Bank Maintenance - What Could Go Wrong? (Mission)

Mission:

Kouji was cautiously optimistic. It was his second mission. If anything, he should be excited. But that sand clean up and meeting a certain angry citizen... Had dampened that emotion, to say the least. Not that he wasn't grateful, or ready to pay his dues. He was happy to be of service to his village. Even for low stakes jobs like these. Someone had to do them. But that old lady could make a statue crack with impatience.  He rolled his eyes as if she were there as he strolled in front of the bank entrance. If he never met her again it would be too soon.

He looked up at the bank. It really was an impressive building. Large and modern. At night it almost looked imposing. He'd only been here during the day before, where it looked strong and impressive. A testament to the power of The Village Hidden in the Mist. Or so his father said whenever they came here. But in the night, with the abundance of darkness, it gave him a very different impression.

He looked to his right and left, as he wanted to think of something else. He was the first to arrive, as he always aimed to be. But now that a few moments went by he was wondering when the Genin assigned with him would show up. He wondered what they would be like. Someone earnest and capable, they had to be. Probably seasoned and had taken on a dozen missions like this, along with far more dangerous ones. He longed for the day he became a Genin. When he could be of better service to the village. But for now, he had to focus on the job at hand. And hope that nothing went wrong like his last mission...

WC: 299
TWC: 299

Izu ran toward her assignement, dashing from roof to roof in the dead of the night, toward the national bank of the hidden Mist. Her assignement was simple: she was to overlook a student, someone new to Kirigakure and the way of the ninja, and to basically be a watch guard at the bank with him. As she arrived on the top of the bank, there he was, bellow. He was indeed clearly a student, because he never noticed her over him, looking down. He seemed to search for someone, but was clearly a beguiner. Unphased by this, and not wanting to judge him too soon, Izu jumped from the top of the building, doing a backflip and landing in front of the young man.

As he stance straightened into a non-hostile position of someone landing, Kouji would clearly be scared by it, as Izu was trained as a silent assassin, not doing a single noise when moving. To him, it would be as if she teleported right in front of his face.

''Whatsup kiddo. You my student for the mission?'' Said calmly the blonde hyuuga, her attitude cool and cold, as if she was serious but also constantly bored out of her mind.

Her appearance was quite striking: she was quite slim but at the same time muscular, her 6 pack showing trough the mesh of her belly clothing, over wich she wore a dark blue and black oversized vest addorning the symbol of the 7 swordsmans of the hidden mist. She was wearing her kirigakure headband too, over her dark blonde loose and unkempt hair, a testimony to her savage nature and rough origins. Her pants are classic black kirigakure ninja pants with sandals and a tigh ninja pouch for tools and weapons. Her face is quite pale, and her look serious, with her almost white and blank byakugan distinctive eyes, and her multiples piercings in the face and ears.

''Im Izu Momochi. What your name?'' 

Still focused on a ground approach, Kouji was startled as a girl hurtled through the air and dropped right in front of him. He hadn't even considered an approach by air. A foolish mistake if this were a more dangerous mission. One that certainly could have cost him his life. He was also surprised he hadn't heard her coming, not until she appeared in front of him. He tried to mask his surprise, but was likely too late. Were his senses truly this poor? He may need to work on his awareness... Or was this the mysterious silent killing technique?! Only taught to true assassins' from within the village? For a Genin to have learned it they must be truly talented indeed.

He was in awe of her. She was truly striking and the image of a perfect Kirigakure ninja. All he wanted to do was earn that headband that she wore so proudly. As he remembered his manners, he quickly bowed to her.

"Yes, I'm Kouji Masaki. Pleased to meet you." He looked over at her earnestly. "Anything additional I should be aware of for the mission? What are your instructions?"

He couldn't help it though, he quickly dropped his semi-professionalism and whispered to her conspiratorially. "Can you use the silent killing technique? My father told me about it but I've never seen it in action!"

He waited nervously for her answer. He hoped he had made a good initial impression and that she didn't think his question rude or out of line from a mere Academy Student.

WC: 259
TWC: 558

As the student bowed in respect, Izu was quite relaxed, her hands in her oversized jacket pockets, looking around to see if someone was overlooking at the bank. No one. Hmmm. This would only be a long lasting night of surveillance, with nothing else to do than use her eyes and talk to this students, make him learn. He seemed very zealous, trying almost too hard to be respectfull to Izu, with thousands of stars shining in his impressed eyes. With a little snicker, Izu smiled while looking at him from bottom to top, staring him in the eyes after her meticulous analysis of his stance and shape. 

''well me Kouji. The task in quite simple. I'll teach you today how to be vigilent and to lookout and patrol around the bank tonight. We will mostly be only patroling around it, the doors are closed for safety, but the mission is to do surveillance to all the potential source of disturbance, no matter how minor they seem, understood?'' Said the blonde hyuuga, as her eyes flaired, and the veins around her temple bulged a bit, signifying the activation of her Byakugan. 

Her gaze was suddently absolute, seeing everywhere around herself, and far away too. The roofs were empty, windows too, all of them, including the windows showing the inside of the bank. There was nothing to signal. But Izu wanted to test the student. As he whispered in her ear a question asking her about her usage of the sillent killing technique, the ability to become a total silent assassin, she almost sighed, but didnt react at all, keeping herself silent. After all, it was a secret and restricted technique, so discussing it was a really bad thing to do, and a bad move for a novice like that Kouji student to start talking about. She would have to teach him a lesson. But for now, she simply added to her own instructions, ignoring totaly his question.

''I'll be observing your capacity to look for distubances, and to see them alright? Lets begin.'' added the athletic girl, walking shortly after she told that along the wall of the bank.

Kouji listened to her avidly. He nodded his head at her words as appropriate, eager to impress her. His eyes widened again as he noticed her activate what he thought was the Byakugan. He almost asked her about it, but before he knew it she had finished talking and hadn't mentioned his previous question. He began to blush slightly as he sensed he may be getting into hot water with the kunoichi already.  

He followed her swiftly and began reciting possible obstacles to their mission. He listed the night itself, and the blackness potentially obscuring enemies, nearby surroundings such as bushes they could be hiding in, our behind, how to even take non-threatening objects with a grain of salt due to the amount of transformative and stealth jutsu in the world. He noted the doors were secure but they should continue to test them to ensure that had not changed. He began to not quite smile, but definitely, some satisfaction went through him as he admired his own thoroughness. But as the thought went through him he looked at the rooftops and frowned, angry at himself for forgetting such a key obstruction.

"The rooftop could also hide potential intruders." He said, hoping she didn't catch the long silence between that and his other observations. She really seemed to be able to make him sweat. Her long silence worked to an extraordinary effect. He began to berate himself mentally as he waited for her to respond and continued to look for other disturbances when he noticed something odd. By the wall of the bank, ever so slightly something seemed to be falling down. As he neared he reached out his hand to see what it was.

It was so small he was surprised he noticed it in the first place but it seemed to be specks of... sand? He looked up at the building but couldn't see anything above. But still, at an almost glacial pace, small specks of sand continued to drift down towards him. He looked over at Izu wondering if she had noticed it too. He didn't want to open his mouth without getting some sort of read off of her, in case he was overthinking or overlooking something.

WC: 371
TWC: 929

As both student walked around the bank, Izu saw every details possible, her gaze and observation capacities reigning supreme in this situation, with the help of her byakugan. The student, wanting to show he was learning and to explain to Izu he understood the possibility of ambush, started to list all the potential sources of dangers, ambush or hiding around them and the bank. As he spewed out the long list, Izu was observing, concentrated on the task and listening with half an ear. As the student paused and looked toward the rooftop of the bank, he added that the roof could also hide potential intruders.

Izu couldnt help but smile, or should we say, smirk. He really wasnt happy about the silent entry of Izu wasnt he? This was the moment to challenge and test him, to see if he understood. As soon as he said that, his head still pointing upward to look at the roof Izu replied. ''noooo! You think?'' sarcastically, and swiftly, and in the most absolute silence, weaved handseals behind his back, activating her ability to body flicker at such incredible speed that to anyone looking she would seem to vanish. As she dashed across the wall walking on it to go back to the rooftop, all of it in absolute silence and speed beyond recognition, the student would be left alone under her, and her move would be done within a single second.

By the time his head turned toward the supposed position of Izu behind him to reply to her sarcasm, she would, to his eyes, have disapeared without a trace, a sound or anything. 

Perched on the rooftop in a sneaky way so she wouldnt peak and in such a way that he couldnt see her unless he came up to the roof, the Hyuuga blonde girl observed his reaction, his behavior in such a twist in the mission. ''He just lost a collegue, he is alone to do the mission. What will he do? panic search and drop his guard? Stay calm and keep on high alert? drop the mission and go looking for me? lets seeee...'' tought Izu to herself as she observed the man reactions that would follow. 

He seemed to be focused on some grain of sand instead of on Izu being gone. But as the sand moved a bit, dropping from the wall chipping because it was old, he turned toward Izu, now gone. His reaction would be priceless, and Izu would observe how he would react. With her left hand, she pulled out a senbon, and held it in her hand. With her right hand, she weaved single-handedly signs to summon discreetly a clone of herself, and to transform it into a small bird.

After almost an hour of letting him search, Izu's clone transformed as a bird landed right in front of Kouji, acting in the same maner as a regular bird in all shapes and maners. 

''Lets see if he catch up on that...'' said to herself Izu. 

While doing all of this, she was still observing for potential intrusions into the bank perimeter, looking from her vantage point at a 360 degree angle from up top, a veritable sentry of surveillance.

Kouji turned to look at Izu. She had vanished! His insides instantly went cold. She had either detected something and gone to intercept or an enemy was here right now. Nervously, he flicked through the hand signs to make a clone, but fumbled it, creating one that looked half dead. He took a deep breath and dispelled it, his eyes searching his surroundings for any sign of a threat. He tried again, this time creating a solid replica. He then flicked his hand into the seal needed for the transformation jutsu, transforming himself into a crow.

He took off and flew for cover in a nearby tree. His clone looked back and forth, as if on alert, and continued patrolling. He scanned his surroundings hoping to spot Izu. He waited for five minutes, desperately hoping for her to return. When she didn't he took off, maintaining cover as best he could, and continued the patrol. It was probably best for him to get help at this point, he was only an Academy Student! But his father's lessons hammered through his mind. The mission is always your number one priority, once started never abandon it, or else you will only be a pretender play acting at ninja.

He flew nervously, waiting at any moment for an attack. He kept his clone vigilant below, hoping it would fool anyone lurking about enough to give him warning of a hostile presence. He kept hoping Izu would show back up, but knew with each minute that went by it was more and more unlikely. He didn't notice anything odd until over an hour went by. A bird flew down and landed in front of his clone. Which wouldn't have been odd except he hadn't noticed much wildlife tonight, and he was already on high alert.

He kept his clone away from it, not wanting to give away its status as an illusion. Instead he made sure it maintained his attention, but not too much in case it was a distraction. If he could have, he would have rubbed his head in frustration. Everything felt like a game of cat and mouse when you're a ninja. Just as he thought of dropping a rock onto it, something else drew his focus.

Inside a window at his altitude he noticed an office that was covered in sand. No rhyme or reason to it, in fact it was messy enough that some clung to the ceiling. The chaos of it all felt oddly familiar. Then a shock went through him. His first mission! It looked exactly like the store he had to clean. He took a tumble mid-flight at his realization. As he corrected himself he realized he was in a real conundrum. Not only did Izu have the keys but now he didn't know which lead to follow, especially with the odds being quite high an enemy ninja was out here with him, let alone inside the building. He debated his options, but they continued to overwhelm him. He was only an Academy Student! The mission came first always, but he needed to think of what would be most worth his limited resources. To continue patrolling and find a way to distract the enemy ninja? To find a way inside and investigate the sand? To find help elsewhere?

WC: 552
TWC: 1,481

As she observed his attempt to manage the situation, both forming a badly made clone and transforming into a bird, and wasnt impressed yet. After minutes passed and he scoured the area in search of Izu, she wasnt amused but also a bit proud of the initiative and way to handle the situation. As a student, loosing the ninja that was assigned in the middle of the night to you in a mission is almost a death sentence, or a big source of stress, wich would make almost any student panic and loose their control. While the student looked for sure in a fight of flight mode, he was still managing to keep it together, wich made Izu smile. As his clone approached the bird that was Izu's clone too, she made it detransform, appearing instead as the perfectly detailed replica of Izu, indistinguishable from the real to anyone without chakra sensory, while the real one was still hidden on the roof, undetected by the real one. Indeed, the real student was transformed as a bird that Izu spotted and followed with her byakugan gaze, making sure to stay always hidden and completely silent towards him, in a manner that he wouldnt find her, and think the clone was the real one.

 Kouji seemed to have finally noticed the task at hand: they were here to clean up a desk that was quite dusty, almost filled with sand from its lack of activity, and he wasnt doing it yet. Moreover, Izu was the one with the keys so he would need to manage to enter and clean it up, while also paniquing that he had lost his partner.

 As both clone spoke to each other, the real Kouji being distracted, Izu still observed it all.

''So. This was a test Kouji. I wanted to see how you would react if your partner from the mission you were assigned to vanished or got hurt. You reacted pretty well, not panicking or else, so its looking good. Would you say you observed enough and feel the area is secure for us to unlock the doors and enter to clean up?'' Asked the fake Izu to the fake Kouji, her face harboring a smile of deceit as she asked the trick question.

Meanwhile, the real Izu stood ready on the roof to interact when the real Kouji would get down, his transformation about to come to an end soon enough, meaning he wouldnt be able to stay as a bird for long.

Kouji let out a sigh of relief, or at least, whatever a birds version of that was. More of a dying squawk that came out of his beak. His question was answered, Izu had reappeared. He landed as she spoke to his clone and released his transformation.

''So. This was a test Kouji. I wanted to see how you would react if your partner from the mission you were assigned to vanished or got hurt. You reacted pretty well, not panicking or else, so its looking good. Would you say you observed enough and feel the area is secure for us to unlock the doors and enter to clean up?"

However, as he let go of his transformation he was struck with a thought that made terror run throughout his body, his blood going cold. All it had taken for him to let down his guard was the appearance of Izu. In the ninja world, all sorts of techniques could be used to replicate her. While her words made sense, a test could very well be the truth of the matter, he had truly just made a deadly mistake. If this was the work of an enemy ninja revealing himself would surely be the death of him. So as he released his transformation, he covertly picked up a rock at the same time, cradling it in his right palm.

"I'm so glad to hear that! Yes, I think we can enter the clean up phase now. If you could open the door that would be great."
As he spoke he suddenly flung his hand out, throwing the rock at Izu. Without waiting to see her response or what would happen he quickly formed the handseals Monkey → Rat → Tiger →Snake. Preparing to use his only known offensive jutsu, Water Release: Snake's Mouth, at the first sign of aggression.

He hoped this was a test, he prayed for it. Because if not his chances of survival were close to nil.

WC: 330
TWC: 1,811

Izu's clone was finally revealed, showing that she hadnt disapeared but was indeed testing him. As the ninja student appeared back too to greet the returning blonde kunoichi, he was relieved that she was back, as he was clearly stressed.

Seeing this, the real Izu contained herself of her disapointment. At the first sign of her comming back, he showed himself without thinking twice, and it could be a deadly ambush. He would really need to take more precaution, and Izu would need to teach him the way of the hidden mist for sure. But for now she stayed on the roof with her byakugan still active, observing it all unfold.

Kouji led the clone toward the door as they would need to enter to clean, but with her absolute gaze, Izu would see him pick up a rock. ''At the very least he is suspicious of my return... phew.'' tought Izu, thinking at least it wasnt too late to redeem himself, and that training could be possible.

As clone Izu approached the door of the bank to open it, Kouji threw his rock at her. What the student didnt anticipate was that Izu's clone kept her reflexes too, meaning she was easily abble to dodge the rock.

''HEY! What did you do that for?'' Rapidly said the fake izu as she turned around. 

As she saw he was waving handsigns to attack, Izu knew it was the time to react and reveal the mascarade: the test within the test.

She readied herself in the very same spot of her arrival, on the edge of the rooftop of the bank in the most sneaky and silent way, and like it was still the start of their mission, got ready to jump right in front of him. But before that, she decided she wanted to play on him. With a quick handsign weaved single handedly, Izu transformed her clone underneath that was facing Kouji into a menacing hostile ninja towering over the small student, looking at him with killing intent.