Picking up the pieces [FB: Open]

[Danjo]

This thread will detail one of the missions given to shinobi of a chunin or jonin level, that will take place in Sunagakure. This thread will be considered a flashback thread and have bearing on the continuity of characters that are involved. Showing their faith in the soon to be Kazekage Seishen Danjo and presenting them an opportunity to bring resolution to a previous side story as well as continuing into a new story. Hope you enjoy it!

A week and a half after Matamune's disappearance

Nanadaime Kazekage Kōho Danjo waited patiently for the arrival of the shinobi that had come with high regards from the jonin council. His fingers locked behind his head as he sat leaning back deeply in his chair while staring out the window towards the afternoon sun bathing over Sunagakure.

He spun in his chair leaning back over the Kazekage's desk and started riffling through some paperwork. Pulling out photo's of the Shinobi that he would be giving the opportunity to bring to an end one of the troubles that had plagued the Kazekage Matamune.

He heard the soft rap on his door of the Kazekage's assistant, most commonly working her way through paperwork outside the office, he assumed it meant it was time. Composing himself for a moment and wiping his tired eyes he looked towards the door then spoke.

You may enter...

Nanadaime Kazekage Kōho = Seventh Wind Shadow Candidate

[Hitora Shinjin]

Kazekage's Office
Interior

The rhythmic jingling of Kokiba announced the Hitora family head's arrival. That and, possibly, the giant white tiger laying outside the entrance to the building. Mouko flowing behind him as he strode forth, Shinjin cut quite a heroic figure. His blade hanging from a leather strap on the back of his belt, he smiled amiably to the assistant and tilted his head towards the door. The girl absently moved to knock on it, an action which was rewarded with the Kazekage's missive.

"You may enter..."

Kokiba once again began to jangle as Shinjin strode past the assistant and opened the door. In he strode, his left hand holding a bottle of rice wine and his right hand held up in greeting.

"Kazekage-dono..." He began, his baritone voice unleashed, "... care for a drink?"

[shinbou]

Only just arriving to Suna Shinbou was quick to leave once she had gotten Guoduan settled. She didn't tell him where she was going simply because she was not sure what was going on. Moving quickly through the streets of Suna she arrived at the Kazekages office, paying little attention to her surroundings she pushed open the doors. It had been a long time since she set foot in this office... in fact it had been a while since she had been to Suna.

Having just arrived from the desserts she was dressed accordingly to survive in that terrain. Her now ragged vest hung loosely from her slender body with the tail of it hanging just below her butt waving in the air behind her she came to a desk. A dusty wrap covered her upper torso all the way up to her nose, pulling down what was over her mouth she spoke to the secretary.

"I was summoned here with a urgent note"

Her soft voice was sweetened with her smile as she waited for the ladies response. After looking up at her briefly the secretary began to scan over some paper work, upon seeing a picture of Shinbou she smiled up at her.

"Yes. We have been expecting you... welcome home"

The girl got up then walked over to a door, knocking on it firmly she put her head to the door. A puzzled look came to Shinbous face as she followed the girl, this was the kage's office yet she could clearly recognize the voices beyond the door. It became even clearer when she heard a mans voice respond to the knocking.

"You may enter"

As the door pushed open Shinbou was shocked to see her sensei sitting behind the Kazekage's desk. She slowly moved into the room, only briefly glancing at the man holding the wine bottle as she walked up the desk. Her gaze focused on the man behind the desk as she struggled to think of what to say.

[Danjo]

The proposition

The large man walked into the office his booming voice made louder by the adobe walls, Danjo smiled towards him.

I am glad you excepted my request Shinjin, i was worried you may have been busy with your other duties.

Looking towards the bottle Shinjin carried Danjo finally answered his question after a few moments.

Yes i would enjoy a drink, he said as he accepted an amount into a cup he pulled from his drawer. Danjo took a quick sip and was about to indulge in the imbibing of alcohol with his old friend Shinjin when another wrap upon the door resounded through the room.

Danjo quickly made a motion to hide the cup of drink he had while he pressed his fingers to his lips in a symbol to not mention anything.

You may enter.

He said quickly finishing his cup then setting the cup in his top drawer. Falling back into a pose as though he had been deeply thinking in hopes to not show the tell tale sign to his assistant that he had been drinking.

Ah, Shinbou you have arrived as well. I am glad you also accepted my invitation.

His eyes peering towards his student, she had grown quite a bit since he last saw her, in both muscle and composure. She was quite the kunoichi and had been for some time, he was glad to hear, despite the circumstances, that she had returned to Sunagakure.

Well to business then Danjo spoke motioning them to sit across from him, as you both know our village is in a state of unrest with the Kazekage Matamune having gone missing the day after the Chunin exams. I know you are both aware of this as you had been assigned to one of the search squads which was classified as priority one for some time.

I understand that you have only just returned to the village from this latest mission and i to understand our present circumstances. Yet there is other more troubling things afoot in the village, there is the possibility that someone within this village may have been aware of what had happened to Kazekage Matamune.

That is why you are here, I do not have the ability to send you on this mission having not officially been inaugurated yet but i am allowed to have access to the Anbu.

This is an A rank mission, but i must firstly ask you to accept my proposal to join the Anbu for at least a temporary amount of time.

The council cannot know about this mission nor can anyone else.

If you accept this mission you must first agree to this term, will you join the Anbu? He asked as he pressed two boxes roughly the size of masks across the desk towards them.

Danjo had asked with a ominous sense of worry resounding through his voice, it was easy to see that the loss of Kazekage Matamune was affecting his emotions and that he was struggling to not show it.

Feel free to decide what your anbu mask looks like, do keep in mind it is rather common for Sunagakure anbu to have demon resembling masks. Also please pm or chat with me in cbox what you want your anbu codename to be, just so i don't chose something you don't like. Keep in mind the code names are normally short and don't bear any resemblance to your characters actual name, as a way to hide your characters real identity.

[Hitora Shinjin]

A short nod with a look of solemn understanding passed from Shinjin to Danjo, raising a finger to his own lips in agreeance. He slung the strap of his sake jug over the hilt of the blade resting at the back of his belt and proceeded to cross his arms while listening to the request.

A tilted head and raised brow followed the request to join the ANBU. He opened the lid of the box indicated for him. Within rested a full mask, rather than the half masks normally worn by ANBU. The hood that would cover his head was shaggy and white, almost like a big cat's mane, while the front mask was designed with jagged edges and golden stripes. A wry grin overcame Shinjin's face as he picked it up. The mask reminded him of depictions of Byakko, the demon tiger.

"You know me well, Danjo."

He slid the mask on, the shaggy white hood covering his hair and falling across the back of his shoulders as if it were his own. The mask fit well, and Shinjin performed a slight rap on the forehead with his knuckles to indicate his acceptance of the item.

[shinbou]

Taking the mask Shinbou gave her sensei a slight bow before she opened the box. Her eyes falling upon a mask a bird like demon, yet its bronze colored steaks gave it a look of elegance. Yet a look of worry would come to her face as her thoughts drifted away to her own student. He had never really been on his own other then in the exams, and now as she thought she would be sent away from him.

"I accept"

She spoke simply as she brought her eyes up to look at Danjo with a small smile upon her lips. Taking the mask out Shinbou set the box aside while she strapped the mask over her face. Oddly the mask felt good, almost like it was right to where a Sunagakure ANBU mask. There was even a good air flow inside so she was not constantly breathing in stale air, she then looked back to Danjo.

[Danjo]

The Mission

Danjo slightly smirked for a moment when they both accepted the proposition and set their masks in place. Peering across the desk to his two new Anbu he returned his normal stoic gaze.

Let us get straight to it then, Danjo said. I have reasons to believe that there is a gang in our village know only in rumor as the hitoshirezu kotoba ichimi. I believe that they were directly involved with the disappearance of the Rokudaime Kazekage Matamune.

I also believe that there is a mole within the village and that through the means of these hidden civilian criminals they have been passing messages and intelligence to whichever group it is that was directly responsible for Matamune's capture.

The person your seeking is unknown, not having any name spoken of and only being know by kuchigakatai-domo. This is your target, as well as capturing or destroying any accomplices found with your target.

It goes without saying that these things in which i am speaking of are considered S-Rank classified, but the task though it may only be A-Rank because of the assumed lack of shinobi enemies, it is also highly sensitive and classified.

It can also be assumed that anythings spoken in this room, as well as your actions, or anything that you learn will be highly classified. This task, everything surrounding what we know or will learn, is between you and me. Until i know who the mole is i cannot trust anyone, not even the jonin council.

I assume it is easy to understand why you were both asked to be a part of this mission, both of your histories with me has proven you to be without a shadow of a doubt loyal to this village.

So from this point forward when wearing your mask Shinbou you will be known as Shiodamari, and Shinjin you will be known as Susamajii.

Are there any questions?

Danjo asked obviously understanding the large bulk of information he had just shared, and that it may not have all been instantly processed.

Target Name meanings:
hitoshirezu kotoba ichima = Secret words gang
kuchigakatai-domo = secret keeper lord or leader

Code name meanings:
Susamajii = Fierce, terrible, dreadful. Figured it went with the tiger idea without actually calling you the tiger. Just cause the tiger idea was a little to recognizable of a characteristic connected to your character to be considered a code name. If you want me to edit it to something different just let me know.

Shiodamari = rocky place where sea water remains after the tide draws out. This was the name you had liked in our personal conversation cheesy, from the list of ideas i had sent to you.

[Hitora Shinjin]

Shinjin nodded after being provided the information. "So we capture this Kuchigakatai, and do the same or worse with anyone or anything that we see is with him. Sounds like fun." Shinjin directed his gaze towards his partner and raised his hand in greeting. "I guess we'll be working together then, Shiodamari-dono."

The larger man then redirected his gaze to the Kage and asked, "So where do we begin?"

[Danjo]

The mission

Danjo nodded to his old friend, beaming with pride as his hopes for the future of Sunagakure now lay upon the actions of his Anbu.

"There is a gambling hall here in the city, though i cannot directly accuse guests of being involved with such a group. My trusted intelligence has lead me to believe that this is one of the many gatherings for the secretive group. This location is very easily the first place you would wish to visit on your mission, i cannot be sure whom is there or how many adversaries you may encounter, but i have complete trust in your abilities. Once you have gathered whichever intelligence from this location i assume the information gained will be able to lead you further towards the belly of the beast."

"If there is anything else you need please let me know because as soon as you leave this office you will for a time disappear from the village. I have paperwork addressing the mission you have been tasked with that will leave a paper trail stating your are currently on assignment "outside" the village while you conduct your investigation here in the village."

Danjo finished his words as he peered across the desk towards the two shinobi, there was so much riding on them and this mission but Danjo was sure they were up to the task.

[Hitora Shinjin]

Shinjin nodded his head and saluted, slapping his fist across his chest. "I'll get right on it." He then placed his hands together, and vanished, his Shunshin carrying him out of the building and on his way to the beginning of his search.