The Robbers' last mistake (Max, Kay, Saya)

“Thank you Saya,” Max would reply telepathically, “you are a dear friend.”
 
Max would casually follow behind, letting the group set the pace of the journey. Being outside of the village walls was likely a new experience for the two rookies, but Max was accustomed to the strangely peaceful swamps. So long as you didn’t aggravate the Rot Monsters, once could almost fall asleep with how quiet it was out here. The putrid smell might have bothered others, but it was no different than Max’s workshop when he was working on one of his new puppets.
 
They would quickly approach the site, their trip surprisingly unimpeded by anything lurking in the paths. Hato seemed to be handling dealing with the client, and so Max would sit back and watch. This was as much a learning experience for them as it was a mission, and such would not be squandered.
 
Max would keep an eye on the surrounding area, his puppets right behind him and ready to tear apart any enemy that thinks it a good idea to try and ambush us by using this man as bait to draw us to a disadvantageous point. There was little cover here if arrows, shuriken, bolts, or kunai started raining down upon them. The headstones may provide some cover, but it wouldn’t be a whole lot. Hopefully there would be a reasonable number of bandits and not some outlandish number.
 
Kay looked to be deep in thought, else she was unnaturally quite. Max would wonder what was going on in her head, but he wasn’t really one to talk. There were always too many things going on in his head.
 
“I’ve got a big ol’ problem wiv a group a bandits.” The man would point towards a mausoleum built into the wall of a mountain. “Ats where I’ve seen’em. And you bes’ be careful. I don’t pay for shoddy work.”

WC:317
TWC: 1250

All grave caretakers had a certain quirk to them. The person before the group did not seem to have such a quirk. Saya was surprised that it wasn’t an old man, frail and hunched over and walking with a waddle due to some sort of arthritis. Who they were looking at was definitely middle aged, but the medical practitioner was not sure if he was just coming out of his late 40s or meandering between entering or exiting his 50s.

Saya attributed it to his thick muscles. The guy stood 5’11” and seemed to weigh close to 200 pounds. His shortly cropped hair was colored with gray locks, blending in well with his dark brown hair. A shovel was propped over his shoulder, held on by a gloved hand, while he scrutinized the team with equally dark brown eyes. Saya could tell that he wasn’t impressed with what Kumogakure sent to catch his group of graverobbers after Hato confirmed their involvement. Perhaps that was the reason why he didn’t give more than the direction of which graves have been defiled.

”Of course,” Saya replied to the disgruntled man. She sent a sharp nod in his direction, who only returned a hard stare before turning his back on them and moving to another area of his temple. Once he was gone Saya turned back to the group and gestured for them to follow her into the small building.

It was obvious that it was there for some time. What once would be freshly painted concrete walls and circular columns, its color was more akin to muddy patches and fissures lining almost every square foot of the burial chamber. It was as if corrosion personified took a personal interest in that particular crypt. Even the plants that had managed to crawl up its vertical surfaces seemed to be dying or dead.

Saya glided up the few steps to the entrance of their target location before looking over her shoulder, ”Partner up and stay alert. We don’t know if they’re still here and if they are, we don’t know their numbers.” Then she brought her hands up and pushed open the double doors. Dust fell from above, momentarily obscuring her vision for a bare second.

That was all it took.

There was a soft whistle - the familiar song of a kunai traveling through air - and pain erupted along her upper arm. Saya was quick to retrieve her own weapon with her uninjured arm and parried a trio of shuriken thrown her way. As she had done so Saya made sure to check through the dirt clouds to see who had lodged managed to lodge steel into her arm. If she remained any longer they would turn her into a pincushion, considering they had the tactical advantage to hid behind stone coffins and she had nothing except to jump and roll to the side.

Max, I counted three shadows but I’m pretty sure it’s closer to five or six enemies. She grunted through their telepathic seal, arm throbbing from her rough movement.

”Sound out!” Saya wasn’t sure what happened to the rest of the team as she had been concentrating on not getting any body piercings. Several more kunai and shuriken had, after all, followed its predecessors. ”Kay! Hato! What’s your status?”

WORD COUNT: 552
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 735 + 552 = 1287

Hato followed close behind Saya as she moved her way to the objective. The place was so dead, and the feeling of dread was prominent. Burial grounds all look alike to be fair unless it was a rich person's, they normally wanted beautiful places to be buried. Which made Hato wonder why the robbers were here in the first place. But her mission was to get rid of the robbers, not wonder their motive. So she kept her mind straight. 

Saya instructed the group to stay with a partner and keep an eye out for numbers. This is when the blonde haired beauty pulled out a kunai from her weapon pouch. Suddenly, a first strike. Dust fell from above and a kunai had been expertly thrown into Saya's arm. Hato hadn't seen the attack, only heard the sound of kunai's being thrown. Since Hato was just about to enter the room, she was in the door frame. This allowed Hato to shut the door before the weapons got to the three of them. The shurikens and kunai made the thud once hitting the wooden door, causing the to stick out the other end. "That was close," Hato said observing how if she was a moment too late, she would take all those weapons head on.

Saya called out to Kay and Hato, seeing how they were. "Perfectly fine." She called out as she was hiding behind the wall beside the door. She had the other door open so when the dust cleared They could enter without being blinded. 

Once the dust settled, Hato rushed in again, quickly heading to the stone pillar across from Saya. While she was moving, she saw five figures peaking behind pillars as well. "I saw five, three on your side, two on mine." She said looking to Saya. The closest was 10 meters, so Hato would have some space to make a move, or let the others make their moves. She would just heal any wounds afterwards, it really didn't matter to her. 

WC:338
TWC: 1066

“I didn’t even get to talk to the guy,” Kay said under her breath, barely audible to anybody who was not listening to her in particular. She rolled her eyes slightly, then caught herself. Her more refined demeanor that she had been forced to develop seemed to have begun to slip away lately, which was fine. Sure, she was a nice girl and all, but the overly polite servant girl attitude was never her own. That just was not who she was. Maybe this shinobi life would chip away at her more, making her harder. But Komori seemed fine, at least in her conversations with him. If he could still manage to be that light hearted after however long he had been at this, maybe there was hope for her yet.

However, her thoughts grinded to a halt upon Saya’s opening of the doors. She was immediately attacked, a kunai sprouting from her arm. I should have opened the door instead. Three more projectiles thudded against the door thanks to Hato’s rather quick thinking. Saya is stronger than me, she shouldn’t be the one who’s hurt. Her legs were stiff, frozen from being caught off guard. Hato had reacted how she should have, but Kay was stuck in place. There has to be something I can do, dammit. Kay clenched her fists and her teeth. “I’m okay!” she yelled through her tightened jaw, her voice somewhat raspy. Kay looked outwards towards where Hato was referencing, figures behind there. The Senju could not sense them, she could not attack them, she could not defeat them. I need to be useful. She looked over towards Saya, who could possibly still have the kunai still lodged in her arm. “Saya! Can you heal that yourself or do you need me to try?” It was a silly question, as Kay was the only one who did not develop her own medical arts, but she was desperate, looking for something she could possibly do. Her feet remained rooted in place, her actions depending on the girl’s answer and how Max responded to the threat.

WC: 1684

Once they tried to enter the tombs all hell seemed to break lose. Saya was quickly struck with a kunai, blood trickling down her now injured arm. Several more weapons would fly through the air, but Hato had the awareness needed to close the door and use it as cover. It was good that she could think while under pressure, as hesitation can lead to death, especially in this particular scenario.
 
Saya counted three shadows, but figured there were closer to five or six enemies on the other side of he door. Max considered treating Saya’s wounds, but he knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. They would need a way to root these pests out of their bunkered position. They had the advantage in a lot of ways. Cover to hide behind, plus we couldn’t just light the room up with powerful jutsu without fear of destroying treasures inside and desecrating the remains of the honored dead. Max didn’t really care about the latter, but other did and so he would respect their wishes, at least while on a mission for the village.
 
When Saya yelled for folks to sound off status, Max would hear the others. Hato confirmed that there were at least five targets, split into two groups inside. Kay was alright as well, though she seemed to be at a loss for what to do. Such was to be expected. This was probably the first time someone had attempted to take her life on a mission. She was still green, that’s all.
 
Max had an idea, but the groundskeeper probably wouldn’t appreciate it. “Team, are you capable of any area spanning jutsu that won’t harm the graves or the objects inside? Saya, do you know Poison Mist?” Max felt a bit bad for relying so heavily on his teammate, but she was the other shinobi here with the most experience. Max didn’t expect Hato or Kay to have such an advanced technique in their arsenal yet, but if Hato had the jutsu known to her having a two users wouldn’t hurt. “Kay, you are a ninjutsu specialist right? Do you have access to Hidden Mist, or maybe Hiding Like a Mole?” Max would ask, thinking of the two jutsu he would actually be able to readily know about through simple readings of his Jutsu Encyclopedia.
 
Assuming the team knows the jutsu in question and follows along, Max would rattle off his plan. “Saya, Kay. I want you to ready yourselves to use those moves. I will use my puppets to break down the doors and use them as shields to cover your moves. My puppets aren’t as susceptible to cuts and injury as you guys are, so it will be your vanguard. Stay behind it and don’t expose yourselves. Once the doors are down, Kay, I want you to use Hidden Mist, spewing it into the room under the opening in the doors by the puppets legs. Once that hampers their vision I want you to finish them off with your attack, Saya.” He would then look to Hato. “Hato, you need to keep us safe from our rear flank. I can’t focus on defending them effectively and looking behind my back. Keep an eye out, as there may be more bandits waiting to attack us while we are distracted.”
 
Max would then listen to any other suggestions, but if none opposed this plan he would send two of his puppets toward the doors, each of them grabbing a handle and ripping the door from its hinges with ease. They would position in such a way that both sides were mostly blocked, and the puppet was likely fast enough to block an projectiles that would attempt the more open areas.


WC:629
TWC:1879

Relief coursed through her when she heard Kay and Hato’s responses. Good. That was good. She hadn’t messed up (at least, not really), hadn’t put her teammates in danger by her idiotic moment of dropping her guard. Saya didn’t really need to worry about Max; he was stronger than the rest of them and the girl was sure that he would be able to block or dodge a wave of weapons with ease.

With her back pressed firmly against the hard column Saya made a cursory glance to double-check if the two other girls were truly alright. Her sharp eyes roamed over their figures, trying to catch any torn pieces of clothing or dark patches on their attire or if they favored a particular side of their body. Nothing. Satisfied with what she saw, Saya breathed out and nodded at Hato (though she probably didn’t see if she were focusing on their enemies), who had taken the opportunity to confirm the amount of enemies they had.

”I’m fine, Kay,” Saya turned her attention to girl’s position, nodding to reassure her that all was well. ”This is just a flesh wound so I won’t be healing it any time soon. Got to conserve my chakra in case something bigger happens.” The girl didn’t usually explain the reasons why she did things, but both Hato and Kay were green thumbs. This was a lesson that needed to be learned, especially if they were aware of their energy levels.

Inching her way back to the edge of the door whilst listening to Max relay a plan he had in mind, Saya dared to peek a little inside to figure out exactly where the enemies were. Hato had said two on her side (the left end, facing the doors) and three on Max’s (the right end). However, there were three columns with multiple rows of raised burial chambers and Saya only knew they were using them as shields.

Just as she managed to round the wooden side, a kunai zipped out towards her. It missed by a few inches as she slid back into place, heart thumping from the near miss. Nodding to her teammate, she began the few hand seals that would activate Poison Gas. ”On it, Max.” Once Saya could feel the energy accumulate, she sent the blonde boy a signal that indicated that she was ready to follow up.

When and if everyone wanted to add or altered anything, Saya would merely adjust her positioning and played her actions by ear. If there were no changes to Max’s proposed plan, the girl would have dove right in after the puppets, using them them as shield before safely rolling behind one of the crypts and staying out of sight. Her technique would be released once Kay managed to direct her jutsu toward the enemies’ side.

WORD COUNT: 477
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1287 + 477 = 1764

First mission ever and Hato was already in the line of fire for some mad men throwing shurkien and kunai. She hadn't really expected it but she really should have. I mean, it was a shinobi mission. It was their job to do this kind of stuff. Hato was forced to take things seriously or else her life would be on the line. And her teammates but they were capable, right? To be fair, Hato knew basically nothing about any of them. She knew Saya was a medical ninja, but was that it? Was that all her ninja trait. Max was a puppet user, and self proclaimed The Best Puppet User in Kumo", which she couldn't prove or disprove, he was the only puppet user she knew. And Kay was even more of a mystery. The only thing she knew about her was that she didn't know medical ninjutsu. So this mission also acted as a way to get to know the others battle techniques.  

Max started to order around as the leader of the genin squad. Hato was given the wonderful task of guarding the rear. She wanted to go and enter the battle to take out some enemies, but she needed to listen to Max. For now. So for her part, she watched behind Max, as he was hiding behind his puppet hiding behind the door he ripped off it's hinges. It created a pretty good barrier, one that protected Max and the others from the onslaught of shuriken. Speaking of which, they should be running low soon. The opponents have been throwing them for awhile now. Most shinobi didn't have that much. Which was good news for Saya and Kay because of their instructions to go on the offensive with area spanning jutsu. 

WC: 296
TWC: 1362

The plan seemed to go off perfectly, the poorly trained grave robbers unable to withstand the onslaught of techniques. The Mist hid the positions and obscured vision while the Poison hid within, choking the life from those that were attacking them. It was a fairly simple combination, but used to maximum effectiveness against unskilled opponents. Max figured that more capable adversaries might have been able to prevent or avoid it altogether, but that was part of leading and being a shinobi, really. Once needs to be able to size up their adversary and gauge just what will likely be needed in the battle. 

Max was focused on the protection of the two in front, so while he would keep alert he wasn't completely focused on the rearguard. That was Hato's task. Hopefully she would be fine with handling whatever did or did not approach them from their flanks, or at least be able to warn the others if she wasn't. 

With the foes felled, Max would nod to the others once the mist and poison dissipated. It was time they cleared out the bodies and made sure that the stolen things were returned to their rightful places. If there were any alive, they would also be knocked out, tied up, and brought in for questioning. "Good work everyone. Nicely done."

"I really don't want to have to fill out the paperwork for this mission....*sigh*" Max would say before leading them all back towards Kumo, their mission complete and a success. 

---Exit?---

WC: 250
TWC: 2129

Claims:

Max's Claims (1065):
1065 wc towards Chakra Sigs of everyone present (if I don't already have them)
543 wc towards (Dark Puppetry Art: Unnatural Life Force (from 1457/2000 so the wc will complete it)
522 wc towards Damage Reduction Shield (bringing it to 1383/4250)

Mission Ryo and AP

Napa's Claims: (1064):
1003 towards Mystical Palm (from 2997/4000 to 4000/4000 completing it)
61 wc towards Delicate Illness Extraction (from 2805/3000 to 2866/3000)

The plan Max had concocted had worked. The mist hid the location and the poisons took them out. She had never seen those two jutsu before. Hato would have to learn those two jutsu in the future for her own benefits. Maybe after the mission, she would catch up with them and learn it from them. Poison was always something Hato wanted to learn poison and she needed more jutsu for water release. 

The rest went on without a hitch and Hato didn't even have to do anything. Max returned the stuff and took some captives with him. Hato followed as they headed back to Kumo. 

Max would then complain about how he had to do paper work now. Hato would give off a laugh "Have fun," and took off to her apartment without any rush, she wanted to collect her reward and head home. 
EXIT
WC: 145
TWC: 1507 
CLAIMING: 
Mission rewards 
1000 WC toward Hidden Mist Technique