The Crystal Palace, Shattered (D-Rank)

Kaito kept a steady pace as he waltzed through the village, wanting to arrive to the designated meeting place stated on his mission dossier as to make a good first impression.

'Can't be late! Can't be late!' He thought to himself as he weaved his way through the endless crowds of people going about their day-to-day lives.

Today he would be taking on a mission with some new faces he had never met. While it was only a D-Rank mission, the young Inuzuka sure was excited, and this showed as the smile he wore upon his face spread from ear to ear. The last time he had been assigned a mission with another fellow shinobi was a few months before when he and Naki cleaned up the park at the Grove and helped in deconstructing an old apartment building and rebuilding a new one from the ground up. Overall, Kaito had viewed it as a fantastic team-building exercise, and he could only hope the same could be said with this mission as well.

Once the boy was just outside of the village gates, the designated meeting place as stated on the dossier, he perched himself on the ledge of a wall that led down a flight of steps and into the clefts of the naturally mountainous village walls, allowing his legs to dangle and sway with the wind. He hadn't felt this relaxed in quite sometime as quite a lot had happened for him over the past few weeks, and he greatly appreciated the serene nature that the day was bringing.

"What time is it, anyways?" Looking over at the large analog clocks situated upon the side of one of the buildings, he could see it read 11:45. With a sigh of relief, the boy wiped the sweat from his brow before removing his drink flask and the mission dossier from the item pouch upon the back of his left hip.

'Fifteen minutes early. Nice!'

Kaito looked over the all important scroll that entailed the details of his mission as he sipped away at the spring water from within his flask. The mission was one from the members of the Aramada clan, who were the owner operators of the Crystal Palace within the industrial sector of the village. The place, being entirely made up of glass, was the subject of constant vandalism. The previous night, however, the vandals had sure did a number on the glass manufacturing plant; bricks thrown through the glass with enough force to break it, and some of the equipment having been damaged as well. This vandalism would be dentrimental to the prosperity of the plant and could also hinder the economy of Sunagakure as well as glass was one of it's biggest exports.

Kaito shook his head as he looked over the document, tsking as he did so. He couldn't stand the amount of criminality that ran rampant throughout the village, and he knew that should he ever become the Kazekage himself, he would sure turn it around. Not that the Third Kazekage, or even the Second Kazekage, hadn't done a good job of it thus far, but the Inuzuka felt very strongly about the crime no matter how small. He would sure be tough on it and make an example of those he deemed were acting out of pocket.

Shaking the matter from his mind, however, he continued to look over the document.

'Anyways, who is it I'll be working with today?'

He traced his finger throughout the document until he saw his name. Looking intently next to it, he could see two more names; Sumiko Yoshida; a Genin, and Sebastian Mikaelson; a Chunin. WIth a smile, Kaito closed up the scroll again and put it and his drink flask back into his item pouch.

"Well, don't want to keep those two waiting too long." He proceeded to jump down from his seated position, landing gracefully on his feet as he reached the ground. With that, he would continue to loiter around until both Sumiko and Sebastian joined him.

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[Word Count (Post) - 676]
[Word Count (Total) - 676]

Kaito didn't have to wait long for one of the other members of the mission party to find him in the sea of people. Almost as soon as he had jumped down from the wall he had perched himself upon, he heard the faint sound of someone clearing their throat. Sure enough, after moving his head from side to side, he saw a girl wearing a Sunagakure headband leaning with their back against a cart.

It just had to be one of the academy students playing ninja, right? He remembered his days of playing ninja during his childhood in Konohagakure, and a much younger Kaito sure would've been jealous if one of the other kids was playing with such a realistic-looking headband.

He overlooked the girl, assuming he would be looking for someone more her senior. His attention, however, was quickly drawn back to her as she proceeded to question his identity inquisitively.

'I guess she really is Sumiko...'

"Well... Yes." He replied, taken aback slightly. He brushed the sand from his brand new set of clothes, which while similar to those that he wore before, were much more suited for life in the harsh conditions of the Wind Country. The main addition to the outfit, a set of bandages worn in a turban-like fashion and a cloth sheet that covered the right side of his face and back of his neck, was sure to keep the summer sun from baking his already tanned skin. Once finished, he straightened himself up and began walking over to the one he assumed was Sumiko.

"I'm Inuzuka, Kaito." He said, gesturing a wave as he smiled brightly. "I assume you're Sumiko. It's nice to meet you." Kaito proceeded to hold out his hand, inviting the girl into a handshake, but he suddenly heard the ear-catching sound of someone whistling loudly. He looked around for the source, and he guessed that Sumiko must have heard it as well as she too looked around. Then the sound of a gruff voice called out in the not-so-far-off distance. Kaito narrowed his eyes, prepared to fight for himself and all of those around him should it be some sort of attack, and the sight of a rather tall man walking towards him and Sumiko quickly met his sharp eyes. As Kaito placed his hand upon his item pouch, he quickly realized that the man was carrying a Sunagakure flak jacket, symbolic of those who had reached the rank of Chunin, and his arms were covered in all sorts of tattoos.

'Must be Sebastian... I really need to stop being so anxious...' He thought, remembering the day when he and Arantima had been attacked by a missing ninja at the Sixth Training Grounds. He had mostly overcome the traumatic results of that encounter, but it also made him more aware of his surroundings and the knowledge to always be on his toes.

One could never know when someone was lurking in the shadows; ready to strike...

Kaito hurriedly removed his hand from the item pouch with a soft sigh of relief. He looked down at Sumiko, who stood around half a foot shorter than himself, and cocked his head in the direction of the Chunin.

"Seems like that's the "Sebastian" we were looking for as well."

Sumiko took a headstart walking over to the man who had called out to the pair of them and Kaito followed a meter behind her. It seemed like the girl was raring to get started, something he could respect. It was hard to find someone with determination anymore, and he was sure that Sumiko would make the village of Sunagakure proud someday. Once Kaito was standing two meters in front of the Chunin, he stood at attention and bowed his head.

"Hello, Sir! My name is Inuzuka, Kaito, and this here is Sumiko." He spoke clearly as he held out an open palm in the direction of Sumiko, wanting to make sure he made a good impression on his senior shinobi. "It'll be a pleasure to have you lead us on our mission today." With that, the young Inuzuka righted himself back up, still standing at attention with his arms held behind his back and his hands cupped in each other. Kaito meant every word of what he said, too. With the number of shinobi in the village being a rather small one, it was a treat to work with others in a group. Sumiko proceeded to say that they shouldn't keep their clients waiting much longer, which he agreed with full-heartedly. Then, she proceeded to say that she had never been into the industrial district of the village. Kaito's lips pressed together in a grimace, knowing full well that it was a lot more hardened and dark than the rest of the village when it came to the nature of the environment and people there. He had been there a few times before during his walks around the village, and it didn't scare him much personally, but he always had the sinking feeling in his chest that he might be mugged, or worse, attacked, within its confines.

"The industrial district is... shady to say the least. The people are rude and the consequences of any mistakes unforgiving." He said, still standing at attention as he looked over at Sumiko while addressing her previous statement. "We will definitely have to be on our to-." Suddenly, probably no more than three meters behind Sebastian, someone landed from the skies above upon the ground. The person said something as they landed, but Kaito paid it no mind. In a flash, he had drawn a kunai from his item pouch and with his top [120] speed dashed to stand directly behind the person, the kunai against the back of their neck. The speed in which he moved from point A to B would probably look to be a flash of sorts to the normal eye considering his tremendous speed.

From Kaito's new position, he could clearly determine it was a boy dressed in camouflage and general gear reminiscent of a shinobi. He also wore a headband, which Kaito could assume was of Suna origin, but couldn't be too sure considering the fact he was standing behind the boy. This person's business was stated immediately though; he revealed himself to be Yusuke Sarutobi, a new Sunagakure Genin who had been assigned to their mission last minute. With a snort, Kaito withdrew his kunai and relaxed himself as he placed it back into his item pouch. He felt bad for mistaking his fellow Genin's arrival as a potential attack, but could one ever really be too careful?

"Nice to meet you too, Yusuke, and I do sincerely apologize to all of you for that, but you have to be careful next time, Man." He began walking back over to stand where he had been situated before Yusuke's arrival. "I would recommend not just jumping out of the sky randomly at people, and you may be fresh out of the Academy, but you better learn soon that the world of shinobi is not a place for fun and games. Only as a heads up I'd say that goes for you as well, Sumiko." Once situated, Kaito narrowed his eyes intensely and snapped his fingers. "You may not realize it, but that very well could've been your life snatched away with the snap of a finger." He proceeded to snap the fingers of his dominant right hand together, holding his arm up directly in front of his face and doing the action just as he said the word "snap" to drive the point he was trying to make.

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[Word Count (Post) - 1,278]
[Word Count (Total) - 1,954]