[Senju Minazawa]

It was another one of those assignments that Minazawa generally had been partaking in recently. Another venture to a border town. She'd traveled with various comrades at this point delivering supplies back and forth, providing security, and generally ensuring order was set within their territory. However, today, she'd be meeting with someone new. A member of the Yamanaka clan. Yamanaka Itsuki as her superior and general guide today. The Senju woke up from the tavern inn and made sure she looked presentable. Firmly tied her headband around her neck, and came out adorned in white and soft neutral colors. Equipped with a small set of ninja tools. Her standard equipment. 

The morning was beautiful, soft, with the chirping of birds. For they'd be traveling nice and early as to arrive at their location by nightfall. Or so was the expectation. Upon seeing the figure before her in their flak jacket, she would ever so politely bow her head low, before she gives a small dry cough into her right hand. "Ohayo. Good morning. My name is Senju, Minazawa. It's pleasure to be working with you." She says, before giving another small coughing fit into her hand. Straightening her posture, she finds herself waiting for them to introduce themselves in full, and perhaps go over the briefing before they continued on further.

'Hrm...They look rather young.' She thought, not seeing the irony considering her own incredibly youthful appearance. Hard to believe she was eighteen years old. 

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

It felt a little weird, being the higher ranking one on a mission for once. Most of the time Itsuki had been working as a subordinate or at least the less experienced member of the mission, but here and now he was going to be the ranking shinobi as he worked alongside a Genin.

Weird.

Having settled down at the designated spot ready to head out, Itsuki scanned the nearby chakra signatures absentmindedly, tagging passing shinobi he was familiar with while also familiarising himself with more and more people within his immediate range. As one of Konoha's strongest sensors he was fairly regularly honing his ability to pick up and track different chakra signatures in order to utilise his ability to its highest standard.

Soon enough a signature headed towards him, tinged with the 'scent' that reminded him of the forest, something that generally indicated a Senju, which was convenient considering he was supposed to be meeting with one. Straightening up from his slouch and making sure his Gunbai rested comfortably on his back, Itsuki stepped forward with a smile as the white haired woman introduced herself, confirming that she was the Genin he was working with.

"Ohayo Minazawa-san, I am Yamanaka Itsuki and I'll be your chuunin for this mission~" he said cheerily as he looked up at her. She was a good eight inches taller than him for all her youthful appearance, "Our clients are just about ready to depart, it should just be a usual guard duty with some small bandits around. Can you give me a quick rundown of your skillset so I know how we will work together?" he asked as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet, playing up a childish attitude.

He'd gotten to read a file on her of course, but he did want to know what she would share too.

Word Count: 311
Mission: 2/15
Tags: Senju Minazawa

[Senju Minazawa]

Their smile was bright, and their voice kind. She returns with a small smile of her own once her coughing fit ends. "I am fairly skilled at kenjutsu and a bit average at Taijutsu. I have a small bit of Genjutsu to assist me in combat. I'm also fairly well versed in ninjutsu. Namely. Mokuton." She says. Taking the liberty to express it honestly and with no hesitation in her voice. Taking the liberty to rub the back of her head, she finds herself looking out towards the road. It made sense Konoha had a high number of bandits and crime, what with the expansive forestry providing ample ways to hide.

As well as sharing borders with many other nations, allowing those opportunists to come attempt to prey upon the people. "It's a pleasure to work with you. Yamanaka-Taicho." She studied him closely, looking upon his gunbai, making her reflect upon her own tool. Her Kodachi sword which rest comfortably along her side, her pouches with her Shuriken and kunai knives she wore in holsters along either side of her legs. Smoke bombs. All were in order. After some reflection, she finds herself speaking fairly concisely.

"I'm well versed for close range combat. Is that alright?"

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Taicho? That was... really weird, like super duper weird, and for a moment the younger shinobi could only tug on one of his forelocks in embarassment. Miroru might have found herself hyped to be given such a title, but for Itsuki here and now, it felt bizarre, even if he was the leader of this mission.

"Close range is fine Minazawa-san, I'm more mid to long range myself so we'll compliment one another just fine. I'm also a sensor, so I'll be able to keep a good lookout around our caravan. The journey should take us the full day, with a stop for lunch along the way," he explained as he led the Senju towards their clients. There were three carts in total, two pulled by donkeys and a much larger and heavier one that was being pulled by a pair of oxen. The carts were still being loaded up, about seven civilians in all hauling boxes and barrels and piling them up into the vehicles.

"Have you done this kind of escort mission before?" he asked, turning to look at the young woman as he rocked on his heels, "what would your recommendation be for how we approached this, with what you know about the situation and our respective abilities?" He had a plan, but it was always good to get an extra point of view, plus it would help her get more experience too.

Word Count: 236
Mission: 4/15
Tags: Senju Minazawa

[Senju Minazawa]

As Minazawa looked upon her comrade, it was clear there was a level of discomfort in the sense where they weren't used to their position and the authority that it entailed. They delivered the briefing, and with it, as they moved on to the wagons in question, Minazawa nodded her head. "Hai. I prepared an extra bento for you Taicho. If you'd not mind having some of my food." She says softly, coughing lightly as she finds there was a surprising question when he asked her experiences and any inputs she might have. In which case, she answered earnestly and with a small smile on her face.

"I have. Once before with Uchiha Kazui. This is my return trip to arrive back at the village." She says. Though, when she was asked how to approach the problem, as well as their respective abilities? She thought about that with a small moment of consideration. "Ano...I'd say the best course of action would be to have you rest in the center. A good and ideal place to relay information. With myself at the front? It'd be unlikely enemies could ambush you from the rear." To which she finds herself shifting slightly, her right toe tapping along the floor as she crosses her arms behind her back.

"I would say that considering the situation. While we're here to act as a deterrent, it'd be sensible to expect an attack, and if they do, to deal with them with lethal force. Less bandits is always the ideal. I'd act as the front line, and with you as the support. Though...I'm more than happy to listen to your instructions. Yamanaka-Taicho." Smiling with her eyes closed, she shows a kind smile, as she adjusts her headband. "I have full trust in your abilities. You must be quite strong." She says, coughing again, as she leans her head into a closed fist.

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Itsuki hid his concern for the young woman's coughing, not sure if it would be rude to ask her if she was ok, especially when she was offering food, "we'll share food if you'd like~" he confirmed, not having expected her to have made something for him, but having gotten enough for them both himself as the team leader. They could make a picnic of it. 

Itsuki nodded at the suggestions she made. "Putting me in the centre does make the most sense, to give us the best range, and is what we would do in most situations. That said though my sensory range is... more than sufficient for our purposes, and perhaps overkill. The last caravan mission I did had the bandits drop a tree on the road and come at us from the side, so I think it may be beneficial if I take up the rear in case we get some of the more intelligent enemies. I'm almost certainly quick enough to get to you if they come from the front, assuming I can't sense them."

If he wasn't able to sense their enemies on this simple mission then they were in a whole other level of trouble.

"If we do get stopped, well, a bit of bandit cleansing will definitely be good for the region," he added with a smile as he wandered over to the clients, introducing himself and waving off the concerns regarding his stature and youth. Thankfully the Konoha uniform was enough to avoid any problems on that front, with the Yamanaka very much looking too young for his rank without it.

Gesturing for Minazawa to head up to the front of the caravan, Itsuki would perch himself on the back of the last cart, balanced casually on the thin plank of wood as he started to focus more on his surroundings, the bubble of his sensory skill rapidly expanding. With everything loaded and the shinobi in place the caravan would depart.

Word Count: 329
Mission: 6/15
Tags: Senju Minazawa

[Senju Minazawa]

Itsuki seemed to be a perfectly reasonable as well as amenable person to work with. Charming and a welcoming fellow that Minazawa felt as if she could get along with. "Hai. We can go through with your formation." She says respectfully, as she bows her head. Before long? The party would move. With Minazawa resting along the front, running her hand along the back of one of the Oxen as she takes deep breath. Going through her breathing exercises, before she gives a few harsh coughs. It was hard being a ninja. Especially with her condition.

Some days it was better. Other days, it was worse. Especially as she pushed herself to higher limits. Her lungs were often irritated and inflamed, and the pain it caused was nothing short of a maddening thing when she wanted to do more physically laborious tasks. However, she as of now found herself enjoying the sights. Adjusting the headband around her neck as she looks out towards the road for signs of disturbance. Her left hand always idly rested along her tsuba and the handguard of her sword, her middle and index fingers resting along the handle itself. Though the girl was rather unaware of the intentions of today's bandits. Konoha's ever growing bandits.

Goods that came from border towns like this were always profitable. The cords of timber, mined goods, or otherwise agricultural goods could always be taken, brought back to their country of origin, and then sold at a good profit. The bandits in question ranged from petty clans or lesser nobles turned bandit, robber ronin, desperate muggers, to anything inbetween. Up ahead? There a little over two dozen some individuals. Chakra signatures, with them on either side of the road along small ridges. Their bows strung, as they prepared to take all that was worth.

Money. Goods. Maybe lives if they felt like it. They felt it was a good spot for an ambush, and under normal circumstances it'd be a decent spot. It was a shame that they had no chance for an element of surprise.

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Itsuki picked up the group of bandits well before they even knew the caravan was coming, the small chuunin having set himself up cross legged on the back of the rearmost caravan and scanning their surroundings with his Kagura Shingan technique. Once the group was identified by his sweeping of the area, he was able to focus more on their emotions and from there it wasn't hard to pick them up as bandits waiting to ambush anyone who came near.

"Minazawa-san, we're likely to have an ambush coming up within the next ten minutes," he called out after having tracked the bandits for some time, I've tagged twenty seven civilian level signatures ahead on either side of the road. No shinobi elements present." It wouldn't be too hard for him to deal with himself, especially if he headed out now to wipe them out... but then is that something a good team leader would do? There weren't any other enemies around that he could detect... but that didn't mean there wasn't any around. It was incredibly unlikely, but not impossible.

With that in mind, he simply hopped up to the front of the caravan where the majority of their foes would come from, keeping his sensory bubble up just in case.

"If you want to take the ones on the right and I will deal with the ones on the left we should be able clear them out relatively quickly," he suggested, knowing that the bulk of the enemies were on the left side and that a genin should be able to handle ten civilians relatively easily... as long as she was confident.

If she wasn't that was a different matter.

Word Count: 281
Mission: 8/15
Tags: Senju Minazawa

[Senju Minazawa]

When she was made aware of the ambush, she looked up, and with it, she nodded her head. "Hai. Taicho." She says calmly as she digested the information. It wasn't her first group of bandits she was dealing with. Though, it never did get much easier for her, killing that was. Even though she was incredibly talented at the task. As she looked back and forth, she rubs the back of her head. "Is there any more information?" She inquires. However, if not? Well. She'd find herself resting herself just as she had been before. Prepared to engage. Whenever and wherever they'd come from.

They'd find that as they moved along, it was not long. The bandit in question, Kyosuke was a devilishly handsome rogue who'd had much experience when it came down to raids. Though he didn't hold much interest in the violence. No. That wasn't all that profitable. Instead, he'd come down with a scare. Demand the merchants or travelers hand over their goods and their money for their lives. All in all, that was a pretty fair gig if he'd say so himself. Afterwards, they'd return back, and if they were well off? Well. He'd have return "customers". He offered a service. See. Just a service that people didn't want. Thus he'd have to work hard to extort or rather press his services onto those people.

His benefit? Loot. It wasn't long before it begins. The wagon coming to be blocked off along the road by a large boulder. Thunking as it is rolled down a decline.

"Greetings! Ladies and gentlemen! My name is Kyosuke! And this here is my merry little band!" He declares, archers, around eight on either side of them raising their bows with their arrows nocked and drawn. "We don't want your lives! Just your goods and valuables! And we'll let you be on your way!" He says. A small band of gruff bandits on either side of them, armed with spears, and axes, and shortswords. "Do we have a deal?"

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

"No other information I can pick up right now, beyond them being quite confident, I guess that means they don't realise how outclassed they are," Itsuki replied to the query, tapping at his lips for a few moments before flicking through a series of handseals, his outfit suddenly transforming into a green kimono to hide his uniform for the moment. It wouldn't do to scare off the bandits after all.

Casually palming a number of shuriken based on what he could feel from the bandits, Itsuki waited casually for them to show up, hands behind his head even as he casually stood on the edge of the lead cart, looking all the world like an innocent child as the bandits appeared on the side of the road.

"Ha ha ha~" he laughed cheerfully, the sort of innocent amusement that his appearance would make seem reasonable, "that's a funny spiel oji-chan, does it usually work~?" he inquired as he imbued the shuriken in his hands with fuuton chakra, readying it for when it was time for him to strike.

"Sorry to tell you that we can't let you take our stuff, we need it after all, better luck next time?"

He was buying time for Minazawa to ready herself or take action. He could have dealt with the bandits all by himself without an issue, but that wasn't helpful for the Genin, so he was going to play it a different way.

Word Count: 241
Mission: 9/15
Tags: Senju Minazawa

[Senju Minazawa]

When you primarily ran into children running these C-Ranks, it wasn't a spooky thing. Hell. A bandit could still be dangerous with the right prep-work, and for Kyosuke, he found most people were content with handing over their goods as opposed to fighting for it. What did the transporters of goods have to fear from giving their supplies over, when their livelihood wasn't in question? Some rich off merchant from far away. The smaller merchants? Erh. Less so, but that wasn't a problem. So when he and his gang showed up, looking at Itsuki and Minazawa, he wasn't worried.

"It does. It does. I know that this might strike you as hard to believe but? A man's gotta eat. Hard times make hard decisions you know? So we don't want to spill any blood. Just take your goods. Your money."[/Color] Minazawa found herself slowly closing her eyes, as if to pray, her hands clasped together. Though Itsuki of course would recognize it as the serpent seal. When Itsuki spoke about them being unable to hand over their belongings? One of the bandits loosed an arrow, sinking into the side of the wagon with a thunk. "Oi! This isn't a game you know?! We're dangerous. You could lose your life!" He warns, taking another out.

To which Kyosuke finds himself slowly raising his hand up, and lowering the man's bow.

"Sheesh Ryoma. We aren't monsters. We don't kill kids. Yare yare daze. Look. Look. I get it. You need the stuff to sell. But we need money to eat. How about we work something out? A little deal. Especially since. You know. Seems like you're the more dangerous type. Despite how cute you look." Damn. It was always the Chibi ones that looked the most terrifying.

[Yamanaka Itsuki]

Yamanaka Itsuki

Well, that was annoying, normally people didn't peg Itsuki as a threat with his cute features and generally childish persona, and yet this bandit leader was calling him out on it. He hadn't reacted to the arrow beyond pretending to flinch as it thwacked into the side of a cart. It hadn't been aimed at anyone, and not reacting to it until it was too late was meant to downplay his abilities.

"A deal oji-chan?" he asked, voice full of childish innocence and a little quaver of fear thrown in for good measure, even as his hands 'dropped' the shuriken in them to the side as though disarming himself. It'd take a particularly astute person to notice that the shuriken hand't actually hit the dirt, and were slowly sliding at ground level towards the bandits as he used Fūton: Kaiten Shuriken to get them into position for his next move. His hand motions were disguised as nervous flaps of his hand as he looked from one group of bandits to the next.

With a sudden flick of his hands the shuriken would suddenly shoot out of foliage, whizzing though to cut through the bowstrings of the bandits to disarm them, Itsuki dropping his control over his jutsu the moment that he had finished clearing the weapons.

"I dunno if you would like the sort of deal I'm willing to make with a bandit threatening my clients, but you seem like a more reasonable bandit than most" his entire pose shifted along with his tone, becoming more serious and much more dangerous. The henge he was wearing dropped to reveal his uniform as he stared in the man's direction, a portion of his attention on Minazawa to see how she would react. He wasn't sure what she'd do, but he knew she was ready to respond.

"That's why I haven't killed you yet."

Part of him was curious as to what these bandits would do and how they might be useful in some way, but if she attacked and they had to be killed, well, he wouldn't lose sleep over it.

There was always more around after all.

Word Count: 357
Mission: 11/15
Tags: Senju Minazawa