Posted up. [M]

[DEVIL—]

"God, don't people ever just take a break?" Kaede spoke aimlessly as he leaped from roof to roof, his eyes focusin' on nothin' in particular. He hadn't even gotten to relax from dealin' with the thugs outside the village before he noticed a mission detailin' somethin' about some bandits or thugs robbin' folks inside Konohagakure. "Guess ya can't when yer hungry or whatever it is that they're stealin'."

The house he'd been instructed to protect was on the far east side of the village, a district he wasn't really used to visiting. There weren't many ninja in this area, which was obviously why it was such a high profile target. Easy pickings, for sure; however, those bastards had forgotten one thing:

Any part of Konoha was still a part of Konoha. And if they thought they could just walk over the Hidden Leaf, they had another thing comin'.

A sudden thrust brought the blurrin' Kaede to a screeching halt, and with an equally sudden push, his body was sent soarin' into the air/. An adept twist and flip later, his feet landed soundlessly on the cobblestone street, kickin' up a small cloud of dust befitting his appropriately dramatic entrance. His back was facin' the door to the buildin', and with a pivot from either foot, he turned and made his way in.

Those thugs were in for a nasty surprise when they broke in.

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: This is a stick up Part I
Rank: C
Repeatable: Yes
Description: All over Konoha, reports have been coming in about small house robberies. Whom these people are is unknown, but they usually leave the house in shambles once raided. Petty bandits have been captured, but they refuse to give information on their leader. Regardless of this, Konoha can not allow it's citizens to continue being robbed. Information on the next home to be struck is held within Konoha's intelligence. But capturing them has proven to be a job only for skilled shinobi.
Obective: Stay guard at the located home and stop the bandits. Take them alive. Killing them is not an option.
Reward: 50 EXP and 1,000 Ryo

[kanayama]

So today's mission for Konoha's god of metal was not to be of the solo variety. It seemed on this escapade he was to be paired with a random teammate according to his mission specs. Just who? Well at this point that was the million dollar question now wasn't it? Hopefully it wasn't some being who suffered from a intolerable god complex or some narcissistic ass clown that damn near viewed themselves as the Hokage. 

'I wonder ...a girl or a boy? Someone shorter or taller? Ah, maybe it is some Uchiha badass? Yeeaahh   ...No! A female Uchiha badass   ...that's what I'm sticking with for now.' The very thought made the metallic manipulator cross his fingers in a metaphorical sense.

In the end for Hiko it was truly difficult to get a grasp on just who he would be working with, with any luck it would be a 5 star kunoichi as his thoughts suggested, which is what he was wishing and anticipating upon his arrival. 

Currently the genin was making his way to the mission site via rooftop bounding in lieu of traveling the congested streets. The gourd that was strapped to his back made the feat quite cumbersome and difficult, but it showed a testament to his esoteric physical strength.

When he had finally arrived, he landed with a slight bend of the knees as his body artfully absorbed the force generated by his decent. Standing to his fully erected form, the home that the mission details description gave him, now was placed ten meters from his field of vision. Prior to approaching the architecture his yellow orbs would soak in his surroundings. 

The neighborhood was a quaint looking place, and it gave him a uneasy feeling. Shrugging off his minor agitation, the Zantetsuken journeyed the short distance to the doorstep and knocked four times.

What? He wasn't rude or nothing? Not like he just was going to invite himself in. Before the door could be pried open he sighed deeply and a lone fleeting thought flashed, 'Time to make Konoha a safer place...'

[DEVIL—]

Surprisingly, the owners of the house weren't the ones to answer the door. They'd been relocated to a different house until this mission was completed, simply to avoid any harm that might've come to them. Kaede was calm and cool when his hand wrapped around the knob of the door, while his free hand wrapped around the hilt of a kunai; if it was one of the bastards aimin' to get the drop of him, they'd find the business-end of the small weapon diggin' in their shoulder relatively fast.

"Aye--" he trailed off as his eyes came across the head band, and instantly he remembered he'd been assigned a partner for this mission. "Ah, so you've gotta be my partner!"

The blond haired boy had an easy smile, and appraised his taller partner with a long, drawn out whistle. Jesus, what kind of fuckin' monster was he? "You sure are pretty damn tall, brotha'."

Turnin' on his heels, he made his way back into the house and started eatin' the bowl of ramen he'd prepared. "Tha owners aren't home; we're here by ourselves until our friends show up. Might as well get a full stomach - might be a while." His eyes moved to the window, noticin' the sun still hadn't set. "I doubt they're gonna make a move before nightfall."

"By the way, I'm Kaede," I mumbled with a full mouth. "What's yer name?"

[kanayama]

The door had opened revealing a foreign form.

A boy. Short. Blonde hair. Orange jumpsuit? 

Though the gear would seem like something of a fashion faux pas for anyone else, it somehow was very befitting to his overall look. It was as if he could, and only he alone could pull off that orange one-piece suit.  

Judging from the unknown boy's initial greeting it would appear or at least Hiko got the impression maybe the kid forgot this was a team mission. As the two stood by in the doorway, Hiko wasn't sure if the lemon headed youth phrase was a rhetorical device or not towards his reasoning for being there, so he decided to play it safe and gave the adolescent a firm upward head nod to indicate he was the individual that was to be his partner.

Now the next statement surely was a question, one that Hiko would answer back playfully, "Yeah, you could say that but...." Taking his right hand that was horizontally positioned palm down, he motioned it over the blondes head and replied, "...I guess you haven't quite hit that growth spurt yet huh?" Afterward Hiko lightheartedly grinned and hoped he wouldn't be offended by his attempt at humor. Following in after the boy, Hiko had abruptly closed the door behind them.

The words that flowed next were simply a assessment of things and where the two currently stood in the plot of the situation. This finally led into a greeting where the young lad would present the given name Kaede.

"The names Kanayama-hiko, but just call me Hiko for short or you can put your own spin to it." The teen responded and shrugged carelessly as he placed his gourd upon the floors surface with a casual thud.

Hiko's yellow orbs inconjuction with a rotating head and a contorting neck observed the house before finally occupying a seat across from Kaede, "So why did you become a shinobi? The Zantetsuken bursted and wasn't sure if that for a first question was too personal or too boring or just inappropriate. He had just wished he wasn't making the notion that he was some sort of stiff. 

[DEVIL—]

Kaede finished his ramen with a loud slurp. "Eh, I'm tha first and only ninja in the family. So, I'm just tryin' to make my Ma and Pa proud."

The blond-haired boy's reasons were quite humble. No hope of bein' Hokage or thinkin' he was the best. He just wanted his mom and pops to smile when they looked at him, and nod approvingly at all he'd accomplished in the shinobi world. And even though it was dangerous, they both believed in their son's abilities.

As for the comment about his height? "And hey, I'm not short. I'm fine for ma age - yer just frickin' tall!" It was true.

"But how about you?" He eyed the window, noticin' a significant lack of light. The sun was settin' fairly fast, and the time to move would be soon upon 'em. "Why're you a ninja?"

[kanayama]

The blonde haired boy's reply to Hiko’s question would be taken as plain and simple to the majority of the ears willing to listen. However to the more observant audience, it was deep and meaningful. Just a smooth goal to make his guardians proud, it was one that showed a meek demeanor. Which was like breath of fresh air to Hiko's mental, as the mainstream new breed of shinobi often viewed themselves as the next big thing. It was a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians, "Hell, I'm sure your Ma and Pa are already proud of you Kaede. You graduated from the academy and that's no small feat ya know.” Afterwards the Zantetsuken rose from his spot at the table and reequipped his gourd back onto his upper torso’s posterior. He slowly made his way towards the front rank of the house. Slyly standing to the right of a window, the ginger haired nin foxily peered out a small opening of the window. Although his attention seemed to be focused elsewhere he still was very attentive to the conversation at hand.

When the genin had made a reference to his tall stature, Hiko smirked about it and turned away from his former lookout spot back to the right side of table where he stood calmly and spoke up on the manner, ”Yeah well …you should see my grandfather. I’m talking he has me by seven to eight inches easy. Looks like a freakin’ human giant man.”

Finally the last part that needed to be addressed was his own question being returned fired, which was not difficult to answer and so the nin let the words escape, ”More than anything …I want to return the respect the blood flowing through my veins once had. To climb out the shadow of nothingness and return the Zantetsuken back to prominence. That is all I want really. And if I leave a legacy in my wake …so be it.” Upon finishing his statement Hiko looked off towards the window and the ever diminishing light, ”I guess we should prep for the invasion, but let’s make a wager? Whoever takes out the most bandits win …and a bowl of ramen is the reward on the loser’s behalf? What da ya say?” The taller shinobi eventually stuck his hand out in order turn the oral agreement into a binding contract.

[DEVIL—]

Whoever kicked the most ass got a free bowl of ramen? Hell yeah. "Oh, you got yerself a bet!" Kaede had cleared the small distance between them almost instantly, his hand grippin' the massive Leaf-nin's hand and shakin' firmly before he could've retracted the appendage; y'know, just in case he tried to back out of the deal at the last hand. Was Kaede positive he was goin' to win? No way, but he definitely wasn't about to back down from a challenge.

The sun's pace increased as it slowly vanished behind the horizon of rooftops, until a meager rounded end and dying rays of light were all that remained. The blond-haired ninja shot a glance out of the window only once, makin' his way to the switch nearby.

"Lights out," he whispered before turnin' it off. It was only a few moments later that the final rays of light turned into darkness, and Kaede's voice turned into a barely audible whisper. "Lets hope our friend ain't late."

Kaede's situated himself just behind a counter that lead into the kitchen off the main hall, easily able to see the windows at the head of the house and the main door. The house was spacious enough for free range of movement, and no matter how many of the bastards there were, they'd be easy targets when they funneled into the house.

"Oh, by the way-- good reason for becomin' a ninja."

[kanayama]

After the constricting handshake the stake was now made official. As the challenge was offered, and the challenge had been accepted, now when the bad guys had arrived and the dust had settled there would be a victor, but whom?

Judging from the external enthusiasm expressed by his mission partner, it had indicated that this thing should be taken very serious, but it wasn’t like Hiko wasn’t already going to take the wager with a businesslike approach. In fact he was going to do his very greatest not to lose the wager against the adolescent, however one of the primary reason for the wager besides trying to get a free meal was that competition always seemed to bring out the best in an individual, and it definitely snatched out the finest in Hiko.

Seconds later his orange one-piece suit wearing teammate gave heads up that the lights would be turned off, which indicated that now the predators would lay in wait on their prey. In a way Hiko felt sorry for the unsuspecting victims as instead of an empty home or a defenseless family they could brutally mug. They were going to run into killers in the making, somehow he knew the look on their faces would be priceless.

Taking his post in the entryway of the hallway, the Zantetsuken eyes would stare down the very path to the other rooms, then the lemon optics would glance back every now and again to the rear of the house and Kaede’s position, this was just in case they thought they could slip through the backdoor. It seemed all points were covered, still in their line of work one must be prepared at the slightest change as things usually don’t fall into place as they should and at that moment the top to Kanayama’s gourd was unsealed by right hand.

The words that Kaede spoke abruptly towards the genin’s motives for being a shinobi were taken in with humility that only could be returned with gratefulness, ”….Thanks.” Hiko’s gratitude crawled through the darkness in a low tone towards his colleague’s general vicinity.

[DEVIL—]

Strangely, everything was fairly quite when night fell. Kaede had expected the thieving bastards to jump at the chance the moment the lights were off. But they didn't. No, these were patient men of their trade; it was clear they weren't amateurs. They'd had quite a bit of practice robbin' the innocent people of the Leaf. Unfortunately, their little streak was about to come to an end.

This wasn't any regular village. This was a ninja village.

Kaede almost shook with excitement when he heard a very low, barely audible rattle at one of the windows off to his left. A few steps put him at a better vantage point near the edge of the counter, allowing him to garner a glimpse at the shadowy figure shimming the lock, and eventually pushing the window open. He entered silently, followed by several others.

But that wasn't all! Another window popped open a second or two later, this one closer to his massively-tall partner. Again, several men would begin to enter. That is until Kaede decided to rain on their little parade.

Flicking the nearest switch, the lights in the first floor of the house shot on. The burgalers, clearly caught with their pants down, didn't know what in the Hell was goin' on, let alone what to do.

"This is yer last stop, punks!" Kaede barked while leaping over the counter, charging the nearest thief. Clad in all black, they looked like your typical old school shinobi. That didn't stop Kaede, and his hands were already stringin' along a set for his jutsu.

SPOILER: Click to show

1. ____

[kanayama]

The time to take action was peeking over the horizon as the two shinobi laid low like a crew cut in the encompassing darkness. Hiko felt a mixed feeling in his gut that was simiilar to an ahtletes when the national anthem was being sung prior to the cllimatic genisis of a championship game. No he wasn't nervous at the prospect of the soon transpiring events, but excited at what was going to happen. Perhaps the element of danger fueled this reflex or maybe it was due to the chance of him being able to start creating some value for his ninja village.

Soon a shallow noise sneakingly resonated in the direction of a particular window. It was beginning and the magnetic dominion that the Zantetsuken have sovereign control over began to stir. Promptly, chakra the engine to fuel all shinobi techniques was being prepped in conjunction with the unfolding situation, including when the window close to him was being jarred open. That's when the shinobi decided to creep away and distanced his self from the fracture. As he gravitated towards the counter, Kaede made their presence known.

The sudden exposure had happened to be part awkward, part gratifying, and part confusion. So now what? The men eyed the two shinobi briefly, but in the minds of both parties some shit was going to pop off

[DEVIL—]

OOC: I'mma put this on hold for a bit, friend. I want to focus on the event that's going on.