ANBU Mission - Observation [B-Rank]

[Junan]

6 Days Earlier

Standing around in a room were a dozen ANBU and ANBU Trainee's. They had all been picked by a particular ANBU Captain for something which had almost everyone in the room abuzz. What on earth could be going on which would require so much manpower. Normally ANBU operations were performed by fewer quantity and greater quality. It meant that lower ranked ANBU got to do jack shit missions of worth, but this one must have been worth while!

The buzz slowly dissipated as the description was given.

A member of the ANBU infiltrated an organization which has been identified by a former Sennin as a potential threat to Kumogakure's current environment. It seems they have been around since late into Shin's reign but we had previously not realised that multiple crimes were linked. Apparently they are, and the ANBU who managed to be recruited was killed on duty performing their tasks. His last report to us held information on the individual he reported to, and that he was going on an assassination to get rid of one of their own.

We can assume that the member he went to kill was stronger than even this organisation realised, but we'll deal with that when we need to.

This man... An image was created using the Snap Shot jutsu displaying the man (found below)

... is the man who our agent reported as being his report. As such we're going to be following him.

There was an audible groan among many of those present. Another do nothing mission.

Until the mission is called off one of you will be on him, it will be 24/7 and you are to either take note of everything he does and everyone he meets, everywhere he goes, or you are to use Snap Shot to record the duration of your detail. If anything unusual should occur you are to contact me immediately and report, I will decide one what happens after that point. The shifts will be four hour shifts, this is to keep you all fresh, you will be paid for each shift.

For some it was crap, a recon mission, but at least it'd get them a step closer to perhaps being able to rank up, or take on better missions...

Present Day

It was Kumori's fourth shift watching this guy, in all the other three he'd done nothing. During a night shift he'd literally found a location to watch the guy as he slept, during one of the day shifts the guy went about performing a B-Rank mission. That one had been harder to watch due to the quick movement, if nothing else it'd shown Kumori that this guy was probably beyond him if they were to fight.

None-the-less, he was here again. It was late afternoon, the sun setting in the long Kumogakurean afternoon, and this guy was taking a walk down a street. He was talking on his phone, but it wasn't anything out of the usual. But then it happened.

Someone bumped into him... and the guy had no reaction at all, if anything he smiled.

Suddenly he was reading a small piece of paper, which then was incinerated in his fingers.

Something was happening... but what... where... what would Kumori do?

 

[Kumori]

This was his first ANBU mission. It was true, but for some reason it did not feel real to him. All he had been doing was following some guy around. Up to that point, in his four shifts, the whole thing had been nothing out of the ordinary. Unlike his genin missions, he expected ANBU missions to often take weird turns and offer some excitement… but that did not seem to be the case… at least not today. The day could be better spent.

He could do his mission with the least amount of effort if only he was stronger, or if he had mastered some of those fancy ANBU jutsu that the mempo always used. Snapshot, that’s what it was called. He wanted to learn it so bad, and he knew that if only he had been more diligent in doing so, he wouldn’t be suffering so much. Instead of just chilling and watching, he had to write an on-the-go action-to-action report on Average Joe Shinobi on his notepad like a pleb. He felt bad about it, and so he made up his mind to make sure to ask around in the HQ for anyone that could teach him as soon as his shift was over. He nodded silently, knowing nobody was watching him, and so nobody would notice the idiotic expression that flashed through his face as he made up his mind.

And then… it happened. Someone bumped into the guy that he had been tailing, and the man smiled, a small piece of paper now in his hand.

Oh dear.

He was definitely not prepared. All this time, since his first shift, he had been thinking about how boring the mission was, leaving him completely unprepared for the turn of events. NOW. NOW he wished he knew that damn snapshot jutsu.

What should I do? What should I do?

He was running out of time. He had to act fast. Kumori extended his hand, opening his palm, and began picking at it, looking like he was trying to peel off his skin. Instead of skin, a small piece of paper would come out, courtesy of his ‘Corpse of the Shikigami’. He couldn’t lose the man, and he couldn’t snapshot him either, so that only left him with one choice… tail him as well. Making up his mind, he blew on the small piece of paper, which would take on the shape of a small paper man, sending it flying towards the unknown man, and attaching it to his back. Since the paper was infused with his chakra, he would be able to track it using average sensor skills, though due to the fact that he was no expert in sensing stuff, he could only track it for short distances.

Now it was show time. Before losing track of his actual target, he would take his pen out and quickly sketch the face of the second man, creating a masterpiece in seconds. He would use it to find the man again after his superiors rewarded him with a promotion due to his outstanding performance.

He turned around, and prepared himself to follow his target wherever he was supposed to go.

Kumori's Masterpiece​

 

[Junan]

Whatever had been on that piece of paper had seemed to require the man to change direction. He'd been walking along at a casual pace, generally heading north. His pace had increased, albeit not by much, and he took the next left, heading in a more westerly direction. Still he couldn't have been in too much of a rush at this pace.

He walked along the road and made his way to a building which he unlocked and entered.

It looked like a fairly normal house. Nothing of massive note about it. It had a balcony on the second level, and was reasonably tidy. But there was no way to be able to see what the man was up to while he was inside and Kumori was outside.

 

[Kumori]

What to do.

Kumori followed the man, blending in the crowd like an expert stalker, showcasing his creeping experience, until they reached a house. There was nothing special about this house. It was two stories, and had a balcony on the second floor. Perhaps he lives there?

Kumori stood behind a tree for a second, reflecting on his next move. Or perhaps he is going to murder somebody! It made sense. The paper must have the name of his next target. The plan was easy. As soon as the man showed himself to the innocent victim, Kumori would jump in, land in an action pose, say something cool, and arrest him. It was flawless, except for the fact the man looked reasonably strong, and Kumori was still getting used to his new body. But then he simply unlocked the door and went in.

Definitely his house… Is what he WOULD have thought, but Kumori was an ANBU! And ANBU are supposed to be suspicious of other people, specially their targets. So, the plan had to change… just a bit. Before doing anything crazy, he would wait for the man to go inside, and then climb on the balcony and look through the window. Depending on what he sees inside, he would decide whether to go in, stay inside, or wait for his shift to end, and then check it out with the next ANBU.

 

[Junan]

Looking through the window he would find a bathroom, probably linked to an upstairs bedroom. Nothing overly exciting. It also seemed as though the other man was remaining downstairs.

What would Kumori do?

Would he enter the building through the window?

Would he move around the building to another location and see what he could see?

Would he attempt to drop to the bottom floor to see what he could see from there?

Or would he simply wait there for his ANBU backup?

It was all over to Kumori.

 

[Kumori]

Silence.

Kumori stood silent, looking through the window and thinking on his next move. Everything was too normal. He wanted to go in and investigate, but his senses told him 'no'. He couldn't risk it. If it -was- his house, and he was found out, his cover would be blown, and the man would find out ANBU were after him. The whole operation would fail, and it would be Kumori's fault. He couldn't risk it, so it was obvious what he had to do. He had to wait.

Quickly, and quietly, he climbed to the roof of the house, and lied against it in order to hide his body from anyone looking his way. From his perspective, he would be able to see anything coming towards the house, but it would be hard to see him, since he had the higher ground. He simply hoped the man he was after wasn't a sensor. He took out a piece of paper, this time larger than the one before, and wrote down a message in it.

"Target has gotten written orders. Still stalking. [Insert location here]. Send backup. Hurry."

The message was short and to the point. It had to make due. He made the paper into a plane, and threw it in the direction of his meeting spot. He couldn't make it go all the way to the ANBU headquarters, but the meeting spot was closer. Since it was imbued with his chakra, the rest of the ANBU would be able to sense it once they arrived at the meeting spot. He simply hoped no big changes took place before backup arrived.

 

[Junan]

As the note headed off he noticed that there were two figures moving towards him at incredible pace. This had been a trap after all.

One was heading straight for him, but the other redirected himself after the paper plane.

They were clearly shinobi by the way they moved, and probably better trained than Kumori was. They moved with strength and swiftness of the elite. Kumori would need to figure out what it was that he would do. If this was indeed a trap then he would need to find a way to survive, and if he was in trouble then he would need backup.

Was the paper plane his only chance at receiving help?

 

[Kumori]

It was a trap after all.

Kumori’s mind was racing with ideas, but all were worthless in his situation. It had been a trap. He was angry about it; he hated himself for not being more careful. I could have waited a little longer! I could have gotten the headset sooner, or at least a flare! He simply hated himself for being so stupid. If he died, it would be his own doing. As much as he just wanted to curl into a ball and cry as he used to… he couldn’t. He had to survive, for his brother, and for himself.

“I’m sorry Satoru.” – he would say, close to tears. “What would the future ANBU sennin do?” – he smiled under his mask. It was time to move. He needed the backup, and couldn’t afford to let the man destroy his only chance to get it. The operation was compromised already, he couldn’t keep tailing them, and so that only left him with one option, he would have to capture them. The two men were evidently stronger than he was, so there was no way he could take them in a fight, specially if there were two of them. What he had to do was obvious. He smiled, jumping back and landing on the ground, his legs already moving so he could start retreating as soon as his feet touched the ground. He made a handseal and extended his hand, doing the same motion he did when he sent the first paper plane. Paper would pop out from his arm and form yet another plane, and another, and another. The planes were empty, it would take too long for him to write another message down, and he did not have the time. But the plan would work, it had to. The planes were identical in every way except for the ink (they all were infused with chakra). All at once the planes would start to fly towards the first one, this time faster as he was controlling them manually as he ran backwards to escape the man that was after him. The plan was simple, to have the planes quickly catch up to the first one and then scatter. It would take a few seconds at most for this to happen. Since the man did not know where the ‘meeting spot’ was, he would have no way to tell which plane was the real one. Of course, he could destroy them with fire, but if he tried, he would quickly find out that only a strong fire spell would stop them in their flight, seeing as the paper was chakra enhanced. And if he did use a strong fire spell, it would most likely be visible from a distance… ANBU would show up quickly.

So soon as Kumori was done with the planes, he would do another set of handseals and the paper that coated his skin would begin to change in a way that would mirror his surroundings, like a chameleon. Although it did not make him completely invisible, he would appear very blurry to the man that was chasing him… something that hopefully would buy him valuable seconds he could use to prepare traps. He did another handseal right after, and the paper layers would grow thicker. One more, and the layers would begin to divide, eventually forming a clone of himself. Kumori stopped and waited for the man to approach him, it was time to fight back. He smiled, placing his hand on the clone and infusing more charka into it. Inside the clone, yet another message would be written in the sheets that made it up.

“I’ve been compromised. Send backup. [Insert Location Here].”

[spoilername="Jutsu Used"]Paper Planes (1 has message)
Active Camo
Paper Clone
Streaming Cloak[/spoilername]

 

[Junan]

Mission continued here: https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=245&t=49785&p=240819#p240819