Mission: Yori Saves the Genin!

Mission:

Yori raced through the trees, her usual calm expression disturbed. Normally she detested these types of missions, though they were common. And by "these types", she meant the killing sort. She had her ideals. Let nature take its course and all that. But, unfortunately for her, nature was never as black and white as some people assumed; just like the decisions ninja made were rarely easy ones. At times it seemed like an internal conflict where she had reservations whether taking a life was absolutely necessary, though she had orders to follow and teammates to protect.

This mission, that wasn't the case at all. Her brilliant blue eyes darkened as her hair carried her toward the cave that the Kage had pointed out to her on the map. This was an unquestionably bad person, someone who had preyed on children. Fresh genin on a low rank mission, just cutting their teeth. Yes, these children were ninja had signed up to put their lives on the line, and all genin regardless of age were willing to die in action, but there was a reason that missions and ninja were ranked the way they were. To protect as many Konoha lives as possible. This person was scum, a packless predator and traitor. Yori would take them down.

The Kage had informed her that her opponent specialized in Taijutsu. It seemed appropriate that she be assigned, also more than capable in Taijutsu herself. And with her grand mastery of sage mode, the buff only proved to enhance her abilities, enough that she didn't anticipate having too much trouble with this A-rank missing-nin.

Her tendrils of glittering, floaty black hair looked like furious spider's legs as she merely blurred through the terrain toward the cave. Boobytrapped. She'd have to be careful when she arrived, but Yori couldn't help but wonder why this had happened. What was the motive of kidnapping a genin cell instead of murdering them as a message? The Kage hadn't mentioned any ransom or other demands. So...why capture and stow the prisoners in a boobytrapped cave at all? Perhaps this person wanted to specifically lure in an opponent into a fight to the death worth the time and effort? Was it a ruse to kill children in front of a witness to up evil notoriety, break spirits, and intensify the manhunt?

Part of her now wondered why she hadn't been shown this missing-nin's page in a bingo book. There was a chance that the identity was unknown, but then she also wondered why those that usually hunt rogue ninjas hadn't been dispatched instead. They could be busy, she supposed. In the end, it didn't matter. This was Yori's mission, and she'd see it completed.

Yori launched out of the treeline into the edge of a small clearing containing the cave's entrance. She landed quietly, her hair shortening to wave at the ready near her soft cheeks. By contrast, her hardened eyes gazed forward, looking for any obvious signs of a trap. Surely a missing-nin wouldn't be so careless, but to go rogue to begin with put them in the dumb category in her head. Finding the area silent and peaceful, she frowned.

It was probably the standard trap. Assuming things got shinobi killed, but using logic was also important. If this enemy had the smarts and skill to set something truly dangerous or surprising, she doubted they would stoop so low as to grab some kids to lure attention. Skilled shinobi were more brazen, and usually overestimated their abilities with a direct attack on the village, which got them killed. This tactic would get a retrieval cell of no more than four shinobi, so even if it was worst case scenario and the mission failed, this foe could only hope to kill up to seven leaf ninja.

Carefully making her way toward the cave opening, she saw the a glimmer. A trip wire...attached to a kunai with an exploding tag. That was simple enough. Kinda dumb to put at the opening of a cave, though. It could cause the entrance to collapse, trapping everyone inside unless there was another way out.

Yori double and triple checked the trap, making sure there wasn't a secondary, better hidden trap that would be tripped when avoiding the first, and she actually found one. Maybe this person had a little more smarts than she thought. There was another wire hidden in some dirt, and that one was hooked to an enormous blade that was usually hand held, but had been rigged to swing out and decapitate the intruder. She took extra time to dismantle the traps, just in case a hasty exit was needed. She couldn't avoid for the genin to trip it, should she be able to free them and let them escape before she could follow.

The cave was dark and moist, like most. She couldn't help but compare it to the cave on the sacred grounds of her clan. It was mystical, full of whimsy with its bright crystals, special plants, and even a small lake. This cave was just as malicious as her cave was romantic. It smelled strongly of iron, which caused her gut to twist a bit. Her optimistic side was reminding her that it could be animal blood where the enemy had been hunting for food, or that maybe he was already hurt and weakened by the genin before they were captured. Deep down she knew that wasn't the case. There was just an certain aura present that she'd only felt when a person has died, so her dread was building. How many genin were there left to save?

Silently rounding a corner, she could see the reflections of a fire reflecting off the slick cave walls. She could hear the crackling of logs oxidizing away, as well as some human sniffling sounds echoing. Hugging the opposite wall, she came to a boulder she could crouch behind and see into the flat area her target occupied. In the center of a camp circle was a large fire, making it easy to see the scenario. A grim expression hardened her features.

There were three posts, two of which still held a sobbing genin each. They were tied securely, but at least they seemed alive. The third had ropes strewn about as if a third had recently been tied there, but they no longer were. There was some blood at the base, but not enough to account for the smell. Her eyes followed the blood trail to a slab in the black. There was a shadowy figure hunkered over a still form, making some sounds she didn't want to think about right now.

Using this chance, she used her hair like spider legs to keep from making any footfalls. The soft tendrils of hair were silent on the cave floor, so she moved quickly toward the remaining genin. Holding a finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet when they noticed her, they nodded. Poor things. They were pale and traumatized. Reaching for a kunai, she cut them free, indicating to them that they should leave silently as quickly as possible, but wait for her outside so she could escort them back. They nodded, seeming both eager to leave and reluctant to leave their obviously doomed friend behind. Yori shooed them, all the while keeping her attention on the enemy.

The worst happened. Just as the kids were nearly around the bend and out of sight, Yori began moving in on the missin-nin, who sounded like he was having quite the meal and the jounin was doing her best to push the sounds and the implications from her mind. The boy wretched loudly, unable to hold his nerves any longer. Yori cringed. She'd been afraid something like that would happen, but her optimistic mind had told her the genin would make it outside first.

"Run!" she screamed, turning to face the woman turning from the slab in surprise. The jounin cringed. The missing-nin was tall and ridiculously thin. Blood covered the lower half of her face, dribbling from her chin, down her neck and into the fabric of her tube top. Her hair, which of course the Nishizaka noticed despite the circumstance, was thin and brittle. It reached all the way down her back in an uneven cut. Yori couldn't help but think she needed her head shave so she could start again. Anyway, everything about her foe was sharp. Her eyes were sharp, beady, and black. Dark marks ringed each eye, tapering to a point toward her pointy ears. Her teeth were sharp and stained, half hidden behind the thinnest cracked lips. Eyebrows were mysteriously missing, as was most of her nose. He was barely a bump above two nostrils. Sharp, bony edges defined the rest of the wraith-ish form, and her skin was so white it was nearly blue. Yori dubbed the unknown woman as Vampress in her head.

"You..." Vampress rasped, jabbing a pointed finger between Yori and the posts where the genin had been. "You...let them go?" she lamented, swallowing something she'd been chewing on. Yori refused to think about it, though it was obvious, what with the dead, bloody human carcass behind Vampress that she'd clearly been having for dinner. Even Yori felt sick to her stomach, but it could wait. It was clear this abomination needed to die, and not just to avenge the lost genin.

Yori didn't even dignify Vampress's question with an answer. She simply flipped forward, her hair growing and spiking out to form a spinning shape like a buzzsaw. Using Hedgehog Style: Buzzsaw, Yori raced at the woman intending to let her hair rip this sicko apart.

Vampress naturally dodged, though it was slow and clumsy. It was clear that the woman was weak. The gory sight on the earthen dinner table was more than enough for Yori to figure she'd interrupted a feeding. Somehow, eating people was probably linked to this woman's strength. That was likely the reason she was a missing-nin to begin with.

Popping out of her roll, she stood and faced the woman again. She seemed feeble, but Yori took no pity. Those red eyes, that face dripping in an innocent child's blood. Yori felt an anger she hadn't allowed herself to feel for a long time. Perhaps that's why when she went to move, she couldn't, because she let emotion cloud her senses. Blood covered the floor, and now it was snaking up her shoe and ankle, hardening and holding her in place. "What the hell..?"

Vampress started laughing; a deep, throaty sound bubbling through the thickness of the blood and flesh. Making a hand sign caused slits to form in her wrists. The blood trailed out, hovering in the air as if it was a whip. Yori's hair elongated into tendrils in response. Two could play this game. After blocking each other's whip attacks and countering a few times, her foe sucked the blood back in and decided to go another route. Spitting blood bullets, which Yori had a hard time dodging with one foot stuck. The blood was hardened so much, the jounin was surprised she couldn't break free.

The blood bullets stopped, and when Yori raised herself back up to see why, there was a red blade coming at her. Weaving the sign for Molten Defense, Yori hurled lava from her mouth to form a quickly hardening shield. The blade clanged uselessly against it. Using fists made of hair, she started hitting the blood hardened to her foot to break free, but suddenly found all of it yanking to the left. When she turned to look, the genin was standing there, looking completely zombie like with lifeless eyes and entrails hanging out. He had a hold of her hair, bleeding all over it. The horror of it all caused the Nishizaka to gag, but thankfully not actually throw up.

Vampress stepped up to her right quick as a flash, taking advantage of Yori's shock over the blood controlled child. Bloody claw blades formed over her fingertips, and she jabbed them deep into Yori's side. The leaf jounin cried out, retracting her soiled hair from the zombie's grip. The next swipe came, and Yori leaned away just enough to only get a cut on her cheek instead of decapitated. "You look so delicious..." Vampress hissed, gazing longingly at Yori's neck.

"Go to hell," Yori spat back, touching her wrists together. The makings on the back of her neck, shoulders, arms, and wrists glowed as the senjutsu flowed from her locks into her body, putting her in sage mode. Firstly, she pulled her leg from the bloody trap now that her strength was much increased. Secondly, she swung a fist at Vampress, who thought she dodged, but the sage energy encasing Yori extended her reach and the hit landed anyway. The enemy went flying into the cave wall, disconnecting her control from the genin.

Thoroughly pissed off, Yori hurled Liquid Fire at Vampress before she could recover, dousing her in the hellish lava. Then, using Dragonfly Style: Gust, she flapped wings made of hair to rapidly cool the lava, encasing the vile woman in rock, ending her life.

It was over. Taking a moment to calm and heal her wound enough to make it home, she tried to digest the horrors she'd just seen. How...no. Now wasn't the time. Using her Rubber Ball technique, she encased the deceased genin in one and the missing-nin in another, rolling them outside to join the two survivors.

Yori tried to smile and offer them comfort, but she had nothing. None of them spoke, mutually accepting that there was nothing that could be said. Yori escorted them back to the village, dropping the rogue off for research and the genin to the morgue for funeral preparations. Yori would like to say she'd never felt a victory so hollow, but sadly, in her profession, it was more common than she'd like.