The Red Headed Guardians

Love appeared silently and seemingly out of nowhere and gave the young male sitting on the stoop of the Mission assignment building a once over before entering. She had been told that she would be leading a mission but had not been told the details of the said mission. As she examined the boy he quickly began to fit the description of the genin she'd be leading. Seeing that the boy was holding a scroll in one hand he'd likely gotten here early and was waiting for her. Walking over to the unsuspecting kid Love would announce her presence in a single word. "Yo." When he turned around the male would take in the 5'8 tan skinned beauty standing behind him. She would still be dressed in the black and green outfit that Michi had made for her. If the boy didn't want to seem like a perv he'd move or stand up almost immediately as the outfit was simply a half mesh bodysuit, thigh high socks, a green sash around her waist, and her ninja equipment. "Are you Allegro?" She would ask the male with hair that matched her own. He'd be the second Uzumaki she's met.

WC: 198

Allegro was being approached from behind. The boy was suddenly forced to remove his headphones; he had just heard the sweetest sound. Someone had just whispered one of Allegro’s favorite words.  As his head turned around to face her, he was met face to face with Love’s lower half. Although it only took a second for a burst of blood from his nose to bring him tumbling down the steps he was sitting on, but the moment had lasted infinitely in Allegro’s mind. As he rose from the dirt floor, dusted off his clothes and the blood from his nose, he looked up at who he presumed to be his latest team captain, Love Sakumo. She spoke to the boy to ask for his name, confirming the likelihood that they would be partners o this mission. However, at a second glance, all Allegro could do was stare in shock. The kunoichi had bright red hair that seemed almost more radiant than his own. Her hair, however was long and straight when compared to his roughly textured dread locks. While she was waiting for a response to her question, Allegro would tremble as he tried to form his next words.

“Y-Yes! Erm….just a moment. Here, this is for you.” The genin would lightly toss the scroll underhand at a speed of 10 for the chuunin to catch and read. Allegro noticed that the kunoichi had come from inside the building, and yet he could not detect her chakra signature before she was right behind him. He could not help but wonder what kind of powers laid dormant within the fiery haired beauty. Nonetheless, Allegro would stare impolitely at her, mainly at her hair, while she was reading the scroll and gave her little pre mission pep talk. Regardless of whether she said anything that dignified a response or not, the only thing Allegro had to say next was,

"Say, Love senpai. Is it possible that we….are related?"

Depending on the kunoichi's answer, Allegro would either feel like a perverted social outcast, or the happiest man alive to have been fated on this mission with the kunoichi called Love.

[765/2000 WC]

Love watched as the boy removed his earbuds and began to bleed from his nose. She did not expect that; the tumbling down the steps yes but a full-blown nosebleed? That was new. That must have been the closest he's even been to a female. Love thought as the male regained his composure. As the male stood at his fully height Love noticed how he was staring at her but didn't mind because she was doing the same to him. He had turned out to be taller than she expected. How old was this kid and just what have they been feeding him? Were the thoughts going through her mind as she memorized his appearance, this would be helpful if they needed to split up during this mission. When he finally replied his words came out in a stammer before he tossed her the scroll he had been holding. The scroll would float into the kunoichi's hand as if it were connected to it by string or magnets. The girl's white pupilless orbs quickly scanned over the paper. The mission was quite simple, guard duty. A ninja's version of jury duty, Love hadn't been expecting anything spectacular but she was glad that it was something that should get on without any problems.

However, she did find it annoying that she'd have to be there all day. Yet she wouldn't make any verbal complaints about it, after all, it was better than actual jury duty. Not that she would know first hand but that was beside the point. Rerolling the scroll and looking at her assigned genin Love would respond to a question before telling him that they would be leaving. "Who knows." She would reply with a wink before tossing back the scroll. While she had a smart comeback she felt like being frank, Love didn't know much about her mother's side. Before now no one had asked and she hadn't bothered to find out. The red haired girl would walk down the steps and say, "We're guarding the gate." Before continuing to walk.

WC: 344

Being that they would be there all day Love was in no rush to get to their post. Kind of selfish if there were other people there waiting to be relieved but seeing as this assignment was given as a mission it had to mean that they were in the process of selecting new permanent guards. So her conscious was clear and Love and Allegro would have a nice, clam casual walk. When the boy called her captain her face twisted in a weird, slightly embarrassed way. Luckily she had been walking in front of him so he wouldn't be able to see it. Love was used to being called sama or senpai or sensei, captain felt like too much for her rank. Of course, she wouldn't tell him that and make him uncomfortable. She'd have to get used to it one day, why not sooner rather than later? The girl shrugged at his question. "I'm rather sociable when the time calls for it but I take missions rather seriously." She would reply before their walk became a Q&A session. "Not too long ago I participated in the Jounin Exams. I was almost made a jounin but our former kage Kurisu wanted me to gain more experience first." She told him still proud of what she accomplished and the good time she had in Suna before being abandoned in a bear infested cave. The kunoichi nodded as she listened to the male tell her about his specializations. The juudaime huh? Konoha sure was running through leaders... Before Love could add a comment the boy said the word "groovy" and not in a normal way. No, he added emphasis to it causing Love to let out an uncomfortable smile.

Who in this day and age says groovy? Recovering she said what she had meant to before. Stating, "As expected of an Uzumaki. That's one of the things that made that clan famous." After that, if he didn't have any more questions, the walk would be pretty quiet. This was Love's first time on guard duty so while she had seen the cabins before she'd never been inside of one. They weren't bad but they were completely empty and Love hadn't brought anything to pass the time. When Allegro pulled out his guitar and began to play Love wasn't bothered. It beat listening to the sounds of nature, not that she minded them but after a while, it got really annoying. She would be swinging the kunai on her finger to the tempo as he played. The entire day was quiet as usual, the two ninja would take turns assisting villagers that got lost and checking the papers of any traveling salespeople. As cliche, as it was their border patrol took a turn for the interesting as night fell. The sound of howling wolves wasn't scary or abnormal but when Love noticed a person running through the forest to their location she was instantly on guard. The person probably got scared or provoked one of the creatures but they might need medical attention. If that was the case Love would temporarily heal the person and then escort them to the hospital.

Love thought that Allegro's little show of acrobatics was a bit much but that was important right now. Using her byakugan she would examine the civilian, not just his physical appearance but also his chakra system. She had to make sure that he wasn't an enemy in disguise. Vamp- No. These bite marks were different and he wouldn't have made it back if it was one of them. She also noticed not too far behind him the four-legged beasts tormenting the man. Just as the Hyuuga tuned into the man's plea she saw it. A giant wolf! Normally this would be a cause for concern but Love had already encountered this kind of creature before. Without thinking she shouted out, "Sal!?" and jumped out of the guard box. Floating to the ground she realized that this was not her friend, the werewolf she knew had white fur and had been the hero of the invasion. Yet she couldn't let sadness cloud her judgment, once both her feet touched the ground the young red head would shut down the behemoth with her sixty-four palms. Pulling the victim in close, she would spin with him in her personal space, so that he would be protected by her rotation as it knocked away the first wave of normal wolves. "Handle them." She shouted to her partner as she dashed away from the action with the victim in her arms. She would give the man emergency medical attention before returning to help the genin should he need her.

WC: 783

The kunoichi had answered all the genie’s questions, though some of the replies seemed a bit cold. Allegro was unbothered, and rather interested that she participated in Jounin exams as a genin. If she was recommended for an exam as difficult as that one must be, Allegro knew her talents must have been the real deal. Allegro’s catchphrase had even caught her off guard, and he matched Love’s awkward smile with a warm hearty laugh. By the time they had arrived at the fort, Allegro was happy he had been paired with such a lax team captain. He was able to take the scenic route to their post, almost like they were on a date. Had Allegro not been darker in color than a box of chocolates, he would be blushing red.

When the wolves finally appeared, the sound of their howls felt more like songs to Allegro. His eyebrows furrowed as things became serious. ‘The song these wolves are singing…sounds bloodthirsty.’ The genin thought to himself before watching Love descend from the guard tower he was just at the top of. Her glorious descent gave Allegro plenty of time to notice the gruesome veins that travelled from the side of her face up to her familiar pupil less eyes.  The same eyes he had encountered with Hikari Hyuuga, and again in his genin exams. Allegro did not have much time to ask questions about the dojutsu, however, because as soon as her feet grazed the dirt floor, she had vanished. Her speed matched that of his partner Jason Sonja, who was possibly the fastest genin in Konoha. 

Though he had time to react to the chuunin’s speed, and it was obvious that the best thing to do now was to follow her and save the man from imminent death, Allegro stood there for just a moment as Love took off. He thought to himself. The name that she had shouted out seemed to ring bells. ‘Sal…could this be the same Salzem who’s death seemed to traumatize  Jason endlessly. Could that be him?’ Allegro instinctively followed behind Love as quickly as his legs could carry thereafter. There was no time to think about the details.

Love had closed the 25 meter gap almost instantly, and immediately started giving the two legged wolf creature the business. Allegro was still separated from the scene by a few meters because of their difference in speeds, but Allegro did manage to access the chuunin’s combat skills. ‘Amazing! Captain love is a taijutsu user. She’s trashing that wolf with his the tip of her fingers. The Leaf sure knows how to breed some monsters’ and Allegro was not referring to the giant wolf. When the kunoichi was finished spinning frantically, sending the giant would and about 5 regular wolves flying away, she crossed paths with Allegro while carrying the civillian, and left him with the task of disposing of the remaining 15 wolves. The boy responded simply by saying, “Copy!” The wind from Love’s speed caused Allegro’s dreadlocks to flutter gracefully in the dim light of dusk while he stared at the berserk wolves closing inn the genin.

A kick here, a chop there, and an occasional evasive backflip in between. The genin was handling the situation, though the numbers seemed to never end. If Love was to look back to check on the boy, it would seem that he was being overrun by the wolves. However, this wasn’t the case. In fact, Allegro was simply waiting for Love and the civilian to get far enough away so that they were out of the range of his technique. Once they were, Allegro would grin about 5 wolves lunged in for the kill. He would weave a small set of hand seals and emitted a supersonic sound wave with enough power to send all the wolves in the nearby vicinity flying away in a state of unconsciousness. The sound wave seemed to sound like a wolf’s howl and was so loud the entire forest could hear. The genin had the exceptional ability to replicate any tone he had heard, and he found the wolves howling earlier in the evening to be particularly useful for this very situation. Using his Ventriloquism technique, he would distribute the sound of the howl throughout the forest so that the remaining 10 wolves would hear the howl and interpret it as a signal for retreat. The wolves would scurry away, tails tucked in, while Allegro raced to rejoin his captain.

The genin returned to their post to reunite with Love and the injured civilian. Love would most likely tend to his wounds and Allegro would observe, seeing as he knew nothing about medical ninjutsu. He would offer to carry the civilian on his back should Love give the order for them to head back to the village. It was almost night time at this point, and their report back to the Hokage’s chambers would be overdue.

[2337/2000 WC]

While tending to the man's wounds Love didn't need to turn around to witness Allegro fearlessly tackling the task he had been assigned. She was glad to be paired with a competent genin however she didn't have much time to analyze his tactics, the civilian was still frantic and she had to calm him down so the healing would be more effective. She really didn't want to use genjutsu on him even though the one she had created on her own worked well in these kinds of situations. Though not everyone is the same and it could take longer for this man to calm down than it did with Atarashi. She also didn't want to waste any chakra in case Allegro did end up needing her help. Hearing the powerful wolf cry coming from the human boy Love turned her head to look back at him. Ventriloquism would allow him to precisely replicate their howl but this was more than that. It wasn't the meaning of the howl that sent them running but the actual power of it. Love could see a consistent wave of sound aimed in their direction and she was sure the man with could see it as well.

He had also used hand seals although she hadn't paid attention to which ones. Watching the boy make his way back over to her, Love's main focus returned to the civilian. All the while in the back of her head she would be wondering where that giant wolf came from. Salzem did mention that he had a living mother and younger sister but he also said that his parents were normal. The beast was far too large to be a little girl even in wolf form, a cousin maybe? But he said that he wasn't apart of a clan, he also was able to control his phasing. Unless it was involuntary for all werewolves and they changed based on the moon like true Lycans of lore. Night hand not yet fallen so the kunoichi wouldn't bother looking for the faint image of the moon that shown during the day. Her late friend hadn't given her very much information on his condition and since he didn't show up to their group match in the exam she didn't get to see it used in a real battle.

Their spar prior to the final exam had been just that, there was no real danger or need to prove anything. Although she had been reading his chakra at the time the only help it provided for her currently was that the wolf she just faced was definitely the same as Sal. Whether or not they were the experiments of someone she didn't know but the way Salzem was reluctant to talk about his past made her feel that they might be. The weirdest thing about this night wasn't even that the thing had shown but how the normal wolves were supporting it. Lycans of lore don't run in packs whereas wolves do, it could easily have been because they saw how powerful the werewolf was and wanted to pick up any scraps. However, as her partner had returned Love shook the thoughts out of her mind for now. The Hyuuga would cast her voice over her shoulder while still tending to and looking at the injured man, "Nice work." She would say, once the man was stable enough to be moved she would allow Allegro to carry him back to the village. She wouldn't bother restraining the werewolf with it's chakra network shut down it would out for the rest of the night. It should be back in human form by day and will have likely gone back to where it came from.

Seemingly reckless Love would rather have it come to it's senses and continue to live freely. There was no reason for the village to keep it. As far as she knew they ate normal human food and the other wolves were just acting on instinct, there was no murder just an unfortunate accident. And that's exactly what Love would put in her report, being that it was getting late she would let Allegro take the man to the hospital, dismissing him, while she wrote it up.

WC: 707 [Exit?]
TWC: 2032
Claiming: Ninjutsu spec; 632 words to Eight Trigrams: Four Sky Palms; 5 ap
; 2k ryo

The genin gave an innocent chuckle and a thumbs up when Love commended him on a job well done. He was glad he didn't botch up his first C ranked mission. The duo returned to the village as casually as they had come, with the recovering villager on Allegro's broad backside. Before parting ways, Allegro would thank the kunoichi, hoping they could meet again someday soon.

"I hope the next time we see each other isn't at the clan reunion. See ya!"

Mission Accomplished! 

[Exit]
[2420/2000 TWC]
+5 AP
+2000 Ryo
-986 words to complete Chakra Barrier Seal
-1431 words towards Summoning Technique

Approved