[Graded][PB] The Search for the Missing Traders!

[Director]

Fanho awaited near the tower front gates of Konoha attached to the large wall ever standing since Fanho could remember as a small child. He tugged at his backpack straps adjusting his brown leather pack on his back sitting on his shoulders. He peered up at the sky tracing the sunlight down to the shadows telling him the time was still early and young. At this point Fanho was just finding things to do. He arrived early to hopefully prepare for his mission. He was informed that he would be tagged along by a genin, unknown to his knowledge who it'd be, it'd be a pleasant surprise to find out which genin he had been paired with to execute this mission with. His headband sagged a bit as he watched the shadows. A slight frown grew across his face as he reached up untying his headband tossing it into his leather backpack. I guess an undercover mission would call for removing all traces of the village. Fanho followed through by also taking off his chuunin flak jacket placing it into the backpack by folding it up neatly.

He reached into his pack and pulled out a scroll. Untying the scroll it dropped out the details of the mission. Their mission was to go investigate a caravan route that kept having a recurring theme of traders disappearing with little trace, sometimes with shinobi, but yet the bodies are never fount. Just the empty carcasses of their wooden caravans left, abandoned seemingly as they just left with little scuffle. Fanho scratched his chin as he contemplated on how to go about the mission. They were allocated a single unit of cattle with caravan provisions on the back as a decoy to infiltrate the route not to seem suspicious. Well we'll infiltrate the route, and continue on as if normal. We'll allocate ourselves to be captured to be lured into their base, and we'll strike from within. Fanho gave a slight smirk as he draped himself in a dark brown smooth leather robe with the a kasa with the etchings of "Hashiroma Trading Company" encircling it. He tilted the hat low enough it obscured the upper half of his face from the nose up.

Fanho quickly flew through handseals as an exact clone of himself appeared next to him solid in substance as the real Fanho nodded towards the clone, an ushering of thoughts between them as a mutual understanding of their intentions, I'll use a shadowclone as a diversionary technique while I hide in the shadows. This way once the clone is captured, I can dispell them and retain the knowledge they gained of where the base is at, and then free whoever is paired with me to take them down. A grin grew across his face as Fanho quickly made his exit from the clone before anyone could approach or notice that the real Fanho had split. His intentions were to let the genin paired with him know of the plan so that he wouldn't be freaked out by the sudden disappearing of his superior. While the real Fanho awaited on a nearby building he changed back into his typical chuunin attire maintaining the dark brown leather cloak, and keeping his headband off inside the back. The shadow clone sat on-top of the decoy caravan awaiting the genin's arrival.

Jutsu UsedShow

*Ninjutsu • Shadow Clone Technique
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user proceeds to create a number of clones of themselves (maximum is equal to 1/3rd the users stamina). Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies of the user in both appearance and substance. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing jutsu on their own and can even bleed, but they will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original and any experience the clones gain during their existence is transferred to the user once they are dispersed. Given that the clones are an exact replica of the user, they share the same stats except for stamina, which is determined by the number of clones presently in effect.

[Rain21199]

Zakuro's clacking foots steps sound across the empty street in front of Konoha's mighty gate. It stood towering over and watching all. Looking up at the greatness that was Konoha's wall, Zakuro couldn't help but to feel a heavy sense of protection, but at the same time, he knew that outside of the protective circle, there was a world of hatred and violence. The tall blonde teen had gotten a taste of this world not that long before when this very gate was breached by two very powerful ninja. They tarnished the illusion of peace that Konoha had set for all of it's civilians. There was nothing but fear left afterwards. Even so, the people of Konoha had something that most people didn't have to fight away this fear. That something was hope. A hope that was implanted into every ninja and civilian's heads over and over. Of course, that hope was the will of fire.

Approaching the gate that he had been confined to his entire life, Zakuro couldn't help but to look at the massive forest in which the village stood. He had only ventured a maximum of a hundred meters from this gate. Now he was about to travel kilometers away. He was supposed to be kept in the protection of a Chuunin ranked shinobi who should be able to protect Zakuro from any serious threats.

The mission was one of up most importance. Supplies being sent out to Konoha were never reaching the village. A loss of goods for the village was never a good thing. It was also important because this mission happened to be Zakuro's first outside of the village. It was bound to be an adventure. Zakuro saw a strange man with a very interesting attire on. He looked completely unfamiliar to Zakuro, which was strange since Zakuro knew a lot of Chuunin. Ignoring that fact, Zakuro walked up to the man from behind and shouted to get his attention, "Hey! I'm Zakuro, are you the Chuunin I'm supposed to meet here?" Zakuro's body would then switch to a more relaxed position. He crossed his arms, tapped his foot loudly against the gravel road, and awaited a response from the man.

[Director]

Fanho's clone peered from underneath the kasa before taking it off, and looked at Zakuro with his full attention. The grey hair and doujutsu should have given away who he was to Zakuro. "Well glad to see I have a familiar face on this mission." Fanho scratched underneath his chin before continuing on. "And I don't have to worry that I got a fresh out of the academy genin." Fanho tossed Zakuro the mission scroll detailing all that he was studying earlier.

Fanho's clone also held out a set of robes and a kasa with the etching of "Hashiroma Trading Company" encircling it. "Use these to disguise yourself as this trading caravan." He said ushering a thumb towards the caravan cart pulled by cattle. "Just a heads up, this is just a clone. I'm really watching from afar up there." As he pointed to the top of a building one could see the real Fanho draped in chuunin gear waving down to the two. "I'll be following behind just in-case anything is to happen, the clone is that if we get captured I can dispell the clone once were inside the base, and I'll have knowledge of where their bases is at to come free you and then we'll take care of the bandits." The clone Fanho ushered the words somewhat trailing in the end before speaking once more.

"There is one thing to be weary of. The caravans have gone completely missing, no trace of them left to be fount. The most evidence left behind were nail marks in a tree which was noted by the last scouting party." Fanho leaned against the caravan as continued on explaining the situation at hand, "Its possible we might be dealing with a low ranking missing-ninja with ulterior motives." He strapped his kasa back onto his head, and reordered things inside the caravan as he took his place inside the driving seat for the cattle.

Many thoughts began running through his head as he began to think about the mission deeper. A missing-ninja leading a bandit group, which lead him to the idea that no wonder a group of bandits had come together so peacefully. None-the-less Fanho worried about Zakuro even though he knew he could take care of himself, it was just a fear that would rest in the back of his mind. "Alright, any questions before we go?"

[Rain21199]

Zakuro instantly recognized the face of Fahno, the Awai that he had met earlier in the year. He had heard that Fahno became a chuunin, but never actually confirmed it. Well, it seems like Fahno actually did it. His heart pounded at this news. It means he was overtaken by one of his fellow comrades. That he actually became a chuunin faster than Zakuro. Suddenly Zakuro wanted his exams to come a lot faster.

After explaining the mission in better detail, Fahno handed Zakuro an outfit to wear. He resentfully slipped it on. It smelled of sweat and river water, but if it was essential to the mission, who was he to complain. Of course, Fahno did say something about them getting kidnapped which didn't really seem to appealing to Zakuro. Especially since that would put his life in the hands of this chuunin.

The symbolic headband of the hidden leaf slipped off of Zakuro's forehead. Clutching it tightly, Zakuro set it in the caravan, under some items to keep it hidden. His head gave a quick nod to the clone as he strapped on the kasa to his head as a gesture to say he was ready.

[Director]

Fanho's clone frowned at Zakuro's reluctant attitude to put on the outfit. He shrugged and gave a quick flick at his own kasa playfully. "Its not so bad, they said we could at least eat the cargo, and supposedly were transporting candies so feel free to eat to your hearts content, at least don't get sick though." He looked towards Zakuro as he finished slipping into the garb. With a nod of his head he gave a quick pat to the cattle's back as they moo'd, and began trotting along the pathway. Fanho's clones shoes clacked along as the real Fanho patrolled behind moving from tree to tree maintaining a distance of at least forty-eight meters to keep an eye without intruding or giving away his position.

They began to drift farther and farther away from the village gates as they grew smaller. The surrounding trees echo'd a peaceful sensation, and the clouds with birds chirping did aid to it as well. The scene was serene, nature in Fire Country was typically this peaceful due to its beautiful and warm weathered climate. It was hardly ever too cold to be enjoyable or too hot, which was ironic in a place named 'Fire Country'. None the less, Fanho believed this to be one of the more beautiful countries even though he had been to Waterfall Country, which was beautiful as well, but didn't compare to the country side of Fire Country. Fanho glanced over at Zakuro as they continued walking, "I figured you'd be a Chuunin by now? I mean you're just as skilled as one, and probably stronger than some of the other newly graduated ones." He lamented on what he said before glancing back at Zakuro, "I mean, probably even better than me, but I guess putting a team together is hard. Even me, Gene, and Ko had a hard time with our Chuunin proctor. I came out with broken ribs.

He ushered the statement with a slight chuckle as he graced his hand against his chest before delving both back into his pockets. The Chuunin exam was one of helluva battle that truly pushed Gene, Ko, and Fanho's skill. It was only luck that Fanho had put together two and two by the end of the spar considering him and Ko had experienced severe case of broken ribs. At least it was a test of stamina for Fanho and Ko, Gene had gotten away with a few scrapes and bruises, but Ko and Fanho had taken the brunt of the front line fighting. Then again that is what Fanho was best at was front line fighting with fists and ninjutsu. He gave a chuckle at the remembrance of his Chuunin exam, "Yeah, some exam. Pitted us against two Hyuuga Chuunin both bulging eyes. None the less, would've have been a done deal if it was the real thing. Still a learning lesson that was valuable. You've been slotted for your Chuunin exam yet?"

[Rain21199]

The loose fit of his new clothes slowly began to drive Zakuro crazy. He constantly shifted his outfit for it to feel more comfortable, but it barely helped. The soft clicking of hooves hit the gravel road, signaling to Zakuro that it was time to move. God, was he actually ready to leave the village? He wasn't even a Chuunin yet and here he was, leaving. Zakuro stood still for a small moment as the caravan moved away from him and the village. He knew that he would look like an idiot in front of Fahno if he just stood there, so he forced his legs to start moving. Something as simple as walking typically wouldn't cause one's heart rate to pick up, but Zakuro's was racing. He had heard many stories about what lies in this forest.

Slowly but surely Zakuro calmed down and was able to pay more attention to the actual beauty of his surroundings and less on jumping to every noise he heard. He actually started to enjoy the forest after awhile. The sounds were calming. Birds chirped in the distanced, and the soft whistle of the wind rustled the leaves of the many trees around them. It was utterly peaceful. Zakuro started to have a tough time imagining that anything bad could happen in these woods, but he knew better than to let his guard down.

As the village faded in the distance, Fahno started talking about the Chuunin exams. That was something Zakuro had been dreading for awhile. Ever since he got the news that he would be taking it solo, he was terrified. The Chuunin's added description of broken ribs didn't help calm Zakuro's nerves one bit. Fahno asked a simple question, was he slotted for his exams yet. The simple answer was yes, but it was a bit more complicated than that. "Well, the time and place for my exams have been set, but they're having me take it in a special arena in front of three extremely influential shinobi. They're making a really big deal with my exams because they decided that I would be taking it solo. I don't really understand why, and if that means I'm going to be fighting someone who wasn't as strong as most other proctors, but I don't know that it's really stressing me out."

Zakuro took off his kasa for a moment to run his fingers trough his hair. He then plopped the hat back on and adjusted it to look nice. He looked back at the real Fahno and thought about how he wouldn't know a single word that was spoken in this conversation until this clone was destroyed. It was a weird thought. Regardless, Zakuro continued his conversation. "I've been doing some training for it, but I still don't think I'm ready. I really hope that I can pass my first time because I don't think I can deal with this stress a second time."

[Director]

Fanho directed his attention towards Zakuro as he spoke. A few road signs passed as they progressed, they were a decent way away from the village now. Anything happening now they would have to rely on their skills. However the idea that his friend would be undertaking his Chuunin exams alone were impressive, the idea that the village council saw him as capable as to take on a Chuunin one on one was admirable. Certainly note worthy, especially considering Fanho's group had faced only one and suffered massive injuries. "Gotta say that's pretty awe-inspiring. The fact the village council thinks you're worthy of taking a Chuunin exam by yourself? I think their faith is well placed." Fanho ushered his sentence with a wink and smile towards the Genin to assure him with confidence. He gave a chuckle flashing back to his own exam, "Hey even though I am a higher rank, the three of us still had trouble with just ours alone. If they feel like you're ready, then obviously you've got something they can see."

Fanho gazed towards the sky for a minute, something puzzling his mind, continuously pinging in the back of Fanho's mind. An idea, an event, a situation that would happen, and Fanho would have to face it. He had never killed anyone before, nor had he ever felt the need to, but if he was going to make sure Zakuro stayed safe on this mission he would have to. If he were going to complete his mission, he would have it. In the future when he would have to be strong, he'd have to. The hope maintained that he could save Zakuro the trouble of doing such a deed for a bit longer, but at some point he'd have to be exposed to it as well. Fanho just prayed that he'd have the strength to be able to carry it out when he needed to. He returned his sight back to the immediate area, still the same beautiful green scenery with a few wooden signs here and there directing traffic towards the smaller villages in Fire Country. The Hidden Leaf Village practically hidden, a glimpse of the large doors looming in the distance.

Fanho shifted his attention back towards Zakuro before asking another question, "Hey if you fail your first time its okay, because it doesn't mean you're bad or anything. I mean you are taking a more challenging version of the test as opposed to how the rest of us got it. But anyways, I think you'll do fine." The trail kept winding down, a small tea shop looming in the near future as a pit stop for weary travelers. Perhaps there they could stop, and take a breather for a minute. Neither of them were tired because they were both in relatively good shape, however it'd provide a good place to stop inconspicuously and talk. However at the same time an investigative ground as they'd be come to the area where most of the caravans were reported going missing with minimal trails.

[Rain21199]

Tall grass littered the ground beneath the two shinobi as they slowly approached a tea shop in the distance. Fahno obviously tried to cheer Zakuro up. It work a little, but he still felt nervous about the whole ordeal. He didn't feel any different from anyone else, and he was especially no more talented than his fellow shinobi, or at least it seemed that way to him. He didn't like the idea of being in that arena, all alone, all of those eyes peering on him and nobody else. It sent chills down his spine just thinking about it. Although he had this added stress on top of his first real mission, he kept his chin up as best he could. There was no way he would show any kind of weakness in the event of an ambush.

Zakuro began stretching out his arms in multiple different was as they final arrived at the tea shop. The shop was your run of the mill mom and pa shop. It wasn't run down, but it could use a couple repairs. The place also admitted an extremely nice smell. Zakuro was instantly influenced to buy some tea once he caught a whiff of what they were making. Of course he restrained himself because they were there to look around for evidence and maybe take a break. Zakuro was barely tired, but you could never be too well rested before an imminent fight. Thinking of a fight, Zakuro slowly reached around to the back of his belt where he kept a kunai hidden in case he needed it. Luckily it was still resting where he put it.

He turned to his traveling companion, looking for some more comfort about the whole exams thing. "You know, the council thinks that I can rise up to the challenge, so I'm going to have to. I really can't let them down can I? Doing that really wouldn't be a good sign for my future as a Konoha shinobi now would it? Honestly, I think this whole thing is just getting to my head. It's the most important thing I've done in my life and it's just getting to me. I bet you felt the same way before you took yours right?"

After finishing the sentence and finally arriving at the tea shop, Zakuro leaned up against the building and took a deep sigh. He knew that after this point, this mission would stop being fun and games and turn into a life or death situation. He wasn't quite sure he was ready to be in that scenario, but this was definitely not the time for him to be second guessing himself. He took the mission, it was his job to rise an meet the challenge.

[Director]

Fanho watched as they approached the shop, nice and quaint were the thoughts passing through his head. As in all due respect Fanho favored these little out of the way shops, they seemed to be better than the big chains some families owned. None the less it still appeared to be a weathered tea house, but it had preserved on. He wavered the cattle towards the side of the shop as he tied them up to a post with a trough of water. He walked over towards some grass grasping several fills of it before dumping it into the other section of the trough for the cows to eat. He glanced up towards Zakuro as he spoke about his Chuunin exams once more.

"As long as you don't give up, you can accomplish anything." Fanho ushered it with a warm smile as he dusted his hands off from grabbing grass. He lightly patted his hands along the smooth leather robe to get any dust or dirt left on his hands off. He began walking towards the opening of the tea house as he grasped the tea house paper door to slide across. He peeled the door back peering inside, the dark interior not lit, no candle in sight. He gritted his back molars with a change in facial expression at the thought of not being able to do jutsu in a stealth mission. He gave a sigh as he slid the door completely open while peering in underneath from his kasa.

The area lit up due to his doujutsu, it appeared abandon, completely empty, but everything was left in place. A bamboo cup filled with tea left on the counter. Fanho disappeared into the interior as he strolled towards the bamboo cup dipping his finger in, then lifting it out and flicking the remaining residue of the tea away. The tea felt warm, obviously this was a tale sign someone was here, however it certainly didn't ascertain to whether or not they were still close. Depending on who they were facing, it would be hard to figure out if the person was close. However judging by the amount of liquid in the cup it was only three-fourths filled meaning someone had recently been drinking from it. They were close, but the real question was how close?

Fanho stepped out from the tea house as he turned to Zakuro. He gave a hushed whisper so that only Zakuro could hear, "Be on your toes, I'm not the only one that could be following us." His senses heightened to the best of their ability, he had to be on his toes at all times. The danger on this mission was life or death in this case, an unknown possible threat could be following them, or easily sensed them. Even though they needed to approach safely and carefully, this required an expertise of carefulness from the two of them. Fanho gave a wave to Zakuro to continue on as he untied the cattle pushing forward on the path. The next area is where the ninja that were originally hired to investigate would be where he presumed they would be stopped. He cocked his head towards the direction of Zakuro before giving another hushed whisper, "I have a feeling that we will be attacked soon, just be prepared for anything that happens, I'll be right behind you. I don't believe they're out for blood necessarily, but I don't believe they have good intentions."

The feelings barked at Fanho's attention, it was a dire circumstance, and certainly one that made him question why they didn't wait to assign another Chuunin to the mission. He felt confident in his own abilities, however assurance would put his mind at ease. The real Fanho trailed behind maintaining his forty eight meters distance as he took note of the kage bushin's reactions to the tea house, and careful spin he put on the next part of their travel. While he couldn't tell exactly what had happened, or what the kage bushin knew just yet, he could only assume to be ready and prepped for trouble as he trailed behind.

[Rain21199]

As they left the abandoned tea shop, the tension in the air seemed to spike. Zakuro's heart started pounding. Was he ready for this? Of course he had been training to go on missions all of his life, but he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Most shinobi with shinobi parents were actually given advice about the mission from them. All Zakuro got was a hug and they wished him good luck. What if these bandits were stronger than them. They were too far from the village. Nobody could come to their aid on time.

All these thoughts swirled in Zakuro's head as they continued onward. Deep down he knew that he had better suppress his worry quickly otherwise he would wind up regretting it. He tried to calm down by taking a deep breath. He started thinking about his favorite food, chicken dumpling soup. He did whatever he could to keep his mind off of failure. In fact, he thought to himself, when he was done with this mission, he was going to eat some chicken dumpling soup. That thought really calmed his mind because he told himself when, not if.

Zakuro finally relaxed after his little inner panic attack, but he was still on alert. He wouldn't let his guard down no matter what. At this point, anyone they saw would be marked as a potential threat in Zakuro's head. His muscles were tense, and he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. The only problem was that he didn't want to blow their cover. If the enemy knew that he was a shinobi, there goes the plan to see what they've been doing to these traders. He had to keep his cool unless it was to absolutely protect his life. He just needed to put his trust into Fahno.

Zakuro's eyes darted all over the road in front of them. He looked at the bushes, in the trees, behind rocks, everywhere that someone could hide, Zakuro was looking. He made sure not to move his head very much while doing so. He definitely didn't want anyone to notice that he was paranoid. Honestly, Zakuro used to think that being undercover would be easy. He was sadly mistaken. The weight put on your shoulders by hiding a secret as big as your identity was immense. He almost felt crushed under the weight. He just hoped that they wouldn't notice who they were.

[Director]

As they traveled a few more feet three kunai flew out from the bushes, two aimed at Fanho, the other one aimed at Zakuro. Fanho quickly stepped backwards dodging the first kunai as he ducked underneath the second kunai. He felt confident in Zakuro's abilities to dodge a simple kunai as three men draped in black body suits with basic flak jackets that appeared to be a brown plate in front sewn to another one in the back with shoulder pads pinned to the front and back. They also had light weight masks similar to those of Konoha black operations, ANBU, and Kiri hunter ninja. Each a different animal one held the mask of a cat, the next the mask of a dog, and the next the mask of a bear. All predator animals which fit the theme. They seemed skilled enough which fit the M.O. for the missing traders. The three stood standing as the one in the middle of the three with the mask of a dog, a pack leader animal spoke to them. The one in the dog mask appeared lean, but had muscle definition. He seemed to appear average at first glance. The one in the cat mask was lean, minimal muscle definition, but little fat to be seen. He appeared to be lean, fast, and agile as attribute to his mask and figure. The one in the bear mask was large, muscular, with decent muscle definition, but there was fat to be seen that made him appear larger. "You don't seem like normal traders. Your chakra levels are too high. . ."

He spoke with a demeaning manor as well as a deep booming, commanding voice. It reverberated in the spine of Fanho's clone. The three men didn't have any markings designating them as any village ninja. However from the way they held their kunai, it was not any way Fanho had seen a ninja hold their kunai. It was more primal like, savage, as if held by a bandit's hand. Fanho spoke to the men, not dropping any sense of authority in the situation, it was obvious their cover was blown at this point they had a sensory among their ranks. "And you don't seem like regular bandits to me. Who are you working for?" The man in the middle chuckled as they began to speak as if in a trance, one after the other, beginning with the middle one. "Our glorious god-" The one in the mask of a cat spoke with a lucid voice as if how silk would sound if it could make noise, one as a sleek as a cat fitting the tone, "Who feeds his children-" The next speaking just as Fanho predicted a loud, rambunctious voice that of a burly bear, "The chakra of non-believers. . ."

The scene appeared grim, as Fanho grimaced behind the safety of his kasa. It was almost sickening as Fanho spoke again with unwavering bravery, he had to be strong for Zakuro's sake who was probably terrified at being far away from the village. He could not blame the guy, as Fanho himself was fearful, but remained cool, strong, and collected as he needed to be. "And traders have just been ripe for the pickings?" The man with the soft, silky voice spoke from underneath his cat mask, "While they don't have much chakra, they are ripe, easy to extract and prep." At this point thoughts of cannibalism ran through Fanho's mind, however it seems they would be a bit more savage with the way they were acting. They obviously weren't ninja, but they weren't dumb either. These people had a system they ran by, and by their earlier statements it seemed they fed off the chakra of traders. Albeit civilians haven't tapped into their tenketsu whether they could or could not, they provided a source of unrefined chakra that was never used.

Fanho's clone gritted his teeth a bit stealthily as he began to speak again with curiosity and anger filling his words, "Let me guess, you're a sensory ninja? At least one of you." The third one spoke with his burly voice again, "No, our glorious god detected you miles away, and sent us to retrieve more non-believers." The first one spoke as soon as the one in the bear mask ended his statement, he spoke rash, fast, and with the same commanding tone, "Enough! We've kept the glorious god waiting long enough, lets retrieve the two." The first one said as the three began moving towards the caravan in a slow pace as if the two would give up. Fanho had already began preforming one handed seals with his right hand as soon as the first one began speaking. He then expanded his cheeks and spat out a glob of rust colored chakra at the three bandits who were approaching slowly. They quickly dispersed, the two with the bear and cat mask to the left of Fanho and Zakuro, and the one with the dog mask to the right of Fanho and Zakuro.

The three looked at each other as the one in the cat mask spoke again in his silky soft voice, but this time it was more demeaning and dark, "You shouldn't have done that." Just as they finished the two on Fanho's left leaped into action dashing towards Zakuro as the one on his right sprinted towards Fanho himself. Fanho's clone launched two senbon towards the two sprinting at Zakuro with his right hand before using the momentum from the throw to spin and place his hands on the ground firmly launching himself into a spin kick with both feet into the bandit with the dog mask. They weren't all that fast, but highly skilled as the bandit with the dog mask leaned backwards dodging the kick. A ninja had to have been educating the bandits, it was the only way they could be this good and on par.

The two bandits sprinting towards Zakuro stopped dead in their sprint to allow the two senbon to pass allowing Zakuro a second to react to their moves. After the senbon would pass the one in the bear mask would reel back a deadly right hook on Zakuro's right hand side that would instantly put a lesser man out as he swung. And the one in the cat mask had already lodged three senbon between his fingers slashing as if a cat on Zakuro's left hand side. However Zakuro had plenty of time to react due to Fanho's senbon and their speed wasn't entirely great, but could rival at least between the two of them. The real Fanho began sprinting forward through the trees to catch up and assist as he began to see trouble. The clone Fanho was surprised that they had not sensed the real him, which made him feel as if they're sensory powers weren't as great as the bandit trio sold of how great their 'god' was.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Rust Bullet]
D-Ranked Sankaton Ninjutsu
After doing the needed hand seals, the ninja gathers Sankaton chakra in their mouth, creating a blob of rust. After spitting it out, it grows to a .5x.5.x5 meter diameter ball that travels at a speed of 5, up to 20 yards away, reducing anything it strikes with 5 strength.

Stats of the banditsShow

One in the Dog Mask:
Strength: 10
Speed: 12
Stamina: 7

One in the Cat Mask:
Strength: 8
Speed: 17
Stamina: 10

One in the Bear Mask:
Strength: 30
Speed: 7
Stamina: 15

[Rain21199]

After side stepping a kunai, Zakuro watched as three fairly strange looking figures stepped out from the tree line. They all looked very interesting, and a tad bit menacing with their masks. He now understood why the ANBU wore masks very similar to them. The blank, stationary expression of the three masks almost made him feel unsettled. Zakuro intently listened to the ramblings of the ninja before him. They kept using strange terminology that strongly suggested they were a part of some sort of cult or religion, and it was obvious that they're god didn't want them there. Either that, or the men decided that Zakuro and Fahno's chakra were great to feast on. Either way, they were bound to not be able to leave by any peaceful means. This would have to end in battle in one way or another, and seeing how Zakuro and Fahno were two highly skilled shinobi from Konoha, and these were simply three untrained bandits, it was quite easy to see how this was going to end up. He just hoped that they would be smart enough to surrender, so he didn't have to rough 'em too much.

As soon as the trio began to move, he knew that surrendering was out of the picture. They were going to go through with it. Sadly for them, everyone of them moved at a snails pace, which gave Zakuro a chance to plan out his moves. Typically when Zakuro fights an opponent that's quicker than him, the fight tends to last a lot longer than it should. In fact, most of the time that Zakuro fights an opponent faster than him, he loses. Speed is a very important thing, and his strength means nothing if he can't catch who he's fighting. In this case however, he's against three opponents that are all much slower than him. He might actually enjoy this fight.

In preparation of the fight, Zakuro grabbed a shuriken from the pouch on his hip. He watched as Fahno used senbon to impede the movement of the two bandits approaching Zakuro. Well at least he hoped it was to slow them down. If it wasn't, then Zakuro was going to have to teach the Chuunin how to aim. Either way, the senbon were completely unnecessary. They simply made Zakuro wait longer, but he still prepared for the attack.

When the man with the bear mask approached and swung his fist, Zakuro took a step back to dodge the hit, then threw the shuriken in his hand at Bear Mask's fist. The strength at which Zakuro threw it was easily enough to cause it to dig deep into his hand. Once that guy was out of the way, Zakuro jumped at the scrawny guy in the cat mask, kicked him in the chest hard enough that he would stop his attack, grabbed him by the neck, and picked him up while tightly squeezing. The man in Zakuro's grip didn't look like he could handle holding his breath for very long. In fact his face began turning purple immediately.

While holding the cat man in his hand, Zakuro peered over his shoulder, just in time to see an extremely anger bear charging him. In the distance he also noticed Fahno kicking dog guy. Zakuro actually thought the situation was funny, given the fact that neither of them were in danger. Of course, that thought was cut to an end when he felt three senbon stab into his forearm. It was a little painful to say the least. Glancing over at the stupid cat guy, with the knowledge of being charged by the bear, Zakuro came up with a great idea. He took his free hand, placed it behind the cat guy's back, and tossed him straight at Mr. Bear. Of course the guy wasn't going to stop, and he was close enough that there was nothing Zakuro could do except for get hit by the charge, but it was bound to hurt both of them.

Jutsu UsedShow

[Brawler Style • Crushing Grip]
B-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: 25 Strength
The user of the technique grabs the opponent by the neck and lifts them into the air while exerting immense pressure on their wind pipe. If the user’s [Strength + Taijutsu / 2] is greater than the opponent’s Strength the opponent will be unable to escape until [the user’s Stamina / 3 amount of posts] when the user’s arm tires. The opponent will still be able to flail around. This technique will cause the opponent to run out of oxygen while being held if they can't escape within their [Stamina / 4] number of posts.

[Director]

As the clone Fanho would come up from his spin kick he'd begin channeling chakra to his right hand as he crouched while forcing a swirling ball of chakra in his hand around the size of a baseball into the abdomen of the dog bandit as the sight of his face contorting in pain wasn't a signal of the pain, the sure grunt of pain as the dog bandit fell unconscious before being slammed into the tea house with such force it created a loud thud. From there Fanho's clone turned around in time to see Zakuro collide with the other bandits falling into a heap of a pile. From here the real Fanho had caught up to the duo sprinting with such force he would be able to catch the three gathering their bearings from the fight. From this angle the real Fanho would be able to grab the cat bandit at the least, leaving the bear one up to Zakuro's discretion. Fanho felt he could trust the genin to take care of it, after all his physical abilities showed promise, but not his planning. After all he had been tackled, falling in a pile with the enemy, a dangerous play in all.

During the run up prior to the tackle, Fanho would grab a explosive tag from his butt pouch before slapping it on the stomach of the cat bandit. From here Fanho would bear his shoulder down tackling the cat bandit as he would sprint forward until ramming the cat bandit in a tree. As the two would make contact into the tree, Fanho knocking the air out of the cat bandit, he would kick away using the tree as propulsion as he chakra kai'd the explosive tag, leaving a slightly bloody mess for someone to clean up later. Zakuro would have his fair share of troubles as well as the bear bandit would attempt to place him in an arm bar pulling with such force, Zakuro would have to act quick or suffer the consequences of being locked up. In all sense, the bandits were of no threat to the two, but were much more of a nuisance with information rather than an actual threat. The three bandits would lead them a little bit closer to the problem pestering the trading routes.

In the end, the bear bandit shouldn't have been too much of a problem for Zakuro. If what Fanho read right on his file, Zakuro could handle it, especially a bandit with such raw strength, compared to a disciplined shinobi's focused strength. However Fanho was hoping that the portion about Zakuro being a slight knucklehead was omitted in the heat of battle. So far it seemed he thought more with his muscles, than his brain, but at the least he could handle himself. However he definitely needed to train his intellect the most, the strength was there, it just was not placed well. Fanho was still happy to be on this mission with him, at least it would provide him with growth, and some much needed workout of their bodies. As well as it was a great deed they were doing to service the traders in the surrounding area.

Jutsu/Equipment UsedShow

Ninjutsu • Runt Rasengan
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
After the user has began to channel chakra to their hand with their other hand assisting in the control a small blue ball of spinning rotating chakra appears in their hand no larger than the size of a baseball. The Rasengan is a concentrated ball of fast rotating chakra in the palm of the user's hand. Using pure chakra, the spinning ball of chakra hits up to a strength of 20 that sends the target spiraling off into the distance. The only downside to this jutsu is that it requires the Rasengan to remain in the user's hand.

*[Basic Jutsu • Chakra Kai]
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
A jutsu used with the purpose of activating seals and a range of devices and weapons, this technique begins with a single handseal. Once this has been performed, the user will focus a dollop of their chakra into what they are looking to activate in order to complete the task. Seals activated with this technique must be within 20 + (Control/2) meters of the user's position.

-1x Explosive Tag

[Rain21199]

Zakuro's arm was in the grasp of the bandit, putting him at a slight disadvantage, but Zakuro's body was a lot more flexible and acrobatic than it looked. He jumped into the air and wrapped his legs tightly around his opponent's neck, squeezing it with all of his strength. Then with his free hand, he reached to his side and grabbed a shuriken from his pocket. This was a great reminder to pick up some kunai in the future. With the shuriken, Zakuro put his finger in the small opening of it, and punched the bandit directly in the eye. This caused the bandit to grab his eye in pain, releasing Zakuro's other arm.

With both arms free, and his opponent off balance, Zakuro hopped off of the opponent's neck, and smashed his entire weight at the man with the bear mask's stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. This gave Zakuro the perfect opportunity to knock him out. In a split second, Zakuro's hands were on top of the man's head, forcing it downwards towards his knee which was rising at extreme speeds. After the impact, the bear man landed on the ground, completely unconscious.

Zakuro dusted himself off and looked at the clone of Fahno, smiling. "So, want to find their so called god? He seems like he might be fun to fight." He gave a short chuckle and started walking into the direction that the three came from. It had been a while since Zakuro had actually fought an opponent that gave him a fun fight. Those three were just a warm up session to him. The real competition was about to begin, he could feel it.

[Director]

Fanho dispelled the clone as his gaze turned to Zakuro landing a final blow with such finesse. Maybe brute force would be his best weapon? Fanho gave a chuckle before turning his gaze back towards the dog bandit. "Well we can certainly figure out who it is quickly." He began walking towards the dog bandit with a demeaning gaze as the man lay motionless. He crouched down to come face to face with the dog bandit as he began to pat down his pouches and pockets for clues. The crumple of paper rang out noting Fanho the man had a note, he reached into the pocket of the man as he slowly pulled out the paper attempting to not disturb him, however it was no use as the man sprung up grasping at Fanho's wrist with a gasp.

He began shaking his wrist, it was clear the bandit was shaken badly, but yet still clung to fighting. Fanho reeled back with his free right hand as he socked the bandit once again square in the face with a sound of nose crunching behind mask. "Take a seat." The bandit resumed back into his newly routine of rest as Fanho stood up unfolding the note. It appeared to be aged yellow parchment with a drawing etched onto it of a young boy with a crown, and a note scribbled underneath it. Serve thine God as thou would a birth giver, with his divine blessing shall you carry out his will, and commit to the needs he faces. For it is thru this thou shall achieve a new life after death. For reincarnation only comes to those who are blessed. Go serve thy as I shall serve thee.

Fanho furrowed his eyebrow at the note before glancing back at Zakuro who he presumed was reading alongside him. "I can presume you have the same thoughts of how nutty this mission is?" He folded the note up as he tucked it in the scroll pocket of his flak jacket. He gave a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck, and gave a slight disapproval smirk. "Well one things for sure is that this is some odd cult, or some weird religion that's sprung up. That's probably the reason why these kidnappings were so out of the blue." He gave a nudge towards the larger bandit as he spoke. "See if he has any clues." Fanho's eyesight drifted towards the blood splatter of the cat bandit, as the gore was just out of sight for the two. He gave a slight frown as he trailed into speach. "And I'm fairly certain neither of us wants to go rifling for bloody evidence."

[Rain21199]

Honestly, Zakuro was starting to think that these bandits were bad news. Everything just felt wrong somehow, and not just because he had bits of person on him. The note that Fahno found told Zakuro one thing, they were dealing with a bunch of crazies, and if Zakuro knows anything about crazies, it's that they are willing to do just about anything. Regardless of the tinge of fear he kept locked in the back of his mind, Zakuro remained calm. This was not the time to go back. He was on a mission and that was that. This was for the protection of the village.

Zakuro carefully reached into the pocket of the larger bandit as if he was going to jump out at him. Inside was an extremely wrinkled peace of paper drenched in sweat. With a slight look of disgust on his face, Zakuro unfolded the note and read aloud, "Taren, the path to the palace to our heavenly one is located in the gardens of the earth, closest to heaven. One who watches for the symbol will find their way." A strange triangle shaped drawing was smudged onto the bottom of the note.

Obviously the bandit hadn't been too smart because they had to give him a note telling him where their hideout was. "Well, Fahno, how about we go find this garden they speak of. Also, I'm assuming this symbol is going to point us in the right direction," he showed Fahno the symbol on the note, "so keep an eye out."

[Director]

Fanho gave a sigh as he drew his tanto slipping the bladed edge to the back of the dog bandit's neck at the base of brain stem as he forced the blade in with one swift stabbing maneuver. A slight muffled gurgle, and then silence befell them. As he lifted the blade, a greyish fluid mixed in with red created a light red color to form as he wiped it on the back of the dog bandits shirt til the blade shined clean. He reached into his butt pouch retrieving a senbon as with a flick of the wrist it imbeded itself in the bear bandits head with a sickening slurching sound. With the two notes in the hands of the duo, Fanho tucked his into his flak jacket pocket as he nodded towards Zakuro.

"Let's go find these funny people, and put an end to their mockery?" With a cock of the eye brow and sly smile Fanho took off to the trees knowing Zakuro would be right beside him as they made headway for their base of operations. Depending on the trio of bandits back there, it seemed as though they would be walking into the lions den, and especially a large trafficking ring. One highly dangerous criminal as well. Oh well, with two incredulous skilled ninja, Fanho had no doubt they could take care of it with ease.

End Thread