Intel Recovery

Approved

Late claim: forgot to claim character personal AP of 26

Approved

Rin's mind was in a haze. She'd never, you know, actually killed anyone before. It'd always been paltry tasks up to this point, like helping old fucks with their groceries. It wasn't the shock of taking a life or some kind of weird confrontation of a new reality that had her so struck. These were enemies of the state who had broken in and stolen classified information. Of course, they deserved to die. It was more of the messy finality of it. It was like blowing out a candle, but with more work required, and with a far more hefty reward. I'm good at this, she realized. I'm good at killing. Well, maybe not, but she didn't feel as *filthy* as other people told her she would. 

And to think, this had been, of all things, an S rank mission. Sure, there was still no way in hell she was qualified to do something of this calibre by herself, and her teammates had certainly carried the brunt of the work, but she felt... oddly pleased. The raincloud that had been figuratively hanging over her for months seemed to lessen its gloom, for a second. Finally, something she was good at, something she enjoyed. Something to take the stress off of her. So what if it was just the act of killing? She was a fucking shinobi. The long arm of the state, empowered with violence. Now that she thought about it, all her worries were for nothing. Art? Language? Screw all that. This was what she was meant for.

Rin accepted the complement from her teammate with a glazed nod. As if she gave a fuck about opinions from these people. She cleaned off the mess from her kill and examined the corpses. Just grunts, it seemed to be. Nothing, really, except people that were barely above her level. Not bad, all things considered. She had to admit that sneaking up behind a target that had been so thoroughly distracted and occupied hadn't been that much of a challenge, but she could find ways to keep the wind in her sails, as it were. 

Cleanup for the corpses probably something they would leave up to the vanguard. Fuck 'em, she wasn't here for that shit. Stop the criminals, recover the info. If there was anything she'd learned about Kumo's work culture, it was that it was in her best interests to do the bare minimum. She remembered reading something old and shitty about this in the library, but things like that went over her head most of the time. To her chagrin, she had to admit that she wasn't the intellectual kind. She was a tired, worn-out woman who had just realized that she could get the fulfillment and the satisfaction she had wanted so badly in her life from her job, after months of long labor. Basically, she was just a classic thug after all. After the dissonance passed, however, she realized that she was fine with this, really. Who gave a shit about society's expectations of her? This was how she intended to live.

She frowned at Anaphiel as he made his offer. Healing jutsu? Eh, screw it. She certainly had no reservations about chakra, unlike people in less advanced places of the world. Take Hoshigakure, for instance. She'd heard rumors that the civilians there considered their own shinobi to be witches of some kind. The very thought was comedic. It almost made her grateful that she lived in Kumogakure. Almost. Naturally, he interests were still controlled by people who didn't even know she existed, but there were ways to make that liveable.

Rin accepted the offer of healing, and glanced at her own victim as her flesh mended. Younger than she was, she thought, but not by much. She forced herself to walk herself through the steps that were required of her by... well, by the other stories she'd heard from more experienced shinobi. Often, in their own spaces, the old veterans would talk with hushed or subdued voices about their first kill, and how it had supposedly awakened them to the cruelty of the world, the futility of idealism, blah blah. She supposed that she might as well try to do the same internally.

Did this guy have a family? Did he have friends, a life of his own? Maybe some lover waiting for him at home? Rin realized very quickly that she really didn't give a flying fuck. The guy was dead, gone back to the mud, and life crawled on. Something in the back of her mind felt at least a little disturbed at the lack of reaction, but she brushed it aside. This, really, was just the end of a long shift at work, and she was ready to get the fuck out of there.

If all was finished, she would pay her respects to her superiors. "Thank you very much for having me, "hope I wasn't too much of an imposition", "hope to work with you again", all lies, of course. As if she'd tell them how she really felt. No need to burn bridges, even if it was with people she didn't care much for. That being finished, Rin headed home. Not that much time had passed, but she had no other obligations that day. A hot shower and some food were in order, for the completion of her first high rank mission. Success, really, was its own euphoria, and she wanted to experience it again someday.

[EXIT

TWC 2000
2000/2000 for weaponry spec
20 stats

Mission rewards: 10k ryo, 50 AP]