Mission:Top Priority-Akihana, Odin, Umeko, Hanbei

Mission Details

The sun shone weakly down on Akihana as she waited at the edge of the village, the meeting point where she was supposed to greet her team for this mission. Never having led a mission before, the Kunoichi was sufficiently nervous but being a mother, she knew she couldn't show it lest it shook the confidence of the kids who were coming along with her.

The mission was straightforward enough and the blonde had every faith that the ninja of Cloud were both capable and creative. So with a grin on her face and all her weapons and personal items sealed away in a scroll, the medic waited, her loose golden hair fluttering softly in the wind even as her sharp golden eyes scanned the area both for her teammates as well as potential threats. It was a scary thought to think that one day, Arata too would go on missions and she could only hope that his team leader cared about his safety half as much as she did for the safety of her own charges.

Activating her seal very briefly, Akihana let her thoughts flow. It was a silly habit but it calmed her down to a great degree. With the reassurance that she was never truly alone came the confidence she needed as she waited for the rest of the troop.

On his way to meet the others, Odin spent most of his time practicing his chakra channeling.  He focused and harnessed it into his feet and hands.  It made him more efficent at running and made him a little lighter on his feet.  He hasn't learned much to be out and about but his sword play we refined from his many days in his old village.  

He was re-accounting his days training with his father.  He held one hand on the hilt one of his black swords.  They both had the same name, Heaven's Sorrow Ninjato.  
My Heavenly Ninjato and my Sorrow, he names them.  

He tries to silence his footsteps to the best of his abilities, to a Genin's abilities he would say.  He crept around the outside of the village. He took the long way around, using his chakra to climb to the top of a tree and look around for the others.

From the darkness of an alleyway, the sound of footsteps could be heard. The clacking of a common sound; ninja footwear. A shadow steps forth, revealing a boy, shrouded in clothing, black hair down his back and a covering the middle part of his face. His stance was that of a man out of breath and his expression was doctile and neutral. He didn't look menacing; in fact, if anything, he looked confused. He stepped fully out of the shadow and stepped forward into the light, revealing himself entirely, "...Hi. I'm not late, am I?" he asked with concern, looking at the other, "Forgive me if you waited too long; I got distracted.." He reaches his hand under his sleeve and pulled out something fluttering in his hand.


Upon opening his hand, a butterfly fluttered out and landed on the top of his hat, "I saw it fluttering around some spider webs. I don't normally interfere with the flow of nature, but such a carefree creature shouldn't be used as food." He regained his posture and stood up straight, "I am Hanbei. I assume you're here for the mission as well?" he asked, turning his attention to his mission leader. "Are we waiting on anyone else?" He asked, reaching up and extending his finger, allowing the butterfly to skip from his hat to his metal gauntlet.

Odin saw the group of ninja gathering together outside the village entrance,
That must be them, he thought with a smile on his face.  His heart raced in excitement as he jumped down from the tree he was perched on. 

His two black swords made a clanking noise as his orange scarf danced above him, slowly ending up at his shoulders.  He quickly walked up to them all, smirking with his one eye closed, the other was covered by a black eye patch. 
He waved at the others as he approached.  He was close behind Hanbei when he greeted them all, 
"Hello guys. I am Odin Onimusha! Nice to meet you all!"

He was excited and anxious to start the mission with his newly formed team.

One of the firsts to arrive to the scene was Odin Onimusha, Akihana's chakra sensory picking up his presence even before her golden eyes flicked towards the light patterns he was unknowingly leaving behind in hiding up in the trees. Hiding from a tracker ninja was not the best move in the world but the blonde let it be beause she appreciated the caution and effort he was putting into this mission. She also appreciated the little girl's vigilance as she approached her, Umeko Ametsuchi, as she introduced herself.

The last member of their team, Hanbei, appeared a little late, explaining how he had rescued a butterfly and making Akihana smile. Odin now now deemed it safe to join them so Akihana began.

"Hi guys. Don't worry, no one is late. For those of you who don't know, I'm Akihana. I work at the Raikage building but I'm also primarily a medic nin. I'm sure you've all read your scrolls abotu the mission?" Waiting a moment for them to digest the information, the blonde continued.

"The mission is strictly rescue, we do not want to engage the kidnappers unless we absolutely have to. So lets have a volunteer scout out ahead to see if they can locate the campsite where the nobles and their captors are located. Then two of us are going to create a diversion to hopefully lure the kidnappers away from their captives. Then the other two can go free the nobles and spirit them away to safety."

The plan wasn't overly complicated or heroic but heroics were not Akihana's priority. The priority was to rescue the nobles and make sure non of her teammates got hurt in the process.

"Lets head on, shall we?" she suggested politely before beginning the trek up the winding mountainous path.

Hanbei was trying his hardest to pay attention, but noticed the butterfly had moved from his gauntlet to the cuff of his garment, "Pfft.. Pfft!" he attempted to blow it off before it could get stuck. Raising his hand again, it lightly hopped to his finger. He turned his attention to the others and yawned gently, "I'm not really stealthy, but my strategical skills are unmatched here. Me and another should distract and lure them with traps using tree branches, pitfalls, and vines. We will act as though I'm a wealthy merchant being transported to another town. When the scout bandits fall into our traps, they will call for help, gaining the attention of the bandits who are guarding the nobles. When they leave their posts, the other two, which should be the faster ones, will secure the nobles and get them to safety while we let the traps take care of the last of them. Once finished, we will decide how to deal with them." Hanbei turned his attention back to the butterfly, wiggling his finger a bit, as if playing with the small insect.

Akihana was already proud of how quick these kids were on the uptake, particularly the youngest of the lot. But then again, that was only to be expected given her family. As Umeko dashed out to scout ahead, Hanbei offered a strategy that might well work, even if time consuming.

"That would certainly work Hanbei-kun," the blonde agreed as Umeko returned, turning her attention to the young Kunoichi who delivered a very detailed report of the location of the kidnappers. "Why don't you and Onimusha-san go on ahead, laving traps behind and Umeko-chan and I will take care of the other bandit and free the nobles. Remember, try to keep ahead of the captors if possible. Only engage if they do. They'll probably tail you for a bit to see how well your escort is equipped, so if Onimusha-san looks intimidating enough, they likely will not approach anytime soon."

With the details settled, the medic moved towards the other kunoichi. "Good luck everyone, regroup a the base of the mountains after we've all done out part," she finished.

Odin was impressed by Umeko's scouting abilities,
"Wow. Great work Umeko!" he said with a smile on his face. 

His eye shifted towards Hanbei and Akihana.  He crossed his arms, listening to their plan. 
"That seems like it would work.  I am the most equipped out of us," tapping on his two black swords with each hand. 
"I will try and be an aggressive and deadly looking guard," he chuckled for a moment.  He already thought about his father's attitude, he would mimic it during the mission, cold, blunt, and ruthless.  He smiled at them, his eyes looking through them, thinking about his father.
  
Now isn't the time for sentimental thoughts.  Eye on the prize.  He thought to himself.

He began to walk away with Hanbei.  He thought about the potential traps they could make along the way, examining anything and everything for it's uses. 
"I have some wire and exploding tags we can combine with things in the forest to use for traps.  The wire we can use for trip wire or for holding things up, my exploding tags we can combine with falling rocks or hide in a batch of leaves."

He wasn't sure what to do, he never hunted or planned on being hunted except using his two swords on his back, "I assume you have a plan?"  he asked as he pulled out his wire, roping it around one arm.