A bit of this and a bit of that...[P]

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t29014-poor-unfortunate-souls-d-rank

Spoiler:

Dusk is a magical time in Hoshigakure. The heat of the day begins to melt off and the masses in streets start to thin down to nothing. Lights flicker on as people attend evening mass and eat the last meal of the day. All day the city seems to tick like a clock, but with the disappearance the ticking becomes desynchronized until it finally dies down until it is reset the next day by the rising sun. Hoshigakure was settling into a restful nights sleep.

Unfortunately, Lucian found himself still wide awake. It was not so much that he minded staying up into the night, but he did rather dislike throwing off his sleep schedule. However, with his new rank in Hoshigakure sleep became secondary, which was a bit disheartening for the boy. Before, as a genin, he had much more time for himself and now he found his personal time begin cut into with other more official duties. No, it was not all bad and the boy did not much mind the cut from his personal time. He simply manged his time better, but sooner or later the balance he had struck thus far would be untenable.

But enough about such cerebral matters for they are neither here nor there. The reason Lucian found himself standing outside of Hoshigakure's shinobi academy was simple, he had a mission. Well, perhaps it was not too simple. He was to lead a mission, what did he know about leading missions? Not a month ago he had been a genin yet here he was taking point on a mission. On the bright side the mission itself was fairly straight forward. He and two others were tasked with extracting a acolyte from a particular sect deep in the heart of Hoshigakure.

Lucian had seen it all before. Having spent considerable time learning of the various faiths around Hoshigakure he met people who did not necessarily like their lifestyle, but were bound to it by circumstance. Too often he had been forced to accept such incidents as a fact of life. Yet here he was about to make a difference. This was his chance; he could finally do something.

For once Lucian did not wear the clothing of his clan; a white tunic was quite visible in darkness. Rather the boy wore a long sleeved maroon shirt under his chuunin flak jacket, which was further covered by a brown cloak reaching to just above the ground. The cloak covered the black baggy pants he wore and just barely covered the sandals strapped to his feet. For once in his life Lucian looked more like a shinobi than a monk though his bald head did say otherwise. Now, all that remained was for the other two members of his impromptu mission squad to turn up. To pass the time the Nazar kept his head inclined to the sky and the vastness of space as pinpricks of light began to appear in the sky.

WC: 505

Castiel continued his leisurely life, being a shinobi in Hoshi was likely the easiest thing he had ever done in the first 17 years of his life, why would he ever want to change that.  A life of comfort and luxury, if you were accustomed to shacking up wherever you could and stealing to survive.  Cas did not mind such things as all, he had already made plenty of friends around the village offering a little hospitality in return for warm food.  Though he found that the god forsaken queensquard were a hell of a bother preferring to hide from them as often as possible.  He helped when he could and made some cash here and there, but mostly he just grabbed food from vendors when they weren't watching and enjoyed a little scraping off the top when his "tithes" came due.  However every once in a while he would have to do ninja work.  So when he learned that that evil wench Shina had penciled his name in for a mission he would sigh and hope that it wasn't anything too demanding.  
 
The time had come and he found himself wandering down the streets, taking a handful of fruit from a vendor that owed him a favor, they were weirdly shaped but surprisingly filling.  Enjoying the sweet flavor with each bite.  So when he showed up with the juices from the fruit all over his muscle shirt he was sure he would be nagged at by the poor sap leading the mission.   His jeans hanging loosely about his waist and wearing a pair of sandals taken from some guy he saw dipping into a bath at the bath house with the dirty headband cloth holding up the jeans.  As he finished the desert pear chomping loudly and open mouthed he would stroll up to the  boy dressed for business standing at the academy waiting for him.  Whew, what a real sour puss this guy was wearing a combination of monk garb and ninja gear.  Castiel was tempted to continue walking past and pretending not to be here on business at all, but when he felt how empty his wallet was in his pocket he decided to suck it up.
 
 Finishing the last of the pear when he made it up to him, Cas would offer a single word, a sort of code word for all of the individuals in the region whenever a greeting was required. "Sup." He would state with a nod ruffling his black hair which was just a strip along the top of his head.  Castiel would smell of pungent fruit and a lack of hygeine, though the boy no longer noticed it though everyone else would. At the very least it was camouflage, though his crimson eyes would give him away.   
 
If the third individual did not show soon Castiel would flop on the ground nearby and lean back against the fence that surrounded the academy for privacy.

493

This was the longest and best sleep that Pein had gotten in years. Almost four to this day.

It was his first night that he had the hotel room Arashi offered him and he was actually sleeping in a bed for once. Not a bench in the training grounds, not a pile of sand or grass and not the wooden planks of the gazebo. A soft, large mattress all to him. The sheets likely had a high thread count as they wrapped Pein's almost 6' body in them while the thick, fluffy pillow provided excellent support for his neck and head This truly was not something that Pein was used to. Since his arrival in Hoshigakure he had been homeless. He would go from night to night sleeping in different locations so that he would not draw too much attention to himself or his location. Regardless of the effort he put in to keep his homeless status discreet, somehow the nobles and higher ups of the village still took note of this. But they did not care. The only reason anything was done to fix this issue was because Arashi had read Pein's record. Arashi was the reason why Pein was not living on the street anymore. And Pein was grateful for that. So much so, that he used the room it its full potential.

He drank the complimentary sake the night before when he had finished his mission and knocked out. Now Pein was not a drinker, but because it was there he figured it would be a waste for it to just sit in front of him. So, he drank it. And black out he did. When he awoke, it was near 6 in the evening the next day. 

From rolling in the bed, the covers which had once covered his naked body were now balled up at the corner of the foot of the bed. One of Pein's arms and legs hung off the edge of the bed as the rest of his body was supported by the soft structure. His eyes cracked open and he looked about the room. Excluding his bed and the empty bottle of sake on the floor, the room was still in good shape. The comfort level of the bed was too high for Pein to willingly leave it, but his bladder provided a reasonable argument as to why he should. After he had finally gotten up and used the bathroom, he figured it was time to tend to his personal hygiene. Due to his homeless state, it had been taking the backseat to the rest of his life, but Pein would bath in rivers and such on occasion. But this time was different. He sat in the tub as the hot water filled it to just below the brim and allowed his body to get the well deserved soaking it needed. He went on to clean his body, drain the tub and dry off. Now it was time to tend to his face. 

It had really been quite some time since Pein had looked at it, but the mirror in the bathroom provided him with a clear depiction of his rough look. His maskless face was now staring at the decent beard that he had grown out. For almost 17, it was pretty significant, but still not extreme. So, he brushed his teeth and groomed his facial and head hair with the hotel provided utensils until both his beard and hair were edged up decently. It seemed as if the hotel employees had already taken time to wash his clothes, something Pein really hadn't done in forever, so he put them on. 

Now smelling and looking good, Pein felt better about himself. Perhaps the people of Hoshi wouldn't notice him now?

As he left from the bathroom he saw a slipped note underneath his door with the word "Mission" on it.

Bending over and grabbing it, he picked the letter up and read it. All it had written inside was, "Go to the academy."

And so Pein did. 

He had no one to ask questions, no one to consult about the issue. Just a place to go. So after he was fully dressed in his clean shinobi attire, he headed to the academy. On the way, he got significantly less rude glares and awkward stares, and instead he wasn't even looked at. It was nice.

Upon his arrival, he saw two shinobi already outside of it. From their general body language, it seemed like they just met up and begun a conversation. Although Pein's "makeover" made him look more clean cut, his personality was the same. And so when he would finally near the two ninja, with his hands in his pocket and his hair covering just the outside corners of his eyes he would let out a short, 


"I'm Pein..."


Although he knew nothing regarding missions specifications or even who he was supposed to meet up with, he got the vibe that the two shinobi in front of him were the ones that he was to rendezvous with. And if not, well he would just go back to being content in his hotel bed. 

(WC: 864)

He smelled him before he saw him. The first of his teammate for the evening arrived with an unceremonious greeting, though it did not matter much to Lucian. Hell, even the smell wasn't all that bad. After one had lived in Funkagakure for most of their life and braved the rotting fields of Kumogakure, then, well, most smells in the world were not all that bad. After all, what did rotting fruit and a bit of BO have on pus draining from a poor soul crucified on iron rods?

However, before the Nazar could really get a read on the first boy-or even introduce himself for that matter-another appeared introducing himself as Pein. Nodding once Lucian glanced over the two newcomers for a second, nothing too uncomfortably long, but just long enough to make it clear he was assessing them. It was an old trick he had learned from many of holy men of Hoshigakure; it worked wonders for capturing people's attention or at least it should if done right, he wasn't too practiced in the art itself just yet.

"Good evening," Lucian said in a surprisingly conversational tone. "My name is Lucian and tonight you'll be accompanying me to the House of Hogar. We will be extracting a member from this sect who wishes for freedom from her current..."

A pause as he considered the right word to use.

"Situation. I will need you two to keep watch while I enter their main sanctuary and retrieve the girl, any questions?"

Truth be told Lucian was not nearly as confident as he appeared. There were about a thousand things that could go wrong, very wrong, very quickly. However, it was better not to dwell on these thoughts. The House of Hogar was one of the more restrictive sects in Hoshigakure believing that women were meant to be rarely seen and hardly ever heard. The one he was supposed to meet went by the name of Thea Sayar.

If there were questions then the chuunin would answer them on the way as it was quite the hike from the academy to the House of Hogar. The sect's main sanctuary lay deep in the heart of the village, so secrecy would be paramount in every form. This accounted for the brown cloak he wore around his form, because no one in Hoshigakure would look twice at a man looking much like a monk nor would they ever peg him as a shinobi.

The walk itself took the trio, assuming the other two followed, through a maze of alleyways and backstreets. Every so often Lucian would stop at the exit to an alleyway to allow people to pass. Sure, it was nearing a moonless evening, but there were still people on the streets. Better to not be seen stalking the alleys like a common criminal.

After about fifteen minutes of sneaking through what should have been a five minute walk the trio would arrive at the sanctuary. It was not a grand building nor overly homely, but from inside a single candle shone. Approaching the door after a group of people passed by, Lucian turned to his companions and nodded once. Hopefully they understood that this meant it was time to be on their guard. Then he knocked, once, twice, and three times in sharp succession.

Time to see how smoothly this will go.

[We can probably finish this in the next round of posting, get the mission approved and do a bit of cd/training if y'all would like]

Castiel knew the moment it was mentioned exactly what the mission required, not because he had the mission parameters but because there was, in his mind, no such thing as a religious sect that wasn't corrupt.  Using virtuous guilt to line their pockets, and impose absolutely ludicrous rules to establish control.  There was a man that once stated that "Religion was the opiate of the masses," and whoever that man was would have earned Castiel's respect.  So when it came to breaking this poor girl out of the Hogarian confines she found hersel in Castiel could not help but laugh aloud.
 
Shit, if I had known it would be like this I would've done it for free, the young Yuhi would whisper within his own mind.  So as they continued walking toward the location of their mission Castiel's original doubts of the mission would be gone and he would be put in a better mood.  Shoving his headband into his pocket concealing it entirely and removing his shirt he had a good idea how this might go down.  Castiel had the distinct advantage at this point of not looking anything like a shinobi instead he looked like a common street thug showing off his tattoo that adorned his left arm.  So, at this point his only plan he needed was to explain was he was walking near the stiff necked monk and his fellow genin. 
 
Now it was simple to handle from this point on, stay silent, just as he had done all the way here, don't get seen, and keep an eye out for anyone who might compromise the mission.  Simple enough.

273
(sorry bout the wait hopefully wont happen again, and yeah training sounds good)

A few seconds passed, then a minute and a few minutes more. Two or three people walked by, but they did not glance at the three individuals in the slightest. There was not even a second glance in the trio's direction. And just as Lucian found himself about to knock again the door swung inward.

Peering into the darkness the Nazar boy saw only varying shades of moving blackness. Then, all at once, a young woman dressed in all white stepped outside. Perhaps one could say she was pretty, but Lucian did not much care. For now all that mattered was getting the woman out of the cult.

"We should go, they will be awake soon," The girl said pushing back her red hair nervously.

Lucian merely nodded and turned wordlessly to his compatriots. There would be no words worth saying at this time, so Lucian simply walked onwards into the growing darkness of Hoshigakure. Hopefully the two other men would follow suite. The only thing for certain was that the young woman followed Lucian closely until they arrived at the gazebo mentioned in the mission's directive. Here he would part with the woman and be on his way.

There was nothing left to be done. Luckily it had been a uneventful evening. Mission complete, nothing more.

[Exit, mission complete in the last round of posting, +1000 ryo and +3 ap.]