Big Boss [io]

Spoiler:

It was early in the morning so early in fact that not even the sun nor the birds were up. Certainly some might classify such a time as night, but it mattered little to operative Wolf. While on duty days and nights passed without consequence. Instead, she measured time based on missions completed. Such a timing mechanism was much simpler and if the woman needed anything in her life it was simplicity. Simplicity was good.

Unfortunately the past twenty-four hours had been anything but simple. She had spent much of the prior day and subsequent night investigating a few mysterious deaths around a manor of one of the land of Fire's more well off lords. At first blush it was an easy task: check out the bodies and compile evidence. However, it got much more complicated when the lord himself went missing. This of course spurred an all out manhunt. Just before the moon crested over the land, Wolf found the man in a out of the way hovel hiding. As it turned out he was hiding from his wife. In the end, the anbu found that the wife had been poisoning people with knowledge of her plot to kill off her husband to take his fortune.

Alas, Wolf found herself unable to see the assignment through to the end as she was recalled before the raid on the wife and what was left of her co-conspiratorial circle. Thus, after making the overnight journey across the Fire Nation, Wolf found herself in a particularly uncomfortable chair in a particularly small room. It was this room that she knew all too well, the mission briefing room of the anbu complex. A few empty chairs lay scattered around the room, but the centerpiece of the room was a circular table on whose wood surface lay three folders, a new mission.

By chance Wolf had arrived first; the room was empty save for herself. Decked out in the customary armor of her rank, Wolf waited. Her namesake mask lay on the table next to the manila folder-she would not need to hide her true identity from those she was about to meet. To pass the time the woman began to count the seemingly endless holes in the ceiling. No, Wolf did not do sitting still well.

Even her companion for life, Chairomaru, who lay at her feet could not help but feel antsy. Every once in a while the large ninken would let out a nervous whine. This was how every mission began. It was the clam before the storm and the worst part for Wolf. When in the field her mind was clear and her actions swift, but the waiting put her on edge as her mind went over every possible scenario. Yes, the waiting was killer despite it being all part of the dance for an anbu operative. Such was Wolf's life for the past couple years, moments of action and moments of inaction. Ebb and flow.

Hurry up already.

[500]

From atop one of Konoha’s highest buildings, Artemis watched as the sun began to peak over the horizon, casting it’s light upon the village and signalling the start to a brand new day. Even though she only witnessed it through her mask, the sunrise was still rather beautiful. She made sure to see every one that humbled the village with it’s presence. It was like a beacon of hope to a bright future for not just her, but her entire village that she had sworn to protect until the end of her days. She wish she could wait to see the full sunrise rise from beneath the horizon, but unfortunately duty called and she had to make her way down to headquarters. With a quick sigh, Cheshire leaped from the surface that she stoop upon, and made her way to the meeting location.

With unheard movements, Cheshire turned the nob of the small room and entered to find her teammates for her assigned mission. Up until now, The anbu hadn’t handled any large tasks that required more than one operative, so whatever they were facing must be one hell of a trial. It was a good thing her mask would be on for the entirety of the mission, since social interactions wasn’t something that Artemis handled well, but with the identity of Cheshire, she usually took up a total different personal.

Upon closing the door behind her and taking a step into the room, The anbu removed her hood and mask showing off her yellow cat like eyes. “Hello.” Were the only words Artemis could muster up to say, not even daring to make eye contact with the other two operatives. Without a sound to be heard, she made her way towards the empty chair and took a seat. Artemis placed her mask on the table and replaced it with one of the three folders as she opened it and looked at the briefing for the mission. Her eyes scanned the page rapidly, reading it word for word. “The Black Ones huh.” She unawarely said out loud.

Two-hundred, two-hundred-one, two-hundred-two...

And Ashi lost count again as her mind got lost in the array of small holes in the ceiling material. Luckily, the woman was spared from another round of aimless staring and fruitless counting by the arrival of the first of her teammates. A nod was all operative Tiger would get out of Wolf though Chairomaru's ears would perk up as well. There was not much to talk about while the pair waited so the Inuzuka took the closest folder to her and began to peruse the details of the mission.

The friendly exterior of Ashi began to recede as she read more and more about the mission. The persona of Wolf would be needed. An emotionless killer for Konoha. This was no mercy mission or government corruption probe. Rather it looked to be a wet-works mission: get in, kill those brazen enough to think they could rot Konoha to it's core and get out. All said, the job looked to be straight forward, which was worrying to Wolf. Looks were always so deceiving when it came to jobs like these and already the woman's mind was going over varying scenarios from the best to the worst causing a small spike of adrenaline to arc through her body.

Next came the third and final member of the three man squad, operative Cheshire if the mission summary was any indication. The real names of her soon to be squad members was not important. Better to not them really. Life in the anbu was rarely gum drops and roses; people died. Not many as of late, however, Ashi was old enough to remember a time when member dropped like flies before her very eyes. The battle of Kumogakure was still fresh in her memory.

Cheshire, Tiger and Wolf...We make quite the odd trio.

Wolf allowed the two others ample time to read up on the mission. The group had time as activity in the target area, the entertainment district, did not start for a few hours more. Though, the idle comment from Cheshire prompted Wolf to open discussion; planning was paramount in any operation.

"Indeed, the Black Ones," Ashi repeated matter of factly. "Not the most creative name."

A slight pause as the woman thumbed back to the first page within the folder.

"It would appear that we will need to do a bit of undercover work as three fully equipped anbu asking questions might attract unwanted attention. So, any thoughts as to workable covers?"

The timing was a bit inopportune when it was all said and done. Given that the sun would be rising soon it would not be too practical to stalk merchants in the shadows. Plus, the mission would probably require talking to locals and barkeeps, which ruled out the use camouflage jutsu. Lastly, a shock and awe raid of each bar and casino would probably get the trio no where and disrupt business far too much. Thus, a cover was perhaps the best bet at the moment. Naturally, Wolf was more than open to alternatives; working missions without a mask made her feel naked and exposed-unnatural even.

The studious girl continued to read the text to herself, until operative wolf’s words took her by surprise. The girl slightly jumped in her seat like a cat that’s been startled. The movement was so slight, yet nothing that an anbu operative would miss. While it was true, one’s persona as an anbu was quite different than when their mask was off, it was like Artemis was night and day with hers. If one saw her on a street while she dallied through the market, no one would ever suspect the girl was even a ninja to begin with due to how unaware,clumsy, and overall a huge klutz. Thought she would prove her skill soon enough.

A slight hint of red touched upon the girl’s cheeks as Wolf had responded to her remark, a remark that she had originally thought she said to herself. The woman proceeded to discuss how the trio would gather the intel needed in order to find intel on the syndicate. Artemis just stayed quiet momentarily, attempting to avoid direct conversation, but as soon as Wold admitted to not having a plan, it looked like the girl would have to swallow her social fears.

Artemis reached for her masked and looked at it, the exterior facing the girl as she looked at the wide grin of the cheshire looking back at her. Before long, the Pendragon girl mirrored it’s expression, giving off a big smile that was almost creepy. Was it mentioned that she had poor social skills? “I have a plan, but I’m not sure if you’re going to like it.” She began, giggling to herself as she rested the mask once more upon her face. Looking around the room, there were three beautiful women who were tasked in bringing down a gang which was making a name for itself under horrid crimes, one of these being human trafficking. Human Trafficking. Beautiful girls. They practically went hand in hand.

“ If this group had links to human trafficking as the intel states, then this is how we are going to get in.” Artemis began, hoping the other girl’s would begin to understand where she was going with this. If they didn’t, she’d continue on. “We head into the district as tourist, women just looking for a good time. We work our way until we find a man who will lead us towards a base of operations, naturally to traffic us. Now this plan can consist of all three of use, or just one with the other two staying back until they lead us to their hideout. Granted, if all three of us are out there acting like ignorant girls, we’ll be able to track down a member of the syndicate much quicker since we could cover more ground.” Cheshire spoke. Once more, the girl removed the mask, and with a shy smile, confronted her teammates. “So, what do you think?"

"Sure, that'll work."

There was no hesitation in Ashi's voice as she spoke. Time was short and qualms about compromising one's dignity took a backseat to the mission. After all, she was used to it by now and it was better to make use of her youth. Who was to say? In a few years she might not be able to use her youth. Better to not waste an asset especially when it was so readily available.

"However, going in without armor or a back-up plan is risky. In the unlikely event that we are all incapacitated, well, it would leave us in quite the predicament. Chai and myself can hang back in full gear while you two bait the hook."

It was at the mention of his name that Chai let out a low whimper at Ashi's feet. If the other anbu had not noticed his presence before then it would be hard to ignore now. Chai was, after all, the eighty kilogram dog in the room.

"I'll be able to keep track of you with ease." Ashi said tapping her nose with a single index finger. Hopefully the other two anbu were able to connect the dots between a woman with red markings on her face and a large hound at her feet. She never tried to hide her lineage like so many people often did.

"If there are no objections then we best get a move on, time is of the essence."

A slight pause as Ashi looked at the other two women in full anbu garb. That wouldn't do.

"You two should probably change into something more touristy, no?"

Yes, the group of anbu gathered here were an odd bunch. Ashi was not one-hundred percent certain Cheshire was all there; mission planning was no laughing matter. Tiger on the other hand? The Inuzuka could not get a read on her just yet. However, none of that mattered at the moment. What mattered was the mission at hand. That was all that had mattered in Ashi's life for quite a while. Always the next job, nothing more.

[sorry for my late as well as crappy post. I'll try to step it up]

The two other seemed to agree with her idea, while Ashi added her own twist, saying that she and someone known as Chai would stay back just in case things got nasty. Chai? A low whimper was heard throughout the room that caused Artemis’ ears to perk up. DOG!? The girl leaped out of her seat and repositioned herself so that she was now on all fours. The hair on her back prickles up like a cats would, and a very slight sound resembling a hiss escaped her lips. She hated dogs to say the least. She was more of a cat person, but that was pretty self explanatory. Operative Wolf, whose position was beginning to make sense, seemed to be a member of the Inuzuka clan. The girl slowly eased herself back into her seat momentarily, shaking he head in agreement to the Inuzuka’s proposition.

“In that case, mind holding onto this for me?” the girl removed the sheath that held her blade and handed it to Wolf as well as her mask before stretching out her body. “Something touristy… hmm.” With a slight tap of her lip with her left index finger. “I have just the thing! How about we rendezvous in five minutes at entertainment district?” If the girls agreed, Artemis would dismiss herself before heading out of the building and back home which was only two blocks away.

It only took her ten seconds to enter through the open window of her apartment. Once in, she stripped herself of her anbu gear. Taking it off felt as if she was taking off her skin. She had it on more than she had it off. Once stripped down, she slipped into one of her favourite Kimono’s that was purple with slight hints of black. She did her hair up in an elegant bun before heading towards the market district and getting into position. The place was already booming, but surely they would find one of the pervs that wanted to traffic them.