---

Strolling through the pictures of each files, like a child reading through a book but disregarding all the written information on the adjacent page, the clown made various onomatopoeia to express disgust when she saw all the bodies and broken goods. She didn't make much sense of them, other than the obvious bad things she could deduce from a first glance like there was a struggle or the deed was done rather quickly. It was quite obvious by now that thinking and associating ideas wasn't her thing, even if her creativity knew no bounds. Eventually, she'd create turmoil in the organization of files in one of the boxes, leaving her colleagues the task of cleaning up behind her for the sake of work cohesion and general work ethics.

Then came Rin's rambling about rag-heads? That term some how caught Aoi's attention more than anything else in her rather bigoted and hostile discourse. All that ran in Aoi's mind would be heads made of rags, or even people with rags covering their whole faces! Such absurd images popped into her head, ideas a lot more innocent than what the perverse chuunin was suggesting and would of course be refuted by the only male of the group. Even Akio couldn't really bear with it too well, leaving the harlequin the odd one out who had no idea how to feel about this whole predicament.

"If rag-heads exist then ... How about towel hands?"

She mumbled to herself, placing her priorities where they should obviously be at this point in time. But she'd be brought back to earth when she'd notice her lover severely distressed by something. Quickly walking up to her, Aoi placed her hand on the taller girl's shoulder to manifest her support before looking over the few files the Tendou had looked up previously. Before she'd dive into the files in question, she'd escort her significant other toward a nearby couch and sat her down so she could rest, giving her a kiss on the cheek before checking out what Rin was commenting on.

Aoi tried to make sense of it, the symbol that got everyone's attention. Though she had likely seen it by the time she stayed with Akio, the harlequin had a knack for misplacing relevant memories and appearing absolutely clueless. Though it really seemed like she was onto something at this point, and the increasing tension in her facial expression revealed that she was about to crack the code and expose the truths behind this emotional roller coaster of a case. Opening her mouth, she spewed the following, starting out with a very powerful and solemn voice to have everyone's attention.

"I ... Have no clue! Kiki~ Can you tell us what's wrong?!"

She ran back up at her girlfriend, holding the dreaded file and offering it to her. She of course set on her lap so she couldn't escape and isolate herself out of sorrow, though she concealed it behind an affectionate action. Unlike her lover, Aoi kept her upbeat and overly enthusiastic expression, a strong contrast with what her lover expressed at this point. If Akio's job was to think, then it would be the clown's job to be just that, a clown unbeaten by such events.

---

---

Once they had entered, N.C.4 was not fazed whatsoever by all the decorations in the room nor intimidating by the size of the residence. It had no notion of such emotional attachment to things, to it all it needed was some environment studying to calculate the various small hazards possible during the execution of their plan. Luckily, the massiveness playing in their favor as it gave the robot more space to maneuver its dreaded ability. As they wee introduced, Jun could only focus on what was surrounding them, including Cho's own guards. Then Fi came in, the second target of the mission. Most human beings would have their hearts twisted by the cheer innocence emanating from that child's being, but N.C.4 remained unsympathetic as ever, considering her only as a target that needs to be silenced.

However, one word coming from that young girl's mouth did stir some unrelated thoughts into the bot's mind. 'Hiro', the nickname it was trusted to give to her instead of her usual name. At first, N.C.4 could see this as a rather disconcerting externality considering Chihiro appeared to have a much large attachment to these people than anticipated, but then it realized something else. Why would the Hyuuga heir bother to even attribute such a familiar way of addressing them to people obviously below them? Was it perhaps because they had gained some form of subjective value to her eyes? Was Junshiro of value to her eyes? It didn't make sense to it. It is only a weapon to exact the will of Konoha, to defend it and nothing more, not to create friendships with its citizens. Puzzled, it let the moment go by until Chihiro told the two bodyguards to scram and handle themselves. The robot nodded, knowing fully well what it had to do.

They were in a large room again, but it looked more like a living room with a big TV and various old ornaments to display the riches of the family. N.C.4 counted seven guards simply chilling in the area: three playing cards, two watching some movie on the TV, one moving to use the restroom in the corner and one stood silent leaning against the wall. The silent once seemed more observant, and he could of course notice N.C.4's cold stare studying him. It also recognized the placement of two cameras hidden behind various furniture. It had to calculate how it would execute this all in one sweep and not attract any attention. Considering Chihiro's importance to this family, they wouldn't have their guard up as much as they would normally, at least that's what N.C.4 deduced, most of the armed forces being likely placed outside for security. The silent bodyguard was likely the leader, probably nearing Chuunin level considering the type of protective force they were. He had to go first, otherwise he'd make the quick and painless approach impossible.

Nodding at Gin to start moving toward the stairs, N.C.4 walked up to the overwatching guard with a relaxed composure before asking him something.

"Excuse me. May I have a cup of coffee served, please?"

"Coffee? From the machine? Yeah, sure."

As the man responded, he turned around to walk up to the coffee machine set next to various goods placed for the well being f the employees while waiting. But the instant he turned his back on N.C.4, he felt a very cold and queasy sensation on his abdomen and back. All N.C.4 had one was whip its arm from left to right, swinging a strand of wire in a crescent formation right behind the man at point blank range, essentially cutting him as if he got slashed by a sword. His body fell over in half as he couldn't formulate a single sound through the sheer shock and pain. No blood was formed as the cut was perfectly clean and precise, making it unnoticeable until the two pieces would fall on the ground.

"Thank you, sir."

However the robot would have, just as the pieces fell, pointed its free hand to one direction without making it a brutal and conspicuous movement. It released basic wires which were fired to latch themselves on a wall and be as stressed as possible. When the body would finally make a thud and the bodyguards would turn their attention to see just what these strange movements were, N.C.4 simply waved its fully wired hand from one direction to another with a very brutal and swift move. The wires were enhanced and turned bright blue as the movement commenced. The result would be all furniture and people in the way were sliced in multiple levels and fell into 4 or 5 pieces depending on their position. Because N.C.4 was doing this from the distance of the room's edge, it easily got most of the people in the room.

It was soundless, except for of course the pieces falling over, which of course would capture the attention of Cho in the other room. This was intentional as it would justify N.C.4 entering the room without justification. After all, he'd expect something to have happened. But as the robot entered the room, the same kind of crescent shaped wire was hurled right toward Cho as he bothered to acknowledge the robot's presence. The slash would decapitate him the instant he understood what was going on, silencing him for good.

"There is a camera room, likely beneath us. I'll plant my bomb there. Now move, Hiro."

It ordered before manipulating its wires to make a form of spider web. They would, of course, turn blue to gain as much cutting power as possible before hurling the shape downward. The more it advanced, the more it expanded, destroying the floor beneath it. There was no guard, as expected, but an archive of video files. It made sense, after all this wasn't a casino and it was known via reports that the family wasn't one to keep permanent guards inside the home except for visits. Glory to privacy, right? It dropped the bomb in the room an now waited for the others to finish their job. Patiently expecting patrols to stumble upon this mess and be immediately butchered as they gasped in surprise.

Gin looked over at the monotonous teammate and gave a subtle nod as he stood and stretched before moving over to the wall nearest the staircase. He narrowed his eyes in the direction of NC4 and the guard before closing them briefly.'In through the nose, out through the mouth, heart rate lowering, breathing minimizing....' He took one finally breath as he heard pieces of something fleshy and heavy hit the floor and snapped his eyes open to what was formulated as the cue. "Thank you, sir."

"Kirigakure no Jutsu" He said in almost a hushed whisper, only those who were on the headset with him may have been able to make out what he said but the only way was to see the mist itself actually form in order to know that Gin activated it. His figure quickly faded into the heavy mist before he started to move. Gin made sure that his jutsu spread throughout the manor, inside and out. It managed to have it roll over the manor as naturally as possible but thanks to his training at a young age and especially training with the mist itself, this was no problem. As far as he was concerned, his footsteps were like that of a cat, nimble, quick and silent. He was in his silent killing mode; make the least amount of noise while utilizing the maximum killing proficiency. He refused to use the staircase but chose to use the ceiling as his method of maneuvering the second floor hallway. Applying enough chakra for the jump to the ceiling he crouched low and sprung upwards, twisting himself so that he would land feet first. As he touched the ceiling, he made sure his momentum was dispersed evenly by landing on his toes first and slowly bringing himself back onto the heel before he made his way up the staircase. About halfway there he heard a bit of a commotion which sounded more or less like two guards, most likely talking about something.

As he moved along the ceiling he heard two guards below him who seemed to be in alarm from the sudden mist that had moved through theanor itself. Applying the necessary amount of chakra to his hands he scaled down from the ceiling to the floor just behind them before making a water clone. His movements went unheard as he moved in behind the two, slowly drawing his blade. They were close enough to each other that he and his clone would need only one swing to take them out. His clone withdrew a kunai Gin looked over and gave him a nod. His clone moved in, quickly slicing the neck of the guard that was on the left while Gin swung down at an angle, severing the other guard from the shoulder to the chest before sheathing his blade again. The guard that Gin had dismembered had gave a quickly silenced scream as the blade cut into his flesh. His clone dispersed leaving only a puddle of water that slowly mixed in with the blood that begun to pool from the dead guards.

'Gotta find Fi's room.' He raced down the hallway, looking at each door for the elegant design that represented the daughters personal room. As he searched he heard the faint sound of a young lady singing at the end of the hall. His eyes widened as he slowed down when he was 20 feet from the room. He looked at the doorway, a beautiful designed that accentuated their wealth and the land they were from. Slowly he placed his hand on the doorknob and as quietly as possible turned the knob. As he entered he looked across the room to a nearby window where a small desk was with a mirror hanging just above it. Fi was brushing her hair and humming a beautiful soothing tune. It was a shame really, there seriously had to be no reason to kill her. From what he could see, she was just innocent.

He made his way up to Fi who hummed joyfully in her chair to herself as she looked in the mirror, quickly taking notice to Gin's presence. 'There is no way-' "Hello one who protects Chihiro!" She greeted in a cheery voice. Gin snapped out of his thoughts with a quick response. "G-Gin's fine, Fi-sama. Call me Gin." His voice seizing on him slightly at the beginning. He managed to get quickly give the young woman an eye smile, though it did not have any authenticity to it. "So Fi-sama, how long have you known Chihiro-sama?" Fi sat there for a moment as she thought. "All my life really. It's been a long time since I saw her so I'm so glad that I had that chance again." She looked up and smiled at him. "I really look up to her, she's like my big sister."To be honest I don't know what I would do without her." This struck Gin to the center of his core as it could be seen on his face in a harden gaze that seemed to reach into her sole. He was now torn mentally on what to do. 'No...I can do it. Maybe this is a front, a façade...But it can't be, she seems to genuine. But if I don't do it, then Chihiro-chan will. I can't let her burden this... A somberness fell over his face as he moved closer to Fi which made her feel slightly uneasy. "M-Mr. G-Gin?" Swiftly Gin drew his blade, sparking as it flew out of its sheath into a high pitch chirping, that alone was enough to startle Fi into a silent scream. She just sat there wide eyed as Gin heaved the blade into the air and looked her in the eye, a single tear falling from his face. His voiced trembled "I-I'm sorry, Fi-chan...Forgive me." as he swiftly brought the blade down. Fi had just enough time to lean backwards as the blade cut into her shoulder. Had she not, she would have been sliced in to. It was at this point she screamed and raced to the doorway as Gin stood there, sadness resting permanently on his face as he body flickered in front of her. He ran right into him but he held his ground as she fell backwards. Tears welled up in her eyes as her voiced trembled in a panic. "G-G-Gin-kun p-please! S-Stop! P-Please" Gin gritted his teeth. "This is fucking insane." He thought as his own tears rolled down his face. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard in order to suppress the rising guilt from within. He raised his blade and looked at her one last time. "I wish I could." Everything seemed to slow down as the blade descended and Fi, who seemed to be an innocent girl who was just dragged into this, scream one last time as she covered herself with her arms in an attempt to save herself......



Fi had opened her eyes to see Gin kneeled on the floor in front of her with his head down on it, tears were running down his face if one looked close enough. "I....I can't d-do it. I won't be able to live with myself if I knew I took the life of an innocent." This is what she heard over the chirping sound of the blade planted next to her in the floorboards. Gin believed she was innocent and that that was final, she was caught up in a cruel scheme that her father was a part of and was being punished for nothing other then being related. "W-W-What? What do you mean?" She was wide eyed and scared, her voice still trembled as he continued to look at the floor. Slowly Gin sat up, refusing to look at her directly. With a shaky hand he removed the headset and placed it on the ground. "Please Fi, forgive me. I didn't want to do this in the first place."
"D-Do w-what?"
"I even questioned it."
"Questioned what? G-Gin.. What are you talking about? She was scared but at the same time concerned for Gin.
He looked up and into her eyes. "I...I can't"

This is about to be a ride...

Chihiro stared, tearing at the site of Jun killing him and looked away wiping her eyes, getting out of her clothes, her ninja wear was under and she quickly stuffed everything into her bag, pulling out her headband she looked at, "I understand things have to be a certain way, but these people were so happy, so wanting to see me, how am i supp-" looking up Jun shouted an order and she kicked herself out of second guessing everything, wiping the tear away, she quickly bounded out of the room and ran in the direction of his room. Stopping at the door, she quietly opened it and closed it behind her, two guards quickly turned and she ran, jumping and planting her feet on one of the mans chest, stabbing him in the neck. Turning she quickly legged swept the other and killed him with a stab to the chest, the other guard gasping for breath grabbed her hand "w-w-why..." she looked at him in cold blood and put her hands on his face, suffocating him even more. She looked away until he stopped struggling and stood up. Looking around she remembered all the times she had in this room, playing hide and go seek.

Almost like she was seeing a ghost of little her, she saw her hiding behind the curtains of the window and Fi looking after her. Chihiro climbed up the curtains and used her chakra to say up against the wall, she remembered Fi finding her and calling her a cheater and them laughing about it. It hit her intensely, looking around, she used her Byakugan and began looking for the talisman "Hey it's not in he-" she looked through the house and saw it was upstairs, next to Gin "nevermind, found it, it's upstairs, i'm making my way to you Gin..." though she didn't know about the current situation going upstairs. Running across the fog filled room, she ran up the wall and onto the ceiling avoiding any alterations that could happen incase they were waiting for her. Running silently, she dropped down quietly and walked into the door, only to see Gin crying, his blade stuck in the floor and Fi hurt but not dead.

"D-Do w-what?"
"I even questioned it."
"Questioned what? G-Gin.. What are you talking about?"
"I...I can't"

Chihiro looked down as Fi was startled by her "Hiro...wha-wha...what's going on?!?"

Chihiro took off the headset and she looked up at the ceiling not saying anything. "You fucking coward, you aren't a ninja Gin, you are a fucking coward, get the fuck over your morals and do your damn mission, you have no idea who these two are, and you still can do it...fine" she closed the door and reached over Fi to grab the sword. Fi looked at her horrified.

"H-Hiro what are you doing? Wha-" the blade was stabbed through her stomach and she breathed out, Chihiro looked away, but Fi turned put her hands on Chihiro's face "W-Wh-why...H-" pulling the blade out, the girl started to bleed out and Chihiro put a hand over Fi's eyes, closing them, before turning and stabbing the bloody blade into the floor in front of Gin "Fi was my friend, my little sister and I fucking killed her, I DID YOUR JOB!" she grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him up to see her crying eyes "Listen here, when you're given a fucking job, you do it, regardless of your fucking morals, you think I wanted to kill her, i wanted to kill Cho? No! But i got the fuck over it, you need to figure out which side your on, because if that wasn't Fi, you could be dead, FUCKING DEAD GIN! Fucking figure out if you are cut out for this shit" she pushed him back, and turned not showing him her tears. Wiping more tears away, she put her headset back in "Jobs done, Fi's dead, I'm getting the Talisman now, we'll be on our way downstairs get ready to leave" she quickly used Byakugan and found the talisman in Fi's wall, filled with dozen of things, including a necklace that Hiro head in her room hanging on her mirror.

Stopping she froze, breaking into tears and shaking, she fell to the ground, but she couldn't look weak not now. Getting the talisman, she stood up "Let's go Gin, make your peace if you want..." she left the room and started to run towards the stairs, her mind going blank and running into auto pilot.

Akio didn't respond to any of the others at first, lost in her own world until Aoi sat down on her lap, asking fir her assistance on the matter. The file caused her to jolt, but she quickly shoved down every scrap of emotion she could, wiping her eyes dry as she tried to reclaim some semblance of dignity again.

"I'm sorry about that, truly it's just that . . . not only did this mission just became a good deal more complicated and dangerous, but it's also infinitely more personal to me as well." Akio took a calming breathe as she gestured to Aoi that she was fine and that she could get off now(a lie, but she should be standing up for something like this), before standing upand putting the file on the table. "Carved into one of the victim's bodies was a code that only 3 people know about: Me, Tsukiko-nee . . . and my half-brother, the misding nin known as Kokatsu Tendou. It was a code he'd created when he was young, so he could share info with Tsukiko in secret without drawing the ire of our father. He taught me a year before his . . . departure from the village."

It was clear to all those present that Akio was struggling to keep herself calm about this, her face teeming with so many conflicting emotions that it was near impossible to know what she was feeling, only that she was suffering from a great amount of internal turmoil.

"Knowing this, I can also figure the idenity of his accomplice to most likely be . . . my younger sister, Makoto, whom he kidnapped the day he wiped out our clan, as well as countless others." Akio's voice had dropped to a monotone pitch, as her mind had simply shut down all of her feelings for now, so as she could still continue to function. If not, she was sure she'd break down under the onrush of unresolved issues and emotions this mission was bringing back from the depths of her subconscious mind. "Considering the skill of our enemy, it would be a horrible idea to meet him on his own terms and on his own terf. However, we have the perfect bait to draw him out: me. Kokatsu and I held a close bond, . . . as close as two siblings could ever have. He was, and most likely still is, obsessively possessive over those he cares about, thinking of them as his and his alone. He'll come for me if we make rhe trap obvious enough,,though if he doesn't or if he escapes, than our secondary objective is to find and apprehend Makoto and use her to draw him out."

"Since the kidnappings have upped in frequency, it shouldn't be too long before we get a chance to strike. I'll write down a packet contain everything I know about him, but first I . . . I just need some time alone. Be back in 10, and if the rep gets here before I'm ready, just tell him I need to take care of some business. I'll get the details later."

Akio gave them all a curt nod, before walking out of the room at a fast pace, heading towards a connected room, and shutting the door behind her with a bang. She'd sit on the bed, hair covering her face begore lying down and letting everything flow out through her tears. She didn't make a single sound though, as she curled on the bed, struggling on how to dealwith all of these feelings she thought she'd moved on from upon meeting Aoi. But here they were, bigger than ever as she was now closer to seeing her brother again than ever before, the memories of the past conflicting with the gruesomeness of his murders in her head. And so she would stay, silently riding through wave after wave of unfiltered emotions, raw feelings, and the stirrings of deep anger and rage.

@Savato

@Altered Tundra

@Assassin

"Hiro...wha-wha...what's going on?!?"

'No...Chihiro...' He gasped quietly as he turned to see Chihiro standing above him, looking at the ceiling. "You fucking coward, you aren't a ninja Gin, you are a fucking coward, get the fuck over your morals and do your damn mission, you have no idea who these two are, and you still can do it...fine" His eyes widen as she reached for the blade."H-Hiro what are you doing? Wha-" "Ch-Ch-Ch-Chihiro-chan...Hiro-chan...HIRRROOOO! Gin yelled in a feeble attempt to stop her but to no prevail. The blade pierced the scared girls chest as Fi's eyes said it all. Betrayal, confusion, fear. All Gin could do was sit the in a kneeled position and be a spectator because he wouldn't eliminate his objective. "W-Wh-why...H-"

He stared at her body, a shaky had moving up to remove his mask but was stopped short as he heard the blade being replanted into the floor, causing him to flinch. Quickly he was yanked off the ground, his eyes wide as he looked into Chihiro's own which showed anger and guilt, but most of all, sadness.. Though, she would now have to carry the guilt and burden of this, something that Gin could have...Should have. "Fi was my friend, my little sister and I fucking killed her, I DID YOUR JOB!" He scanned her face, hoping to see something different but her eyes were not changing. She sent daggers into him and he could feel it in the pit of his soul. He looked away from her and back at Fi's lifeless body and gritted his teeth.

"Listen here, when you're given a fucking job, you do it, regardless of your fucking morals, you think I wanted to kill her, I wanted to kill Cho? No! But I got the fuck over it, you need to figure out which side your on, because if that wasn't Fi, you could be dead, FUCKING DEAD GIN! Fucking figure out if you are cut out for this shit" He was thrown back to the ground. He didn't try to resist, he deserved it. In stead he stayed there and looked at Fi. She seem so at peace even after what just happened. Gin brought up his weak hand and took off his mask, something he never did unless something really, REALLY bothered or upset him. He never turned off his mic so it wouldn't be a surprise if that other teammate heard all of this. He decided just to sit there next to the doorway and stared at Fi. His headset resting on his lap, the button pressed in without him realizing it.

"She's right Fi...I'm not a ninja...I'm a fucking coward. You know though, you were lucky Fi, to have some like her in your life. His voice began to tremble. "B-Because I don't. I don't have a little sister or brother. I'm by myself...but you had her...A sweet caring individual, one who would lay her life down for family and friends. Instead she took yours because I let my morals get in the way of my judgment. I'm a coward, a disgrace and-AND NOW BECAUSE I FAILED SHE HAS TO BEAR THAT WEIGHT! NNNNAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" He could no longer hold it in, he screamed in pain and sorrow, but not because he failed to do it, but because he failed to do it for a friend. He was upset for Chihiro, one of the very few friends he had in Konaha since he moved there. He considered her like family and he failed her.

His scream was heard through the hallway as it traveled down and past Chihiro. After a moment he stood up weakly and went over to Fi, gently picking her up and moved her to her bed, his breath hitching almost in a rhythmic pattern as he neared the bed. He gently placed her in the bed. She looked so peaceful. His face show little emotion besides guilt. He placed her legs under the covers and gently crossed her arms. Carefully he brought the covers up to her face. He took in as much detail as possible before placing the covers over her. and turning towards the door. As he went to leave something caught his eye on the table that Fi had sat next to. He gazed at it before moving closer to see it. It was a small red box with gold wrapping around it for décor. Next to it a small envelope which read "Hiro-onee san. It wasn't sealed. Gin looked back at the doorway before looking back at the envelope and opened it.



He looked at the box before picking it up and opening it. Inside contained a necklace that was enscribed with "Sisters Forever". Soberness remained on his face as he closed the box, put the letter back inside the envelope and placing both in his bag and moving to the doorway, picking up his mask, blade and headset. He placed the bomb next to the table where Fi sat. It wasn't to far from where she laid. "I'm on my way." Was his only reply.

---

In his small corner, where he sat at the bar counter lightly chugging back a mug of light alcohol, Tsukiya found himself staring irritably through the dense smoke in the room. The smoke that clogged his throat and choked him with wispy hands. One of the numerous things he had hated about Yopparai's tavern. If not for the hearty ale that filled the guts of his Wraiths, the womanly pleasures, and of course the cheerful crowd; he'd never step foot into the place. Besides the smoke that bothered his lungs and occasionally caused a cough or two, the tavern's floor was usually dirty with broken glass and dust. The mugs that the regular customers drunk out of was dirty, and the women … well they were less than desirable.

With a light tap he placed his empty mug on the counter and held up declarative hand to stop the barkeep from pouring more. Unlike Yopparai, whose being seemed made completely of alcohol, he could not chug back mug after mug of burning drink and still function normally. It was out of his area of expertise. Though he did enjoy watching Yopparai's and his own Wraiths makefools of themselves. A young Wraith, who he believed to be sixteen, lept onto a rigidity table and sung a jaunty tone, all while a crowd of others clapped.

Tsukiya turned around on his stool and stretched his arms along the edge of the bar, his back leaning on the wooden counter. He had begun to clap within the folds and veils of his furred cloak when Yopparai approached him. His words had not reminded him, only reinforced that Yopparai—the idiot that he was—could be responsible when the time came. Which, when asked, was one of his explanations for teaming with the man. Along with a few others.

“Right.” Tsukiya stood up from the stool, almost rivaling Yopparai in height. He was but a head short of being his equal. “I was waiting for you to be ready. All that drinking and loud noise puts you in a good mood … usually. I didn't want to hear any whining from you once we were on the road. And he's no more of a cunt than you are. Be nicer to people, mothball,” suggested Tsukiya casually before shrugging passed the man, landing a friendly pat on his large shoulder as he did.

As he moved forth, his cloak enclosed around his thin frame, the light of the tavern warming his pale features with a eerie, deadly countenance. He couldn't explain the gut instinct that a disaster was closing in on him. That danger was nearby … or approaching from behind.

Couldn't shake it either. So it was only natural that he fell into a foul mood.

---

With every word that left the white-haired man's mouth, Tsukiya found his shoulders jerking upward and hands cringing into claws. He thought if the man had drunk enough at the tavern that he'd be more sedated. Like a child who was allowed to bring toys with them on a trip. But that wasn't the case.

Tsukiya paused in his graceful steps after the last “Are we there yet.” fell from Yopparai's mouth. Keeping his head straight and attempting to fix the twitching frown on his face, Tsukiya spoke. “If you were listening half a mile back, instead of throwing pebbles at wildlife, you'd know your answer. Now shut your damn mouth … for the love of Kaguya, pleassse, shut your mouth.” He sighed with the release of his pent up frustrations. Knowing Yopparai, his words had gone in one ear and out the other. So he hadn't exploded—when moments later—the tall pirate had lost his patience again.

Tsukiya paused, feeling a thread of familiarity as he caught sight of a twelve foot tall boulder on the fringe of the path. The nearby rocks and trees surrounding it seemed unremarkable but the boulder's presence pulled him anyway. With a starting jog, he leaped onto the rock with easy and balanced himself onto it. Up high, the wind tossed his ashen hair; he refused to remove his arms from inside his cloak to rectify it. In his sights was the monumental castle, the waters surrounding it mirrored the sky above.

He glanced around, his eyes fidgeting with apprehension. “Something's- The fuck.” he uttered, catching glimpse of a spark, then a spreading explosion rocking the castle. The boom shook the air before heating it and singeing his face suddenly.

J-Just what the fuck is going on? His jaw tensed and his fist clenched. Just the thought of losing Cho, a wealthy informant with resources that dwarfed most, enraged him to the point of acting recklessly.

“Yopparai,” he muttered, anger lining his words; the flames roaring and reaching the sky in front of him. “We have a problem.”

---

Echos of uncertainty and emotions ran amok in the transmitter worn by N.C.4. The robot could hear all they were doing, and didn't comprehend why it was such a difficult task for Gin to accomplish. Evidently, the chuunin was a let down, being unable to fulfill what he signed up for and now causing difficulties in the execution of the mission. As it seemed hopeless, N.C.4 was about to intervene when the sound of footsteps coupled with a rather solemn discourse caused it to freeze. For once in a very long time, it felt uncertainty of its own when hearing the voice of Chihiro through the headset, the details of the mission clearly indicated the ties she held with this family. It was enough that she served as bait for the operation, but now she was given a job she wasn't supposed to have. Junshiro could only put this on Gin's back, his incompetence causing collateral damage that could have easily been avoided. His sobs left no effects to N.C.4's conscience as it simply waited for them at this point.

No patrol approached the area despite the fog, possibly due to the fact that most were outside, and the few remaining had no idea what was going on. Though eventually one would alert the others, hence the time limit imposed by the robot to hurry it up and avoid any unnecessary confrontations with hostiles. With that said, a stray maid was trying to guide herself through touch while calling out for anyone if they could hear her. N.C.4 could, but no one else was around. As she laid a foot on the room filled with bodies, a wire linked to both edge of the rooms tightened itself and would cause her to cleanly slice her throat as she walked into it without a chance of seeing it.

"I recommend you hasten your retreat."

It spoke through its headset, feeling rather preoccupied that they weren't being as efficient as desired, added to that Chihiro's obvious emotion distress at this point. Just as they seemed to reach the stairs, Chihiro almost mechanically dropped her bomb on a night table in the hallway, insuring a decent spread in explosive reach. The robot would barely be able to capture the sound of a charging man as a security official managed to tackle Chihiro down through the stairs as she remained catatonic after the events, a knife diving into her hip as they crashed down. The event was fast, but as the man stood in a frenzy of fear, he attempt to stab the princess to death despite not knowing who he tackled only to have is upper body cut up into three pieces, and then to twelve as they fell over to a new set of wires. The Hyuuga was drenched in blood, but it couldn't be helped considering her position. The robot quickly ran to her and picked her up in a fireman's carry. Its superior strength allowed it to perform this with ease without being slowed down.

"Mister Gin. We're leaving through exit C. I detect reinforcements approaching the main entrance."

It said as it started to speed walk through the correct corridor, as if it had memorized the entire layout of the building from just the plans. It used of course its thermal visor to detect such people and to coordinate itself through the area despite having the mist active. They would quickly reach the exit, Chihiro's wound already gaining enough size to have consequent blood loss. Luckily, they had planned to hunker down at a safe house nearby as things would cool down and searches would die out. When reaching the exit, the bot removed a small detonator from its pocket as the fresh, clear air enveloped its lungs. It was night, so detecting them wouldn't be as easy, especially with the mist distracting most inside.

By then, it swiftly dash through a few neighboring houses, as a medium sized village was immediately linked to the massive castle. They had the cover, and now, all it had to do was to press the single button on the detonator. With one click, a bright flash occurred as the three spherical bombs exploded in sync, essentially engulfing the whole structure into flames. A few seconds later, it would have most of its foundation crumble down from all the damage it had taken at once. N.C.4 remained motionless for a few seconds to witness the success of the explosion. Afterward it dash through alleyways as most villagers awoke from the groundbreaking noise of the catastrophe they had caused. Gin was to follow N.C.4 to remain as inconspicuous as possible before they'd reach an old looking, rustic building with a strange key lock. N.C.4 had the corresponding key which it would use to unlock. Quickly, to closed the door behind the group, insuring no one followed them.

It didn't waste time however as it laid Chihiro on the couch of the living room, immediately removing her clothes to inspect the wound. No vital spots were hit, but she was still bleeding out. Removing a few wires from its body, it made a few knots on the girl's flesh to limit the bleeding before a much thinner strand would protrude out of its index finger.

"Hiro. I recommend biting on this. I will not lie. This will hurt."

It passed her a wooden stick laying on a nearby table. They had no anesthetic and it had no time to go look for some. It jabbed the stitch into her flesh and muscle before commencing the operation. A strange aura emanated from the robot as it started to move its hand wielding the stitch in such a blindingly fast way that it almost seemed like magic. It was healing Chihiro rather quickly with what seemed to be advanced medical ninjutsu, but it seemed entirely focused in the job and energy consuming. Even a drop of sweat would drip out of the normally superhuman being. After about a minute, the sutures would almost entirely link the damaged flesh to insure maximum recovery. Nonetheless, the pain was there and it would feel like just coming out of an operation.

"You will live. I must insist on you consuming an extra amount of food and liquids as you've lost a good amount of blood. The damage to your body isn't severe, however overexerting yourself will be painful and may break my sutures. It is best to stay put. Mister Gin shall tend to your needs in the meantime."

It told Chihiro, more than likely in great pain, as it took off the clothes imposed by the Hyuuga which were all drenched in blood and went back to wearing its typical black attire. It felt more comfortable in it and would feel at ease when overwatching from a window if anything suspicious occurred outside of their base. As expected, search teams have already been scattered to either help possible survivors in the castle, or were looking for fugitives possibly linked. It was also anticipated that multiple perimeters were established give the influence Cho had. They weren't going to take this lightly.

---

"Wow, insane shit." Rin said, almost speechless about what Akio had just explained to them and took a minute or ten for herself.

Of all that Akio had explained and said about her brother, Kokatsu Tendou. Yes, Rin was starting to remember now. That symbol and that last name of Tendou, Rin now remembered that it was Rex who told her once before back when she was young about some massacre that happened. Of course Rin, at the time, was way too young to even understand what that meant or anything of the sort. But obviously now it was suddenly important. Based on Akio's words, it actually might have a strong presence in their mission.

"So, Aoi-sensei, did you know any of this?" Rin asked Aoi, "I mean, you two are dating and from what I understand, for the better part of the last two years, or so the village gossip says." Rin said, speaking of how everyone within the close-knit circle of the chunin class that included Aoi and Yamato and the like.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Shouken took a second to take what the Tendou girl had said and processed it through his mind.

Hmmm...This kid sounds like he's fairly strong.

Shouken took another second to observe Akio's reactions and realized that the mission had just gotten a little more complex.

As Akio proceeded out the door, Shouken carefully depicted her feelings about the situation (If they weren't already clear enough and even though she didnt make a sound, the boy knew her reason for leaving and decided to keep it to himself.

He had heard Rin speaking once, but her current question was the one that caught his ears. She asked Aoi about the Kokatsu in a demanding manner, however Rin probably didn't realize her tone and for that matter Aoi probably didn't catch it either, so yet again he kept quiet and examined a few documents near him and began reading on the kidnappings. He was hoping to find a pattern other than that of the symbol and be able to catch there killer, but there was nothing.

If there were any other clue, they wouldn't have needed us...

Neatly stacking his papers, Shouken stood up from his chair at the table and headed for the balcony. He knocked on his left hand pocket to hear the ting of his little tin case. His mission has possibly changed complete objectives and took on a slightly different caliber, so he wasn't sure when he'd get another break.

"Aoi-sensei, if someone arrives, may you please tap on this door window?" He asked, while opening and slipping out of the door, gently letting it close completely. Within seconds he was atop a parrallel roof only a few feet from the hotel.

Shouken popped his tin and took one his rolled treats from the casing. A lighter sat evenly fitted in the case and Shouken snagged it and proceeded to light his joint. The smoke filled him up and relaxed his muscles. His brain ran with thoughts but soon afterwards he excluded all that from his mind. Instead he was chuckling at the city below, calling them ants and what not.

Running through the hall, she dropped her bomb on the night table, sensing something from behind her, she turned and braced herself, about to preform a jutsu the man already contact with her and full on spear tackled her down the stairs. He pulled out a knife and she tried to reach for it, but the knife successfully stabbing her in the hip, she blacked out slightly from the stab, but adrenaline pumped through her veins as Jun quickly finished off the man, she snapped out of combat mode and suddenly her lower body was burning beyond belief. Jun picked her up, but she was already zoning out looking at the ceiling and then suddenly the sky. They were running...really really fast now, and she felt the air blowing past her "Ju..." weakened she could barely speak but she detected something was watching them. They quickly were in the village and then quickly got into a building, being laid down "Jun...." she reached for Jun, but Jun didn't hear her "People..."

Jun told her to bite down on something, to which she did and then instantly regretted it, biting down, it started cracking. As Jun kept stiching her wound, Chihiro groaned in pain and balled a fist until it was done and she moved away, taking the spoon out of her mouth she threw it at Gin "get...me...water...please..." looking over to Jun "and...you...listen" she raised her voice to get Jun's attention "I've...been...trying...to tell...you..oh fuck it..." she slowly pulled out a pad and pen and started writing. Sliding it over to Jun. It read "I don't know what to make of it, but these two people were watching when we left the estate, they are around us, I don't know what to make of them, they're strong though, their chakra is different, i don't know if you want to do something, but i'm obviously going to need to rest a little, maybe ten to twenty minutes" she looked at Jun and sighed "Fucking this sucks..."

He began to make his way down the staircase after he had shut the door to Fi's room. He was mentally drained from what occurred and just moved on instinct as he approached the staircase. Gin had expected to see Chihiro or Jun to be at the bottom of the staircase but instead it was barren minus the two dead guards. He leapt off the top step as he heard over coms Jun warning him of the incoming reinforcements and the alternate exit. As his jump brought him closer to the ground he applied chakra to his legs and fell into a crouched position before springing back up and jumping forward, kicking himself off the wall in front of him and to the left, out towards the hallway in the direction. It didn't take long for him to find it, however, he wasn't in the clearing yet.

As he made his way out the alternate exit, he could only see where Jun and Chihiro had gone to before seeing a bright flash promptly followed by an incredibly loud boom. He wasn't close enough to be blown away by the explosion but enough so that he was hit with the shockwave that immediately followed the flash. He was hurled some ways in the direction of his teammates. Thankfully however, the distance and air that he had gotten from the blast was enough for him to adjust his trajectory towards a building 3 doors down from where Jun and Chihrio had taken shelter. It wasn't going to be a perfect landing but it sufficed. He landed feet first to break most of the momentum before losing his footing as the rest of his body impacted. Gin shielded himself for the far as the ground came up to meet him. With a groan he slowly began to stand up, shaking off the small dirt and debris from the explosion. Quickly Gin brought his hands together and put up a henge and making his way up to the house.

Once Gin was inside, he turned to face the door and closed it, taking off his henge. He stared at the door for a moment, trying to comprehend all that had happened. But that was cut short however to the sounds of what seemed to be Chihiro in pain. He whipped his head around to see a badly wounded Chihiro as Jun was stitching her up. "Fuck" He said in a low voice. "get...me...water...please..." Without hesitation he pulled out his canteen and undid the lid before moving over to her and lifting her head so she could take a drink from it. 'This is all my fault. If I had just-' He shook his head as he tried to avoid thinking about it. He quickly took notice to Chihiro as she wrote down something on a piece of paper. He could only get a glimpse of it though but it was enough to put him on edge. ...these two people were watching when we left the estate, they are around us, I don't know what to make of them, they're strong though, their chakra is different, i do-. He tried changing his demeanor to fit what was going on presently, it was hard and it could still be shown in his tone of voice but he managed to do it. "If we're going to do something we best do it now..."

---

Yopparai was so absent minded at the moment - he was not really busy and didn't expect anything to happen - that he didn't notice the spark that Tsukiya saw. As such he responded rather casually, “Problem? Why? Did you pee your pan-” BOOOOOOOM! Yopparai was taken aback a bit and hopped backwards, standing on one leg whilst having the other pulled up a bit, meanwhile guarding his body with his arms. “Nááánda! What was that?! Did your informant throw a party or something?” he asked as soon as he righted himself and stood back into a straight position, walking closer to the rock Tsukiya was standing on. The tone he used was obviously joking, but he didn't really seem to care too much about the whole giant explosion thing.

With a sharp eye, Yopparai made out the silhouettes of three people moving like shinobi move in the streets of the attached village. He squinted with his eyes, trying to get a better look. “One.. two.. three. Three little piggies, in a butchery! Woohoo! Let's go take a look and have a talk shall we?” he said, cheerful all of a sudden now that he had something interesting to do. Usually when Tsukiya dragged him over here he'd spend time in the tavern, emptying them of all their alcohol. Now, now he could talk with some shinobi. It'd been a long time since he got to talk to any shinobi that were still part of a village. Most of the people he saw in his tavern were either rogue nin looking for shelter from hunter nin temporarily, or just travellers that had no idea what they were getting in. It was a good thing that the hunter nin didn't dare venture close to the tavern, for assorted reasons.

Yopparai set his foot forwards and took a big swig of his alcohol flask again, which was seemingly bottomless, before looking back at Tsukiya while he continued walking. “Woowee! Let's go, Tsukiya-chan!” he said with an impishly pestering voice. With that said he pushed himself off from the dirt with a chakra augmented jump, as all shinobi should be able to do, and sent himself flying through the air towards the village. Luckily it wasn't that far from where they were.

If anyone was paying mind and was standing outside (likely, since everyone was looking at the explosion most likely) they would notice a figure flying through the air in a large arc, his arms going round in circles in an attempt to stabilize himself somewhat, and a gigantic flask in one of his hands. ...thud! Bending lightly through his knees as he landed, Yopparai landed on top of the first house he could reach within the village, looking back quickly to look at Tsukiya, seeing if he was coming, before continueing on his way regardless. Tsukiya would know by now that when Yopparai was feeling like doing something he wouldn't hold back to do it. But he would also know that while Yopparai was reckless, he was not one to needlessly attack someone for no reason. As such he was probably going to take a look at these three nin and see what they were all about - informants could be replaced, but information about these shinobi could only be acquired once.

He pushed off again and flew through the sky again in a large arc, hands and legs waving around as he did, more so for fun than for an actual purpose. Again he landed on a building, this time the building across the road from where the three shinobi had holed up. He slowly walked up to the building edge, in an attempt to look cool and mysterious, before dropping down onto the road in front of their little shelter. He stayed out of sight as much as he could, not knowing now that it'd be useless since there was a Hyuga inside that house. Slowly he would walk up to the nearest window and look inside. He tried to make out what was going on, only noticing remnants of an emergency surgery. And.. that chick was writing on a paper. Yopparai didn't pay much mind to the paper, and looked at Chihiro's face. Oh, what a beautiful girl. Maybe she was interested in being the new barmaid in his tavern? That'd be interesting! He should ask her that. “Oioioi.. nanda?!” he suddenly blurted out raising his hand at Tsukiya as a sign to stop whatever he was doing. With a quick movement Yopparai would dash backwards and up onto the roof where Tsukiya would likely be right now. Something seems to have thrown Yopparai off, and since Tsukiya knew Yopparai he'd also know that Yopparai had about one or two fucks to give in total, and that if he was thrown off by this then that means it must be either something very significant, or that Yopparai had seen a new toy that he wanted to take.

Suddenly, Yopparai's voice was a lot more hushed, in an attempt not to scare off any of the shinobi inside. “Ohh, Tsukiya-chan.. I saw something you will like.. hihihi..” He let out a small giggle, indicating that he was sort of nervous about what he was about to say, but also very giddy and happy with it. “One of them is w-hihih.. wounded.. and guess what Tsukiya-chan.. sh-she has the Byakugans! She's a Hyuga!”

Yopparai was no longer able to hold himself and did a little jiggy dance on the roof, mostly being just him jumping from foot to foot whilst going around in a circle. “Ooooooh Tsukiya-chan! Let's take it and share it! You take one of her beautiful eyes, and I take one! Fair deal? Okay! Let's go!” he said, sliding one of his hands upwards to his shoulder and taking his sword from it's strap. He used just one hand, a testament to his strength, but it was still a heavy sword and you could see that it was heavy by the way he moved it. With a casual movement he placed the back of the sword on his shoulder whilst he held the flask of alcohol with his left hand. A single glance to Tsukiya would be enough to kickstart the incoming danger for the three shinobi.

Yopparai dropped down from the roof again and put the flask on a leather loop on his belt, hanging it there whilst he worked on creating an opening into the house. He walked up close to the walls of the building, no longer attempting to be inconspicuous, only worried about obtaining a Byakugan. “Yopparai-no-jutsu: Explosive Entrance!” he said as he grabbed a hold of the Blastsword with two hands and swung in a 180 degrees circle. His sword crashed into the wall of the building, cracking it with mere power alone, but it wasn't enough to take down the wall. “Kaboom! Hihihihi!” With a mighty roar the explosive tags on the sword exploded, creating a wall of smoke and a hail of bricks being sent flying into the building, a danger to those that were inside.

With casual steps Yopparai would then walk through the smoke in front of Tsukiya. As much as Yopparai liked to deny it, he was in a way Tsukiya's inferior, and as such he had taken it upon himself to protect him by going in first. That said, Tsukiya was also not as close ranged as he was, so it also made more sense for Yopparai to take the vanguard. “Hellooooooooo! Konoha-shinobi! It's been so long since I saw Konoha shinobi, what are you doing out here so far and away from home? Kakakakakaka!” he cackled, appearing from the smoke with his flask in his left hand again, and his right hand holding the sword on his shoulder. “I need a new barmaid!” he yelled as he stood in front of the three shinobi, waiting for Tsukiya to take a move. For now, he'd have the element of surprise as long as Tsukiya stayed hidden - Yopparai was hoping to pull the Hyuga's attention away from Tsukiya whilst he maneuvered into position. Either that or Tsukiya just came in through the hole in the wall. Or the door. Yeah, Yopparai forgot about the door. But it wouldn't be as explosive! if he had remembered the wall.