Ensurance or Insurance?

[Texas]

Tenzin's horse and carriage was waiting for him outside of the village. Today was as normal as any other day. Instead of wearing his normal garb, the shinobi was wearing a white kimono and removed his headband. He tried to dress as nice as he could, although it wasn't something he was used to. Actually, the only times he wore nice clothes was for funerals. The shinobi pondered this as he exited the gates and walked up to his driver. "Thank you for your time! We have a trip ahead of us, but do you mind waiting a little bit until I give you the okay?" The driver nodded and lounged a bit as Tenzin opened the carriage door and sat inside. He wanted to stay hidden from the public mainly because he didn't want anyone outside of the Konoha walls to know what he had intended to do. If a trap was to properly be placed, the pursuer's couldn't know it's a trap! Otherwise it's not a trap!

After concerning thoughts about using the word trap too many times, Tenzin sat down and waited. He had sent in a request a week before his departure for an Anbu escort. He did it through official channels to make it look like a legitimate request from Tenzin and not a mission for the Anbu that he commanded himself. It seems like Tenzin's disguise for this mission was in fact himself! The silver hair barely moved, but was more down now that it wasn't being held up by a proper shinobi headband.

After sitting for a couple minutes, the antsy behavior kicked in and he actually stepped outside. The man would fold his arms and lean his back against the carriage with one leg up resting on it. Although time was going by as it normally does, for some reason it was going slower to the Bannin.... was he... nervous?

[zory_alechiv]

The Nara leapt from tree to tree, still perplexed about the nature of this mission. He wondered what Tenzin was doing, requesting for an ANBU escort when the man himself was an ANBU Captain. Frowning behind his horse mask, the man moved too quick to be seen by anyone passing by. He kept his cloak around him, the garment billowing out behind him as he ran towards the gate.

Finding Tenzen wasn't hard as he was exactly where he said he would be and the Nara took the opportunity to land in front of Tenzin silently. He wondered who else would be here if anyone. The only thing visible were his biceps with the ANBU tattoo and his dark chocolate colored hair that was spiked up in every direction, lifted higher by the headband across his forehead.

Tenzin was several inchest taller than Kirin and a lot broader too. Like his Nara heritage, Jash appeared lanky though the exposure of his arms allowed him to testify against that assumption a bit as they were well defined. Either way, it was clear he was not built for strength, but a fighter built more for speed and distance. He'd do better with Akemi or even Takeshi on this mission but he didn't get his hopes up.

Jash couldn't help but see that Tenzin was nervous. The Nara bowed slightly. "Hatake-san," he says respectfully. Though the horse-faced anbu bowed, his brown eyes never left the white-haired man.

[Throniv]

---

The scent of damp earth and distant rain hung heavy in the air as Kaito materialized from the dappled shadows beneath a towering oak, ten meters from the carriage. His arrival was a study in controlled silence as [Shadow Step • Soft Step] ensuring not a twig snapped, not a leaf rustled. He’d observed the scene for precious seconds from the treeline: Tenzin’s uncharacteristic fidgeting against the carriage, the forced nonchalance warring with palpable tension in his posture, Jashin’s sudden, respectful arrival and the murmured ‘Hatake-san’.

Commander playing civilian. Nervous. Kirin already present. The analysis flashed through Kaito’s mind, cool and efficient. The mission parameters were clear: escort the package, disguised as Tenzin Hatake, civilian consultant, to the Daimyo. The subtext, known only to him and likely Jashin, was sharper: protect the ANBU Commander at all costs, while maintaining the facade. Kaito still wasn't sure why the mission was worded or delivered in the manner it was, but it more than likely was meant to hide the commander's identity as ANBU to draw someone out--meaning a possible leak in the assignment office, but if it was being exploited then it was a known factor.

Proper misinformation could be far more harmful to the enemy than stealing information from them, after all.

He stepped forward, the transition from shadow to presence nearly seamless, and inclined his head in a way that shadowed the tiger-faced mask he wore with the hood of his grey cloak, making him as a Fukutaicho within the organization. The stylized tiger mask, impassive and predatory, turned first towards Tenzin, then inclined fractionally towards Jashin – a bare acknowledgment of the Horse-masked operative.

"Hatake-san," Kaito stated, his voice filtered slightly by the mask, calm and devoid of inflection. It was the address of an ANBU guard to a protected principal, perfectly neutral. His gaze, unseen behind the porcelain tiger's eyes, swept the immediate perimeter--the driver lounging, the empty road ahead, the dense woods flanking them. Shishi should be joining them shortly, and between the three of them and the Bannin Commander of the ANBU, there were very few that could hope to stand a chance.

OOCShow

[Shadow Step • Soft Step]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
This foundational discipline teaches the practitioner to slow their breathing and soften their footsteps, reducing sound. While active, their movement generates no noise unless they sprint or perform a forceful action (e.g., kicking down a door). Opponents must use a hearing-based [Perception] technique of equal or higher rank to hear them.

[Shadow Step • Hiding in the Trees]
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
This pseudo-camouflage technique allows the practitioner to blend in to any amount of foliage and move through the trees without disturbing the branches or causing noise. In order to visually detect the practitioner within foliage, the opponent must have a [Perception] or [Sensory] technique of equal or greater rank.

[Kaida]

Walking along dirt trodden paths that skirted the outside of the village, Akemi made her way to the designated meeting spot. She had been given a missive the night before that she was to help other ANBU operatives bring a fellow shinobi to the Fire Country Daimyo on a diplomatic mission. The details were scarce but as were most things that related to their secret service.

Dressed in black cargo pants, her combat boots, a black muscle shirt with the standard flak jacket and her lion mask, Akemi approached the carriage that was parked just off to the side of the road. Her hair was pulled back into boxer braids with her tanto on her left hip and her hip pouch and thigh hoslter on her right side. Her whiskey eyes looking almost black as they peered through the white, red and orange covering. Surveying her surroundings, she saw nothing out of the ordinary and decided to approach.

As she made her way out of the foliage, she saw Tora and Kirin already there with Hatake-san. Breathing a slight sigh of relief, she jogged the last 30 feet over and nodded her head to her teammates and their ward. "Morning, Hatake-san. Tora, Kirin."