J~

[Kleee]

Mission Title: Routine Investigation!
Mission Rank: D
Rank Required: Genin

Shinobi Slots: 3
- Toya Nanaya
- Kei Murasaki
- Ryou Yutaka
Client: Yuki Emperor
Outlook: Bandits from the Rice Country have been reported causing trouble in the Fire Country and near Yuki's borders.
Objective: Collect information about this particular bandit group and assess their size and strength.
Condition 1: Collect sufficient data about the bandits.
Condition 2: Return home alive.
Time: Probably a few days IC. No time limit OOC.


----------


Toya took one last glance at the contents of his backpack before finally closing it and slinging it over his right shoulder. He had packed plenty of spare ninja accessories and one light change of clothes along with a variety of assorted items that might be useful on a mission. The simple D-ranked mission that had been assigned to his team probably wouldn’t last much longer than a couple days, so he did not feel the need to pack too heavily.

He walked down the long halls of his home before finally exiting through the large front door. He looked back over his shoulder as he continued walking and waved happily to Hisui and Kohaku as they left him with their verbal farewells. It was nice to know that there were at least two people in the world who would be awaiting his return.

”See you both in a few days! Watch over everything while I’m gone!”

And with that said, Toya dashed off towards the designated location of the team’s meeting. The only details they had received about this newly assigned mission was that they would be heading towards the infamous Rice Country to gather information about a certain group of petty bandits who had been causing trouble. Well they had better watch their backs, because Toya planned to deal with them and be back in Yuki with his team in no time at all. If only he knew how everything would really end up turning out…

After meeting up with Kei and Ryou, and a few overly loud and enthusiastic exchanges of words, the three of them were off on their journey. Their predetermined route would take them down through the southern border of Yuki, through the northern region of the Fire Country, and eventually near the border of the Rice Country where the bandit group was apparently causing the trouble. During one particularly quiet portion of walking, Toya decided to speak up and break the silence.

”So… how strong do you think these bandits are going to be anyway? Although we’re only supposed to investigate them…

With this team’s personality, he somehow assumed that there would be a fight at some point during this mission. And hopefully it wouldn’t add on too much time to the length of the mission…

[Kleee]

Packing had never been Ryou's thing, that was for sure. He had never really spent a night away from home, and so he never had experienced the difficulty of selecting certain objects to pack before. He'd started with five changes of clothes, but then he figured he would only be away from home for three days at maximum, so he cut it down to three, but still his back was to heavy, so he tried to bring it down for one, but the thought of wearing the same clothes the entire time drove him insane, so he finally left the house with two sets; one for slightly warmer weather, one for colder. The other things he carried were basic ninja tools, a book to keep him entertained, his personal hygiene kit, his asthma medication, a couple of changes of underwear, a scarf, hair gel, a mission briefing scroll, a picture of his mother and leftover cake wrapped in some tinfoil. Sure, his bag was a little heavy, but he'd survive, surely. These were just his basic neccesities, after all.

His stepmother was the only person there to see him off, she actually whined when he made his way out the door, complaining that she wouldn't have anybody to clean the house for a while, Ryou just chose to ignore her as he walked outside and shut the door behind him. What on earth was the lovely young lady worrying about anyway? He'd only be away for a couple of days...

Ryou met up with his teammates at their designated spot a short time after. With a pang of annoyance, he found that both of them had less in their bags compared to him. But whatever, they were less "high-maintenance" than he was.

The journey to bandit-land started out pretty quiet by the team's standards, that was sure. The others must have been either too excited or too anxious to say anything. But it sure was weird; they had never gone for this long without Ryou and Kei yelling random things each other.

Funilly enough, it was Toya who was the one one to break the silence.


”So… how strong do you think these bandits are going to be anyway? Although we’re only supposed to investigate them…

Ryou shrugged, "Who cares," he said, now half way through chewing an apple, "Like you said, we're just investigating them. Just give them a look, write down the results, and head back home. We'll be in our warm beds before we know it~"

[Kleee]

This was it.

Mission day!

After weeks of boring document deliveries and other menial tasks, the time had finally come for the team's first real mission. Kei had been waiting for this day for what seemed like ages. Sure, all the other missions had been important too, she supposed, but they were boring. And easy. This mission would be easy too of course, Kei was certain of that, but it was different this time.

The mission plan was simple enough, with (supposedly) no fighting involved. Their unit was only supposed to gather information on a group of suspicious individuals that had been sighted near Yuki. Bandits, apparently. It would take the three genin a few days of traveling to get to their destination and back, however, and who knew what they would run into along the way? That was why Kei had, for once in her life, made an effort to show up prepared. The mission was important enough to her that she'd actually made an effort to pack and prepare her stuff ahead of time, so she didn't show up late to the mission and get chastised by her teammates. And, of course, so she didn't miss any of the action.

Not that there was going to be any action, of course, Kei reminded herself. This was a D-ranked mission, just a routine investigation that would last little more than a day or two. No combat involved whatsoever.

...Supposedly.

"So… how strong do you think these bandits are going to be anyway?" Toya asked casually, breaking the silence that had hung over the three genin as they traveled. Kei had assumed silence was expected of them on a mission such as this, and so had followed her teammate's lead in not speaking up until now. However... it seemed this was not the case.

"Who cares," Toya answered, munching on an apple. "Like you said, we're just investigating them. Just give them a look, write down the results, and head back home. We'll be in our warm beds before we know it~"

Kei pouted. So much for an exciting first mission. Weren't they supposed to be running through the snow at top-speed or something? Weren't they supposed to be silently stalking their targets, hidden from sight? Wasn't that what real ninja did? Real ninja weren't supposed to walk leisurely along, munching on apples and chatting casually amongst themselves about whether or not their enemies were strong. Real ninja were supposed to be a little more... cool. Right?

...Okay, so maybe there was no imminent danger on such a routine mission as this one, but... couldn't Ryou and Toya just humor Kei and at least act like it for once?

"Pfft. You guys are so boring," she complained, crossing her arms and looking away from the other two. "I don't know about you, but I definitely don't want to just write down some results on a chart and head back home again. I want something cool to happen! I mean, don't you want the mission to be... I don't know, a little more... exciting?"

[Kleee]

"Who cares. Like you said, we're just investigating them. Just give them a look, write down the results, and head back home. We'll be in our warm beds before we know it~"

Ryou was probably right, but the skill level of the bandits could still affect how easy it was to secretly record information about them. I mean, if they were incredibly skilled warriors, wouldn’t they be able to like notice when three genin shinobi were stalking them and taking notes? Well, whatever. They could figure that out after they actually found the group of bandits first.

"Pfft. You guys are so boring. I don't know about you, but I definitely don't want to just write down some results on a chart and head back home again. I want something cool to happen! I mean, don't you want the mission to be... I don't know, a little more... exciting?"

Toya glanced over at Kei, who seemed to have turned away from her teammates. Obviously the impatient, hyperactive girl was hoping for more action than their mission really called for, and he honestly couldn’t blame her. They had never been in a real fight with another shinobi, but then again, most genin only experienced that type of real fighting unless they were accompanied by a high level sensei in order to make sure nothing went wrong. In this case, they were on their own…

”I’ll admit that I would prefer something a little more challenging, but it could be dangerous if three inexperienced genin try to take on a group of bandits who have caught our village’s eye. Let’s just relax and take this slowly. If we’re not careful, we might bite off more than we can chew, and that could end up being fatal for us.”

Toya knew that Kei would most likely brush most of those words off and focus only on the ‘exciting’ stuff that she wanted to happen. Hopefully this mission would continue to run smoothly and keep Kei from having her wishes granted…

[Kleee]

"Pfft. You guys are so boring. I don't know about you, but I definitely don't want to just write down some results on a chart and head back home again. I want something cool to happen! I mean, don't you want the mission to be... I don't know, a little more... exciting?"

Well, somebody was a little too enthusiastic, weren't they? Ignoring Kei's sudden grumpiness, Ryou bit the last little bit off his apple and chucked the core aside. Damn he was still hungry. It wasn't that he ate alot, but he had never left home without eating a full breakfast before. Slinging his bag off his shoulder, he began to rummage around for something else to eat. Seriously, why was Kei actually looking for trouble when they didn't even have enough food to sustain them for three days.

”I’ll admit that I would prefer something a little more challenging, but it could be dangerous if three inexperienced genin try to take on a group of bandits who have caught our village’s eye. Let’s just relax and take this slowly. If we’re not careful, we might bite off more than we can chew, and that could end up being fatal for us.”
For once, Toya and him were actually on the same page.

"Yeah," Ryou added, still searching his bag, "We don't have a Sensei or any of that, and besides, the fact that we're not delivering papers doesn't change the fact that this is a D-Ranked Mission. D Ranks aren't supposed to be challenging and exciting, and we're only going to get paid for a D-Rank anyway, so I don't really think we should go hunting for trouble that's not worth it,"

Kei still looked pretty grumpy. Why didn't she understand such simple logic? All she ever seemed to care about excitement and action. Weren't girls supposed to be laid back and calm. It was no wonder the pair of them had mistaken her for a boy all that time. Sighing, Ryou closed his bag, he had found what he had been looking for. Cake!

"...Chill out Kei. Here,"

Tossing Kei a piece of neatly wrapped cake, he put his bag back on and started munching on his own piece. He just wanted to get this whole thing over and done with and go home. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

[Kleee]

Ryou and Toya began droning on and on about rules and mission ranks and other boring stuff, but Kei was barely listening. Was money all Ryou cared about? It was certainly all he ever talked about. Personally, Kei couldn't care less about what she was getting paid for, it was the adventure and the excitement that mattered. Maybe that was why she was always so poor...

Kei sighed and caught the slice of cake that had been tossed to her, but not even cake was enough to do much more than momentarily distract the girl from her complaining. The other two seemed more than content to just amble along aimlessly, but Kei wanted more than that. And it seemed that if she wanted to find adventure on this mission, well... she was going to have to find it herself. Kei glanced at the cake quickly, and then did something uncharacteristic for once, actually stowing it away in her bag for later. Cake later, mission first, Kei told herself, looking back at her teammates.

"Fine then, the two of you can stay here and get paid to stand around and eat cake for all I care, but I'm going on ahead. We'll never get better missions if we don't go above and beyond what the village is asking of us after all," she declared suddenly.

Without even bothering to give the others a chance to react, Kei had darted off through the snow, leaving the two boys behind in the dust. It wasn't that she wanted to leave them behind so much as she wanted to get them to actually do something for once, really. Besides, they'd catch up eventually.

...Probably.

Kei slowed down once the others were out of sight, waiting for them to reach her. Despite all her talk, she really had no idea where she was going; Kei had never been much good with maps. She could tell they were drawing closer to Fire Country territory by the way the snow was thinning and the trees were becoming more and more frequent, but that wasn't enough. She should probably wait for directions from Toya and Ryou before she got into trou--

Crunch.

Kei froze.

The sound of heavy footsteps in the snow was unmistakable. But it couldn't be Ryou or Toya Kei was hearing, it was someone else. Someone coming from the complete opposite direction. Someone large. And someone close. Kei ducked behind the tree, hoping the person hadn't seen her, but it was probably futile. Her clothes were much too vibrant and colorful to go unnoticed against the snow, not that Kei would ever dream of changing her sense of fashion just to be a more effective shinobi. She'd always assumed she could just beat the crap out of whoever saw her and things would be fine, but Ryou and Toya would probably get mad at her if she tried that now. This was only supposed to be an investigation, after all... But what if this person really was one of those so-called bandits? And if they were, what were they doing this close to the village? Kei hadn't expected to run into anyone else until they were well out of Yuki, that was what the mission details had said, anyway. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to run ahead after all...

Either way, the footsteps continued to approach Kei from the other side of the tree. Kei gulped and drew a kunai, just in case.

It looked like she was going to find out the answer to her questions very soon...

[Kleee]

"We don't have a Sensei or any of that, and besides, the fact that we're not delivering papers doesn't change the fact that this is a D-Ranked Mission. D Ranks aren't supposed to be challenging and exciting, and we're only going to get paid for a D-Rank anyway, so I don't really think we should go hunting for trouble that's not worth it."

It almost seemed like a miracle that Ryou and Toya were almost on the same page for once. Even if he was still itching to find a chance to test out his skills in actual combat, he knew that it really wasn’t their job this time around. But then again, if they were always forced to go on such routine assignments, then would they really ever get a chance to do anything for real? Maybe the village would never give a chance to let the supposedly failed team redeem themselves.

"...Chill out Kei. Here,"

Toya rolled his eyes as he watched Ryou through the wrapped cake to their third teammate. Did he think he could just throw some cake at Kei and everything would be fine? Well either way, the girl simply stashed it away and remained silent for the moment. This was going to be a very long round trip if things continued the same as they were now…

"Fine then, the two of you can stay here and get paid to stand around and eat cake for all I care, but I'm going on ahead. We'll never get better missions if we don't go above and beyond what the village is asking of us after all."

”Hey, wait a…”

Toya’s words were just a waste of breath, since Kei had already run out of hearing range and soon disappeared into the tree-filled land in front of them. For a place known as the Fire Country, it sure seemed strange for the place to be so full of plant life. Then again, names were not always accurate reflections of the actual locations.

”I guess I’ll go after her. You can stay back at our current pace and wait for us to return, or you can come too. Either way, it won’t be good for the mission if Kei draws attention to us.”

Without waiting to hear Ryou’s decision, he quickly dashed off in the direction Kei had gone. She couldn’t have gone too far in such a short amount of time, and she would have to slow down her pace eventually. After running at his top speed for a brief period, Toya suddenly realized that he might have already passed Kei if she had decided to stop at some point. It was just then that he could feel a presence behind him. The sound of movement in the thin layer of snow on the ground could not be missed by a shinobi who had grown up in the snow village.

He quickly spun around and began walking in the direction he had come from when the image of an extremely large man’s back came into his line of sight. The figure seemed to be moving slowly and methodically towards one of the several trees, as if he was approaching his prey. And there was no doubt in Toya’s mind that the only person in this area who might be targeted by this person was his reckless and color-blind teammate, Kei.

No one else seemed to be around.

No one would be there to witness his power if he acted fast.

Running forward as quietly as he could, Toya quickly removed his sunglasses and stashed them into his weapon pouch. Immediately, the tell-tale red lines began popping up on everything he looked at, and he immediately selected a well-visible line on his target’s large back as he picked up the pace. Luckily, the large figure seemed far too focused on Kei to notice anyone approaching him from behind, and Toya used this chance to leap forward, using one hand to jab his fingers into the red line and letting the force of his force topple his target forward, causing both of them to land in the snow. The only audible sign that his strike had caused any effect was a loud shout of pain coming from the man on the floor.

”Kei, Ryou! Someone get some rope or wire to bind this guy!”

He was only assuming that Ryou had followed him or had at least heard the noise of the struggle and would come running any second. Either way, the large figure on the ground was still probably recovering from the feeling of a dagger stabbing deep into his back. Mental damage could be just as paralyzing as a real wound, and hopefully he would be stunned long enough for one of his teammates to react. Toya’s strength could hold the stunned man down for a while, but he would be in trouble if they could not tie him up in the next minute or two. And he also needed to worry about covering up his eyes again before the man accidentally caught a glimpse of them.

Only a couple hours into the mission and already the team had bitten off more than they could chew…

[Kleee]

Ryou should have seen the warning signs the moment that Kei hadn't started eating the cake and had stashed it away instead...

"Fine then, the two of you can stay here and get paid to stand around and eat cake for all I care, but I'm going on ahead. We'll never get better missions if we don't go above and beyond what the village is asking of us after all."

And she told him off for complaining all the time? Alongside Toya, Ryou called out to her, but the effort was a waste; Kei was gone before they knew it, the blur of bright color she left behind soon fading into nothingness before them.

”I guess I’ll go after her. You can stay back at our current pace and wait for us to return, or you can come too. Either way, it won’t be good for the mission if Kei draws attention to us.”

Toya acted so quickly, Ryou didn't even get a chance to make any sort of protest. For one thing, it was almost inevitable that Kei was going to attract mass attention to them. She was bright, loud, fast and clumsy. The chances of her not stirring something up were a hundred to one. Ryou watched as Toya too vanished into the distance, leaving him with one of two choices; stay or go.

Toya's words kept ringing in his mind, especially the part about their "current pace". He had said it like it was a bad thing; and perhaps he had been right. The faster they moved, the sooner they would actually finish the mission. And not to mention that both Toya and Kei were now nowhere to be seen and considering Kei's current attitude and Toya's disposition to just make her feel better, the chances of them actually coming back any time soon were low. He was probably better off actually chasing after them.

Ryou broke into a run of his own, forcing himself to his top speed. Damnit, either he had been dawdling for so long and was really that slow, or Kei and Toya were just fast. Or maybe he was just slow; because Ryou just seemed to go on for ages ages through repetitive scenery before actually he saw or heard anything.

And when he did hear something, it wasn't what he had expected.

Footsteps, almost certainly coming from something big and heavy, Neither Toya nor Kei could possibly be as bulky as the thing that Ryou could hear crunching through the snow someway ahead of him, panting, Ryou slowed down. There definitely was something up there, but Ryou honestly couldn't run any faster. He knew quite well that his lungs were so crap to the point that he couldn't actually run very far at high speeds. And besides, if he came crashing towards what it was, then there was every chance it would attack him. Hopefully Kei and Toya had somehow gone past it.

But it seemed that wasn't so. Before Ryou had even had a moment to catch his breath, he was hearing sounds that defeaned the footsteps from earlier. Sounds of a struggle, then a crash, then a scream. Sounds of movement - not just the big guy anymore - were coming from the clearing. It was almost certainly Kei and Toya up there. 'Lo and behold; they had gotten themselves into trouble already.

There was nothing else for it, taking another deep breath, Ryou started running once again, the sounds of the fight only becoming louder as the figures became clearer. Kei was in the distance, only visible because of the clothes that had probably started this whole fiasco, and Toya was standing a short while closer. Toya had his sunglasses off, and with a glance at the floor, Ryou could see why. The big guy had obviously attacked them, but Toya had somehow managed to fight back, but it didn't look like the bandit was going to be on the floor for long.

”Kei, Ryou! Someone get some rope or wire to bind this guy!”

"Huh?"

Ryou was surprised to find that Toya had actually taken notice of him being there and was actually asking him to bind the guy. Couldn't Toya just finish the man off with his powers? Oh yeah, they were supposed to interrogate this man. Ryou heaved a sigh.

"...Where do you expect me to get a rope!?!" he called, quickly taking his bag off. Nobody had told him to pack a freaking rope. He hadn't exactly brought much fighting equipment. This wasn't supposed to be a combat mission anyway. He only had a couple of things which remotely resembled a rope on him. Bandages from his first aid kit, ninja wire and dental floss. It looked like Ninja Wire was the only sensible option here. Finding the coil of wire at the bottom of his bag, he pulled it out.

"This is going to hurt, I'm afraid...!" Ryou said with mock sympathy as he lasso'd the wire around his arm. He swung the rope, aiming at the stunned man, The wire hit with a slight squirming sound, clinging to the man as Ryou pulled it even tigher around the poor victim. It wasn't long before the snow beneath the bandit was stained red.

"My apologies. This is what you get when you mess with us," Ryou told the man, now even throwing in a little bow, "...But this is what you get for messing with us,"

[Kleee]

Almost as soon as they had begun, the footsteps behind Kei stopped coming. Then suddenly there was a shout, the sound of a struggle, and a loud thump as something crashed into the snow.

”Kei, Ryou! Someone get some rope or wire to bind this guy!”

Toya!

Kei poked her head around the tree just in time to see Ryou reach into his bag and pull out a roll of ninja wire, lassoing it around the man on the ground to bind him in place. Kei sighed in relief. Well, it looked like her teammates had showed up just in time to take care of the... hey! There was something wrong with this picture, Kei realized suddenly. She'd run ahead in order to grab all the action, but somehow Ryou and Toya had still managed to steal it from her.

"Nice work guys~" Kei called out, coming out from her hiding place and bounding over to join her teammates. She, of course, ignored the part about Kei herself not actually doing any of the work. Oh well, she'd fix that later, when she managed to extract all sorts of information from this guy about himself and his fellow bandit buddies.

Now that she was seeing him up close, he was much less intimidating, Kei realized. He was glaring daggers at the three genin, but there wasn't much he could do about his situation, being tied up with wires and all. If he struggled too much he'd get sliced. The man seemed to realize that, but by the look of him, there wasn't much else going through his head. After all, he'd have to be pretty dumb to get beaten so quickly by genin. He looked like one of those guys that only thought with their muscles. Kei grinned. She was obviously way smarter than that! This was going to be easy.

"Okay, talk," she demanded, looking the bandit in the eye. "Who are you, and what are you doing in Yuki?"

...

"...Come on, we might even give you cake if you cooperate," Kei offered helpfully.

Still nothing. It seemed this bandit was not going to budge so easily. Kei exhaled in exasperation and looked over at her teammates.

"Now what?"

[Kleee]

As soon as Ryou had appeared and started to wrap the wire around the bandit’s limbs, Toya quickly pulled his sunglasses out and returned them to their rightful place, concealing his eyes. Luckily the man on the floor had been far too concerned about the pain of his surprise attack and now even more pain from ninja wire being wound around his wrists and ankles.

Although now that he had a better look at the criminal, he didn’t seem as frightening or intimidating as earlier. He was definitely quite large, but he seemed like one of those grunt types who were forced to go on all of the easy and boring assignments for the rest of the group. Kind of like this team’s situation…

"Nice work guys~"

Startled by the sudden voice coming from another direction, Toya realized that he had almost forgotten why he had attacked the bandit in the first place. Kei had just emerged from her hiding spot behind the tree and had joined the team around the incapacitated bandit. If only she hadn’t run off without them in the first place, this would have never had to happen. Well at least it all ended up working out in the end.

"Okay, talk. Who are you, and what are you doing in Yuki?"

A brief pause indicated that their captive would not be answering such a direct question.

"...Come on, we might even give you cake if you cooperate."

Toya sighed in exasperation, but kept silent. Kei didn’t really think that the bandit was as simpleminded as her, did she?


"Now what?"

”Clearly we’re going to need to use more ‘persuasive’ methods of getting information from him. Something involving pain or discomfort rather than words. We could tighten his wires every time he refuses to answer or something? I’m not exactly a torture expert…”

Secretly, Toya thought that using his powers to inflict pain directly to the man’s nerves might be the quickest way to get results, but he couldn’t exactly flaunt his power in front of someone like this. Dead men tell no tales, but they weren’t going to just kill this man later, even if he was a bandit, right? Maybe being sent on their first mission outside the village without an experienced leader had been a mistake afterall…

[Kleee]

"...Come on, we might even give you cake if you cooperate."

Ryou had to look away to keep Kei from noticing him laughing. Was the girl honestly that deluded? He heaved a sigh, trying very hard to keep a straight face

"I'm afraid cake isn't the answer to everything," he said with a mock sigh.

"Now what?"

Kei looked positively downcast. Wow, she really was deluded.

”Clearly we’re going to need to use more ‘persuasive’ methods of getting information from him. Something involving pain or discomfort rather than words. We could tighten his wires every time he refuses to answer or something? I’m not exactly a torture expert…”

Well that was strange to hear. If he recalled correctly, Toya was capable of inflicting pain that wasn't real; the perfect torture weapon, considering it didn't have a chance of killing someone. But then again, Toya was probably worrying about people finding out about his abilities. But the man was just a lowly bandit. Was he really that focussed on keeping things secret? Well, either way, it looked like Toya wasn't going to act. There really was only one thing to it, in that case.

Ryou took his hands out of his pockets, actually making ninja handsigns for the first time in ages. He bent down, picking up the discarded end of the wire that bound the man's body, holding it in his hand and standing back up.

"Sutatikku Shindou!"

The bandit's groan filled the air as electric current followed through the wire, electrocuting him. The slight smell of burning flesh filled Ryou's nose as he looked at his teammates.

"...Static Shock Jutsu. This jutsu usually doesn't usually have torturing potential because I can generally only strike one part with it, but fortunately for us, that wire's an excellent conductor of electricity..." he turned to look at the trembling bandit, the wire still held firmly in his hand, "Now answer our questions, or I'll be more than happy to do that again!"

[Kleee]

"I'm afraid cake isn't the answer to everything."

”Clearly we’re going to need to use more ‘persuasive’ methods of getting information from him. Something involving pain or discomfort rather than words. We could tighten his wires every time he refuses to answer or something? I’m not exactly a torture expert…”

The others were quick to shoot down Kei's idea, but it didn't seem like they had thought of anything better themselves, she noted bitterly, kicking at the snow. It wasn't like Toya could reveal his powers or anything, even if this guy was just a lowly bandit... and there was no way Ryou was going to come up with something.

Or was he? Kei looked up as Ryou started forming handsigns, and then...

"Sutatikku Shindou!"

The bandit groaned in pain, and the stench of burning flesh wafted through the air moments later. Ryou had electrocuted him. Kei blinked. Okay, so maybe he had thought of something useful after all. For once.

"...Static Shock Jutsu. This jutsu usually doesn't usually have torturing potential because I can generally only strike one part with it, but fortunately for us, that wire's an excellent conductor of electricity... Now answer our questions, or I'll be more than happy to do that again!"

The bandit, however, was not one to give in so easily. He was trembling in pain, but it seemed the pain had only angered him more.

"Go ahead kid. It's going to take a lot more than that if you want me to talk."

"Wow, you really are dumb," Kei said bluntly, crossing her arms. "...both of you," she added, looking over at Ryou. "You only made him hate us more, stupid! Now what are we going to do?? My cake idea was way better than that."

[Kleee]

Toya watched quietly as Ryou sent his electrical attack through the metallic wire in attempt to break the captive bandit’s will. It wasn’t a terribly bad idea at first glance, but somehow he already knew that it would not be effective enough to get the job done. After all, this particular bandit seemed to be a lot stronger-willed than he seemed at first glance.

"Go ahead kid. It's going to take a lot more than that if you want me to talk."

So this guy did not plan on being broken by a little pain. Apparently even the grunts in the bandit world had been trained well enough to withstand a little damage. And since gangs and groups like his had such a strong emphasis on loyalty and protecting the whole organization, giving up the location of his comrades was probably the last thing he would do.

"Wow, you really are dumb ...both of you. You only made him hate us more, stupid! Now what are we going to do?? My cake idea was way better than that."

Okay, that was something that Toya could not listen to without speaking up.

”Are you kidding me? Just because you have such a big cake obsession doesn’t mean that everyone else does. And clearly Ryou’s electrical attacks are too weak to get the job done either.” Toya paused for a second to take a breath and organize his thoughts. ”I say we need to try something more extreme like threatening his life. I mean, there’s no way such a low-ranked guy would be willing to die for his bandit friends, right?”

After he had finished, Toya frowned and began thinking again. How would they even convince this guy that they were willing to kill him if he didn’t talk? Somehow, holding a kunai to his neck didn’t seem like it would be particularly frightening to a guy like this. At this rate, the team would probably end being better off just searching for the rest of the bandits rather than interrogating this guy. But now that they had come this far, they might as well see this to the end, even if they ended up getting nothing out of their captive.

[Kleee]

"Go ahead kid. It's going to take a lot more than that if you want me to talk."

Wow, how resiliant. Either this guy really was tougher than he looked, or Ryou's jutsu wasn't strong enough. Well, that could quite possibly be it - that jutsu was designed to be concentrating to a single point of contact, whilst the wire spread out the effects, the reduction in density would have lessened the stregnth. It looked like Ryou would have to put more chakra into the jutsu to get a better attack - but doing that without overdoing the chakra amount was incredibly difficult, but it didn't look like Kei or Toya had any better ideas...

"Wow, you really are dumb ...both of you. You only made him hate us more, stupid! Now what are we going to do?? My cake idea was way better than that."

Ryou, who had been trying to figure out a way to empower his lightning jutsu, spun around quickly, his mouth open with disbelief. How on earth Kei could call him stupid when he had at least come up with something that didn't involve confectionary.

"What's wrong with you?! He's a bloody bandit! He nearly killed you, and you want him to like us!?- And in case you haven't realized, the world doesn't revolve around ca-"

”Are you kidding me? Just because you have such a big cake obsession doesn’t mean that everyone else does."

For a couple of seconds, Ryou was almost relieved that he wasn't the only one who was against Kei's insanity. But only until Toya opened his mouth again.

"...And clearly Ryou’s electrical attacks are too weak to get the job done either.”

Well, that was it for Mister Nice Ryou. He threw aside the wire he was still holding and before he knew it, he was shouting at Toya.

"Oi! If I put more effort into that jutsu, I could have potentially knocked him unconcious or permanantly disabled him, mentally! We're trying to get info, not kill him! And at least I goddamn did something didn't I?! Unlike-" - he put on a mock voice - "-Oh noez, I'm Toya teh mole person and I can't reveal my über abilities because peoplez will get so scaredz of my totally leet eyepowahz!'"

[Kleee]

"What's wrong with you?! He's a bloody bandit! He nearly killed you, and you want him to like us!?- And in case you haven't realized, the world doesn't revolve around ca-"

”Are you kidding me? Just because you have such a big cake obsession doesn’t mean that everyone else does."

"I am not obsessed with cake!" Kei spat back, irritated now. "And I don't care what this stupid bandit thinks about us, but if he hates us, there's no way he's going to tell us anything about himself, idiot! Obviously your dumb attacks aren't getting us anywhere. I was just trying to help."

"...And clearly Ryou’s electrical attacks are too weak to get the job done either.”

Ryou exploded.

"Oi! If I put more effort into that jutsu, I could have potentially knocked him unconcious or permanantly disabled him, mentally! We're trying to get info, not kill him! And at least I goddamn did something didn't I?! Unlike--Oh noez, I'm Toya teh mole person and I can't reveal my über abilities because peoples will get so scaredz of my totally scary eyepowahz!"

Somehow, the team's discussion about how to best deal with the disagreeable bandit had quickly degenerated into an all-out shouting match. So much for a good start to their first mission... Oh well. Kei couldn't even begin to imagine what the bandit thought of them right now, arguing amongst themselves like a bunch of kids. In reality, they were a bunch of kids, but they were supposed to be shinobi. And shinobi didn't have shouting matches with each other. Especially not on important missions. And definitely not right in front of their enemies.

This definitely wasn't going to end well...

[Kleee]

"Oi! If I put more effort into that jutsu, I could have potentially knocked him unconcious or permanantly disabled him, mentally! We're trying to get info, not kill him! And at least I goddamn did something didn't I?! Unlike--Oh noez, I'm Toya teh mole person and I can't reveal my über abilities because peoplez will get so scaredz of my totally scary eyepowahz!"

Ever since their team had sort of reformed and decided to be as non-confrontational as possible, they had managed to avoid too many shouting matches or physical fighting. Back when they had been with Tomo, the three of them had gotten into loud verbal arguments almost every few minutes, but that had changed recently. Well it had until Ryou decided to be an idiot and cross the line…

“Shut the hell up, Ryou! I should have known telling you anything important was a mistake!”

Taking a few quick steps, Toya angrily closed the gap between him and Ryou. He roughly grabbed onto his teammate’s shirt collar and had to restrain every muscle in his body just to keep from injuring the boy.

”Don’t you dare try to downplay what I have to live with every day! It may not be a big deal to someone like you who has never known a day of pain or danger in his entire spoiled life, but don’t you dare make jokes about my clan and its past! I swear if you mention it like that even one more time, I’ll…”

Luckily for Ryou, Toya’s string of death threats were cut off by the voice of the incapacitated bandit behind them.

”Alright, enough you stupid brats! If you all promise to shut up, I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

Startled by the sudden interruption during his angry ranting, Toya pushed Ryou away as he let go of his collar. He turned around and took a few steps towards their captive, no longer caring how Ryou or Kei would react to his outburst. In his mind, his actions and words had been completely justified. In fact, Ryou probably deserved more than just verbal backlash, but Toya did not want to get into a physical battle with his teammate during their first real team mission.

”Tell us where the rest of your buddies are and we can give you some silence if you want it so badly. Now start talking.”

”The group is camped a few miles east of here, closer to the Fire Country. Go directly east from this position and you will eventually run into a huge clearing amidst the trees, You won’t miss it.”

Toya scratched his head as the adrenaline that had built up due to his anger slowly began to die down. He hadn’t had such an extreme reaction to anyone in a very long time, and he had nearly come close to losing it completely. But now they had something to work on, and now his mind would be able to focus on something else. He sighed and looked over his shoulder back at his two teammates.

”Well? Do we leave him here and go confirm his story?”

[Kleee]

“Shut the hell up, Ryou! I should have known telling you anything important was a mistake!”

Ryou had never bothered to defend himself from a physical attack. Perhaps it was because he had never thought of Toya as somebody who would resort to violence to get through his fury. Toya had always been a quiet figure, just passing off any emotion. But apparently not. With absolutely no warning, Toya had launched himself at Ryou, his hand an unpenetrable vicegrip on Ryou's collar. Trying to flail his way out of it was no use; Ryou just looked up at Toya's furious face, confused as to exactly what he had said to touch such a nerve.

”Don’t you dare try to downplay what I have to live with every day!"

"...Well you never made out that it was such a bother to you previously anyway!"

"It may not be a big deal to someone like you who has never known a day of pain or danger in his entire spoiled life,"

"I do know what pain and danger are! And I'm not goddamn spoilt!"

Ryou was trying to cut into Toya's words, trying to make a counter argument. He wasn't one to just back down in the middle of an argument when he still had points to make, but Toya's anger was so overwhelming. Perhaps not just the anger itself, but the contrast from the boy's usual personality.

"..but don’t you dare make jokes about my clan and its past! I swear if you mention it like that even one more time, I’ll…”

Ryou didn't even bother to retort this time. He could see a death threat or the like coming from a mile away, and he wasn't going to dare to say anything regarding his father and life insurance in a situation like this. He just stared a Toya, waiting for the worst, his mind still contemplating just how a simply angry comment had made the boy crack...

”Alright, enough you stupid brats! If you all promise to shut up, I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

Ryou had completely forgotten about the bandit, but was almost thankful for the guy, because at that moment, Toya actually looked away and shoved him aside. Ryou staggered backwards, regaining his balance and clinging onto a tree, his face now almost stark white.

”Tell us where the rest of your buddies are and we can give you some silence if you want it so badly. Now start talking.”

Toya seemed much more serious now; less half-arsed and more to the point. It was like he was now willing to kill the guy if he didn't speak up. Thankfully, the bandit took the hint.

”The group is camped a few miles east of here, closer to the Fire Country. Go directly east from this position and you will eventually run into a huge clearing amidst the trees, You won’t miss it.”

Ryou didn't take hold of most of these words. He was still watching Toya. He was regaining his ability to speak now, but he didn't want to say a single word to Toya, considering that that word could very well be his last.

”Well? Do we leave him here and go confirm his story?”

Ryou didn't particularly care about confirming the story, but he just wanted to move. Toya seemed to have calmed down at least partially, but Ryou could tell he was still angry at him.

"...Well we're here to do a mission, aren't we? Lets just complete it already,"

Praying that he hadn't just hastened his death sentence, Ryou turned around and began leading the others down the path, not even checking if they were following him. Oh, how on earth did they manage to get into something like this on their very first mission? Were they really that horrible at getting along? Well, it wasn't Ryou's fault though. How on earth could he have known that Toya was just that crazy.

It was a long time before Ryou talked again. Perhaps a record for the longest amount of time that he had kept his mouth shut. He didn't talk, turn around, or stop walking until he came to a certain clearing the trees a couple of miles away. At this point, he heaved a sigh, and turned around to look at his teammates for the first time in ages.

"Looks like this is the place-"

"...Oh yes, this is the place alright. And you kids can't run now, you're cornered!"

Ryou swore, turning around quickly, his eyes widened in disbelief. Damnit, if Toya hadn't killed him yet, then he oughta had known that somebody else was waiting to do the very same job.

[Kleee]

Things were getting out of hand fast.

"...I do know what pain and danger are! And I'm not goddamn spoilt!"

"...but don’t you dare make jokes about my clan and its past! I swear if you mention it like that even one more time, I’ll…”

"Hey--!!" Kei lunged forward, meaning to pull the two boys apart. It was one thing for the genin to be arguing and even shouting at each other, but this was different. Sure, Ryou had crossed a line with his comments about Toya's clan, but Toya was looking downright murderous right now. There was no telling what he'd do if this kept up.

Thankfully, Kei didn't need to do anything. In the end, it was the bandit that saved them.

”Alright, enough you stupid brats! If you all promise to shut up, I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

Kei breathed a sigh of relief as Toya's attention left Ryou and turned to the bandit once more, demanding answers. Ryou was still watching Toya rather warily, but at least the two of them had calmed down a little. But still, the tension hanging in the air was almost palpable. A few days ago, Kei had been confident that the three of genin were a team, that they finally understood each other... But it seemed once again, Toya and Ryou had proved her wrong.

They still had a long, long way to go.

Maybe it was for this reason that Kei couldn't help but keep a close watch on her teammates as the three walked, just in case one of them snapped again and she needed to restrain them or bash their heads in. Maybe it was for this reason that Kei mostly ignored her surroundings, even though in the back of her mind, even she should have known something was gravely wrong with this situation.

Maybe it was for this reason that she didn't see the ambush coming until it was too late.

"Looks like this is the place-"

"...Oh yes, this is the place alright. And you kids can't run now, you're cornered!"

"Ryou, look out!"

He was already cornered. Kei drew a kunai and darted forward to help him somehow, but it was futile. Just as she'd pulled back her arm to throw, Kei gasped as a hand caught hold of her wrist from behind, pulling her backwards. She fell onto the snow, hard.

"Ow! That wasn't fair, coward!"

"Don't waste your breath kid, you're surrounded. There's nothing you can do!"

He was right. They were surrounded, and completely outnumbered. Kei could see Toya a little ways off, trying to defend himself against his own wave of bandits. Ryou was nowhere to be seen... had he already gone down? Kei felt a wave of panic rising inside her, and she scrambled to her feet, forming rapid handseals. No way, she couldn't let these stupid bandits get the best of her. This was ridiculous, all of it was so stupid, stupid, stupid, how could she have let this happen? She should have seen this coming, even a total idiot would have seen that this could only have been a trap. Yet here she was, surrounded and being beaten by a bunch of lowly bandits.

Uncool.

She was so going to get them back for this...

That was the last thought that crossed Kei's mind before everything went dark.

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