Mission: Poached or Not? [Private]

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

• Poached or Not? •

Mission: Poached or Not? [Private] Test2-ForestOfDeath

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The wind whistled softly through the air, in perfect harmony with relentless chirping of crickets and the hooting of owls. The Sun was just setting in the horizon, nightfall being only a few minutes away. The rapidly-darkening sky, with its equally rapidly-appearing celestial bodies, was erratically obscured by the large clouds slowly drifting past. The small clearing in the patch of woods was seemingly devoid of all life aside from a small rodent scurrying through the grass in search of its next meal. Soon, however, the tranquility was “disturbed” as a humanoid form slowly stepped out from the gloom of the trees and slowly glanced around the area, as if searching for something. The figure was wearing a white, knee-length coat with a pair of indigo trousers and a blue shirt underneath. His booted feet trampled the grass underfoot as he walked further into the clearing, still glancing around, the light from the sky reflecting off his mask’s visor as he turned his head left and right.

With a sigh, Masquerade stopped and crossed his arms across his chest, lowering his head to the grass as if thinking. His hand then slid to a pocket in his coat, from which he extracted a very small scroll. Rolling it open, Masquerade skimmed over the words written in the curling handwriting that he had already read at least twice. Short and to the point, the words spelt out a note to Masquerade from his client, informing him of the location he was supposed to head for the rendezvous with his partner. The image of his employer Tanako Hikaru flashed through his mind: short and wiry, giving off an impression of frailty despite only being in his mid-thirties, with a mop of red hair and shifty eyes of a hazel shade. The man had looked the part of someone used to performing dishonest acts. And the mission he had in mind for Masquerade certainly fell into that category.

Masquerade frowned slightly as he recalled what he was about to do: capture some exotic beasts for Tanako Hikaru’s collection. In other words, “poaching”. While he was not exactly a passionate animal lover or hater, he did not really approve of such acts. But then, he needed the money, and sometime one had to cast aside their morals to survive. As these thoughts passed through his mind, he slowly rolled up the scroll and pocketed it once more. At least he wouldn’t be the only one going hunting tonight. Apparently he would need some assistance in acquiring his targets, and that assistance would be meeting him here, in this clearing. A soft sound of annoyance issued from the blonde’s mouth as he glanced around himself once more. Whoever was supposed to be his partner, they were late. And tardiness was a luxury they couldn’t afford, what with a night of thievery ahead. It was right then that Masquerade heard the sound of a twig snap from behind him. Spinning around, the blonde male took on a defensive stance, a kunai already prepared in hand. His gaze was directed to the figure stepping out of the shadows with their arms raised.

“Take it easy, take it easy! I’m not your enemy!” the figure called out. Masquerade narrowed his eyes as he examined the newcomer. Green-eyed and of medium-height, with a head of smooth dark green hair, dressed in a teal muscle shirt and mud-brown trousers, the arriving male seemed to be around Masquerade’s age. Spotting the scratched forehead protector on his head, the two foot long scroll hanging from the back of the teen’s waist, the assortment of pouches and kits clipped to his belt, and the medium-sized backpack on his back, Masquerade realized who this person was. He relaxed his stance, replacing the kunai in its respective tool kit. The newcomer grinned with relief and lowered his arms, walking over to Masquerade and holding out his hand for the latter to shake. As the two shook, the new arrival introduced himself as Mashima Yukio, the ninja assigned by Tanako Hikaru to assist Masquerade with his mission.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mashima Yukio,” Masquerade said as he let go off Yukio’s hand, though the lack of a smile suggested otherwise. “Even if you are a little late,” he continued, his gaze falling once more glanced on the equipment Yukio was carrying. His mouth curled downwards into a small frown. “I was informed that I would need assistance in this mission, but I never imagined that you would bring this much equipment. I hope we do not need all of it, even if it must have been a bother bringing it all.” Yukio glanced down at his gear and chuckled softly, waving his hand as if swatting away a fly.

“Oh don’t worry, it’s mostly stuff to help us seal our targets; scrolls and stuff. There’s also some extra ninja equipment sealed in some scrolls, in case we run short. Kunai, shuriken, shields, armor, I’ve got the lot, so don’t worry about runnin’ out.” He patted his pouches affectionately.

“Armor?” Masquerade repeated in surprise.

“Oh yeah. You never know when we might need a little extra protection.”

“I highly doubt we are in that grave a danger.”

“Well, better safe than sorry!”

He gave another soft laugh, which further confirmed Masquerade’s first impression of this boy: friendly and jovial. However, considering the type of man he worked for, it came as a surprise to Masquerade how such amiable a person Yukio seemed. Though, he had hardly known the boy for two minutes, so there was still time for his first impression to be proved incorrect.

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

Nightfall had finally come, plunging the forest and the clearing the two Nukenin stood in into darkness, illuminated only by the random moments when the moon and stars were not hidden behind clouds. Masquerade glanced up at the darkened sky, and then back down to Yukio. It was time to get going; they were already off-schedule. “Shall we get started, then?” Masquerade suggested, gesturing to the line of trees behind him. “We can ill afford to waste any time, so I suggest you ensure that all that baggage does not slow you down.” Once more telling him not to worry, Yukio followed Masquerade across the clearing and into the shadow of the trees. The two were silent now, their minds on the task ahead. They set out at a swift pace for their destination: The Forest of Death, one of the most infamous locations in Hi no Kuni, renown for the giant beasts lurking within; such perilous beings dwelled there that Konohagakure often used it to test their young shinobi, the Genin, to see whether they had the mettle to become Chuunin. It seemed rather a sadistic way to assess the potential of amateurs, to toss them into such a dangerous location.

Masquerade and Yukio dashed for an hour, weaving around trees and climbing over fallen logs and boulders as they made their way to The Forest of Death. They had elected to take the indirect course so as to stay out of sight, something they were keen on, as they did not want to be caught in the middle of a poaching run. They would approach The Forest of Death from one of the many woodlands bordering its metal fence. The darkness of night would also be advantageous to them as they could go about their business more easily without being detection. With these thoughts in his mind, Masquerade led the way through the forest, noting that the gaps between the trees were slowly widening as they moved on. Very soon, they could see the metallic fence lining the perimeter of The Forest of Death in the distance through the trees.

Slowing their pace, the two Nukenin glanced at each other and nodded before taking to the trees. Flitting from branch to branch, they moved closer to the metal fence beyond the trees. They had elected to approach The Forest between two of the forty-four gates leading inside. While security around The Forest of Death was not high (why bother guarding a place no one in their right mind would try to enter in the first place?), Yukio stated that they still had to be careful. As such, they leaped through the trees until they had gotten close enough to the fence while still remaining hidden. Masquerade turned his masked face towards Yukio in expectation.

Yukio reached into of his many tool kits and pulled out a scroll. Unrolling it, he laid it on the branch and formed a set of handseals, placing his hand on one of the many seal marks drawn on the paper once he was done. The sealed item was summoned into his hands, which was really nothing more than a slightly large kunai with a highly durable wire attached to it. Yukio turned his attention to one of the many trees beyond the fence they were attempting to cross. Taking aim, he tossed the kunai with all his might at the tree; the weapon lodged itself into the tree’s thick trunk. He grabbed the free end of the wire and tied it securely around the trunk of the tree they were on, forming a tightrope-like connection between the two trees. The wire now taut between the two trees, Yukio turned to Masquerade. “You first?” he asked politely.

Masquerade smirked slyly and shook his head. “Oh no. You go first. This was your brilliant idea.” Grimacing slightly at Masquerade, Yukio cautiously stepped out onto the wire, which was only a two inches thick. Being the pessimist that he was, Masquerade fully expected the line to snap the moment Yukio shifted his weight onto it; fortunately, this did not happen. It seemed Yukio’s cable was apparently strong enough to hold a human’s weight. With the balance that came with being a ninja, Yukio walked across the thread as if it were a tight-rope, taking one careful step after careful step so as not to slip off. Masquerade watched patiently as his partner slowly but surely made it over the fence and inside the boundary. Once Yukio had jumped off the thread onto the ground, he turned back to Masquerade and signaled that it was his turn.

Sighing, Masquerade rose from his seated position, walked over to the knot that Yukio had made, and began undoing it. Ignoring Yukio’s stifled cry of surprise, he then turned to face The Forest of Death, and as he did so, a pair of ghostly, purple insect wings appeared on his back. Pushing off from the branch, Masquerade calmly soared over the fence with the wire in hand. Floating over to the kunai Yukio had thrown earlier, Masquerade yanked it out of the tree and calmly descended to ground level, coiling the line attached to the weapon as he did so. Turning to face Yukio, the boy silently tossed the coiled wire and kunai back to his stunned partner.

Yukio opened his mouth to talk, closed it, and then opened it once more, apparently too stunned to speak. When he did regain his voice, he asked in astonishment, “Wha-? H-how did you do that?” Masquerade did not reply as Yukio stared at him with wide eyes, confusion covering his entire face. This expression then turned to one of annoyance, and the green-haired teen pointed an accusing finger at the golden-haired one. “Why didn’t you tell me you could just fly over the fence? You could’ve just carried me as well!” Frustration and fury could be heard in his voice as he spoke. Clearly, he was displeased by Masquerade’s actions, or lack thereof.

Instead of deploring his actions, Masquerade felt very satisfied with their result. A mocking grin etched itself across his face as he brought a hand to his ear, as if feigning deafness. “I’m sorry. I can’t hear you over the foot in your mouth,” he sneered maliciously, his grin widening. Yukio merely snarled in annoyance.

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“Alright, let’s review the plan once more, okay?” suggested Yukio as he turned back to Masquerade after making a quick inventory check. He raised his hand and lifted up three fingers. “We’ve got two animals that we have to restrain and detain, both of which can be found here. Tanako-sama’s orders are to capture them without harming them, which makes this a little tricky. However, we’ve got a solution to that. Masquerade, you’re the one who’s going to do the actual restraining.” He reached into one of his pouches, and after a few seconds of rummaging through its contents, he extracted a small brown metal case. The box’s lid was slipped open to reveal its contents: a stack of black cards with the kanji for “Fuuin” printed on their front. Picking up one of the cards, Yukio handed it to Masquerade, who took it without a word. “That’s what you’ll be using to actually incapacitate the targets. It’s a special sealing tag, one with a Fuuinjutsu incorporated it that will weaken and paralyze our targets long enough for me to seal them properly. It should be strong enough to work on what we’re after. Pretty cool, huh?”

He grinned at Masquerade, as if expecting praise from the latter. Masquerade, who was examining the card, looked up at Yukio with an expressionless visage, opting not to grace the proud boy with an answer. Taking this as a sign that he should continue, Yukio blinked embarrassedly and did as such. “Err, right. Like I said, we’re after two animals. The first, is this.” Reaching yet again into one of his pouches, Yukio pulled out a small book, flipping it open to a page in the end, which he then handed to Masquerade. The masked boy took it silently as before, surveying the contents on page. A picture of a praying mantis, titled as “The Black King Mantis”, took up the majority of the page; a black and violet insect with vibrant, scarlet compound eyes. Obviously, the picture could hardly be used as a size reference, though the caption below the illustration stated that it was likely to grow as large as ten meters in height. The details regarding the beast were hardly reassuring: the script strengthened Masquerade’s earlier suspicion that these creatures were going to be extremely dangerous.

His mouth curling upwards in a slight smirk, Masquerade handed back the book back to Yukio and rose to his feet. “Well then, I suppose we had best get started,” he proposed, turning his head towards trees of The Forest that lay ahead. “We might as well get this over with as quickly and quietly as possible.” Yukio nodded and rose to his feet, quickly slipping all his gear on and straightening up with a thumbs up at Masquerade. This action having been met with a small frown of disapproval from the blonde, Masquerade turned and began leading the way into the trees. After sneaking into The Forest of Death, the two Nukenin had quickly slipped under the cover of the trees and had then stopped for a quick prep-up. And now, they were headed further into The Forest, searching for their first target: The Black King Mantis.

It was no easy task, this. For one thing, they had next to no idea where the Mantis could be found in The Forest of Death, where it was commonly known to nest, and they couldn’t exactly ask the guards outside. Therefore, Masquerade and Yukio resorted to the only tactic they had: traversing through The Forest until they ran into the Mantis. It probably wasn’t a wise course of action considering how they had to be quick in completing this mission, but they had no other options to turn to. One might call it poor planning, but neither of the two boys would have agreed with that assertion.

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

After over five hours of searching, stopping for quick breaks, and then resuming their searching, Masquerade was beginning to wonder if the damned insect was even in The Forest. They had searched a good majority of the area already, and had seen neither head nor abdomen of the mantis. “I’m beginning to have my doubts as to whether this “Black King Mantis” is even in this Forest,” Masquerade voiced irritably as he and Yukio walked through a clearing in the trees, their heads turning left and right as they glanced around themselves. They had already been in this area, so they weren’t bothering with a thorough examination. “We’ve nearly gone over this entire area; daylight will soon be upon us. And we won’t be able to operate under those conditions, not if we wish to get out of here unhindered and undetected with our catch.” The masked teen stopped walking and turned his gaze to the green-haired one accompanying him. Said teenager also stopped and turned his head to face Masquerade as well. “Mashima Yukio, if we do not find it soon, I suggest we turn our attention to our second target for the time being, or at the very least try again the next night, when we have more time.” Yukio turned his head away from Masquerade and looked down at the ground, as if considering his partner words.

Masquerade shifted his gaze from the boy before him and glanced around at the multitude of towering trees surrounding them. Despite receiving no reply from his partner, Masquerade continued speaking. “I believe you mentioned earlier that you had seen our next target, correct?” He returned his gaze to Yukio, who nodded and replied, “Yeah. But you told me that we should concentrate on one animal at a time, that it would be better if we took care of the Mantis first.” Masquerade nodded his head. Yes, he had said that, back when he and Yukio had stopped for a small break. It had been while Masquerade was gulping down a bottle of water that Yukio had remarked that, even if the Mantis was taking so long to find, the second creature would take no time to find at all. When asked what he meant, Yukio had replied that he had already spotted their next target asleep in a cave. Masquerade had given a nod of approval upon hearing this, stating that they would head over there immediately once they captured the elusive Black King Mantis. “Assuming we’re not injured and don’t need to rest, that is,” Yukio had reminded him with a grin, to which Masquerade had given an impatient “Of course”, as if that condition was so obvious that it need not be mentioned. Either that or he may have been too prideful to admit he had overlooked such an obvious occurrence.

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Masquerade began. “However, it seems I have to take back what I said. As I said, if we do not find The Black King Mantis soon, we shall go after our other target. Unless you would rather we postpone the capturing until the next night?” As he said those last words, Masquerade could have sworn he saw a flicker of fear and anxiety flash across Yukio’s face, or was it just his imagination? Yukio shook his head fervently, holding his hands up as a gesture of dissent. “Uh, no. No, we definitely need to finish this before sunrise. Tanako-sama, er, wanted us out of here with the goods by then.” The anxiety seemed to have returned, though Masquerade pretended not to have noticed. Shifting his gaze away from Yukio to the path in the trees directly ahead, Masquerade resumed his pace.

“Very well. Then we should hurry if that is the cas -.”

His words were cut short as a giant shadow fell over him and an equally giant form landed on the ground behind him, practically shaking the very earth they stood upon from the impact. Masquerade turned his head just in time to catch a glimpse of black and violet before he heard Yukio cry out a warning, and an enormous, serrated blade came swinging down towards him. The masked boy instinctively leaped out of the way as the giant blade crashed down at the spot he had been standing on, a deep cavity in the earth the result of this mighty strike. Crouched down on one knee a few feet from this gash in the ground, Masquerade shifted his gaze upwards at the blade’s owner: an enormous black and violet insect with glowing, scarlet eyes eyeing him in hunger. The insect raised its forelegs higher, which were bladed and bent forwards as if the bug were praying. They had found the Black King Mantis.

The Mantis swung its head as it stared hungrily at Masquerade and Yukio, the glow in its compound eyes seeming to brighten. Masquerade rose to his feet and shot a quick glance at Yukio. His partner grinned weakly as a nervous laugh issued from his mouth. “Well, looks like it found us first,” he observed, slowly backing away. The corners of Masquerade’s mouth curled downwards in a faint frown as he surveyed the large insect before them, prepared for a sudden attack. From the corner of his eye, he could see Yukio slowly and cautiously backing away from Masquerade and the Mantis. Not out of fear (though it may have been), but because Yukio was not supposed get caught up in the fight. His job was to stay back and leave the actual fighting to Masquerade. The masked boy’s hand slowly shifted to his tool pouch, the one carrying the Sealing Card Yukio had handed him. He had to place this card on the Black King Mantis to paralyze it and leave it vulnerable long enough for Yukio to seal it.

It was at that moment that the Mantis made its move. Its initial ambush attempt having failed, the Mantis instead went for the direct approach; raising its bladed forelegs in the air, the mantis lunged forwards at Masquerade. Masquerade rolled to his left as another vertical slice hit the ground where he had been standing, once more wounding the earth. His hand flying into his tool pouch, Masquerade pulled out a Sealing Card and charged forward to slap the card against the Mantis’ foreleg. As if it knew what was going to happen, the Mantis gave a bloodcurdling cry of anger and slammed its other foreleg between Masquerade and his goal. The masked boy barely had time to stop and regain its composure before the giant limb slid across the ground and slammed into him, sending him flying back from the strike. One painful landing later, Masquerade was slowly rising to his feet, uninjured but disorientated. He was pulled back to his senses as a growing shadow fell upon him once more. Glancing upwards and gritting his teeth in annoyance, the boy jumped aside as the Mantis landed violently on the ground, upturning the earth as it did so. The shockwave launched Masquerade further than his jump could have, granting him a sizeable distance from his opponent. The Mantis turned his inverted-triangle-shaped head towards Masquerade, a low hiss emanating from its gnashing, insect mouthparts.

Masquerade scrutinized the beast carefully, his own insectile eyes narrowed in determination. The Mantis was faster than he would have preferred; he barely had time to dodge all of its attacks, and his evasive skills were far from poor. The chances of getting close enough to the Mantis to “tag” it without getting crushed or sliced to pieces seemed low. The fact that he had to avoid actually harming the beast and thus “lowering its value”, as Yukio had said earlier, made the task all the more difficult. Still, he wasn’t going to whine (not that he had the time to), nor was he going to surrender. He was going to capture this beast, one way or another.

Forming a sequence of handseals, Masquerade sank into the earth and vanished from sight. The Mantis tilted its head in confusion and glanced around, searching for its prey. A screech of annoyance escaped its mouth, before it spread its enormous gossamer wings wide and lifted off the ground into the air, hovering as it scanned the ground beneath it for a sign of Masquerade. Unable to find him, the Mantis gave another bloodcurdling screech and dropped to the ground, crushing the earth in the same manner as before. Peering into the upturned soil for any sign of meal, the Mantis hissed when it found nothing. Rising into the air once more, the Black King Mantis repeated this process over and over again, apparently hoping to force Masquerade out from underground.

Meanwhile, a few yards away, in a thick closure of trees, Masquerade surfaced from the ground, Yukio standing before him with a worried expression on his face. Once Masquerade had fully emerged from the soil, Yukio took a step forward and asked what Masquerade was planning, how they were going to beat something as strong as that bug. “Firstly, we aren’t doing anything. I am the one who’s risking his life to take down that beast for our client,” Masquerade said irritably. He calmly dusted his shoulders with his hands, as if he were attempting to clean the dust that was clearly not there. “Secondly, I have a vague plan for stopping said beast, although I will require your help in that case. No, nothing that will put you in danger,” he put forward reassuringly as he saw Yukio about to protest. “You will still be able to hide back here amongst the trees whilst I do all the dirty work. Now, listen carefully. I have a little task for you…”

By now, the Black King Mantis had practically overturned the entire clearing in its search for Masquerade. Growling as it stood upon the numerous upturned rocks and soil around it, the Mantis vented its frustration by slicing a pile of nearby boulders in half with its serrated blades. It was just considering leaving and searching for food somewhere else when it heard a sound behind it. Turning its head around, the Mantis spotted a coatless Masquerade strolling towards it, moving with an air unsuitably relaxed and calm for such a situation. The Mantis roared triumphantly, to which Masquerade replied with a simple smirk of amusement. The Black King Mantis suddenly charged at Masquerade, saliva trailing from its mouth as it thundered over the rocks towards Masquerade. The masked Nukenin merely stood his ground, seemingly unfazed by a sight that many would run screaming from. Hurtling towards one at that speed, with that ravenous look in its shimmering eyes, its ghastly mouthparts grinding against each other, the Mantis was a truly something from a nightmare.

When the Mantis was nearly upon Masquerade, the boy’s smirked widened and he rushed at the bug as well. Masquerade could tell he had surprised his opponent by executing this ludicrous action, but the insect was not surprised for long; as Masquerade approached it, the beast swung its bladed foreleg downwards as before. And just as before, Masquerade flipped out of the way, but this time he immediately leaped onto the insect’s limb and swung his hand downwards to stamp the card against its cold, shiny exoskeleton. However, his hand had barely reached the limb before the Mantis suddenly lifted its appendage upwards and knocked Masquerade into the air. Before the human could react, the Mantis swung its other blade at him and, with a triumphant screech, cut a deep gash across Masquerade’s chest, drawing a spurt of blood from the boy’s body. Masquerade howled in pain and hit the ground hard, clutching his bleeding chest, as the giant mantis loomed over him, drooling heavily as it stared down at him. Roaring, the mantis raised its blood-covered blade and brought it swinging down on Masquerade. As his end approached, instead of fear and horror covering Masquerade’s face, the only expression present was triumph.

The blood covering the Mantis’ bladed foreleg suddenly emanated a bright gold color as the giant insect’s attack stopped a meter above Masquerade. A small rectangular shape could be seen emerging from the blood, a rectangular card with the kanji for “Fuuin” imprinted on it. The Mantis growled as it tried to move but suddenly found its entire body to be frozen and unresponsive. Masquerade slowly rose to his feet, wincing from the pain, and stumbled away from the paralyzed Black King Mantis. He turned his gaze away from it and spotted Yukio hurrying over to him with excitement. Offering his partner some support, Yukio helped Masquerade to a nearby tree and sat him down. Gritting his teeth from the pain surging through his body from the wound on his chest, Masquerade gasped to Yukio through the pain: “Seal it. Quickly.” Nodding, Yukio left Masquerade and hurried over to the immobilized insect.

Moaning in pain, Masquerade turned his attention to his wound, quickly pulling of his shirt and to reveal a heavy, silver cuirass on his torso. A large gash had been sliced into the metal, identical to the one on Masquerade. Unstrapping himself from the chest armor and setting it down beside him, Masquerade placed a hand against his wound and closed his eyes, breathing slowly and deeply. A soothing green aura engulfed his hand as he began repairing the damage the Mantis had caused. While the attack had certainly been fatal, the armor he’d been wearing had lessened it significantly, enough for him to heal the injury, though it was going to take time. In other words, he would survive; just as he had planned, and hoped.

Masquerade opened his eyes and looked over at Yukio, who was seated Indian-style on the ground in front of the Black King Mantis, the two foot long scroll on his back now lying unrolled on the ground between the two. Yukio’s hands were clasped together in a handseal as he muttered quickly under his breath. As Masquerade watched, a trail of smoke rose from the scroll and drifted towards the petrified mantis. It quickly enveloped the entire insect, causing it to glow with a bright white light before seemingly vanishing entirely behind the cloud of smoke. The smoke then drifted back into the scroll, leaving a Fuuinjutsu seal where it had previously been. Sighing with relief, Yukio rolled up the scroll and rose to his feet, reattaching the scroll to his back before turning around and walking over to Masquerade, who was still busy healing himself.

Yukio grinned down at him. “Man, if I’d known you’d suck so much in fighting that Mantis, I would’ve asked Tanako-sama to assign me another partner,” he joked, slumping down beside Masquerade and laughing cheerfully. “Although, that was a good plan on your part, getting me to seal that Sealing Card in your blood so that it would come in contact with the Mantis when it struck you. Though, it was really dangerous, even with that armor I gave you.” His grin widened. “And you said we wouldn’t need armor on this mission!”

Masquerade smirked at him. “The only danger I faced was if you had taken longer to undo the Fuuinjutsu and have the Sealing Card unseal itself from my blood,” he remarked slyly. There was an odd tone to his words. “A second longer and that insect would have killed me.” Yukio stared at Masquerade, as if confused by Masquerade’s tone. The masked blonde laughed softly. “I jest. I’m grateful for your help, Mashima Yukio. I could not have done it without you.”

Yukio looked away, an uncertain look in his eyes. “R-right,” he answered.

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

“Mashima Yukio, wake up,” Masquerade said loudly, gently shaking the sleeping green-haired boy he was kneeling beside. When the boy did not awaken, he shook him more forcefully. “I said, wake up.” Yukio merely groaned and turned his head to the side, mumbling softly, “Unh, five more minutes, Mom.” Frowning in irritation, Masquerade reached for a bottle of water in one of Yukio’s bags and rose to his feet. Twisting the cap open, he poured the bottle’s liquid contents all over the sleeping teenager. With a yelp, Yukio jerked away, his head wet and dripping water droplets as he stared around wildly in surprise. Masquerade dropped the bottle into the bag as he innocently said: “Oh good, you’re awake.” Dusting his hands for no apparent reason and ignoring the venomous look Yukio shot him, Masquerade turned around and picked up his white coat from the branch it was hanging upon. As he slipped his arms through the sleeves and began strapping it around himself, he noticed Yukio rubbing his eyes and slowly rising to his feet with a yawn.

“Man, how long was I asleep? What time is it?” he asked drowsily, stretching and yawning. Masquerade finished buttoning his coat and turned around to face Yukio, answering as he did so: “Well, I have no idea what the exact time is, but I would say that there’s less than an hour till daybreak.” The remark was made off-handedly, as if it had little importance, yet Yukio’s reaction to it was unexpected. A loud exclamation of shock came flying out of the boy’s mouth as he stared at Masquerade, taking a step closer to the masked boy. “Less than an hour? What? But how -?” He pointed a finger at Masquerade in anger, inexplicable panic etched across his face. “What happened? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

Masquerade raised a hidden eyebrow behind his mask, wondering what could possibly warrant such a reaction from Yukio. “What happened? Well, you fell asleep while I was healing my injuries, remember? As for why I didn’t wake you up earlier, I needed time to rest and recuperate from my wounds; and judging by your apparent lassitude back then, so did you.” Masquerade folded his arms across his chest as Yukio moaned and shook his head, glancing down at his watch. “You idiot! We’re supposed to deliver the captured animals to Tanako-sama in -” He gulped as he saw the time. “ - five minutes!” He looked up at Masquerade, the panic-stricken look heightening. “And we’ve only caught one of them! There’s no way we’ll make it in time!”

Masquerade frowned at this new piece of information. He placed his hand against his mask’s visor in a gesture of irritation, shaking his head. “That is something you should have mentioned earlier, Mashima Yukio. But even so, it would have made little difference if I had awoken you; my body was not fit to handle another capturing run at the time. We both needed the rest.” Yukio flared up in fury and grabbed Masquerade by the coat, glaring at him in rage. “Don’t give me that! We don’t need rest! What we need is to finish this mission in time to get paid! What’s the point of going through all this effort if we don’t get our pay?”

Masquerade grasped Yukio’s wrists in his hands and gently released the latter’s hold on his coat. He frowned down once more at the green-haired, furious boy. “I won’t waste time saying something profound about how essential rest is for a ninja,” he replied sternly. “However, if we don’t manage to successfully complete this mission, then there’s no reason to cry over. If we fail, we fail. Accept the reality of it, and stop acting like such a child.” With a sharp turn, Masquerade leaped up onto a nearby branch, and then turned around to look back down at Yukio. “If you’re so adamant that we complete this mission with haste, then you should spend less time whining, and more time showing me where our second target is.” Narrowing his eyes and grimacing in annoyance, Yukio mumbled in agreement and jumped up to join Masquerade on the branch. Pointing to his left, he announced: “Its den should be in that direction.” Pushing off the branch and leaping onto the next one, Yukio led the way, with Masquerade following close behind.

The two flitted from tree to tree in silence, neither making eye contact with the other. By the time they reached their destination, the sky overhead had lightened significantly; sunrise was just a few minutes away. Yukio glanced up at the brightening sky with worry, while Masquerade turned his attention to the “den” of their second target: a large cave in an even larger anthill-shaped rock formation, a cave with an entrance nearly twenty meters wide. Masquerade peered carefully at the cave, trying to see if he could spot its inhabitant from outside. Unfortunately, the inside of the cave was completely immersed in shadow, leaving it impossible to see anything inside it. Masquerade turned to Yukio to ensure that this was indeed the place they were looking for, when he heard a soft growling issuing from inside the cave, followed by the faint sounds of heavy footsteps treading over a stony surface.

As Masquerade watched with baited breath, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness of the cave. A massive tiger, its fur a bluish-gray color with thick black stripes marking it, stepped out into the gloom of early morning, its bright yellow eyes blinking as they adjusted to the change in light intensity. Masquerade stared with wide eyes at the feline. It was nearly twice as tall as the Black King Mantis he and Yukio had confronted earlier, and practically twice as long as it was tall. Its legs were fur-covered trees of muscle, ending in paws as large as minivans. As the massive feline gave a mighty yawn, Masquerade spied canines twice as long as a fully-grown man, with a mouth that could swallow such a man whole.

Masquerade slowly turned his gaze from the tiger to Yukio, who was staring at the feline with the same stupefied expression as Masquerade had been. Clearly, having seen it in a picture and only once in real life did not lessen the breathtaking sight that this creature was. Masquerade returned his gaze to the gargantuan cat, watching it stretch and yawn before him. It was a minute later when the masked Nukenin finally voiced his thoughts. “Well, this is rather unfortunate,” he spoke up, causing Yukio to direct his attention to him. Masquerade smirked grimly. “I look at this creature, and I know that I will not be able to stand against it. It would tear me to shreds before I could even blink.” His shook his blonde head gloomily.

“Say what?!” Yukio exclaimed in a low voice, leaning towards Masquerade in fury. “You’re saying you can’t beat that thing? Without even trying? What the fuc-?” Yukio was cut-off as Masquerade raised a gloved hand to silence him. “Calm down. Be realistic, Mashima Yukio. It should be obvious that this creature is not something that low-level Nukenin such as ourselves can take on, even if we both took it on at once.” The blonde lowered his hand and shifted his gaze in the direction of the giant feline a safe distance away. “No, it is not something that a C-Ranked shinobi can handle.” Yukio snorted in contempt. “And what makes you think that, Professor?” he sneered acidly.

Masquerade did not reply immediately, instead staring at the tiger as it stroked its tongue over its right forepaw, licking itself clean. Seeing that his partner was not answering, Yukio opened his mouth to repeat his question, when he was suddenly silenced by Masquerade’s actions. The blonde had raised his arm and was pointing at a spot to their right, a small distance from the tiger. “Because the two guards approaching the tiger are clearly Chuunin-level shinobi.”

Yukio followed Masquerade’s finger and cursed silently before diving for cover, followed closely by Masquerade, behind a thick patch of foliage on the tree they were positioned on. The two Nukenin peered through the leaves at the two Chuunin slowly and carefully approaching the giant tiger, a large bulging sack tied to one of the Chuunin’s back. The tiger noticed their presence and growled at them, rising to its feet and advancing towards them. The taller of the two Chuunin stepped in front of the other and formed a sequence of handseals and mumbled the name of a Jutsu. The Chuunin then pointed his hand at the tiger, which immediately halted in its tracks and slumped onto its backside, apparently disorientated. The taller Chuunin called out to his partner to hurry and get going, which the second Chuunin did. Hurrying towards the dazed tiger, the Chuunin slipped the parcel off her back and pulled it open to allow a shower of raw meat to come flooding out of it. The meat rolled out and stopped at the tiger’s feet. Flinging the now-empty sack over her shoulder, the female Chuunin stepped back as her partner formed another series of handseals and cancelled the technique he had executed. The two Chuunin turned tail and ran as fast as they could from the spot just as the tiger shook its head and apparently came to its senses. Spotting the pile of meat before it, the feline inched forward and dug in.

With the coast clear, Masquerade and Yukio stepped out from behind their hiding spot and once more surveyed their target. “Well, those two certainly knew how to keep that thing still long enough to get close,” Yukio observed as he crouched down on the branch. “Must’ve been some kind of Genjutsu or something. Too bad we can’t ask those guys to help us catch that tiger, huh?” He looked up at Masquerade as if seeking a reply to his rhetorical question, only to find his partner scrutinizing, not the tiger, but one of the Sealing Cards in his possession. Without averting his gaze from the item in his hand, Masquerade posed a question to Yukio: “Mashima Yukio, if this Sealing Card were to be placed inside the target as opposed to its outer surface, would it still function? If say, the tiger were to consume this Card, would the paralyzation effects still occur?”

Yukio raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You mean, like if it were to eat it? Yeah, it should work. I never really tried it, but it should work so long as it’s in contact with the target.” He glanced at the large feline, and then back at Masquerade, a pondering look on his face. “Hang on, you’re not planning on -?”

“- getting the tiger to eat the Sealing Card?” Masquerade finished with a smirk. “Yes, yes I am. We have to somehow get this -,” he indicated the Sealing Card in his hand, “- into that.” He pointed at the tiger.

Yukio glanced back at the tiger, eyeing the pile of raw meat it was feasting on. “And how exactly are you going to do that?” he demanded with skepticism. “I hope you’re not planning on putting a Sealing Card into its food. Getting at that batch right now would be suicide, and who knows when its next meal will arrive; we can’t exactly wait for those Chuunin to bring it. Any other ideas?” he asked. When Masquerade did not reply, he made a noise of annoyance and looked back at the tiger in frustration. “Well, whatever we do, we’ll have to do it without ending up in the same place that meat’s headed. Though if you ask me, seems like one of us getting eaten is the only option,” he finished grimly.

Though Yukio could not see it, Masquerade’s eyes had suddenly brightened behind his visor. He glanced down at the Sealing Card and smirked. “Brilliant suggestion, Mashima Yukio,” he remarked, his smirk widening at the sight of his teammate’s confusion. Leaning closer, Masquerade began explaining his plan to Yukio, the latter’s eyes growing wider and wider as he listened.

Ten minutes later, they were ready to go. Both had moved from their current position, with Yukio gingerly moving closer to the huge feline from one angle while Masquerade did the same from another. Their target was just finishing up the remnants of its meal as Yukio (with a deep breath) boldly stepped out from behind his cover and right into the open before the massive tiger. With a derogatory cry Yukio caught the cat’s attention, causing it to raise its large head and peer at the relatively small human with yellow eyes. Snarling, the feline rose to its feet and began advancing towards a slightly trembling Yukio, who backed up instinctively. Out of the corner of his eye, the green-haired Sealer spotted Masquerade crouched on a nearby branch overlooking the scene, the only visible portion of his face set in a look of determination as he waited for the tiger to come closer.

“Anytime you’re ready, dude,” Yukio muttered nervously under his breath, despite knowing that Masquerade could not hear him from such a distance. But he didn’t care, because he was more worried about the gargantuan tiger slowly stomping up to him, its teeth baring as it surveyed its puny prey. Fortunately, Yukio was distracted from this horrific sight as the tiger passed under Masquerade’s branch, prompting the masked boy to drop silently from his perch. Masquerade fell straight for the tiger’s head, gripping the Sealing Card in his hand tightly as he used his ethereal insect wings to control his descent enough to avoid missing his target.

“While you draw its attention to yourself, I’ll swoop in silently from behind and place the Card on its head.”

Yukio smiled slightly as he recalled those words. This Masquerade guy is either the bravest person I’ve met, or the dumbest, he had observed when he first heard those words. Yukio’s smile widened as he chanced a glance at Masquerade, his head tilting slightly upwards. Then, to Yukio’s horror, the tiger stopped in its tracks, its own yellow eyes swiveling upwards to follow Yukio’s gaze. Before they knew it, it had swung its head upwards to glare directly at the dropping Masquerade. Both of them barely had a chance to react before the mighty tiger rose to its feet and opened its mouth, snatching Masquerade from the air in its mouth like a dog catching a Frisbee. Masquerade growled in pain as the feline’s deadly fangs pierced his skin, its powerful jaws almost crushing his body from the pressure. Yukio watched in horror as the tiger held Masquerade firmly in its mouth before, with what Yukio swore was a malicious glance towards the green-haired ninja, it bit down hard on the struggling figure.

“No!”

An explosion of liquid erupted from the tiger’s mouth, slowly dripping down the sides of its muzzle as it practically grinned with sadistic pleasure. It slowly turned to face a horrified Yukio, a sinister growl escaping its stained mouth as it took a step forward. However, the tiger instead stumbled, its entire body suddenly shaking as it inexplicably dropped to the ground. Try as it might, the massive tiger could not rise to its feet anymore; its massive form was no longer obeying its command. Snarling, the tiger glared at Yukio, who suddenly smirked and advanced towards the immobilized feline. Reaching out a hand towards the cat’s muzzle, he gently slid his finger against the liquid on its teeth and examined it with satisfaction. Instead of a dull red, the liquid on his finger was a muddy-brown color.

“Well now, that went better than expected,” observed a voice from behind Yukio. Two figures emerged from the gloom of the trees, one the uninjured form of Masquerade and the other an amazed Yukio. His signature smirk plastered across his face, Masquerade walked up to the paralyzed tiger to stand beside the first Yukio, patting him on the shoulder. “Excellent work, Mashima Yukio.” This Yukio grinned as he was suddenly engulfed by a cloud of smoke, which cleared to reveal a copy of Masquerade standing in his place.

“I’ve gotta admit; I had my doubts, but this did work out perfectly,” the real Yukio agreed, bending down and pulling out his sealing equipment from his backpack. “Although I don’t appreciate how you’re clone made me look so horrified and dramatic. Seriously, it was like watching a badly-made movie or something.” Laying his equipment on the ground between himself and the tiger, he eyed the two Masquerades with obvious distaste. “And I wasn’t that frightened of the tiger!” he continued, the dishonesty in his voice plainly obvious. Masquerade smirked and turned around, his clone following suit as the original walked back into the cover of the trees. “I’ll leave you to seal the target, then,” he called as he disappeared with his clone. Yukio turned back to the tiger and began the sealing process. A few seconds later, Masquerade appeared from the woods once more, his clone no longer with him. The masked boy dusted his hands before leaning against a treee trunk and watching his partner with his arms folded across his chest. He closed his eyes as a memory floated up from the depths of his mind.

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“While you draw its attention to yourself, I’ll swoop in silently from behind and place the Card on its head.”

“But what if it detects you?” Yukio asked in worried tone.

Masquerade grinned confidently. “That’s the point. It will detect me, and then it’ll try to trap me in its mouth: the simple, animalistic thing to do. But, it won’t exactly be swallowing “me”, rather it will swallow a clone of mine.” He displayed the card in his hand to Yukio as he continued. “Said clone will then place this Sealing Card in the tiger’s mouth before gladly sacrificing itself for the sake of the mission.”

Yukio was silent for a minute while he took in Masquerade’s plan. He suddenly frowned. “So wait, you’re willing to put me in danger to complete this mission, and not yourself?” he asked with green eyes glaring at the masked blonde.

His partner laughed softly in amusement. “Oh, don’t worry, you yourself won’t be going. I’m going to send another one of my clones in your image as the distraction. I can’t risk having my sealer injured if I want to complete this mission and get paid.” Yukio blinked in surprise, not expecting Masquerade to be concerned for his safety, even if his reason was entirely selfish.

“Why not just send both in your image?”

“Because then the tiger will know one, or even both, “Masquerades” are fake. Now, stop nitpicking so we get this over with.”

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Masquerade smirked to himself. At least this time he didn’t get himself severely injured.

… Well, sort of.

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

“Whew! I thought we’d never leave that place!” Yukio cried as he skipped along the dirt path, a delighted grin spread across his face. Masquerade, who was walking behind him, frowned in annoyance. Ever since they had captured the tiger and left The Forest of Death undetected, Yukio had been in an extremely good mood. Masquerade found this to be quite surprising, given how just a few hours ago Yukio had been raging about how they were off-schedule in their mission. Now, however, Yukio seemed perfectly relaxed and completely at ease, even going so far as to suggest he and Masquerade stop by this café he knew for some refreshments (an offer which Masquerade had bluntly refused). Though it most likely had to with the fact that, after they had gotten out of The Forest, Yukio had gotten into contact with Tanako Hikaru. As Yukio had predicted, Tanako was furious that they had missed the rendezvous, but when he heard that they had indeed completed the task he had assigned, his anger had immediately vanished and he had promised to meet up with them at the rendezvous point as fast as he could. Masquerade figured that Tanako’s greed for valuable creatures was greater than any distaste he had towards tardiness. It was such that the two Nukenin headed towards the border of Hi no Kuni, where they would find Tanako awaiting their arrival.

However, when they arrived at the small hill where the exchange was to occur, they found that their employer had yet to arrive. It seemed that, in an ironic twist, he was now late for the pickup (it’s almost like a story from a book, isn’t it?). Masquerade crossed his arms across his chest as he glanced around the grassy surroundings, while Yukio set his bag onto the ground and began searching through it, ensuring that the scrolls holding the sealed animals were still there; something he had been doing on every stop they made. Perhaps he wasn’t so relaxed after all.

After they had waited for a good twenty minutes, Masquerade impatiently asked Yukio when Tanako had requested their presence for the delivery. It was only when Yukio gave the answer that Masquerade realized why Tanako had yet to show up: he wasn’t due for another forty minutes. Masquerade smacked his forehead in annoyance as Yukio realized the mistake he had made, that he had brought them here an hour early. The Fuuinjutsu user was lucky that Masquerade was a tolerant person, otherwise he would have found Masquerade assaulting him in irritation. Instead Masquerade turned away from an apologetic Yukio with a grimace and stared off into the distance, in the direction where he knew Konohagakure was, slowly slipping into his own thoughts regarding the Shinobi Village.

He was so preoccupied, that he failed to notice the threat looming up behind him.

Something was forcibly smacked against the back of Masquerade’s head, knocking him forward onto the grass before he spun around to see Yukio lowering his hand with a triumphant grin on his face. While positive that this action had been anything but a friendly smack on the head, Masquerade was still unsure as to the purpose of this action. He moved his hand to the back of his head and felt a familiar object stuck to his hair. His eyes widened behind his visor as he realized what was happening, and at that very moment his entire body froze up, his muscles stiff and unresponsive. His arm was stuck in its position behind his head as he sat on the grass, glaring up at Yukio with a snarl on his face, one reminiscent of the tiger they had immobilized a few hours earlier. Yukio laughed as he stepped closer to Masquerade, dusting his hands in the same way Masquerade had done hours ago.

“Well, well, this is quite the predicament for you, isn’t it Masquerade?” Yukio mocked, crouching in front of Masquerade and leering at him. “I’m sure you know exactly what I’ve done to you, right? You’ve seen its effects enough times to know what’s going on.” With a flourish, he pulled out a Sealing Card and waved it in Masquerade’s face. “Really useful, these Sealing Cards of mine are. If they can paralyze brutes as large as the ones we just caught, it’s no surprise that they work on ninja as well. So how does it feel, being completely paralyzed like this?” He reached forward and flicked Masquerade’s visor with a finger before rising to his feet. “Kinda ironic, isn’t it, Masky? You used these cards on those creatures, and now you’re the one who’s been bound by them.”

The entire time Yukio had been talking, Masquerade himself had been trying to get a word out of his immobilized mouth, but as one would expect it was a near impossible feat. And Yukio was clearly aware of this, despite posing so many questions at Masquerade that one would assume he wanted answered. But he wasn’t going to get an answer from Masquerade; not a coherent one, that is. The most Masquerade could do was grunt incomprehensibly, which did not help to convey his opinion of Yukio’s actions. However, the green-haired Fuuinjutsu user seemed to understand Masquerade’s unspoken question, laughing as he tugged his backpack’s straps proudly.

“Lemme guess: You’re wondering why I’ve betrayed you? Why I placed a Sealing Card on you? Well, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’m not too willing to share the money Tanako-sama’s offering for these beasts with you. Fact is, I’d much rather have the full pay rather than split it with you.” He frowned in annoyance. “If that stingy bastard was willing to pay us both the full sum rather than only offer a fixed sum that would be divided equally among those employed, then you wouldn’t be lying here with no body movement. But then, that’s life.” He shrugged and reached into his tool kit, pulling out a kunai and running his finger against the bladed tip, smiling maliciously at Masquerade, who obviously could not respond to Yukio. “I’d feel much more relaxed about taking your share if I knew you wouldn’t come pestering me for it later. So, I’m going to go ahead and kill you now. Maybe if you hadn’t been so full of yourself, you might have seen this coming.”

He suddenly frowned as he watched Masquerade. Obviously, it would be ridiculous to expect a reaction from the masked boy, but clearly Yukio did not like seeing Masquerade simply sitting there so calmly in the face of his death, even if he was paralyzed. Was he not going to resist, try to break free, at least struggle a little? The blonde teen’s calm demeanor was infuriating the green-haired one, perhaps because the latter saw this as an act of bravery and was clearly a cowardly man.

Grinding his teeth, Yukio bent down and brought the kunai to Masquerade’s neck, preparing to slit his throat. “It’s kind of a shame that I won’t be able to hear you make a smart-ass remark before I kill. I always thought you talked too much.” His grin widened and a maniacal glint appeared in his eyes. “See you in Hell, my ex-partner-in-crime!” He pulled the arm with the kunai back and was just about to swipe the weapon across Masquerade’s exposed neck when he felt a sudden tap on his shoulder.

Glancing over his shoulder without thinking, Yukio cried out loud as a gloved hand grabbed his face firmly and flung him mercilessly through the air and away from Masquerade. Hitting the grass hard, the boy clutched his face and howled in pain. As he slid his hands apart, he revealed a heavily-burned and corroded handprint on his face, still steaming from the contact. Yukio glared through watery eyes at his assailant, only for them to widen as he saw who it was. Standing before him was Masquerade, beside whom was the Masquerade Yukio had just paralyzed.

As Yukio watched in stunned silence, the frozen Masquerade dissolved into a pile of mud, exposing its status as a clone. The Masquerade left standing bent down and picked up the Sealing Card before turning to face Yukio. There was no mocking smirk on his face, nor was there a look of anger; Masquerade’s face carried a composed, emotionless expression as he stepped towards Yukio. The traitorous Nukenin tried to back away, but before he could even move, Masquerade had pointed his hand at him and fired a wave of purple, sizzling liquid at his prey. Yukio howled in pain once more as the acidic spray came in contact with his legs, burning them enough to render movement nearly impossible. A frightened Yukio watched as Masquerade stepped closer, corroding the Sealing Card in his hand to vapor.

Finally, the blonde spoke, his tone flat and serious. “Let me guess: you’re wondering how I managed to create a Bunshin and then switch myself with it without you noticing? Allow me to enlighten you, Mashima Yukio.” Coming to a halt, Masquerade crossed his arms across his chest, the image of a frightened Yukio reflecting in his visor. “You remember that I created a Doro Bunshin during our attempt to capture that tiger? The one that had taken your image and survived the incident? Well, I never cancelled the jutsu, you see. It seems that you did not notice that the “Masquerade” with you since that incident was not I, the original, but the Bunshin, playing the part I commanded it to. While you and my Bunshin made your way here, I followed silently from a distance. I’m sure you can guess why I did such a thing…” He paused, tilting his head toward Yukio as an invitation to finish his statement.

A wave of perspiration broke upon Yukio’s face as he mumbled: “You knew I was planning on betraying you.” He clenched his teeth tightly and grinded them against each other. “But how did you know?”

Masquerade smirked. “Well, I wouldn’t say I knew; only guessed. Let’s just say that I’ve experienced enough in this world to recognize someone who’s blinded by the greed for money. That, and the fact that you’re a Nukenin willing to kill for sustenance, means I would be an utter fool if I trusted you completely; or at all.” The masked boy’s grin vanished all of a sudden, replaced by the same emotionless expression from before. He titled his head ever-so-slightly to the side, his voice dropping to a low and sinister pitch. “Now, I wonder if I should repay you for your treachery in kind?”

Yukio’s eyes widened in fear. “H-hey, c’mon, Masquerade!” Yukio began anxiously, his eyes darting left to right as if searching for an escape. “I-I was only kidding, you know! I didn’t mean any of it! Honest! We-we’re partners, remember? We both helped each other back in The Forest!” He continued hopefully as Masquerade stood before him, staring down at the green-haired ninja silently, not replying or reacting to his pleas. Seconds passed in tense silence as Yukio fearfully wondered what was going on behind that visor.

Then -.

“Whoa whoa! Am I interrupting something important?”

The two Nukenin turned their heads towards the origin of the voice: a small, slight man dressed in a formal suit, with locks of greasy, red hair framing his face. Behind the man stood two towering, muscular men, both giving off the aura of raw strength that fitted bodyguards such as they were.

“Tanako Hikaru,” voiced Masquerade slowly.

The man grinned, revealing yellowing teeth. “The one and only, kid. Now then, I assume you two have my newest pets? Or should I wait until you two are done fighting?” His grin intensified as he laughed heartedly. “Oh don’t mind me! I don’t really care if you guys take each other out! I promised you guys money if you got me what I want, and I’m a man of my word. I don’t care if I have to pay that to one or two Nukenin, so long as I get what I want. Though it seems to me that, you’re pretty much the winner here, Masked Boy.”

His hazel eyes darting from Masquerade to Yukio, Tanako reached into his pocket and pulled out two bulging bags of coins. Opening one, he made to tip the contents of one bag into the other, but halted when he saw Masquerade raise his hand and shake his head slowly. “No, there’s no need for that.” The masked blonde gestured to Yukio. “Give him his share, he’s earned it. Besides, I’m not pathetic and desperate enough to try and stab my partner in the back, just for money.” He looked down at an astonished Yukio, an expression of disgust and pity simultaneously crossing the blonde’s visible features.

Tanako watched Masquerade with interest as the latter bent down beside Yukio to reach inside his backpack to pull out the two scrolls holding the Black King Mantis and the giant tiger. Walking over to Tanako, he deposited them into the outstretched hand of one of the bodyguards. Grabbing one of the bags of money from a leering Tanako, Masquerade turned around swiftly and walked away without another word. He could hear Tanako chuckling softly from behind him as he marched off into the distance.

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~ Mission Complete ~