sdr

[Takeo]

Mission Title: Hierophant Escort
Mission Rank: B
Pay: 420.000 ryo
Information: A young aristocratic heiress from the Naien clan is in need of protection while traveling from the village hidden in the Stars to a neighboring, small yet profitable village to secure a diplomatic negotiation of tariffs on trade imports. Be aware of bandit attacks in the area, but you are being sent alone as to not draw attention to yourselves.

---

Takeo had recently received a mission that was deemed of high importance, and because of this the teen's mind had fluttered with anxiety as the days passed. The chuunin would always try his best to take his mind off of whatever was stressing him through either reading or training, but all that held Takeo over these past few days was his pack of cigarettes. On the day of his assigned solo mission Takeo prepared early in the morning and gathered his supplies alongside packing extra. After sealing away his ninja-tools the chuunin grabbed one of his trusty backpacks and filled it with rations alongside maps of the area. Furthermore, Takeo made sure to bring spare clothing with him.

[Takeo]

Takeo quickly left his home and hastily moved towards the Naien sector of Tenkaigakure. The Kokuun sector of Tenkaigakure sat adjacent to the Naien sector, and these choices of location seemed almost purposeful. The Kokuun and Naien people always had some unspoken hatred for one another, yet Takeo who was primarily raised by himself did not understand the quiet feud between the two groups. The chuunin acknowledged the Idou people's stance as one of neutrality, and it was this stance of neutrality that Takeo tried to maintain himself. The teen soon approached Naien sector and made his way through the elegant sector. The wealthy young lady he was supposed to be escorting lived in a large multi-level home surrounded by guards. When the chuunin approached he was greeted and led into the courtyard, and as Takeo arrived a young girl in a massive grey fur coat slowly walked towards the teen. Takeo was surprised by how young the heiress appeared, but her voice reinforced her age as it was quite high-pitched and soft. "Greetings, I am Naien, Okakura, but you can simply call me Kura," said the small girl. Takeo bowed before her and replied with a warm tone, "It's nice to meet you Kura, and as I'm sure you know I am Kokuun, Takeo. I will be leading you to the feudal lord's favorite little money maker today. Our trip should be short and simple, the most we have to worry about is the temperature dropping more..." Takeo rose back upwards and his eyes met with Kura's. The two left Kura's gallivant home and headed directly for the village gate. Along the way Takeo did his best to find answers to the questions he carried. "First things first, do you know how to fight or by chance have any weapons on you?" As Takeo posed his question Okakura quickly revealed a shiny dagger she carried on her right thigh and said, "I cannot fight well, but I am armed in case." Takeo began to ruminate on the likelihood of Kura needing to use her weapon, but he could tell that the silence of his thoughts was making things awkward. "So, where was your father? I'm surprised I didn't have to formally greet myself to him," uttered Takeo. Kura chuckled slightly before replying to the chuunin, "My father is well acquainted with you even though you don't know it. He loves to present those who identify as Kokuun with high amounts of responsibility so they can inevitably fail and confirm his assumptions." Takeo did identify himself as part of the Kokuun clan, but he wasn't sure how he really fit the title at all. Kura had created more curiosity around why her father picked Kokuun, Takeo. 

[Takeo]

The two had exited the village, but Takeo immediately stopped moving and began rummaging through his bag. With his map in hand Takeo proceeded to remove it from his pack and unravel it before Kura. The chuunin was pointing all over the map as he spoke, "You see here Kura, we're going to cut our journey time in half by crossing through this forest. The roads connecting villages are often littered with bandits it would be best to take our chances through a nearby forest. We will eventually walk onto a road, but we will be close by then." Takeo hoped his reassurance would make his plan seem safer than it actually was. The chuunin could see how well his plan was received when the young woman's face turned sour. "I trust you, but I was not prepared to be trudging through the dirty forest. I just hope you kill us before I need a shower..." responded Okakura.  Takeo continued to walk forwards and point with his map in hand saying, "Over here we're going to enter this forest. It's very hilly but we can walk at the base of them." The only response kura gave Takeo was a  elongated sigh. The chuunin waited at the edge of the forest for Kura while placing his map back into his pack. As Kura approached Takeo tightened the chain tied around his waist. He immediately began pushing into the forest, but he spent the initial amount of time convincing Kura to walk down to the trough in between two large hills. Takeo knew that the base of each of these hills would connect directly to a road on the other side of this forest. This somewhat natural path between the roads was filled with massive trees and numerous bushes. "Are we seriously going to walk through this! How am I supposed to look presentable for my diplomatic meeting," resounded Okakura. This promoted Takeo to offer a part of his plan in return, "I brought a spare pair of clothes, you could most definitely fit in them, but they'd be a bit big. I promise they'd keep you warm, and you could simply put your own clothes into my pack for now... Also if anybody sees us they'd be much less likely to attack us if you looked less uh.... 'princey'" Kura quickly snapped back, "I don't want to wear your gross clothes, but you really leave me no other option than ruining my own. Just turn around!" As Takeo turned around Okakura began ripping his backpack off of his back and dumping its contents out. The young woman quickly changed into his clothes and folded hers back into his backpack. She even placed the contents she dumped out of his bag intially back into it before telling him to, "Turn back around now!" 

[Takeo]

The chuunin turned around to see a prim looking woman go to someone in large wind pants and multiple sweaters. Takeo couldn't help but chuckle as he slung his backpack back over his shoulder, and he noted that the only thing still suspicious about Kura was her large fur coat. If anybody down here sees us they could simply want to rob us for that coat of hers! Okakura kicked Takeo in his shins and prompted him to ask, "Why kick me! That hurts." Kura laughed wildly and replied with two words, "Your insolence." Takeo soon began moving through the deep trough filled with trees; moreover, he kept Okakura on his right side. The two were making good speed moving through the forest, but soon approached a massive amount of felled trees within the through. The forest above and alongside the hillside remained, but for some odd reason a large amount of the trees within the through were collapsed. Takeo lifted Kura up and carried her atop the collapsed trees. The chuunin had to carry her for some while before it was safe enough to walk. The dead trees the two walked along were even more decomposed than the previous trees. "Why does it feel like we are walking on top of gross mush?" questioned Okakura. Takeo continued to trudge along silently trying to keep his sanity by ignoring Kura. This did not provide any relief as Okakura began to persist yelling, "Excuse you! Do you understand this is paid work for you! Treat me with respect!" Yet before Takeo could finally respond someone else did from behind, "Hey man, why don't you listen to yer girly?" A second person quickly added with a grimy voice claiming, "Paid work? Oh she must be someone important!" Moments like this had become so natural for the chuunin as he whipped around to face the strangers while also positioning Okakura behind him. Before him stood two very similar looking men; continually, Takeo was quick to notice how much taller they were than him. Takeo spoke with a soft but firm voice questioning, "What do you want?" Both of the men laughed together and resounded at once saying, "Fame!" The one on Takeo's left who carried a large axe on his back continued saying, "Slicing that little woman up will give us a coin in our favor!" Takeo didn't hesitate to activate his Sharingan and lock eyes with the axe wielding man and use  Magen: Jubaku Satsu - Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death. This caused a mirage of a tree to envelop and wrap around the man. As he began to scream his comrade removed a large sword from a sheath on his hip, but in response Takeo began unwraveling the chain from his waist and grabed at his kama. 

[Takeo]

The sword wielding man rushed down the chuunin instead of pursuing who Takeo was protecting, and due to this Takeo also rushed at him. As the two met the strange man attempted to grab Takeo by the throat, but Takeo matched his speed and wrapped his chain kama around his enemy's grabbing hand. As the chain tightened Takeo pulled downwards in an attempt to shift his enemy's weight, yet as he did this the man before him took the hilt of his sword and bashed Takeo directly in his face. The chuunin fell back slightly but kept his grip on his chain. The stranger's sword bash caused Takeo to pull even harder on the chain which in turn lead to Takeo's assailant collapsing to the ground. When Takeo's enemy fell into the weird tree floor his body began to sink into the gross smelling mush; meanwhile, the chuunin was regaining his vision and began to pull on his chain. Takeo was dragging this strange man along the ground but soon could not continue. The man dug his large sword into the felled tree floor and pulled against Takeo's chain. The chuunin quickly detached the end of his chain from his gunbai 

[Takeo]

The chuunin's chain collapsed to the ground still wrapped around his enemy's arm; moreover, the other assailant still remained trapped behind the two. As the axe-wielding enemy rose upwards he tightly gripped at his large weapon. Takeo immediately sprinted at his enemy while holding his kama at his right side in preparation. Luckily for the chuunin's dojutsu his enemy's weapon was large and fairly slow. When the strange man reared his weapon back Takeo's sharingan saw right through it allowing the chuunin to quickly attack. His right arm flew forwards as the shinobi slammed his kama into his assailant's chest. Takeo attacked with enough force to break through his enemy's sternum, and this soon caused his enemy to drop his large axe. All that followed was a deep cough that spewed a plume of blood across the top of Takeo's head. The chuunin made sure to finish off the other large man trapped in his genjutsu by cutting his throat. Takeo made sure to gather himself before facing the man with the large sword.

[Takeo]

Following Takeo's brutalization of the axe-wielding enemy the final assailant began to channel a large amount of chakra. This amount of energy was so large that Takeo would feel it intensely swell up behind him. When the chuunin turned around to face his adversary the lanky man's body began to morph and inflate. His hands grew twice in size while his legs changed to look more like that of tree trunks. Takeo's gaze shifted slightly checking up on Kura who was hunched over behind a tree hidden from sight. The mushy ground beneath the bandit soon began to splinter and break; meanwhile, the man's chakra levels began to level off and it seemed as if his transformation was finished. The now large man jetted towards Takeo with intent to kill. He forfeited his large sword and opted instead to clasp his hands together creating a large mallet of sorts. Takeo's Sharingan could barely keep up with the bandit's increased speed, yet Takeo was prepared for this and used Kuchyose: Raikou Kenka to summon a smoke bomb in his right hand. The Chuunin immediately propelled the bomb down into the mushy forest floor where it began to spew out a large amount of the smoke. This smoke initially blinded the charging man causing him to stop and stand within the smoke. Due to Takeo's doujutsu he could still see the chakra of his enemy, and with precise movements Takeo slipped around behind the bandit. The chain that was previously attached to the chuunin's Gunbai was still wrapped around his enemy's arm. As Takeo closed in on his enemy he reached deeper into the smoke searching for his chain, and with some luck Takeo managed to grasp onto his chain. Using a large amount of his strength the chuunin tugged on the chain while simultaneously drawing his gunbai back with his other hand. As his enemy shifted slightly towards him due to the pulling of the chain attached to his arm Takeo swung his fan forwards using, Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu. This jutsu used Takeo's war fan to produce a large blade of wind that hurled towards his enemy. As the blade of wind ejected from the teen's war fan all of the smoke shot upwards in a plume revealing the enemy's to one another. Takeo's adversary used this moment to throw his fist at the chuunin. Yet the man's arm met right on with the chuunin's jutsu. The contact of the man's large fist and Takeo's also large blade of wind created a large blast that shot the smoke outwards. The man's fist and forearm were left eviscerated as they blew off flying into the distance. The blast caused Takeo to fly backwards with only just enough time to catch himself with a blackflip. As the chuunin stuck the landing he was surprised to find his enemy still standing but also charging at him. Takeo knew he couldn't just go around blasting off massive fireballs because all that would do is attract more bandits. Without missing a beat Takeo used Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu which created an identical clone of the chuunin next to him. If it only partly worked the first time, lets just try it again with some more oomph! Takeo's enemy was closing in when both the chuunin and his clone reeled their war fans back, and with a simultaneous swing they both used Fuuton: Kazekiri no Jutsu. With the combined force of not only two Takeos but two war fans the duo created an absolutely massive arc of wind. This large arc easily cut right through their enemy's torso with impressive grace. The hulking mass of man stopped moving all at once and his body split horizontally at his waist. Sadly for this bandit his final face was a confident smile that led to his end. Following the death of the second bandit Takeo's crow clone dissipated and the chuunin collapsed to the ground. 

[Takeo]

The first part of Takeo to hit the ground was his knees followed by his hands. The chuunin was hunched over and breathing heavily. Typically Takeo would have his comrades to take some of the heat off of him, so in situations like this the chuunin had to be sure to keep his enemies at a distance. Takeo often used his friends to make up for where his weaknesses lied, yet in moments like these the chuunin had no one to rely on but himself. Each breath he took left his body like his own fuuton jutsu, and despite having an affinity towards the element Takeo found the usage of its jutsu back to back draining. Due to all of his heavy breathing Takeo's vision began to tunnel and his eyes reverted to normal. That is why when Kura gently placed her hand the teen's shoulder he did not feel it. All of the chuunin's attention shot downwards at the ground made of felled trees. With a moment passing Takeo rose still not noticing Kura's small hand. "Ahem," uttered the girl. The chuunin pivoted his head around to his side where the Naien girl was standing. Takeo could not look directly at her so his gaze sat above her left shoulder. The chuunin understood that he got lucky those bandits didn't focus on the girl; moreover, Takeo felt an immense amount of guilt due to how he handled that situation. In an attempt to regain what composure the teen had left Takeo finally responded to Kura, "Yes my escort?" The girl's face warped slightly causing Takeo to assume he left her offended, but despite her change of facial expression Okura retorted swiftly. "I appreciate all of your 'razz and dazz', but this meeting of mine is time sensitive. And you see, I need to prove to my father that this is a task I can handle... You must be more deliberate with your actions, we cannot waste much more time." It was in that moment that Okakura completely shifted Takeo's expectations. This young girl that seemed quite careless of her family's will suddenly became someone more than a prim and proper lady. Despite her will being carried out through the actions of a shinobi Okakura seemed like a person that would go to great lengths to complete her task at hand. Takeo smiled in response to the girl as he felt a sense of similarity. "You're right, fighting for my life can be quite a waste of time. Next time I'll be sure to kill anybody on sight. Now lets move along if we're wasting time..." As the chuunin's final sentence trailed off he quickly searched the body of his last enemy. Takeo had blown off the opposite arm for which his chain was attached, so this allowed him to now unravel his gunbai chain from the bandits arm. This sort of carnage had become entirely desensitized to the chuunin that he paid no attention of the large man split at the torso with no left arm. The two stepped around the corpses left in Takeo's wake and drudged forwards. They were nearing the forest's end. This would mean that the two would soon intercept the road leading right to the mission destination. 

[Takeo]

Takeo and Okakura were approaching the forest's edge when the chuunin stopped both of them and questioned Kura. "Do you want to change back into your other clothes before we get on the road, we're quite close to your destination..." The girl simply nodded and motioned for Takeo the turn away, and in response the chuunin faced away from Okakura and dropped his bag. There was a slight amount of rummaging followed by a few sighs behind Takeo. He spent this time reattaching his chain to his kama and wrapping it around his waist yet again. When Takeo turned back towards Okakura she was already changed and awaiting Takeo's retrieval of his backpack. As the chuunin retrieved his pack he briefed Okakura. "We have to walk along this road until we reach your destination, but there isn't much distance we have left to travel. Just be on guard and get ready to respond to my command at any moment." The girl grimaced and gave Takeo few words, "Yeah whatever..." The duo moved out of the forest back onto the initial road they trekked. Takeo's initial worry was beginning to come into effect as his body surged with cold. Being exposed on the road left Takeo and Okakura to deal with heavy gusts of cold wind. The chuunin was leading ahead and looked back to check up on the Naien. "Kura, are you holding up-" The young girl's face twisted eerily into a whirl of fear as she called out pointing past Takeo. "Turn before we fucking die!" When the teen whipped around his eyes were met with a short man lunging at him with a weathered katana. Within a moments notice Takeo summoned his ninja-to into his hands using Kuchyose: Raikou Kenka. Takeo's enemy moved with such a speed that the chuunin only managed to block his attack inches from it striking into his right shoulder. This man was also clearly very physically fit, so as Takeo's ninja-to barely intercepted the stranger's blade his ninja-to was slammed back into his shoulder. This was done with such a force that even the blunt side of Takeo's blade began digging into his shoulder. With all of his strength the chuunin pushed his assailant's blade away; simultaneously, Takeo activated his sharingan allowing him to predict his opponent.  

[Takeo]

Takeo's immediate action after being ambushed was to whisper back at Okakura, "Fall back to the tree line on your right, hide beneath the bushes and don't make a sound..." The young girl without any hesitation followed the shinobi's command and darted for her right. Takeo's opponent quickly reacted and darted at Okakura with his blade readied. Takeo's sharingan zeroed in on the short man's surprisingly large feet and his chucked his ninja-to with intent to stop the stranger in his tracks. The chuunin's ninja-to easily struck through the man's foot rendering him immobile for a moment as he reached to remove the sword. Takeo with a burst of speed ran at his enemy unwrapping his chained kama. As the distance was closing in Takeo again accurately threw his chain kama at the man's free hand. With his chain kama wrapping around the stranger's wrist Takeo quickly tugged on it in a downwards motion. This caused the man to lose his grip on Takeo's ninja-to which was still currently lodged in his foot. The stranger was pulled down from his wrist and was consequently led right into Takeo's knee. When the chuunin's knee collided with the stranger's face there was a loud crack. Takeo had being feeling the recent spoils of his leg work outs, and as if this was all one motion the chuunin quickly removed his ninja-to from the man's foot. Takeo sought to take advantage of his off balance opponent and precisely stabbed him clean through his throat. It wasn't until the life faded from the stranger's eyes that Takeo removed his ninja-to which was followed by an impressive display of splattering. Okakura had completely hidden herself within the tree line's  bushes from both the cold and strange men. Takeo again unraveled his chain Kama from his felled enemy and wrapped it back at his own waist. The chuunin called out calmly as his eyes reverted to normal, "Hopefully I performed at your standards this time..." The young girl came out from the tree-line laughing wildly before snapping back. "Better than ever! Now take me where I belong," uttered Kura. As the two trotted past the corpse lying dead on the cold road neither paid it any attention. They were only moments from their destination and clearly nothing would stop them.

[Takeo]

Takeo and Okakura only had a brisk walk from their final destination where they could part ways. She was to stay in a few days and be escorted back by another Tenkaigakure ninja, and Takeo would head on his merry way back to getting paid. Both him and Okakura had gotten used to the chill and they weren't making any sound or complaint. Each had their eyes set on a finish line, somewhere they could say they completed something. The sun was just beginning to set and it mellowed the sky's pluming clouds. Before they knew it the village they were heading towards had come into sight. Again neither made any comment but their pace noticeably picked up. The two soon arrived at the polished village's gate where Okakura stopped them both. "Alright, you can be on your way now. I seriously don't want to be seen with you as you reek of blood... Thank you kindly my father will be pleasantly surprised." Takeo bowed to the girl before turning around; he figured it was best to simply say nothing. Before entering the tree line Takeo hastily scribbled chalk back into his coat sealing away his ninja-to. Upon leaping into the trees Takeo made his journey back to Tenkaigakure to report the success of his mission and retrieve pay.

Thread Over.