Merchant Monster

Missions:

Hebiishi wasn't sure what to expect of the mission he had been assigned. A merchant had received various threats and letters that had escalated to monster attacks. He survived the more recent attacks only through nearby ninja intervention. So the mans solution had seemed obvious, hire shinobi to aid him. And so Hebiishi came into the picture. He was meant to serve as the man's bodyguard and while intercepting threats try to investigate who was sending these creatures and put a stop to them. He wasn't alone in this endeavor. He had been partnered with a kunoichi named Reiten for the first time. He didn't know how they would interact together but he hoped the woman was fine with his Orochi heritage as he had a feeling it would be showing itself during the mission. You can't worry about hiding your scales if you want to work as shinobi, he'd learned that was a quick way to end up on the killed in action list.

Most people within the village looked down on his heritage due to its origination in the Otogakure. They thought him a spy or traitor at worst or a person of suspicion at best. He'd been lucky with some of his pairings so far, and while he couldn't read all of the shinobi he'd met he'd at the very least found Joro; his first, well, friend. He could only hope for indifference from Reiten, but perhaps something greater would be forged between the two. Although, as long as he didn't receive a knife in the back he'd be happy.

It was with this in mind that he arrived at his destination, a nice villa within the water gardens. He lounged in front of the gates, waiting for the arrival of his partner.

WC: 297
TWC: 297
MTWC: 297/6,000

Reiten was a preparation Junkie, always trying to best not only her opponents, but also her rivals, which was basically all the other ninja of the hidden star village. She saw it as healthy competition, a way for herself to prove her own mettle against other like-minded ninjas, and to grow stronger every single day, proving also her loyalty. As she received the mission letter the day prior to this, Reiten was really excited, and decided to plan accordingly. Indeed, at the evening late in the night, she readied her gear and ninja accessories under the solitary light of her bedroom, her window open to motivate her, the cold breeze of the mountain air whistling in her ears, with the sound of some late night birds chirping away. 

Her gear as of now was very basic. After all, she was freshly out of the academy, so she wasnt carrying as much of an arsenal as she wished. She wore a form-hugging unique suit, made out of cloth breathable and expandable, but also battle resistant for her shinobi activities. It was a onesie of all white and red color, with a smoke and clouds pattern on it, along with other parts like her neck, left arm anr right legs all covered with fighting bandages, showing her hard training and dedication to the craft at the expense sometimes of her own skin. Over it all, she wore her usual all black shinobi accessory waistbands and satchels, as well as some protective dark steel plates on the side of her hip and tigh and on the side of her legs too, both as armor and as retaliation pieces, made to protect her body from blow and to do more damage should she side-kick people. Her large and absurdly long blonde hair flowed behind her as a cloak, and over it she wore a small black cap with her red Hoshigakure headband tied to it, her signature piece of gear. On her hand she had a strapped contraption with 5 small metalic holes and steel wires tied to each of them. This was in fact, a wrist-held multi sling, her ranged weapon of choice.

wearing all of this and even more in her satchel, Reiten ran away late at night from her home, arriving at the small villa before anyone else, noticing the magnificient water gardens and knocking on the door. 

''Sumimasen for disturbing you at such a late time! I'm one of the shinobi affected to protecting you. I figured, as I was already ready, that i'd come here immediately, having received the mission and all. I can stand by the door and wait it out while my fellow team mate arrive in the morning.'' Said in a serious tone Reiten, showing zeal and loyalty to the task and the importance of the mission.

''Oh already? That is most courageous and kind of you! Please, do come in. I will give you a noce pot of warm tea while you wait.'' said the man, inviting her and appreciating her professionalism.

And the night went on, with nothing to report, and Reiten enjoyed a bit of shut eye before the sun would come up, having placed some carefully setup traps of steel wired tied to activated flash tags, making sure no one would come without alerting them, and also that should a error happen and an innocent entered, they wouldnt be killed either. But none of those got used, and the morning arrived without anything. Getting out as the sun did, the blonde kunoichi quickly took back her traps, and came back into the warmth of the villa, waiting for her partner. 

After a few moments, some footsteps could be heard and Reiten looked by the small window of the door, peering at the man who just arrived. The man was a younger kid than her for sure, but nonetheless he looked as professional as her and any other shinobi she met as of yet. Without even looking at his scaly appearance and unique origins, the blonde girl got out of the door in a burst, making an exploding entrance, kicking the door to make him scared in a playfull way, still having a cup of warm green tea in her hand.

''HEYYYY! ahahah! Hello there! You late for tea? Or you late for team? I'm Reiten. Guess you are my partner for this?'' Would said the girl all smiles and seriousness, motivated to start the mission and do her proofs. She was usually bubbly when meeting new people, but as soon as the mission would start, she would replace her smile and all with seriousness, a tactical mind, and a gaze peering everywhere to expect ambushes and plan ahead.

BANG!

''HEYYYY! ahahah! Hello there! You late for tea? Or you late for team? I'm Reiten. Guess you are my partner for this?''

Hebiishi did his best to suppress it but still couldn't help jumping a small bit at the sudden noise and greeting. He wasn't sure he had ever met someone as 'loud' as Reiten. From her entrance, to her clothing, to her hair, and to her greeting everything about the girl could only be described as loud. Used to the quiet and lack of attention it threatened to overwhelm him. So Hebiishi stood there just blinking at the girl, dumbfounded. He was so caught off guard that he didn't even notice the emergence of his scales, emerging around his eyes, a large patch on his cheek and even his upper arms. It took everything in him to suppress a hiss that seemed to well up from inside of him. Minutes went by and he continued to stare at the girl wide eyed. Finally, with a shudder, his scales receded and he reclaimed his senses.

"H-Hi Reiten, I'm... Hebiishi." He paused, taking another moment to clear his head. "I apologize I didn't quite catch much aside from your name. Are you my teammate for the mission?"

He hoped the girl had a bit more sense than to do something like this when they were in the thick of things, but at least she didn't seem to hate him on the spot. That was always something, though who knows, maybe she would very loudly plant a knife in his front instead of his back like all the others. At least that would be a nice change of pace.

WC: 278
TWC: 575
MTWC: 1,361/6,000

Reiten entrance clearly shocked and perturbed the young Hebiishi, who was displaying a weird trait in reaction. Indeed, the young man skin turned slowly and progressively to snake and replitilan like scales around the edges, mainly his cheekbones and arms, and any angular places on his body really. This shocked Reiten too, who at first did a singular step back, taken by suprise by this, a detail she even saw before, but didnt think it could grow on the spot like this. Almost immediately, she walked back that step, and got closer to him, calming down a bit, but still feeling energetic, a big smile stuck to her face.

Hebiishi wasnt having any of it, still stuck looking at Reiten like he was paralysed for almost two whole minutes. ''Ah shit'' tought reiten to herself, thinking she had clearly traumatized her team mate with her eager and zealous attitude. 

''Well nice to meet you Hebiishi.'' Would reply the blonde girl, before the young man continued and asked if she was his team mate. ''You got it! Together we will help Hoshi prosper. Ah, and also, sorry to have scared you. I am not like this when the missions have started. Trust me.'' Added the woman, her demeanor changing as fast as an ice block melting in the warm summer sun, melting away her humorous side to show a more professional but driven side, ready to do the mission they were assigned to.

As Reiten already arrived before and seemed like the more intense of the two, she took the leadership by default, as Hebiishi seemed quite discreet both in personality and in shape, which was a good trait. If he had a different opinion or wanted to lead, the blonde ninja would gladly let her place go. 

''So. I arrived prior to the morning, in the middle of the night to assess the situation, watch the perimeter around the villa, the weakpoints and entry points, place where opponents could attack, weak walls, and such. I found a few and market them on this scroll here *give scroll*. Don't worry, I have made myself a copy too, so if we split we can both be prepared. I have asked the man we must protect about security, and he explained the mission in more details. We will need to guard him three days, night and day. He said that the first day will be here, at the villa, but the two other days he will tend at his activity. Tomorrow he will walk around town to buy supplies, and the last day he will be at his shop. We must watch and defend him all troughout those days without fault. Did you have any other questions? I likely didnt ask everything, and with your experience and point of view, we might learn and ask more things.'' Said Reiten, explaining the plan of the mission, as well as showing the points on the plans she designed and drew on the scroll, showing her true skill in tactics and planing, as well as defence and ambushes. She had drawned each part of it, with arrows pointing to weak spots, crosses on defendable places, color codes to contingency plans and retreating positions, the whole thing. 

Waiting on Hebiishi to reply, Reiten spoke again right after. ''Also, I will make the same kind of plans for each day, with the itinerary of our client each day and points of defence and others of where potential attack could come from. If we are staying in the same place tho, I might want to booby trap the place. Any objections? I dont want to act if you dont approve.'' Added Reiten, now waiting fully and seriously for her collegue feedback. She wasnt anymore in funny mode. The mission had begun, and the life of someone was in play.

As Reiten apologized and explained the mission Hebiishi took the scroll offered to him and began to review it. This is good work. He thought. His fears regarding her professionalism seemed to be unjustified. All of this information will help them in the coming days.

"Thanks Reiten. This is really good work." He paused a moment and tried to relax enough to smile at her, "The merchant apparently has been suffering animal attacks almost nightly. The real question is do we stick to our assigned job and protect him for the next three days or try to go above and beyond and investigate who is sending these beasts to attack him? It seems an odd way to strike at someone and our client has no idea what he has done to earn himself the ire of someone willing and capable enough to do this."

He paused a moment and looked the girl over, "Booby traps sound good as long as our client is aware and doesn't accidentally set them off himself. Beyond that, we can either work as a team together or coordinate between having one of us investigate and the other defend the merchant. I'm not sure which option is better as both pose a decent enough risk." He thought for a moment, "Did anything out of the ordinary happen last night? It seems like an odd time for the attacks to stop as soon as you arrive."

In work mode now Hebiishi felt a lot more comfortable. He'd taken on enough missions at this point to feel in his element while on the job. With his partner having done enough work leading up to the mission he felt they had a strong chance of success. He wondered at her combat abilities but knew that he'd see them in action before long. This mission seemed unlikely to progress without some blood being shed. He just hoped it wasn't theirs.

WC: 321
TWC: 896
MTWC: 2,322/6,000