A Mercenary's Duty to Money {Mission}

Mercenary for Hire {MN - S rank}

Yuki-chan wrote:Mission Name: Mercenary for Hire
Rank: S
Type: Mercenary Work
Character Requirements: Missing Ninja
Mission Location: Country Borders
Word Count Requirements: 6000
Repeatable? Yes.
NPC? No.
Reward: 6000

Task: So you think you've got what it takes to fight for us?! This filthy little spec of a village is right at our door step and they want heads to roll! Can you defend us? You'll have little help as we can't spare the men but we look forward to seeing you work from a safe spot... Anyway, proceeding forward, you will be facing an army of roughly one-hundred, so our scouts tell us. About ninety of them are non-shinobi but ten of them are bonified shinobi types. I suggest you prep yourself for this one! Each of them are heavily reliant on a single element, that element is fire. Hopefully you're a water typa guy. Anyway, complete this mission for us and we'll give you your reward. After this mission, we never wanna see your ugly mug around here again. Unless we need you again. Got it? That's what I like to hear from you missing ninja folks.

The area was nothing more than a clearing in the center of a densely forested area, clearly it was near the borders of the village but just out of reach. The clearing itself was just a sandy circular area of the forest with a few somewhat large rocks jutting out here and there. Though, perhaps this was an understatement. The place was damn near filled with rocks! Yuki had chosen this spot to meet Kiramono, whom she had asked to meet her out here in order to discuss the specifics of the mission they would be undertaking for a client today. Apparently a small battalion of roughly 100 approached, ten of which were shinobi; or 'bonified' shinobi as the client had called them. To be honest, the shinobi of the village they were protecting seemed rather cowardly and egocentric but they paid good money, especially for such a small village. In fact, she doubted it was even on the map. Yuki sighed as she sat down on a nearby rock sticking out of the ground, the rock just tall enough that her legs dangled freely. Yuki kicked her legs back and forth, waiting patiently for her companion to arrive.

Yuki herself was sporting an attire that was quite... Well, I am sure you know the word for it. It was almost similar to military attire but it looked so strange on her, a thirteen year young child, that it almost seemed stolen. Well... To be fair, the armor was stolen. Yuki had stolen it along with the gauntlets when she had left the Akimichi clan several years back. Though that was irrelevant. She looked at each training dummie as if she were preparing, analyzing her foe. Her military attire was that of a flak jacket type upper garment with shorts that led down to thigh-high boots which all fit together nicely with the gauntlets on her arms to fulfill a perfectly covering armor that encompassed her entire body. The armor itself was blue but was woven with several different types of metals to increase the hardness and durability, making it appear slightly shinier than your typical clothing attire.

Yuki wondered if Kiramono was prepared for the mission that awaited them, after all it was one of the more difficult missions that Yuki had come across. It was her first S-rank mission, without a doubt, it would be difficult. The young girl looked up towards the sky, soon deciding that perhaps she should leave the shinobi to the more experienced female shinobi by the name of Kira. She seemed far more capable than Yuki to deal with such threats. Yuki, on the other hand, would have no problem with taking out the non-shinobi, even if there were ninety of them. They stood no match if she used her gauntlets and multi size technique properly in conjunction with one another. After all, even though she might have been only an E rank missing ninja, she was more powerful than your typical Academy Student; mainly, she figured, due to the type of gear she carried on her and her clan's capabilities. The two worked together flawlessly, after all.

The young thirteen year old closed her eyes, looking up at the sky as if she were in a dream, her face just as lifeless and doll like as ever. She was curious as to what Kira would think if she ate someone in front of her... Would she be scared? Would she freak out? How would she react? Maybe Yuki should control her inner urges, no matter how strong they were, at least around Kira. Yes, indeed. That was what she needed to do. For the sake of their companionship it was almost essential that she at least control herself around her partner. She could not afford to lose control and devour a person's flesh right in front of the person whom treated her so kindly. After all, she wanted such kindness to continue. She could not bear to lose her first somewhat real friend. At least, Yuki considered her to be a friend. She wondered if Kira thought the same of her. Even more importantly, Yuki wondered if she even had the right idea of the 'friend' concept.

{705}

She arrived in the area, blinking a few times before continuing down the path towards the spot she had been told to meet up. It was strange to her to see a forest like area in the ungodly hot land of stone, and though it was comforting it was also a little off putting. The mission sounded simple enough, and even saying that thought in her head made her wonder just what she had gotten herself into. The realization hit her as she saw the tiny girl sitting on the edge of the large rock. She had been through so much in the past few weeks. Her abilities and strengths had increased at least ten fold, and her Blood line jutsu went from unknown and untrained to quickly become the most powerful technique in her arsenal. She could remember days when Maku or youka would walk around, training with her at a snails pace, terrified to hurt her but now she fought them almost as equals coming incredibly close to beating maku on the field and forcing youka to use everything at his disposal. She was powerful, even if she didn't feel like it and her training and time with the two of them had toughened up her exterior without harming her heart. That was exactly what she would teach this poor innocent girl even if it meant risking or sacrificing her life. 

     "oy! Yuki are you ready? This could get really nasty so we should probably plan out what we're going to do first hm?" It was an aweful idea to have the poor child go into this situation. As far as kira knew she hadn't even been on her first regular mission yet and here she was standing at Kira's side ready to face down one hundred men. The resemblance to her situation was remarkable. She had somehow moved from aprentice to teacher, ushering this young inexperienced fighter onto a battle field she where alone she would be massacred, and yet she had no disbelief that they would be ok. If anything happened Kira would take care of Yuki in the exact same way that Maku and youka, though mostly Maku due to Youka's strange need to randomly dismember or murder her, and in time with her help the young akimichi girl would become incredibly powerful and maybe even give her a run for her money one day. 

(780)

Yuki gave a forced smile to the newly arrived Kira, almost happy to see her as she hopped down off the rock, her artificial smile giving way to the same dull and lifeless face that she typically made. "Yes, indeed. Nasty, indeed..." the young thirteen year old girl murmured half to herself and half to Kira. Yuki was more than happy to complete the mission with someone else, after all, pride dragged many shinobi down and Yuki would not allow that to happen to her. Being prideful and thinking you can take on the world by yourself... That led shinobi to their death. Yuki was a logical being whom understood the risks of things. She knew that she needed Kiras help on this mission and that was why she had specifically requested her assistance. After all, Kira was the only superior that she was really close to. The first strong shinobi she had actually gotten to know whom did not know of her past which was strewn with the crimson color of blood.

Yuki finally opened her mouth to speak, taking a slight breath before she did so. "Apparently the scouts of our client village say that the enemy shinobi will be quite skilled with fire based jutsu. With that in mind, I suspect that they will be on the front lines for optimal combat effectiveness without hurting their comrades. I suspect that the non-shinobi will be positioned near the rear of the battalion to be used as a 'sweeping' force of sorts or if the shinobi fail they can pick off the remaining defensive forces. With that said, I believe that perhaps it would be most efficient for you, being the stronger kunoichi, to take on the front lines and I will circle around and attack from the rear, taking out any potential long range threats and finishing off the non shinobi enemies." she spoke fluently and clearly now, giving her strategy and plan with confidence as she had spent quite some time thinking it over and analyzing the data given to them by their client village.

It was actually quite odd and different for anyone to hear Yuki speak in such a manner. With such confidence and lack of 'indeeds' and what not. Yuki was almost surprised with herself at how comfortable she was around Kira as well as how confident she felt in her strategic capabilities. After all, she spent her entire life taking excessive and lengthy mental notes on just about anything and anyone. With such an observational view of the world it was hard not to be as strategically minded as Yuki was. She awaited Kira's response and hoped that she would be impressed with Yuki's plan. After all, it had taken Yuki quite some time to think everything through including optional back up plans and alternatives. She opened her mouth, speaking one final time after a few seconds of silence. "I have done the calculations and I predict a possibility of success at approximately 78%. The second higher success rated plan I could think of was 52%. I project that this is our best option." she noted at the end, her eyes still lifeless with only a glimmer of life shining through at the mention of strategy.

{My WC: 1251}

Of course. It would figure that the plan this small girl had would involve her taking on all of the normal people and leaving Kira to battle against ten ninja. Kira wasn't even mad as that would have been her suggestion also, but she felt that it was important to keep them both together. If they were out of range she wouldn't be able to protect the small girl and that would be a serious issue. If she died Kira didn't know what she would do. She wasn't like maku and youka, uncraring if someone or something around them was terminated as long as it was a job well done and drinks at the tavern for those who survived. She had this intense caring for pretty much everyone that had crossed her path. Except hebi. She had hated hebi, which made it fortunate that now he was six feet under ground litterally. 

     "That's fine, but make sure you dont get to far away. I want you within ten meters of me at all times. I should be able to make quick work of the shinobi. We will use the element of surprise. " There was never a reason in kira's opinion to rush in guns blazing and be noticed right away. Even in the mission where she killed five shinobi while she had entered with a bang the intent was to startle and surprise to gain an advantage. Everything came down to advantage in the world they lived in. She drew form her bag Six senbon and handed them to the girl. "Here. Use these if you get in trouble but keep note of where you throw them, I absolutely want them back at some point. " each senbon had a stange barelly noticable groove near one end, just before it tapered into the tip. Kira was proud of her craftsmanship on the needles. The tiny groove was just enough to hold wire if she needed to set up traps or run her shadows along. the tiny thread for a surprise attack. She had used the technique on youka only two days prior, though due to his stifling speed it had not quite ended the way she would have wished. 

     We attack at the same time and we strike hard and fast. I expect we will be able to take out or imobilize a few with these senbon before we have to start the fight and I would suggest going strait for the shinobi. When they realize They're under attack I'll use my body flicker technique. I should be able to get inside of their lines before they realize what is going on and sorrow will take care of them from there. I'll have my shadow up and out, and as long as you are within range I'll send a couple of the tendrils your way for protection but its really REALLY important that you stay within ten meters of my postition. Regular people or not ninety people is ninety people and unless you have a mass spreading jutsu.......It could get really dangerous really quick.  "

(1294)

Although Yuki tried to abstain from cockiness and arrogance she had overlooked the fact that she may face troubles against ninety people, whether they were shinobis or not. However, with the proper usage of her partial multi-size technique and her gauntlets of the giant she could easily defend and obliterate the non-shinobi with relative ease. Those were her calculations but she did not account for any abnormalities in said calculations. There was always a chance that they were highly skilled in particular areas that could be of concern to her as a kunoichi. Yuki sighed as she was a tad bit disappointed in herself for not thinking of her own safety. After all, she was only calculating over-all victory. Not concerning herself with her own safety. She sighed, nodding at the suggestion that Kira made for her to stay within ten meters. She agreed, it made sense to her. "It might knock a few percentage points off of our potential victory but I can make sure I do that." she stated plainly.

She wondered why Kira was so concerned for her safety. After all, Yuki was nothing more than a freak who had been cast out of her no longer existent village. It wasn't as if she were a cute little girl who needed protection... Though perhaps that was the way it had seemed. Not to mention Kira had not seen her potential lately. In fact, Yuki had improved an enormous amount since the last time they had trained. She wondered if she realized that... Regardless, she made valid points indeed. So long as the mission was completed in success with both of them coming out alive, it seemed as if they would both be content.

Yuki nodded at the kunoichi's instructions, her dull lifeless eyes resting on hers as she slowly began to realize what time it was. The scouts estimated that the time the attacking forces would reach their would village would be any moment now. "Kira, we have to go now if we are going to defend their village, indeed. The attacking forces are projected to arrive soon." she whispered, not wanting to fail the mission as a failed mission meant no pay for either of them. Yuki needed the money more than anything, even if she was insane, she had dreams and aspirations that could only be fully realized if she had enough ryo to make them happen.

{1654}

"your percentages, if the'yre that high are wrong. You have to take into account not only your skills but the opponents. If they're trained to fight then you will not kill ninety men by yourself, regaurdless of the dificulty. I may even have issues that require me to call Youka and Maku. In the event that they arent training the gamble is in whether they freak out and run away or swarm you. If they swarm once again No matter how powerful you are, unless you can do some crazy area of effect attack the chances of you killing ninety people rushing you at the same time is astronomically low. Following your plan of splitting up, and assuming the Nin I'm fighting are equivilent to one tenth of my strength, ten at a tenth equalling up to one of me in power and skill, the inevitable conclusion is eleven percent chance of sucess, where it rides on my ability to take out the ten before you are stabbed or beaten to death, and even those odds with your plan end up with us losing someone. I will not lose a fighter. Shock and awe. If i need to I have a few explosive tags. Those should be use full tagged to a kunai or senbon in crowd control. We fight together. If you really want to fight the non ninja I will concentrate on those with trainning and skills but we need to be versatile and pay attention to each other. I'm looking at a fifty seven percent chance of sucess with the variables i've added to your equasion and my plan. It increases with battle field awareness and after being able to determine both the enemies strength and how they react to stressors. Using the element of surprise provides vital information about our enemies. If they have sensory types they will slip back to the back lines and begin using jutsu. It will also show us how the non ninja react instinctually. We can act based on this information. That adds a positive modifyer bringing the total up to..." 

     She paused for a  moment, her eyes looking upward towards the sky as her lips counted numbers that weren't there. "I'm seeing seventy one depending on this information. and if theres something dangerous I start a distraction and we get out scott free. seventy one percent chance of sucess ninety eight percent chance of survival. I do believe that is the better plan....Oh...but lead the way. " She had heard the girl speak as she was rattling off her own statistics. She had no clue the deductive power she was born into. The mind of a nara was always brilliant and deductive, taking every single little instance into account before formulating a plan and though she was not aware where the gift came from she was more then willing to accept and use it. 

(1779)

When the woman had the audacity to say that her statistics were wrong she was furious. After all, clearly the woman did not understand the full extent of her plan. With regards to both of their survival, that was not what her calculations were accounting for. They were accounting for over all success, not their survival. Furthermore, of course her calculations were subject to modifiers based on the skill levels of whom they were about to face, even she knew that. She felt a strong urge to eat the young woman whom shot down her statistics as nothing more than inaccurate. It was not that she was angry, no, she did not appreciate being put down when she knew good and well her calculations were entirely accurate for what they already knew. She did not expect to take on all ninety shinobi by herself, she simply wanted to attack from where they were most likely to be at so that she'd be more effective for combat.

Not to mention the fact that clearly the woman did not account for the area of effect potential that Yuki possessed. Clearly the woman knew nothing about her. Partial Multi Size Technique combined with her gauntlets would have allowed her to not only defend quite effectively but attack numerous targets with devastating damage. Had she not been paying attention when she had been training against her doll? Yuki almost wanted to get angry, she almost wanted to succumb to meaningless emotions, but she realized that the woman perhaps was right in her own regard. However, to call Yuki wrong simply because she misunderstood that Yuki's plan was nothing more than a layout than a full fledged strategy was quite irritating.

All of this went on Yuki's head for a mere couple of seconds before Yuki simply nodded and spoke up, "78% if I disregarded my own safety. The only reason your percentage is so low is because your plan takes into account survival of both of us. I did not take that into account as I believed the only matter of importance was the mission itself. With the added variables of survival insurance for myself, yes, your numbers are somewhat accurate." she murmured to Kira in her standard monotone voice, free of any emotion.

{2035}

"Well I dont know about you kid but I'm here for the money. I'm sure it's aweful what is going on here but I doubt either side is completely innocent or else they would talk to echo and not the missing ninja. This is probably some back alley deal gone wrong that caused a huge coup. I personally don't want to get killed over something I wasn't responsible for so in my opinion our own safety is far more important then the mission objectives. If we live to see another day worst case we can sneak in at night after they've ransacked and take them out when they arent expecting it. " 

She commended the girl's analitical mind, but was more then a little worried about her disregard for personal and team safety. If it had been maku and youka they would think about each other first and if the mission had to be botched to save someone it would be, though considering the two of them their idea of withdrawing to preserve the teams safety would be more along the lines of killling anyone and everyone in sight until there was no longer a single man woman or beast standing to challenge the safety of their friends. She loved them for that, even if youka had a tendency to succumb to darkness. 

     "Go kid. We gotta get to the set up point and I honestly wasn't paying any attention at the briefing. " THe moment Yuki began to move she would follow, keeping her eyes peeled for anything and everything that could hinder them. unfortunately the attack was happening in daylight, which meant they had to be extra careful when moving to ensure they werent seen. 

(2084)

Yuki listened to her, looking as if she was intently listening but in all actuality has started to tune her out; at least, what one would refer to as selective hearing. "Go kid. We gotta get to the set up point and I honestly wasn't paying any attention at the briefing. " Kira spoke to her and Yuki's head perked ever so slightly as she paid attention to those words, figuring that perhaps it was best that she lead the way considering she had been paying attention. She had had no clue that Kira had not been paying attention, however, though it made sense. Kira seemed to tune out every so often, like she had when they were training, and would not pay attention to things going on around her. At least, that was Yuki's observation of the woman.

Yuki proceeded forward towards the area that was predestined to be the area that they would intercept the invading batallion, it was a path that led directly to the front gates of the village as the scouts had informed them that they had been following this path for at least a day now, so there was a relatively high likely hood that if they attacked it would be from this path. Yuki had been almost completely silent up until that point, making only the tiniest of sounds that would have been dismissed as nothing more than the sounds of the forests. After all, there were numerous trees on either sides of the path and they were hidden away behind bushes, trees, and foliage. They were approximately half a mile away from the village they were protecting as to not put them in jeopardy. Yuki gestured to Kira, signaling for her to split with Yuki a few meters so that they would be more difficult to pin point if it came down to it.

Yuki moved to the right a few meters, the senbon that Kira had given her placed neatly in her flak jacket armor as she crouched down behind a bush, the leaves and foliage completely concealing her appearance. One could not see through the foliage all the way from the path unless they had some form of enhanced vision, though any statement of such had not been in the briefing. Yuki could look through small holes through the foliage due to being so close to it, able to view the trail perfectly. She retrieved one of the senbon from her flak jacket and fiddled with it silently, awaiting the arrival of the enemies who they would be facing. Yuki was almost ready to fight, she wanted to see blood and she wanted to feel it splatter across her skin. She wanted to dismember every last one of these filth. Kira's utterances about who was right and who was wrong... Who cared? Yuki just wanted to see blood and get the job done. She had been given a job and it was her duty to fulfill that job.

{2532}

Kira followed slowly, setting herself up on the opposite side of the road, ducked behind a large three. Suddenly the sound of marching footsteps appeared. Peeking around the side she saw the army approach, a large volume of men in similar uniforms led by ten young men. The Ninja, who for whatever reason walked in the front of the lines, were joking about and laughing rather loudly. Had they been expecting the attack it probably been different but these kids were clearly genin fresh out of their villlage goofing about like the world wasn't tough. She would show them. taking the senbon from her bag she let three fly. Each flew true and three of the ninja went down, clutching at their necks and straining to breathe. She had hit them at an angle that constricted their windpipe without actually piercing it, and thankfully she was on the proper side to do so without hitting the large artery that would be instant death. 

     She figured that was good enough of a signal and so she called out to her shadows. The circle appeared around her, to extend completely around another tree to hide her position. Thanks to her suit they couldn't sense her and this would allow her to keep tabs while still fighting. The men scrambled to pull out weapons, both sword and kunai but before any of them could react except to scream out a warning the other seventy shinobi were pierced through from behind by a sharp tendril of shadow. Screams of terror filled the assualt area. She had caused quite a mess. some would live, she hoped but one she had missed quite unfortunately. THe shadow moved so quick that with only a snap shot of where they had been she mistook the distance, stabbing the poor child directly between his ribs and through his heart. they each fell, some screaming and some clutching at their wounds as the shadows slid out to stab at them several more times, too far in shock to act. 

     Finally she would step out. She flashed them a bright smile to say "Hello. You know.....It's not nice to assault people. I was asked to stop you. " The men left were armed and ready, assuming yuki hadn't acted quickly to take out a few at least, and as she spoke they realized she looked like a small child and jumped into action. She would offer her assistance to Yuki with two shadows as the other eight struck out at soldiers, another reaching out from the ground itself. It would catch ten of the soldiers, forcing them to stand still, paralized due to their lack of chakra.

(2530)