The Lost Shipment (A-Rank Mission)

Kiryu felt vindicated as Takeshi complimented him. He had never really considered himself suited to be a scout, but perhaps he would re-evaluate that decision if it seemed like he had a knack for it. Then again, if he was on a team with a pair of Hyuuga, his tracking abilities would always be second rate in comparison. The birds were another surprise. He had heard of summonings before, although he had always attached somewhat of a negative stigma to the practice. Enslaving nature went against the gods, but it appeared as though these birds helped because they desired to, not because they were forced to.

The mention of an abandoned camp nearby also put him on his guard. The birds had clearly spotted it, so he didn’t feel too bad about missing it. Still, there was no telling if there were any of the missing ninja still around as a deterrence. His next task from Kuniko was to try and figure out the direction that the horses had gone after they had been attacked. He examined the ground more carefully, looking for any hoof prints that might give an indication of where they had gone, but before he could determine anything concrete, he snapped up at Kuniko’s warning.
 
Whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn’t a woman who looked like she wanted to drag all three of them by their ears back to the village. As she spoke, he glanced over at his companions, who appeared to know who she was at least. That meant friendly, at least in his book. He figured he would let the other two do most of the talking as he continued to examine the ground. After whatever exchange of words had paused enough to give him an opening, he would call out to Kuniko. ”It looks like the horses were drawn off to the south.” He cocked his head to the side slightly. ”Maybe southwest,” he corrected himself. ”The hoofprints aren’t too deep, so it doesn’t look like they ran off. Maybe they were led off by the enemy after all.”

[WC: 348]
[TWC: 1,624]

Takeshi was intrigued in this new Genin that had just entered ream Summer. He seemed to have a sharp mind and that was something he respected. Takeshi had called his birds back and he asked them to follow the trail of horse tracks that went south southwestward direction. The birds both nodded once again and leaped off of his shoulders, flying off to follow the tracks.

Just then a woman's voice came hurling at the team, sounding as if she was their mother anand she was disappointed in her children. She asked what they were doing outside of the gates and Takeshi answered "ma'am, We are currently on a mission and my birds are following the horse tracks that head in that direction,  ma'am." She also asked if we had been the cause of the death and blood on the road, which he then answered. "Ma'am no we are not the cause ma'am, but we are in the process of finding said cause." Takeshi tried to be as respectful as possible. He knew that she was a Chuunin. Rank above him, but he also just wanted to be respectful anyway.

She also predicted the death of all three members of team Summer should they be attacked. Takeshi disagreed with her prediction, thinking that whole they are Genin. Takeshi had been training relentlessly to get stronger and to gain more control of his skills. He believed that he would have a good chance at winning. But he also though of Kiryu. He was a fresh starter and Kuniko was a med nin. While he had faith in the both of them, he did worry about their abilities in battle. He responded courteously, "I appreciate your concern ma'am. We would appreciate your company on this mission if you were willing." Takeshi always welcomed more help on missions, especially from those of a higher rank.

Takeshi looked to the sky and saw that one of his birds was flying back to him, but without the other. Hermes landed on his shoulder, with a slight stagger upon landing. She hurriedly chirped in his ear and Takeshi's face went white. Takeshi thanked Hermes and asked him to nurse Nike back to health and to apologize to Zeus on his behalf. Takeshi the released both Nike and Hermes. Takeshi then turned to the rest of the team, and the woman named Tsubaki. "One of my birds, Nike, was shot down just a few moments ago. Hermes described them as a ragged caravan leading horses away in the southwest direction. This could very well be the bandits that carried out the ambush. There about two and a half miles out so we need to hurry! We can take one of my birds if needed, but whatever we do we must get going!" Takeshi pulled out his summoning scroll, determination in his eyes he was ready to summon Ares, if that is what the team wanted.

Wc: 488

As soon as he saw his mater approaching, Kuniko straightened up after getting the attention of the others. As Tsubaki walked forward she began admonishing the three of them firmly. As Kuniko watched, Takeshi tried to get a handle of the situation while Kiryu clearly wanted to keep out of it. The leader of the team felt quite relieved, though. Perhaps their chances of success went from low to permissible now that they had a chuunin on the team. 

Kuniko was glad Kiryu was keeping himself useful. As team leader, Kuniko felt an immense responsibility for him on such a dangerous mission. He could only imagine what his master was feeling for their entire team. 

After Tsubaki approached them Kuniko bowed his head to her and began to speak after his teammate tried to explain the situation. Slightly bowed, and with a calm voice despite the situation, Kuniko said, “Master Tsubaki. It is as Takeshi explained; we are only tracking the bandits right now. We have no intention of fighting them. Our mission is to take back the stolen supplies without being spotted. I believe that between Takeshi and I we should be able to spot any of the missing nin before they notice us.”

It was at this moment that Takeshi announced that one of his birds was shot down by the missing nin. It seemed they had stolen the horses from the supply caravan and were headed south southwest. Kuniko gave a brief grin at the earth beneath his feet. It was always there to support him. He then looked back up to his master and continued to speak nonplussed, “well perhaps the missing nin are aware they are being followed, but this was to be expected. I have confidence that we can still complete our mission. Unless you believe otherwise? As the senior ranked ninja here I will defer to your judgment, Master Tsubaki.” Kuniko then stood there awaiting his instructor’s judgement. 


WC: 326
TWC: 1,367

The group seemed to respond negatively to her command. One of the boys, Takeshi, explained that they were on a mission to track the group of missing ninja down, not to confront them. "That's how the mission is but as soon as they notice you, you'll be taken out without a flicker of hope." She was dead serious. She wasn't about to send children to a mission they stood no chance in. Especially her star student. Kuniko believed in the mission's outcome. 

Suddenly, two of Takeshi's falcon's returned one of them in a poor state. As Tsubaki feared, they knew that they were getting followed by the shinobi. Kuniko tried to explain to Tsu that even though they knew that they would still be victorious. Tsu shook her head; it had fallen on deaf ears. "So now the missing ninja know you are following them, increasing their defences. You stand no chance." She continued, getting a little hot-headed, "Do you know what they do to shinobi with dojutsu like yours? They harvest them. Sell them or use them for their own purposes. And trust me, they'll get what they want." She sighed to relax and calmly stated, "You are not going after them, you'll relay what you found out and you'll stay out of it, Do I make myself clear?" She was willing to fight them if necessary to get them to stay. She looks into the pale eyes of her student. "Sometimes, a good leader needs to know when they can't do something. For the good of the team."


WC: 260
TWC: 693

If he was being honest with himself, Kiryu had to admit that he had been somewhat thinking along the same lines as this new arrival. Since the mission had started and the team had been making progress, he had become more confident, but perhaps that had been a foolish overconfidence on his part. From what he could gather, the newcomer was a Chuunin or higher, which meant she outranked everyone on the team. That being said, the mission had been assigned to them, and that assignment was even further up the chain of command.

"Ma'am," he began hesitantly, "with all due respect, we were the team assigned this mission and it needs to be accomplished. We would be honored, of course, to accept you assistance if you see fit to offer it, but surely it is our duty to carry this mission out to its completion." Despite his own misgivings, he knew that his duty to the village came before any personal hangups about the reasoning behind why a group of Genin had been assigned this mission with no higher supervision. He also had faith that the gods were on their side against these heathen criminals.

She did make a good point, however. The mission certainly had gotten a lot more complicated now that the missing ninja were alerted to their presence. He would love to have a few extra Chuunin or Jounin to help accomplish the mission, or at least as a quick-reaction force in case of trouble, but if this team was all that was available, then that was that. All the wishing in the world couldn't change what was available. He glanced over at his two teammates to see what their decision would be. He couldn't accomplish the mission on his own if they decided to abandon it, but he felt an obligation to try.

[WC: 308]
[TWC: 1,932]

Kuniko bowed his head in defeat. He had attempted to persuade Tsubaki into letting them continue the mission, but if she would not capitulate then it was not his place to argue with her. Kuniko stood up straight and dusted off his hakama. He looked up to his instructor and told her calmly yet with purpose, "very well. We will do as you say." Kuniko wasn't happy about abandoning the mission, but secretly he felt a small sense of relief that it was over. 

A small team of genin would likely take casualties on such a mission. That would weigh on Kuniko's conscious. He already felt responsible for the deaths of his first genin team so he didn't want to add more bodies to the pile. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Kuniko turned to inform his team of the new situation. 

Looking at Kiryu, Kuniko said in a gentle tone, "it's alright, Kiryu. This is a dangerous mission so we shall defer to Miss Tsubaki's judgement. I am calling this mission off. We shall return to the village with the knowledge we have already gathered. Our report on the situation should be valuable at the very least. Let's go, Takeshi." After looking over at his good friend, Kuniko walked over to stand beside his mentor. 

WC: 216
TWC: 1583

Takeshi thought for a moment, he thought on the difficulty of the mission. How they were in fact only Genin, but he didn't care about that. He was tasked with a mission and he was going to do his all to complete it. He looked to the remainder of the team and watched as they began to walk away towards the village. Takeshi began following them, for a few minutes. He then told the rest of the posse that he was going to take the tail of the group and look out for any bandits that may decide to come back toward the village. This way he could keep a look out with his Byakugan and let the team know when they were in danger. 

As the team continued on towards the village, he would walk with them for about five minutes, before making a break for it. Takeshi ran as fast as he could toward the direction of the bandits that had injured one of his birds and he kept traveling in that direction until he reached a vantage point. From here, he would look toward the bandit's previous direction and saw that they were still traveling in the same direction. Based on the speed that they were traveling, he would easily be able to catch up to them while keeping a safe distance. He would stalk this bandit caravan until nightfall, that is when he would claim the stolen shipment and return it back to Hoshigakure. 

Takeshi immediately sprinted toward the bandit group, doing his best to continuously get behind cover as to not draw in too much attention to his following the group of bandits. Finally nightfall came and he was in prime position to make his attempt at the stolen shipment. Should he fail, he was sure it would mean a confrontation with these bandits, and maybe even death. But to Takeshi, the mission was worth far more than his worthless life. Now that he didn't need to worry about his teammates getting hurt, so there was little riding on this mission failing. 

WC: 347

The choice was never as easy as a shinobi. Should you risk your pride and leave the mission alive or should you risk your life for your pride? For Tsubaki, it was simple. She saw the village as a group of individuals, not just one individual. All that mattered was the people in the village, not the structures or the goods, that included the shipment. But, as seen in Kiryu and Takeshi, that wasn't always the thought. 

Kiryu attempted to argue that they were assigned to the mission and was either going to accept help or move along with the mission. With Tsu in the mission, their chances of survival would increase. However, she wasn't taking any chance. Luckily, Kuniko was wise enough to call off their mission. The Senju sighed in relief hoping that him being the leader would convince them into turning back. "Thank you, Kuniko."  

They would begin to head back towards the village. Tsubaki kept her attention towards Kiryu and Takeshi, making sure they didn't do anything irrational. Takeshi was behind the group, meaning she had to regularly pay attention to him. Kiryu and Kuniko travelled ahead of her. Unfortunately for Tsu, her assumptions were right. Takeshi waited awhile before bolting towards his doom. Hearing the crackle his movements, Tsubaki whipped around to see him. "Damned fool, he's going to get himself killed." She turned to the other two boys, "Wait for me here, come to us if you get the signal. You'll know it when I send it." After the message, she joins Takeshi in the chase. Tsubaki knew that Kiryu would see this as an opportunity to join, so she just prayed that he would be smart about it. 

Following his tracks, Tsubaki would join Takeshi in his position. "What the hell were you thinking? What's your plan now?" Tsubaki whispered. She hoped that this kid wasn't about to just run into combat against a bunch of missing ninja singled handly. If so, she was worried about this fresh meat's future. 

WC:337
TWC: 1030

At Kuniko's insistence that the team scrubbed the mission, Kiryu couldn't help but feel conflicted. They had gathered some useful intel, which was a good thing, but the shipment was still in the hands of the rogue shinobi. That was a failure in his book. Still, if Kuniko made the decision, he was bound to follow it.

After a few minutes of walking, Kiryu heard a rustling noise behind him and spun around to see the receding form of Takeshi running back the direction they had came from. Tsubaki, which was apparently the name of the woman who had joined them, cursed somewhat quietly before telling him and Kuniko to wait where they were until they came back but to be ready for a signal in case they were needed. Then she too was off.

After about a minute of processing what had just happened, Kiryu turned to Kuniko. "Should we follow them anyways?" he asked with concern. "I know she said we should wait here, but should we really leave the two of them to finish this mission on their own?"

If Kuniko felt that they should go, Kiryu would of course be right beside him and feel a measure of relief that they were still completing the mission they had set off to accomplish. On the other hand, if he decided to wait, he would still feel somewhat relieved that he wasn't walking into a potential fight with an entire gang of missing ninja.

He sat down on a nearby tree branch and closed his eyes in an attempt to meditate as he waited for any sign of Tsubaki or Takashi, hoping that they were okay and would be rejoining them soon.

[WC: 284]
[TWC: 1,908]

Takeshi finally caught up to the bandit caravan that had stopped traveling for the night. Takeshi watched as the bandits brought the wagons around and he spent special attention on the shipment that was stolen from Hoshigakure. Takeshi was getting himself ready to sneak up to the camp to take the shipment back when he heard someone's footsteps coming from behind him, he quickly looked behind him and he saw who it was coming up from behind him. It was none other than Tsubaki, the Chuunin that had tried to stop Takeshi's team from going ahead on the mission. The person who Takeshi had just completely ignored and chased after the bandit caravan to bring back the stolen shipment. 

Takeshi smiled up at the fellow Hoshi-Nin, then she began to speak. She asked what Takeshi's plan was and what he was thinking. The Hyuuga boy smiled and he looked up into the night sky. "Night has fallen, I am going to sneak into their camp and take the two crates off of that wagon, one by one with a clone. Then when I get them away from their campsite. I will bring back the crates to Hoshi with either one of my birds. Or with the help of a couple of my clones. That is my plan." Takeshi ended his last sentence as he slowly began to creep toward their camp. He was dead set on this plan, so he was going through with it no matter what. 

He snuck toward the camp, so far with no issue. He got all the way to the stolen shipment when he began gathering his chakra to create a clone of himself. But just before he could begin his hand seals, two bandits began walking towards the back of the wagon. Takeshi quickly dropped to the floor and he crawled underneath the wagon. Takeshi knew that he was severely outnumbered and outranked. If he were to be caught, he would fight like hell, but he knew in his mind that that would spell the end for him. 

Takeshi listened as the two bandits began speaking about the foot steps that were in the dirt and grass that led directly to the wagon. Takeshi prayed what was most likely his final prayer. He spun a kunai around his left index finger and readied himself for one hell of a fight. The two bandits began crouching down, checking under the wagon to see if someone was under there. Takeshi thought quickly and he decided on his target. The bandits had reached there destination down on one knee. One of the bandits got a kunai knife directly into his throat, killing him slowly, but rendering himself unable to fight. The bandit on the other side of the wagon however, grabbed Takeshi's foot. Takeshi spun around and kicked the bandit directly into the throat, but he was able to let out a yell, as garbled as it may have been.

Takeshi's mind then hit overdrive. It was time. Takeshi slung himself out from under the wagon. The bandits were already sprinting towards his position. Takeshi knew that his Byakugan would be useless, so he didn't bother activating it. The bandits were directly in front of him so he began spinning and performed his Palms Revolving Heaven technique. Several of the bandits went flying, but there were still plenty that were heading his way. Takeshi did his best, killing as many bandits as he could. He had managed to get into a more open spot on the campsite. Allowing a little more bobbing and weaving to dodge strikes. 

As he was battling with the bandits, he noticed that there was two bandits that just sat there, as if they were waiting for something. Takeshi didn't have much time to think about that however, so he continued to strike and take out as many bandits as he could. After a while, the two men finally decided to stand up and called for the bandits to stop. The bandits stopped immediately and distanced themselves away from Takeshi. They had their weapons drawn so they could stop Takeshi from trying to leave. 

The two men got up from their chairs and they unsheathed their blades. Takeshi knew what came next. He thought about his goal in life, he always wanted to prove his mother wrong. That he was something of worth, but it turned out he couldn't. His death would result in nothing more than a mission fail. Takeshi was still in his fighting stance, but his body was tired. Both men then sprinted at Takeshi, one man had his sword in a slashing stance. The man sent out a slash towards his shoulder, which he dodged, then a slice that came straight for his stomach, which he barely managed to dodge, but he then sent the sword directly for his heart. 

Takeshi was unable to dodge the attack, and he felt the blade go directly through his heart. His body felt weak, his fingers felt cold. The adrenaline leaked out of him, along with his blood. Takeshi fell to his knees, and he thought of his mother, he thought of all the times that she told him that he was worthless. He tried to prove her wrong in his last moments. But his last words that he was able to mutter was "You're right mother. I am."

His body fell to the side. Due to the curse mark that Ayato had placed onto his forehead, his eyes burned away in his skull. His body lay lifeless on the ground and the bandits all reveled in the death of the intruder. They then threw Takeshi's body over to the side, right by the wagon that he had first tried to take the shipment off of. He would be directly in the view of Tsubaki if she was still there. 

WC: 978
Claiming Takeshi's death