The First Mission: Escort! (Team 5, Mission Topic)

Age : 34 Posts : 591

The smell, the first thing that hit people when they walked onto the fishing docks was the smell. Crisp clean saltwater paired with yesterday's rotting fish brought in by fishermen seeking to feed their families and make a few extra Ryo to continue living the life they were living. Normally such deliveries were sent through more commercial ports but apparently there was some need for secrecy in the Land of Lightning. Etorufuu had his suspicions as to why such secrecy was being asked for but he would refrain from ever voicing these concerns to untested genin who may become skittish with such information at their fingertips. Much akin to his refusal to speak of his meeting with the Raikage the day previous. Taking a moment to clear those thoughts from his head, hands found his pockets and Etorufuu made his way onto the wooden planks of the dock.

The sun's rays were just beginning to peak over the horizon with the barest glow to reveal the moving carpet of sapphires that seemed to be the ocean. The day looked like it would be clear, which was a good thing considering Etorufuu's normal style of dress. Much in the same gear as yesterday, his swords were now both strapped to his back perfectly vertical but with the harness fit so that he could move and bend without any hindrance from it. The both of the hilts stood proudly over his right shoulder, one wrapped the other showing off the polished wood of the Bokken. With his hands in his pockets attention might be drawn to his headband dangling from his belt line.

Allowing his head to turn slightly, Etorufuu's eyes drifted to the mountainside where he expected his protégés to appear any moment in their own descent before he walked towards the boat they had been assigned to guard. A large cart was being readied by the ship hands by tethering a heavy tarp over the contents. With his students still out of sight, a series of quick hand signs and a careful placement of himself beneath the tarp left him able to relax rather than walk up the harsh terrain with the genin and beasts of burden. Deception was a key concept of the shinobi world and the ability to use it effectively was paramount.

So as the genin approached they would see Etorufuu standing beside the merchant, waiting for them to get close enough before waving them a brief good morning and stopping to explain.

"Glad to see you are all on time. This is Akitori Mishima, a merchant from the Land of Iron. Rather than travel up the country he took a boat to our docks to hand deliver his payload of ninja gear to our village. You are to respect him at all times and keep him safe. Tenma, you'll stay close to the cart while Kanji scouts just ahead of us and I bring up the rear. If you'll get yourselves ready I believe you will find Mr. Mishima has his things secured and is ready to get on with his other business meetings he must make in town."

Etorufuu would smile at his genin, allowing them a moment to prepare themselves before the trek truly began. Donkeys were being lashed to the cart, strong animals raised in the mountains to assure their footing and strength in pulling heavy loads even up mountain roads without any complaints. The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and it was time they get moving before they started wasting daylight.

Spoiler:

Age : 32 Posts : 35

The rustling of trees branches and rushing wind filled Tenma's ears as he leaped from foothold to foothold on his way to the harbor. As the trees began to clear he could see the ocean sparkle in the early morning sun. Everything else was a light blue as the mountain obscured the sunlight from Tenma's position. Between looking for footholds and avoiding slamming into any branches Tenma could only glance toward the harbor for no more than a second at a time. When the treeline finally came to an end Tenma gave a hard push to give him some extra distance as he fell from the treetops. His landing wasn't flawless, but it was adequate for a genin. He didn't stumble nor was he ready to begin sprinting either.

His breath was a little ragged as he walked onto the harbor. His face was numbed by the early morning cold from the previous night. His cheeks were flushed with a rosy red as he warmed up. The smell of fish and saltwater filled his nostrils with a neutral borderline unpleasant scent. His face contorted to the smell, but quickly relaxed. He hoped that the smell would fade as soon as they were able to get on the road.

Standing next to him was his teammate Kanji Senju. Tenma found him waiting patiently for him by the gate as he was taking off this morning. He wasn't running late, having given himself plenty of time to get to the harbor, but Kanji was just early. He was happy to have his teammate alongside him on the trip to the harbor. "Thank you again for waiting and making the trip with me. It was much more pleasant than running alone." A friendly smile was pasted over his mouth.

He was scanning the harbor now for signs of his sensei or the weapon's merchant. Many boats filled the docks and a dozen or slow large men were loading and unloading crates and such from their boats. The ships appeared to be fishing vessels and the men all looked the part of fishermen. That would definitely explain the smell of fish. It wasn't long before Tenma spotted his sensei standing next to an unknown man. With energy founded by the springtime of youth Tenma jogged over to his sensei. Etorufuu-sensei had turned around as he was approaching and gave a pleasant smile as they approached.

"Glad to see you are all on time. This is Akitori Mishima, a merchant from the Land of Iron. Rather than travel up the country he took a boat to our docks to hand deliver his payload of ninja gear to our village. You are to respect him at all times and keep him safe. Tenma, you'll stay close to the cart while Kanji scouts just ahead of us and I bring up the rear. If you'll get yourselves ready I believe you will find Mr. Mishima has his things secured and is ready to get on with his other business meetings he must make in town."

At the mention of his name Tenma gave out a curt, "Yes sir!". It made since that he would stay close to the cart while Kanji and Etorufuu-sensei spanned out to intercept any threats. It was his duty as the support member of the team. He walked close to the merchant as he was lashing his donkeys. "If there is anyway I can assist Mishima-san just say so." The merchant didn't raise his head from his work, but a solid nod let him know that he had heard him. Tenma turned around to look over the cart and the harbor. Everything seemed simple enough. The sun was making its way up the horizon turning everything from a light blue to a daytime orange. Tenma found himself unusually alert and energized at such an early hour of the morning. There was something about the rising sun that put him in good spirits.

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"Thank you again for waiting and making the trip with me. It was much more pleasant than running alone." Tenma told Kanji as friendly as ever, nodding towards him to signal he heard him Kanji decided not to respond. He was tired from his training yesterday however it was worth it, hardly any sleep was had and he might need a nap after the mission. But at least he was stronger than before, all he needed to do now was stay awake and alert for them. He got up early because he couldn't sleep and ended up waiting on Tenma for reasons he didn't understand, all he knew was that he found himself staring at the sky and then Tenma was there. So he decided to go with him since it would be rude to just fly past him even if Kanji was slightly faster.

He walked on the road looking for Etorufuu with Tenma and noticed the men on the docks. They were up at this our working as if it was nothing, Kanji's frown got slightly worse as he didn't want to be out done by simple fishermen. However he didn't disrespect them he just figured that he as a shinobi should be able to keep up with their normal jobs. Then it hit him, "That smell..." Kanji muttered having the smell hit him full force. The smell of fish was horrible as his nose wrinkled up slightly then relaxed from having to get use to it. He was hoping that they could leave here as fast as possible and not have to worry about anything else, then he saw Etorufuu. He was standing next to whom Kanji presumed to be the client, Tenma looking as excited as ever ran towards them. Kanji decided that walking was just as good as he walked up to them, that's when he noticed Etorufuu's smile.

"Glad to see you are all on time. This is Akitori Mishima, a merchant from the Land of Iron. Rather than travel up the country he took a boat to our docks to hand deliver his payload of ninja gear to our village. You are to respect him at all times and keep him safe. Tenma, you'll stay close to the cart while Kanji scouts just ahead of us and I bring up the rear. If you'll get yourselves ready I believe you will find Mr. Mishima has his things secured and is ready to get on with his other business meetings he must make in town."

"Yes sir!" Tenma was off to protect the merchant with those words, he watched him walk over to him as Kanji began to get in front of them. His role was to stall them so Etorufuu could come from behind Kanji and take them out. So all Kanji needed to focus on was using his jutsu to bind them or to knock them back so Etorufuu could take them out. Kanji gazed out to the sky and saw the sun slowly rising, it was about to be time for them to move out. He braced himself to be attacked first, however he wasn't going to get caught of guard easily. Everything seemed simple enough since all they had to do was walk and make sure nothing attacked them. He felt himself slowly waking up and becoming more alert as the sun soon shone just above the hill's top.

Smiling to himself Kanji enjoyed the mornings, it was cool and the smell of fish had either left the air or he had grown use to it. He was happy with doing this mission, it wasn't a small mission, it was a real legitimate mission that the raikage gave them. Then he remembered yesterday's meeting, looking back towards Tenma and Etorufuu, he stared at Etorufuu. He still was curious about him as a person and none the less wanted to understand what made him so strong that he was only called down from his training. He didn't appear to be a host of the legendary bijuu nor did he appear to be a clan member of a rare clan. But why was it that he acted as if he was surprised to be called down? It almost seemed like he was training for a reason, like he was expecting something big to happen so the raikage let him go into the mountains to prepare for it. "Maybe I'm over thinking it." Kanji muttered and turned back around, Kanji would just need to keep an eye on him during this mission. Then he could understand more about him as a person than a teacher.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

The chuunin was happy to see both arrive together and even on time. Despite their difference in attitude, one quite relaxed while the other was excited, they seemed amply prepared for the journey ahead. After receiving their orders and finishing the process of securing the cart and harnessing the donkeys, the trio began their ascent of the mountain range up a smaller path usually travelled by the fishermen with their cargo meant for the market or their families. It was rough, but far from impossible for them to use with the heavy cart full of munitions.

Despite the harsh terrain leading up the mountain trail to their destination high above, the donkeys seemed to effortlessly maintain a simple speed averaged to that of a walking person. As such it was not a surprise that Etorufuu could somewhat relax with his hands in his pockets and plod behind the cart about three meters back. Eyes occasionally flicked back and forth to view the pines growing on either side of the path in case of an ambush but so far things were quiet.

The morning fog usually found in mountains was thin and growing thinner as the piercing rays of light from the sun assisted in its dissipation from their path. The forests on the side of the mountain were teeming with life as the occasional snapped twig lead to a deer shooting off deeper into the woods for safety. Birds chirped, trees swayed occasionally in the wind; at first glance the route looked all but perfect without even a mud patch to slow them down on this side of the mountain range. Perfection rarely lasts though, and the Yuki chuunin who was heading up this mission could almost feel something was off. One of the donkey's brayed loudly, unharmed but growing agitates at the harness that bound it to the cart maybe, which brought Etorufuu's attention from the surrounding woods to the cart and his students.

As if that was the signal someone had been waiting for, an arrow thudded hard into the side of the cart upon which Mishima was riding and buried its head deep into the wood. It was not long before another and another came, arrows leaping from the woods at random intervals and find their way perilously close to the pack animals and their client. After the first barrage came the real attack, a wave of five bandits rushing downhill towards the team armed with a variety of weapons from swords to scythes taken from farmers' fields. Placing such numbers atop the arrow ambush that was just beginning their second wave of arrows, Etorufuu counted the total sum of people against them between eight and twelve. Without any true shinobi among them they would be dealt with minimal effort if they showed caution. He paused, staying at the ready but for now allowing his team to take the lead and play out their roles in defending their client. Let them have a taste of true battle with a safety net in place should their nerves fail them.

Age : 32 Posts : 35

As soon as the cart began moving Tenma gave a sigh of relief. The smell of fish was quickly overpowering any pleasant smell of salt that the ocean might give. He was very pleased to be getting out of the harbor as quick as possible. With Kanji a few meters ahead and Etorufuu-sensei a few meters behind Tenma was left with the middle. He walked to the left of the cart between the donkeys and the merchant. They moved at a pleasant speed just above walking pace. Just enough to keep Tenma aware as he had to maintain a swift step. No feelings of fatigue plagued the genin since he slept for the majority of the night. His carefree nature kept him from losing sleep over things like a mission, at least now while they were simple enough.

The convoy moved into the forest where the smell of fish was replaced by the greens of the forest and morning dew. A pleasant amount of moisture hung in the air keeping the shaded route cool. A thin veil of morning mist obscured the path somewhat as they made their way through. Or was this a morning fog? Tenma always got confused on what qualified as fog or mist. It mattered not because the beams of sunlight breaking through the tree tops was causing the already scarce veil rapidly disappear. The temperature was slowly rising as the sun made its ascent. This combined with the effort of produced by the steady incline that the path took caused Tenma to quickly become discomforted by his zipped up jacket. It seemed like only moments after being freed from his jacket, exposing the chest portion of his black shirt, that an arrow was embedded in the side of the cart.

Immediately reacting Tenma performed the necessary hand seals and empowered his hand with chakra. His right hand was engulfed by a pale blue light that overtook the hand. Similar in appearance to the Shousen technique except for color difference of blue to green. A pale blue chain burst from the light flying in between the donkeys and the forest moving up and down in anticipation for more arrows. Tenma's free hand moved for his pouch of ninja tools on his waist. Within he gripped a folded up Windmill Shuriken. The genin performed a small jump to land on the side of the cart to block Mishima from the arrows.

Not a moment too soon a small barrage of arrows came from the woods. Several of the arrows harmlessly landed in the cart or onto the ground. Three of the arrows went for the donkeys as his chakra chain moved to protect them. The first arrow went straight for the animal's neck, and would have surely been a kill shot. The chakra chain managed to react quickly and stopped the arrow easily snapping it in the process. The next was aimed toward its ribcage, but was stopped short by the whipping chain. It wasn't a direct hit sending it into the dirt at the donkey's feet, which it proceeded to stomp. The final arrows slipped past the chain and found its target in the poor animal's rear causing it cry out.

Tenma boldly faced arrows of his own, but many were benign landing into the cart far enough away to be of no immediate harm. Only two came close enough to harm Mishima, and by extension Tenma. The first flew right at Tenma's chest which would have hit Mishima's upper body if he hadn't been in the way. The resourceful genin used the Windmill Shuriken he had grabbed as a flat metal shield causing the arrow to flip end over end as it flew upward. This caught Tenma's eye as he watched the once deadly projectile now tantalize his eye with somersaults. He paid for his lack of attention as a pressure caused his left leg to give out underneath him. "Grawrr," Tenma groaned through his teeth. Another arrow, one that would have hit Mishima's midsection more than likely, was now embedded in his left thigh. With a strong hand, and dropping the Windmill Shuriken in the process, Tenma gripped the cart to keep his stand.

The pain was significant as a sharp pain shocked through his leg. His blueish-grey pants were quickly stained red as blood seeped out of the wound. His pride in himself and the mission kept him from stopping right there to dislodge it and do something about it. His chakra chain whipped about like a snake ready to strike. The spiked head facing the direction the arrows came from. His eyes showed pain, but they also showed grisly determination as he defended the cart. One hand held out with its blue flame controlling the chain, the other holding onto the cart with white knuckles. The cries for release were drowned out by the throbbing searing pain of the arrow lodged in his leg.

Somewhere in the ballpark of ten men came rushing out of the woods wielding both proper and makeshift weapons. One even ran with a farmer's scythe ready to slice something apart. The scarlet haired boy gritted his teeth as the men ran toward the cart. He planned to do what he could to stop them, but in his condition he was stationary. The chain could bind one, maybe two maximum, but after that he was out of ideas. He awaited the inevitable arrival of his teammates to tip the scales in their favor.

Spoiler:

Posts : 1216

Kanji began to walk ahead slowly trying to keep himself awake, perhaps the first one of them all to finally be relieved of the smell of fish. He smelled the fresh air and found himself smiling, perhaps it was merely the fact that he was surrounded by the beautiful scenery. The morning fog slowly disappeared from Kanji's sight but found his eyelids growing heavy, the beauty around him and the peaceful feeling made him drowsy. He looked back and saw he was a good five meters away from them, he kept walking forward but at a slower pace so that he could close the gap between them to a good four meters. The pace was slow enough for Kanji to relax but he needed to stay awake. His lack of sleep would bite him in the butt if he fell asleep during an attack.

The hill was hiding the sun from his eyes which he appreciated however at the same time despised, the sun in his eyes would help keep him awake. But it would also blind him from enemies, a double edged sword but a needed one. Ignoring this small complaint he had about walking up hill he noticed that the sun was slowly starting to climb over it. Smiling he pulled his hands out of his pocket so he could shield his eyes slightly from its blinding light. He looked back at Tenma and the client, they were find and Tenma as always looked as if he was pondering to himself about something silly. Kanji noticed him start to take his jacket off, realizing that is wasn't very comfortable at all going up hill at this time. He felt a small bead of sweat on his forehead but it wasn't too bad for Kanji to endure, after all he wouldn't be a shinobi if a little heat got to him.

Then Kanji stopped his train of thought for a minute, he had just insulted Tenma by accident. Feeling bad for such an act Kanji bit his bottom lip and scolded himself mentally. He shouldn't think such thoughts with out taking in consideration how it would sound aloud. Then he heard a thud, figuring they merely dropped something from the cart Kanji kept going forward. Finally Kanji heard the noise of something whizzing past him, eyes widening at realizing his mistake. Kanji spun around and saw Tenma trying to protect their client and the animals the best he could. "Damn it. If only I had paid attention..." Kanji muttered to himself as he watched Tenma finish deflecting the arrows, he was about to turn around when two more went for him. Gritting his teeth Kanji was forced to watch, he wouldn't be able to intercept them before they landed on their mark. Tenma deflected one, showing his resourcefulness by using the windmill shuriken as a shield. "Tenma the other one...!" Kanji said through his teeth as he watched it land in his friend's left leg.

Watching Tenma drop his only shield Kanji began to sprint towards him, however Kanji stopped short at the sound of enemies coming from the hill. Spinning around Kanji easily counted eleven men, however they were clustered together so he might have missed one or two. They were carrying weapons so Kanji couldn't hope to fight them all at once, however he didn't need to. Preforming the proper hand seals Kanji put his hands on the ground, "Mokuton, Shichūrō no Jutsu." Kanji said as if it was breathing for him. The wood erupted from the ground and caught seven of the men in a wooden cage, each one stunned temporarily from being captured. Kanji however didn't let this chance slide by as they were starting to close the distance, "Four meters left..." Kanji thought as he preformed additional hand seals. "Mokuton, Gosunkugi Enjin!"

From the wooden cage, spikes erupted within pinning each and every man, it was obvious moving would impale them immediately. They were forced to remain still while their comrades kept the charge going forward, only five or so were left to Kanji's eyes. However that was just the right number for him to fight, preforming quick hand seals Kanji rushed up towards them. "This. Is. For. Tenma!" Kanji shouted as he jumped forward, landing right foot first he cocked his right arm back preparing to punch three of them. Planting his left foot firmly, his right arm began to rapidly turn into a tree as he twisted his upper body into the punch, it connected perfectly. The three men were dead or unconscious after being hit point blank and sent back three meters, however Kanji didn't care right now as he looked back at Tenma. He looked safe much to Kanji's relief as he looked back at his enemies. Two left, one ran back once Kanji charged forward at them. Fighting the brave one, Kanji swung his current tree arm at the enemy's weapon and had it land in between the branches. Swinging his tree arm to the right he forced the blade out of the man's hands, and in one swift motion leaned backwards on his right leg. Lifting his left leg up he proceeded to kick the man in the face and knock him on his back.

Smiling at this accomplishment Kanji forgot about his balance as he found himself falling backwards, now of all times the coward came back. "Tenma... No... ETORUFUU!" Kanji yelled out just as he fell backwards and saw the man approaching him. The man was fast, too fast for Kanji currently falling on his back. Preparing to bring his katana down it would surely cut Kanji in half if no one was to stop it, Kanji looked the man in the eyes just as he started to bring down the sword. Kanji's eyes held no fear, only anger for his own stupidity, he would surely get scolded if he was to survive this attack.

Spoiler:

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Etorufuu remained characteristically calm for one who was watching his students become quickly overwhelmed. The arrow barrage from the woods had already caught both of his students by surprise so it was inevitable that they would take wounds in this conflict for being caught so flat footed. The first sign of such events came with the growling of Tenma as an arrow buried itself into the meat of his thigh and seemed to almost paralyze the boy in his actions. The Yuki paused, wondering if perhaps he too had underestimated these bandits and they had used a poison of some sort, though that pause did not have time to last long in this conflict.

These men seemed your average thugs, dressed in clothes probably from the very jobs they used to work before wandering the countryside of bandits. Former blacksmiths, former farmers, some just general roughians and even a few dropouts from an academy potentially; all here and wielding weapons to assault this poor merchant and take his wares and money for themselves. Etorufuu had seen many men driven to much in the name of money, especially shinobi villages who did what they could when hired for the proper wages, and he had found that many lost their motivation to fight quickly when it came down to money or their life. This scenario seemed slightly different though, an organized ambush between many people when the money to be gained was not overly extravagant. These details stuck out like a sore thumb for the Chuunin and invaded his thoughts while his body moved out of instinct.

Hands dug into his pockets, grabbing several shuriken before whipping them up hill with a vicious amount of spin on the bladed stars as they sliced through the air with a hiss. The down swing of the katana aimed for the belly of Kanji was quickly pushed off course with a pair of metallic clangs that occurred when Shuriken met sword blade. As the tip of the sword bit dirt, Etorufuu was already on the charge across the battlefield at full speed. One of the archers had the unfortunate idea to step into his path during a charge towards the cart with another archer (One on each side of the cart) but the quickly drawn Bokken slammed into his throat with a vicious slash left him sputtering for breath on the ground. It was a delay that the team captain could not afford as the man sought to drive the point down in a hard thrust through Kanji’s chest. Were it not for the kunai that suddenly was wedged firmly into his ribcage from the side that katana might have ended up dealing the death blow to Kanji. A second Etorufuu stood atop the cart with another kunai in hand, face looking grim as his sudden appearance and the tearing off of the cart’s tarp all but caused the other archer to crap his pants.

“Take those who we can alive, let the others bleed for their money.”

The ominous tones emitted by Etorufuu were enough to cause a quick retreat in those who might have been in the forest firing arrows. As those bandits began their withdrawal was when one decided to take a cheap shot at the Etorufuu stil holding his bokken on the ground. A knife planted in his back caused him to gasp in pain as clear water, smelling of the sea, poured from his mouth and he collapsed on the trail. Popping into little more than a puddle, the attacker looked towards the real Etorufuu before turning tail as the Chuunin stepped off of the cart. These men were insects and his true focus was on those captured by the Senju boy before he had found himself nearly killed. A kunai was fished from his pocket along with a special tag which was quickly tied to the blade. Casually it was tossed skyward before it erupted with a bang and plumes of yellow smoke drifted down the mountainside.

“Bind them, others will be here shortly to escort them to their proper place in prison. Tenma, tend to any wounds that our client might have received and then tend to your own. I want us up and moving before they decide to get reckless by trying to avenge their comrades with greater numbers. We’ll speak on what we could have done better at a later time.”

Etorufuu hated to admit it, but he could have done better too. Looking back at the puddle of saltwater that was once his clone proved that he had gotten arrogant and could have gotten himself killed without that decoy to take his place. Scratching the back of his head with a slight scowl, he kept his eyes on the surrounding to wait for a unit to come pick up the prisoners so they could finish this mission and have a chat about staying on task.

Age : 32 Posts : 35

The flurry of battle took a toll on Tenma's senses. The loud bellows of the bandits as they rushed down the hill. Their weapons held over their heads caused the reverberation of metal like a cascading waterfall. The pain of the arrow soon faded as his body was overtaken by the chakra and adrenaline pumping through him. His vision began to blur causing him to squint his eyes. His teeth were gritted as all he could think about was taking care of these bandits. They would be upon him in a moment.

The scarlet genin was snapped out of this thinking by the sudden involvement of his teammates. A large wooden cage erected out of the ground. The bandits scrambled to avoid being contained, but their tight charging formation proved to be their downfall as only a handful of men managed to get out safe. Before any of them could even complete the thought of hacking their wooden cage to bits the bars took defensive measures. Spikes caught the bandits off guard as they were forced into paralysis with fear of death. The once deadly bandits could be compared to a batch of rabbits caught in their pin.

The few that managed to avoid getting rounded up stumbled and slowed their progress. With their formation broken the men had two choices, regroup or press on. Mixed opinions spread amongst the remaining bandits. Three who were close formed back into a tight formation as the other two ran toward the cart. Tenma would be watching the ones who kept approaching if Kanji hadn't flung himself head on into the fray.

"This. Is. For. Tenma!" Kanji shouted as a battlecry. He connected a swift kick into one of the burly men causing some surprise amongst the bandits. Before they could react Kanji was already moving straight into his next move. A swift right hook turned deadly as a tree burst from his punch effectively sending all of the men flying backwards after having a brutish encounter with nature. They managed to sail for a few meters before having a rough reunion with the earth. None of the three even stirred taking another few men out of the battle.

The two who were making for the cart now had to turn their attention to Kanji. One of the men scrambled backwards while the other decided the best course of action would be to boldly attack. It wouldn't be to his benefit. The large tree arm easily disarmed the bandit without injuring Kanji, and a vicious right kick to the voice ensured he wouldn't be retrieving his weapon anytime soon. Tenma noticed something was up with his decent. Kanji wasn't able to stick the landing leaving him on his back with the final bandit grinning like a madman to be met with an opportunity to remove Kanji from the equation of cart theft.

As Kanji called out for his teammate and his sensei Tenma called out for him as well. His chakra chain rushed forward, but the distance between them and Tenma's lack of mobility would be forces preventing him from assisting his ally. The young man's eyes widened as a series of shuriken collided with the sword sending it off course. The clang of metal on metal stirred Tenma to glance downhill. His sensei was easily climbing the hill and soon would be upon the remaining bandit. His path was blocked by the sudden involvement of some of the archers who were hiding in the forest cover until moments before. A hit to the throat by his weapon was all it took to get past. The remaining bandit had watched the archer effortlessly be taken out. It could have been desperateness or a cold-hearted urge to kill that spurred him to try to spear Kanji through the chest. The reasons mattered not as Tenma feared that Etorufuu-sensei wouldn't be able to make it there in time. His eyes hoped that something would stop the man from harming his teammate.

A sudden sound of rustling tarps and wind rushing caused Tenma to turn around. Behind his vision the bandit fell with a kunai in his ribcage, but on the cart stood another Etorufuu-sensei. “Take those who we can alive, let the others bleed for their money.” The archer who had managed to get behind the cart now was retreating along with the remaining able-bodied bandits. Tenma looked back toward Kanji who was still on the ground with one of the Etorufuu-sensei's near him. The color drained from the boy's face as Etorufuu was back-stabbed by one of the bandits, which one he couldn't tell anymore. His team leader bent over and coughed up seawater. Tenma's mind raced as he tried to come up with a reason as to why he would be spitting up water rather than blood. His answer came shortly after as the injured Etorufuu dissolved into a puddle of water. He could infer that Etorufuu had created this clone while they were in the harbor, but Tenma was completely oblivious to his swap the entire trip.

The only Etorufuu-sensei ran off the final bandit with ease. He casually fished a kunai out of his pocket with an unknown tag, and with a flick of his wrist sent it straight into the air. Tenma followed it up with his eyes and watched it explode into yellow smoke. The smoke dispersed through the air, but hung in an ever thinning cloud like a drop of dye in a glass of water. His eyes were brought down by orders issued by Etorufuu-sensei.

“Bind them, others will be here shortly to escort them to their proper place in prison. Tenma, tend to any wounds that our client might have received and then tend to your own. I want us up and moving before they decide to get reckless by trying to avenge their comrades with greater numbers. We’ll speak on what we could have done better at a later time.”

Tenma let out a large sigh at the orders and sat himself down on the edge of the cart. It meant that the battle was over for now. The chakra chains faded away as he saved his chakra for healing. He turned to Mishima with a kind expression. "Are you injured sir?" Tenma asked.

The merchant murmured something causing Tenma to give him a confused look. He ushered him in closer causing Tenma to lean in. He murmured again forcing Tenma to listen very closely to catch what he said. However he never heard what the merchant had to say as an enormous pain coursed through him like his thigh were split in two. His eyes bulged and his cry was stifled by biting on his tongue. His breath came out in short quick pants as he waited for the pain to leave his leg. Both of his hands gripped his leg as he leaned over with his eyes tightly shut. He only moved from this position as the pain began to lessen. The first sight he could behold was a small hole welling up with blood on his leg. The arrow clearly missing. He looked to the merchant with a pained expression.

He had a small devilish grin as he held the somewhat bloodied arrow in his hand. After allowing Tenma to get an eyeful he tossed the arrow aside. "Thanks for taking that shot for me boy. It would have taken you forever to get that out by yourself. Saved you a lot of pain in the long run. Might want to get to healing there." The merchant Mishima pointed as Tenma's thigh which was moderately bleeding now.

Even while in pain Tenma's chakra flowed easily through his body. His chakra control was outstanding amongst his academy peers, and proved to be a great asset when it came to utilizing Eijutsu. His hand began to glow in a light green light as the chakra built up. He held his hand over his thigh making sure not to actually touch the surface. The bleeding stopped and excess blood broke away. The relatively small puncture wound sealed up nicely leaving only a pink circle as the last evidence of its existence. This brought a whistle out of Mishima. Tenma worded a small 'thank you' through short breaths as he hoped off the cart.

He landed on his uninjured leg first causing no immediate problems, but the instant weight was put on his left leg a sharp intense pain overtook his leg. The young man fell to his knees as he regretted his hasty decision. Even with the wound healed the muscle would need time to recuperate meaning he was stuck to only walking for a while. His eyes were squinted as he lifted a hand and focused chakra into his finger. He placed the finger right on top of the pink circle where the arrow had been creating a black seal on his leg. It took only a second to activate as the pain was soothed away by a gentle warming sensation. He lifted himself from his kneeling position and stood satisfied when no pain brought him to his knees.

He gave his allies a pained smile, "Looks like I'm the only one who got a nasty wound." Tenma took a few steps limping a little as he walked. With some effort he bent over reclaiming the windmill shuriken he had dropped minutes before, though they felt like hours, and returned it to his waist pouch. He cleared the remaining distance between himself and his teammates. "Are you alright Kanji? Need anything patched up?" Tenma asked Kanji once he got close. In the same turn, after Kanji responded, Tenma turned to his sensei, "What is our next course of action Sensei? Finishing the delivery?"

Spoiler:

Posts : 1216

Kanji's eyes widened at the sound of the shuriken whizzing through the air, each one clanging against the sword disarming the man. Finally hitting the ground he bounced up from the impact and felt his breath get taken away, he could not move temporarily trying to catch his breath. Kanji closed his eyes and breathed heavily, his main concern was his body after nearly getting killed. After opening one eye squinting at from the harsh sun he saw a glimmer of metal, both eyes fully opened now he could see what it was. The man had regained his sword and was about to stab him in the chest, his eyes were wild and desperate as if he was willing to do anything to escape. Trying to move his tree arm into its linear path he found that he would be killed, his arms were too heavy right now to move to block such an attack.

"Gwuaah...!" The man grunted as a kunai found its new home in his rib cage, Kanji's eyes relaxed with relief long enough to tilt his head back and look towards the cart. There were two Etorufuus, Kanji deduced that one must have been a clone either hiding or walking with them. Gritting his teeth Kanji pushed himself up and managed to face the cart while still lying on the ground before Etorufuu spoke to them, "Take those who we can alive, let the others bleed for their money." At such a statement the few remaining retreated immediately. Kanji managed to finally get on one knee when he heard a coughing sound, one of the Etorufuus was stabbed in the back with a kunai. He turned into water a second later giving Kanji a feeling of relief, he was worried that his sensei was killed too quickly.

"Sensei? Did I just think of him like that? Ah, Well he did save me. So I suppose I can trust him." Kanji thought himself as he stood up fully finally walking over to Etorufuu and Tenma, kanji noticed a kunai in Etorufuu's hand as he tossed it in the air. It exploded into a yellow cloud as a signal of some sort, “Bind them, others will be here shortly to escort them to their proper place in prison. Tenma, tend to any wounds that our client might have received and then tend to your own. I want us up and moving before they decide to get reckless by trying to avenge their comrades with greater numbers. We’ll speak on what we could have done better at a later time.” With his orders given Kanji allowed his right arm to revert to normal as he walked over to the few bandits littered around. He picked them up and placed them against the cart with the other three he had knocked out. He looked at his wooden cage, they were still trapped in there. He should probably do something about that but decided against it, he pulled out some rope he found within the cart and began to tie them up.

After tying them up separately he connected their ropes so they could effectively form a line so that they could not make a break for it without coordination. He looked over at Tenma who was currently healing his leg it seemed, Kanji walked over to Etorufuu to await Tenma. He finally began to hobble over to them much to Kanji's displeasure, it pained him to watch his ally with such a nasty limp. "Looks like I'm the only one who got a nasty wound." Tenma said, his smile didn't even look as it use to. It looked more like it was contorted with pain but Kanji ignored it seeing how Tenma was trying to endure it. He finally picked up his dropped windmill shuriken before walking back over to them, "Are you alright Kanji? Need anything patched up?" Kanji shook his head no, he didn't feel like talking since he was nearly killed twice by the same person. All Kanji wanted to do right now was go home and rest his aching body, he had used chakra faster than he was used to. It only added onto the discomfort of his body, but he would be fine. Nothing too serious affected Kanji at least.

"What is our next course of action Sensei? Finishing the delivery?" Tenma asked Etorufuu, he had a point, they needed to know if they were going to continue the delivery or turn in the criminals and call it a day. Kanji decided to ask his own question since they had seven men in a spiked cage prepared to die at any moment. "Yeah, what about them too?" Kanji said gesturing towards the cage, they had all dropped most of their weapons and were practically playing a deadly version of twister. Kanji's scowl resurfaced at the fact that they were probably going to be skewered if they moved the cage, he also didn't like the fact that they tried to kill him either. But he shouldn't just take their lives if they are willing to change and not attack him nor anyone else again.

"They need to be moved but I am afraid if we open the cage they might try to attack and escape." Kanji finished, they were a priority since they couldn't just leave them here. They would come back for revenge or die from starvation, it wasn't a pleasant outcome either way. He looked at the cart with the client, he seemed unscathed much like Etorufuu. Kanji was relieved that at least their pain and injuries managed to keep the mission's main goal safe, his scowl lessened until it eventually disappeared from his face. Turning towards Etorufuu he awaited his response to their questions, hopefully they could just finish the transport before more bandits showed up during their wait for backup.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Stepping off of the cart, his feet landed in the dirt of the path just before Mishima ripped the arrowhead from Tenma’s thigh. Knowing the boy trained in the healing arts, his focus was more on the wellbeing of Kanji after his close encounter with death. It is not often that someone nearly takes your life and even rarer to walk away from the event entirely unscathed. Eyes focused on the boy, trying to read his body language to ascertain his thoughts so that Etorufuu might have an idea of what to say to him. However the boy offered little insight with his body language to his thoughts as he set about binding the unconscious prisoners and placing them beside the cart as prisoners for their crimes. Many should feel themselves lucky to still be alive considering they had attacked an armed caravan of shinobi without any sort of tactical support from even a criminal nin.

"Looks like I'm the only one who got a nasty wound. Are you alright Kanji? Need anything patched up?” were the words that brought his attention back to Tenma. His thigh looked cleaned up as only drying blood was around the wound rather than leaving it fresh and still bleeding. Kanji denied the need for medical attention and all three of them seemed to look skyward momentarily at the cloud of yellow smoke that was beginning to dissipate. Of course the boys had questions of their sensei. "What is our next course of action Sensei? Finishing the delivery?" "Yeah, what about them too?"

Etorufuu could not help but smile at the curious genin who were so eager to learn the answers to their questions they had not stopped to think about why he would throw up such a signal. The rustling in the trees gave them away, haste overriding their normal orders for secrecy. Masked men, five of them to be exact, leapt down from the foliage and found their footing around the Yuki who had requested their assistance within the village limits. Motioning to the men in the cage, he quickly explained the situation while occasionally looking over to his protégé’s to ensure their respectful silence as these high classed shinobi did what they were trained to do.

“We were escorting our primary objective up to the districts when these fine gentlemen ambushed us. It’s strange for them to be this close to the Districts without prior compensation or assistance of some kind. I would advise caution to your surroundings but the men are simple bandits without a single shinobi amongst them. My team captured a majority while a few scattered to the woods. Of course, those that ran could have been chased but we cannot abandon our mission so easily Sir.”

“Thank you for your assistance in capturing this many. We will handle them and escort them to the proper locations. You may continue.” One of the masked men replied. With all of them in masks and so close together it would be a difficult task determining which one of them had responded to the story. But regardless, two of them flickered out of sight and into the woods to find the stragglers while the other three began walking towards the cage of wood without regarding any of the other shinobi of their own village.

“Tenma, we should continue on up the hill. These men will handle the prisoners while we finish the mission. Try to stay out of their way as we pass the cage with the cart.”

Despite the groaning of the captured bandits and those still in the cage, Etorufuu encouraged his team to press on. Their goal was little more than a few miles up hill and he was eager to be done with this transport to send in his report to the Raikage. Something still felt very strange about these bandits and he could not shake the feeling that something was amiss in the village in general. Something just did not sit right with the chuunin as he and his team resumed their climb of the mountain sans a clone of himself. Despite their setbacks, the end was quickly in sight as they strove forward towards the correct district that the weapons were to be delivered to.

The district was bustling with business, not even bothering to slow down as news of a bandit raid would undoubtedly soon begin finding its way through these people. The cart and its guardians approached a storehouse guarded by a pair of genin and their own sensei as Etorufuu approached and handed over the paper work to allow them entrance to the building. Mishima of course would be denied access to a military storehouse, leaving Etorufuu, Tenma, and Kanji doing the heavy lifting of moving crates full of kunai, senbon, scrolls, and who knows what other supplies into the warehouse before finding their own path to take for the day.

“Unload the crates and try not to drop anything, I know it has been a long day but the sooner we get this done the quicker you can head home to rest.”

[ooc: I will post last to finish up the mission after you guys post]

Age : 32 Posts : 35

Etorufuu-sensei smiled at his team's curiosity. He seemed to enjoy their eagerness to learn and act. Without a word his concerns for the bandits had been answered. Tenma jumped a little with the sudden arrival of the squad of ANBU. His sensei explained the situation to them as if dealing with the ANBU were an everyday occurrence to him. One of them spoke, though Tenma couldn't tell which, and they were told to continue their mission. The genin had been silent through the whole engagement watching the men appear and disappear with speed greater than he could keep up with.

His sensei advised him from disturbing the men as they passed with the cart. Tenma acted as a marker keeping his distance from the wooden cage allowing Mishima to make a wide arc around the bandits and ANBU without fear of bumping into anything. The mission continued as it normally would. They continued to walk up the hill at just beyond a walking pace. The sun had risen significantly showing that the morning was speeding on by. The seal that numbed his leg wore off eventually giving him some trouble as he continued to climb the hill. The pain had subsided for the most part leaving an ache to span his leg with every step.

He often would stare up at the sky while keeping his ears open as they walked. Large white clouds passed by on a small breeze showing patches of blue sky in between. His ears perked as the sound of civilization began to catch his attention. He peered ahead through the trees and could see the village coming up. Excitement coursed through him as they approached completion of their mission. Passing through the gates took a few minutes, but traversing the village was simple enough. They quickly approached the warehouse where they would store the weapons they had protected. Etorufuu-sensei showed some papers to the leader of another team who were guarding the warehouse, and allowed us entry after a short conversation.

Mishima left the cart behind as only shinobi team entered the large warehouse. It was full of various crates and other storage devices one would expect of a warehouse. Tenma turned his attention to his sensei who was taking a crate off the cart. “Unload the crates and try not to drop anything, I know it has been a long day but the sooner we get this done the quicker you can head home to rest.” Tenma gave a nod as he worked some of the smaller crates off the cart. He wasn't that strong having some difficulty just moving the smaller crates along. With all three of them working it didn't take long before the cart was bare once again besides its tarp. Tenma had managed not to drop a single box, and brushed his hands together triumphantly. Just as quickly as the elation of finishing the mission spread over him the fatigue of the physical labor brought him down. He leaned against the cart taking a brief break before awaiting his sensei's next word.

Posts : 1216

Spoiler:

Kanji looked up at the sky for a moment feeling its warmth on his skin, it was a beautiful day despite what had happened to him just moments ago. He smiled to himself feeling at peace within the great blue sky, he would get lost in it so easily from it's beauty always consistent like that of the northern star. Feeling the gravity of the situation pulling him back down from the sky he looked towards Etorufuu, he spoke of something but Kanji didn't catch it. Then the rustling in the trees gave it away, he was speaking of enemies obviously, Kanji prepared for a fight until he saw the three masked men moving his wooden cage. Kanji felt embarrassed as he started to piece the situation together, the rustling was others going after the remaining bandits and they were moving the prisoners.

"Gah, I'm so stupid..." Kanji said to himself as he walked in front of the cart preparing to move forward, as he began to walk he noticed the prisoners were being handled carefully. It pleased him to see that they weren't going to let them be skewered by Kanji's cage, he kept moving forward avoiding the three men. As he reached the top of the hill before them, it was obvious he would but the sight was beautiful. He enjoyed looking down at the scenery and felt himself relax, he wanted to stand here forever but snapped back into reality. He had a mission to complete and started down hill, the village looked bustling with life and he couldn't wait to enter it. It looked so lively, he never experienced a town that was bustling of people constantly buying and selling things. Then again he never went shopping in Kumogakure as much either, so he really didn't know if this was normal or not. As they approached the gates he looked at the sky and the forest one last time, it was intoxicating for him to view something so beautiful. Then he began to think to himself while awaiting the others to arrive.

"I want to create a beautiful forest like this for kumogakure. Wait, what am I saying? I'm changing, I never use to look at nature this way before... Is this my senju blood surfacing in my personality? Mother and Father never spoke of nature that much but we are a clan of wood users. It would make since for us to enjoy nature more than others..." Kanji thought during his self-analysis, it confused him to no end however he took into account his age. He was fifteen years old and wasn't done growing yet, he will probably find his true personality when he is older but for now all he could do was accept this change. The others arrived shortly as he looked at them and smiled, the mission was almost over and they could go back home soon. They walked towards a store house guarded by genin from the looks of them, they allowed only his team to go through as the merchant-,"I never got his name..." Kanji said to himself finally realizing he was defending someone he knew nothing of. Shaking his head he noted that the merchant couldn't follow them so they had to do the work themselves, it was fine with him since they were capable on their own.

“Unload the crates and try not to drop anything, I know it has been a long day but the sooner we get this done the quicker you can head home to rest.” Etorufuu told them, he was obviously trying to motivate them to finish but Kanji didn't need any. He was fine lifting the heavier crates and managed not to drop one, during this he thought about the mission and how he needed to improve himself. Then he thought of the forbidden subject, his parents and their last mission. He gritted his teeth at the thought of it, they died because they prioritized the mission over themselves. He walked towards Tenma and Etorufuu still thinking about it, he nearly died but it was for his ally not the mission.

"If only the raikage warned them to not get themselves killed, if only their team had warned them. If only-!" Kanji said to himself, he punched the wall in the store house before exiting it, he wanted to settle this matter. If he held onto this anger of his parents, their squad mates, and the raikage he would never be able to get over it much less continue missions for the raikage. Looking up at Etorufuu he suppressed his anger and managed to speak with much less hostility than he expected.

"I want to meet the raikage, I want you to take us to her and I want to settle an issue with them. Can you please help me Etorufuu-sensei?"

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Etorufuu had just finished loading the crates when he heard the mutterings of dissatisfaction and the slamming of a fist onto the wooden wall of the warehouse. The first signs of a group falling apart often came if such symptoms were ignored and for a moment Etorufuu had to worry that he might already be losing a team member due to their fragile psychological state. Such was quite a disappointment, the swordsman having grown slightly attached to the pair. Nodding for a second to Tenma, he followed Kanji out into the village proper where immediately he was ambushed with a question.

"I want to meet the raikage, I want you to take us to her and I want to settle an issue with them. Can you please help me Etorufuu-sensei?"

The question caught Etorufuu off guard, having only recently been seen the Raikage himself. The question weighed on his mind as his students looked on expectantly for his answer while he was struggling to find his balance in the conversation. Truly there was no harm in seeing the Raikage, but she was quite a busy woman and the boy had no real reason to see her at this point in his training and service at a genin. Still, refusing him such outright could lead to a loss of morale, so a middle ground had to be reached quickly.

“We will see the Raikage when she can manage, I’ll be sure to include the request in my report. For now we are done for the day and I’ll send notice of our next team meeting or mission. I expect we’ll be receiving them hand over fist if my guesses are correct. Good day gentleman.”

Once again Etorufuu was walking away from his team with a heavy conscience. They needed his guidance but these things happening were just too convenient. The bandits so perfectly placed, the pulling of the chuunin from the mountains and his training to lead a team; it was all one big suspicious circumstance. Perhaps he could use the meeting with the Raikage to resolve his own fears of what was to come. Regardless, he had a report to write and he wanted to write it and send it off while the mission was still fresh in his mind. As the team separated ways, the merchant was making the long walk back to his ship and probably the next shipment he had to make.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

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