Private plans for decisive actions (pre mission details)

[Chigokai Yuna]

Yuna was in her office, waiting for each requested individual to come. Her office was bare, as such is the case for someone in her position. Being the Sennin of the Anbu branch means that she has to keep all of her files separate from everything else. The Sennin office was mainly given to her as an honorary, and as per customs. Before her desk were an array of chairs. The Sennin looked at the few files that she does have on her desk and thought about what brought her here today.

As it turns out, Rei was informed by an inmate about a possible security breech that will be happening later this year. It wouldn't be thought much of it, considering that it came from an inmate, however, the history of this inmate has given some validity to the claim. The leader of the Revolutionist that fought Cloud. She has her own reservations about the leader, whilst he wasn't the one that did it, he had led the group that killed her father. If she had it her way, the man would be dead on the spot. But she knew there were complications that would go along with that. Turns out, that guy is a master tactician, and has already planned out what were to happen if he were to ever die by the hands of ninjas.

Her fingers tapped on the desk as she awaited for the arrivals. Anyone that comes into her office would see her only as a masked anbu, however, given the circumstances and location of the meeting, one could make the assumption of her rank. As for Yuna's anbu appearance, she wore a plain white mask specially made to go over her head, to cover her purple hair in its entirety, along with black anbu garb and hood.

 

[Tamashi Seto]

It had been awhile since he had set foot in the administrative heart of Kumogakure, at least three or more years from what he could remember, probably not since he was a mere Genin like his informal apprentice. It certainly had changed much, although he had most definitely did. Walking down the numerous corridors, he felt oddly out of place, donned in his attire., especially as he walked by those in the dozens, most giving him momentary glares as they went on with their day to day tasks.He sometimes forgot the people of the village and his clan lived entirely different life styles. It couldn't be helped he supposed. All he could once he was alone was give a shrug. To say today however, was just another day would be a gross misunderstanding. For reasons he couldn't be aware, Lady Yuna had summoned him of all people, and here, of all places. A most unusual request If he ever saw one, given his station, or lack of one. As far as he knew, he was either just another written off Genin or labeled missing....Well, he give her a little more credit than that, given her own station. From his few, handful of occasions of running into her, he knew she wasn't stupid. He could only assume she had put the pieces together.

After wandering about for ten or minutes, he eventually located the Senin's office. Staring at the door, he found himself hesitating before knocking on the door twice his first. "Anbu Sennin....Tamashi Seto is coming in." Speaking in the best neutral tone he could muster, he waited for a few moments before opening the door and stepping in before gently closing the door behind him. His eyes than scanned to the middle of the room, showing the Sennin in their ANBU attire. He knew this wouldn't be a casual briefing, but the mask did catch him off guard for a splinter of a second. Quickly regaining composure, that he had lost it, he took a few steps until he was few feet. He swung his arms to the back and joined his hand together. "Anbu Sennin....Tamashi Seto Reporting in as requested." Speaking once more in a neutral tone, he remained in his parade rest position, waiting to see what this was all about.​

 

[Ryuu Nozomi]

The morning light had not yet broken when Nozomi stirred. Her small room was still wrapped in a deep haze before dawn, the kind of quiet that one could only find out in the farmlands. The world beyond her shuttered window was mist and mountain wind. For a moment, she didn’t know why she was awake. Then she saw it, a precisely folded note resting atop her bedside table.

The paper was heavy, and the ink a crisp black pressed with the seal of the Sennin’s office.

To Ryuu Nozomi,
You are requested for immediate attendance. Report without delay.
-By order of the Village Administration.

Nozomi sat up, her mind shaking the remnants of sleep like a dog shakes water from its fur. She was to report to one of the offices of a Sennin? This was not a summons that came to students, nor even to most Genin. Something inside her chest went cold immediately. Was she in trouble? She rose, dressed quickly in the greys and blues of her training uniform, tied back her pale hair, and tucked the note inside a cargo pocket next to her capsules of clay.

The village streets were still dim when she stepped out. The lamps lining the main road burned low, and a layer of fog rolled off the mountain slopes which seemed to swallow the sound of the world. Her sandals made no noise as she crossed the streets and bridges toward the structure where the Sennin’s office loomed. Tall structures where the heart of the village lay, a place that seemed to pierce the clouds themselves. She’d passed by it before, always from a distance, too intimidated to look for very long.

Today, she would walk through those doors. The guards outside said nothing when she approached. They must have recognized the seal stamped on her note and opened the tall double doors. Inside, the air was warm and faintly perfumed with incense. Paper screens filtered thin rays of light, and the quiet hum of chakra lines pulsed faintly through the walls. She knew this place was warded with chakra seals and protections layered over years.

Nozomi’s steps were careful, deliberate. She followed the hallway until she reached the Sennin’s chamber, the note clutched in both hands. When she entered, the room was not empty, and within sat two figures. One, she thought she recognized instantly. This was almost certainly the masked ANBU who confronted her within the interrogation area. They were the same height, carried the same quiet stillness, and the same controlled breath she’d sensed before in the compound. The porcelain mask was plain just like that day, and similar to the titan who fought in the arena not long ago. There was no way to be sure it was the same person, but there was something which told her it was the same presence.

The second figure was unfamiliar. A young man still, but older than her. He stood with ease in his composure beside the Sennin’s desk. His uniform bore the village crest. He must be a Genin, she realized, but not a new one. There was a stillness in his posture, the kind that came from training under pressure.

Nozomi paused at the threshold, then lowered herself into a bow to them both.

“Ryuu Nozomi, reporting in as requested,” she said, voice steady despite the flutter in her chest. She raised her head only enough to look between the two of them. “It’s an honor to be summoned.”

The Sennin’s office was nothing like she expected. She’d imagined something more lived in, with scrolls stacked high along the far wall. Yet this office seemed cold and almost unused in a sense, where the paper that was sat in stacks had dust collecting on it from not being touched. This was clearly a staging area of sorts.

Nozomi kept her eyes forward, as she had been taught.

Her mind, however, was running through possibilities. Why summon her? She was still a student who hadn’t been assigned a team, nor taken on an official mission beyond a class with her Clan Head. Could it be about her entry into the ANBU compound? Her heart sank a little at that thought.

She found her seat in front of the masked woman and folded her hands in her lap attempting to keep immaculate posture. Whatever awaited within this place, whether it be assignment, punishment, or proof of worth. She was ready to meet it head on.

 

[Ryuu Rei]

Unlike the others, Rei had not been invited.

Not because she wasn’t needed. By all means if the leadership thought they’d need the ex-sennin there would be a request directly sent by the Raikage herself. For all intent and purposes the kunoichi was retired; and well so. Three year nightmare-coma, madness stricken at least twice, and it was clear her physical form had taken a number of beatings over the years due to everything from extreme experimentation, to viral death. Her skin was sickly pale, eyes somewhat sunken in but hidden behind her golden mirror shades. The flesh at her hands appeared taunt, almost stretched against the bones of her fingers as if they had been cut off and regrown too many times. Even her gait, normally, was more in-line with someone elderly despite only being in her late thirties; the life of a shinobi having taken its toll long ago.

Yet this all didn’t mean Rei was the type of person to just, sit back and let the youth take care of everything. To those means she had deeply researched her own short-comings and found augmentation to them. Dark Chakra replaced her normal to prevent tampering with their Lycan Cure. The power to control plants and trees, ingrained into her body by the kami themselves, alleviated the aches and pains of her worn out body. So long as she kept herself tied up in moderation, the scientist could even go on for weeks without food, water, or even rest now. It was like her body had hit that “limit” people spoke of when humans normally started breaking down; but instead of stopping, Rei, was quietly transcending past it.

Rei’s “message,” came not from a cleverly placed piece of parchment, but instead a simple digital message. The morning had barely begun as her bare feet padded about her gigantic kitchen, slowly gathering the ingredients for a breakfast together. She was dressed in a simple pair of jeans, and a large white t-shirt that clearly belonged to Shirokuu; with hair let loose and wild. Ever present, the golden shades covered her weary face. It was her third day awake. The question purposed by Nozomi had inflicted her with the need, to run numbers and plug them into existing theories before she could begin teaching the girl proper. After all, no point in teaching Advanced Chakra Theory when it lead to a crack-pot solution to the curse. She was already firmly stumped, and left with an idea to pull the soul of the malediction’s creator back into reality to force him to…stop it. While feasible, the logistics in actually achieving it left for wanting due to a number of factors. These ideas, however, where quietly pushed to the back of her mind as she poured a fresh cup of coffee and flicked on the oven’s broiler. Today, she planned to just relax with Shiro.

At least, until her pager hummed. A quick reflex, the little plastic box was snatched from the waistband of her jeans. A deft movement indeed to flick up her shirt and grab the vibrating thing to read the number on the screen. The first three numbers, 444, notified the level of danger followed by 2818, which told her the type of people handling it. Rei’s upper lip curled into a small snarl to see the 18, knowing that a Student was being asked into it. With a deadly calm the woman crossed the kitchen to a phone hanging on the wall, snatching it off the receiver and dialing the number she had been given. It connected to a private line outside of the KIA’s reach that was pretty much only available to herself and a handful of people she trusted. It was set up during her time as the country’s spymaster and never dismantled while she was missing despite the security risk.

The phone connected to an automated recording.
“6 am. ANBU Sennin’s office. Information is sparse but the mission involves the Lycans and good help is running short these days. ANBU has been scouting the Ryuu clan lately, they might have found someone worth it but, our info is only showing that the recent generations are showing promise. Senior Ryuu shinobi staff have remained on Genin levels going steady until just recently with some promise showing in…”

A list of names were given, and a number of them made her heart clutch with fear. Her newest protoge aside, there was a number of names on that list that could lead to a darker future for her people if they were to die to the wanton violence the wolves were capable of. She would have to intervene. Go along at the very least, to make sure everyone made it back alive. The Lycan Virus was nothing to go against casually, and either a Genin or Student were more than susceptible to the worst parts of the lycanthrope bite.

“Shiro, I’m going to head out today,” Rei yelled up into the mansion knowing her voice would carry, “Work came up.” Then, pulling the shirt up she tucked it into her jeans to reveal a pair of suspenders hanging around her waist that she slipped her arms through. At the door she slid into a pair of shoes, whipped her large coat over her tiny frame, and opened the door. The frozen morning greeted her, an ever present reminder of how close at hand winter was. Clutching her hand into a fist, the scientist dug her thumb into her palm and then flicked out a peanut-sized seed that dove into the snow with gusto. Within moments the thick petals of a giant carnivorous plant exploded from the ground and opened its maw before its creator. The flower’s stamen rolled out before the kunoichi, like a ramp, that she walked up and into before the petals closed back down around her and slammed back into the ground leaving a considerable hole for the clansmen to fix…again.

Only moments after Nozomi had entered and settled herself did the entire room began to shake as if jostled by a small earthquake. From beneath Yuna’s desk, a flower bud poked its head out of the concrete flooring and bloomed showing only the ex-sennin’s head. With a flat expression, she asked simply,
“Mind stepping back so I can get out?” Once Yuna had done as requested, or hadn’t it didn’t really matter, Rei would use the floor to push off of and pull the rest of her body out and crawl out from under the ANBU sennin’s desk. Ever a woman for unconventional entrance, the scientist righted herself to the groans and aches of her legs before maneuvering behind the two youth before her.

“What? You didn’t really think you could just send a Student and Genin after the information we got about the Lycans, and think I wouldn’t, get involved did you? In fact I’m low-key certain you did that just to get my attention, didn’t you, ANBU-sama,” she finished with a coy smile and annoyed squint - though the latter you really couldn’t see beyond the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.