night to recuperate because of the amount of chakra she had used. There were just so many similarities between Ren’ai and Izuru, even the way she used chakra. He remembered how Izuru was when they were genins and under a jounin. In missions, it was always Kakusa who was staying back and making careful calculative attacks while Izuru was always the one who jumped right at it. She was always spending her chakra recklessly but always produced results, most of the time it was because of Kakusa though. He found it ironic, Izuru had to die by his hands; in that matter he had no choice. This time, he has a choice but he won’t pull back because the outcome is worth it. Anyways, Ren’ai was not Izuru and whatever place she had in his mind, Ren’ai would never achieve it. ”What am I thinking? Izuru was never someone special to me!” he shook his head, the night duty was taking its tow on him. The sun had now begun to appear and the darkness was now lifting, it was almost time for Ren’ai to wake up.

In the night, he had also laid around some traps so that there would be some breakfast waiting for them. The traps were made using some rope and twigs and were designed to catch small creatures like rabbits and the likes. It wouldn’t hurt to replenish their energy before setting off on their journey to return to the village. After Ren’ai would wake up, he would go and check on those traps to see if his traps were of any use or not.

Location;; Shipuugakure
Muse;; 8/10
Word Count;; 1539
Tags;; Kakusa, Ren’ai
OOC;;

Template (c) Yuki Seika

Ren was more glad than concerned when Kakusa so easily dropped the fact that she had disposed of the most valuable information source on the mission. Likely, the report would simply explain that the leader had been killed during the fray of battle- while completely true, it was still misleading; though she found it acceptable. Things could get ugly in the middle of battle. Glorious battles recorded in history were often glamourized by those around to lessen the extent of horror and retain the victor's reputation. On some missions, it was better to tell the truth while intentionally leading the reader's mind to assume what the mission report-writer wanted.

She had done this a few times, nothing serious- but it had saved her little purse a bit of expenses caused from her reckless nature. So what if a small village's corral fence had been obliterated by one of her attacks when she was ridding the village of an overly large boar that could be classified as a monster. The mission report said that the fence had been destroyed in the midst of the frightening battle with the giant boar. It was totally true. Great! Let's set up camp somewhere nearby and rest a bit.

lets was used in a very broad sense; Kakusa had barely done anything in the battle except a decisive moment for victory, so he had plenty of chakra left. Ren on the other hand, had barely any chakra left and she was feeling the fatigue. She knew that he knew that she would need proper rest before their trek back to Shippuugakure. She took advantage of that and secured her position of a full night's rest while Kakusa would guard the prisoner. Without further convincing, Kakusa headed into the thick woods and travelled mostly silently with Ren. She was much too tired to talk and b super cheerful as she normally would, so he silence didn't bother her or seem weird.

They traveled for maybe an hour and found a decent spot; a small clearing covered on all sides by thick brush. Kakusa had secured the prisoner's bindings and then ran up the tallest tree nearby and kept a lookout of the immediate area to ensure they weren't followed. Ren emptied her sleeping bag out of the few supplies she had taken along and set them on top of a stump not too far away. She crawled inside the sleeping bag and sat in a upward position, watching the prisoner while she let her bottom scoot across the grass until she found a soft spot. She hated sleeping on rocks or roots. Finally, she smiled in a sleepy way as she found a small dip in the soft grass with course dirt.

She laid down and rolled over, though listening intently for the prisoner's movements, she didn't relax until she heard Kakusa drop down to the ground and sit near the prisoner. She turned and glanced just to be sure, then she closed her eyes and relaxed. Despite finding a good spot and being very tired; Ren had trouble sleeping because of the sunlight that was starting to fade. She didn't mind the darkness, and the cold wasn't an issue because she had a nice sleeping bag; it was mostly for the fact that she was the only one sleeping. Kakusa would be up all night guarding the prisoner, which she felt a little bad about- and the prisoner would be awake in hopes of catching Kakusa dozing off so he could possibly kill them and escape.

Finally, she began to get sleepy, but not before hearing the conversation about the sharringan eyes. For a moment, she held her breathe- there were always the scary tales as a child that one day someone might want her eyes. But Kakusa seemed horrified at the idea of what the thug wanted, well-deserving of punishment within Shippuugakure. With her fear abated, she closed her eyes and dozed off to sleep, her back turned to Kakusa and the prisoner.

***

The next morning, she woke up right before sunlight. She sat up and stretched, Kakusa was still awake and the prisoner was unconscious from his injury; though it appeared Kakusa was decent at Ijutsu and had ensured the prisoner survived. Morning Kakusa, I feel pretty good after sleeping! She said as she raised her arms above her head and stretched, her bosom becoming very perky beneath her skimpy clothing. She dropped her arms suddenly as her stomach grumbled loudly, her face red with embarrassment.

Kakusa obviously knew she would be hungry and returned shortly with a pre-prepared trap and had already caught a couple of rabbits the night before. Ren wasn't a girly girl, she was very pretty- but she knew her stuff and didn't shirk away from the reality of the world. She produced a kunai and helped Kakusa clean the rabbits and started a small fire with dry trigs to prevent any smoke. Soon they had cooked the rabbits and shared them with the prisoner, who had woken up to the delicious smell of smoke-cooked rabbit meat. After their small meal to sustain their travel- they would begin to travel the several hours back to Shippuugakure. Ren couldn't wait to get home and report the mission a success. The ryo fro higher ranked missions was a lot nicer than what she usually got as a Genin.

The two of them conversed a bit casually on the way, Ren not having as much to say now that she knew Kakusa was more skilled and intelligent than she was in the ways of the shinobi. She didn't pry too much into his personal life, she was polite like that even though she was very curious about him as a person. While he seemed cheerful and caring, there was a side of him that felt to Ren like an impenetrable wall of darkness. It defeated her every time she thought she had gotten closer to the Jounin; maybe there was something in his past that prevented him from letting go?

Finally the village was in sight and that raised Ren's spirits a bit, she picked up her steps but mad sure not to go too far ahead of Kakusa. Soon, they would hand over the thug to the ANBU and collect their reward from the Umikage. Afterwards, they would meet back near the Uchiha complex and Ren would thank Kakusa for the interesting mission. Despite the danger of the mission, it was pretty fun Kakusa-san. We should do it again sometime, I would enjoy seeing some of your jutsu some day. I have things to do now, a lot has probably built up over the last day, so maybe another day this week we can hang out.

Ren would listen to Kakusa and then say her goodbyes for the day- truth be told, she just wanted a bit more sleep after the mission. Later that day, she would need to brief the clan leader about the mission and reveal the true identity of Kakusa. She never hid stuff from the clan leader, he was like a father to her and a very stern one. She knew he wouldn't be happy at the Jounin's deception, but if the Umikage had approved, there was nothing he could do about it. Likely he would warn Ren to be more careful around Kakusa... but Ren didn't think Kakusa was a bad person; maybe misguided or secretly depressed behind his smiles, but he wasn't bad, was he?

Word count- 1,250

OOC:

This is my last post in the mission :D Total word count is 5,111

Kakusa Makoto ;;Jounin ;; Tsukigakure ;; Male

Kakusa had been keeping watch the entire night, even the captive slept. Even though he was a shinobi, he couldn’t help but feel a bit tired. When Ren awoke, so did their hostage and as she greeted him, he noticed the eyes of the injured swordsman. He slapped the back of his head, which warned the guy to keep his eyes off of her, ”Good morning to you too, Ren’ai-chan”. The girl had a nice body, a body that any guy would drool over; any guy but Kakusa who had little interest in those matters. It was like he didn’t had this feeling or maybe he was just too vary of it, so it was locked in some deep dark corner of his heart.

After the meal, Kakusa picked up their hostage and the two began to make their way back. He was tired so he didn’t talk much. Casually, answering Ren and asking just basic questions if need be, like a general courtesy. He had to maintain the illusion of him being a nice guy, so he was still very careful about what he said to her. The journey back was another 8 hours, so when they returned he was extremely tired. An entire night without sleep and the a morning of walking continuously. It was beginning to have its affect on him, he was now yawning more and occasionally his eyes were closing as well.

Even though he was pretending to be nice to her, it wasn’t really difficult to do that. He didn’t want to admit it but the truth was he always looked forward to Izuru’s annoying visits. He didn’t want to admit the resemblance between the two either. The truth was that in terms of personality, Izuru was just like Ren but she was a bit nosy. Maybe it was because the two had grown together and she always had a thing for him, which he knew from the start but didn’t care. There were two reasons for his dark personality, one was his father and the other was the fact that he had to kill her with his own hands. Though, she was pretty much dead when he was carrying her back but it was his kunai that claimed her life. For a cold and dark individual, that part of his past was still burdening.

As the two arrived at the village gate, he went on ahead and handed over the thug to the ANBU. After that he headed to the Umikage’s office and thanked him once again for the mission. Then he submitted a detailed report about the mission, also stating that the death of the thug leader was unavoidable. That way, Ren’ai wouldn’t have to take the heat for it. Then he walked with Ren’ai back to the Uchiha section, where this whole mission had begun from. ”It was fun indeed. I’ll try not to disappoint you then, if you’re looking forward to my jutsus, Ren’ai-chan. I need to get some rest as well, so I will meet you later. Ja ne” said Kakusa as he turned and waved back to her. He really was tired by then, so he headed straight for the inn he was staying in.

It wasn’t too far so it took him a few minutes to arrive at his destination. ”Welcome back sir. Should we serve dinner early?” he was greeted by the old inn keeper. The afternoon was already over and it was evening when he finally arrived but he was in no mood to eat. Kakusa only shook his head telling him that he didn’t want to eat, after that he walked up the stairs. He arrived at his room and closed the door behind him, finally falling onto his bed and falling to sleep right away. The day was very tiring but it had been an interesting journey so far.

Location;; Shipuugakure
Muse;; 9/10
Word Count;; 646
Tags;; Kakusa, Ren’ai
OOC;; That takes care of my exit post then.
Total Word Count;; 5143
Template (c) Yuki Seika

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