Apprehend the Young Deserter (C)

Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:26 pm

Mission Link

Mission Name: Apprehend the Young Deserter
Rank: C-rank
Type: Capture
Character Requirements: Genin
Mission Location: Any Village
Word Count Requirements: 2000
Challenges: None
Repeatable? No
NPC? None
Reward: 2000 ryo, 5AP

Task: You happen across a very troubled Genin who is very disappointed with life as a shinobi. You overhear him muttering to himself that he is going to abandon the village tonight and live a life of true freedom. Being the upstanding citizen that you are your job is to turn him in before he can go through with this life changing act

Anzo reached into his pouch, before pulling out his last kunai. Positioned directly in front of the training log, he rested its ring against his left shoulder in a reverse grip, attempting to tune himself with even the slight shifts as he breathed in and out. Moments later he flung his hand outwards, sending the kunai flying towards his target. Embedding itself into the wood with a dull crack, it landed a couple of centimeters aside from the red marking. He let out an exasperated sigh. This really wasn’t his thing.

[Still no bullseye, but at least I’m getting closer] he internally reassured himself.

Not only that log, but the others beside it were covered in his other ninja tools, one or two on the floor but the majority of them staying stuck on their targets. Deciding that was more than enough bukijutsu practise for today, he brushed his hair out of his eyes and strolled towards the array of logs. Arriving there, he carefully gathered his shuriken and kunai off the floor and yanked the others that were half-buried in the wood, redistributing them evenly between the pouch on his belt and the other on his trouser leg. It was a late afternoon in Sunagakure, and Anzo decided to return from the training grounds and unwind since he had nothing on for the rest of the day.

Shortly after he found himself sitting at a corner table, his head propped up by his elbows as his hands rested under his chin. Realising that he hadn’t actually visited any of the cafes in Suna yet, he had decided to stop by at this one while walking through the streets of the village. It consisted of a small stand with some stools and ornately decorated noren hanging behind them, but with a relatively large outdoor seating area beside it, decorated with a wide variety of flora. He chose the secluded table in the corner of the establishment, and he appeared to be the only customer aside from a boy and a girl, presumably both genin, sat in the center. On a normal day Anzo would have made the effort to go and introduce himself being relatively new here, but he was tired and was keen to just spend some time with himself today.

‘A sencha, please’, and a half-bothered smile greeted the waiter who approached him. He then quickly returned to his daydreamy surveying, and shortly after his tea was placed down on the table with a slight clack. He found himself catching the end of the pair’s conversation as it became more heated, which piqued his interest, as he sipped on his green tea.

‘I’m leaving. I don’t want to hear it. If you want to come with me, I will be right here at midnight before I go,’ he retorted, his words bursting with frustration. The girl opposite him didn’t respond, looking at him with a sad exhaustion as if she had almost given up trying to convince him otherwise.

Anzo wondered whether they were being rashly unsecretive, or they had just not noticed him tucked away in the corner. He quickly realised this could be a two birds with one stone situation for him, and committed the boy’s appearance to memory. It was clear this genin wouldn’t last a day out of the village; very few genin would, for that matter. But aside from being able to potentially save this shinobi’s life, he saw this as an opportunity to gain a little standing in the village. He was convinced that turning him in would bode well for his time here in Sunagakure as he was currently nothing more than an unknown genin who had yet to truly contribute something to his new home. But Anzo felt like he was getting ahead of himself, coming up with all this after just hearing a single sentence, as clear as it was. A thousand questions came into his head like whether the boy had a good reason to just be deserting the village like this, and what sort of trouble he would get into if he was turned in. He eventually decided the best way to go about this would be to confront the pair of them now,

As soon as Anzo had returned to reality, he turned to see that both of them had vanished.

‘Goddamnit’ he muttered under his breath.

He was left with one single lead on this, which was the spot here at midnight. Great, he thought to himself. But having overheard this Anzo refused to let it go now, almost feeling an obligation to do what he could to potentially save this shinobi’s life. He let out a sigh and stretched, his chair tilting back as he did so. He downed the rest of his tea that had gone cold after the time he spent in his own head, and stood up making his winding way out through the various tables and chairs littering the area. There was nothing left for him to do except to spend the rest of his day as normal; head back for dinner at home and find something to occupy himself, maybe some metalworking, till dark.

Anzo had originally planned to get some sleep and set an alarm, but instead he was sprawled across the bed, staring up at the ceiling wide awake as his mind swam, doubts about whether he should even be intervening in this pushing back and forth. But inside he knew it was the right thing to do, and this was garnished with enough self-interest to make it attractive.

It was five minutes to midnight, Anzo pushed open his window which creaked gently, patting his pouches to check he was equipped before jumping straight out. He concentrated his chakra into his feet as he fell, closing his eyes, and landed almost silently, placing his hand on the floor to stabilise himself. Unlike the last time he was in a rush on his first mission in Suna, Anzo decided to actually sprint this time. He bolted down the street, his arms trailing behind him in typical shinobi fashion. It was almost pitch black, yet he managed to make out the silhouette of another ninja running across the paved street not too far ahead from him at the intersection. Incidentally the same turn he was going to take. He picked up the pace, not convinced of who exactly this was but the chances were it had something to do with what was going on tonight. As he rounded the corner, he once again molded his chakra directing it to his feet as he darted up the wall of a small terraced building and onto its roof, continuing to run in the same direction as the figure he glanced. He glanced down to see them closer than before, and could now make out long black hair and a village headband tied round her arm that glinted for just a moment by way of the light spilling out of a house as she passed it. The girl he had seen before at the cafe. He continued speeding up in order to overtake her and once he was consistently a few meters ahead he immediately turned and leapt off the roof of the building to attempt to land in front of her. Although the landing was a bit more awkward than he had hoped; he hit the floor and then rolled before getting to his feet, it worked and she skidded to a halt before him.

She immediately recoiled, and Anzo put one hand out as he placed the other on his knee and tilted forward, taking a few seconds to get his breath back before he spoke.

‘Your friend... I know he’s deserting the village tonight.’
‘Who the hell are you?’ she responded, a mix of anger and confusion in her voice

Anzo replied hurriedly in a set of short sentences without thinking, still recovering his breath.

‘No one. I mean just another genin. I overheard you at the cafe. I want to help you keep him here. My name’s Anzo’

He stuck his hand out to greet her.

She paused momentarily, both emotions and her confrontational nature seeming to drain away a little. It didn’t take much convincing, as she well knew she could do with some help. She ignored his outstretched hand however, and did not return a name, making him feel rather self-conscious and he admitted to himself that there was perhaps significant time pressure to warrant avoiding introductions.

‘I don’t know who you think you are trying to get yourself involved in this but…’

She trailed off for a second like she was thinking things through

‘If you’re that keen, you wait nearby, make yourself scarce and help me if I signal for it.’

He wasn’t expecting it to be this easy for him to gain her trust, but she was clearly desperate and concerned enough to speed things up. It was clear to him from her instructions that she wasn’t confident that she was strong enough to take him down alone if it came to it, and she planned to try again to talk her friend out of it first. He nodded and she immediately dashed away again.

Anzo followed shortly, and soon after they headed down the narrow alleyway that led into the seating area the three of them had been at earlier in the day. Anzo stopped midway through there, watching her disappear onwards into the darkness and once again took to the rooftops. Reaching the corner of the tiled roofing that looked over the enclosure, he edged closer to get a view, completely cloaked in darkness. Thankfully the area below had some lighting.

The pair faced each other below, standing beside that same table. Anzo could see their mouths move as they spoke, but heard nothing as he was far enough away that their quiet exchange was almost completely silenced. He remained there for several minutes, biding his time as he watched their faces grow increasingly agitated.

From this point a number of things happened in extremely rapid succession. Anzo twitched as he saw the boy take a step back, and could just about make out him stuffing his hand into his ninja tool pouch. The girl quickly raised two fingers to the sky while backing away from her friend. That was his signal. Anzo shifted his footing quickly to get into the correct position and immediately weaved the monkey hand seal. However, as he did this he was oblivious to the fact that he had knocked a tile off, which shattered seconds later on the floor, alerting the deserter to his presence. The boy’s head snapped towards Anzo as he performed his jutsu; a thin jet of water burst from his mouth and sped towards the boy. He was now well aware of this attack incoming, and swiftly dodged out of the way as the water swept away the furniture beside them and sent it crashing into the wall. The boy took the opportunity to lurch at his friend, arcing his kunai and she grabbed his arm mid-swing as they clashed unsteadily, locking eyes fiercely. Anzo jumped down with a heavy thud, this time not bothering with a chakra-controlled landing and ran towards them while forming another three hand seals. As he got close, he opened the palm of his left hand into which condensed a dense sword of water with the blade and hilt almost melding into one. Once close enough, he lunged forwards and swung the blade with both hands towards the deserter’s kunai. The force was significant to knock the weapon out of the deserter’s hands but Anzo’s grip was also improper so the sword fell from his, dissipating into a puddle on the floor. His enemy immediately twisted and kicked Anzo away as he was sent flying a metre back with a sharp pain in his chest. On the floor, he winced and lifted his head up to see his ally take the opportunity while her friend was distracted to hit him with a disabling strike to the neck. It struck him and he crumpled.

She turned to Anzo still slumped on the floor.

‘You provided an opening at least’, she jested, with a half-smile but evidently still incredibly concerned for her friend so much so that it didn’t come across as a joke at all.

Anzo dusted himself as he got back to his feet.

‘That was impressive’ he responded genuinely.

‘We need to take him to the Spire. And we have a lot of explaining to do. As well as a reward no doubt, for being such outstanding shinobi.’

‘Good thing we’re not far. Your friend clearly did some forward planning.’ She picked up the ex-deserter and placed him gently over her shoulder with Anzo’s help, before the two began to make their way to the Spire.

[WC = 2151]
Claims:
1450WC for Blood Clone, now 1500/1500WC
500/500WC for Water Replacement
200/1000 WC for Hiding In The Water
2100 Ryo (Reward+ 100 bonus)
+15AP (Reward + 10AP)
+7 Strength, + 7 Chakra, + 7 Vigor

Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:21 pm

Approved.

Apprehend the Young Deserter (C)

Apprehend the Young Deserter (C)

Re: Apprehend the Young Deserter (C)