Sanctuary to the Faithful [Mission] [PNKWEGH]

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They had met at midnight. The man knew that he was being hunted, but who they were and when they would strike was unknown. He needed to escape. Since his ideals matched so closely with the agenda of the Hoshigakure ninja, it seemed fit to have him safely escorted out of the country until such a time that he could speak in safety. There was also talk of giving him access to remote transmission technology, but that was something neither the Jounin (plural) nor the leader himself knew.

Shiroi had shown up at the location first, and took a seat on the roof. It was near her residence, which is why they had chosen it. That, and the fact that it connected to the underground tunnels that ran through Hoshi. This was one of the secret entrances that only high ranking ninja knew of, and most only on a need to know basis. It was a recent addition, and Shiroi was unsure if the civilian forces or even the queen knew of it. She had not dared to ask, some things are better left unknown.

The man showed up roughly ten minutes later. Shiroi was rolling around a white and orange cylinder in her mouth when she walked into the building, being careful to make sure no one was near the doors. The small building had no windows, and was mostly soundproofed, so once she was inside, she was isolated. Kyousuke was supposed to be somewhere near by, watching over the exchange, making sure no one interfered, but like a good ninja, he was well hidden. Or just not there, but Shiroi gave the man she barely knew the benefit of the doubt, for now.

"Please, don't smoke near me. I cannot stand it."

Shiroi looked to the man. At least he had stayed quiet until she had closed the door. Tilting her eyes down to look the mentioned article, she opened her mouth just enough to grab it out. Tilting it around a bit, she continues to look at it, before bring it back to her mouth and taking a bite out of it. "Tasty".

The man looked at her, obviously appalled by the action. So, she took out the package of them, and threw it over to the man. He caught it, only barely, and then let out a little chuckle after reading the name. He placed it on the table, and Shiroi sat down. They began discussing the plan.

---

They left early the next day. The meeting place was about a mile outside of Hoshi, a location easily accessible through non-conventional means. The cover story was a courier assignment to the Tornado country. At least, that was Shiroi's. The man had snuck out under secret supervision from Shiroi and presumably Kyousuke, utilizing everything from alleys to sewers. What Kyousuke's cover story was, Shiroi still was not sure of.

"So, we're going to the Tornado Country, you said you have a following there? You sure it will be safe?" It was not worth taking the man to a location where his fate would remain unchanged.

[517/3000(6000)]

Before arriving at the location of the meet up the jounin wanted to do a sweep of the area the man they were to escort was about to arrive in. Luckily he had as he found a few rebels with bows and arrows up in a tower ready to shoot the man before he even arrived at the meeting place. Kyousuke broke the bows in half and knocked the fanatics unconscious, before tying them up and leaving them in the tower. He would likely get them on the way back, if they escaped that was fine as well. The mission required he kept the man safe, so taking these people to prison was a secondary task.

Keeping his chakra suppressed the ninja continued to follow the man until he was standing in front of the other jounin that was also on the mission. A ninja by the name of Shiroi.  The man watched as the two entered the secret entrance into one of the buildings. Pulling a cigarette from his pocket the man struck the metal on his gloves quickly creating a spark, which in turn lit his cigarette. The man took a few puffs of nicotine before putting the thing out and shoving what remained into his pocket. Shiroi hates smoke, so I should respect her wishes. The man thought moving over to the secret entrance.

Knocking three times in a pattern described in the mission scroll, the man waited for no response and opened the door. Hoping that the girl would not attack, thinking he was the enemy. Once inside the giant would roll his fingers where the cigarette once was and look at the two in the room. His fellow jounin and the man they were to escort. Taking the shaft of an arrow Kyousuke handed it to Shiroi. “There were some waiting in a tower. They are down for a now, but I expect there will be more.”

As they were staying until daylight the 6’1 man tried to make himself as comfortable as possible within the little space. If they were to watch the man properly one of them would have to be up at all times and sleep during shifts. Kyousuke would volunteer to stay up first if the other jounin would not disagree he would wake her after a while and he would sleep. They needed to be sharp if they were going to head out to the borders, where missing ninja still lurked. Kyousuke wasn’t given a cover story, so if asked he would likely just say he and Shiroi are headed in the same direction at the moment and would split from each other once outside the village. 

WC: 447/3000

[I think there was a bit of a mix up. Shirking doesn't mind smoking, she just doesn't smoke. It's the religious leader that doesn't like it. I'll just assume my character described that poorly at a mini debrief with you after the meeting with the man.]

Shiroi twiddled with the fake cigarette in her mouth as Kyousuke walked in. Shiroi and the man stood at separate corners on the wall opposite the door. The meeting had left impressions with the man. Long story short, he would likely stick close to Kyousuke.

"Ok so, as much as I dislike this plan, I concede that it is likely the best course of action." Shiroi looked to Kyousuke, who stood at a foot and a half taller than her. The man was also taller than her, although only one foot taller. With a sigh, she formed a hand seal. The clothes on her body began to expand, covering the minimal cleavage she had as even that disappeared. Her body shrunk a bit. Her hair became brown, longer, and much flatter. "Let's get this vacation started, papa and grandpa!" she said, her vocal cords having been similarly transformed to give a younger impression. She forced a smile to her face which, despite her near revile for this situation, was quite convincing, partly because she had left out this part in her debriefing to Kyousuke and was hoping for much confusion.

Shiroi grabbed four bags from under the table and put them on top. Grabbing out the two sets of clothes from the fourth, smaller bag, she laid them out. "Each of you gets a few sets of clothes, but you should have to do some laundry at some point, unless we go faster than expected." Her voice was annoyingly high, but commanding. The clothes consisted of a tye dye shirt and shorts. "You'll have to find a way to hide your gear, Kyousuke." Hers was already hidden by the transformation, making her seem like an average 12 year old girl. "Remember, we're supposed to be a family, and I'm supposed to be twelve. This shit is going to be annoying, I can sense it already."

The fake cigarette would attract too much attention, so Shiroi quickly crushed it with her molars before walking over to the door.


[337 -> 854/3000]

Placing the half-finished cigarette in his mouth the man lit the thing, while moving over to a section of the room that neither of the others were in. He puffed his nicotine in deeply, it was something that he hadn’t enjoyed for hours what with the religious leader hating smokers and what not. “Please, do not smoke around me!.” The man said from across the room looking into the back of Kyousuke. The ninja looked back giving him a hard glare before returning to his previous position and taking a puff. “Hmm…” He grumbled. Once, done he threw what remained in the trash and sat down next to the man.

“We are going to have to level here, I need nicotine and you hate smoke. I can’t leave you or walk outside too often, so I have been courteously moving away from you and blowing the smoke into the vents. So, if you would be kind enough to not ask me not to smoke we will have a smooth trip and get along.” He waited for the man to answer and tried to sit at the man’s level not wanting to use his height to intimidate or scare the man as fear was not a good motivator and only worked for a time. Explaining the situation and being assertive was usually an effective tactic though. The man nodded as there was nothing he could really do to stop the smoking entirely and not being directly subjected to its effects seemed like a fair deal. With the nod Kyousuke stood and walked over to Shiroi.

It seemed that the other jounin had an idea for them to slip safely through the village gates and into the borders. “You want me to be your daddy?” The jounin shrugged his shoulders and picked up the shirt. Unzipping his jacket, you could see that he wore no shirt underneath. Quickly putting on the shirt he placed his jacket into the backpack and picked up the shorts. He walked away momentarily and returned wearing them along with the shorts. He made the seals for the transformation technique and in doing so he became average height of 5’10 and his hair turned brown, matching that of Shiroi’s. “I think that should be okay.” The former giant looked to “grandpa.” Alright go ahead and change I will be outside of the door. Grandpa complied and changed himself, within minutes they were all wearing similarly styled close. There was only one thing remaining that needed to be done, the ninja knelt down to eye level of Shiroi. “Alright now call me da da.” He could barely keep a straight face when telling her to do it and was expecting a punch or kick to the stomach, maybe she could take a joke though.

WC: 462
TWC: 899/3000

"You rolled with that way too well, jackass," Shiroi said, stewing at her colleague. Making herself scarce as the two men changed, she reentered the room shortly after. A smile creeped onto her face as she looked into Kyousuke's face. His body still towered over her, and cast an ominous shadow onto her face. "Maybe you shouldn't sleep this week." She turned around and began skipping to the door, fingers interlaced behind her back, before suddenly stopping at the door. She reached for the knob, opened the door and began to step out. The door was closed halfway behind her when she said "Or ever again," before quickly slamming the door shut.

It was not long down the path that the religious figurehead began to show his age. He was obviously sore, but not enough to force them to stop, nor enough for him to complain. He likely had several more miles in him before they had to stop, and that should get them to the next town. Still, Shiroi assumed that he may go faster with a bit of... assistance. Of course, scaring the man would not help much. It may even kill him, so she sighed to herself about the lack of opportunity before turning and running around a tree. She was checking that no one was nearby. After verifying their solitude, she released the suppression on her chakra just enough to preform a tiger seal. Immediately after, she grabbed the ground, and a long pole came out of it. Handing it to the elderly man, he graciously accepted, and they were once again on their way, with Shiroi running ahead "playfully" whenever a stranger passed by.

[280 -> 1134/3000]

Maybe she could take a joke the ninja sighed relieved that he wasn’t hit. Or maybe not. Sleeping with one eye open at least for tonight and maybe add some fortification. He pulled the loose shirt as he thought that and let nature chakra flood his back and chest, attacks in the area would cause less energy because of the gray chakra infused skin. Before stepping out of the door he ended his sage transformation and did as Shiroi by suppressing his chakra. Walking out into the bright morning light Kyousuke had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust.

Whenever a person passed Shiroi became more playful and childlike an addition to her deception that Kyousuke did not plan to squander. “Don’t go too far ahead honey me and grandpa are old.” Like a devout son and father he held the old man up while keeping an eye on his child. “We still have a long way…” It’s obvious she calls me daddy, but what do I call her? “to go Shirui.” Yup, that’s original. It is also the name Shiroi is now stuck with throughout the journey.

WC: 191
TWC: 1090

"God, you're a dumb fuck. Shirui. Really. Christ." Shiroi looked down, then looked over towards the elderly man. "No offense intended. Is that offensive to you? Still don't know much about your religion." Shiroi once again returned to the path, their current isolation still being annoying.

It was an uneventful day until they reached the first town on their itinerary. It was a small town with only one inn, but it had a large campground not far away. Of course, the three were not going to be camping, they were going to be staying at the inn.

It was a quaint little place. A small resturaunt/bar downstairs and only four rooms upstairs. Shiroi didn't care for it much, but the place would do.

The three would eventually have to sit around a table and get food, but Shiroi spotted a group of people sticking near the corner. It was a lucky break that they sat near the stairs going up. So, that's where Shiroi went. She began "playing" on the stairs, running up and down. It was from this vantage point that she noticed the thing that the five men were all talking about: a picture of the religous leader. Shit she thought to herself as she came back down the stairs. Then, an idea popped into her mind. If they alreadly know the man is in the room, we should try and force them to act. But, it needs to be in a way that, if they don't realize, it won't tip them off. The perfect strategy occured to her, one that would kill two birds with one stone.

"Ooh, what are you big scary men doing!?" she said from the stairs.

"Get lost, kid," one of them said.

"Yeah, get lost." This one had a nasally voice. Bingo.

"Ew, what's wrong with your voice?" she said.

"WHY I OUTTA--!" the nasally one said, standing up with a clenched fist.

"DADDY!" Shiroi yelled as she ran over to Kyousuke. "Don't blow our cover, they're hunting the old man," she whispered to him, after jumping on the chair to get in ear shot, along with hugging him.

"Control your kid, mister," said the first man. He was obviously the leader, and trying to hold back the nasally man, although only half heartedly.

Whether or not Kyousuke tried to say anything, Shiroi would make sure she spoke first. "I bet my daddy could beat all of you up! At the same time!" With that, the five walked up to Kyousuke. One started to throw a punch as Shiroi ducked under the table, only giving her enough time to whisper "Remember, you're not supposed to be a ninja here," while winking, with that same menacing smile on her face.

[462-> 1596/3000]

"Yes, very much so sweetie." Kyousuke mentioned in regards to his own religion, whilst scolding his daughter. "Cursing is very bad and you shouldn't do it." He wagged his finger like a slightly upset father, he knew Shiroi would understand he had to keep up the image of being a parent. "Sorry, father she was watching this play and learned a few words." The previously large man sent his apologies towards the elder and they continued along. They arrived at inn it was determined before they had left that they would be taking this route, it was pretty safe up until this point, maybe the rest would go smoothly.

As they entered and checked in they went to go eat, Kyousuke opted to make food for them while having the elderly man assist. There wouldn’t be any poisoned food if the ninja could help it. He had stopped for ingredients along the way, ones that had no chance of being touched by anyone who would have recognized the group. Once, the food was prepared the ninja and elder sat down while Shiroi played on the steps. There were a group of men looking over to the two and talking amongst each other. This isn’t good, we will have to move. It seemed the other jounin had caught on though and had a plan. She caused a disturbance amongst them and ran over to hug him, hiding like a frightened child, but she was the devil in disguise. She even was about to let him take on this group.

“Sorry, she can be very hard to handle at times.” Kyousuke activated his sage transformation on his torso adding to his defense. As they all grouped around him it was obvious what was going on. One man struck and the ninja took the hit along with a few others that followed. They didn’t hurt badly and he went down and acted out being kicked. Once the men had their fun they turned and walked outside complaining of their now aching limbs. ”Did you feel that guy it was like punching a brick?” Some of them agreed and left the building. Kyousuke stayed on the ground a few more minutes in case they came back. The elder and one of the staff helped the ninja to his feet even though it wasn’t necessary. ”Kill the short one!” The rage monster within warned as he sat down. No, murder for this reason is wrong and unjust. I have something much better. “Wait here young lady I have a surprise.” Walking back into the kitchen the ninja prepared an entire plate of steamed and raw veggies and handed it to the girl. “If you want to be tall eat all of your vegetables.” “Remember don’t blow your cover.” He whispered to her with a smirk. “Oh, and no dessert until you’ve eaten all of them.” With the amount of food on the table there would be no room for dessert, if the girl couldn’t finish Kyousuke would eat the rest. It was a sin to waste food.   

WC: 512
TWC: 1602

"Daddy~~~ I told you to beat them up! Not get beat up!" Shiroi would say while her partner was still laying on the ground, a few moments after the men had left. She would put on an annoyed face and kick the other Jounin with most of her strength. Of course, he was a joinin, and she suspected that her full power kick likely would not have phased him much more than those of the would be assassins, but better safe than sorry. Imagine if he had an inner rage demon, how badly that would go. Of course, that was just a passing through, and Shiroi thought nothing more on it, passing it off as a wild fantasy.

Right after kicking Kyousuke, she would run upstairs, asking her "grandpa" to follow her. He would, albeit at a much slower pace, and having shown much concern for his son, which was not feigned. Civilians can rarely fully comprehend the difference in calibre between an average person and a high ranking ninja.

Of course, many an eye had fallen on the father in his state. And by many an eye, I mean two. They both belonged to the innkeeper, the only one who was in the building besides the trio, after the gang had shown their anger. He just stared at the man. He could tell the man wasn't hurt, yet Kyousuke just laid there. The innkeeper also was not sure how he was unharmed, but it was obvious in the way that Kyousuke... had done something. The innkeeper couldn't quite place what it was that tipped him off, but it had to be pretty subtle for the gang to have not noticed. Or perhaps it was only after they had left that he realized? It was weird.

We may have to handle the innkeeper Shiroi mentally noted to herself. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of metal. It would be the perfect tool.

Walking back down the stairs, having made sure the priest was safely within the windowless room, she snuck behind the innkeeper. He was oblivious to the girl behind him, so she jumped. The piece of metal met coldly with the front of his neck as she grabbed around his shoulders. The man was reasonably startled, among other things.

"You saw nothing" she said as the coin fell from his neck into his hands. It was quite a large sum, well over the price of their room and board, plus some to repair the few damaged chairs. He just nodded and turned around, returning to cleaning glasses.

Shiroi then returned upstairs, all of this taking less than the several minutes that Kyousuke layed on the ground.


[457-> 2053/3000]

She didn’t eat any of her vegetables! The man dug into the plate with his fork, after he had brought all of the food upstairs. Kyousuke didn’t mind the taste of broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and other similar produce. A little butter, salt, and pepper went a long way on those items. More so than on other things that were full of flavor. When the ninja was almost finished with the meal he began to sweat, his body was saying no more and that he was full. He continued on however and finished covering a burp, before drinking some water. The jounin watched as his daughter went down the stairs, he did not follow and noticed the priests look of worry when he was faking a limp.

Without looking at the man the jounin threw in a limp to try and convince the man that he had been injured. The jounin quickly gave up the act and said a quick hail Mary for the deception. "I'm not actually injured, their kicks likely hurt them more than they hurt me."  Kyousuke took off his shirt and let the man see the greyed skin underneath. “I’ll be okay this is like a set of armor, that those men kicked a couple of times.” He ended his sage transformation and sat down on one of the beds. “We need to plan how we will move for tomorrow, maybe changing our looks won’t be a bad idea. I also think we should move a little faster by having me carry you.” The jounin said the last part as a question to the elderly man they were escorting. He sat on the bed and sat very far back on the bed. ”I don’t mind moving faster, the faster we get to the safe house the faster I’m out of “you peoples” hands.” Kyousuke nodded and said “Right.” Most of the religious folk around Hoshi saw ninja as abominations, so It wasn’t anything new to hear, but he probably meant out of these two ninjas hands in particular.

Kyousuke waited for the other ninja to return before repeating what he had just said to the elder. He then pulled her off to the side. ”You didn’t eat your vegetables.” He said sternly, scolding the little girl. In fact the jounin did not remember her eating anything. Luckily he hadn't eaten everything and had saved some of the meat for her. "Its a little cold, but it should still taste okay, if you don't want give it to a dog or something. If I eat anymore I'll hurl."


Seeing as there were smoke detectors in the room the ninja sat close to the window he opened it, before taking out a pack of cigarettes. Smacking the plates on his gloves together he lit the end of the tobacco filled tube with the spark. Blowing the smoke out of the window to not set the detector off. Once, done the ninja would put out the lit end before tossing the butt in the trash. Kyousuke brushed his teeth before heading to bed, seeing as there were only two beds though the jounin took to the floor. Shiroi and the elder needed the bed more than he himself did. Once, on the floor he muttered a quick prayer. He prayed for safety on their journey and that Haven would be safe for a long time, he then asked god to allow Shiroi to grow in size. Kyousuke muttered the last part pretty loudly hoping to rile her up a bit. "I mean short girls are cute." Kyousuke would say fearfully, if Shiroi gave him some look of annoyance or say anything.

WC: 611
TWC:2213