Kill the Rogue (mission).

[Yox]

SPOILER: Click to show

Yokkuto
Rank: C
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: A rogue genin who left the village in broad daylight. He was seen by the guards at the gate but they were unable to successfully capture him. Yokkkuto has now become a missing ninja and may be brought in dead or alive.
Special Info: May be repeated up to five times.

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Another day, another mission. More tasks to be done for the Tsuchikage and the people of Iwagakure. With the completion of more missions came more experience and skills gained in the process. For your average Genin, missions were the perfect way to prove your worth to the village and develop your own personal street-sense and skills. For the young shinobi Zaiaku, missions suited him perfectly. He was always trying to get on the one-up in contrast to the other Genin in his cohort. There were plenty of Genin but the village lacked Chuunin, they lacked leaders. He hoped his commitment to the village would allow him to pursue a higher rank above Genin, one with more responsibility and recognition. It was the status of Chuunin that he wanted.

He walked out of the Tsuchikage Fortress with a clear goal in his mind. Complete missions, complete missions, complete missions. He had to prove his worthiness, and this seemed to be one of the few ways he could. A fine record of successful missions would clearly demonstrate his ability to the Tsuchikage, thus he couldn't afford to fail. Today he was tracking down a Missing-Ninja by the name of Yokkuto. Rumours were that he had last been seen by the gate guards, and so that was where Zaiaku would head first. He felt like a detective, recording details and clues in order to lead him to the one who committed the crime.

He edged closer to the gates and inspected the scenery around him. The large stone gates stood high against the walls, over-arching the entrance into the village. The doors were wide open as people passed through, occasionally being checked by two robed men in a small booth just within the gates. One of them had fairly long blue hair, for a male, down to the back of his neck and was leaning back on the seat he was sitting on. The other was slouched over on the desk reading some sort of file whilst playing with his forehead protector on top of his head. It looked as though they were bored, or just not wanting to do their job. Nevertheless, these two seemed to be the gate guards and thus had the knowledge Zaiaku was after. It was time to approach them.

As he strolled over to them, the one leaning back noticed him and his eyes widened a little. It was possible to say that because Zaiaku resembled many feminine features due to his relation to a Yuki Clan member in his heritage, the gate guard had become quite interested. Walking over with an annoyed look on his face, he dropped his voice to a much lower tone to emphasise the fact that he was in fact not a woman and if the gate guard attempted to reach down there he would be greeted with a lovely surprise. "Are you the guards on duty? You don't seem to be doing your job," Zaiaku hissed rather annoyed at the one looking at him, "I'm here to gain some information on 'Yokkuto'. What can you tell me?"

The shocked blue-haired guard casually leaned back against his seat again as Zaiaku began to speak. He rested his arms behind his head as he looked as though to be in some form of deep though. "Ahh Yokkuto," he sighed whilst kicking his feet up yet again. Zaiaku drew out a small notepad he had tucked away within his right pocket. With his left hand he held the book and took out a small pen with his right. As the guard spoke, Zaiaku would write. "He's quite a large lad for his age, taller than you are. Long brown hair that's rather scruffy. He's a quick runner I'll give him that, but lacks the sort of physical brute force. I remember him wearing a blue shirt and some brown pants, but they're probably both muddy and dirty now. He's been out there for a few days, I wonder how he's surviving. Oh well, good luck heh."

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[Yox]

"Thanks for your help," Zaiaku said whilst jotting the last of the information down on the notepad, "and is your friend alright?" From a distance, it looked as though the second gate guard was busily reading a piece of paper on the desk. When he got closer though, Zaiaku noticed that the man was using it as a distraction to sleep. His face was rested on his hands as he remained slouched over the table. The blue-haired guard simply laughed it off and tilted his head back and shut his eyes. Zaiaku turned away from the table and started to walk out of the village. He wondered whether he should inform the Tsuchikage of these slackers. But, they were cooperative so... today was their lucky day.

He tucked the small notepad and pen back into his right pocket whilst pacing out the gates. The over-arching large stone gates enshrouded his body briefly in the shadows before opening up the world that remained outside the village. The vast land of Tsuchi no Kuni, literally covered in stone structures as far as the eye could see. It was quite a magnificent, yet barron land. Nevertheless, somewhere out there was the Missing-Ninja Yokkuto of which Zaiaku had to track down. It was not recorded why the boy had abandoned the village, only that he had become a rogue. Zaiaku wondered what the incentive was as to why he would leave the village. Surely he had some sort of reasoning, as one did not simply wake up one morning and decide to turn rogue.

Zaiaku realised that searching the land on the ground would be difficult. Especially with all these stone structures that people could hide behind, he would have to check them all and that was not an option. He would be here for years. Thus, there was a better alternative. His kekkei touta allowed him to produce a clay mould bird that allowed him to take to the skys and soar high above the plains. From the air, he would be able to use his binoculars to view the land below and the possible people that would be travelling across it.

Jamming his left hand into the clay-pouch situated on his left hip, his mouth-hand began to chew away at the blobs of clay within the pouch. Slowly the mouth transformed the standard chunks of clay into a proper clay model. Once the mouth had finishing chewing on the clay, Zaiaku quickly flicked his hands into a string of hand seals. Moulding chakra throughout his body and more specifically into his left hand, Zaiaku performed the technique whilst he spoke it's name. "Exploding Clay • C1 Gateway Bird," he mumbled whilst holding the last seal in place. Removing his hands, the jutsu began to take effect on the clay mould within his hand. The hand spat out the string of clay as it formed into a fairly sized bird in front of him.

He placed his hands back down his side as the bird formed at his front. Casually, Zaiaku hopped on the back of the bird and formed a firm stance with his legs. He took out the notebook and began to read over the description of the boy again. "Take to the skies, we're going on a reconnaissance mission to track this boy down," Zaiaku ordered as the bird flapped its wings and took off the ground. They were in the air now, soaring high above the land with a perfect view of the ground below. If there was any movement of people, Zaiaku would be able to see it. It was far more easy this way with the birds-eye view. Left hand in his pocket, right hand at chest-level with the notepad in it, Zaiaku stood atop the bird and casually looked down below as he flew over Tsuchi no Kuni. Yokkuto, where are you?

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[Yox]

There was a lot to see. A lot of stone monuments scattered here and there, animals scavenging the land and a few people walking along the dirt road to and from the village. Zaiaku leaned back into his backpack and pulled out his set of binoculars. Drawing them closer to his eyes, he searched the land below from the sky. The binoculars provided him a detailed view of the things below, especially the people and what they looked like. There was an old man with a thick grey beard and a rice hat walking with his donkey toward the village. Too old. There was a young girl holding onto what looked to be her father's hand as they played on the stone structures. Two of them, too old. Where the hell was Yokkuto?

Suddenly something caught his eye. A boy in ragged clothing was standing on the edge of the cliff with what looked to be a forehead protector in his hand, with the cloth flapping in the wind. The boy was studying the protector carefully in deep thought. Zaiaku swinged in closer from above as he adjusted his binoculars to focus more distinctively on the individual. Quite a tall and lanky lad, with scruffy brown hair and his clothes were quite dirty. Could this be the guy the gate guards had described? Could this be Yokkuto? There was only one way to find out. Zaiaku pressed forward in flight and pushed closer to the boy as he stood on the cliff.

He had to keep a safe distance, he was sort of... spying. He watched as Yokkuto slowly threw the headband off the side of the cliff. From above, it looked like a fair drop. Zaiaku clearly understood the fact that if that Iwagakure headband fell into the wrong hands, negative consequences could affect it's shinobi and people. He had to get the headband. Diving through the air on his bird, Zaiaku sped after the falling headband as it drifted down the side of the cliff. He sped behind Yokkuto, who had already turned around after dropping it over the edge, so he wasn't spotted. Below was a large pit of water and Zaiaku wasn't keen to go swimming today. He quickly swooped the headband before it reached the water and began his climb up the side of the cliff again. It was a close call, but a good one. The headband was a truly important aspect of Iwagakure. Enemy ninja could use it to infiltrate the village.

Coming up the side of the cliff again, he noticed in the distance that Yokkuto was walking off down a stray path toward a rather large forest. Tailing him, Zaiaku placed the headband within his backpack and flew through the air above. The bird closed the gap between the two as Yokkuto entered the forest. The tree's were too thick for the bird to fly through, thus Zaiaku believed that going on foot was more appropriate. He landed on the edge of the forest and signalled the bird to continue circling the forest from above and to respond when called for. From there, Zaiaku headed off into the path where the Missing-Ninja had just gone. He stuck close to the trees and the shrubs, trying to conceal himself as he tailed the boy.

Brushing through the path that seemed to be created by someone prior to Yokkuto walking through it, Zaiaku continued to follow the trail through footsteps left on the ground. Finally he could hear something in the area close to him. Talking from a group. It was best that Zaiaku jumped off this path and into the forest itself. He attempted to sneak up to where the voices were coming from without making too much noise. The slightest twitch of a branch or rustle of bush could give his position away and he would be done for, especially since there seemed to be a lot more than one of them. Zaiaku was never one to take on five people by himself, thus keeping quiet was the best option.

He crouched down behind a shrub and popped his head up so that only his eyes could see what was in front of him. It looked as though it was a camp of some sort, brown tents placed across the area with a small fire going in the middle. Atop the fire was what looked to be a few squirrels that were cooking on a spit. Surrounding the fire were a group of five people, two girls and three guys. One of the guys was the boy he had seen earlier. Who were these people? Why hadn't the ANBU found them already? Zaiaku concluded that it was his job to find out. But he couldn't just walk out there. He needed a plan. So he thought up of something as he continued to watch the people talk around the campfire. He listened closely to their conversation. Maybe that would give away a hint to whom they were.

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[Yox]

"—you're still new here Yokkuto so you ain't gonna' be comin' out with us just yet. Stay back here and hold the camp with Neka whilst we go out and see if we can steal somethin'," one of them told Yokkuto and another girl as three of them began to walk away from the group. Steal something? What were they going to steal? His current mission was to deal with Yokkuto but now a whole number of other factors were somehow added into the equation. Who were these other people? Were they also Missing-Ninja? Also, who were they stealing from? All these questions now rung through his mind as he over watched from the covering of a few shrubs nearby. The two remainders began to converse again. Zaiaku listened closely to the conversation, whilst crouch-walking around the shrubbery in order to edge closer toward the camp.

"I know he can be pretty mean Yokkuto and not give you many chances but that's just the way he does things. You wont get your opportunity to shine until the right moment, so until then you're just gonna' have to get used to hanging out with me back here," the girl said as she turned the squirrels over the spit on the campfire. Zaiaku noted a rather discomforted look on Yokkuto's face as he heard the girls words and began to pace around the camp area. The girl removed the pieces of cooked meat from the fire and set them aside near a brown table. She then proceeded to head over to Yokkuto and converse with him once more. "I'm heading down to the creek to check if the nets caught any fish. If you need anything, I'll be down there!" Yokkuto nodded to the girl and slung both his hands into his pockets. Looking rather dull, he sat next to the campfire and stared deeply into it. As the girl walked off, Zaiaku took this as the opportunity to approach Yokkuto.

Rising out of the area of shrubbery, Zaiaku created quite the rustling sound as he stepped out of the bushes. This immediately drew Yokkuto's attention and he quickly leaped up from his seated position to draw a kunai in his hand. Zaiaku continued to pace forward but flexed his arms and opened his palms to extend a message of peace. "I'm not here to kill you Yokkuto, only for answers," Zaiaku stated as he stopped at least 5 metres away from the Missing-Ninja with the drawn kunai. Zaiaku watched as Yokkuto's eyes moved up to look at Zaiaku's forehead protector, and obviously realised that the Iwa-nin were coming after him now that he had become a rogue ninja of the village. "Put down your kunai. Let's just have a chat before things get messy," Zaiaku added before lowering his arms down by his side. Yokkuto sighed, his kunai lowered and he sat back down next to the campfire. "What do you want? Why have you come for me?"

Zaiaku replied to the rogue. "It's obvious, isn't it? You've abandoned your people, your comrades, your village. The life as a shinobi requires you to constantly stand by your country. You've completely thrown that away, and for that you must pay the consequences," Zaiaku proclaimed whilst sliding his hands into his pockets. He watched the boy carefully as he sat by the fire. Something seemed to be troubling him. Before he acted, Zaiaku wished to discover why it was that this boy had decided to turn rogue. It was a big decision, leaving ones village behind, and often there was no easy road for return. "Tell me one thing... why did you leave us?"

The boy paused for a moment before responding to Zaiaku. "It wasn't the life I was after. It all went downhill after I made it to Genin. I didn't fit in with my team, I was worthless in missions. I would try so hard and would receive little to no reward. There was no point in being a ninja of Iwa no more. I discovered these guys, all kids from Iwa that had left to join another cause. A life of crime with more excitement, more enjoyment and of course more money," Yokkuto replied looking Zaiaku directly in his eyes. Zaiaku could feel an aura generating from Yokkuto as he said the words. The look in his eyes showed the passion that was surging within him. But, there was also a feeling of slight regret that remained in there as well. Although not on the surface, Zaiaku could tell it lurked within.

"So you've lowered yourself to a criminal? I see Yokkuto, you have become truly lost. You will return to the village with me to answer for your treachery, or you will die out here alone and forgotten. What's it going to be?" Zaiaku questioned the boy as he sat on the ground below. Something else caught the attention of both of them however. Rustling in the bushes to the side of them were followed by the three people from before emerging out. With a confused look on their faces, they recognised the village symbol on Zaiaku's forehead and immediately drew their weapons. The one who seemed to be the leader of the 'gang' then screamed out at Zaiaku and Yokkuto. "Who the hell is this!?" Shit.

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[Yox]

The party had been interrupted. The group of three highwaymen (one woman) had returned with various brown bags in their hands. Zaiaku fixed his eyes on the bags and assumed they had just been stolen from merchants that were passing along the road nearby either to or from the village. Nevertheless, Zaiaku had found himself in a very awkward situation. Judging from the look on the face of the 'leader', he wasn't too happy that a ninja from Iwa was in his camp. Zaiaku stepped back a few paces slowly as he analysed the scene. Interrupting his thoughts, however, was the voice of the leader of the group. He began to speak to Zaiaku in a very deep, harsh tone.

"Take a look at this! A ninja from the legendary Iwagakure! Hahaha, what a joke. Don't come around here wearing that disgusting headband of yours because I'm not a fan of you or your village," he proclaimed with his chest pressed out and his chin held high. It seemed he was the figurehead of the group that inspired the others. His charisma generated inspiration within the others behind him. Zaiaku could tell because the two that flanked him both stared admiringly at him as he spoke. Zaiaku twitched his eyes and watched the leader very closely. "Who are you? Are you a Missing-Ninja from Iwa as well?" Zaiaku questioned the leader as he slowly continued to pace back a few steps. He was roughly 10 metres away from the trio and 5 metres away from Yokkuto. He had to play his cards safe. One wrong move and he would be done for.

The leader let out a smirk before replying to Zaiaku's question. "Hmph! You're right. We're all from Iwagakure, and we've all woken up to ourselves. The villagers are the ninja are weak. We're meant to be one of the five great nations! But seven years ago we were almost destroyed in war and more recently the Tsuchikage was killed. How can we remain loyal to a village who is in the slums? We're stronger than the ninja of the village. I'm not going to put my life on the line for some incompetent Kage. I'm going to live out here with my friends and make a life for myself," he spoke proudly with his hands on his hips. Zaiaku felt rather angered by the boy's perspective on Iwagakure and the Tsuchikage. The Tsuchikage fought valiantly before she was killed. But her death had been reduced to mere banter amongst these folk, and a reason why they would abandon all that they were supposed to strive for. He spat on the ground in front of him and gave a look of distain to the leader, which of course immediately set him off. "Get him!"

Zaiaku fixed both his legs on the ground with a firm stance. He moved his right hand up to his mouth and curved his index and thumb within the mouth. He proceeded to whistle very loudly to the area around him, as if he were calling something. A moment later a large clay object came shooting from the sky above into the trio that stood in front of him. A moment later Zaiaku flicked his free left hand into a single-handed seal. "Katsu," he said strongly with his eyes wide open. Immediately the clay bird that impacted with the ground exploded. Boom. The explosion rippled through the air and instantly hit the trio as they grouped together. The leader and the two others were sent flying with the debris into the nearby forest. An explosion from that close range would definitely send someone unconscious, or perhaps even to the verge of death. Zaiaku watched their bodies fly like rag dolls into the bushland around the encampment. His gaze then turned to see Yokkuto draw the kunai out again.

"Now it's time for you to answer for your betrayal Yokkuto," Zaiaku said to the boy whilst drawing his tanto out from its sheath on his back. He held the blade at his front with his right hand as Yokkuto began to charge. Zaiaku flared his chakra around his body and chanted the words of the jutsu he would perform. "Body Flicker Technique," he mumbled as he flickered directly into the incoming Yokkuto. Yokkuto had his kunai to the side ready to slash down onto Zaiaku from a distance, but he did not expect Zaiaku to suddenly appear at his front. The Iwa Genin held his tanto directly to the front so that it pierced the chest of Yokkuto on impact. Yokkuto coughed as the blade impaled the stomach. Yokkuto's sudden change of emotion within his eyes was met with the distain look of Zaiaku's glare. "Rest in peace, Yokkuto," Zaiaku murmured as he withdrew the blade from his stomach. As the blade was drawn back, Yokkuto fell to the ground and clutched his wound. Blood slowly seeped out of his wound as Zaiaku wiped the edge of his tanto on his own cloak, before sliding it back into it's sheath. The rogue had been killed, but there was something else. A rustle in the nearby bushes. Someone was coming.

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Who could it have been? Zaiaku thought that was all of them. He suddenly remembered the individual as she stepped out of the bushes to find the camp destroyed and stray bodies lying over the place. She looked shocked before catching Zaiaku's eyes as she scanned across the area. It was the girl who had gone to the lake before to check on the fishing nets. She cried out to Zaiaku as he held his right hand on the hilt of his tanto, watching her very carefully. "What have you done? Why have you done this to us? You've killed them all!" Tears began to stream from her eyes as she ran over to Yokkuto's body as he continued to bleed on the ground. There was no life in his eyes, he was already gone. Zaiaku watched her carefully, quite unsure as to how to react to her.

"These people were traitors to the Stone. Their time would have come sooner or later, whether it was by my blade or one of my comrades. Traitors that loiter around the lands and mug helpless merchants are complete wastes of lives. You may not agree with what I say, but it was my duty as a shinobi to carry it out. You will collect your belongings and leave this place, never to return," Zaiaku said firmly whilst taking his hand off his tanto. He had no intention to take this girl down too, he had destroyed this 'group' already. He decided on letting the girl run away and continue her life elsewhere. She was not his target, and he had already completed his mission. It was time to leave this encampment and return to the Hidden Stone where he would claim his reward for completing the task.

Zaiaku placed both of his hands into his pockets as he took one final look at the girl. She continued to sit over Yokkuto's lifeless body and hold onto his hand. Zaiaku wondered how long she would stay there for. It was lucky that he had been the one carrying out the mission, rather than the villages ANBU who would have easily taken them all in for incarceration and interrogation. He sighed to himself before turning around on his heel and heading off into the opposite direction. He attempted to locate the track in which he had entered this bit of the forest and finally found it before following it through to the other side. He emerged from the forest back into the barren plains of the Land of Earth, walking alone on the road the lead back into the Village of Stone.

His first destination was the Fortress of the Tsuchikage. He would hand in his mission, claim his reward and appraisal before spending a few days of rest. The mission he had just completed had really gotten to him. People were abandoning the village because apparently they had become weak as a nation. He hoped the Yondaime could really bring about some changes with his induction to prevent more of these rogues to generate. He didn't want to see anymore of his comrades leave the village for reasons such as this. It was confronting and a real issue. He just hoped he wouldn't have to face-off with a Genin that he had previously worked alongside. That would be the true test of character.

— Zaiaku has exited the thread.

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[♚ aurora]

60 EXP @ Yox