B-Rank: Counter Guard (Mas, Aiko)

Spoiler:

Denkiteki did not enjoy traveling away from the Land of Water, the main continent that contained the other villages was way too large for him. But it couldn’t be helped, he had accepted a B-Rank mission to protect some merchants, and had made the mistake of not seeing where he would be escorting them to. It could be worse though, I could be doing another D-Rank that required me to travel miles and miles for basically nothing. THAT sucked. At least this mission has a half decent pay out. Of course he would be splitting it with someone this time, as far as he knew anyway, but he would still make decent money.

He wore the standard Chuunin equipment; the pants, shirt, and the flak jacket. He had started wearing the outfit on every mission, to make sure everyone knew that he wasn’t just some twelve year old kid, he was a Chuunin. His kunai holster was strapped to the outer part of his left thigh, and his weapon pouch was strapped to the belt around his waist, with the pouch itself resting just above Denkiteki’s backside.

His sword’s sheathe was tied to his belt as well, the Shiroi Hebi no Kiba. The weapon was also on his back, with the wilt of the weapon poking out over Denkiteki’s left hip. This would allow him to quickly unsheathe the weapon in a backhanded grip should someone try and attack him.

As the young Chuunin arrived in Tanzaku town, he waited for his new teammate. He wore his Kiri headband on his forehead, and made sure it was clearly visible there. Hopefully that and his gear would allow for his partner to find him easily. He stood outside of the gates to the town, not wanting to enter the town until the two of them were there and ready.

308/2000

''Ah finally its time I traveled out of this village. Aiko liked Kirigakure but he always stayed there and never had a chance to explore other villages. Especially Konoha, he had heard stories and wanted to see if it was as good as they say.''A B-ranked mission..'' He thought. This was the first time Aiko was ever on a mission and this was a B-ranked mission, something Chunin's and Jounins go on. The only reason Aiko agreed on this mission was because he was gonna get paid 2500 or 1250 if he split the money. At least he could finally buy some equipment for future missions and such.

As he passed the gates of Kiri he was thinking. Thinking about the danger of this mission. With only 2 jutsu in his arsenal he would probably be useless, especially if there was no water source. Then again the other ninja assisting him could probably be more powerful than him.''After this I should go train..learn some new jutsu.'' He wore the usual. Baby blue cloak with black tights under. He wore slippers instead of sandals and a Kiri headband. He also usually had a toothpick in his mouth just to look cool.

When he finally arrived in Tanzaku town he seen a Chunin standing near the gate waiting for someone. He walked up to him and asked him ''Hey..you here to assist some merchants across Sunagakure or somewhere around there? I forgot...'' It was most likely him since he was a Chunin and Chunin usually went on B-ranked missions. He waited for him to reply.

267/2000

Another shinobi approached him, dressed in a blue cloak and wearing tights. He had a Kiri headband, so Denkiteki assumed he was supposed to be his partner. I was expecting another Chuunin, but perhaps he will do. Denkiteki thought. It hadn’t been that long ago that he was a Genin, so he wasn’t bothered by being paired with one.

It didn’t seem that the other boy remembered the mission correctly, or maybe he was on a different one? Denkiteki fished a scroll out of his pocket, which contained the briefing of the mission inside. Opening it up, he showed the writing to the other boy. “Is this the mission you are on? Because I’ve been sent to escort a caravan from around Suno, not to it. I’m head back into the Sky Nation, towards the sky village itself.”

Denkiteki would wait for the boy to answer, he assumed the other shinobi had just gotten the locations confused. Denkiteki always kept a copy of the mission briefing with him, to be sure that he didn’t do something like that. He couldn’t blame the boy for mixing it up though, Denkiteki rarely cared about the detail of a mission himself, mostly about how much he was getting paid and how much danger he would be in.

“I’m Denkiteki by the way, I don’t think I’ve seen you in the village before. Who are you?” he would ask, still holding up the scroll. He would put it away once the other shinobi had finished reading it, putting it back in his pocket.

567/2000

It took long for the Chunin to reply but when he did it puzzled Aiko. “Is this the mission you are on? Because I’ve been sent to escort a caravan from around Suno, not to it. I’m head back into the Sky Nation, towards the sky village itself.” He said as he showed Aiko a scroll. The scroll said the same thing he said.''Wow I got this mission details wrong.'' When he introduced himself to Aiko he was even more puzzled.''Denkiteki..? I don't even know how to pronounce it.'' He muttered in his brain as he smiled and said ''I'm Aiko from Kirigakure..but I guess you can already tell from my headband and the same with yours. And you can put the scroll away I already read it..'' He waited a few moments before he said ''So where's the cavern at? I wanna finish this mission so I can get the ryo..'' He questioned Denkiteki.

438/2000

So this Aiko guy was his teammate. Alright, that’s fine by me. Putting the scroll back in his pocket, Denkiteki decided that they might as well enter the town now, and try and find the caravan.

He chuckled a bit when Aiko said he wanted to finish the mission so he could get the Ryo, “you and me both. I’ve been short on money since I bought this uniform.” He said, referring to his Chuunin gear, “I couldn’t believe I had to pay for standard equipment, and it was pretty expensive too. Make sure you save up some money for whenever you get promoted, this stuff isn’t cheap.”

He laughed as he finished talking, and he turned and entered the town. He figured that Aiko would follow him as he began to search for the caravan. He asked a few people passing by, and eventually came across the merchants that he and Aiko would have to protect.

One of them went to meet Denkiteki as he approached, shaking his hand. If Aiko was still with Denkiteki, he would try and shake his hand too. “Are you the shinobi sent to protect us? You both look fairly young… but who am I to say anything? I’m sure both of you will prove to be quite capable of making sure nothing bad happens.” The man said with a laugh, “We don’t usually see many bandits anyway, my new boss is just a bit paranoid. Thinks that bandit’s are starting to pop up more across the borders or something like that.”

Denkiteki nodded, wondering if most of the mission briefing was just this paranoid boss trying to make sure that strong shinobi were sent to protect his men. The mention of ‘strong ninja’ in the briefing is what had thrown him off, why would shinobi attempt to sack a small caravan such as the one they were guarding?

Or maybe there’s something valuable that is being sent to the Sky Village? Who knows. That would make a shinobi attack much more likely. Denkiteki let the thought slip though, that probably wasn’t the case. He would keep his guard up though, to make sure that if they got ambushed he would be able to protect the merchants.

940/2000

''Wow its expensive for standard equipment?'' He started to laugh a bit as he continued ''I guess I'll just stick with my cloak and toothpick.'' Denkiteki turned around and started to head into town. Aiko followed him yawning. He hadn't slept good last night. Aiko was surprised there was so many people in town, how where they gonna find those merchants? Just as he was about to ask Denkiteki where to look someone approached him shaking his hand. Aiko walked up to another and shook his hand saying hello. They asked Denkiteki all the questions as Aiko shrugged it off. He assumed since he was the Chunin he would get all the questions asked. Aiko interrupted one of them and asked them ''Bandits? What would bandits want with you ol' folks?'' Aiko raised an eyebrow and said ''Are you ninja's in disguise?''

584/2000

One of the other merchants turned to Aiko. He looked like a man that was normally very angry, and was willing to channel that anger at anyone. “No, we ain’t no damned ninja or any of that. We’re just good, honest working men. We don’t have to kill people or any o’ dat to make money. And we don’t have to rob no people like these damnable bandits’s do! They want to steal our goods! To eat or sell them, hell if I know!”

The merchant that was talking to Denkiteki turned towards the man, “Shut up and leave the kid alone! If there are some bandits that attack, he’s going to be one of the only things stopping them from cutting your throat you idiot!” The angry merchant fell silent, and the first one seemed to recompose himself before speaking again.

Denkiteki himself had remained silent through out the whole ordeal, though he did glare at the man who yelled at Aiko. He didn’t like people disrespecting shinobi, who’s job it was to keep peace. And on top of that he was yelling at one of his comrades, Denkiteki decided that he didn’t like that man at all. Of course, I’ll still have to protect him. For the sake of the mission anyway.

As he finished the thought, the original merchant began speaking again, “Alright, let’s get these carts moving people! We don’t have all day to dilly-dally! Our escorts are here, we can get moving!”

With that the merchants would get in their carts, most of which were pulled by horses, and the caravan would begin moving. Denkiteki counted 5 carts in all, that wasn’t good. There were only two shinobi, himself and Aiko. They would have trouble protecting all of the merchants in the case of a bandit attack.

As they began moving out Denkiteki would walk over to Aiko, “So what I think we should do is have one of us on either side of the caravan, and unless there is an attack we remain next to the one in the center. Do you have any suggestions? Also, what sort of jutsu do you know? And how do you normally fight?”

1305/2000

The man had an anger issue, and not only that but he screamed at Aiko. Aiko trying to be the bigger man ignored him as his friend and Denkiteki spatted at him. The man didn't learn as he started to shout once more. A few minutes passed as the original merchant said “Alright, let’s get these carts moving people! We don’t have all day to dilly-dally! Our escorts are here, we can get moving!” Finally we can get moving..'' The merchants got on their carts which was powered by a horse. There were 5 carts and only 2 of them. One of the carts would be on their blind side. Denkiteki walked over to Aiko and asked him “So what I think we should do is have one of us on either side of the caravan, and unless there is an attack we remain next to the one in the center. Do you have any suggestions? Also, what sort of jutsu do you know? And how do your normally fight?” ''Well one of us can be next to the front cart and one of us in the back. At least we can see the carts in the middle and watch the front or back. If we were in the middle we wouldn't be able to see the last or first cart so I think its good. And I fight with water..'' Aiko looked around as he continued ''And there doesn't seem to be any so the only good I can do is with my fists. I can make Water Clones and make a Water Prison if we do pass by water..'' ''What are your techniques or fighting styles?'' He questioned Denkiteki.

869/2000

Denkiteki shrugged, that plan would work fine too. The only problem would be that one of them would be completely blind to what was going on in the caravan behind them. “Maybe I’ll stand in the middle, and you in the back. That way I can defend the middle, and if anything happens up front I can still rush up there quickly. I’ll still be able to see the front cart, from the middle. You guard the two carts in the back. Is that good, or do you still want to go with your plan?” Denkiteki wasn’t used to leading, or coming up with plans, so he was open to anything.

Denkiteki was a bit disappointed to find that his partner was a Water user, that would make things difficult if they got in a fight, “Maybe you should check and see if any of the carts have jugs of water? Ask them if they have any and if you can use it. I wouldn’t know why they would have it, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.”

As Aiko asked what his fighting style was, an idea that Denkiteki should have thought of earlier came to his mind. “Wait a second.” He walked away from Aiko and the carts, pulling a kunai from his holster. Taking a deep breath, he created a small cut on his hand. He winced, but besides that he didn’t show the pain. Doing a few hand seals, Denkiteki put his hands on the ground. And disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The merchants that had watched him recoiled as a large serpent, who was about 7 meters long and quite thick, made his way out of the smoke with Denkiteki standing on his spine. “I’m a snake summoner, and I use some Earth Release jutsu as well. I really should have thought about summoning Katsuro earlier, he should be quite helpful if we get attacked.”

The snake looked at Aiko for a moment, before turning his head towards Denkiteki, “I’ve been waiting for a mission for quite some time. You need to take more of these, I was worried I would never get to fight again!” the young snake said, somehow sounding both excited and annoyed.

Jumping off of the snake, Denkiteki looked at Aiko, “I’ll have him stay in the back actually. Are you good at spotting traps? If so, you should be upfront and I’ll be in the middle. I’m okay at it, so if you aren’t that good you stay in the middle alright?” As he spoke Katsuro would make his way to the back of the caravan, much to the dismay of the merchants that were there.

1752/2000

(Aiko hasn't posted in a few days, so I thought i would just wrap things up on my end. Can I receive my reward for the mission?)

Aiko took to long to respond, so Denkiteki left him behind as he, Katsuro, and the caravan moved on. Denkiteki stayed at the front of the caravan, while Katsuro was between the middle and last one. For quite awhile they didn’t come across anything, which to Denkiteki was a good thing. Some of the merchants seemed anxious though, so about halfway to their destination Denkiteki created a single shadow clone, so that there were more people capable of fighting should someone try and rob the caravan.

Katsuro attempted to make small talk with some of the merchants, but most of them were unwilling to even look at the snake. Eventually the young snake gave up, and slithered alongside the caravan in silence.

A couple of times Denkiteki heard movement in the woods on either side of the road they were traveling on, but it was always some animal startled by their approach. The walk grew boring after awhile, and the merchants allowed him to sit and rest on the cart. His shadow clone remained vigilant however, so he felt no need to worry about resting. His shadow clone took his spot in front of the group, searching for traps. There were none fortunately, and in the end they arrived at the destination without having an incident.

Denkiteki said good bye to the merchant that had greeted him, and stole a glance at the one who had been cruel to his teammate. Waving to the rest of the merchants, Denkiteki and Katsuro made their way back to the Mist, the shadow clone disappearing in a puff of smoke as Denkiteki released the jutsu.

2024/2000