Solo Dolo [mission]

Spoiler:

As the day had carried on, Pein found himself absolutely alone. 

It was noon and his new found "team" were, ironically enough nowhere to be found. Tentei had been missing since he, Pein and Taikeo had initially set out for the royal emissary mission. Taikeo, well Taikeo was supposed to had followed Pein and Tentei when the left. But the problem was, the personalities that each of the teammates had did not align. Tentei, actually had gone off on his own way. Taikeo never followed Pein. And Pein had slowly made his way to the mission board. Perhaps Tentei got tired of waiting for Pein so he left. Perhaps Taikeo was too frustrated at Pein, so she never showed up. Regardless of the circumstance, Pein was on his own today. The last thing that Pein remembered was that he had mentioned some details lacking details on the mission. The only thing that he had known about the mission was that it demanded quite some attention from Pein. He thought back on the exact words that he said to his team, for those were the extent of his memory on the mission information. "Some lost noble around the borders. Apparently there’s a threat of bandits, so maybe we could take our frustrations out on them? But to be honest, I don’t know much about the mission but it’s a lead…” And as his luck would have it, he still did not know much about the mission. To be honest, a part of him hoped that Tentei and Taikeo would have shown up and been able to assist him on the mission. The only reason why was so that he wouldn't have to do all the work by himself. But it seemed as if that would not be the case. Truthfully, he was just fine that they had not shown up. This way, there was no one for him to argue with, no way for the team to break up during the mission and it might have increased the success rate of the mission. And so, Pein was independent today. Just as he had been his entire life. 

But for now, Pein was thinking too far ahead. At this point in the game, he did not even have an official mission to do. All he had was speculations. At this point in the game, he was not even at the mission board to get the mission. He was still walking to the board. At this point in the game, Pein didn't even know where the mission board was. He had tried to follow the path that Tentei appeared to be taking but he lost him along the way. Approaching a four way intersection, Pein had no clue as to which direction he should head in. His feet stopped and planted firmly on the ground as he looked down each path. They all look equally unfamiliar. There was no clear indication as to which one would lead to the mission board. The one leading straight ahead was long and seemed as if it were heading to the livelier part of town, perhaps the market. The one to the right seemed very residential, having lots of houses and neighborhoods lined along the sides of the road. The path to the left had to be the right one. It seemed as if he could see the Hoshigakure academy building off in the distance, but he was not sure if that was it. He had never even been to the building. But what else could a building so large be? The whole reason why he thought that would be the right area was because of that building. It seemed devoted to shinobi, in which case missions devoted to shinobi would have to be posted over there too, right? 

As Pein debated to himself, he had a quick thought. Perhaps he could ask some of the people walking around if they knew. But then he remembered how they all looked at him. They all saw Pein almost as if he were a monster. There was nothing that he had done to actually offend anyone in this village, but it sure seemed like they all held some sort of unforgivable, unforgettable grudge against the shinobi who concealed his identity. Pein had always been one to keep to himself, so this degree of animosity just seemed juvenile. But Pein wasn't one to talk. He held that same amount of dissatisfaction and ambiguity towards the people of Hoshigakure, especially the civilians. They were ungrateful hypocrites. One minute they would beg for shinobi to help them with their many problems they were too weak and scared to handle themselves, and the next they would be exchanging dirty looks with that same shinobi that assisted them in the mission. Hell, they might as well just create some sort of wall dividing the shinobi side from the civilian side. But if that were the case, they would have to build the wall around Pein as well. For he didn't even like the vast majority of the shinobi that he had met within Hoshigakure. They were all so entitled, ego inflated and headstrong. It seemed like they all had an opinion about something and just had to voice it. Either that or they just wanted to express the long dick of having jutsu at any given moment. All they were concerned about was sparring and finding excuses to spar. It was like a prepubescent teenager fixated on boobs and finding excuses to see boobs. Juvenile. Pein cared for none of them, shinobi and civilian alike. However there were some slight exceptions. Arashi seemed like one of the more down to earth shinobi. He had his head on his shoulders and was relatable. Tentei, although brash, immature and sadistic, was like Pein. Both of them insane in their own way. And Taikeo, beautiful and crazy. All three of the shinobi that Pein didn't hate had interesting personalities. All else that he had met were too centered on themselves. But Pein was different, he didn't care much for himself well because he didn't care much for anything. It was a mentality that was likely unhealthy but simultaneously unhindering.

Nevertheless, he decided against asking anyone for directions and walked down the pathway to the left. It was the right one. He had passed shinobi coming and going, all indicative by their headbands. Some bore fliers in their hands, some seemed to desire to bear fliers. It seemed as if today were a busy day for the many ninja of Hoshigakure, for even Pein fell into the stereotype. He was on his way to pick up a mission as well, as much as he hated to admit it. He needed the ryo. His pockets were as dry as the desert surrounding the village. Also, he needed the credibility. He grew weary of a shinobi constantly following him around and documenting his every move. Perhaps this was just the right thing to do in order to get him off his back. And Pein also needed the rank up. He wanted to become a chunin for several reasons actually. The first of which was to advance his abilities. Secondly, he wanted to be able to learn another specialization. Third, perhaps he would be looked at differently by the shinobi of the village. But perhaps not. Perhaps it was all futile. But overall, this was for himself. He wanted to become a powerful shinobi capable of inflicting pain and death upon those that deserved it. By becoming a chunin, his limitations would be exceeded and he'd be more capable of doing these things. As dark of a reason that it was, it was still his reason. Additionally, as a chunin perhaps he would be granted passage from Hoshigakure to wherever the destroyers of his village were. And if he were not granted that open passage that he so craved, then he would have to just leave. But he thought that the hoshikage would at least sympathize with him. Or at least he hoped he did, that way he could provide more information on the subject so dear to Pein. As he thought to himself, he continued walking. He paid no attention to the happenings around him or his surroundings. He was too enveloped in his thoughts. Time seemed to be flying by so quickly as he had already come across the mission board, evident by the vast amount of shinobi surrounding it.

Sighing lightly, he knew that he would have to make his way through the crowd in order to obtain the mission. Otherwise, another shinobi could easily swipe it and bring it to his or her team. It seemed as if getting the mission was a mission in itself. "Bullshit..." Pein said loud enough for just him to hear. As he said that, he began walking towards the massive crowd. Everyone seemed jam - packed into a group and there was plenty of pushing and shoving to add on to the madness by the bulletin boards. Placing his hands together and in front of him so that his fingertips were pointing towards the board, he pushed forward. In actuality, it would appear as if Pein were swimming through the crowd of shinobi, carving his hands through each open, tight pocket of space that the many bodies neglected to inhabit. As his arms crashed through shinobi, he made his way forward and towards the mission board. He finally reached the board, extended his hand forward and swiped at the mission with the word "Emissary" printed boldly upon it. He tucked it into his pocket and began pushing and shoving his way to get out of the crowd. The level of rudeness and commotion occurring in the crowd seemed regular to all of the shinobi, for despite Pein's powerful pushes, no one seemed to want to retaliate against him. When he finally made his way out and away from the crowd, he looked back at it and scoffed. Disorganized and lacking clarity, just like so many of the shinobi that he had encountered in this village. He sat down upon a bench across from the bulletin board and slid his hand into his pocket. Grasping the piece of paper inside of it, he lifted his shoulder and removed his hand and note from the pocket. He then began to read the mission. 

"Royal Emissary
C- Rank
Retrieval
Hoshigakure Borders
2000 Ryo
Find the lost royal and bring him back unharmed to Hoshigakure. Be wary of bandits seeking to kidnap and hold the royal for ransom." 


It was short, sweet and to the point. Pein knew that he had recalled the majority of the mission's details and that was evident by the brief description of the mission and what it demanded from whoever undertook the task. Pein was that person and the description was written so concisely that even he would not lose interest in it. He folded the flier back up and put it into his pocket. It was time for him to set out from Hoshigakure and complete the mission. By the end of the day, Pein would be 2000 ryo richer. 

He stood from the bench and decided that he wanted to make haste in the completion of this mission. He quickly conducted a brief series of hand seals and leaped up and towards a nearby building. Planting his right foot upon it, he swung his left forward and placed it firmly on the building as well. Now with his surface walking being employed, he sprinted up the building and towards the edge. When he would reach the top of the side of the building, he grasped it with his hands and lunged over, planting his feet on the roof. Taking the higher ground would likely make traveling towards the border much faster, and so that's just what Pein did. He sprinted towards thee dge of the opposing face of the building and upon nearing it, he made a large leap. He cleared a gap of about 6 feet with no problem, breaking his fall with a barrel roll onto the next building. Leaping out of the roll he sprung back to his feet and continued to run forward. This process of alternating between running and jumping would continue for quite some time and Pein would persist until he met the village walls. 

He stopped running. It had been two weeks since he had last seen these walls. And the last time that he was at them, he was being dragged inside. Now it was different, all he had to do was show the shinobi guarding the walls the mission and they would let him free. But free was a loose term. He would have to come back with the royal and the mission complete. Otherwise, they would likely send shinobi after him in order to find his whereabouts. Essentially Pein was on the no fly list. It was quite clear to the village elders that Pein did not care for Hoshigakure and he actually longed to escape, but they would not allow it. And to be honest, those were not Pein's intentions right now. It was not the right time for him to leave for good just yet. No, he wanted to complete this mission and gain the reward from it it first of all. And there would be no reward if he never came back. How futile would that be? But at least he would be able to release some of his built up stress and frustrations out on the bandits of the borders. The mission did not state any requirements for how to deal with the bandits, and so he could do anything that he would see fit. And the mood that Pein was in today, that would mean one fate for all of them which was what the pronunciation of his name would suggest: pain. 

He dropped down from the building and caught his fall with his hand upon the ground. Bringing himself back up to his feet, he calmly walked over to the booth by the gates and stopped when he was just in front of it. He removed the mission flier from his pocket and placed it upon the desk without saying a word. The jounin sitting inside the booth picked up the flier, read it over and scanned it for authenticity. When they were done, they pulled out a stamp and pressed it against the top right corner of the paper. When the stamp was removed, the hoshigakure seal was printed clearly in the corner. This was the seal of acceptance, it allowed a shinobi to leave the village only under the jurisdiction of completing a mission. But Pein did not know this. He also did not ask for clarification. Instead, he grasped the paper, nodded at the jounin and slid it back into his pocket. He turned from the booth and thus began to walk out from the entrance of the village. 
 
As Pein had progressed out and away from the village, he walked along the road. There was plenty of sand, dunes, winds and other inhospitable environmental conditions surrounding the road. But the road itself was clear. He was not quite sure how someone could get lost on their way to Hoshigakure, for the path seemed straight and easy, but then again, not many people in the world possessed the super power known as common sense. Pein continued along the path, making imprints of his footprints upon the sandy road. As he did, he could feel the heat of the sun baring down upon his exposed skin. His arms seemed to love the sun, but they were slightly sensitive to it. They had grown so accustomed to the cold terrain of Yurigakure in the past that the sun was a friendly foreigner to them. The rest of his body, which was draped in heavier clothing including is vest, scarf, pants and boots were sweating. But Pein paid no attention to this, for it was not of the biggest concern to him at the point. Right now, the only thing upon his mind was finding the foolish royal and bringing his sorry ass back to Hoshigakure. As he continued along the path he stopped for his eyes had fallen upon quite an interesting clue. Footprints. There were footprints up ahead that seemed to have the toe of the sandal facing towards the village’s direction. Judging by the pattern, there was only one person walking along this path. However, those were not the only set of footprints on this path, for there were many more on both sides of the road that seemed to close in on the path and finally meet up with the foot prints leading towards the village.
 
Pein stopped to think. It was a clear mark of some type of scuffle that occurred between one person and a group of many. This was likely the one royal that lost his way. But judging by the foot prints, he did not lose his way. Instead, he was taken away. Pein searched the ground for more clues on what happened after the encounter and off to the right side of the path were harder pressed in foot prints that veered away from the road and away from the village. Pein hypothesized that the foot that were pressed more firmly into the ground were due to an additional load being imposed upon the print’s origin. It had to have been the bandits incapacitating the royal, picking him up and carrying him off somewhere. Well, it seemed like the mission had already been more interesting that what the flier entailed, for the bandits had already kidnapped the sorry royal. The only logical thing to do in this situation, was to follow the foot prints that led away from the path. And so Pein did. He left the road that led to Hoshigakure and was not walking off on the sand towards an unknown area.


As Pein followed the foot prints, he eventually came upon a sandy dune that had a door on the outside of it. That was where the foot prints ended. It seemed to be some sort of bunker, and likely belonged to the bandits that had made their way over here. Upon the outside written clearly in blood were the words, “Jaws of Grima”. It wasn’t exactly the most welcoming symbol that a group could have, but to Pein it wasn’t exactly intimidating. Sure they were powerful enough to kidnap someone, but that someone was a fool. He was a royal that came to Hoshigakure without a convoy. Of course he was going to get kidnapped. All it would take would be leaked information that was bought by the bandits. It was child’s play. But if that were the case, then that would speak volumes about their organizational skills, for they were clever enough to at least come up with a plan as opposed to simply kidnapping whoever they had seen walking along the road. But still, they were fools. Just as the royal was. And so Pein grasped the obvious handle on the door and went on to open it up slowly. He would have to be careful in this bunker, in case there were booby traps. Spoiler alert, there were none.
 
As the overly cautious Pein proceeded to enter, he employed silent foot steps to make sure his presence was undetected. To his surprise, it was actually quite humid inside of the bunker. It was likely to the enormous amount of heat imposed on the bunker by the sun in combination with the material of the bunker seemed to cause the interior to sweat. Not only was the interior sweating, but Pein was as well. He was drenched in sweat and likely would be anyone else inside of this bunker. He proceeded down a path of blood stained stairs until he reached the corner of the stair case. He could hear the shouts of men, demanding [the royal] to offer them an enormous sum of payment or else otherwise they would torture him and kill him. Typical. There were nothing more than bandits seeking to earn a pretty penny by pulling off a simple kidnapping mission. They weren’t as smart as what Pein pinned them to be. If he were in their shoes, Pein would have already been torturing the man, for action speaks volumes louder than words do. But he was not in their position. Instead, he would have to play the part of the super hero and come and save the damsel in distress. Noticing that he had discretion on his side, he would have to employ some sort of deception in order to trick the bandits. He scanned the room quickly for any source of water, but there were no evident ones. However, there was plenty of moisture and water upon the floors of the bunker, likely stemming from the degree of humidity inside of the bunker.
 
Smiling to himself, he had already known what his plan of action was. He quickly formulated several hand seals which caused the room to begin to mist up. The moisture from the insides of the bunker began to increase exponentially and now fogged up the room. It was difficult for even Pein to see. However he could not let this inhibit his abilities. Simultaneously, he would need to use this thick misty fog to his advantage in order to quickly dispatch the ground of enemies, otherwise he could quickly be outnumbered and outgunned. Following the conjuring of the mist in the room, he quickly made several more hand seals which summoned water needles to shoot out from the ground and towards the last seen position of two bandits. Due to the inability of the bandits to see, the needles pierced them in the back of the necks and traveled all the way through, forcing them to fall to the ground as a pool of blood began to pick up. Now startled, the remaining 4 bandits began to search the room. One of which was approaching Pein’s location. As a result, Pein quickly conducted several more hand seals and now his body was simply hidden. He had used the hiding in the water technique to hide in the pool of water which was now formed on the ground. So the bandits found no one, but they could easily recognize that it was some sort of water jutsu. Pein knew he only had seconds to kill the enemies or else they would find him and kill the royal. He slowly rose from a pool of water in the corner of the room and quickly created several more water needles which hurled through the air and impaled two more bandits directly through the temples of their skulls.
 
At this point, the royal was keeping more than quiet, noting that this was an attempt from an unknown source to save his life. The other two bandits remaining were now increasingly paranoid. There were terrified actually, unaware of who was killing them and how they were found out. As the two ran towards to royal to execute him, Pein ran faster, and silently. He quickly reached the gap between the two and now was his time to try out the jutsu that he had been watching and learning for quite some time. He formed two sets of different hand seals as he sprinted towards the two and upon completion of each series, he leaped up and extended his arms out. Now in between the men with his arms pointed towards each of them, two spheres of water and ice respectively had formulated around the two. Pein had down it, he had successful used the water prison jutsu for the first time and tried the ice prison jutsu for the first time. His feet fell to the ground as he had now held the two bandits captive. As a result, the two dropped the weapons they held.
 
Pein, now right in front of the royal, noted that he was not even tied up. These bandits were truly sorry.
 
“You there. Pick up that sword.”
 
The royal did as Pein demanded.
 
“Now these two men I’m holding within my jutsu are not going to be immobile forever, so when I release them I need you to toss the sword to me. Understood?”
 
The royal nodded.
 
Pein quickly released the jutsu that had kept the two men stationary and as soon as he did, they momentarily fell to the ground. They were overloaded with water and ice alike and their bodies had not been used to it. So now, the royal had tossed the sword to Pein who quickly caught and grasped it with his right hand. As Pen caught the sword, he quickly revolved his body one hundred and eighty degrees with the blade extended and decapitated the two bandits who were on their knees. Pein felt the power from this and loved it. The feeling of a blade in his hand, helping his kill enemies who were nothing more than cowards truly felt good. He wanted to continue using the blade, but it was a worthless one. Dull to the touch but sharp enough to kill.
 
The royal, at this point was terrified. Pein seemed blood thirsty, but his intentions were to protect and rescue the royal, not kill him. Gaining control over his blood lust, he tossed the sword to the corner of the room and looked at the royal.
 
“You’re an idiot….don’t say a thing to me, we’re leaving.” Pein said rather coldly and harshly to the man he had just saved.
 
But the man was too terrified to argue. Instead, he followed Pein’s lead, who was now heading up the stairs to leave and exit the bunker. When the two would reach daylight again, Pein’s pace would not stop. He continued walking forward, back and towards the walls of Hoshigakure. When the two met the walls, Pein turned over the royal to the jounin at the gates. They thanked him and sent him on his way as one of the two began to escort the royal back to the palace.
 

It was simple. Just as Pein had expected. 


[Exit]


WC: 4377


Claiming Ice Release: Ice Prison Jutsu 3500/3500 words, dumping the rest of the words into Battojutsu: Quickdraw 877/2000 words.


Also claiming missing specific rewards of 2000 ryo and 5 ap. 

No

Okay ya approved