Thief of Wind and Sand (NK, IO)

Sakuragi was eager to get this mission over with, he could do it all alone if possible, but three are always better than one. Kuniko would lead the way to the starlight sanctuary. Once they were there, Kuniko would give instructions to the Sakuragi and Takeshi. Kuniko was already starting to act like a leader while he wasn't yet chosen to be the leader. Sakuragi didn't decide this and it seem like kuniko would make a good leader, However, The only leader that sakuragi respects right now is the hyuuga clan lord, ayato and that's the only person he wanna willingly yield to.  What's the point yielding to someone who is not stronger than you are?. Sakuragi did not count any of his team mates to be as strong as he is.  They may be of the same rank, but  he still counted himself stronger. 


Sakuragi would however yield to kuniko’s  instructions, not because of any other thing, but simply because of the success of the mission. Without activating his byakugan, he would  look around as he walked , searching for a place where they can hide. Eventually, his pupilless eyes locked on an old large black cupboard. Sakuragi walked close to the cupboard and opened it, it was a bit dusty inside, but the cupboard almost twice sakuragi’S height was large enough to contain the three Hyuugas. The brown skin black spiky boy would yell his mates names “Kuniko, Takeshi!!  I found a place where we can hide, we just need to clean this a bit”. The cup was virtually empty with just few religious books inside. If Kuniko and Takeshi would agree to hide inside here, the black spiky would get a piece of cloth from the temple to dust and clean the cupboard, once he was done, he would said for Kuniko to tell them when to hide or if there's anything they needed to do before hiding, he belived Kuniko would say. 



TWC: 1414

"Let us get moving then. I will lead the way to the shrine. Try to stay together. We will travel at a regular pace since we're in the city. We don't want to cause trouble for anyone here by acting to hastily." Takeshi agreed, if we were to cause any ruckus on the way to the sanctuary, the thief would be much more likely to either pick another target, or just wait all together and they might have lost their chance. After this, Kuniko began heading over to the Sanctuary and Kuniko gave the rest of the team a suggestion, "I would like both of you to be careful when fighting this thief. It may be best if we don't fight with all our power so we don't damage the shrine." Takeshi was thinking the same thing about shrines, Takeshi did want to try out his new techniques, but he certainly didn’t want to destroy anything in the process.

Team Summer arrived at the sanctuary minutes after departing for it and Kuniko began giving each of the members a job, "Sakuragi, could you scout around the shrine and find a good place for us to hide which isn't too far from the entrance? Takeshi, could you find any shrine maidens or monks who might work here and inform them that we will be waiting to catch the thief and not to act any different than usual?" Takeshi agreed to his new task and walked toward the shrines and found a shrine maiden. Takeshi let the woman know what was going on and asked her to spread the word to the rest of the people that staffed the shrine. Once his task was done, he came back to Kuniko and asked him what else he could do. Takeshi heard Sakuragi yell to both Takeshi and Kuniko that he had found a place to hid for the time they were waiting for the theif. Takeshi smiled and waved at Sakuragi to acknowledge that Takeshi did hear him. Takeshi then looked back toward Kuniko and waited for Kuniko to see what else Takeshi could do to help the team.

WC: 356

Mid-Thread Claim

I donated 10 Ryo to the Shrine. I've already deducted it from my inventory.

After Kuniko had finished praying for the success of the mission he dropped his 10 Ryo in the donation box. Had he known the jutsu, he would have insured he would be able to track the money in case the thief actually managed to steal it and escape. But unfortunately he didn't know any such way to track a thief like that. He did consider it to be good practice though. He turned and walked to to the top of the steps of the shrine. 

The moon was bright that night, and shown its pale light over the steps below. There was a warm orange glow coming from the lanterns all over the shrine. It was a beautiful night, and a very serene area. There was a slight twang of pain in Kuniko's heart to think this place would become a battleground soon. But he trusted the other member of Team Summer not to cause too much damage. Standing there in front of the shrine made Kuniko think of how even came to be Hoshigakure. 

When master Ayato saved him, Kuniko owed a life debt to his superior on a personal level. He no longer would do what Ayato said simply because he was of the main branch of the Hyuuga, and Kuniko was of a side branch. He would do what Master Ayato told him because Kuniko respected him, and he saw a glimpse of his power and wisdom. Kuniko closed his eyes as he whispered the words the young master Ayato told him after he saved his life. "Brave is not the same as fearless. Fearless gets you killed..." 

His brief moment of serenity came to an end as the other members of Team Summer gave their reports. Sakuragi's voice rang loud and clear in the moonlit night; he had found a place for them to hide. Takeshi's form was illuminated by the warm glow from a nearby lantern as he asked Kuniko of what else to do. Kuniko nodded in satisfaction as he turned around to look at them both. "I want you to know Sakuragi, Takeshi, that I am proud to be a part of Team Summer with you both. Let us make our first mission a glorious memory." He then walked a bit closer to Takeshi, while maintaining a respectful distance, and guided him to the cupboard Sakuragi had found. 

After inspecting the cupboard, Kuniko could tell it was the perfect size for three ninjas to conceal themselves in. It might not be the safest choice, but surprise would be on their side. Besides, Kuniko thought that this petty thief they were after wouldn't stand a chance against Sakuragi or Takeshi, even one on one. He told the other two "we will hide in here then. I'll keep watch with my Byakugan first. Then Sauragi, then Takeshi. We'll rotate so we don't tire ourselves out. Once one of us sees the thief, we'll sneak out of the cupboard and surround him." 

If the other two ninjas agreed with Kuniko, he would then crouch down and climb into the cupboard. It almost upset him how easily he fit inside. He looked up to his companions who were standing outside, and said in a quiet voice, "also... when we tell stories about this night... tell them we hid on the roof. Don't mention that I fit in a cupboard."


TWC: 2171

While Sakuragi was searching for the perfect place for them to hide, his teammates, kuniko And Takeshi had left him to do their biddings. Sakuragi got a perfect place for them, and yelled at his mates to come take a look. It seems the three would appear to hide inside, with kuniko getting in first. The cupboard may be ridiculous but it's the perfect hiding place for this mission. Moreover, when the thief arrive here to steal, he or she wouldn't check the cupboard even if she or he saw it, it was very old outside. Kuniko would get in first while the two hyuuga remain outside,  kuniko would said to them not to tell anyone that he fits into a cupboard. Sakuragi would laugh at Kuniko’S words as he got into the cupboard. “ Maybe no one would know about this except for Ayato. It's not just you that fit into the cupboard , it's three of us. We are like fried fish in Titus can” he said as he laughed again and would stop laughing only when Takeshi got inside the cupboard too. The brown skin black spiky had been quiet since the beginning  of the mission. When these three met at the pine tree, sakuragi remained expressionless all the while, now Kuniko said  something that actually made him, it seems jokes works on sakuragi, if at all that was a joke, but not all joke. 


Sakuragi  and kuniko was in already, the brown skin black spiky would expect Takeshi to join them as well. Since Kuniko would be the one to activate his byakugan, there's no need to activate his. There's no point having three byakugan at the same time. It's like a waste of chakra reserves and stamina. Once all three hyugas are in,  the spiky haired would close the cupboard from inside by pulling the door of the cupboard towards himself  He had to continue to hold that way as there was nothing that could lock it from inside. Sakuragi would wait for the thief to arrive once the door was closed from inside . It was then that the real mission would begin. 



TWC : 1773

Kuniko was now firmly in the cupboard when Sakuragi climbed in next to him. The two of them were the smalls ones so there was plenty of room, but Kuniko looked up and noticed Takeshi’s hesitation. The taller ninja suddenly proposed another plan to the one Kuniko had devised. Perhaps he was afraid he was too big to fit inside? He mentioned the use of chakra suppression, a skill which Kuniko unfortunately lacked. Still, Kuniko was definitely the physically weakest of the three ninjas, so perhaps the thief wouldn’t be spooked by his presence alone. 

This was probably the most Kuniko had heard Takeshi speak since he first met him, which is why the long haired shinobi didn’t want to combat him on the issue. Kuniko started up at him for a long moment trying to think of how to word what he was about to say. “Takeshi, that is an excellent idea for us to suppress our chakra to avoid detection from the thief. I suggest both of you do that now. Forgive me, however, that I must protest your main course of action. While I want to ensure the safety of the shrine, my first priority will be to the safety of my fellow shinobi. It is too great a risk for you to hide yourself away from us. Besides, the flow of the shrine is stone, and the only dirt paths are far from the donation box. It’s a dangerous bet to think the thief will pass perfectly over your location, and equally dangerous to assume he or she could be so easily captured before we rushed to your side.”

Kuniko shook his head and heaved a sigh. He didn’t enjoy talking down to Takeshi, at least metaphorically speaking. “We have a greater chance of dealing with the shinobi if we surround him or her once we know what we are dealing with. To amend the plan slightly, I will suggest that you and Sakuragi both exit the cupboard before I do, so that you both can prepare yourselves to initiate the surprise.”


TWC: 2517

While two hyuuga crawled inside the cupboard, Takeshi would be reluctant to get inside. Takeshi would start speaking about how he wanted to capture the thief alone. Sakuragi was sure he wasn't saying this out of pride or something, he was just simply suggesting an idea to his teammates an idea which he thought would work but may be not. Sakuragi watched takeshi speak overconfidently about capturing the thief. It's easier said than done . How would Takeshi know if the thief also has tricks up her sleeves or his sleeves. It risky to let Takeshi do that alone or he was afraid that he'd fit into the cupboard. 


After Takeshi was done speaking, Kuniko would respectfully insist the the three work together as a team. Takeshi had nice plan, but it's better if the three tries to capture the thief. 


Sakuragi was careful in listening to every thing  his teammates had said before he gave his own words “ Takeshi, that was an excellent suggestion, but I think I'll agree with kuniko. We cannot let you risk your life trying to capture the thief alone. The thief might have some tricks too and besides we have no idea who we are up against, no ideas about their abilities or how experienced they are. Takeshi, let's stick to the initial plan of glueing into the cupboard. Three are better than one, we would attack and capture the thief together” he said theses words as calmly as he could.  “ Now get Inside here Takeshi” he would say to the boy, expecting him to fit into the cupboard too. This was part of the plan and with the byakugan, they would be able to tell when the invade is in the temple. 



TWC: 2064

Takeshi had told his teammates the plan that he had formed in his head. But both Kuniko and Sakuragi had disagreed with it. Takeshi understood, he was used to people underestimating him. Takeshi had just finished several A and B rank missions and had an unbelievable amount since they had all met. This being their first mission together that could involve combat. He understood that his teammates didnt put their faith in Takeshi's skills and abilities. Takeshi listened to both Kuniko and Sakuragi, nodded his head in disappointment that his team didnt believe that he could have incapacitated the thief, even for a moment. Takeshi spoke after thinking for a second after Sakuragi spoke. "Okay. We'll go with your plan, Kuniko." Takeshi stepped into the cupboard and commenced the waiting with his team.

Wc: 133

It appeared that Takeshi had given in to Kuniko and Sakuragi's protests. Kuniko watched as the larger ninja climbed into the cupboard.  As Kuniko feared, Takeshi's large frame took up a lot of space within the cupboard, but the three of them could still comfortably hide within. Assuming Sakuragi would close the doors to the cupboard, Kuniko would wait until the time approached the midnight hour, and then he would give a muffled "Byakugan!" as he looked out into the shrine, towards the donation box. If Sakuragi did not close the door, Kuniko would do it himself. 

Kuniko used the Byakugan to see 100 meters out in 360 degrees. The donation box was within the range due to Sakuragi's well placed suggestion. Kuniko would whisper to the others as they waited, "if I may be so rude as to disturb our silence, the more I think on it, the more I believe that this thief is a user of sand and wind. If that's the case then they probably won't be close range, which would put me at a disadvantage. I'll be depending on both of you for this fight." 

After about an hour, Kuniko began to get tired, and not wanting to waste his chakra he released his Byakugan and turned towards Sakuragi to his side. "Alright Sakuragi. If you would be so kind as to use your sight now..." 


TWC: 2748