It Started With A Whisper ~Mission~

Mission Specs:

Altar sat on the rooftop of a building eating a red apple (because those were widely available in pre-feudal japan), the streets just below him bustling with activity. He was assigned to assist some lower ranked shinobi take out a villager who thought himself a herald. He'd been speaking ill of the kage, and while that may have been acceptable in the real world, that was certainly not something to be done in this universe, because this was pre-feudal Japan, and freedom of speech didn't exist here.

Wait...what?

Pulling himself from his thoughts and finishing his apple, Altar would throw the core into the distance and wipe his hands, the core probably hitting someone in the head on the street below, but it was probably an NPC because if it was a PC that would be godmodding, and that's no goooooood.

Shrugging at the thought, Altar would turn his attention back to the street below, looking for any sign of the poor target that would soon surely be ripped asunder.

The director said; Eat an apple in this scene, it'll make you look like more of an asshole

*Ding*

Sins: 1

Rakka was walking casually through the streets of their pre-feudal Japanese village, making her way casually to her mission. She was here to kill somebody for speaking their mind. What a lovely concept, that. She wasn't particularly thrilled about the mission she was about to undertake, but she supposed she was honor-bound to do her duty anyways. Honor is important to society here in pre-feudal japan.  

Wait... What?

Shaking her head to rouse herself, she figured she should rendezvous with her teammates. As she felt around the area using her chakra sensory, something conked her on the head. Looking down, she saw an the core of a red apple, which was very common in pre-feudal Japan. Looking up, she saw Altar, who was in all likelihood now banned for godmodding and about to spontaneously die of a heart attack. 

She might have flipped him off, but that was a gesture used by the Romans to convey that their middle fingers, which they used to fire a bow, was not removed, signifying their victory, as captured Roman archers typically had their middle fingers removed to prevent them from fighting again. As this was pre-feudal Japan, Rakka would never have seen the gesture, and thus had no knowledge of it. Instead, she just scowled up at him.

Climbing her way up (Taking the stairs of course, she was no savage, climbing walls like a wild animal), she stood beside Altar, looking down at whatever they were supposed to be looking at.
"Do you ever think about how much our job actually sucks?" She'd ask "I mean, really. We don't get paid salary or hazard pay, all of the money we make goes back into buying equipment, which isn't supplied to us as standard issue, and we have to do morally questionable shit like this." She elaborated, as if it had just dawned on her.

There is this pair of boys who were at an age before they could go to the academy, or at least that was what she believed. One had a red shirt on, the other one had blue. They were standing at the side of the path looking at passer-bys as though checking them out, their eyes are wandering around a lot as though it is their first time out of home from years of confinement; Maybe the village was structured to contain their ninja that way but surely it would have sucked at home for such discipline. Thinking about home, Yuri couldn't remember what hers used to be when she was their age. That is true for her family since her memories started at a place where other kids might be having the same events happening prior to becoming a shinobi unwillingly. She quickly snapped her way back to the memory lane and continued looking at them from an angle that their vision would not wander to. Before they could attempt anything, their parents arrived with bags and asked them to share the load to their way home. Yuri was half hoping that their imagination could make their attempt something, she still had time before the mission meetup and continued to look around unmoved.

There is this old man who seems to have reached an age where he had difficulty walking and had a stick to assist him. Making steps between each other less than a normal ruler would have, he persist in walking still. Seeing that he is very mindful about his steps which is typically for his age, Yuri continued to take note of him knowing that he eyes never looked straight at the path hence his vision would never have captured her. Even so, she felt that she would be sketched in an area where depth would apply in a picture from the old man's perspective. Nevertheless, he walked alone ignoring how time passed around him since it would be the surroundings making sure that he doesn't fall; At least that's how Yuri would see him taking advantage of that fact during the walk. Less than 10 meters away from her now, a cat greeted the passing old man. He turned to the cat since it is clear within his vision or whatever that could be left clear to his vision. He left the stick to its own since it was built in away that it could stand on itself, he did what an academy student would do; 3 hand seals in succession that surprised Yuri and turned into a giant cat. The small cat ran away in fear, reacting like how the animal kingdom would expect of one stuck in its hierarchy. The retired would have had his time to turn back and took hold of his stick but he just had to get hit by a flying object with both of them on their way to landing on the ground except that the living would take the fall harder. Yuri rushed to prevent the old man from landing hard. The flying apple core is now at rest but, but her senses were not, she could tell a few shinobi of notable presence in her area; It is probably time for mission.

Yuri walked past an alleyway to find 3 shinobi on a rooftop diagonally opposite to where she is standing. 2 of which she had met with a new addition. They looked like they were talking to each other. She walked over and waved to them with her right hand as a signal of being assigned to the mission.

That's sexist!
Allow me to assist the elderly so everyone knows that I am, indeed, a protagonist.
What the hell are the odds that the apple core hit the exact old man that she was helping? Very, very low.
How the hell are we supposed to know what raising your hand means? Are you with us or do you have a question for Ms. Yuki?

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

Sins: 5

The boy would take little note of Rakka until she approached him and spoke, smirking and letting out a chuckle. "Believe me, I know. But, hey, it's better than living out in the borderlands. Though the looming threat of death is still ever present, at least here we get beds, right?"

As Sinai approached and introduced himself, Altar's eyes would widen, his body tensing. The ANBU would turn his head to look the boy up and down, taking note of the familiar crimson eyes. He was either a dedicated cosplayer, or actually a Shinkou. And judging from the looks of him, and his manner of speech...

Well, let's just say he REALLY didn't want to be related to him.

As the final member approached after Sinai, Altar would turn to look at the newly gathered group, crossing his arms in front of his chest and cocking his head to the right ever so slightly. "So, as you all know, we're here to kill a man. Status quo. He spoke out against the Kage, we can't have that, yadda yadda. How we go about this decided how long we wait. I'd prefer we do it in private, under nightfall so as not to make a scene or leave a mess, but if anyone'd prefer we send a message..." the boy would say, trailing off to leave suggestions open.

Altar's less then involved response, citing that things could always be worse, actually worried Rakka. What the hell was this job doing to them? What was this village doing to them? If she'd been asked to commit this sort of atrocity in Yukigakure, she'd have killed Demetri where he stood, but here, it was almost a given that they'd be silencing protesters. She didn't want to let on what she really thought, however, and so didn't mention any of this. Sitting up on the stone wall that was supposed to keep them from falling to their deaths, she looked out at the man they were about to kill.

"The beds are mediocre at best. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since I came to Shima- Er, Kirigakure." She retorted, realizing she'd forgotten the name of her village until mid sentence. The villages had changed fairly recently, so she would at least appear justified in this mistake, despite her actual reason for forgetting. She didn't really care whether it was Shimagakure or Kirigakure, as long as it paid enough to keep the booze flowing.

What a charmed life you lead, Miss Yuki.

As Rakka sensed a third presence arrive, she would turn and notice Altar's eyes widen, before turning to lay her eyes upon their guest. A boy, quite young, stood before them, evidently of Altar's bloodline. "Since when do we send children on assassination missions?" She asked Altar, quite bluntly, making no attempt to hide her voice. It was quite clear that the boy was speaking almost exclusively to Altar, and the way he spoke was not unfamiliar to Rakka, who'd dealt with the likes of Demetri and his regime. 

"They don't pay me enough for this shit." She muttered, laying back on the stone rail, her head resting in her hands, her knee tucked in, while one leg hung over the edge, she lazily watched their target speak. Soon after, a third presence would arrive, but as they didn't speak, Rakka didn't bother to turn and look

"Really, being sneaky isn't my style." She said simply. "You've seen me fight before, Altar. There's no place for me on a stealth mission." She added, just a drop of sarcasm in her voice. The boy would no doubt recall the explosive theatrics of Rakka's preferred combat style. "Besides, we're supposed to be silencing him. If we send a message, maybe we won't have to kill another innocent." She added soberly.

Walking towards them, Yuri had a bunch to get through. Not that it mattered to her though on the way she found the culprit throwing the apple core. It was the one of the kids she had kept watch on; There were lucky that she was there to help to prevent any damage caused; They would still need some punishment but she was not in the time to tip their mothers or have it out on the kids either. She had to let them off for now, looking at their happy face and not do a thing. Even from a distance, these Shinobi looked well enough to perform missions on their own especially since one of the is the operative after all and she had already witnessed his physical might firsthand; though doubting. She wondered if herself and Sinai are the actual grunts for this mission. She haven't brought much equipment with her since she haven't had something to contain them yet, maybe the others could simply provide what she needed should the time come.

Foreseeing some pushing and squeezing over the course since they were gathered above an area where a sale was starting; Some bad decisions they made before the mission even started. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the crowd of mostly made up of those a generation or 2 before her. It is not worth the effort to move up to meet them by doing what a normal person would do. She could wait though it will risk annoying the others since there was no way to tell when the sale would end. She looked for the nearest opening to them and there was seemingly none; There was no way she is going to split her chakra reserves for such a task, jumping to them is making herself stand out too much. She continued looking for a way to get pass the crowd by force. Seeing as the mischievous kid is still around, she approached them.

With a taller though faint shadow hovering on them, Yuri started asking them for help with a smile since making them fear would most likely bring tears to their eyes for bad reasons. Given their loopholes on thoughts at their age, they were easily tricked into looking somewhere momentarily and ignored the big sister in front of them. The kid then picked her up in front of the a fruit store and threw her with all his might. If the owner didn't know about her entrance he would have made them look bad on the spot; Yuri got to the roof nevertheless. Now, She had a better view of the group on mission even though it didn't matter much to her. The unknown still stayed as unknown, Sinai is after all, still a new addition to the reserves of kirigakure that probably included herself as well. Finally within talking distance, the operative spoke of the mission as though there wasn't ears below. It hit Yuri with a wonder for the future raising both her eyebrows looking at him for a second. Listening to the input given by the other 2 members, she added Thugs make a mess and yet we do not even know their numbers. If it wasn't the operative speaking, she would be tempted to get her palm to her face.

At Rakka's questioning, the boy would simply shrug in response. "Hell if I know, but if the children are willing to risk life and limb for a cause, that's their choice, informed or not." the boy would stop, allowing Sinai to speak and possibly Rakka to retort before speaking again, looking the so called Shinkou up and down. "At least he's of a decent build. His corpse'll make a good shield should things go south." the boy would say, no emotion in his voice. It was a grim, and most likely socially inept statement, but it was better to look at the worst possible outcome just in case. Besides, if Sinai died here it would be a blessing for the child. His kind was cursed.

After the last member arrived, they reached a verdict quickly. Well, it seemed the decision was rather unanimous. They all seemed more than happy to do things the loud way and send a message to any more would be politicians that would speak out publicly about the tyrant. Somewhere deep down, it hurt Altar to know that their hatred and fear was rational, but knowing the tyrant's reasonings made it a much more muddled conflict in his own interest.

Shrugging at the decision, the boy would speak again. "Alright. Info says he's holding a speech for the public on our great 'Lord Tyrant' in a few. If we're looking to send a message then we kill him while he's doing it. Drive home the point and spread fear across the public of speaking out. If the three of you can handle security for a bit, I can make a performance out of his death, then help clean up whatever bodyguards are left. Any objections?" the ANBU would say, looking over his shoulder to the ground below. The man was there, and a small crowd had already gathered along with some rather obviously hired help. If no objections were made, the boy would form a few handseals and transform into his second skin. After all, the people didn't need to fear him. They just needed to fear.

Altar's New Look:

Altar’s words actually irritated Rakka.
”Children aren’t fit to make choices regarding other people’s deaths, or their own.” She snapped. What Rakka could only assume was a joke about Sinai being used as a human shield caused Rakka to diffuse herself from the conversation, for fear she’d try to blast their edgelord leader off the roof.

Rakka scoffed at the punk’s assertion that he wasn’t as much of a child as she thought. She couldn’t think of a more cliche’ line to use as a refute.
”I’ve learned all I need to know.” Rakka said, rolling her eyes. ”Now, if you backtalk me again, I will gladly throw you off the roof and use you as a distraction.” She said, her words icy cold. If he didn’t retort, and for the sake of his life she hoped he didn’t, she’d return to her lazy perch as Altar did all the work as far as planning went. Sinai seemed to believe he was the leader of this little venture, and, well, who was she to stop him from indulging himself? Rakka prefered not to do this part, so she was happy to let Altar take the position.

Rakka contemplated ignoring Sinai’s question, but feared he’d make up a name for her if she did. Sighing, she’d speak, not stirring from her position to face him.
”’Ma’am’ seems appropriate.” She said, making a point not to give her real name. ”Especially as I am your superior.” She’d add, just as Altar suggested he take the role of pointman and execute the speaker. Normally, she’d protest, but given the circumstances, she’d let Altar take the blood on his hands.

The thought of killing an innocent was bad enough, but she’d seen Altar fight, and had a sneaking suspicion he’d try to draw it out. The thought made Rakka nauseous. ”Do it quick.” She couldn’t help herself from saying, though she at least managed to keep her gruff tone. ”...It’ll be better that way. The crowd won’t run if they don’t think they’re next. We’ll get our message across better.” She added quickly.

Standing on the wall now, she saw Altar transform into some other dude to hide his identity, and actually giggled.
”Pussy.” She teased. Looking at the two genin, she just gestured to her left with a nod. ”You two go right, I’ll go left. Try not to die.” She said, short and to the point, before leaning back, letting gravity do the work as it took her down, head first, to street level. When she reached the halfway point, Rakka would push off the building with her foot, spiraling herself into landing on her feet, using her gained momentum to enter the alleyway on the left side. Skittering to a halt, a few guards approached her, telling her to stop. Rakka punched him square in the face, breaking his nose and sending him flying back into his friend. Holding her hand for a moment, Rakka hissed in pain.

”Fuck!” She moaned, placing her fist against her face. ”This is why I never try this shit.” She muttered, shaking her hand as if to rid it of pain. The other, much shorter guard just stared at her. ”What?” Asked Rakka. He lunged.

Rakka grabbed him by the face, her arms being longer than his, and promptly placed a paralysis seal upon his visage, sending him sprawling to the ground. Two more guards rounded the corner, pointing and shouting at her. They quickly ducked back into the adjacent alley when Rakka spit a fireball their way, which dominated most of the alley and threatened to incinerate them. Walking casually now, Rakka spat another fireball, keeping them pinned, then another, then another, her flames seeming to glow in different shades of green and purple, eerily spellbinding, but not outright transfixing… Yet.

(TWC 1308)