Squad 4 IC

[Ganryu]

Nobushige Toyotomi, Sensei of Squad 4
​

Nobushige sat atop the cliff area, still juggling a kunai.

"Morning, kids. Also, don't be a baby, you two. I promised to stop using concussion blasts, didn't I? Smoke's easier to clean than blood, isn't it?

Anyways,I trust you got my letter. This news is not one I'd trust to give except in person. Which naturally means its the bad kind of news. Seems alot of people with kekkei genkai's are getting captured. Not unheard of, except for the success. For instance, a Hyuga got kidnapped in the middle of their compound. Which means, normal security isn't good enough. This normally would be a problem just for Yuuki and Katsumi, but, well, we all remember the chunnin exams? I'm a lucky sensei to have a lava release user, aren't I?"

Nobushige shot Katsumi a look.

"Which reminds me! Real quick, I have a present for you Katsumi! I've spent literally a year working on it. Its a seal I expect you to wear for training. For how long? Well depends how long it takes you to learn it."

A clone snuck out of nowhere slapping Katsumi on the back of the neck with the seal from behind before disappearing in a poof. It would ingrain itself from the paper onto her skin.

"Now, you two can help her with her training. Anytime she tells any truthful information about herself, or her teammates, that seal will go off. Anytime she spends more than 5 seconds thinking of an answer without speaking, it will go off. Also, if she tries a new identity, that seal will learn it, and she has 5 days before it starts going off. Why don't you try quizzing her later? Oh, and by go off I mean- actually no, let's let her figure it out. I'll teach someone how to disable it later if you need an extended disguise. Maybe. "

Nobushige cracked his neck, looking too proud of himself despite the bandages.

"Anyways, back to the business at hand. Its my job to protect you lot, and I'm going to do so anyway I know how. Nagisa, if you see a target with your crossbow and they haven't noticed you yet, how easy is it to take them down? Does it matter if that target is a civilian or not?

Well, it doesn't matter if our opponents are shinobi or not if we hit them when they aren't looking. We're going on an extended 'training' mission. Do NOT bring your headbands, this is covert. Hide your pouches. Don't bodyflicker or tree climb unless we're training. Yuuki, for the love of all that is good, burn that Uchiha shirt. Go buy a Hawaiian one or something. Don't worry about your old man, I told him to trust me or fire me, and he hasn't fired me yet. I gave him a promise I would send updates regularly. Same for you, Katsumi. And I paid your rent for about six months, Nagisa. If she's worried about a little smoke, I'll either threaten her or pay her, haven't decided which yet. Bandages or no bandages you think?

Anyways, if you lot are left in the village, its only a matter of time before I lose my little students. The great irony is you are safer being the hunters than you are hiding in shadows. Say goodbye to your friends and family, this will be a while.

One last thing before I let you pack, what is my motto about fighting?"

Nobushige waited, before dismissing them to get ready.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa
​

"We don't fight. We kill," Nagisa said simply, rolling her shoulders. She wasn't going to say as much but Nobushige's plan sounded like the way to go to her. Nagisa doubted anyone was coming after her specifically, if they looked inot her record with anything more than the most cursory effort they wouldn't find anything to support the story about her having Lava release outside of a couple of confused rumors.

Still Yuuki's sharingan and Katsumi's...thing presented tempting targets and the Hyuuga girl had just proven conclusively that there was no point in hiding. If the Hyuuga compund wasn't secure there probably wasn't a place that was. Better to seize the initiative, force their enemy to react instead of reacting to them. Besides if some dipshit wanted to target her squad mates didn't mind the idea of going after them. At this stage it would be a pain in the ass to find new ones.

"It won't take me long to pack but..." Nagisa gave Katsumi a sideways glance and quirked an eyebrow. "If we're going undercover for an extended period of time we're gonna have to do something about you. I don't exactly have high hopes but swing by my place when you're ready to go and I'll see what I can do,"

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Katsumi Nonoba​

Katsumi rubbed the back of her neck, not entirely gradping the depth of her new set of rules. Sensei said that she had to lie now, which would be tough, but also some thing about answering questions fast enough too. Did the question sensei just asked count?

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced the back of her neck, forcing Katsumi to emit a loud but brief scream snd fall to her knees before the pain quickly subsided.

Katsumi was silent for a moment, rising back to her feet. She looked at Nagisa who had said something about going to her home. “T-that sounds good,” Katsumi said hesitantly. She glanced at Nobu, but quickly turned her head to avoid his gaze. First she had been scared to death by a smoke bomb, and now she just received some evil curse on her neck too! “I’ll go get my things before I come though...”

Today was not a good day.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha
Nobushige had barely begun speaking and already a deep frown was painting his features. “So… the fact they got past the village’s barrier is bad enough, bypassing hundreds of byakugan? Shit… do we know who did it or any info at all? Kurou? Daisuke? Someone else likely working with them?”

“Ask your freakin’ father! Geez, kids are so needy these days.”

“You’re the one giving the briefing.”

“I’ll fill you later, go pack.”

While his mind was still humming with questions and possibilities, the potential solution to Katsumi’s inability to lie was an interesting one. Though he did have to wonder if it meant she couldn’t answer any question truthfully or not. He couldn’t dwell on the question for long once Nobushige told them the main reason they’d been called.

How the hell were they supposed to track down these guys? Let alone actually ambush them? “I don’t know about us being safer going after these guys,” he muttered.

A kunai flew at Yuuki’s cheek, the Chuunin barely catching it.

“Trust me or fire me. How the hell do you track a team of ninja off the books, not using any jutsu actively, in civilian clothes, not headed anywhere, who aren’t pushy on any active intel? How would you track us? Careful, a bad answer and I’ll be less careful with the next throw. I taught you all I’d be honest, but I also thought I taught you to think and be decisive.”

“I am thinking,” a familiar red hue glared back at Nobushige, Yuuki’s voice suddenly level. “It’s one thing to suppress chakra, wear disguises, and chase after some chuunin that decided to go rogue. These guys are capable of waltzing into the Leaf undetected and grab chuunin level ninja. They’re also strong enough to take down a kage.”

Nobushige motioned with his hand for Yuuki to continue, his eyebrow slightly raised. He had 15 seconds to make a point before Nobushige simply left.

“None of us have the stealth to even get close if we found one of them.”

“So are you going to give me a question or lecture me? You still haven’t answered mine, I’m starting to think it rude.”

“We’ve both said it, don’t look like ninja, don’t use jutsu, and suppress chakra to the point it’s only what a civilian would have.”

“Not that one. The one before. What’s my motto on fighting?” Nobushige tapped his forehead.

“Don’t. A ninja doesn’t fight.”

“So… the fact in combat they fought your father… do you have a point?”

“You want to hunt them down and somehow strike while they’re off guard. You’re sending chuunin on what’s basically an S Ranked mission. How do you think we’ll even have a chance of not just waltzing to our deaths?”

“You could have saved me so much time by just asking that. A) If we don’t engage them, and if we’re civilians, they’ll think nothing of us. B) They are currently hunting for targets, and recruiting at the same time, a deadly mistake as info is easy to manipulate. C) I’m here. I wasn’t called Izanami’s Hand for no reason. Flesh clones, mastery of transformation, deadly precision with kunai and shrapnel, able to memorize faces and voices, and more experience under my belt in assassinations and intel than any other ninja in the village. It’s hard to kill me, hard to know when I’m dead, and I can strike any hour of the day.

“Now, Yuuki, like I said, I’m an honest sensei, and you are getting on my last nerve. Get off your high horse, it's not like we’re single-handedly toppling them. We are scouting for information and striking at weak points, but mostly, you lot are getting out of the village. So, why don’t you answer your own question. I’m going to go pack, I have to worry about whatever you lot forget. By the way, have you noticed how I’ve told you who’s in charge every single mission? This one, I’m in charge.”

Yuuki’s grip tightened around the kunai from before, not even noticing the faint trembling in his hands. Why was he so angry? He’s trusted Nobushige for the most part on all their other missions, not counting the week he spent ambushing them. He was a jounin for a reason, ANBU even. The man had more experience than the three of them put together. Yet here Yuuki was practically accusing him of leading the trio on a suicide mission.

All of those thoughts and more buzzed in his head, clawing for some form of dominance over the rest. “Fine,” he said finally, letting the kunai clatter to the stoney ground. “It’s your call anyway, you’re the jounin here.”

 

[Ganryu]

Nobushige Toyotomi
​

At the village gate, Nobushige stood waiting as usual. The keen eye might notice various people trailing the three genin, though they would quickly disappear as they got the gate.

"You three ready? Hope it was a long sweet goodbye. I should be saying mine in... 3...2...1..."

A large cloud of red smoke occurred across the village in the ANBU headquarters with Nobushige chuckling to himself. It was from one office in particular.

"Yuuki, if she asks, you have no idea what happened. If you care, I might have booby trapped her locker with 47 capsaicin smoke bombs and a poster that says 'Don't get caught offguard, see you in a few months'. Well, let's start walking, going southeast first. Let's go quickly, like my life depends on getting out of the village without a trace."

Nobushige cracked his neck, and produced a dossier.

"Alright, now, a few things about us heading out. First goal is for you lot to stay safe. Don't do anything risky, and don't identify as ninjas when other people are around. This mostly means no bodyflickering, and no tree climbing while we're traveling. We'll also work on your makeup skills, all of you. I brought enough powder to choke an elephant.

While you are traveling with me, you'll be safer than these idiots."

He handed out from the dossier a handfull of ninja profiles. Four of them were from their graduating class: Hotaru, Yukari, Mai, and Aiko.

"Keep an eye for anyone matching these descriptions, memorize them, and don't get your hopes up. A missing ninja often is a dead ninja. So... sorry, tough break. If knew any of them, I'll give you a moment of silence when we stop at the night. But memorize them on the off chance they are alive.

Now, for the actual mission, let's go sniffing. The ninja responsible for the kidnapping's name is Daisuke, I'll give you what I can on him. Our first stop is a small town called Shibuya. I recently had a mission there, Yuuki as well. We collected some paperwork from a couple of freaks, killed them all in a cave, and called it a day. Something's been bothering me since then, you might call it a hunch.

Mission orders. Katsumi, I want you to search the cave. I'm going off a hunch, and you have good instincts. You are looking for any info you can there. Anything that might tell us where the freaks came from.

Yuuki, you get to actually visit the nobles we got paid from last time. You can drop disguise temporarily, just know we gotta get out of Shibuya pretty quick after you do. The Ren family owe us a debt, so let's see what was happening to those that got kidnapped. I'm sure that weirdo you killed was only copying what he saw someone else do.

Nagisa, here's another hunch. Akai Kyodai, the large group that has been the Yoake's manpower, those bandits, they've only been growing larger. Yet we're having trouble tracking them down. A certain sense thinks that means they are recruiting in remote areas. And I don't think all their members are ninjas either. See what you can find out about them in Shibuya. You need any help, use this." Nobushige produced a small tag, blood on the sides of it. The seal read 'Izanami'. "Just know the moment you use it, everyone in the room will be dead. Dead people are hard to get info from. But like I said, this mission, your safety is the first priority."

(OOC: Feel free to timeskip or discuss)

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa & Yuuki Uchiha

Tag, you're it​

“Keep it then,” Nagisa said casting a sideways glance at Nobushige. “Better yet give it to Yuuki. He’s the one with two red and black targets where his eyes should be,”

So saying Nagisa went back to messing around with the makeup kit she had latched onto almost as soon as Nobushige had mentioned it. Nagisa had used crude approximations of makeup for thieving, tricks like rubbing dirt on your cheeks to make them look hollow (good for begging) or rubbing clay into your hair to change the color (useful for leaving witnesses with a false description after snatch and grabs)

But this stuff was a lot more sophisticated, even the delicate brushes allowed for much finer, convincing applications. Nagisa frowned into the small mirror, brushing shadow alongside her nose, making the bridge more prominent and drawing attention away from her eyes. Good.

“If I get into trouble I’d rather just run anyway, besides rubbing shoulders with bandits sounds nostalgic to me,”

“You realize you’d be in the one in the most danger out of the three of us, right?” Yuuki was frowning at her, “you’re literally walking up to the group that kidnapped all those chuunin yesterday.”

“They’re not kidnapping kids off the street though are they?’ Nagisa asked rhetorically, tilting her head to look at her handiwork from a different angle. “They’re targeting specific people. People like you. I know there’s the lava release thing going on but I have trouble believing such a half baked rumor would even make it to them, let alone that they would buy it.”

“Hotaru didn’t have a kekkei genkai and yet she’s missing too.”

“The moth girl? She has ties to a clan though. What if that’s what this is about instead of just kekkai genkais? What if they think those creepy bug jutsus have a genetic component? What if they do? They’re a pretty secretive group.”

“If this was about getting to the clans, they probably wouldn’t be replicating these kekkei genkai.”

“Well what the fuck do you think they’re planning to replicate from me?” Snapped Nagisa, her brow furrowing in the mirror with sudden agitation. “The famous ‘one armed release’? I don’t have anything they couldn’t learn off hundreds of Suna shinobi. Or millions of street kids,”

“Or maybe they’ll just kill you!” Yuuki snapped back, spinning her to face him. “Or just make you work for them. This isn’t just about these fucking bloodlines, you’re the one walking right into danger.”

Nagisa slapped Yuuki’s hand away and stood up. “I dunno if you’ve noticed but that’s sort of what we do for a living! I don’t have a problem with walking into danger but that isn’t the same as being hunted! Besides you’re the Hokage’s kid remember? The whole damn village’ll get heart palpitations if you get your dumb, rich boy ass kidnapped!”

Yuuki clenched his fist, “How could I forget? I only spent my whole life in his goddamned shadow!” He straightened, “or is that all I am to you?”

“This is ridiculous,” Nagisa said bitterly, snatching up her pack and stomping away down the path out of the village. “I’m going ahead,” she called over her shoulder. “If I’m supposed to be infiltrating these people then my cover will be more solid the less we travel together. Just take the damn tag, or don’t, I don’t fucking care,”

KageYuuki

 

[Ganryu]

Nobushige watched the two with his normal bored expression as Nagisa stomped off. He dully picked up the seal. He turned to Yuuki.

"Reminds me of my squad days. Good luck in your future years, you'll need it. Oh yeah, about the mission, good luck there too. Katsumi, don't... don't cause a cave in. The cave should be empty, but I'm going by a hunch. I think I'll head off to check a few different hunches I've had. A few extra village activities. You don't stay in ANBU by being a boy scout."

He cracked his neck, extended the seal towards Yuuki, then took it back.

"On second thought, best not to. You're too much like me anyways. Try to have some patience. Heads up, Ren family makes their money off hush money, bunch of genetically changed freaks. Kid, just be safe. Yeah, I'll try to have a clone nearby, but clone's ain't exactly powerhouses, and I ain't exactly a fighter. "

He looked at Katsumi.

"You too. Also, don't let being alone in a cave get to you too much. Cave's don't have anything scary in them. Except bears. And bandits. And occasionally shinobi. You'll be fine.

Well, see you two."

Nobushige walked off.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha
Shuffling down Shibuya’s main road, Yuuki looked around the town from under the hood of his cloak. Another Summer rainstorm had chased most everyone inside. The rain was definitely needed, welcomed even, but the Uchiha hated how it always messed with his Dance of the Shikigami. It was relatively small town, all things considered, the pair of mansions flanking either side being the most outstanding part of it.

The Ren family were… interesting, to say the least. Nobushige had made a point of keeping their stay short when they reported the success of their mission several months ago. Yuuki stood at the door for quite some time before finally knocking; he definitely wasn’t looking forward to this.

A man opened the door, weird yellow eyes looking angrily out.

“What do you want, damn Tosa.”

Looking down at Yuuki, the man quickly changed his tune, he reached to the side, looking away, and came back, his eyes normal.

“If it isn’t our favorite Uchiha! Come in, come in! We’re more than happy to have you. Especially after you saved my brother and his wife. Kids! Visitors! Onna no ko! Juuyon-sai!”

Yuuki wasn’t so much ‘invited in’ as he much as he was hauled in, the Ren family head all too happy to have him in.

“So, how was your trip? What brings you here? Have the Tosa been causing trouble? Always have been. Well, have a seat. We were just having tea, me and my daughters. I have three you see.”

As Yuuki was swept into the parlor, two girls about Yuuki’s age, one fifteen, one thirteen, sat across from a table. A large table.

“Ai, where’s Hina?”

“But you said-”

“Nevermind, close enough, go get your sister!”

The head turned to Yuuki again.

“Sit down! Enjoy. I’m not sure you got my name last time, it is Kenji Ren. So, what brings you round these parts?”

Yuuki blinked as he was suddenly pulled inside, a maid quickly taking and stowing away his traveling cloak. The Uchiha’s pack was thankfully already stowed away in a tag. “It’s, uh... Nice to meet you.” He offered a slight bow before taking a seat.

Well, now or never he supposed. Though he was definitely not looking forward to this. “Well, Lord Ren, I guess it’s more of a personal visit than a mission-related one.” If anything, having Nobushige as a sensei meant the lies came easily and sounded natural. “I was wondering how everyone was doing after last year, it was a pretty messy situation. Have they recovered well?”

“Oh, they are doing fine, thanks to you. It was a major ordeal for them though, but a bit of rest, a bit of food, and they’re doing much better. Well, I’m so glad it could be a personal visit! Maybe I can show you around a bit. Would you want to meet with my brother? I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. AI! GRAB YOUR UNCLE TOSHIRO AS WELL!

Would you like to meet his kids as well? Oh, Hana dear, grab some tea for our guest.”

Ren seemed extremely eager to please Yuuki, his eyes never leaving him. The way his children acted, and how obedient they were, suggested the household wasn’t as playful as the head Ren was making it appear. Quickly down the staircase, another man came down, followed by two more of Kenji’s children, who all promptly took their places around the table. The brother spoke, bowing politely.

“My brother told me you summoned for me?”

“Ah, I’d just been asking how you were doing. You weren’t exactly in the best shape last time I saw you.” Everything about this place was leaving Yuuki somewhat on edge. Sure, he’d been to the Hyuuga household before and they were certainly a strict bunch. Perhaps it was the forced energy from Kenji and the almost nervous silence from the rest that made him uneasy. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you though. It wasn’t my intention.”

“Oh…. Well, as you can see, I’m doing quite well, thank you for your service. My wife is doing well as well.”

Silenced ticked by, only interrupted by Ai pouring tea. After a second, the daughter who had been summoned, Hina, sneezed, bones erupting out her back. Kenji seemed to have a tranquil fury.

“Daughter… what did I say?”

“Uh…. sorry father, won’t happen again! I’ll, uh, go tend to the flower bed outside. Mother looks like she could use some help.”

Yuuki blinked, watching the sudden display. It honestly looked kind of painful. He remembered Rei’s notes mentioning an ability that allowed the control of bones. Most of the entry had just been rantings on an experiment that was taking most of the master’s attention away.

The brother talked, trying to draw attention away.

“Anyways, it’s no disruption to have you here. We love having visitors, brings out the best in all of us. I’m fit as a fiddle. Sure, that little wannabe doctor took a lot out of me, but the Ren family are pretty durable. There’s a reason we’re so well respected around here.”

“I see… well, I’m glad you’re doing well.” Yuuki made a mental note to try and catch Toshiro alone later as he turned back to Kenji. “Lord Ren, perhaps it would be beneficial to send them to the Leaf? Or bring in a tutor of some kind? They’d be able to control their abilities with some training.”

“Ohoho, and what tutor would be helpful? We have plenty around for that young one. We try to keep things such as this under wraps, but, well, some days are just off days. Today’s one, with the terrible weather and such. The story of my ex-wife and young Hina there is a long story full of romance I’m sure you’ll appreciate more when you’re older. Ah, the beaches of Mina, such a captivating scene. But she was a Kaguya, but the love was real. If only something could have kept the reaper away. Still, you see, a lot of ninjas would never understand, so I’d be much obliged if you’d keep this our little secret. In any case, it’s stuffy in here, why don’t we give you a tour of the mansion! It’s large enough we don’t have to get wet. I’d love for you to feel at home. Ai, why don’t you show our guest around! ”

The tour was about as boring as Yuuki anticipated. While he had absolutely no interest in the building’s history of the various works of art strewn about, he was starting to get an idea of just how many lived there. It was a lot.

With Kenji’s back turned and him paying little attention to the Uchiha, he lightly took Ai’s hand and pulled her aside. He pulled her aside, motioning for her to stay quiet. “Your name’s Ai, right?” He whispered, “can you take me back to your uncle Toshiro? Or his wife?”

“Uh, sure. Are you sure you don’t want to see the wine cellar? Papa always makes me show that one off. Uh, Auntie Masaki should be three rooms down, I’ll go knock.”

Three quick knocks and a woman opened her room. A chill spilled out, which with the pouring rain only would make things worse.

“Hello? Oh, Ai, is Lord Ren needing anything?”

She looked at the Uchiha.

“Oh, guests. Aw hell, am I supposed to be putting on a facade and makeup, or is he a regular?”

Yuuki held up his hands, “No, no need for any acting.” The chill reminded him of what Hideki said happened when Aiko was in a foul mood. “You probably don’t remember me, I’m one of the shinobi that helped rescue you last year. I’m Yuuki Uchiha.”

“Ah, I ‘member you! You and that creepy as hell mummy. Thanks for saving my bacon. I was there for months. Was about to give up on the ‘prestigious’ Ren clan.”

“Masaki! What if Papa hears you?”

“Let’im hear, I don’t give a damn. Anyways, Yuuki was it? Good to meet’cha again. Imma guess you ain’t here for the sights. I sure as hell wouldn’t be if it weren’t for my hubby and our kids. Place is a prison. What’chu want? I’m happy to be of help.”

“Your guess would be correct, miss Masaki. May I come in?”

“Hell, come on in. You too Ai, don't need ya blabbing to your pa. Take a blanket, my room’s cold.”

She shoo’d both in the room.

“So whatcha want? Also, Ai, take out those damn contacts.”

Ai refused, however, sitting quietly at the end of the bed. Masaki offered Yuuki a desk chair. Taking a seat, he tapped a seal on the inside of his arm under his jacket and summoned seven tags. The sheet’s fluttered from his hand, one settling on each wall, the door, ceiling, and floor. He wove a few handseals, the tags glowing faintly.

“There, now you don’t have to worry about someone overhearing anything.” He turned towards Masaki, “so how has everyone really been doing after last year?”

“Eh, good ‘n bad. That freak was more interested in my husband than me. I ain’t a Ren, married into it. He still turned my Kekkei Genkai on overdrive. Annoying cause it makes me doggone tired, and I’m scared of my kids getting a cold. He injected me with some stuff, saw it turned my ice colder, then just seemed to forget about me.

Hubby’s a bit bad off from it. Poor guy can’t even tell his brother to screw off. Freak kept doing all sorta things to him. Took blood samples, gave’em shots, did surgeries. All sorta things. It was horrible. I don’t wanna remember, but I ain’t going to try and abuse a debt. Ask anything ya want.

By the way, I appreciate the quiet, but whatcha gunna do about Daddy’s lil princess over there?”

Masaki pointed at Ai who was listening intently.

Yuuki nodded, “I can’t blame you for not wanting to remember, and I hate making you do it. But that kid… he was part of something much bigger. Something that’s taken a lot of my family and friends to experiment on.”

He let out a sigh, his breath forming a thick cloud as he looked over at Ai. “I don’t want to get any of you into trouble. But this is information I need.”

Ai looked a bit troubled. “Uh… I was just supposed to be giving a tour. I’m not sure what to tell Papa…”

“Tell’im you were showing Yuuki the Ren family’s legendary freezer.“ Masaki then looked at Yuuki and gave a reassuring nod. “Anything ya need then. If ya need be I can wrench my husband free from Lord Ren. I’d hate for your family to go through what we did. Imagine a Kekkei genkai you can’t turn off... What information do you want?”

Masaki held her hand against the wall, and ice started to form across it. She hadn’t done any handsigns.

“Anything could be helpful, especially related to his supposed master named Daisuke.” Yuuki watched the ice spread across the wall, could the Leaf even help them? There was still one ice release user living there… “If Toshiro may have any extra information, I would like to hear from his as well.”

“Sure thang. Ai, would you mind getting him? You know your daddy would throw a fit if I left the room while guests are about. Think of it this way, you’re showing Yuuki here around, and your pa wants him to feel comfortable. Well, it would be uncomfortable for him not to speak to us. Go on.”

Ai left meek as a mouse to fetch Toshiro. Masaki turned back to Yuuki.

“Now. Let’s see, Daisuke. I remember the freak blabbing about him all the time. But anything useful… Hmm. Guess I’ll just let’chu decide what’s useful. Hmm. He normally ranted about showing the guy how useful he was. I’m guessing he was just a pupil that was thrown away or something. Or he could have just been an experiment. Seemed too crazy for me to take on, but hell, all of’em are crazy. There was this one time he got super hyper after his eyes went black. He went on the longest rant I’ve seen yet, pretending to show someone around his lab, talking to himself. After that, when his eyes were normal and shit, he threw a rampage. Bad day. That’s when he stopped messing with my Kekkei Genkai and left it on high. Wish he were alive so I could throttle him and have him turn it back.

Oh yeah, his two flunkies. They weren’t right when we started. One was blind. One had like leprosy or some shit. About a week after they abducted us, he started shrieking ‘Eureka’, and dancing around like a queer. One of the flunky’s eyes turned white, but kept bleeding like no tomorrow, and the other guy seemed to regenerate but kept turning to stone. All I got, I just sat in a cage for most of it.”

It was about this time the door opened and Toshiro and Ai walked in. They looked a bit nervous.

Ai spoke first. “I think Dad’s mad at me.”

Toshiro just shook his head.

“Anyways, my niece gave me the rundown. Not sure what my wife’s said, and I was near comatose by the end, but I can give a thing or two I guess. Most of what the wannabe doc did was blood samples then staring at it through a microscope for hours. He got really excited at first, then angry later on. Uh… Oh yeah! I remember something. He said something about being able to return to the Tea lab after one of his insane ramblings. Sorry, I really don’t remember much.”

He sat down and held his wife’s hand on the bed. He was shivering slightly, but didn’t draw away.

“So yeah… Sorry, not much. Not much, but I hope my wife was more helpful.”

Yuuki looked down at his notes, having long since given in and wrapped up in a blanket. At least now he could write without his hand shaking. “Actually… both of you’ve given me some really important info.” He twirled the pen a few times before circling a few notes.

“Well, good that we had something for you. Anyways, if you’d let Ai finish giving you the tour, it’d give us all less of a headache. Ugh, I wonder about Kenji somedays. I worry he’s going to draw the Leaf’s ire at this rate. Or Mist's…. Or pick a country. Anyways, good luck. Hope you rescue your family and friends. Don’t get yourself killed, but… I wouldn’t wait.”

Yuuki nodded, recalling the tags into his hand before sealing them away. He’d have to remember to recharge them once he made it back to camp. “Well thank you for your time,” he offered a slight bow before being pulled out the door by Ai. Maybe once their extended ‘mission’ was finished, he’d be able to do something to help Toshiro and Masaki.

The rest of the ‘tour’ would be about the same as the first part. The only difference was Ai sounded a lot less like she was reading from a script, but at the same time, she sounded a lot less enthusiastic.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Katsumi Nonoba​

Caves were probably near the top of Katsumi’s list of places to avoid. It fell just under abandoned temples, and ski resorts. Tip toeing in the dark with no clue what you were looking for and what you’d find just made your imagination fill in the blanks. Katsumi has a powerful imagination. Unlike many people in the Leaf, Katsumi knew that there were some terrible terrible creatures hidden in the world. She had one on her back, so who was to say there couldn’t be more hiding in this cave waiting to devour her whole?


Something skittered in the dark nearby.


“KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”


Katsumi emitted an ear piercing scream, and dropped down to the ground covering her head with her hands, waiting for death.


Nothing happened.


Slowly, Katsumi rose to her feet, and sighed. If Yuuki, Nagisa, or sensei were to see her now, they’d really let her have it. Taking a deep breath, Katsumi continued on, stepping over some abandoned and useless medical supplies.


As Katsumi descended, nothing much seemed to happen. Nothing seemed to be around anymore. A faint sound started to reverb around the cave. It sounded deep, and eventually could be identified as snoring. Very loud snoring from deep within.


A great bear lay at the bottom, each breath from it rattled the entire cave area. It seemed deep in sleep. Under its massive paw, a burnt human skull lay slightly cracked.


Katsumi visible trembled as she tiptoed closer and closer to the snoring. She couldn’t make a sound, if she did, the beast would eat her! Nagisa and Yuuki would be able to sneak past it. Katsumi knew that, but she also knew that they were way better than her at sneaking around.


Katsumi stopped as the bear came into view. She could take it down from here with her fuuma shuriken, she thought quickly, sliding it off her back. The five blades slid out, revealing the sharp exotic weapon.


Holding it by the handle in it’s center Katsumi spun and sent it flying at the bear, with a little chakra to help it on its way. Unfortunately, she missed, and the blade sunk deep into the scorched cave wall above the bear. The loud scraping sound didn’t go unanswered, and Katsumi felt the snoring come to a halt, and change into a guttural growl.


Katsumi screamed, and the bear’s eyes locked directly onto Katsumi. Katsumi turned wildly, and slipped and fell on her face into a smear of dried blood.


The bear, seeing a chance to murder the fool who interrupted its nap, lunged at the foolish kunoichi.


Katsumi scrambled across the ground, narrowly avoiding a pair of crushing paws and gut tearing teeth. She leapt over a table covered in dried blood, and ran with the bear at her heels, noticing a large cage nearby. She hurried inside, and pulled the cage door closed. She didn’t have a way to lock it, but the bear pushed against it in its attempt to break into the cage, holding the door closed.


Backed into a corner, Katsumi fearfully looked around the large cage. Dried blood, a syringe, a broken needle, a bloody cloth, and a pair of shoes. Useless! The cage was either meant for multiple people, or something big. The metal bars creaked loudly. Katsumi felt herself bump into the back of the cage. She had no way out now. If the bear back of for even a moment, the door wound swing back open. If the bear continued it’s rampage, the cage wouldn’t hold.


Katsumi’s foot stepped on something hard, that cracked beneath her. She looked down, and noticed she had just stepped on an old skeleton. The cage creaked. Beside the skeleton, lay a large long sword, covered in dirt and rust. She hadn’t seen one like it before. Katsumi hurridly bent down and picked up the sword with a grunt. It was heavy, obviously meant to be wielded two-handed.


“A-alright Mr. Bear, if you don't stop right now I’m gonna hit you!” Katsumi warned the enraged bear, who simply continued bending and battering the cage.


“Ok! Sorry about this then!”


Katsumi held the blade over her shoulder, and swung it around with arms full of chakra. The blade smashed through the metal bars of the cage, before smashing into the side of the bear, sending it flying into the wall with a shallow cut. But, the swing was out of control! The blade continued around, and Katsumi desperately held on, until the blade smashed into the cave wall behind her, breaking through a large lair of rock. A new room had been revealed!


“I found something!” Katsumi exclaimed to nobody.


The rock sheared easily from the large sword, revealing the wall as fake. The bear roared again at Katsumi, but backed away slowly from her, watching her carefully as it backed away. The sword might have been old, but the sheer weight seemed to have given the bear more than it had expected. It honestly seemed confused as it eyed Katsumi’s size, and then the wall it had been thrown against. It didn’t charge her again though, allowing her access.


The room continued into a bedroom, with about twenty beds. Most of the beds were pretty poor quality. The best one of the bunch lay against the corner, only really marked as ‘the best’ by the fact it was the only one with a set of drawers. It didn’t seem to have any locks in it, yet was hardly tampered with. In fact, it stood out being far newer than anything else in the cave.


Katsumi hoisted the blade over her shoulder, and carefully stepped into the room, glancing over each bed to make sure they were all empty of any bodies. Taking a shaky breath, Katsumi approached the farthest bed.


“Hmm, I wonder why you’re the only one in good shape…” Katsumi quietly asked the bed. She crouched down and opened the drawers. Something had to be left here, or else all this terror was for nothing. Had Yuuki really cleared out this whole cave on his own? Katsumi knew he was strong, but he was a lot stronger than she thought! She could barely deal with a bear!


Fire erupted from inside the drawers in a multiple directions outward. A voice could be heard from the drawer itself.


“I warned you, Takao, about messing with my drawer. There’s nothing inside it anyways!”


The fire blasted outwards in a line towards the exit, turning the temperature inside to searing. After a moment it let up, revealing the contents of the drawer, a single notebook. The cover read ‘Dear Diary’. However, not all was peaceful, as the flames had hit the bear outside, who had started attacking the entrance to the room. He snarled and slashed at the opening, trying to get to Katsumi. The more he struggled, the more the cave started to shake. The cut and burns on the bear seemed to only piss it off.


Katsumi squealed, and toppled onto her butt, covering her face to block the flames. Fortunately, falling helped her avoid most of the fire, but her arms were burned pretty badly. The heat made her lungs burn, forcing her to cough as she stood up. Sweating a breathing heavily, Katsumi stood, her head turning back and forth in search of the voice. It sounded like it had come from the drawer. She bent down and picked up the diary, and was about to open it before the bear returned with a vengeance!


Katsumi stuffed the diary in her pouch, and slowly approached the bear, shaking with fear. With as soft and gentle of a voice as she could muster, Katsumi tried to calm down the bear. Maybe he would calm down if he knew that she didn’t want to hurt him anymore. Upon closer inspection, the bear had some pretty nasty burns, and the cut she gave him earlier looked painful.


The bear only seemed angrier when Katsumi tried to speak to it, only trying with more rage to slaughter the girl.


The cave continued to shake, and Katsumi looked up, worried. “O-ok Mr…. or Mrs. Bear, I can’t let you cause a cave in, and you need medical attention so I’m gonna need your cooperation!”


The bear responded by managing to reach his whole arm inside the room, swiping at bed and sending it flying at Katsumi. It didn’t seem to understand anything other than a small animal had walked into his bed, woke him up, cut him, and set him on fire. And current small animal was now making sounds at him.


A few of the rocks from the ceiling also started to come loose inside the cave. The bear itself was planted fully at the entrance.


Katsumi ducked under the flying bed, dropping to the ground. “Eek!” She stood back up, and took another step forward. Yuuki was brave enough to clear out the whole place before, so why couldn’t she stop one bear.


A falling rock fell on Katsumi’s head, causing her to yelp in pain. She had to act fast! Rushing forward with a burst of chakra, Katsumi slammed into the bear. Knocking it out room’s entrance and onto the ground on the other side.


The beast was stunned for a moment, but it roared and bit and swiped Katsumi, who was know wiggling her way around the bear, clamping herself down on its back. She wrapped her arms around its neck, and with her chakra enhanced strength, help on tight.


The bear thrashed and snarled, trying to get at Katsumi, but it was losing oxygen, and began stumbling. It gave one last attempt at a struggle by slamming itself back into the wall, squishing Katsumi and making her cry out. Nevertheless, she didn’t let go. The bear fell to the ground unconscious, and Katsumi rolled off the bear. Laying on the ground beside it.


“S-sorry!”


Katsumi rose to her feet. Her forearms still burned, and the bear had slashed them a few times in the struggle. She’d have to heal herself once she was done tending to the bear.


About twenty minutes later, the bear’s wounds were all closed up, and its burns were practically healed. It’d be sore for awhile, but the animal would feel great in due time. Katsumi groaned, noticing the beast starting to stir. Picking up the sword, she ran over to the wall her fuuma shuriken had been lodged into, and forced it out of the wall. Looking back the bear and the secret room one more time, she turned and started toward the exit. As she walked, she reached into her pouch and retrieved the notebook she had found. She flipped it open and began to read.


Pg 1.

Dear Diary,

Well, I guess this marks the one month anniversary since I escaped. Someone is besmirching Master Daisuke’s good name! One day I’m his favorite assistant, one day I’m in the coliseum. Me! His favorite assistant! It must have been those Akai Kyodai bastards, specifically Juunichi, I don’t trust him. So, we escape from the Northern Hideout near Phoenix Trail, and ran here. I’ve set up a lab and everything. Tch, I’m not sure how to get back to Master Daisuke. I’m his LaB assistant, but the labs just in the back of the coliseum. I’m afraid of trying to sneak back in, so I’ll just bring him something he can’t refuse, a new collection of Kekkei Genkai’s. He’s working towards the Rinnegan, so Dojutsu are preferable. Then again, the man’s passion is to know everything about all Kekkei genkai, so maybe something rarer. Man, I don’t know how I’ll get past security without an experiment. Takao doesn’t even count, and I’ve just about got a functional Byakugan… well, if it didn’t bleed randomly. Maybe a Kekkei genkai no one has heard of before?


It didn’t make too much sense to Katsumi, but it seemed to be related to the group she and her squad had been investigating. Most of the people captured had kekkai genkai. Were they going to be experimented on too? Katsumi closed the diary and slipped it back into her pouch.


Katsumi shivered. It was a good thing she kept her little curse mark hidden relatively well. This Daisuke fellow or whoever wrote in that diary might consider her to be a decent subject. Hell, even Katsumi didn’t know what would happen if the mark was tampered with.


Exhaling loudly, Katsumi cleared her head. She had to stop worrying too much, and just be tough like her squadmates. Sensei would probably love to see what she had found too!

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa

Slummin' It​

Nagisa set off alone, still seething, but walking along the ground forced her to calm down and soon her anger had settled down to a mild, but persistent heat in her stomach. Why was she pissed anyway? It wasn’t her problem if that idiot got himself killed, no wonder she never bothered doing anyone any favors if this was the thanks she got.

Nagisa hauled herself up into a tree the old fashioned way and then sat down on a branch. She had some cosmetic work to do. Nagisa took out the makeup kit and mirror she’d taken and stared at her face in it, the work she’d one while arguing with Yuuki had gotten pretty badly smudged.

Nagisa sighed and dabbed one of the sponges into a skin tone. She’d have to start from scratch.

...Over an hour later the Nagisa studying herself in the small mirror was completely different. Dark hollows on her cheeks made her look gaunt and subtle shadowing made her other features look sharper, more masculine. To top it all off her hair was dyed a dark, unremarkable brown.

So far so good but the next part would require a knife, Nagisa removed the knife from her boot, it was sharper than a regular kunai, which would make this easier. Nestling the mirror into a crook in the branches where she could still see it Nagisa grabbed a handful of her hair with one hand and raised the knife with the other.

Then hesitated.

What is wrong with me today? Nagisa wondered, frowning into the mirror. It was just hair, it would grow back quickly and anyway who cared what she looked like? Nagisa took a deep breath and then forced herself through the motions, slicing away at clumps of hair until she had a short, boyish cut.

It was a pretty bad haircut all things considered, it was easy to tell that she’d done it herself with a knife but that was all for the better. Her cover identity was the kind of person who cut their own hair with a knife as well.

Satisfied with her appearance Nagisa stood up, hopped down to the ground and kept walking towards Shibuya. Not for the first time in her life Nagisa was just another anonymous face in a crowd, exactly what she wanted.





Shibuya sucked, Nagisa decided pretty quickly. There were two huge manors on either side of the village and the design aesthetics from either seemed to creep out over the main street and commercial areas, becoming increasingly gaudy until they met in the middle as if the two sides had taken over the whole main street for some kind of decorative pissing match. Despite that it only took a turn or two for Nagisa to get into some shabbier, more run down streets. Dirt roads, broken windows, it was plain the bigshots around here only splashed their money around so far.

If I was a pack of bandits trying to recruit, where would I be? Nagisa wondered briefly, until the sound of raucous music nearby alerted her to the presence of a nearby tavern. Oh right, literally anywhere with cheap booze. Duh,”

Nagisa didn’t check over her disguise, that kind of uncertainty would draw far more attention than any oversight, better to just stroll right in and project confidence.


Two men sat at a table across from a singular fellow, the men had drinks as the third began to look increasingly skittish over time. “Oi Biggs? What’dyea think about this one?” The one with a red bandana asked his buddy, a man with a patchy and slightly singed beard that looked like he had shaved with a blow torch. The man shook his head. “I dunno man, dude is kinda… twitchy…”

“I can do it! I swear I can fight and stuff!” yelled the twitchy man, getting only a couple of eyes from around the bar, which went back to their drinks soon after, none truly cared what was going on in this place, and that made it perfect for what the two were doing.

“Yea, even a rabid dog can fight man, but we ain’t taken just anyone yea know, yea gotta be ready and willing to fight/work with the group to.”

“Well theres also solo stuff Biggs.”

“Yea Wedge I know but the dude barely looks like a ninja… What village did you say you were from?”

“Umm.. I.. uhh.. Didn’t say any-”

“Ugh, just spit it out! Did you even go to an academy?”

“Academy!? I thought you guys train people!?”

Biggs and Wedge looked at one another with raised eyebrows. “...Mate… best yea start walkin’, go find an actual civie job…” Wedge shooed the man off, who slouched and did as told…

“Man… not many good pickings today Wedge.”

“No kidding Biggs.”

The two leaned back in their chairs, possibly waiting for another person to come up, behind them stood a rather large banner that… Looked like it was drawn by an overly enthusiastic 7 year old girl with a fuck ton of glitter, glue and dreams of being a manga artist.

While hyped up on a metric ton of sugar.

As Nagisa walked into the bar she passed by the twitchy man and shifted subtly so that her shoulder slammed into him.

“Hey watch where you’re going buddy!” she snapped, spinning around before turning back to continue moving towards the recruiters. “Afternoon,” she said, nodding to the two of them and pulling up a seat for herself. “Why don’t I buy you guys a drink, then we can talk about that… uh.. .eye catching, banner behind you?” Nagisa suggested, producing the coin purse she had snatched from the other man when she’d crashed into him.

Biggs leaned forwards. “Now YOU’RE speaking my language!” the man laughed raccously rubbing his beard. Wedge seemed to raise an eyebrow. “Man you can’t just let in everyone who buys us a drink, what are you, some puffed up partying college chick?”

“He offered man!”

“Still! Gotta take it slow dude. Plus the kid doesn’t look old enough to drink.” Wedge looked the young man(?) over once, and huffed at the haircut. “...Yea know theres a thing called a barber right? Well? Lets get to it, who are yea, what are yea, and what do yea bring to the table?”

‘The drinks are for you not me,” Nagisa frowned before shrugging. “The name’s Makoto, I was from Suna but I’m done with those arrogant pricks. I can handle myself in a fight and I’m good at infiltration. What else do you need to know?”

So far these two didn’t exactly scream ‘criminal mastermind’ to Nagisa, but she remained on guard, the slightest misstep could undermine her story, either now or at a later date.

“Oh yea? Man i remember Suna, Even undercover msot were just plain assholes… No offence kid.” biggs shrugged as the drinks came along. “So. heres the thing. In the Kyodai you gotta pull your weight.” “No slackin!” “Unless it’s time for slackin’.” “So much slackin’!” “But when it comes to the group you gotta work with the others, we’re all a big old happy business here.” “Like a family but with money!” “Lots of money, if you do your job right. Better work, better pay, easy life.” “Time is money after all!”

The two seemed to bounce off one another rather easily, hell they seemed attached at the hip by anyone’s guess.

“So are you able to work with your fellows? Cause even as a merc you gotta stay loyal to the boss. Shes the head honcho, you cross her and it’s game over.” “Real quick, and you don’t got many lives left.” “Shes the one payin’ yea, and shes the strongest woman in the world so, yea know.” “To be the best yea gotta work for the best!” the two continued to sell it as they could.

“So, you still interested or are yea a lost cause?”

“I’ll work with anyone, as long as I don’t get held back for having the wrong parents, or not being a part of some bullshit clan,” Nagisa said, leaning back and folding her arms. “I just want to work somewhere that appreciates what I can do and lets me do it, no bullshit, no red tape… Something tells me you guys aren’t big on red tape,”

“Oh yea no red tape.” Biggs nodded as Wedge elbowed him softly

“..Hey man whats that mean?”

“Secrets and stuff.”

“Right.” Biggs looked back to… The kid who’s name he had forgotten immediately “Alright kid, heres what we’re gonna do.” he pulled out a piece of paper and slid it across the table. “Can’t fully say your in, but if you head to the location described in the note there, you’ll be on the fast track to getting yourself fully under our banner. Just gotta tell yea before anything else, don’t go about pissing folks off, we got lots of types around here, saying the wrong thing can get yea hurt, , stabbed, cursed, shoved into a dark dimension with no light to speak of or your beard burned in the middle of the night.” Wedge rubbed the sad state of his beard, looking deeply saddened by it’s state.

“And remember, this is your job, but it ain’t you! So try and have some fun alright? You can head off now, not much else to say.”

“Then I guess I’m out of here,” Nagisa said, pushing back the chair and standing up with her hands in her pockets. “Go ahead and order that drink, call it a toast to our future working together,” she said, turning and heading for the door with a wave over her shoulder.




A man waited outside for her, wearing heavy robes over his whole persons, only his eyes were visible. He walked with a cane, though his age was hard to tell. On his back, 5 staves were strapped together.

“Those idiots… found someone?” He sounded honestly surprised. It took him a second to regain his composure.

“First job: steal a Kekkei genkai user. Bring them to us, or a base. Any base. I’m around here. Ask me questions.”

So at least some of them take things seriously Nagisa noted, studying the mouth of the cave. Apart from the man standing outside it nothing was especially notable about the exterior and if she wanted to get inside she needed a kekkei genkai user…

“You didn’t have anyone specific in mind right? She asked the robed man casually. “Just any kekkei genkai user?”

“First job. Low expectations. Prove self, you’ll be an official member.” He stated bluntly. He did, however, produce a small paper from his sleeve.

“List of nearby targets. Nakahara from Naga. Koizume from Edo. Nishimura from Hoku. More on list. Can take other people. Just nearby.”

“...Sure, me do that. Back soon,” Nagisa said, snarking at his odd speaking habits as she took the paper. The list might reveal something about the Kyodai’s intelligence gathering but Nagisa already had someone in mind, although whether that someone was capable if handling this kind of situation was a completely different matter.

Nagisa turned back towards the road without so much as a wave. It was time to meet back up with the others and put together some kind of strategy.

 

[KageYuuki]

Squad 4
Nobushige leaned against a tree waiting for his students. He’d had a few things he’d discovered, but a true gentleman never kissed and told. He laughed.

“Gentleman... Heh, right. Hope Katsumi didn’t cause a cave-in. Or that Yuuki’s not pregnant. Nagisa’s probably fine.”

He looked around for anyone to report.

“Should’ve just let me keep the tag,” Yuuki muttered as he approached, “Would’ve done the world a favor, I bet.”

“You might as well have, I didn’t end up missing it,” said Nagisa nonchalantly, leaning against a nearby tree. She’d retrieved her hat before arriving at the rendezvous, so her ‘new look’ was less obvious than it might have been which-

Why was she even thinking about that?

The Uchiha clicked his tongue, “Glad to hear it.” He finally looked over at his teammate, studying her for a moment. It wasn’t hard to miss that her blonde hair wasn’t hanging down under her hat. Was it just tucked under it?

Why’d he even care?

“Get a room.”

Finally, Katsumi arrived. Her steps were slow and heavy. The sound of metal dragging on dirt had become white noise to her. All this walking was so tiring! Why’d they have to meet up so far away from the cave!

“Uh… Sorry I’m late…”

She looked at Yuuki and then at… Nagisa? Something was different about her, and Katsumi couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Unconsciously, Katsumi stared at Nagisa, frowning.

“OH MY GOD I GOT A HAIRCUT!” Nagisa burst out suddenly, feeling the eyes of her teammates boring into her skull. She glared at Katsumi and then Yuuki resentfully. “It’s not that big a deal, can we just get this meeting over with already?”

Yuuki blinked at her outburst. “We didn’t say anything, the hell’s gotten into you?”

Katsumi’s eyes went wide. “Woah! You did?! You look like a boy now!”

“...Katsumi, you did not just fucking say that…” Yuuki groaned into his hand.

“Huh? Whaddya mean?”

Three kunai flew past the three, aimed at their cheeks. They’d probably be dodgeable… probably.

“Geez, for a bunch of dangerous ninja, you sure do gossip like girls at a sleepover. Mission reports, I want mission reports. So does the Hokage. Aaaand probably the people we’re rescuing.”

Yuuki sidestepped the kunai, the blade taking a few strands of hair as it zipped past. “Ugh, anyway, the kid that kidnapped and experimented on those Ren clan members had a seal on his neck. Activated during our fight, turned his eyes weird colors, but did nothing else. Ren members saw it activate once before, looks to be a way for Daisuke to observe his experiments or something. From his ramblings, looks like there’s a lab hidden somewhere in the Land of Tea.”

Katsumi barely dodged the kunai, a thin red line appearing on her cheek. She refrained from complaining but pouted for a moment. She brought her free hand up to her face and quickly healed up the little cut. “Oh! I found a diary in the cave! There was a secret room that I found. The diary said something about a hideout near something called the Phoenix Trail! I think they called it the northern hideout too.” Katsumi fumbled into her tool pouch and retrieved the diary.

Nagisa caught the kunai, twirling it in her hand almost unconsciously as she spoke. She seemed calm but her grip on the kunai was too tight and there was unmistakable tension coiled up in her shoulders and neck.

“The Kyodai are recruiting pretty much anyone they can get off the streets, including me, but they want they’re recruits to bring back someone with a kekkei genkai to prove their worth. We could fake a capture for an easy in, I have a drop off location and also a list of nearby targets they have their eye on,”

Nobushige picked up the list, looking it over. Nonchalant, he summoned a pen and crossed out a name.

"Can guarantee they aren't finding that one. Well, at least not if they need all of him."

He started to walk southward.

“Well, let’s go. Looks like all the info comes to the same conclusion. We’ll work out details later. Nagisa, are you kidnapping someone on the list, or taking someone in the squad? Might be good training for Katsumi. I kinda promised the Hokage I'm keeping Yuuki safe, I'll get him and myself in. I'm sure you two will be safe, I'll be watching anyways.

Well, seems their hideout in the Land of Tea is growing extremely active. Now a question, if you are at war with other countries, why would not bothering hiding yourself? It’s not a comforting answer. 5 Ryo to the first right answer. I might need to stop to pick up some supplies on the way there, but let’s hurry”

“I don’t wanna get kidnapped though!” Katsumi complained. “Can’t I just sneak in too?”

Nobushige shrugged.

“Fine, fine. If you aren’t going in that way though, take my lucky handkerchief. Its cherry scented.”

Nagisa opened her mouth to say something, then, thinking back to the reaction to her hair, closed it again.

He handed her a white cloth.

“Oh? Thanks!” Katsumi was delighted that sensei was supporting her! She took the handkerchief and held up to her nose to smell it.

“Hey, I don’t smell anythi-“

Katsumi hit the ground like a brick.

“Yuuki, carry her. Wait, shit, the Land of Tea is days away. What are the odds of that working again?”

“I mean… not zero,” Nagisa said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “At least this way we don’t have to rely on her doing any talking,”

“Swear she’s surviving off dumb luck and nothing else,” Yuuki grumbled, opening a scroll and weaving a few hand signs. Thin wisps of smoke reached out from the paper and coiled around her before drawing Katsumi inside.

Enclosing Technique

“I know I wouldn’t go through the trouble of hiding if I’ve got multiple bijuu under my control,” he continued, picking up the scroll and stowing it away.

“Those Bijuu wouldn’t fit in a lab during a lab, or coliseum. Even if they did, the only thing they could do is destroy it. Think harder, boy. Nagisa, what’s the answer? If a bijuu isn’t there, what is?”

Nobushige threw a few coins at Nagisa.

“I dunno, some kind of trap?” Nagisa shrugged as she snatched the coins out of the air. “Maybe whatever they’re trying to pull off… it’s already at the point where it will be useful. They were willing to risk pissing off a bunch of hidden villages, so it would make sense if it's something they think can go toe to toe with all those villages” she frowned as she flicked through the coins. “Hey, there’s only four here you cheapskate,”

Nobushige shrugged and threw another. Sure he was being scammed, but who cared.

“Going to have fun there in the future, Yuuki. Smart answer, Nagisa. So don’t get caught is REALLY important. Whatever they have there, they aren’t afraid of the villages with it, and I don’t think it's the Bijuu. Side note, if we blow the shit out of it, might be a good thing. Buuut, it's not our mission. We get in, we free our ninja, we get out. Nobody should know we were there. By the way, Yuuki, let Katsumi out, she should be waking up soon.”

As Nobushige spoke, he eyed in the distance. A hawk was flying towards him. Holding his arm out towards it, he picked up a message.

“Well. That’s a good update. And a bad one. We’re getting help. The Leaf also discovered this hideout. I was hoping they wouldn’t until we were done. Oh well. They’ll be causing a distraction. They want us to sneak in during this time. Apparently, the lab where the prisoners are is right by the coliseum. So, same plan we did have… Also, we… might… be, uh… working with one… other Jonin.

Guys, just pretend everything about this guy is from a dream. Like, EVERYTHING. Don’t try to make sense of it, don’t even make eye contact. Just… He won’t, get in our way… at least. Shit, I need a drink…”

“Get in your way? Oh, deary me you have such confidence in your allies.” The voice came from a nearby pathway, tree limbs hanging over it like a natural gateway to their conversation, the man was simply standing there, as if he had been waiting for the right time to interject(which he had been, he even saw Katsumi get knocked out while he was following them.). “And here I had hoped you would be happy with some help.” The man stood before the kids and their jonin as he usually does, but the mention of eye contact certainly made the fact his eyes were indeed possibly closed a focal point.

He had appeared without a sound, without cause, and he had an air of subtle oppression about him, as if he was lord of the woods just by virtue of being there.

Yuuki spun towards the voice, kunai already in hand and sharingan blazing. Though the sight of the Leaf headband kept the weapon from being flung at the man. “How the fuck did you…?”

From behind Koma another figure stirred, looking just a bit more tired than she actually felt, the form of a young woman with what be the grouchiest look on her face known to man walked beside her father. “Ugh… why did you bring me?! There are enough people here who can do your dirty work!” Grumbled Atsuko, her hair, usually flowing, was held to her back, entrapping something in its silken whorls. “What’re you looking at runts?” She snapped at the group.

“Fuck you, what are you looking at?” Nagisa shot back, almost without thinking. It had been a long day already and this mission just kept getting more complicated, more dangerous and more grating. Nobushige seemed to think this guy was a big deal, and the way he had appeared so suddenly was pretty credible. Still, there was a hard limit to how much crap Nagisa was willing to put up with at any given time and today she was running perilously close to that limit.

Slowly, Katsumi stirred awake. “Huh?” She asked herself, while looking around at the tan room with a giant seal on the ceiling. “W-wait a minute! Did they trick me again?!” Katsumi stood up, preparing to find a way out of her little prison, but she could hear unfamiliar voices coming from what she assumed was outside. Nagisa’s angry voice followed. What was she mad about?

Something was telling Katsumi not to go back out there. She rarely ever got gut feelings when she wasn't being attacked. It was as if her blood itself was tingling with fear. Whoever was out there must be a pretty scary. Katsumi sat back down and decided to stay put for now.

Nobushige walked forward towards Koma. As he did so, he slipped a pouch of coins, about 1,000 Ryo, into Nagisa’s pocket, without saying a word.

“Look, Koma, I said you wouldn’t get in my way. We both know you do some weird shit. I have to lead these chunnin into an area with AT LEAST one S-ranked nin. Totally doable, but I have to account for everything. You, you I can’t account for, even though I’ll be the first to admit you are much more skilled than I. For example, how did you find us? We’re off the radar, in the middle of a clearing, in the middle of @#$@ nowhere. I really don’t want to know, I’m not sure I’d understand it even if you explained it, but like I said, something I can’t account for.

And your… daughter, the hell is she doing here? Just promise me you won’t get us caught, and we’ll be good. One of your students is one we’re hopefully rescuing, so I guess we need you anyways. Can we count on your for extraction?”

Koma underestimated his creepiness it seems, hell he also underestimated just how surly the other group was, even as Atsuko stuck her tongue out at Nagisa with a bird flipped. Most energy he has seen out of here today really. He didn’t really want to explain the fact he tracked them through asking various tengu to hunt them down along with along with asking the centipede god for advice, he hated visiting the centipede god, so many legs….

“I shall answer this question straightforward, indeed, you can count upon me to get you out, suffice to say an escape route shall be simple enough. As for Atsuko… Well..” he glanced at the young woman who was in a clear huff. “She is here to provide aid to those we find. In likelihood, I will be busy, but I assure you, she is quite the hand at the healing arts.

Amongst other things.” he sighed slightly as he gazed at the Nobu. “And Nobushige… Don’t tell me the odds again, the Hyuuga are bad enough… They were barking up my tree but a few nights ago about not being a ‘fitting teacher.’ As they lose their unpolished diamond of an heiress…

No matter, All things in due time, we have much to do, and places to be.” Koma closed off as Atsuko walked over to the group. Of chuunin. Not quite a ranked ninja herself, but her strength was comparable… “...What's with the seal?” she began poking into their business. “...Weapons? A dead body? Snakes?”

“Nothing for you to be messing with,” Yuuki snapped, passing the small scroll to Nagisa. Koma was already weirding him out, another tag along was doing little to soothe the frustrated Uchiha.

"It’s a delivery,” Nagisa said, the delightful new weight in her pocket going a long way towards soothing her temper. Obviously, it was a nice little bribe, but the money really served as a reminder, she was on the job now, whatever was bugging her about Yuuki would wait, it was time to earn her keep.

“The Kyodai want people with kekkei genkais and we’re gonna give ‘em one,” Nagisa paused for a beat and then sighed, tapping on the seal. “Katsumi you can hear us right? Anybody else would get where I’m going with this but cause it’s you I wanna stress: We are not literally planning to hand you over, this is a ruse, okay?”

 

[KageYuuki]

Nobushige Toyotomi Yuuki Uchiha
Nobushige walked rather casually towards the woods. Yuuki was with him. Nagisa and Katsumi would break in on their own. He had confidence in them. Really he was starting to get a smidgen of pride for them. Not that he would let any of them know that.

“So, Uchiha brat, we’re coming towards a cave system. They have guards posted all over the place. You suck at stealth. How do we get past them?”

A thinking exercise was always how Nobushige liked to start off a mission. Anyone could follow orders, it took someone special to think through it. And that ‘specialness’ is what separated a good shinobi from a dead shinobi...

“In fact, lay out our plan. I’m in charge, I might say no, but it's always a good idea of a leader to ask about thoughts of those under him.”

“You ever going to quit calling me that?” Yuuki muttered before shaking his head, “Anway, like you said, I really am shit at stealth…”

“No shit, if you were any good, I wouldn’t have to question you on it so often. Also, no.”

“Bastard. Well, my stealth might be bad, but yours obviously isn’t. I could hide in a seal of some kind to not give us away.” The Uchiha kept his hands in his pockets, “With Kurou being part of all this, wouldn’t be surprised if we ran into another of his puzzle seals.”

“Boring answer. Correct, but boring. Not how I’m going to do it though. I’m a jonin, I’ve got a lot of tools under my belt. I want this to be a lesson on terrain. They are in a cave. Just think for a minute. A ninja in a cave. What’s good, what’s bad. Just think out loud. Also, the reason I don’t want to walk in is your seals. I’m sure I could get past, but that waste time. My students need me to beat them in.”

Despite speaking of ‘speed’, Nobushige cracked his neck, put his hand in his pockets, and kept walking.

“A hint might be what my elements are. Heh, poor Dotou.”

“Cave-ins are easy enough to cause without earth release but aren’t a good idea unless out of options. Sensors can still pick us up even if we’re moving through the ground or rock itself. So what do you have to avoid sensing jutsu? It’s not like I know your full repertoire.”

“Huh. You’ve picked up more than I thought, congrats. If I hadn’t given my coins to Nagisa, I’d give ya 500 Ryo for that answer. Could add some of the strengths, like can be reinforced, easy to hide in, easy to hide the full deals. Now, to answer your question on sensors, who cares? The answer is speed. The sensors will be confused and will check out where they felt what’s wrong. I’ll be long gone by the time they get there. I’ll avoid a password, be in an area that favors the hider, and we can move quickly. I’ll initially put you in a seal, but don’t expect to stay there long. Its a bit reckless, I’ll admit, but I think it's necessary this time.”

Nobushige looked at the ground, studying it intensively for a moment. No trees grew large in the clearing. Which meant their roots were too shallow to really get in the way. It was about time.

“Now, we’re about to start in 5. What questions do you have?”

Yuuki was quiet for a moment, looking at the trees around them. The area seemed covered in a tense silence. He didn’t exactly want to ask, but… “There anything we can even remotely do about that Koma?” The odd jounin had all but vanished once again and frankly, creeped him out.

“He’s less a person and more a force of nature. There are very few people I fear. For example, your sister…. Is more adorable than scary when trying to kill me. Koma, however, scares the shit out of me. Let him do his own thing. He told me he could get people out, so that much I’m sure is true… anything else?”

Nobushige actually shivered for a moment.

“Anyways. Our goal is rescuing people. I’m hoping they are held in steel, fire is great against steel. One reason it’s just as well you are with me. Now, you know my rule about fighting? I’m going to add another rule to this. Don’t worry. That’s the rule. Just do what you have to and that’s it. People make mistakes when scared, and honestly, long as you don’t do anything stupid, going against people much, much stronger than you isn’t that worrisome.”

Nobushige for a minute flash summoned a bar of rebar, then dismissed it.

“Anyways, you all should be fine. If I end up doing something stupid, it’ll be after you’re all safe. Just keep your mission in mind.”

“Doing something stupid isn’t exactly your style.” Yuuki shook his head, “Nagisa should be getting there soon, we should go.”

“Let’s.”

He slapped a seal onto Yuuki, causing him to disappear into it. Nobushige then started a few handsigns, burrowing into the ground.

 

[Ganryu]

The Land of Frost lived up to its name, as a torrential blizzard swept through the mountains and valleys, and snow higher than buildings built across the ground, requiring tree climbing to just not fall into an endless pit of snow. More than one squad was likely apt to have had to rescue someone from the elements at some point. The biting cold continued for some time towards the destination prescribed on the map. In the middle of the fiercest blizzard yet, the snow seemed to simply, stop. In a one foot difference, the temperature went from the negatives to just a small chill like early fall. Snow ceased, and a beautiful valley exposed itself.

The Valley Hidden by Time.

==================================

In the middle of the valley, a village sprawled forth. It looked like an anachronism, or at least very dedicated to tradition. The wooden homes were well built, in a pagoda like structure, and the streets were organized into perfect grids.

In the village itself, the people all wore traditional kimonos, and markets lined the streets. Even the music that flooded the streets seemed old fashion, though everyone who played seemed masterful at the art. Another oddity would be the absence of slums, or of small children.

The closest thing to a police force visible would be a series of bald men and women carrying staves who patrolled the area. They seemed heaviest in a large shrinelike building with a series of torii leading from it. Of course, if squad 4 was to simply walk the streets, there was no telling how much attention they would attract.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa
​

"Oh thank the the f-f-f-fucking Gods," Nagisa hissed through chattering teeth as the squad crested over a snowy hill and came upon the idyllic valley. "I was starting to wonder how people were even living in this snow blasted h-h-h-hellhole!"

Nagisa had swapped out her usual olive drab clothes for a thick, white, jacket and pants replete with a fur lining but the cold still seemed to be bothering her. Although it didn't come up all that often Nagisa was still from the Land of Wind originally and the snow was a far cry from the desert she'd been born in. In fact Nagisa could already feel what she suspected was going to be a nasty cold coming on in a few days. Hopefully they'd be done with this place and back in Konoha so she could ride out the sickness in relative peace.

WIth all that in mind, the sudden change in climate looked like heaven to Nagisa, but she still halted right before the snow gave out to grass. "Do you think whatever's keeping the snow out is also going to detect us when we cross over?" Nagisa asked, turning to Yuuki and Katsumi. Nagisa had never heard of a jutsu like this, but it stood to reason if these people had gone undetected for so long then they'd taken some basic precautions. "If that's the case then we'll have to push in pretty far to begin with, then conceal ourselves and move cautiously. Assuming they can't actively track us on the inside. We can think about sending Bakuwashi in first as well,"