Simian Union Busting

Mission:

When Kita awoke in the morning, he found that he was fully rested. Kita reached over calmly, and shut off the alarm blaring in his ears. Kita had had the strangest dream the night before. Something about a jewel in a cave, and him in a snowy wonderland with some other ninja. Kita scratched his head and shrugged. It was just a dream. Whatever it was, it didn't matter much. Kita had gotten out of bed and was heading towards the kitchen, intending to make himself breakfast when a letter shunted itself underneath the door. After his training, Kita had requested that another mission be sent to him, so that he could get back into the swing of shinobi life. Kita went over to the letter on the floor, and scooped it up off the ground, placing it onto the table. Kita finished fixing himself a basic breakfast of cereal and toast before coming back to the table, opening the envelope ,and beginning to read.

As Kita's eyes drifted over the letter, he felt the most bizarre sense of deja vu. This felt like a joke. Then again, so did the last mission that he had went on pertaining to the subject within the letter. Apparently the monkeys that Kita and his group members had located on their last mission for the Kirigakure R&D Department had decided to unionize against their... employers? Slaves? Indentured Servants? Whatever their status was, it wasn't important. Kita noticed that he would be working with a team on this mission. "It looks like I'll be working with Gonk and Kato again. Good. They're both good ninja, and I could use Kato's tracking abilities here, considering that they don't want us engaging the monkeys." Kita set the envelope down on the table, and finished eating the rest of his breakfast. If he was working with the same group as he was before, it would do them well to meet up where they met last time.

Kita made his way through the thick, frigid mist of the village towards the bridge which the group had originally met on. Kita had switched up his outfit today due to how cold it was, changing from his traditional kimono into a winter outfit that spanned all up his upper body, being held together in the front with several buttons and a few straps, with the front of the outfit reaching mid thigh, yet ending around the back of his knee behind him. As Kita traveled through the streets of Kirigakure, he wondered exactly why the R&D department decided to replace their staff with monkeys. "I'll cut them a little bit of slack. Nobody could have anticipated that the monkeys would unionize. Still, they had to know that creating a bunch of intelligent, chakra enhanced monkeys, and then working them too hard would end poorly for them right? Whatever the case, for right now, I'll just worry about where to find them." Eventually, Kita came across the bridge that the group had first met at. Kita walked to the center and pondered the strange nature of the mission as he waited for the rest of his team members to arrive.

Word Count - 529

Kato awoke to the sound of wind rattling against the window off his apartment, it made a strange kind of howling sound that caused Kato to sit upright in a heightened sense of awareness. He soon relaxed when he realised that he was safe in his apartment not in a forest surrounded by wolves like he was in his dream moments before. "the wind must have been influencing my dreams" Kato wondered to himself as he stood up from his bed and stretched.  "looks like winter is well and truly here" he thought to himself as he noticed snowflakes falling past his window. Kato was staring out the window admiring the beautiful weather, he was enjoying how different the village appeared before he noticed one of the villages carrier pigeons had landed on the windowsill before him holding a scroll. "Hello little fella. What do you have for me today?" Kato took the scroll from the carrier pigeon and read its contents as he was eating his breakfast. He chuckled as he absorbed the information of the mission "looks like Kiri R&D are having trouble again. I thought they might of calmed down a bit with their monkey labor, apparently not."

Kato was glad to see that the same team that had located the errant monkeys in the first place would be working this, he had worked well with Gonk and Kita and they completed the mission without too much difficulty. "I hope this change in weather doesn't impede us too much, it will definitely make travel more difficult" Kato pulled on his winter clothes as he though about the upcoming mission, black pants, black boots, a white shirt, and a black fur lined jacket fastened with silver buttons. Kato pulled a face mask on to protect his face from the icy winds and tied his mist village headband around his forehead. "I should make my way to the bridge where we started our last mission, the rest of the team is bound to gather there."

Kato then made his way out of his apartment into the wintery conditions and headed towards the bridge. After a short while he caught the sight of one of his teammates, Kita, stood in the centre off the bridge. It did not take Kato long to reach his teammate and as the distance closed he noticed that Kita has also changed his attire due to the weather conditions "Hey Kita how's it going? this change in weather has came out of nowhere hasn't it? Hopefully it doesn't make our mission too difficult." Kato would chuckle and converse with Kita until the final member of their team arrived.

[443]

Kita waited patiently for his two partners to arrive. He wasn't out there for very long admittedly, but Kita's attention was one that waned quickly. Kita was examining the white, frosted nature of his breath in the Kirigakure air, and fantasizing about what his life would be like as a Jounin when Kato arrived. Kita's mind had been filled with exaggerated tales that his father would boast about when Kita was younger, traveling to exotic foreign lands, engaging in epic battles with dangerous enemy shinobi, and winning the hearts of beautiful women. All these thoughts dissipated from Kita's mind when the voice of Kato pierced his mental haze, informing him that he had company.

"Hey Kita, how's it going? This change in weather has came out of nowhere hasn't it? Hopefully it doesn't make our mission too difficult." Kita's cheeks quickly flushed with embarrassment, turning to face Kato, believing for the briefest of moments that Kato was reading his mind. Kita shunted those feelings to the side, and gave a grin in hopes of distracting Kato from his previous, shameful expression. "Hey Kato! I'm doing pretty good! I've gotten a bit stronger since our last mission. The weather does seem pretty crazy now. I don't think it should be too much of a problem for us. We'll be in a forested area, so the leaves should give us some cover from all the snow. The worst that we'll have to worry about is the cold." As the last of those words exited his mouth, Kita noticed a familiar Hoshigaki approaching the two ninja. Gonk arrived with a grin on his face, and a hoodie that Kita would have expected would be more appropriate for fall than the middle of Winter. As Gonk approached, he began to say his own greetings as well. "Hey Kita, hey Kato, interesting weather isn’t it?" Kita nodded at the newly arrived ninja, stepping to the side of Kato so that he was in full view of their Hoshigaki companion. "We were actually just talking about it before you arrived!" Kita rubbed the back of his neck, and gave a slight puff of air from his chest, something that could only barely be considered a laugh. "What's even crazier though is the mission. How do you mess up a scientific project that badly?" Kita ignored the fact that the statement was dumb, and the myriad number of times throughout history that scientific projects had turned out badly, and focused on his earlier statement. "Speaking of the mission, I think I have some potential ideas. I learned a couple of things since our last mission that could help us out, if you guys wanted." Kita placed his hands together into the clone seal, causing two brief eruptions of smoke to appear on either side of himself, before rapidly dissipating and revealing two shadow clones to either side of himself (Shadow Clone). Kita stepped in front of the two clones, and gestured to them, as if showing his teammates two brand new car models. "These are my shadow clones. I was thinking that we could send them off on their own to scout and find some of the monkeys. They can choose to dismiss themselves at any time, and when they do, all the knowledge that they've accumulated during that time returns to me, so I'll know when they find them." Kita gave a grin, pride very evident on his face for a moment or two, before returning to a more serious expression. "I also learned a sealing and tracking jutsu that could let us tail the monkeys to their base, but it would require me to touch them, which I don't think that we want." Kita scratched the back of his neck once again. "Of course, I still think Kato should lead the mission due to his tracking abilities being as advanced as they are, but I defer to your judgement. With all that being said, how do you two want to handle the mission?" Kita cocked his head ever so slightly, attempting to listen a bit closer to what his companions had to say. Upon seeing this, the clones looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back forward to emulate their creator, mimicking the same head tilt.

Jutsu Used-

Kita's AP Pool = 995/1025


[Shadow Clone - 30 AP]

-Kita used Shadow Clone Jutsu, splitting his chakra into three pools.-

Kita's AP Pool = 332/342


Clone 1's AP Pool = 332/342


Clone 2's AP Pool = 331/341


Word Count - 711

Total Word Count - 1240

After a short bit of conversation and an initial strange expression that Kato overlooked the two were joined by the third member of the team, Gonk. The trio got reacquainted with each other through standard quips about the weather. Kita took the initiative in transitioning the conversation towards the mission they were gathered here for, showing off some new skills in the process. 

Kato grinned at the trio of Kitas "You'll have to teach me that one of these days". It was true what he said, he had gotten stronger. "I think using your clones is a good idea, although its a shame they don't have my eyes, that would make everything a lot easier" Kato ended his thought with a laugh before returning to the point. "If you have learned jutsu that is good for tracking I think we use it. I can use my Byakugan to locate the different troops of monkeys on the island and your clones can help us track them." Kato took a breath and thought for a moment before continuing his speech "we could use the transformation technique as a way to get the clones close enough to touch the target monkeys, similar to how we tracked them last time. How does that sound?" 

Kato left the question of leadership unanswered. He thought that the three of them had all grown and were on similar footing. Maybe there was no need for a leader if they could all simply work harmoniously. 

Kato simultaneously activated his Byakugan and listened intently to his team mates responses. He begun to scan the island ahead of them for signs of ape life and would soon point them out once discovered.

[282]
[TWC = 725]

Kita nodded in response to the suggestions of his teammates, absorbing their ideas. "I'll be sure to teach the technique to you two sometime. For right now though, the mission. I'm okay with that plan. If we find one of the monkeys, I'll apply my seal to them. Don't worry, it's completely painless, and they won't even know that it's there. I'll be able to find them from anywhere in the country." Kita spun on his heel, and turned to face his clones. "You two heard Gonk and Kato right? We'll transform into monkeys like before, wait for Kato to scan the island, and then spread out to find them. When you find them, just apply the seal, and then desummon yourself. Don't try to chase after it on your own. I can track it with your memories and my jutsu, we don't need any heroics. Got it?" The clones saluted, and one of them spoke up. "Got it boss! We won't let you down!" Kita nodded, and performed the dog handseal, transforming the three Kita's into three identical Rhesus monkeys with painted tails and ID's on their foot (Transformation Technique). Kita nodded at his clones, and looked up at his companions. "Ready when you are!" The Kitas walked with Gonk and Kato to the end of the bridge, and waited for directions from Kato.

Word Count - 225

Total Word Count - 1465

Jutsu Used:

The group all took off in their own directions to cover the most possible ground in as short a time frame as possible. Thankfully Kita's clones would be able to speed up the process by quite a bit, so if the group didn't find anything on this island, they would be able to quickly move onto another. However, that became far more literal than Kita could have expected. He couldn't find anything. Not anything alive that is. There wasn't a single animal that could be found along the pathing. Not even an insect. The island seemed deserted, and the silence was nearly deafening. Something was wrong, and Kita couldn't place a finger on it.

As Kita was making his way through the trees of the island, scanning for any signs of life, his mind flooded with the memories of one of his clones. Everything seemed nearly the same as the original's experience, with one concerning detail at the end of the clone's recollection. It never dispelled itself. The last thing that the clone heard was the slight sound of rustling leaves. A cold sweat ran down Kita's fur. The clone had been killed. "No way! It was probably an accident. Some faulty tree branch or something." Then the other clone's memories popped into Kita's head. This one managed to catch a glimpse of something chasing after it, just before a bamboo shoot impaled it through the eye. Something was killing them. Kita knew that the group needed to go, now. The silence of the forest was overwhelming, and whatever it was could be here at any moment. "I need to find Kato and Gonk. If I don't they could be next! Lord I hope that they're alright!" Kita desperately wanted to turn tail and run for the bridge, but his companions could be in danger if that happened. Kita simply couldn't allow it. He didn't know where exactly to go to find Kato and Gonk, but based on the pathing of his clones, he could determine where they were most likely to be. With little time to lose, Kita took off at top speeds for his other companions.

There was a wide stretch of area to cover, but the group hadn't travelled far. Visions of the worst possible outcome flashed through Kita's head. The bodies of his allies littering the ground. The fear that these could be his final breaths of air before he met his own demise. There was an intense tightness in his chest, and Kita almost couldn't breathe. "How could this happen?! What the hell is out here hunting us? Is it a missing ninja?! We need to warn the Mizukage!" That was the moment that Kita found them. A single monkey from the Kirigakure R&D Team stood in front of a bound and gagged shinobi, tied up with makeshift rope. Kita couldn't make out their identity, but he guessed that they were straight out of the academy. Surrounding them were the missing animals of the island. Deer, Wolves, Insect Swarms, all sat still, entranced by the monkey who held the ninja captive, free of all animal instincts. He held his hands together in the monkey seal. "Ironic." Kita thought for just a moment before realizing the gravity of the situation once again, and focusing once more on the simian slaver. As the monkey held his hands together in the seal, he seemed to speak to the surrounding animals. Kita couldn't make out what he was saying, but his words entranced the beasts, seeming to sway at his commands. "I can't let them keep that kid hostage! How am I supposed to rescue him when there's an army of forest critters there to stop me!" It wasn't a question that really needed to be answered. Behind Kita, a bird began screeching loudly. Kita covered his ears and quickly turned about to see the bird staring directly at him as he screeched. Kita already knew. The bird had been keeping watch. Kita didn't know how it saw through his disguise, but apparently it did, and Kita only had a limited amount of time to get out of there. "Crap! Sorry kid! I'll have to rescue you later! Right now I gotta worry about saving my own hide!" The animals were starting to get riled up into a frenzy behind Kita, and even from this distance Kita could clearly hear the word from the monkey's lips. Attack. However, Kita didn't know if he would be able to find these creatures again if he left. He would have to take a gamble and hope that the bird stayed close to the pack. With one dog seal, the Fuinjutsu was ready, and Kita slapped the squawking bird straight out of the air (Fuinjutsu: Mark Seal). Kita couldn't help but feel a slight sense of satisfaction It felt good to smack that noisy snitch.

Kita raced as fast as he could for the exit. He was far, far faster than any of those animals could hope to be short of chakra enhancement, but Kita couldn't shake the nagging feeling that they were right behind him. Every tree felt like it was hiding some bloodthirsty beast. There was nothing however. No bloodthirsty beast, no menacing ape, nothing. The forest was as silent and empty as when he had first entered. Minutes later, Kita burst from the foliage and onto the bridge. To his relief, Gonk had gotten back already, Kato nowhere in sight. He was staring off into the distance, deep in thought, but Kita was just glad to see that he was alive. Kita rushed across the bridge to his Hoshigaki companion, breathless and gasping air. "Gonk! I'm glad to see you! I've got some stuff I need to tell you about that island..."

Word Count - 962

Total Word Count - 2427