A-Rank A Dangerous Escort (Cole, Hikari)

Cole listened as Hikari checked they area giving the clear to the left and right and behind them, but then said that their was three ninja to the front of us. One playing dead in the road while they other two hid in the bush waiting for an ambush. Cole like her plan as well with the clones, but he was pretty sure that Sal didn't know the shadow clone jutsu, and he didn't know if Hikari had learned it yet or not, so that just left his water clones.

Cole turned and looked at Hikari “hay Hikari check this out no hand signs” he would tell her in a low voice so no one but the four of them could possibly hear it. He would smile at her, as three clones tore their way out of him created out of the water from his body. It would look like water was pouring out of him in four different location and taking form, his form. He would then make they hand signs for the transformation jutsu turning the clones into him, Sal, Hikari, and the drunk. Then he would send they clones to walk up they road a bit while Sal jumped from tree to tree on they left side of they road cole would do they same but on the right side of the road. Cole would make sure that he and Sal was in front of the clones so that they could set up before they set they trap.

With Sal on one side and Cole on they other. Sal had both of they other ninja on his side meaning that he would probably take them out leaving Cole with the one that was playing dead. He would sit on they other side of they road opposite of Sal waiting on they clones to make their way up to the trap. He didn't notice any paper bombs or pits which meant the was rookies. Once coles clones got up to they trap the two of them would jump out one throwing a kunai at Sals clone while they other bashing Hikaris clone in they head and they one playing dead would stab coles clone in the belly. If Sal didn't stop them before this happened.

Cole would jump from the tree he was standing on making a few hand signs as he flew through the air. Created a sword out of they air around him. If Hikari still had her Byakugan active she would b able to see the wind element chakra forming a sword on coles right arm. Starting at his wrist and extending a solid three feet from their. He would land about five feet from the one that stabbed his clone and charged straight up to him. He would have his right hand with the wind sword over his right shoulder, and as he made it to him he would sling it through the guys arm cutting it off. The man would fall over holding his arm, and cole wind sword would disappear.

(WC-508 TWC-1756)

Hikari listened as the two boys spoke, Salzem telling her to stay close to the old geeser while Cole told her to watch him as he performed the Water Clone jutsu without the use of hand signs, an idea that intrigued Hikari. She guessed he had to practice many hours to be able to have such mastery over a jutsu or skill. 

She watched as the boys ran off to fight the missing nin, leaving her to stand by the man under their protection. She didn't mind moving to stand in front of him to protect him in case a stray ninja came their way, she was just a little bummed she would not be able to partake in her very first battle, though she figured it was probably for the best that she didn't learn fighting while on an A ranked mission where the ninja attacking them could be of very high rankage. 

Hikari kept her Byakugan activated for two reassons: a) to see what was taking place up head with Cole and Salzem and b) in case any enemy ninja went undetected and tried to attack her from any angle, thus her 360 degree vision would kick in and help her stop any ambush attacks if they were to occur. Up ahead it seemed as though Salzem took the tree lines to catch the two ninja near each other hiding off guard, though he seemed to be waiting until the clones exposed the hiding ninja before he attacked. Cole took the other tree lines, his goal seemed to be the man who was pretending to be dead in the middle, though he too waited for the clones to strke first. Once the clones got to the scene, the boys already lying in wait to attack, they were attacked by the two ninjas hiding. The one who held a kunai swung it at the clone Salzem's head, while the other decided to bash clone Hikari's head in. Brutal much! If that was really me I would hurt him fatally for even attempting to kill me! No one that savage would deserve to live! Hikari, even though she was kind and friendly, could be cruel and vicious if she was pushed too far, or if she felt like the people deserved it, as such is this case. Maybe it is a good thing I am not fighting, I would probably be kinda mean...possibly, who knows. As she focused on the scene again, the third ninja tried to stab clone Cole.

Things took a turn to a more interesting path when Cole jumped from his perched spot on a tree and started forming a wind chakra sword on his right arm, beginning at his wrist and extending outward. Cole started charging at the third ninja with incredible swiftness. The ninja had no time to react before he screamed in agony, Cole having just cut off the ninja's arm with his wind sword. With the third ninja down, Cole relinquished his wind sword. One down, two to go. I believe in you Salzem! Hikari silently cheered for her teammate, knowing fully he would be able to easily take on two missing ninja, especially if they were as weak as they looked.

"Hey...what is going on up there?!" The lord's friend asked Hikari, nudging her with his elbow. She was surprised he even spoke up, but she blamed that on curiosity getting the better of him. 

She did not look over, nor did she spare a glance, at him while she responded in a cold tone,  "The Leaf Shinobi are a lot stronger than you give us credit for. You will be safe as long as we are with you. Also do not doubt me because I am small, I could easily take down all three of those missing ninja up ahead, hence why I was ordered to stay and protect you." She felt she had exaggerated a bit, but she did believe in her strength as a ninja, especially since she was able to learn one of her clans taijutsu moves; the Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms technique. The lord's friend stayed quiet, taking all the information in. She figured he would still be skeptical of them, but she gave no shits about what he thought.

[WC: 2,562]

As soon as the missing ninja attacked the water clones, Salzem made his move. He grabbed the lankier one and threw him off his tree-perch and onto the ground. He lay there, stunned, allowing Salzem to move onto the brute. His club, still wet from when he destroyed the water clone, swung like a cannon ball towards Salzem's head. However, with strength, lacks speed, allowing Salzem the time necessary to dodge. Deciding a blade would only either end up broken or end up being knocked out of his hands, Salzem slipped Olympia back into his belt. As the iron club came around again, Salzem reached out with both of his hands, stopping the iron mass from doing any real damage. The large man looked at the little Chuunin in shock. Surely something that size couldn't possess such Colosal strength! Salzem ripped the club from the brawny bandit, tossing it behind him with a loud *thud*. As the dust from the road, rose around the club, the large bandit recovered from his shock, throwing punch after clumsy punch, anger rising as each blow barely missed its intended target. Salzem leapt back as a crushing left hook came around, putting at least 5 meters away from his aggressors. This gave him enough time to use his most devastating attack. Although it probably wouldn't matter whether he used the lariat or this one, Salzem decided more practice in self-control using this technique was vital. Salzem judged how long it might take for the large man to get up and close the distance. Not fast enough. Having thought this, He begun his technique. He slammed his hands into the tiger sign, focusing and stimulating it's movements. He thought of that murderer, Adam, his miserable child hood, watching his best friend die. This didn't cook up sadness, depression, or even anger. It cooked up rage, hate and spite. A chakra cloak burst forth into existence, but it was not blue like that of the Lariat technique. Oh, no. It was a dark, angry red. Salzem's eyes flashed with hate and he dashed forwards at the speeds of 170. At these speeds, it would be likely, no one would even notice him before it was FAR too late. He stopped when he was right under the guard of the large man, still staring at the spot where Salzem once was, blinking, trying to figure out where he went. Salzem brought up a fist into the man's gut at a strength of 150. At these strengths, his fist was more like a bomb went off in his belly, much to the same effect. Blood splattered everywhere, over Salzem, over his still unconscious companion, luckily, not on his spider who was watching silently in awe. Somehow, the man kept breathing. This meant he would only suffer longer. He grabbed the man's ankles, spinning him around as the cloak enveloped him. He kept spinning until the man was only seen as a red blur before he threw him 7 meters into the sky, blood splattering from the arm sized whole in the man's torso. Anger rising at the man's persistence, his cloak rose with it, becoming larger, denser. Salzem, or what now controlled Salzem's body, jumped up at speeds similar to before, snatched up the man's head the fell towards the ground. He still felt slight, barely noticeable breaths on his hand.

How is this man still alive!? He won't be after this. Salzem thought to himself as they hurtled towards the ground. Just before they hit the ground, Salzem slammed the man's head into the earth with such force, a small shockwave erupted around them, raising the earth and hitting with the satisfying force of 80 strength. This shockwave was only 3 meters around him however, just enough to encompass the smaller Kunai-ninja. He was crushed under the stone, immobilized and killed before he had ability to react. Salzem's hatred dispersed slowly and the chakra cloak with it. It seemed to take minutes before the cloak fully dispersed. He looked at his hands, then down at the mutilated corpse that was his potential assailant. His head was destroyed. Rather, there was no head to speak off. It had been reduced to bone-dust mixed with blood, which splattered nearly filled up the small crater he had created in the road. If Cole didn't need any help with the pretending-to-be-dead guy, Salzem would head back to Hikari, trying to wipe the blood off his face, as well as the fear of his lack of self-control. He had done that. He had destroyed that person. He... no. He had a job to do. And he would get it done. Salzem steeled himself (no matter how poorly) and returned to the group.

WC: 2130

AP: 455

-60 Demon Cyclone

Cole watched as Sal destroyed the other guys. He didn't want to get in sals way so he just stood their and watched as sal killed on of the men. He thought to himself that their had to be a better and faster way that he could have done it, but with they look that sal had on his face cole knew better then to say something or step in. He had seen that look before when cole surprised him on his birth day, and it was the look of death. Cole had learned that in his training sessions with sal that this sometimes happened, but he didn't know how well sal could control it, so while he was fighting the other guy. Cole would prepare and stay on guard just encase sal completely lost it. He knew from their last spar that he couldn't take him one on one, but he might be able to calm him back down if it came to it.

Sal finished they other guy off leaving the one he knocked out laying their, and started to walk back to Hikari. Cole made a sound of relief that sal didn't loose it, and started to walk back to Hikari himself. He would turn and look back at the guy that had lost his arm. “you should never had attacked us you couldn't beat trained shinobi” he would say with a look that told the guy that he was stupid. Cole would refrain from talking to sal for a few minutes figuring that it was best to let him calm on down. He looked it now but Sal was a chuunin which meant that he had training in how to hide things.

Once he got back to Hikari and the drunk. He would tell Hikari “hay im going to give you a hand with the sensory part of this mission. I picked up a knew jutsu that helps with it” he would look around to the three of them before saying “i hope you guys don't mind the rain” he would say to them. He would then make a few hand signs and the sky would start to darken as far as they eye could see. Well at least he could see anyways. In reality it was only a mile in all direction. Once the dark clouds was up in the sky the rain would began to fall slowly and then faster. “with this jutsu I can feel everything with in a hundred meters of us, and with it combined with your byakugan we will be able to pinpoint and know what to expect before it gets to us”he would tell Hikari and Sal.

The drunker-ed would complain about it being needed, but cole wouldn't pay him any mind their mission was to get him to the cloud village alive their was nothing about keeping him comfortable on the way their. Cole would stand and wait for Sal to give they order to move out.

(WC-499 TWC-2255
you guys want to get another attack in. more powerful enemy maybe get den or aki to npc them?)

With her Byakugan still activated, Hikari watched the scene with Salzem unfold. Since she was connected to and could easily sense his chakra signature thanks to their Chakra Sensory training, she felt a surge in his chakra as it grew immensely and her Byakugan detected a red chakra cloak wrap around him, almost demonically. Fear flashed across her eyes for a moment, unaccustomed to such evil looking attacks, like Salzem destroying the man. When we were training together I knew he was holding back some, but I didn't know he was actually holding back almost all of his power...He could kill anyone without them having any way to stop it, he is that powerful. Woah. Hikari did not like the watching people die, it went against all her goals and dreams, but she knew in the world of shinobis people had to perish for the world to be safe. As Salzem returned, trying to wipe off some of the blood that had splattered all over him, she greeted his return with a smile and admiration in her eyes, unlike the fear that most people probably felt. She admired the fact that he was strong enough to protect the ones he loved and cared for, even if it meant mercilessly killing bad people.

Then Cole returned as well, having sliced off the arm of his opponent. She also greeted him with a smile, glad they both made it back safely and without injury. The area was starting to wreak of blood, but it was barely noticeable that Hikari did not believe the lord's friend would notice, as he was not trained to keen his senses. Cole then told her that he was going to help her out with the chakra sensory part of this mission. She at first thought he meant he had learned the Chakra Sensory skill, which helps sense chakra signature as far as fifty meters away, but when he spoke of rain and water droplets started falling from the sky onto them, soaking her and her clothes, she knew she had thought wrong. Hikari didn't mind the rain, but she was a bit embarrassed and hoped the men she was traveling with didn't notice her clothes were sticking to her body, she tried to cover it up by crossing her arms over her chest.

Cole's jutsu amazed Hikari, with it being able to sense people a hundred meters away it was far better than anything she had, even her Byakugan (which could only see a max of one mile in one direction at a time). She began to wonder if there were any jutsu she could learn that could help her like that, or if only water element users had special jutsu to basically pin point anyone's location, at least up to the one hundred meters. Hikari then waited for Salzem to give out the next orders, which would probably be to head out again in their formation, hoping they would by pass the dead bodies of the ninja for the lord's friend's sake. They still had a ways to go before they reached the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

[WC: 3,084] [-3 AP for Byakugan] (Sure we can do that! ^^ But maybe we should wait until the Kumo border to get attacked again?)

Cole had also returned to the group, reuniting with the annoying drunk, and Hikari. Although she smiled at him, he couldn't bring himself to smile back. He had destroyed that man. It was brutal. It was destructive. It was monstrous. He couldn't keep himself restrained for a second. Cole started to make it rain as he had done in their most recent sparing match. It was some kind of sensory technique that allowed one to sense and perceived one's surroundings up to 100 meters (300 feet.) Although it had a much longer range and was quite a bit more defined than Chakra sensory, it was also a bit more flashy and cost a lot more. Salzem flipped his head upwards towards the rain letting it wash the blood from his face and clothes. The smell, however seems to always stick to you whether or not you have the substance on your person. trying to focus back on the mission at hand, he noted Cole and Hikari, and even the terrified old drunk was waiting for Salzem to give his orders. He looked at them for a second, before issuing his command.

"Lets keep going. Cole, I want you farther back, next to the old man as well. I have a bad feeling about this..." Salzem took the head, looking farther down the road. They passed the corpses of their first assailants and Salzem looked back at the old man and nodded toward their broken bodies.

"Mind the bodies." He said before continuing on. It would be another couple hour's walk, yet, until the reached the hidden Cloud. He couldn't begin to express the anticipation he felt to getting back home, getting his money and heading home. It was on missions like these that he felt truly isolated, where everything around was either hostile, or not on your side. It made one feel small, insignificant. He had a feeling that those thugs were just the henchmen to a much stronger foe.

(Sure! If one of you will be so kind, please go grab aki or Denki to NPC. Would appreciate it.)

WC: 2460

They would stand waiting for Sal to give they order. He would notice that Hikari was trying to cover her self up. He didn't think about the rain making her cloths stick to her. He would take his jacket off reveling his white tee shirt that was loosely tucked into his black cargo pants. “here take this Hikari i'm sorry about the rain I didn't think about that part” he would tell her while he held his arm out holding his jacket. If she took it, it would be a little big on her. Cole had broader shoulders and was a bit taller then she was.

After a few minutes Sal would give they order to move out and tell cole to stick back with Hikari and drunk. Cole would stand on the right side of the drunk leaving Hikari to stand on the left side. Cole would put his hands in his pocket and walk with the group. He could feel everything around him the bugs, animals, and even the other people. He liked the way it felt being able to know were everything with a chakra signature was at.

Cole would look at Sal he could see that sal didn't like what he had done. Just from the way he was walking and acting. Cole had gotten to know sal pretty well or at least he thought he did, but how well could you know someone. He didn't know, but he did know that he trusted Sal with his life, and would never betray him. Cole focused back onto the topic at hand and started to focus on his jutsu. He wanted to keep sure that their was no one coming.

(WC-283 WTC-2538)

Salzem was letting the rain wash off the remaining blood, a sullen look in his eyes. She felt bad for him, realizing he didn't like the way he handled that battle, destroying a man without any second thoughts. Cole, on the other hand, was just waiting for Salzem's orders, and while he waited he had noticed that she was trying to keep herself covered from the rain. He apologized for not thinking about the rain and clothes and shrugged his jacket off, handing it to her. Hikari blinked, surprised by his actions. "T-thank you Cole." She took his jacket and put it on, pink dusting her cheeks at his kindness.  The jacket looked like a dress on her, the arms a bit baggy and could flop like a penguin's, he was a lot bigger than she, but she was just grateful to be covered from her embarrassment. I really am blessed to have made some amazing friends, huh mom and dad? You would like them, these boys are sweet and caring. I haven't met anyone fully evil yet, not from the Leaf at least. I actually haven't made any girl friends either, isn't that funny? 


Salzem then began to take charge as leader again, ordering Cole to stand and protect the man with Hikari. She was on the man's left side with Cole on his right, Salzem taking the lead a bit in front of them. They moved out, heading forward toward the border of Konoha and Kumo. Hikari tried not to look down as they walked over the remains of the ninja from earlier. The ground was covered in red oozy liquid that splashed when they walked in it, the air tainted with rotting corpse and blood, even the birds weren't chirping anymore. Death does this to a place...Beauty is replaced with death, everything here is connected to death. Quietness, blood, and the wretched smell of a discomposing corpse. In a few days everything will be gone though, the grave of these men unknown to all who pass but us. Life will go on without them. The world can be cruel in such a way as to forget those so easily. I learned that the hard way when my parents died, everyone slowly stopped caring and giving me support. When I turned seventeen, I finally got the courage to attend the academy. I knew people thought it was strange, I was so old yet I had not gone to school yet. Up until that point I had been grieving for my parents, not able to force myself to become a ninja, the same thing that had caused their downfalls. I was, and still am not, hateful to the world for my misfortunes, instead I took the path of learning from it, gaining the courage necessary to create my own goals and accomplish them. I found the light in the darkness, though other's like these assassin's have not, and hence why they fall before the ones who have.


Hikari blinked a few times, realizing she had gotten lost in her thinking and was starting to sound a little malicious. She looked around with her Byakugan, making sure the coast was clear and that they were not going to get ambushed again. The trees were empty of humans, the bushes only full of rabbits and squirrels, there were no assassins or rogue ninja hiding. I wonder how far away the Kumo border is. I've never been there, or any where for that matter, but I would say that it's still a few hours away. I guess for the time being I could just embrace my surroundings and take everything in, for who knows how long it will be until I get to see the outside world again. So she did. Hikari looked at the wildlife passing through a few feet from them, hidden behind bushes and trees. She took in the air, slowly becoming cleaning as they left the bodies and was morphing into the smell of rain. It was almost becoming calming to have the pitter pat of the water as it hit the ground. It's almost enjoyable being out here, aside from ninja attacking you. I could get used to this, exploring the world while on a mission with your friends. It is like a journey. 


[WC: 3,801] [-1 Ap] (Just tell me when we want Aki to invade this thread and I will PM her to enter! ^^)

Salzem kept his eyes on the road, the numbness of duty and the rough barbs of disappointment battled silently for dominance of Salzem's inner self. The mere fact that he was having these convictions basically spelled failure for him being the leader. His inability to keep focused, to force down his emotions for the betterment of his crew was going to be his ultimate downfall, or at least, that's what he was taught when he was opting to become a ninja. Zeefalvora, who was silent so far, broke the silence, a mocking tone in her voice, as she whispered in Salzem's head.

Look at what you've done. Not even one of my kind would kill prey so brutally. Salzem's body twitched as he tried to keep his rage under control.

Oh, yes. Let us not forget, the youngest out of the three of you is leading. I commend you on that wise and noble decision.

"Shut up." Salzem muttered under his breath. He was just far enough ahead of the group so that they could not hear his voice at this volume.

I see you are loosing control again are you? What's stopping you, monkey?

Salzem was tempted to stop, to shut up the spider, but that would likely end up putting them all in danger, as stopping, even for but an unnecessary moment, would draw more of the missing ninja to the old man. To deal with this, and to make himself feel better, Salzem used Zeefalvora's own telepathy to forward his own thoughts to her. Upon seeing these thoughts, she snickered slightly, but no longer spoke. Duty and disappointment was no longer warring it out. Both sides were overwhelmed with the endless flowing tides of anger. Somehow though, thinking about Cole, Hikari, even the man he was supposed to escort, gave him enough strength to swallow the ball of fire that was forming in his stomach. At this point they were very near the Cloud borders so Salzem looked back at everyone to see how they were holding up. The drunkard was digging around in his pockets for the bottle he had lost, near oblivious to the rain. Cole, for some reason, was no longer wearing his coat and it was now worn by Hikari. For a moment, this puzzled him. Does she not like the rain...? Then he remembered what rain water did to clothes and he had his answer. Regardless, Salzem would look at everyone collectively, pointing towards the road.

"The Cloud should be right up there." Salzem said in a slightly hollow voice. He had still not gotten over his failure yet and his spider wasn't exactly helping. The drunkard looked up from his fruitless search barely registering Salzem's update before returning to his digging.

"Hmm...? Oh, oh good. Now if I could just find where I left it..." The old drunk mumbled more to himself than anyone else.

WC: 2944

(If you want, please PM Aki after yer next post. That okay with you Hikari?)

((Sure I will do that! Sorry for interrupting the posting order to say this >_<))