Devilish Damnation of Delights[Yuri/Makoto/Shunro]

It was a beautiful and terrible thing, watching the building go up in a conflagration of chakra, paper, and flame billowing into the flurried night sky. There was so much that went into a building- money, hopes, dreams, and a none too inconsiderable amount of mortar. And yet, like most structures, most dreams, all it took was a little bit of destructive force to send it all sprawling for the ground. Was that a metaphor for the world at large? Ultimately, all creative forces would eventually be brought back into null through the destruction that is time. That, or perhaps he was feeling unusually poetic due to the fact that an otherwise strange teenager (beyond likely having ADHD) had just blown up an entire factory with the same attitude one might take to a round of go fish. Shinobi were simply another breed, he was realizing.

Following Yuri, Makoto, and Shunro to yet another temporary camp, he would listen along with rapt attention at Yuri’s explanation. Ultimately, it made a considerable amount of sense. After the stunt they pulled, their time here undiscovered would be short- even less so, if they continued to huddle up together on every single aspect of the job. With two objectives left, it would be best for them to continue delegating to each other.

“I can provide the distraction, Yuri, so long as you’re quick. Really, I’d prefer to not be loud and dumb in front of an entire crowd of potentially murderous shinobi, but I’ve been told it’s a habit of mine.” He quips.

[1983]

As the team began to set up camp before their final mission shunro sets up a small alcove to sit on that he formed in the snow. Using it to sit close to the fire and enjoy the warmth of it to combat the bitter and freezing cold. It was here that he listened to Yuri explaining the plan. Well the shoddy and probably going to end up bad idea they were calling a plan more like it. As she spoke he idly tossed pieces of his paper into the flames to watch them burn and keep himself occupied. The flames dancing along their edges before consuming it was a pretty sight. He wondered idly if he could do something similar with his own techniques.

His ears however perk up when she mentions something in the final part of her plan.

"A distraction?" Aaaand there was his spot in it all.

A similar grin to before reaching up to his eyes as he bounced in his seat. Honestly with all the fun theyve had blowing up buildings stagint he distraction for a heist of the star was an even better prospect in his mind. More fun, more action, more cutting loooose. Finally. Any prospect of causing destruction or damage on a mass scale was a joy to him. Was that bad? Mmmm probably. Was it fun? Oh assuredly.

"Weeeeell I am more than happy to take on the arduous and dangerous task of being a fitting distraction" he says as though he didn't want it from the very beginning to be a distraction and be loud.

[1823]

Splitting up and all making a play for the star so the enemy wouldn't be able to just converge on them... Well, Shunro and Kaneki had the distraction part locked down, she was sure. Now, what could she do to help here? It's not like she had very applicable skills for this, and she wasn't particularly fast...

What she was, however, was a practiced medical nin. And so, naturally, she'd brought quite a lot of stuff for this mission, just in case, and perhaps this was the best time to break it out. Ahhhh, heck. Hell, even. Maybe she could simply punch down the tree or something? It was a shame to have to waste her supplies on this, not to mention it'd probably be a crime of some sort, somewhere. Well, a shinobi's duty did include things like assassination... Pulling her cold hands away from the fire, she looks through her bag and begins pulling out a few bottles of poison to examine, debating on which to use.

"Let's see... acute, intravenous... I shouldn't use gas, it's too open a space." She mutters. Well, let it not be said she shied away from cruelty.

"While you do that, I'll try and use the confusion to target whoever looks to be in a leadership position with poison to keep them disabled. It should make the distraction more effective if we break whatever chain of command they have."

She wasn't aiming for a quick death so much as something disabling... they may have medical ninja on hand, but with the confusion that should be hard to organize, she reckons. She probably has something like that here-Aha!" Wiggling her fingers over the bottle, she carefully reads the label and tries to remember. Getting venom from the Land of Wind was, well, fucking expensive, and she was likely to spend all of it here, but shutting down nerves at the synapse level was precisely what she wanted. She couldn't deliver as much as the actual snake, so she'd need to be accurate enough to stop the right muscle groups, but it should be, well. Crippling, if not deadly. There was also tetrodotoxin, which was cheaper for her to get- being found in pufferfish and all- hmmm.. Well. She'd ask.

"Hey, do you think it's more painful to die with your diaphragm paralyzed or to die via heart attack? Just asking."

[1774]

Yuri blinks twice looking at Makoto. She wasn't really sure how to answer on that. Poison was the opposite of the kind of weapon she used. Mainly to do with honor, and for the sake of her own improvement. 

"I wouldn't know. I haven't experienced either. Anyways, since we've all came to our ideas on how to move forward we'll make two groups. I'll be in some, and you three will be in the other. We came across a road leading to Moon Country and it should only be a short hike away. You guys take whatever route and I'll just vanish and grab the star while you do your thing. If you feel too much heat just go ahead and ditch, I'll make sure to complete my job either way. Everything clear?"

If everyone was in agreement about their course of action, Yuri personally would begin to get herself ready for a long walk through unmarked areas to make her own path to the village where the festival would be held. It'd be a short hike for a ninja, but long for a normal person. With uneven terrain and the constant biting cold as her companion, but with the pace she could keep casually she would definitely make it in time to be in position to snatch the star by the time her allies were ready to give her an opening


She couldn't lie, she got some of the appeal for the kind of far away, middle of the wilderness, covert operations some ninjas had to do. Plenty of time to walk alone through nature or just take in the sights. There was a tension sure, but it was a pleasant experience when the calm had its hold tight. It was enough to put a smile on her face.

WC: 2650

And like the final pieces of the puzzle, everything seemed to fall into a morbid sort of place. He and the troublemaking boy- Shunro, he remembered, would be playing the loud and dangerous role of attracting the attention of the hostile forces while Makoto and the other girl would work on stealthily retrieving the star. It was dangerous, especially since he had ended up volunteering himself as a quite delectable bait. Wait. Why had he done that? Was he stupid? Was he dumb? Maybe he was both. Either way, the complaints at himself wouldn’t cause him to get out of the hole he had dug himself. At the end of the day, the best reward lay- the reward of getting paid.

Getting up and brushing the snow off of his body, he would hup to his feet before following along with the rest of the group on the road towards the village. Once they had nearly approached the gates, however, he would stop. “I’m going to approach from the opposite entrance- it’s best if they’re looking for somebody in the opposite direction. In case we don’t meet again, well…stay safe. It’s been short, but it hasn’t been bad.” With a wan smile, he would continue to circle around the village- their last sight of him being the silhouette of their employer rising from his clothes.

And really, what would be more distracting than that? Now running at her maximum speed, the fake fox-kin would let out a whoop as she felt the wind tickle the new shape of her body. It had been long since she had assumed a new form- far too long, in her opinion- and something about it filled her with a vivacity for the game of catch and mouse she was lacking before. Leaping atop the southern gate, a boldfaced grin on her face, she would chuckle at the immediate recognition by two guards, followed by a cry of alarm. What they likely didn’t expect, however, was the smoke bombs up his sleeve- sending up a cloud of black smog that covered the area.

Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One. And like that, alarm bells, sounding from the station. In the distance, the immediate sounds of muster. To the gate, to the gate, they had to come and defend the gate!

But she was already gone- running, running, running far into the wilderness. They could attempt to catch her, but with the whipping of the wind, and the constant shift of the snow, it would be impossible to track her footsteps. Such as it was, there was nothing for them to do but trudge blindly off into the snow looking for the sudden chance at permanently disabling the woman who had been sabotaging their efforts for so long.

Eventually, however, Itazura would look back to check for any additional pursuers- not finding any for the fifth time. Sighing, she would shift for the second time in the same night. Kaneki replacing the woman, frowning as he realized how far he had gotten away from the village. Somehow, he felt…sad. It was just a mission, but for that brief moment, he felt as though perhaps they had some sort of chemistry. Ah well. It was a long walk back, and he was looking forward to the reward at the end of the tunnel.

[2539]

He takes a second to think on Makoto's question, what WOULD actually hurt most? "I'd say likely the diaphragm paralyzed probably? The heart you can't really feel too much right? But the pain of suffocation would make you realize what's happening long before it actually kills you"

"Clear as crystal captain" With her last statement he saw Yuri head off into the snow. Going off to steal her part of the mission as the rest did what they needed to give her an opening.

With Yuri gone Shunro and co made their way to the entrance and snowy road leading into the facility. But then they stopped, he explained he'd head to the opposite gate and Shunro just said "Ah don't make it sappy. Stay safe yourself dummy" With the two of them gone it left him and Makoto.

"Sooooooo.... Shot in the dark here but you doing anything after this mission?" He'd ask to the other ninja. If they were going to be sent back home after this mission then why not take a chance. .

As he spoke he kept his hands busy running through a series of quick hand seals before a series of ten shuriken fly up from his back. Hovering in place in a half halo over his head. Stark white paper like the origami before. An inked seal inscribed on the surface of each. Ready and primed to blow. Just waiting until he could hear the alarms coming form Kaneki on the opposite side.

[2107]

She nods. Heart attack it is. Of course, to the other ninja less versed in toxicology, it may seem she picked the most painful option to begin methodically coating her senbon with, making sure to safely store them. "I suppose that holds some water..."

Her way with the others towards the village is a chance she takes to relax and practically meditate as she moves, remembering the uniforms of the ninja she'd seen in the factory while they had their stakeout and trying to mentally place them on a hierarchy with Yul's help to make sure they got the right ones when the chaos started. So, the ninjas giving orders seemed to be wearing bands, but there were different symbols, so what gives... This large a concentration of shinobi definitely needed a chain of command, and she can't wait until it starts to become clear during the chaos. Ah well, she ought to trust her instincts on this, then.

And then the question vibe checks her so hard she almost doubles over, her back basically snapping back upright as the worm also gets vibe checked. The feeling that runs through the god inside her is something like the feeling that surges in a parent when someone asks out their daughter, a primal urge to judge the young man and also to mess with him deeply. If only people could actually hear him other than Makoto... Maybe he should develop a Jutsu of his own to project his voice? That would come in handy, really. "Wh-"

"-No? No, I guess I'm just goint to sleep off the exhaustion, whyyyyyy...?"

[2044]

"Well if you're not gonna be doing very much was gonna ask if you wanted to get a drink sometime?"

He'd try to wait for an answer but on hearing the sounds of alarms raised by Kaneki he springs into action. Paper whirring and blurring around him as he sends it over top of the gate before two loud explosions ring out, sending pieces of wall and metal scattered over the place. The sounds of confusion and shouting coming out from within the place as the guards are sent into disarray trying to focus on two attacks from opposite sides of the compound.

All the while Shunro lookd on towards it with a smile and a grin on his face with the explosive shockwaves sent his hair whizzing around from the pressure. More explosions ring out along the nearby wall as explosive tagged shurikens strike out at more places dividing the attention ever more from the tree at the center of it all.

[2272]

"Well, he's stupid, and a missing ninja you probably shouldn't associate with"
She considers this. But more friends good, though?
"I know what you're thinking, and it's about the quality of friends"
But she didn't have a demolitions expert on hand.
"If you're thinking about manipulating him to get access to fuinjutsu from someone outside the village for clan politics reasons...
She nods discreetly
"They grow up so fast..."

"Yeah. Sure, that sounds nice. Just make sure to survive, okay? Try not to lose anything I can't force your body to grow back."

[i]And so, she ventures into the village, slinking into the shadows as the chaos starts, senbon in hand as she quickly makes her way around. Whenever someone starts putting together an effort to address the explosions, or coordinate to deal with the wounded, they catch a sudden case of senbon to the head as Makoto retreats back into the chaos, keeping them disorganized as the whole thing continues to get more and more messy. The occasional ninja who gets too close is swiftly met with...

...Well, while she should kill them, she really just knocked them out. Some things are hard to let go of, and enough chaos was being made, anyways...

...She really was too soft, too soft. It wouldn't do.

[2265]

Trudging ever deeper into the snow, Kaneki would allow himself a moment to appreciate that which he had just undergone. Had all of that really happened within a day? It was a strange opportunity- the sort of thing that only happened once a year, really. Or perhaps multiple years. It was dangerous, it was certain fraught with all sorts of dangers and hazards. He could have been hurt. He could have been killed. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. And yet.


Why was it fun? Why did he find himself feeling so strangely giddy, even just walking away from the strange adventures they had just undergone? Was this was it was like, to be a shinobi? No, perhaps not. Maybe it was something deeper, yet simpler. For once in this chapter of his life, he had undergone a job alongside others- people who he could genuinely see as equals, rather than superior or “co-workers”.


With that being said, that didn’t mean that he would be seeking out this kind of adventure any time some. No, what he wanted was a warm bath, a blanket, and perhaps a warm drink as well before settling into a comfortable bed. But perhaps, when this was all over, he’d send a letter to the other three. How would he do that? He wasn’t sure. But that would be a new adventure in of itself.


Hah. What a strange winter season. For once, in the time of stillness, the snow was speaking of a future full of change.


[exit]


[2797 words]


Claiming as follows:

27 Stat points, to be allocated as follows:

26 Speed
1 Chakra

Advanced Transformation Technique [500/500]
Blacksmithing [2000/2000]
Chakra Sensory [297/2000]

Mission Rewards:

43,300 ryo (21500 base pay, 21500 beloved presence bonus, 300 D-Rank missing nin salary)
110 mission AP
1 Omnistone
1 Tinkerer's Toolkit
1 Material Demagnetizer
1 Advent Lottery Ticket (Arc reward)