---

Saburo had been trailing through the woods nearby Konohagakure for days now. Well, 'nearby' was to be taken lightly. He'd been trailing through the entire Konohagakure territory for days now, and currently the territory was quite expansive given they had taken upon themselves the protection and guarding of some small civilian villages nearby as well.

But that was not quite the reason why he was there. His 11th corps outfit would quickly give away who had sent him there, namely Fujitora Choko, eleventh corps royal commander. Or perhaps one of his highness' underlings, which was more likely given that Fujitora Choko was likely busy with more pressing matters, such as consuming vast amounts of cigars. That's as much as Saburo had seen, anyway. Never the less Fujitora was an able commander, and even if he wasn't, the 11th indoctrination would make sure the agents thought he was anyway.

With a soft thud and some kicked up dust, Saburo landed in the middle of the dirt road he was above just seconds earlier. He was alone out here, doing the 11th's bidding as always. No backup, no comrades, just him. And that's how he liked it, honestly. His hand swept over a track he had seen, trying to discern who it was from. Seemed like the footprint of a shinobi sandal, except.. there were strange printings within, one that pointed at armor, perhaps. The print was also deep, deeper than usual. The person was either very heavy, or carrying something heavy. Again, pointing at armor. Strangely, that fit the description of one person Saburo was meant to look out for.

And within an instance, no, barely even that, he felt a strange feeling overcoming him. He quickly rose to his feet and grabbed Madara's gunbai from his back, standing at the ready. This wasn't right, what was that sudden pressure he felt pressing on his senses? This chakra, so strong.. it felt familiar, too, at the same time. Had he met this person before? Could it truly be? If so, well.. he was under oath to make a solid judgement on whether to take down this person or not, but truly, in this moment, it was not about doing your job, it was going to be about survival if it came to that.

For a moment, silence ruled in Saburo's mind, as he tried to discern the location of this person. The sheer amount of chakra in the area made this nearly impossible, even when he activated his two Sharingan. This would actually only make it harder for him, as he felt his eyes started to hurt from simply seeing so much chakra. It was, in a sense, 'overloading' his eyes. But then it seemed the chakra all dissapeared at once, as if it was sucked away in a vacuum motion. And in that moment, Saburo could also, briefly, locate the person. He quickly turned his face towards the location, only to be met with two snow-white eyes staring at him. “Ku..” he said, remembering this persons name all too well, but before anything else could happen, or the name could leave his mouth, the person vanished in a gust of leaves. It seemed the meeting was destined to end fairly swiftly, as Saburo noticed at the same time two Konohagakure patrolsmen coming in in the distance. They seemed to have not noticed anything nearby, which only raised Saburo's suspicions.

He greeted the two patrolsmen and quickly turned around and went to return to Konoha. This meeting had to be documented and Fujitora Choko, the royal commander, had to be informed straight away. He moved as fast as his legs would carry him, which was quite fast, even for shinobi standards. But he knew, in the back of his mind, that any report he could bring out would always be too late given the power and influence of this person he'd been trailing. Sometimes he wondered why Fujitora even ordered him to patrol these areas for this armored person.

---

Kirigakure has been widely known throughout the centuries as being a wildcard in regards to the current system of peace brought since the 4th Shinobi War. Many people were still stuck with the mentality of a paranoid warrior, sure that one day they'd regret abandoning their sacrifice of general ethics to promote their military strength. Slowly but surely, it became more of a stereotype than anything, but the world knew a certain bloodlust remained innate in the minds of these people.

The 17th Mizukage, Yoru Tenchi, was the one responsible for igniting their fear inducing flame that reflected perfectly well the ideas of the past. Or at least that's how other nations wanted people to see it. Yoru Tenchi's dream was far from the war mongering behavior of the Yagura reign and never preached a return of the Bloody Mist. Superior armament of Kirigakure and by extension the Water Nation were the primary goals of the reputated Kage. He did not wish to have his people weakened by remaining in a vegetative state, he knew perfectly well this corrupt peace that enabled other issues would one day pop.

Surprisingly, a large part of the population disregarded various slander of his image and agreed with most of his points, especially with the idea of cleansing the streets of Kirigakure. Unfortunately he'd be involved in an 'accident' in a serious mission he was in the obligation to take part in. Many believe he was disposed of by the higher ups as he put their reign in peril over revolutionizing ideals that became immune to public humiliation. It was the first step to the people's complete lack of trust toward the government and would only rise in time.

Today the 19th Mizukage, Hariyama Kakuma, faces a threat that was almost prophecized by his predecessor. Konoha had finally shattered the fragile stability it held dearly with Zeno Hakarasu, giving hope to those wanting change in their nation. Hope under the form of fear of the outside world, of course. Ayame Choko's speech could only be discribed as belligerent by the frightened, foreign masses. On that very same day, protests demanding a complete reform of the political model they living under littered the streets with mobs and thieves taking advantage of the situation.

---

Ever since that day, when protests happened, the streets were empty and calm. Not the kind of calmth that was enjoyable, either, no, it was the calmth that perfectly described the situation in Kirigakure. Things were about to explode, it was noticeable in every single vein of your body if you found yourself in Kirigakure. And while there was initially a large follow up to initial protests in the form of even more protests, slowly that waned too. People were desperate and their protests didn't seem to get the message across.

Powerful figures started rising in the movements, and while the movements remained fractured, they formed a single front to combat the Kirigakure government politically. But like all protests that prove to go unheard.. the next step was logical. And given Kirigakure's unstable past, it was the only step available for them. Minor incidents seemed to happen, first it was a beating up of a Kirigakure shinobi. Soon after, that very same shinobi was found in the hospital by an angry mob, and chased. Luckily for that shinobi he made it out of the hospital and was rescued by his peers, but it set the tone for the rest of the conflict.

Small incidents, the Mizukage said. This wouldn't happen again, he claimed. He tripled security on government buildings, a testimony to how he didn't believe in even his own words. Politics, and feelings, they were two seperate things and it was noticeable in every decision the Mizukage made. It didn't take long before the very first unified front was created, not for politics, but for revolt. Some shinobi even switched side, giving the rebels a powerful arsenal of both military weaponry and skilled shinobi.

The incidents remained small, or a time being of course. Incidents like these often have the tendency to take extremer forms rapidly. It was then that a large attack took place. The target was a government office that was used to meet with foreign dignitaries, which was ultimately a useless target if it hadn't been for the fact that the location was also used to deal with underground bosses, corrupt officials and large bussiness owners. The building was blown up, whether this done through a bomb or a jutsu has never been found out, because the site became inaccesible right away. The attack was followed by a large scale riot, lead by several high profile figures in the rebellious scene. They were all wearing armbands in different colours, to showcase which faction they were part of, but they were all fighting as one unit. Kirigakure reacted quickly and smit down the opposition with an iron fist, but the die had been cast. The rebellion had begun, and there was no stopping it now unless Kirigakure eradicated all the rebels.

---

It would only be a few days after the major incident hitting Kirigakure that current Hokage Ayame Choko had taken the decision to react along with her brother and associate, Fujitora. The real reasons behind this choice remained unclear, whether it was the intervention of Kiri officials or simply out of interest, the justifications given to the soldiers sent to offer support to the rebel cause would mostly incriminate the Mist Government for their inability to cater to their population. Multiple comparisons were made to the previous corrupt state of Konoha, seemingly enough to motivate those who followed Ayame since her rise to the throne. Others simply followed orders while a minority saw other opportunities in this. Needless to say, the rebel cause was now Konoha's cause until further notice and that's all they had to know.

Oppositely, many neightboring nations, including the larger ones, have gathered to discuss the stability of peace in the world as it is. It was clear that if Kirigakure would fall to the same sickness as Konoha, there would be monumental consequences to the world the five great nations had built to maintain social harmony. By fear of causing a major war, the allocation of armed forces was limited to the Kiri government side, 'neutral' help to insure a certain control over the situation until communication could be established. Foreign masses see this as something hopeful, but the wiser elites are understandably cynical.

---

It was a couple of weeks after encountering her senpai now turned kohai once more that she'd have for the first time since the Ayame regime a Jonin worthy mission. By then she had gotten used to the Neo-Amegakure feel Konoha had adopted with the endless rain befalling the village, and it made her quite lazy to the idea. All that was needed was a boost from a certain taller girl to get a move on and find the motivation to get the job done. Aoi was made quite aware that this operation she was given in the utmost discretion would involve the degrading state of Kirigakure. The clown never really minded politics, she could barely understand them to begin with, but it seemed as though bad things were going on there and Ayame's speeches appeared to support the 'good cause' of the rebels. As such the masses were told to see this as a good action, the harlequin was of course one of these people to nab the bait.

The contents of the missions were unknown anyway, the only information she had was that she'd give a hand to some higher ups along with other Jonin from her village and the water nation. 'Field trip' was the only thing she thought of when engaging in this mission. She left the leaf village alone as instructed, since unlike other shinobi sent to the civil war's aid she was stationed in a more secluded and concealed base camp. It fit her rank after all. She was excited to know who she'd be working with all the while wondering if the mission would involve getting wet, since it was the water nation and all. Finally reaching the docks coasting the massive sea that separated the shinobi continent from the water nation island. From there she'd find a contact, a small old lady that wouldn't speak a word, only holding a sign saying 'Clown', the code name the clown herself chose for this mission. They boarded a small tugboat, both of the alone. Aoi blathered on about her life and opinions to the old hag without a single response, but it didn't stop her.

They went through interconnected rivers and canals once they'd traverse the sea. They were taking many random turns as if they purposely took the long way to avoid being followed. By then Aoi had taken a small nap to recharge her energy and be at full strength to release her life's story another time. Eventually they'd arrive at the center of a large lake somewhere in the nation. There was a deep fog instilled in the area, and it seemed natural, so she could only assume they weren't too far away from Kiri. After a few minutes of slow cruising, they finally cross path with a herd of small boast with a somewhat larger yacht in the center. She was dropped off on said larger boat and would be greeted with a young female rebel. She wore a red armband as they were known to wear.

"Clown?" she asked bluntly.

"Erm ... Yup yup! That's me~ And who are youu~?" Aoi responded as whimsical as ever.

"Uh-huh. Name's Fuegushi. My dad, Kirio Fuegushi wants to see you. You're the first in, any idea where your colleagues are?" she'd inquire.

"Hmmm, no I don't but they can't be that far~ I'm usually the fastest around teehee~"

The harlequin answered with a condescending laugh mixed with an evident lack of seriousness in her tone. Se did pride herself over her how proactive she was and her general speed but she was also aware she was compared to other Jonin. She walked into the in bowels of the yacht and took a seat on one of the couches. She was in a living room with no one in it, not even the woman who greeted her. She just sat there, awkwardly, looking around to see if there was anything she could distract herself with.

@j8cob
@Partisan
@Lost in my mind

---

---

There wasn't much to say about Gin Kakiyama's whereabouts. To Konoha, he was a traitor, to Kiri he was either a non-recognized shinobi due to his transfer or a possible threat with rumors surrounding his involvement in the rebel cause. He was a wanted man anywhere he would go at this point, and wanted shinobi were often a lot easier to capture dead than alive. Especially if they knew some rather disturbing information. N.C.4, known as Junshiro by the general public, knew how Gin operated and what he knew, and as such it would be natural that it'd be the field agent to handle and difficulties brought by the young man. However leads were low and Gin's priority went down a notch in Konoha's priorities when it became clear his word wouldn't be worth anything considerable with the rumors involving him. Nonetheless, a new lead brought some hope to the 11th corp grandmaster, Fujitora Choko, to finally closing this file.

Yume Tenchi, quite a rigorous worker according to Fujitora, had picked up on his disappearance and was the more reliable source to pinpointing the location of the young man. The fact that Yume held a pivotal role in the direct involvement of Konoha in the rebel cause. After all, she was the descendant of the Mizukage many of the rebels used as symbol and model for their actions. This justified Fujitora conferring an agent to insure her survival through this ordeal. N.C.4, the 11th finest creation to date, would not hesitate to perform unthinkable things to complete the mission, all with great efficiency.

They would already be at the gloomy outskirts of the Mist village early in the morning, scouting out for leftover hostiles in the desolate portions of the village. Many parts of the outskirts were hotspots for conflicts between citizens who took advantage of the real battle. The streets were riddled with trash while many homes were boarded up and were illuminated by primary sources of light such as fire. It felt like a jump to the past when they would witness the deafening silence of the neighborhood. It was the safest way to enter as no one would really pick a fight with them unless they encountered a few wildcards.

"I await to hear of your lead, Mistress Tenchi."

Standing on the roof of a two story house, the robot continuously gathered information on what it could see from the vantage point. All it wore were a turtle neck black top couple with fitting black jeans. Actually only its pale white face would contrast with the completely dark look it took. It was the best attire possible to get around unnoticed as long as it didn't wear some ski mask anyway. It slowly slid black combat gloves on each of its hands for it could already tell that they would not get through this unofficial mission without getting their hands dirty somewhere.

@Yorutenchi

Chen bounced up and down in his seat as he looked out at the rolling waves and the fog that surrounded him. It had been a couple of weeks now since the new Hokage had taken over and it was always raining in Konoha. Chen didn't mind too much, but he definitely liked the change of scenery and on top of that he had never been to Kirigakure before.

'I wonder if they bleed out differently around here. In Konoha they screamed a lot as they bled out, maybe here they just moan quietly. That would be a lot better for my ears.' He thought to himself as he looked at his reflection in the water.

He had been assigned a mission to go help the Kirigakure rebels with the civil war. Chen didn't care too much about the politics of it all, he just really wanted to kill someone. He had been on a tight leash ever since Ayame had become Hokage and he had been getting really antsy around the village. This is the first real mission he's been on in weeks!

The boat stopped at the dock of a small town and Chen hopped off with a smile. Supposedly he was supposed to find a young man with a green cap on and a tattoo on his arm, the tattoo resembled a poorly drawn Angel. Chen looked through the crowd he was in and grinned.

'Gotcha! I wonder how this will play out.' He wondered.

He pushed through the crowd towards the man and grabbed him by the shoulder. The man flinched and his hand darted towards a pouch on his right leg.

"Who would win, the hawk or the fox?" Chen whispered in his ear, the man relaxed when he heard the opening phrase.

"Neither, they would make peace under a cherry blossom tree." Chen let go of the man's shoulder and put his hood.

The man led Chen through a series of alleyways and streets, stopping in a shop every few minutes to browse their stock. Chen was getting antsy as the man looked through the dirty magazine section of a bookstore. When was he gonna get to kill someone? He gave the man a dirty look and walked over to the sci-fi section. After a few minutes the man whistled to get Chen's attention and they left the store.

After an hour of walking around they came to a dead end in an alleyway. The only thing that Chen really noticed was a sewer grate with a purple X written on it in marker. The man lifted it up and motioned for Chen to get in.

"This is disgusting." Chen muttered to himself as he hopped down.

He landed softly on his feet and waited for the man to come down after him. The man climbed down the ladder after setting the sewer grate back in place and hopped down to the floor. Another hour passed as they navigated through the sewers, until they eventually stopped at a camp that was filled with people. Some other guy grabbed his arm and led him to a small waiting room with a few chairs and a table with magazines. He grabbed one of the magazine's and almost immediately put it back down.

'I guess that's why he was looking for magazines.' Chen sighed and stared at the ceiling while he waited for his teammates to show up.

---

Yamato had left a bit later than he normally would've due to some troubles at home. His father had suddenly sent over large quantities of furniture despite Yamato never having asked for it, surely an attempt to appease him into not going to Kirigakure and risking his life. However, Yamato had told him long ago, he didn't want any help, certainly not monetary. The furniture was, therefore, ofcourse sent back. However the whole ordeal had lasted him throughout the entire morning that fateful day, meaning he had left slightly behind schedule. Normally he'd just up his speed a bit until he figured he had caught up, but then again they were going into Kirigakure, a warzone. This wasn't a mission like Zeno would've given him, a 'peacekeeping' mission. This was full blown civil war. And now that Konohagakure had started backing the Kirigakure rebels, well, there was only one way this was going to end. The Mizukage would be overthrown if the other kage didn't interfere. Retaliations from their side had been small for now - after all, they were still trapped inside the idea of peace, and were forced to think within it's borders. Konohagakure had broken free from that. There were no limits placed on their limbs.

With a heavy thud he landed on the wooden docks, seeing the boat leave just before him. His expression didn't give away his annoyance, which was growing, especially since he could make out what was Aoi on that boat. Damn. She'd be there before he was - easily. And knowing Aoi.. she probably would remind him of that a few times before he'd convince her that he didn't care. He shook his head as he sat down on the edge of the docks, looking into the sea for a bit until the next boat would leave. This one was much more ramshackle, a fishing boat would probably be better than this floating turd Yamato silently thought to himself. When the boat had docked, he had noticed what looked like refugees getting off, seemingly happy to get out of that warzone. It felt strange to enter the same boat, which would carry him towards the warzone.

The reason Yamato, Tsukiko and Aoi, as well as a mystery jonin would travel to the location on their own had something to do with orders to remain unseen for the time being. They were for that reason not part of the main force, but rather acted independently as a smaller cell until the time was right for them to join the main body of the Konohagakure relieving forces. 'Relieving' because they'd be relieving pressure of of the rebels.

Yamato would encroach himself in his thoughts as he leaned on the railing of the boat, which he swore was about to fall apart. That is, until the hit land. Yamato nearly got thrown off his feet at the speed the boat attempted to 'dock'. Once he had stabilized himself he shot an angry glare at the steersman, who seemed to not give a damn at all. To avoid further annoyance Yamato got off the boat, onto the docks, looking around a bit to see if he could see either Aoi or Tsukiko. Or the mystery jonin.. well, there was little chance he'd recognise them. Aoi seemed long gone, and Tsukiko was also nowhere to be seen. Atleast, that's just Yamato's eyes. He knew full well there was a large chance she was simply watching him for no reason. She would claim it was because of her trapping skills and all that blabla.. Yamato was quite sure she was just a stalker. A weird one, at that. Thinking of that, that brought him back to the time he had surprised her when she went shopping and saw her in her 'normal' clothes. He could've sworn she was a normal person at times. While he laughed silently on the inside, his expression remained that what it had always been - stoical and unmoving. Tsukiko though.. being a normal person? Nah. While Yamato was still the asshole he used to be, and the asshole Tsukiko had grown familiar with during their first mission, he had grown to respect the woman a bit more. Maybe he was getting more mature. Or maybe her rise in power after becoming Jonin Commander was something he deemed respect worthy.. who'd know.

Finally he spotted someone that looked familiar - to a degree - as he fit the description of the rebels. Red armband. Seemed right. Yamato approached the person, unaware that he was supposed to give up a codename. The person with the red armband simply greeted him and headed out. It seemed he was the same kind of person Yamato was - one that didn't care about words when they didn't need to be spoken. Besides, what was there to speak about? He didn't know this guy, and he didn't know Yamato. All that could be said was, isn't the weather nice? The answer was clear - maybe it was nice, but the fact that Kirigakure was in a civil war overshadowed that. It was pressing, but then again, this wasn't Konohagakure, and there was almost no Minamoru presence here. Reijo made sure to evacuate them when shit hit the fan. There was little here for Yamato, other than glory and honour. And that was exactly why he was here. To make a name for himself. Who knows, perhaps he would even become so famed that he'd become known throughout the shinobi world. That'd be quite something, a nickname of his own that he'd earned through bloodshed.

It wouldn't take too long before they arrived at another boat. “.. another boat.” he said to the guy escorting him. The guy looked back and nodded. “Yes. We like boats.” he said. Yamato squinted his eyes, unable to process if the man was making a joke or just stating the truth blandly. Whichever it was.. he'd soon find out that there was a truth to what the man said. As they were boating for what seemed barely 15 minutes they came upon a rather large fleet. Maneuvering through the many smaller boats, which seemed to be barracks, and all other kinds of military used buildings, as well as civilian housing for refugees and the like, there was a larger boat that stood out. The command center, Yamato figured out relatively quick. He was dropped off there and showed to the room that Aoi was in as well. He walked in and raised a hand at her. “Hello.” he said stoically, sitting down somewhere in the area without entering Aoi's space too much. He decided quickly that he'd have to make some sort of conversation, he was gonna have to rely on Aoi for longer periods of time from now on. This wasn't a standard mission, not a 'one day trip' where you would only need to watch out for the others for a day. This conflict could technically last months or years. He needed to trust Aoi if it came down to it. “How was your trip? And have you seen Tsukiko around?”

@j8cob@Partisan

---

Daisuke had adjusted to life back in Konoha quickly, it felt as though he had never left. He had only taken a couple of missions since his return, all of which were just border patrols, and had taken up a job as a bodyguard for a man associated with the Minomaru clan’s vast corporate empire. Given the small amount of time that he had been part of the Konoha shinobi forces again, he had been surprised to discover that he was to lead one of the teams that were being sent to Kirigakure to aid the rebels. He was not sure why he was selected, but he was determined to prove that giving him this task was not a mistake.

His mission was fairly straightforward and would be difficult to mess up. He and his team, consisting of Saburo Uchiha and Shin Maru, were to travel to one of the rebel camps and aid them in any way possible. Daisuke and the others had all been giving the coordinates at which their escort would meet them. The only information he had been given on the contact's identity was that they would be wearing a red armband, and that he would respond to a specific phrase.

Daisuke pushed aside his drifting thoughts as the boat that would carry him across the first leg of his journey arrived. He had been hoping that the rest of his team would have joined him before it’s arrival, but he made sure to plan accordingly in the event that they did not. Another boat would arrive shortly after the departure of the first and was told to wait as long as needed. He knew that if either was late it was unlikely that it would be excessively so. Without further ado he boarded the boat, frowning as it groaned under his weight. He sincerely hoped that its appearance was deceiving, as upon first glance it looked like it may break under his weight let alone the weight of additional people.

His worries diminished as the boat held up long enough for him to take a seat in the center. After he had settled himself the vessel pushed off shore and began the journey to the Land of Water. For his part Daisuke remained silent, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon for any signs of hostile forces. He knew that his vigilance was unfounded, the Mizukage’s forces would have their hands full with the rebels to send out a group to harass them, but it was in his nature to be constantly on guard. The trip passed by slowly for him, but eventually they reached the destination.

Daisuke quickly went ashore and began making his way to the appointed meeting spot. He did not move with haste, and he stuck to the ground, to bring as little attention to himself as he could. It would reflect very poorly on his abilities if his mission ended abruptly because he gave himself away by acting abnormally. Upon arriving in the vicinity of where he was told to meet the contact he soon found the man.

Maintaining the pace he had set prior, Daisuke approached the stall the contact was perusing and followed his example. While examining the merchandise he softly said his part of the phrase. ”What is dead may never die.” The contact looked at him briefly before replying. “But rises again, harder and stronger. Follow me.”

They made their way out of the market through an alley, which lead to another and another. At first Daisuke believed that the man was trying to confuse him, but he soon realized that the contact was trying to prevent anyone from following them. Soon enough they arrived in front of a warehouse which they entered. While on the outside it had looked abandoned and nearly falling apart, inside was a different story. All around there were people moving about going about their business.

”Please inform whoever is in charge here that I have arrived. Until he has need of us we will wait here. The contacted nodded and promptly departed. He hoped that they would be able to start helping sooner rather than later, as he disliked the idea of sitting around for too long.

Earlier that day he was called in to be assigned to a team that would head into Kirigakure in order to assist in the rebellion against its government, at least from his understanding. "Uhhh...Why are we going to Kiriga-" His head was over the side of the boat. He wasn't sure if it was due to motion sickness or the boat rocking back and forth but he knew that his great feast of a breakfast was now chum. "gakure again? Something about a rebel-" And there was lunch. He decided he wouldn't talk after that. Instead he would make good friends the other side of the railing throughout the journey to the Mist village.

Speaking of the Mist village, he had taken notice to the extensive absence of a certain former mist nin that was supposed to now be a resident of Konaha. 'What happened to him?' A hard gaze looked back at him from the reflection of the water as he pondered this rebellion. He wasn't given too much information but they were going to assist in the rebellion. He managed to turn his head to see one of the Kiri ports and needless to say his teammate, Chen, seemed ready to go when he was called in to be apart of the team. "At least I'll be off this damn thing."

Once off the boat, which he personally made sure was him first, he waited for the rest of his team, Chen, or anyone from the resistance. For him, he was a bit skeptical at the idea of working with Chen at least. There always seemed to be something off about him but he could never pinpoint it. He shook his head as he looked over to the boat. who was now getting off the boat. He didn't know whether or not his teammates were on there with him, even though he had suggested that they go as a group.

Dark, gloomy...no scratch that. It was downright depressing. Not to mention that never ending rainfall that continued to destroy her blonde hair, Amber eye stared up to the Grey could that loomed over. Exhaling out of her noise, Momoi Hiromoto Yasei ran her hand through her wet hair. "Take this missing they said, it'll be fun they said." she muttered under her breath. She even spat in disgust for this mission. "Outside the fucken rain village no less...in a damn cramped spot no less...fucken shit fuck!" she swore again unintentional letting out her voice before silencing herself once again.

"Nah, but be the rain, or some poor sap stubbing his foot into something."

Relaxing for a second. Momoi pulled out a gold covered scroll. Her mission was to deliver the message to the Rebels that were taken part in this civil war. The Gypsy didn't really pay attention to it really, but apparently- According to the hidden leaf village- this message was extremely important to them. Fishing inside her jacket, the blonde took of a flask of alcohol and took a quick swig of it.

The gypsy was currently located behind enemy lines. Along with another ninja from the hidden leaf: Tatsuya Terumi. Somehow no one of the rebel side had heard of a ally from the hidden leaf coming to aid them or give the information. As soon was the blonde appeared before them. They started attacking. This suprise attack and left the two opting to spilt up and run for cover. While it wasn't the best idea. It was the most logical. If you was caught or killed, the other would have to carry on the mission.

"Terumi.....come in Terumi...over." she clicked her tongue silently.

"Bitch ass rebel...those fuckers." Momoi was far from impressed of their work. Somehow she was now located underneath a crate with a few peepholes to look outside. She had been underneath it for the past few hours, and it was starting to become annoying. Even worse when to box was letting the water in. The only thing she could do was to study the pattern of the solders that came once in awhile to take the place of the last solider. They would either come in pair or trio. "If i'm correct, then the next switch should be..." leaving it of, she mental counted down from 5.

'4'

'3'

'2'

'1....'

"Alright buddy, your done here, move back to the main trench, the other are waiting for you." Right on cue, a average Shinobi entered the trench quietly. With a tired nodded the man keeping guard rose to his feet and wobbled away from the other. It was funny seeing the male walk away. anyone could tell that his legs feel asleep. As soon at the man left. It was Momoi window that she needed to take. "Alright, let's see what this book is about...."

The man got comfortable, but the girl couldn't take any chances. Not if she wanted to attract attention to herself, the last thing she needed was that to happen. Pulling out a Kunai from her bag. She gently lifted the box over her head and scanned the room.

"Straight up assassination? No, there would be took much struggle and blood." Her eyes were peeled, any unwanted parties and she could drop the box down and start from square one. "Misdirection?" her reached into her bag again and played with a flash-ball. As the name implied. throw it down and do the ram seal, then everything turns bright white. "No, it'll attract too much attention again."

Her time was running out quickly as she tried to find a way to leave the area, trying to leave with the guy there was not going to work. They were ninjas after all. Then it hit her.

"It's now or never." fumbling in her bag once again, she pulled out a pill for raising one's stamina. Lifting the box once more. Momoi looked around the area. In the distance was a spot light, it was not going to reach her location. Making sure her footsteped her silent as ever. She had carefully removed her shoes and proceeded to move towards her target. Holding the pill in her right hand, she inched closer to her target.

As blessing in disguise came to her. The man yawned. Without a split hesitation. She crammed the pill in the man mouth, making the man's eye widened. "Hey what th-!?" Momoi keep silent she wrapped her dominate arm around his neck and the other arm over her wrist to keep him in the chock hold. The pill would be lodged inside his pipe-hole while trying to fight Momoi sleep move. His face turned blue as he claws and struggled for help. But the girl's grip was too strong. Soon he died from lack of air and not to mention the pill stuck in his throat. Letting go she dragged the corpse back to the back she hid under and left the man there. Searching his valuables, the gypsy obtained a map, a few Kunais and water.

Also a lighter.

"It won't long till the switch over comes and that place goes into high alert." With a sigh she left the trench and followed the map. Every move had to be taken care of.

She tried her comms once again to reach her teamate. Hoping that he was still alive. "Oi...come in, it'll suck if you karked it already."

No answer.

"God dammit."

Just in the life of the gypsy.

@Raijinslayer

---

As the small rowboat traveled further down the river, a thin fog began to envelop the world around it. Only two beings were visible on the flimsy dinghy: a middle-aged man with black hair and a receding hairline at the stern with the oars and a tall woman with a hooded cloak and weapons across her back standing at the bow. The hood was up, mostly concealing her identity from behind or the sides. But the face was unmistakably Tsukiko Umene, if her weapons and posture didn't already give that away. The pace the two were at was painfully slow, at least in Tsukiko's perspective, but it was necessary. The guide knew the way to the meeting point after all.

The woman turned her head, looking over her shoulder at the man. The red armband he wore was the signal of his allegiance to the Kiri rebels. A token like that seemed foolish to the Jonin Commander, as any competent Kiri shinobi would recognize the pattern and quickly destroy the anonymity and stealth afforded by the armband. But evidently it was working right now and it wasn't her place to complain. It didn't really matter to her anyways. If this man were to die after delivering her to the meeting place she wouldn't feel a thing. The rebels' poor decisions were largely irrelevant to Tsukiko because now that she was entering the game there would be no more mistakes.

This is my first real task as the Jonin Commander, Tsukiko thought as she turned her gaze forward. The fog was slowly growing thicker, not it was yet to become too obstructing or annoying. My job was to become a killer, so I became one. Then my job was to become a leader and once again I met that goal. Now I have to become a commander. I will not fail. The river the boat was on led onto a lake or a sea, Tsukiko wouldn't know which. Some kind of large body of water, which was a sign that they were approaching the meeting point. This will be the stage that determines my future as the Jonin Commander. Where my skills and my leadership will both be put under the microscope. Every failure these rebels or my team makes will become my failure. The time it takes for us to succeed will also reflect on me. I'm no longer operating on a national scale.

This is the global stage. I won't just be judged by Konohagakure but also the entire world. Tsukiko sniffed the air, catching several familiar scents. Her expression didn't change as she looked forward into the mist. Funny. I've never cared about this stuff before. A grin formed on her face. That's why I am here today. So why should I start worrying now? As the small boat pulled up to the largest yacht at the center of the fleet, Tsukiko jumped up onto the larger boat without hesitation. She only gave her guide a wave of dismissal as she left. There were several people that seemed to be preparing a ladder, probably in anticipation to allow Tsukiko to climb aboard the normal way, though they gave up the moment they realized she was already on the deck. "I'm already here."

The woman made her way into the depths of the command center unassisted. It was only when she was close to the meeting room did someone catch up to her. While they didn't question how she knew where to go the look on the younger woman's face made it clear. In truth it was Tsukiko's senses that guided her faster than an actual guide could. The smell of two shinobi that she had worked with in the past, Aoi and Yamato. The Jonin Commander entered the room, hardly a few seconds after Yamato inquired if Aoi had seen Tsukiko around. "Nobody's seen me around," she answered, bringing up both her hands to remove her hood and allow her hair to hang down. Tsukiko examined both Yamato and Aoi for a moment, eyeing them up and down. They both seemed to be in good condition, likely having an equally easy and unobstructed journey as Tsukiko did. "Any trouble on the way? Have either of you been spotted and identified?"

It wasn't unnatural for Tsukiko to get straight to business, but her tone was far less aggressive than it was in the past. She always had a naturally condescending tone of voice but her demeanor now seemed to regard Aoi and Yamato as having some kind of respect or importance. Tsukiko was not talking down to them for once. "Our presence should be unknown but I need to know if we're not." Her right hand moved to her collar area, grabbing the cloak itself. Her left hand grabbed the custom strap that held her (new) spear and ninjato to her back, releasing it and setting her weapons the floor against the wall by the door. Then she removed her cloak completely, simply tossing that on the floor without care. While it didn't restrict her movements hardly at all it simply wasn't comfortable to Tsukiko. "Much better..."

---

---

"I know you're on the clock and all right now but I won't mind the delay we'd have if you wanted to stop and give me your phone number," Shin said smoothly, a cocky grin on his face as he turned to look at the woman behind him. Despite all his confidence he received no reaction; she didn't even look at him. Instead the woman steering the boat looked past Shin, keeping her eyes on the water in front of them. There was an awkward moment of silence where neither person hardly even moved. "I understand we just met and all, and you seem like the busy type too, so I'll give you some time to think about it." The young man turned his gaze forward again, letting out a sigh. Still the female guide had no reaction.

Ah well. You win some, you lose some. Though it feels like I never win... Shin brought his hand up to his chin as he sat down. He wore his usual black coat with no shirt underneath paired with loose and flexible jeans, finished off with black boots and black, fingerless gloves. He even had his Konoha armband on, granted it was underneath his coat, leaving only one thing missing. He had left his police badge in Konoha, finding no need to bring that along with him. It wasn't like it would help him in any way in the Land of Water. Huh. My first time on a boat and I'm not even seasick. I wonder what fighting out here on the water would be like. I'd have a pretty good advantage, but perhaps a water user would have an even greater advantage. That would suck having to fight someone like that out here. Shin's thoughts began to wander off, having next to no pertinence towards the situation at hand.

Whether it was his confidence or ignorance that kept him from becoming anxious, one couldn't tell by looking. Though he was aware of the mission details and the world he was stepping into it hardly bogged down on his mind. It wasn't until they had arrived at a port town did Shin's thoughts drift away from fantasy and back into reality. Alright. Time for me to get serious. Shin stood up from his seat as they docked, a stoic and deadly serious expression on his face. That is until he turned around to face the woman who was operating the boat. "So how 'bout that phone number?" "No." There was another moment of awkward silence. "Very well then." Shin stepped off the boat, giving a polite wave goodbye to the woman as he navigated into the town.

It wasn't long until he reached a marketplace. He was told that he could find the contact here but it was never specified exactly where. It didn't take long, however, for Shin to spot a man with a red armband. That was the identifying mark. The young man approached the contact, "accidentally" bumping into him with his shoulder. "Oh, my apologies sir," Shin spoke immediately, perfectly feigning innocence. The man didn't seem too bothered, but once he faced Shin and saw who he was his expression changed. He recognized that Shin was a foreigner and likely one of the shinobi he had to escort. "Oh, I just got here and don't even know where I am. Can you help me with something? I was given a riddle by my brother in order to help my find my father and he said the answer was somewhere in this town. It goes something like..." At this point Shin lowered his voice, though nobody around them seemed particularly interested in what the two were doing.

"What is dead may never die." While the younger man thought his way of introduction was clever and witty, as determined by the grin on his face, the man with the red armband seemed far less amused. But nonetheless he responded. "But rises again, harder and stronger." Immediately the man began walking, to which Shin followed faithfully. The route he took was odd, requiring many twists and turns that were probably not necessary but ultimately were to help prevent them from being followed. In the end they arrived at a sort of warehouse, or a derelict building that was once a factory. Shin couldn't tell the difference. Once inside, however, it was alive with activity. Rebels, all of them, going about their business for whatever it is that needed to be done.

It wasn't hard for Shin to spot his comrade. After all, while Shin was one of the biggest shinobi in Konoha outside the Akimichi clan, Daisuke Yama was the biggest shinobi. The muscular man stood out like a sore thumb. While Shin wasn't too familiar with the guy, as per his memory Daisuke had left the village years ago for training and as such he didn't have nearly as much time with him as he did the rest of the class, he did respect him in a way. Shin was muscular and incredibly fit, but Daisuke was even more muscular. For the people who value strength there is an immediate respect to be given to the larger of two men. He briefly contemplated how well an arm wrestling match would go with Daisuke but instead scrapped the idea in order to focus on actually greeting him. "Yo, I can see you've mastered the art of stealth," Shin spoke up, appearing next to Daisuke and giving him a light slap on the back. The joke about stealth was obvious and Shin didn't feel the need to explain. "Sorry I took so long. Usually I'm quite punctual but I think the woman who was steering the boat got irritated with me and went slower than she was supposed to... Anyways I'm here now. Kinda surprised the Uchiha didn't beat us here, to be honest."

"Far as I know, we're here to help the civilians learn how to fight and arm themselves, though if that doesn't catch your fancy, I'm sure thy can always use more eyes to keep a look out for Kiri-non that will probably be skulking about." Akio spoke somewhat disinterestedly, her last comment being directed more towards Chen as the boat came to a halt. Unlike Chokashi, she knew exactly what was up with their bloodthirsty friend, having lived with someone of a similar nature for he first half of her life. Why they put a guy like him on a relatively low-risk mission is a mystery to her, though in reality, low-risk in this situation wasn't saying much. I don't quite understand why we're taking such an active stance in helping these people, and while I agree that these people should be given assistance, sending our own forces in seems a bit drastic.

Akio sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration as the boat came in to doc, already getting the feeling this mission would be a pain in the ass. With a sigh, she followed after Chen, motioning for Chokashi to follow her. The two would take a different route to the underground camp, led there in a similar fashion by a woman running a small medicinal store. Once they had made their way to the camp, they were escorted to the same waiting area as Chen had been just a shirt while earlier. This was done to make the group less noticeable by any potential informants, which is why they all had also hidden any noticeable trademark of their Konohagakure origin.

Akio would take one of the seats, waiting patiently for the person in charge of this operation to show up. After a few long minutes of nothing, made longer by both anticipation and the lack of anything interesting to pass the time, the group would hear some footsteps approach the entrance of their room rather hurriedly, the make-shift door opening to show a tall woman followed by a rather muscular man, both wearing slashed Kikri headbands on their bodies, with the woman wearing it around her arm and the man wearing his in more of a bandanna fashion around his neck.

These two were obviously professionals of reasonable strength, probably either low-leveled jounin or high Chunin. The woman wore a conservative outfit of a light blue jacket, black turtle neck underneath, and blue camp Shinobi pants and sandals. Her hair was a dark black while her eyes were a strangely hypnotic blood red, and judging from how much of a disheveled mess her hair was, tied in a messy bun that barely seemed to be holding itself together, she was rather stressed. She looked like she might lash out at the next person who even looked at her the wrong way, though she'd be hard presses to notice it right now as her eyes were glued to a clipboard holding various pieces of paper listing everything from the amount of patrols seen in the area to the training schedule for all the current civilians. She wouldn't address any if the group, just taking the chance to sit down in a chair and continue with whatever work she was currently doing, mumbling curses to herself as she did so.

"Welcome to Mizu no Kuni, Shinobi from Konohagakure, and sorry for the lacking accommodations, but we have to make the best of what we have around here, and it tends to not be much." This would be the man talking, a large and well muscled individual that wore no shirt, just some basic Shinobi pants, sandals, and the harness on his chest to hold the rather large Sword he had strapped to his back. The blade was rather wide, not to mention it's length which was nearly as much as the man. It had a full black look to it as no light reflected off it's surface, giving Orr a slightly ominous appearance to it. The man himself held rather solid features, with scars covering his frame and one of his eyes being hidden under an eye patch, the area around being exceptional scarred, as if it had been badly burned. His uncovered eye was a steely gray that would appraise each of the Shinobi present for a little while before continuing with the introduction.

"Moving on from that, I'm sure you all k ow why you're here, but as a refresher, we need at least two of you to assist I the training of civilians, while the other can also assist in training, or joing the guard duty to keep an eye out for any Government patrols that might Ghent close to discovering the hideout. It's unlikely given our location, but their have been reports of some forces beginning to check around sewer entrances for signs of recent use, so who knows when an attack may come." The man gave a sigh before he stood up, motion for the others to do the same. The dark-haired woman would stay sitting down, too absorbed in her work to be bothered with getting up. The man seemed to think about saying something, but shook his head as he decided to leave her to what she was doing. Walking outside, he'd hold the door open to allow the others through before moving on to lead them to another destination.

As the group made their way through the camp, they'd get the chance to better observe their surroundings. They were currently situated in a large cistern with pieces of scrap metal and other such junk making for bridges across rivers of filth that streamed through the canals. Spread through out where several ramshackle huts and tents of varying sizes, some looking rather old and worn while others seemed only recently put together. There was a clear difference in the people that lived here as well, as while some people seemed to be staying inside the huts and constantly holding their nose against the god awful stench of sewer, Akio included in this demographic as the smell was doing her no favors, most of those around seem generally unphased by the smell, as if they'd been around it all their lives.

"Strange little hideaway, ain't it?" The man suddenly spoke as they made their way through, taking notice of any wandering gazes. "I had no idea this place existed until I joined wi th the rebellion, and I was born in the town just above. This place has been around for awhile, a home for the homeless, from what I can gather though you'll have to talk about one of the locals for more information on it's history. Easy enough to spot, they're the ones who don't mind the smell." The swordsman chuckled at his joke as they made their way down a tunnel, the big guy giving a nod to the two guards at the entrance as he made his way down. The way was lit by a few gas lanterns set at regular intervals, shadows leaping everywhere with the flickering of the flames. Eventually, they'd exit out into another cistern, this one being much more bare, with the canals all being covered by a mass of earth, obviously the result of Doton jutsu.

This was obviously the training area, as it was a mostly flat area with lots of groups of people participating in various training exercises, from weapon handling to Taijutsu. However, it was immediately apparent that their was a lack if staff, as a few if those he seemed recharge of giving instructions where having to work several groups at the same time, a very tiring position to find oneself in.

"Okay, this is where we part ways. I'm heading off to take my shift on guard duty, so the one of you that may want to be a guard can follow me. The other two should report to the big tent off to the corner to receive further briefing and decide what they'll be teaching. Oh, and before I forget, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Takeo Miyazawa, and I'm the head of security around here. The dark haired woman from earlier is called Tatsu, and she's in charge of keeping this place running smoothly, as well as keeping everyone here safe, so if she snaps or barks at you, please understand that she's under quite a lot of stress everyday, and it gives her quite the temper." Takeo gave the team a nod before he made his way off down another tunnel, supposedly to make his way to the another entrance to the encampment to watch for intruders. Akio, in turn, made her way towards the tent that had been pointed out to her, as her skills would probably be put to better use in helping the civilians and relieving the workload rather than staring down a dark tunnel waiting for something to happen.

Once they arrived at the tent, they'd be asked a few questions by the only guy available to process them about what they were most skilled in. Akio would be sent to assisting in weapons training, due to her finesse and skill with throwing weapons.

@FallenTrinity

@floodtalon

Chen perked up as the two Kiri-nin (or were they considered missing nin? Who cares?) walked into the room to explain their mission. He looked at the big dude with the sword and a bit of bloodthirst bled into his grin. Would they be working with this dude? He seemed battle hardened and strong, maybe they would have to prove themselves by fighting him. Oh, he was talking now. Better respond.

"It's no problem at all really. We Konoha-nin are always happy to help a country in need." Chen spouted off the usual political answer with a normal smile on his face. What a load of BS. Konoha only helped people when they gained from it, just like every other village.

If you observed Chen's face, you would see the exact moment his expression changed to one of horror as his dreams were crushed and the mission was explained. Training a bunch of civilians! This was not what he signed up for!

---

One Week Ago

Chen lounged in his house as he lazily threw Senbon at his ceiling. It had been an hour now and he was making a recreation of the 6th Hokage's face. His doorbell rang and he shot out of his chair.

"Just a second! I need to get a shirt on!" Chen threw on a jacket and zipped it up quickly.

He rushed over to the door and opened it up, a courier was standing in the pouring rain with an umbrella and a scroll held out in his hand. He handed it to Chen and told to sign his name on the dotted line. Chen quickly skimmed it and his eyes lit up at the mention of Kiri.

"Yes! Murder time, woot woot! Gonna get stronger through conflict and death! Yeah!" He signed the scroll with a pen he grabbed from a nearby table and handed it back to the courier.

Chen slammed the door shut and did a little dance. Time to get packed! He should probably take down all those Senbon too.

'I'll get around to it.'

End Flashback

---

Chen boiled inside, while he put on a happy smile. He walked through the open door, mumbling out a quick thank you as they walked somewhere else in this shitty base. He walked down a sparsely lit tunnel and grumbled internally about not getting to kill people. This was bull shit. As they cited he saw a bunch of people doing exercises and practicing Taijutsu katas. Oh god they were awful, he was not going to be teaching cannon fodder. Not for all the power in the world.

"I'll help you guys guard. I'm not a very good teacher." He wasn't lying technically, he would probably end up killing some civilian by accident. That's not teacher material.

Chen walked behind Takeo and waved goodbye to Akio and Chokashi. Good luck, suckers. Chen was assigned to watch some boring tunnel in some other spot. He pulled out his phone and frowned. Of course there's no bars, they're underground. This mission sucks.

It had been weeks since he was in that hellhole of a cell. Torture and things of the sort. It was an eye opener for him, to the way the world really ran. Gin had all but put his time in Konaha behind him and decided to seek refuge in his homeland, Kirigakure. It was already hell over there as Gian had said. He didn't want to believe it but it wasn't until one day when a protest against the government had gotten violent to the point explosive tags had been used did he decide "to hell with this and to hell with the Mizukage". Since then he had devoted himself to the cause and all in all, it was a good choice for him. He begun his career with the rebellion in a simple way; a bombing of a rather small government office for one of the councilmembers. It was needless to say flawless, but the only reason was due to him being trained by one of the ressistance best saboteurs. He was there to neutralize the guards and plant the bomb in a place that would give it maximum efficiency. Through the weeks however, that had changed. He he progressed rather quickly as he had been asked to help out with the capture and interrogation of a few councilmembers, related officials and couriers as well as a few small time bombings, mostly places where most of the loyalists would go such as specific bars or resturants. It didn't take long for him to learn how to make larger and more effective bombs rather than the ordinary explosive tags. In less than a mouth he become officially responsible for the assassination of a influential councilmember via IED. Soon enough he became known through parts of the resistance. It was then he acquired small factions that would help him in certain tasks, mostly bombings and small skirmishes with loyalists.

Currently...

He watched from one of the foodstands by the harbor as ships would come and go. The harbor itself wasn't as large as the other ones would be on the coast. Mostly ferry ships or small cargo would come through hence the few cranes it had but nothing special. But that was the reason he was here. There had been news through the resistance and confirmed by information that was intercepted that a ship containing supplies for the opposition, who for him was the Mizukage and their followers. He and a small unit of ninjas, four to five at most, had managed to infiltrate that area of the harbor through means of forged documents, "relieving" workers that would be on the clock for the shipment, and other reconnaissance. They had managed to go undercover as dock workers, more specifically maintenance workers, responsible for the repairs and maintenance on the dock and equipment. The night prior to its arrival, they had managed to line that specific section with explosive tags meant not only to destroy that section of the harbor, which for the time being was meant to help supply the Mizukage, but also destroy the ship and its contents. More importantly, the shipment was a fairly significant amount of weaponry and supplies ranging from rations to money.

"Sir, everything is in place. Just awaiting your signal." He smirked as the news came over his headset. He gave a sidelong glance to that section, awaiting the ship to fully dock, which would be another fifteen minutes. "Maaah! Akio-san, please tell me we won't have to take another boat for sometime." He raised an eyebrow as he looked in the direction of the one who yelled that allowed. "Son of a-" A look of disgust crossed his face as he let out a silent "Tch". "What the fuck are Konaha shinobi doing here? I thought that this was a Mist problem.' "Oi, Kyoku, get in touch with base, I want to know why Konaha is here..." "Yes sir". He glared at them before completely turing away from them to now watch the ship slowly starting to unload. He grinned slightly before turning to the stand owner and asking "Do you sell anything here that's spicy?" As soon as those words left his lips, the immediate sound of explosions followed one after the other only by miliseconds. The dock, workers, shipment, and the ship itself were engulfed by fire and smoke as the shockwave washed over the rest of the dock. People were screaming as pieces of the ship and all that surrounded it rained down on the other people in the market area of the harbor. Quickly he rushed out of the area and down a few streets before jumping into a man hole that was waiting for him by two of his fellow resistance members. As soon as he was in the closed the lid and went on their separate ways, each going to the other rendezvous spot. He made it down the tunnel and moved through the system with relative ease as he made his way back to base only to find from behind a doorway Akio and Chokashi talking to two of the resistance members. He sneered as he put up his hood and walked by them, keeping his face away from where their eyes were set.

---

He rolled his as at her with a teasing smile. "Oh training civvies? I always saw you as a teacher, but not like a good one.....I'm kidding. That won't bother me in the least. I don't mind showing them a thing or two haha. Cho sighed in unison with Akio as Chen ran off to find the resistance member. He leaned over to Akio before glancing at her. Umm...Why is Chen with us again? Isn't he a bit-" Moving his finger in a circular motion next to his temple while whistling the sound of a Cookoo clock. Before he left the gangplank however, he leaned over it one last time and hurled up the last bit of his lunch. Ugh...Maaaaa, Akio-san, please tell me we won't have to take another boat for some time?" He asked as he wiped his mouth and took a swig from his water, swished it around and finally spitting it back out over the dock.

He followed her and the resistance member through the encampment as they gave them a tour of the place. "Quite a base even with the lack of supplies, ne?" He looked at Akio with a wink before looking around at the different tents and whatnot. After Tetsu's and Takeo's introduction he turned to Akio with a inquisitive look. "Oi, what are you going to help them out with, huh? I was thinking of teaching some of these guys and gals some hand to hand. What are you doing?"

---

Yamato was still looking at Aoi, waiting for her answer, but was then rudely interrupted by the devil herself, Tsukiko Tsumene. He stood up as he looked over towards her now, and put his hands into his black pants. His battle armor made some metal scraping sounds, but it didn't seem to bother Yamato. He'd gotten used to that by now, so that was a plus atleast. There were days when he'd just throw off the metal armor because it was annoying to hear that sound constantly. “Ah. There we have our resident soccer-mom.” he said. If anyone else had said these words to Tsukiko, they'd likely go paired with a wide grin that betrayed that it was a joke. But not with Yamato, oh no. His face remained perfectly calm, almost making it seem like he was attacking Tsukiko already. And the mission hadn't even started yet..

But Tsukiko likely knew better - the little interaction they might've had, well, it wasn't enough to warrant a form of friendship, but Yamato was quite sure she understood when he was making a joke that was only funny to himself, or when he was actually seriously insulting someone. “Yes, I think I got spotted by an entire battalion of Kirigakure forces. Ofcourse I've not been spotted.” He seemed almost insulted the way Tsukiko insinuated they'd even get spotted at all. They were jonins, and beside, they were in rebel territory now.. atleast, that's what Yamato had figured. There's no way this fleet of ramshackle boats would go undetected so long, and remain in one piece for that long either. That'd be insane. No, they were definetely in rebel territory. That would also explain the lack of fighting, and the lack of destroyed buildings. In Kirigakure itself, well.. it was a lot worse.

Yamato glanced at Aoi, as if he was telling her to get up and get moving, so they could get on with the mission, but quite frankly he just knew they were going on a secret ops mission, so the details had been hidden from him, as well as Aoi. That didn't stop him from wanting to get on with the mission, however. His eyes diverted back towards Tsukiko, looking at her whilst standing casually. He was clearly not as impressed with Tsukiko as the others on the boat would've been. “So what's the mission here. All I, or we, heard.. was that we were going on a secret operation. Got any details for us?” he asked her whilst taking a look around the room for the first time. It wasn't that interesting a room to be honest. Seemed more like a waiting room or a lounge, than something you'd expect to find in a headquarters. Then again it was probably just a converted civilian ship, so there was much that didn't seem like something you'd expect in a headquarters.

---

---

Saburo's travels were mostly uneventful. It was obvious that that would be the case - the unsocial weirdo had little social skills that could be applied in simple situations like these, as all his social skills were found on the idea of manipulating others, and what little else he knew was mostly from books. It was a sad life for him, but alas, it was true. So when his boatsman tried to converse with him, he was met with Saburo taking notes, writing down what the man said. The answer would take atleast 5 minutes to be properly formulated and written down to the notebook for future studying. “Yes. It is a nice day.” he said then, happy with his answer and the way he handled this. Maybe he was improving his social skills, he thought to himself? That'd be wondrous!

When they finally landed on a dock, Saburo realized he had to walk the rest of the way. Not that it mattered for him, he was used to it, but he was expecting to land somewhere closeby. Then again, that'd probably be dangerous, since they'd be landing in a warzone. He waved the boatsman goodbye, who simply gave him a strange look. “Byebye!” Saburo said before he turned round and started heading off.

The further he got the more he started to note the civil wars. There'd been trenches dug in some parts of the land, some of them abandoned and some of them manned. It didn't really matter for Saburo as he'd landed on the rebel side of the island, so he didn't expect any opposition. After some time of travel he finally arrived at Kirigakure itself. The place was just as wartorn as the other side of the island, he assumed. Buildings were half destroyed, some were on fire, there were blockades in the streets and some corpses laying around at times. There were only some scavengers still around, or people that refused to leave their homes despite the ongoing war outside their homes.

Saburo didn't give them any mind, because he was here for another reason. Rendez-vous with Daisuke and Shin. An interesting team he had to admit, but it was the goal of the mission that interested him. Mostly because, well, they hadn't received a proper mission briefing and were more or less assigned to a local rebel with a small powerbase to give them orders. But first he had to find this base, and that was to be done through some.. guide of sorts? The details were unclear to Saburo. He had to go to some place, and say some weird phrase, then he'd receive an answer and be guided to the base. The idea of such a security phrase was strange to Saburo. It'd be easy to emulate this phrase simply by watching the exchange of phrases and then repeating that phrase to a suspected guide. Kirigakure could have done this easily.. then again they were probably a bit too preoccupied to even take note of it.

“What is dead, is dead, and thus it can never die again, unless it is masterfully reanimated by an edo tensei, in which case it can die again in a way that isn't truly like dying, as you are killing a re-animated body that wasn't alive in the first place.” Saburo felt like he'd gotten the gist of it, but the guide looked at him in a strange way. Did he do it wrong? The guide looked around him a bit to see if this was, maybe, a joke? No, the street corner was empty apart from some scavengers a block away, and some dead corpses near a barricade. “Umm.. but.. rises again.. harder and stronger..?” he said, slowly and unsure of what was going on. Saburo simply put on a fake smile and tilted his head slightly, to show happiness to this guy. A strange emotion perhaps, given that they were literally in a war torn village, but that wasn't Saburo's problem. “Technically, that is false, since an Edo Tensei has the same properties of the body that it reanimates according to research. But yes, that is how it goes. Please show me the way.” The guide simply shook his head and started walking through the alleyways that were still unblocked by debris and barricades, arriving at a torn down warehouse.

Upon entry the guide simply dissapeared again, off to do whatever bussiness he had to do, or perhaps just going home to keep up the appearance of not being a rebel. Regardless, Saburo headed inside and spotted his comrades instantly. It wasn't that hard - Daisuke was a very tall and big man, and Shin, well, Shin just dressed like it was 500 years ago. He walked up to them and greeted them with a cheerful wave of the hand. “Hello, friends. What an interesting place. So, what is our objective?”

@Savato

Heavy mist settles in as the early morning sun makes its feeble attempt to break through to the land of water. Just outside Kirigakure are numerous little villages and townships. For the most part mist kept its walls rather secure but these small encampments still pop up from time to time. This particular one was rather destitute and ragged. The buildings were made of stone but most of them had not been kept up in many years. Most of the windows were broken or boarded up and the hut like buildings were worn down and cracked. Graffitte decorates pretty much any open surface of many of the buildings. The messages written are a mix of classical thug life gang tags as well as artist murals. However a common theme between both is a heavy distrust and disdain of the current political structure of the village.

Examples of such writings were: "Down with the Mist!" "Break the chains! Free your Soul!" "Blood is thicker than water!"

The last phrase was a common one that developed many years ago. She feels as though she has heard it quite a lot growing up and something in the back of her mind recalled that it was something her late father had first said. The meaning behind the phrase is that the blood shed for the sake of the land of water was far more than what they got in return. They would not shed their precious blood for such a corrupt system any longer. That kind of unrest was still felt even by the few people that scurried along.

A young woman walks next to the building where Junshiro was standing. Her head was covered by a large navy blue hooded cloak that goes down to her ankles. For the most part it covers her face and she removes it for just a second to reveal her deep red eyes and striking white hair. Looking up at the man he would also notice that she isn't wearing her headband at all. She had instructed him to keep his headband also hidden. This was a dangerous place for any kind of ninja at this point and it was best to be careful.

"Can you get down from there? We're supposed to be incognito remember?" She says with a sigh. "Also don't call me mistress. You can just call me Yume. I'm not your superior or anything." She looks tired and they had been walking all night to reach Kiri. She has hoped they would have reached the village prior to sunrise but it can't be helped. As she walked down the street she brings up her slender fingers to rub her right cheek. There was no bruise but it looked like she half expected it to be painful to the touch. "Damn bitch." She says under her breath as she recalls her meeting a few days earlier with the leader of the village. She had been disrespectful just one to many times and got a wallop to the face by the new animal of a head jounin. She was fine and it healed rather quickly. In fact her ability to take the punch and unwavering gaze after the punch helped showcase her resolve and obtain the resources for this mission. That resource of course being the strange ninja that accompanied her.

"Not you I mean..." She says dryly as she realized he might have been able to hear her with his special robot hearing. "Actually just forget it. We are supposed to be meeting someone here." She stops short of a strange structure near the outer edge of the village. It looks like a tomb or monument that had been made into a fountain. It was about eight feet tall square with water tricking from the top down the sides into a pool of water that surrounded it like a tiny little moat. On top of the square stone structure was a stature that had been worn and taken from the ages. The top half of the body was already gone and all that remained was the cracked and weathered legs of some unknown person. She turns around and looks slightly confused and a twing bit worried.

"Well its sunrise... and this is where we were supposed to meet them-" She was cut off as the water behind her burst up as if something had exploded underneath. Suddenly she is surrounded by water. Everything but her head was completely trapped inside a water prison jutsu.

"Don't move" A tall man with long black hair and several facial scars forms slowly out of the water. His comment was directed at the Junshiro who no doubt was already mobilizing into action. It seems that this man had transformed himself into water and laid in wait for this ambush. His body still seems to be partially made of water as his arm is still infused with the water prison. "Who are you?""

"We were sent by Sosuke." Yume interjects. "Junshiro stand down but keep your guard up." Her eyes glare at the man with a fierce intensity. She calculates what might be the best thing to say at this moment. "Blood is thicker than water." She blurts out without thinking about it much. However this seems to have some kind of affect as the man turns to look at her in silence for a moment.

"What are you here for?" He asks in a cold tone.

"I am here in search of someone. I heard from a trusted source that he may be here. My name is Yume." She takes a slow breath and then continues again. "I have an important mission to fulfill here. I also wish to join the resistance." This last part however wasn't fully true. She had no real intention for joining the resistance. In fact she wasn't fully sure of the total dynamic of who all was involved at the exact goals. But she wanted to try to get on his good side.

The man hesitated. There was no answer verbally but suddenly she was being submerged with water prison. This was bad...this was very bad. She didn't know if he was going to kill her or abduct her. Either way its not how she wanted things to go. Without thinking she bit her lip and felt the warm rush of blood in her mouth. Just as her face was about to be submerged she spit the blood at the man but instead of just blood it took the shape of several senbon that hit the man square in the head. They passed through him as he shifted into water and suddenly the hold of the water prison was weakened. She manages to claw her way out for just a moment as he regains his composure. However it was too late. She had pulled more blood from her body and created a makeshift spear with it. She stabs the man in the chest and it goes through just like water. The man smiles but suddenly looks panicked. The blood begins to circulate within the water in the man's body. More and more blood fills him and he falls to the ground.

"I told you." She spat at him. "Blood is thicker than water. Its kind hard to move your water body around when so much of my blood is circulating with it isn't it? I've not come here to kill you. I really haven't. But I am not simply going to go with being taken captive." The man struggles but its really of no use. His body seems to be weakened by the infusion of blood. She jerks her head to the side when she hear's clapping behind her. Junshiro would have most likely sensed his presence just a few seconds before Yume.

It was an old man with long white hair and a slightly receding hairline. He had a long flowing white beard and striking blue eyes. A single scar starts at the tip of his right eyebrow and follows down the side of his face to his jaw. Many wrinkles line his face. The man is rather tall going to nearly 190 cm tall but other than that nothing seems ominous about him. He is wearing a normal opened button up shirt and shorts. His feet are bare and one might even mistake him for a homeless man simply sitting among the people of the broken down slum of a village here on the outskirts of kiri.

"Good to hear." The man says as he walks closer. He holds up both hands to show he means no harm. There are no weapons on him but yet a strange sense of danger seems to emanate from him. "If you had simply given up you wouldn't be worth the resistance. You gotta have guts and grit. But if you come out guns blazing you also don't have what it takes. I welcome the two of you to Chika Kasen. If you would let up my associate I think we might be able to get you to the person you seek."

---

Yume's first response didn't answer N.C.4's one and only question concerning the mission. Consequently, the young woman would be treated with no remarkable reaction from the robot, it didn't leap off its scouting position as it asserted that no major threats would appear in this part of town. If there were threats, they'd be Shinobi, and it wouldn't matter whether they were out in the open or not. The drone kept a valiant eye and estimated the possible obstacles they'd come across if they were to take certain routes. N.C.4 didn't have the desire to cross paths with anyone from either faction, and even less end up in the middle of a conflict. Being called a bitch didn't budge it from its adamant stature, it didn't receive it as an insult for it lacked any form of individuality. As such it never truly got offended.

She'd eventually confirm that they had to meet a contact here, something that sounded rather risky but traditional enough to prevent any paranoia. They'd eventually end their little trek within the blurry mist at an unfamiliar building the robot could only guess was the given spot for the meeting. It wasn't wrong as some shady individual emerged from the mass of water behind them, enveloping the white haired female in the process. The reflex response would be to have a simple strand of metal wire release from its major finger and whip it with a minuscule motion of the last finger joint. The wire was instantly stretched at a length that connected two opposing buildings while staying horizontal to the man's body. The speed at which the wire was hurled was akin to a Kunai's, but the enhancement is received made it bright blue and easily spotted by a trained shinobi.

It would only be Yume's call to stand down that the android would halt the progression of the wire and keep it at a constant distance of 10 cm from the individual. N.C.4 was to follow her orders after all while keeping her alive. She wasn't dying, yet, and the jutsu seemed to be very similar to the water prison. There was no reason to defy that order, especially when there was a high chance that the man would be the contact. The mission would have priority over the woman's life after all.

"As you command, Yume."

The machine's monotone voice was clear, it wasn't going to budge unless she'd be in critical condition. After she'd attempt to explain herself to the man, she'd end up swallowed by the mass of water, prompting the robot to keep tabs on her condition. Before to could assess anything else, it'd easily notice the water getting hotter, the heat coming directly from her body. It seemed to be her blood jutsu it had information on. She seemed to have everything under control, especially when she attacked the man directly. The fact that he was intangible confirmed that he was one of those rare Hozuki shinobi N.C.4 was fitted to exterminate in case of an attack.

The Hozuki lost a lot of relevance once another figure made his appearance. The older looking man would quickly seem himself confronted to a spiderweb of enhanced wires blocking his way. Junshiro wasn't going to let them take a stop closer, them dying would be less of a tragedy than failing this whole mission. Eyeing the older looking man with the scar (hi Barragan), the robot could tell by body language that he was the more dominating individual between the two.

"Identification, sir. The Hozuki will not be allowed to leave unharmed if we are not presented with what we've come here for. It is in our common interest to be quick and efficient in these times."

The robot was merciless in bargaining and wasn't going to let go of a hostage in such a hostile environment. The lighting enhanced wire it previously drew on the first man had reach the point where it brushed his liquefying neck as he remained under Yume's influence.

---

---

Aoi beamed at the arriving Yamato with a reciprocated wave at his direction, happy to at least have someone around even if it was Konoha's grumpiest. By the time her entered the scene, Aoi had already nabbed a coin lying around and started to flip it over and over while trying to guess what side it fall on. Eventually she'd become quite skilled at guessing which it would be, so she added herself challenges over and over. It'd be when Yamato politely asked her how she was doing without a hint of bitterness or sarcasm that she'd glance at him with a whole lot of confusion being expressed. She wasn't worried, but more unnerved by how he behaved. By then she was expecting at least a complaint or him giving the clown the eye of the tiger. No, nothing, just a simple attempt at conversation. It'd be rewarded with an awkward silence that'd be broken by the new Jonin commander of Konoha.

Luckily Yamato would have somewhat of his attitude back with the sly remark he made on the leader of the team. But even that felt unnatural compared to how he was the last time they all had a mission together. Raising an eyebrow, she just let the conversation slide under they were both asked if they were followed. Aoi would be the last to answer given she actually paused to think back on the excursion she had with that old lady a few minutes ago. She couldn't recall anything suspicious so she shrugged it off and answered honestly.

"Nope, nuh-huh. I ain't no amateur like Yamato~ Shame on your for attracting all these Kiri weirdos!"

She wasn't stupid enough to not get that he was joking, but even with Yamato's bizarre way of behaving (to her) she just had to poke him at her own risk. Then the question of what they would actually do came up and that got her imagination working. Were they going to be super secret agents infiltrating the Mizukage's office and steal documents that revealed the existence of Crab People? Or would they be sent to assassinate a diplomatic figure from another country to make things even more unstable? One thing was for certain, she was watching too many movies.

"Oh oh! I hope we get to be sneaky this time! Each time I'm with you guys we're just charging in! Blaaaah~"

With that said, a short but large man entered the makeshift living room from what seemed to be the restroom. He was dressed with a Hawaiian shirt and beige shorts, the epitome of professionalism. He did seem in a hurry however and quite on edge as he was on his cell phone when he emerged from the shadows. He was blathering various information concerning what seemed to be medication with all the random terms he was using. When he'd finally hang up, he'd flip a switch on the wall. A hologram of a large warehouse formed in the center of the room. Needless to say, Aoi was fascinated by it.

"Hello everyone. I'm Kirio and blah blah blah. You know why you're here, ladies and gentlemen. We're on a tight schedule as the fleet is about to migrate in a few minutes. I'll be swift. This is a Chideta Enterprise factory that currently serves as the main source of weapons for the Loyalists. The objective is simple, erase all traces of that factory and make sure no one gets in or out during the process. There are heavy defenses of course, too many for a typical shinobi team, and as such I'm sending you lot. My boy will be joining you shortly and get you through most of Kiri. Good luck and... Take this."

The man tossed a scroll toward the elder of the team, Tsukiko. She would later discover that it'd contain various details on the factory such as its architecture and various observations on how sentries are placed there. If she were to activate the seal at the end of it, she'd summon the multiple high-explosives necessary to execute the mission. As for the clown, she followed most of it but was satisfied with knowing what they'd do. Not the most exciting of jobs, but a job of her level nonetheless.

The large man made it clear that they had to leave when he himself would simply walk away to another room without even asking if they had questions. They had to follow orders and that was it. How they'd do it was up to them.

"Hey, let's go~ I don't want them loyalist doods to have more weapons!"

An excited Aoi pushed her team to pick up the pace as well. Quickly she climbed back up to the ship's deck and didn't hesitate one second to use her ninja skills to hop on the water and walk on it. It'd be faster than any boat anyway ... As long as one of her teammates would show her the right way. She was also pumped to meet that now teammate of theirs, at least there'd be a new face this time around and not the same old.

---

Yamato's snide remark wasn't really unexpected but nonetheless unappreciated. Tsukiko gave him a brief but deadly glare before directing her attention to Aoi. Both the younger jonin claimed they hadn't been detected so Tsukiko was going to take their word for it, but not without giving them a warning. "Always remember, you two, that the greatest threats are the ones you don't see coming," she spoke, still not bothering to respond to Yamato's jab at her. Of course she wanted to just wring him by the neck but that was both unprofessional and detrimental to the mission.

Speaking of, one of the men in charge of the rebel operation appeared and gave a briefing for the specific job they were taking. Tsukiko wanted to explain their real objective but hadn't the time before he appeared and thus kept her mouth shut. She caught the scroll effortlessly and gave a brief glance of the architecture before stowing it on her belt. "Simple enough," she commented, though she barely had the time to pick her weapons back up before Aoi was out the door and rushing to the deck. Her enthusiasm only earned irritation from her superior, but Tsukiko dismissed it with a sigh as she strapped her weapons to her back again. "Whatever. Let's head out then," she said to Yamato before making her way to the deck in a much more casual pace than Aoi had taken. Once up top she followed the clown girl by jumping onto the water directly and running after her.

Indeed it was a much faster mode of travel and it didn't take hardly any time for the Jonin Commander to catch up with Aoi. Rather than speeding ahead of the girl she decided to maintain an identical pace, waiting for Yamato to catch up and join them. Once all three were together she would begin speaking. "This is our first objective of our mission," Tsukiko began to explain. "As a team our goal is to ensure the success of the rebellion against Kirigakure. This means we aren't going home after blowing up the factory. We're coming right back to those ships, which are serving as a forward operating base. It is likely we will be moving around between tasks." Now their initial question was finally answered, as to what they were even doing in the Land of Water.

"As for the new guy I am yet to meet him so I don't know much. The rebellion trusts him and so shall we. His life is still less valuable than ours, however. Do not consider him expendable but do not put his life over yours. We will see what he can do when the time comes," Tsukiko continued. With Yamato and Aoi as informed as they needed to be for the moment she turned her gaze forward and carried on silently. The team reached shore fairly quickly, being they were shinobi in peak physical condition and all. The journey to Kirigakure itself wasn't exactly a safe one, as the hidden village still had a good amount of defensible territory outside the walls. While rebels constantly plagued the territory it was still ultimately under Kiri control. But Tsukiko was well equipped for avoiding Kiri forces, being that she was able to detect them long before they were in sight. And as such the trio made haste without ever being spotted, though had they actually come across Kiri shinobi it would've been very possible for the team to eliminate them before they could escape.

As the team reached the outskirts of Kirigakure they were finally able to witness the warzone itself. The trademark mist of the city was mostly gone, pushed back by the heat of the fires that were raging across the landscape. Clouds of smoke hung over Kirigakure, creating a dark and ominous atmosphere before them. While it seemed at this moment there wasn't any large-scale combat going on it was likely that a skirmish could break out at any time. "Wait," Tsukiko instructed, halting the team's progress. She took a moment to scan over the large city. At the range they were at it was difficult to make out small details such as people in the streets or specific buildings, but Tsukiko was still able to get some kind of bearings on the city layout. "Beyond this point we need to be in disguise," she spoke up after a moment. "All three of us can't make it through Kiri without being spotted at least once, even with our guide. We'll be recognized as foreigners immediately and gain unwanted attention."

Tsukiko first faced Aoi now. "Lose the clown getup and try to appear as a little girl. It would be too much to try to make you act less conspicuous so you might as well just look the role." Then she pointed to Yamato. "You'll be her older brother. Act less angry and more depressed. Also lose the armor. Try to look more like a disheartened peasant boy. You're good at not talking so don't change that." The older woman then made a handseal, creating a puff of smoke around her that quickly dissipated. In her place stood an older woman that could easily pass off as a grandma. "If we appear weak and useless then nobody will care," she spoke, notably having a different voice now. Tsukiko trusted the two would come up with suitable disguises and looked back to the village without checking them. "We will meet the guy at the south entrance. He may be in disguise as well. Let's get a move on."

@j8cob@Partisan

---

Daisuke’s entire body tightened as he felt a hand hit his back. However once he connected the voice to the person he relaxed, turning to address the first member of his team, Shin, to arrive. ”It is good to see that you made it here in one piece, I was a bit concerned when I left the village. Fortunately it would appear that my worry was misplaced.” He paused for a moment as he noticed the looks a few of the nearby rebels were giving his comrade. It took him a second to realize the cause, but it became apparent when he recalled the words Shin had spoken upon his arrival. ”By the way while I have no issue with a bit of humor I would like you to take it down a notch. At least when we are with the rebels. They are fighting for what they believe is right as well as their lives, and you joking around may lead them to conclude that we don’t know how serious this is. So when we are out and about feel free to be yourself. Just try to contain it otherwise.”

The last part of the conversation left a sour taste in Daisuke’s mouth. He was not used to telling people how to behave and it was unsettling to do so. Nonetheless he could feel the tension that filled the warehouse and he did not want to cause an incident in response to what could be perceived as misplaced humor. He knew that the mission and wellbeing of his team was his responsibility, and if that meant he had to take some heat from them later for monitoring their actions he would gladly do so. Any discontentment and worry were forced away though with the arrival of two individuals approaching from different directions.

The first to arrive was Saburo, the final member of the team, who was naturally coming from the entrance. While the Uchiha’s greeting was a bit strange Daisuke didn’t think too much into it. He had been briefed on both members of his team and had been warned that Saburo had a few personality quirks. Daisuke returned the greeting, resisting the urge to breathe a sigh of relief that the entire team had made it without any problems. ”Hey there, I am glad you made it alright. As for our objective I think we will be getting our first assignment soon. I believe the gentleman walking this way is in charge of this camp. From what I gathered during the mission briefing we are to do whatever we can to assist the rebels in their cause and we won’t be returning until they are victorious.”

Daisuke turned away from Saburo as he finished speaking, just in time to face a man that was much shorter than either him or Shin. The greeting he was about to give got cut short as the man instantly started speaking. “The name is Tento and by the looks of it you are the team that we have been waiting for. I would love to give you a tour of the place but we have a lot of work to do and it needs to get done. Follow me.” The man quickly began making his way in the direction he had come from with Daisuke a few feet behind, he presumed that the other members of the team were close behind.

As he walked Tento continued to speak, though his voice was muffled slightly due to the large amount of people in the warehouse with them. “The Mizukage’s forces have been trying to make headway into area under our control. So far they have only managed to take one building, just inside our territory. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, after all there is a reason that they have only taken the one place, but they have a pair of Jounin guarding the place. I have already lost half a dozen good men to them.” Tento’s speech was momentarily broken as he lead them inside one of the few rooms that was still intact. Within their was a few pieces of furniture, but the only thing of note was the large table that dominated the center of the room and the map that was placed on it. That is where the group was led and as he reached it Tento placed a finger on a particular building marked on it. “The building only has one doorway, though there are plenty of windows. The problem we have been having is that one or both of the Jounin notice us when we are trying to enter. What I need you guys to do is distract them, I don’t care how and I don’t care if you beat them. We just need enough time to get in and deal with anyone inside. After that we will take them by surprise and attack from the building. I can give you guys an hour max to figure out a plan. That’s the most I can do. When you are ready let the man stationed outside the door know, I have to make sure my men are prepared.” With that Tento departed, the team alone.

Daisuke didn't want to waste any time, and as such he turned towards Shin and Saburo. ”Alright let's get to it. I know I am the lead on this mission but honestly that is a formality. We are all the same rank and it is likely you two have more field experience than me at the moment. Not to mention you guys have a better understanding of how you work than me, since all I have to go off of is the briefing I got. So I want your opinions on this. I am most useful as a front man, and as such I think I should go in head on. I can take a beating and give it right back.” For a moment he paused, flashing back to the spar he had with Chokashi Akimichi just a couple of weeks ago, before he shook his head a bit and resumed. ”Shin going by what I read and the look of you I am guessing you would be most useful right up there with me. Which is good, because it is always nice to have someone at your side when you are facing more experienced shinobi. Saburo though I am not sure where you would serve best. My instincts tell me that you should keep your distance and use your ninjutsu to harass them whenever you have an opening, but between the fact that both Shin and I will be up close and the nearby buildings I am not sure if that is for the best. What do you guys think?”

---

Yamato shot a glance at Aoi as she mocked him for 'attracting all the Kiri weirdo's' and even though he knew she was being sarcastic, he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. Maybe he'd quickly grow tired of trying to be sort of nice to this girl, and instead punt her all the way back across the ocean to Konohagakure. He was contemplating doing that exact thing, especially now that she was blabbering on about charging in whenever she was with Yamato and Tsukiko, well, he was totally prepared to punt her over an ocean if he had to.. His plan would be cut short, however, by a man entering the room. Aoi might've been impressed by the hologram, Yamato was more concerned with the man's lack of professionalism. It was pretty clear the man wasn't a shinobi, that much Yamato could infer from his dress style and.. well, general apathy towards his own safety. Then again, the entire fleet was on the ocean, so they were wide open to attack pretty much constantly. They must have some sort of safety set up here, maybe there was shinobi patrolling around the fleet at all times.

That said, Yamato simply looked at the hologram and listened intensely. This was his first combat mission believe it or not, all previous 'capture the criminal' missions, that wasn't combat, that was child's play compared to this. Now they were fighting shinobi's, people of equal skill and valor. People who could very well hurt Yamato, and members of his team. Ofcourse, he wasn't planning on that. I have Tsukiko, the jonin commander, right here with me. Aoi, despite her quirks, is a valuable ally. And myself.. I am Yamato, a prodigy of attack. Watashi wa Kami. I am God. We will bring this mission to an end, and we will do so without getting scratched, kicked, punched or hurt once. As he stood there, thinking to himself, he smiled at the thought of the coming battles. Finally it was time to earn a name, to earn valour, honour, glory for his family. To the others it'd seem like he was smiling at the man's explanation of the mission, which would be quite weird. Yamato didn't seem to care that much, however. He was perfectly fine smiling at his thoughts.

As the man left again, Yamato turned to his team and waited for Tsukiko to speak, but it seemed Aoi had different plans. She ran away instantly, not caring that much for whatever else could be said here, such as important things, or things that could save her life. Obviously Aoi was just as excited as Yamato, though she made sure to show it to everyone that would look at her to see it. As Aoi ran away Yamato looked at Tsukiko, wondering if she felt the same excitement for what was going to happen.

Tsukiko gave the 'move out' order shortly after, as expected, and Yamato followed suit. He was shortly behind her, going up to the deck again before running towards the edge of the ship. With one hand he grabbed the metal railing and swung his feet up, jumping over with ease. He trailed slightly behind Tsukiko, as he was taking it easy, but it wasn't enough to warrant any sort of waiting from their end. He'd catch up in a few rapid, far steps and was right beside them again. Tsukiko gave some more information, ofcourse, but it was information that Yamato had already understood. As such he simply told himself the information was for Aoi, so that he wouldn't get annoyed at Tsukiko for saying mundane things like 'we're not going home after this'.

“This new guy. He's just guiding us, isn't he? I'd prefer to do this mission with just us three. It'd be easier..” he half-asked, half-mumbled to Tsukiko. He wasn't looking forward to having another person in the group obviously, since it'd be more of a hassle to get accustomed to this new person than it would be to simply complete the mission. And guidance was all they needed, if even that. Tsukiko would probably be able to pinpoint the factory anyway. “Besides, I'm already gonna have enough on my hands trying to keep you two out of harms way..” he added quickly, because Yamato wouldn't be Yamato if he wasn't subtly insulting the others. Clearly it was sarcasm, he had faith in Aoi and Tsukiko, but the sarcastic joke likely wouldn't be amusing to anyone else but himself. And he was perfectly fine with that.

Yamato stopped at Tsukiko's command, after all he was quite good at following orders despite his rebellious and aggressive nature. Her idea was, perhaps, a bit useless, but it seemed like an acceptable thing to do. If anything it'd help them get past the shinobi that don't have sensory abilities. He formed some handseals, slowly because he wasn't really in need of it right now, and poofed away. When the smoke cleared, he stood there as a young man with a grim, dark look on his face. As if he'd just seen his family murdered a week ago and was now scrounging to get by and eat every day. His armor would be covered now, by a thick patchwork coat, that looked like it'd seen a few generations of usage.

As he looked upon Tsukiko's transformation he couldn't help himself. “Aren't you going to disguise yourself? You still look the same.” he said bitingly, laughing internally at the joke. He'd then face Aoi and wait to see what she'd come up with to disguise herself. Somehow the idea of playing Aoi's big brother didn't sit that well with him. He'd never done something like that, not even for Rei.

---

---

Saburo followed Daisuke and Shin, as well as the man that was called 'Tento' apparently. Interesting name. He took out his notebook and started writing down key points of the man's speech. When he saw the map he quickly also drew up a small scale version of the map. It was missing details but it got the point across - entrypoints, windows, and surrounding buildings. After the introduction to the mission or objective, the man let again to get his crew ready. Daisuke started off right away, saying that Shin and Saburo probably had more time out in the field. This is where Saburo's instincts kicked in. He had a vast encyclopedia of facts in his mind, due to the 11th corps work he did, that allowed him access to a large amount of files and reports. For this mission he had specifically re-read Shin and Daisuke's files atleast five times in his spare time. That meant he couldn't control himself in this moment.

“You are factually correct Daisuke. During your time away from Konohagakure, due to your permitted leave to travel the world, Shin accrued approximately 264% of your field work hours. My own field work hours are inconsistent due to the large amount of classified 11th corps data in them, but I have plus minus 168% documented field work hours more than you. However, you being the leader is not just a formality. You have been chosen by Ayame Choko or her chosen representative to lead, so there must be a reason for that. Whether that reason is bureaucratic randomness or not is besides the point. You are the leader. Me and Shin will follow your orders. To the death.” He said it all with a smile, and he stated it all matter-of-factly, as if this information was known to anyone. And for the largest part, most of this information was readily available to the rest of the 11th corps members, so his understanding was that Shin and Daisuke also would've had access to these files. That was, ofcourse, not true. Moreover, his strange quirk showed again when he stressed he would follow orders to the death - Saburo was strangely prepared to die for the mission, and that began to show itself already.

Saburo nodded along when Daisuke gave his tactical insight to the team role division. Daisuke did seem like a bulky man that could take a few shots. Then again, nothing would stop him from dying to a stray powerful jutsu. He'd have to be careful regardless of what he did. Furthermore, his reading of Shin was accurate too Saburo imagined. “Hmm. I am a very good jutsu duelist, that's my specialty. However, ever since I got this..” he'd say, tapping on Madara's gunbai on his back, before continueing, “.. I am also able to fight defensively at close range. However, having three people at close range seems redundant. I'll hold back, and when I see an attack coming in, I will catch it with the Gunbai and use the Uchiha return to blow them away. Literally.”

He paused for a brief moment, looking awkwardly at Daisuke, before bowing slightly. “Is that okay with you, captain Daisuke-sama.” he said. The words were obviously said to give Daisuke some form of self confidence, and they weren't very convincing at that. Saburo had just thought that if Daisuke was more sure of his capabilities as a team leader, he'd do better and increase the chances of the mission succeeding. He wasn't doing this as a gesture of friendship and compassion, nor was it respect for the team leader. It was a calculated effort to raise the percentages of mission success through social working. It was all factual, calculated and based on educational theories in Saburo's head. But he lacked the social skills to make it come out genuine and honest. No, it sounded like he was a robot, trying to mimic human social skills.

“I got the job of teaching these Civvies how to not stick themselves with the wrong end of a kunai,” Akio said as she looked around the camp, nodding in agreement with Chokashi’s earlier assessment. While it had obviously taken awhile to get this together, it was impressive none the less what the poor and destitute of this town had been able to build for themselves with hardly any help or supplies. And it had given the rebellion a good place to train those who wanted to fight for their country how to do so with their own two hands.

As she turned to address Chokashi, she happened to notice someone walk by pulling up their hood, hiding their face from view. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she stared after the individual, but she shook it off, turning towards the field. “So, we got two groups assigned to us, one full of older adults and what not, and another filled with ones closer to are age. Which one do you want to start with?”

@FallenTrinity

---

Takeo nodded appreciatively as Chen came with him down the tunnel, chuckling slightly as he saw the teen pull out his phone. It was something a number of their younger, more well-off recruits tended to do in the beginning, not yet used to the idea of not being able to use their devices when there’s nothing for them to do.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got a few books at the outpost just a short ways up. Not much, to be honest, but it’ll keep you busy.” Takeo seemed about to say something else, but closed his mouth as if he’d thought better of it. However, he rolled his head around as he tossed whatever it was back and forth in his mind before apparently deciding on something as he looked around to check if anyone was around before leaning closer to the young boy. “Don’t tell Tatsu about this, but we’ve also got a few Icha-Icha books hidden in every outpost. Even if you’re not into it,. it makes for more stimulating reading than anything else we got around here. Pl-”

Takeo suddenly stopped walking, his body rigid as his eyes tore themselves to the outpost, his one eye narrowing suspiciously as he approached, one hand reaching behind him almost casually into his kunai pouch. Making it to the door, he knocked on the door firmly, waiting for a response in silence. Soon, the door opened to reveal a ragged looking man with a slashed out Kirir symbol on his head.

“About time you showed to take your sh-HURGH!!” The man shotted out in surprise as he felt a kunai get stabbed into his throat, before Takeo spun kicked him into the low ceiling hut, several other ninja coming out of the woodwork to attack, only for the sound of a faint hissing to draw their attention to the exploding tag that had been wrapped around the hilt. In the split -second between the realization and the explosion, Takeo tackled Chen into the filthy water, allowing them to escape from the large explosion unharmed.

Shortly after, Takeo would bring them to the surface on a bed of earth, his hand reaching for his blade as more ninja suddenly seemed to come from the darkness beyond the outpost. There were about 5 of them, and the two in front flickered through hand signs before launching an dual attack of the Water Fang Bullet and Great Wind Breakthrough, causing the projectiles to rush towards them at high speed. Takeo ran through his own handseals before slamming them into the ground, causing a onrush of water to explode outward towards the group, intercepting the attack and scattering the shinobi.
“On your feet, Konoha, let’s see you prove your worth!” Takeo shouted to Chen before charging forward, launching his sword at one of the fleeing nin, the hunk of metal traveling far faster and straight then one would expect, piercing the surprised nin through the chest and spearing him to a wall. TAkeo then ran through another bout of handseals, whispering to himself as he charged forward. “Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu.”

A thick mist soon formed around the area, and the sounds of battle could soon be heard as swordsman clashed with his foes. Chen, however, wouldn;t be given the time to pay much attention, as the the same two shinobi that had attacked them before now stood before him, each having a blade drawn in preparation to attack. The two were nearly identical in appearance, young women that looked slightly older than him by a year or two, dressed in standard Kiri fashion. The only way to tell them apart was by their hairstyles, as one hand their hair tied in a short braid, and the other had it in two buns on either side of her head.

As one , they charged forward, aiming to take down the presumably weaker shinobi with a flurry of strikes, their movements so in synch with each other, it was almost as if Chen was fighting one person instead of two. They’d keep this up for as long as they could, though eventually they’d back off, leaping into the air to run through a series of handseals before unleashing the same combiniation jutsu as before, showering the area with a hail of wind-enhanced water bullets.

@floodtalon

---

As Gin walked away from the Konoha nin, he’d knock into someone who was also wearing a hood. While that may have amounted to nothing, the nn would be carrying a certain smell about him, somewhat hard to discern at first, but with his new found experience with bombing, he’d recognize the smell of explosive materials that lingered upon the man.

However, before he could say anything, a large explosion would ring out from one for the tunnels, causing people to look towards the area in confusion. The explosion was not alone, however, as soon the camp itself started to erupt as shadows bolted around the area tossing paper bombs and more conventional explosives, sowing chaos throughout both this area, and the residential one. The man Gin had passed was heading straight for the registration tent, giving the white haired man only a split second to try and take him down before he threw a barrage of paper balls at the structure, blowing it to smithereens.

@FallenTrinity

Chen sighed as he listened to the Kiri-nin say something about Icha Icha. Dear lord, was everyone in the Elemental Nations a pervert? He put away his phone and shook his head. He was uninterested in the new Icha Icha books, none of them were as good as the ones written by the original author. He was about to ask what books they had when he suddenly stopped. His companion reached into his Kunai pouch and Chen likewise reached for his sword. a few short moments and one explosion later Chen was in the dirty water and there was a battle going on. despite being covered in filth, Chen smiled. This was what he signed up for.

Chen jumped to his feet and smoothly drew his sword. He channeled his Futon natured Chakra through it and blocked each of their strikes, slicing through their blades just a little with every block. If they had attacked with Kunai they would be left weaponless, and most likely limbless. He jumped back at the same time he did and ran through the handseals for Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. He shot it at the approaching Water Bullets and watched them slow to a crawl. While they still hit them, he had slowed them down enough that it would be little more than a minor annoyance that got him wet. Chen began laughing maniacally with insanity in his eyes as he rushed through some more hand seals. He breathed into his hand and watched his breath form into a small ball.

"Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball!"

Chen began firing multiple palm shaped balls of wind at the twins and laughed more. They were deceptively strong as they smashed through rock and most likely flesh and bone if they hit.

"Your blood is my strength! Make me work for this victory!" Chen inhaled deeply and breathed more Wind natured Chakra into his palm as he prepared for another volley of Spiralling Wind Balls.

@Raijinslayer

---

Aoi was pleased to see that they were following her example and decided to run instead of taking those slow, boring boats. Luckily for her Tsukiko would be their righteous guide to correctly orient themselves through the dense fog surrounding the area. It wasn't called the hidden mist for nothing, Tsukiko's sense of smell and general aptness in terms of just surviving made her quite useful in such uncomfortable environments. They were shinobi though, so it wasn't like they couldn't get around anyway. They'd quickly reach land thanks to their superior speed and proceed to approaching the scorching city that befell to the hands of war and terror. It wouldn't take long until the walls hiding the outskirts of town would be visible through the mist and they'd finally leap through to infiltrate the agglomeration.

Eventually Tsukiko would order them to stop and engage in preparing for a more stealthy approach, they didn't want to go in hard and conspicuous when there could be an enemy at every corner. Peering to the left, then to the right, the low to catch on Aoi wasn't quite sure why they were stopping at first, it wasn't like there was any threat nearby and most of the fighters were farther away. It would only be when the clown would be shunned for being so bright with her variety of colors on her current attire that she understood what the issue was. Sighing, she acknowledged what was expected of her and scrambled her brains to figure out the perfect appearance. Tsukiko went for an old hag while Yamato would play as the older brother.

"Hmmm~ Oh I know!"

Upon seeing Yamato's appearance, she was strangely inspired. Forming the appropriate hand seal, the mucus around her body would vibrate and take a new form around her, essentially giving her an entirely new appearance without modifying her actual size. Following the significance of her name, she morphed into a young girl with blue hair and the typical peasant set of clothes.

"Oh hey bro~ You look mighty nice today~"

She'd imitate a farmer girl's accent to taunt and bother the poor Yamato that likely more than had it with this whole situation. Tsukiko had order to get moving, and as such Aoi glanced at the connecting streets and made sure there wasn't a camping bloke nearby so they could move with full discretion. Despite the endeavor of wanting to be inconspicuous, the clown had the right idea to skip around as her preferred gait in this particular situation. It was indeed more eye catching, but it did also fit the character of a young, naive girl being a little too optimistic despite what they were going through.

"Oi big bro! Nana! Lotsa smoke over here!"

Indeed they were nearing the more industrial area of Kiri, where they would likely find factories. The Chideta warehouse would likely be nearby within the smog of the industry. Licking her index finger, Aoi let the wind determine where the factory would be. East, it said. And as such she marched toward that direction, of course with a much slower pace. This was just a practical joke she'd pull on the overly serious colleagues of her's (at least they looked it) and she'd immediately turn around after three seconds.