Mission: (Not quite) A walk in the park! - Side Story

In a matter of seconds, all hell broke loose on either side of the chasm. As soon as Megumi's clone dispersed the trasnformation and grabbed Boro, the rest of the bandits all crawled out of the woodwork to make a surprise attack. Megumi had been expecting something like this. After all, she never expected bandits to play for. So, it came as no surprise when the attack began. As a matter of fact, it was beneficial, having all the bandits in one place for her to take down.

The one thing that did concern her, however, was the fact that Makaru wasn't even there, a fact that was clarified moment later when her second clone disappeared and its memories came to her. Somehow, he had known where they had hidden Masaru, and Makaru had gone after her. Well, nothing she could do about that now. A bandit leader wasn't much trouble when all his bandits were dead, which was exactly what these guys were about to be.

"Try not to piss yourself," said the clone who carried Boro, racing down the side of the cliff. She couldn't really stay like that though, as one stray arrow would pop her, and send Boro plummetting to his demise. So, the clone took Boro beneath the armpits, wound up, and then with as much of her chakra enforced strength as she could muster she thrrew him up and over the other side of the cliff, where the real Megumi and her students were waiting.

"Kensai, Kenji, protect them!" Megumi shouted, as the air around her suddenly exploded with enormous energy. She had just unleashed all five chakra gates that she could open, in order to end things as quickly as possible. From her training, she knew she had approximately five minutes before her body started tearing itself apart. She wouldn't even need one.

As soon as Megumi took hold of her massive sword and took off like a rocket through the bandits on their side of the cliff, Kenji gathered Shay and Boro close to him, and Kensai if he wanted, and made a few hand signs. First, he poured out a mass of water from his mouth, and then formed that water into a protect barrier around them. Several bolts came sailing in at them, but splashed uselessly against the barrier he'd created.

Megumi carved a path through the bandits the likes of which they had probably never imagined, cleaving her sword through bodies as she went, first one way, then the other, until all bandits on her side of the cliff were dead. Then, she ran at the edge of the chasm and leaped the entire distance, landing on the other side with a thunderous boom as she proceeded to clean up the bandits on the other side as well.

Kensai wouldn't be taken in by Kenji's water barrier, it would be nice to know he'd have a place to catch his breath, but for now he wanted to act as the first like of defense, a harrier of sorts. The outer perimeter of the defense of the two ex-hostages. He pulled two Kunai from his pouches and charged howling like a beast, the explosive burst of violence sending some of the bandits back on their heels.




Kensai huffed with his hands on his knees as the last few of the bandits broke ranks and retreated. The few minutes of battle had worn out the little guy and standing next to Kenji, now inside the man's barrier, caught his breath, though Megumi had done most of the work Kensai hadn't been a slouch either, there were enough dead bodies around the barrier that they covered the ground fairly effectively. And this time Kensai wasn't completely covered in blood.

The whole conflict lasted less than two minutes, and by the end of it all that remained was a pile of bandit bodies on either side of the chasm. Megumi returned to the others, allowing her chakra gates to close long before they started doing any damage to her body. With an exhausted huff, she tossed her giant sword to the ground with a thunderous thud. "Well...that's one group of bandits taken care of. How are the rescuees?"

Kenji let the water sphere fall away, allowing Shay and Boro to come free into the open. "Well protected, I'd say."

"Geez, you guys really know how to make an entrance," Shay muttered, taking a look around at the bodies.

Megumi nodded to Kenji and Kensai. "Good work, you two."

Now that everything had been settled Boro stood to his feet, and dusted off, all he could was watch and let the boys defend him and Shay. It was something to behold, he'd been too busy trying to stay alive when he was kidnapped to be in awe of exactly how amazing two kids nearly a third of his age were so amazing.

"Hirohata-san." Boro addressed the leader of the Shinobi hired to save them. "That man, Makaru, wanted me to tell you something when he confirmed you were from Honegakure." The rail worker would clear his throat, "He said, When you get back to give the man with red hair his regards. Whatever that means."

Kensai on the other hand was a little more silent as he simply gave a thumbs up to his teacher through the panting, he'd spent so much stamina during the dawn raid he was close to exhausted now. He'd have to work on metering his output in the future.

"Uh...ok," Megumi said, with a raise of her brow. She didn't have any idea who the guy with red hair was, but she supposed she would just have to go with it. "In any case, that Makaru won't be causing problems for a while, I'd think. Not much of a bandit leader without any bandits to lead. Come on, let's head back and get you guys to safety. Then me and my team are going home for some rest."

"That... Sounds good... to me." Kensai confirmed to his sensei now picking himself up off supporting himself on his knees and begining to check over Shay and Boro, making sure they weren't boobie trapped or anything of the sort, mostly checking Boro. He would leave Shay for Megumi or Kenji to check out. It was a non-invasive search but he still didn't feel comfortable touching Shay like that.

After the checks were done the three would make it to the track construction site without incident. There would be fond farewells from Boro, who would thanks both boys and Megumi for rescuing him with such haste.

After departing on the long walk back Kensai would strike up a conversation with his teacher. "Are all missions that... exciting, Sensei?" He would ask a little bashfully, if they were then he really needed to double down on his training. His legs already felt like limp spagetti noodles. Then again his high mobility fighting style required every little movement he'd made.

"Only when you're lucky," Megumi replied, with a sigh and shake of her head. "Only when you're lucky."

---

They made it back to Hone the next day. Kenji was beyond exhausted and about ready to collapse. That had not been the kind of mission he was expecting, and right now the only thing he wanted to do was crash in his own bad and pass out. He didn't even care if Megumi tried to cuddle him like a pillow tonight, he was too tired to fight it.

"Well, we're back," Megumi said, rubbing her tired eyes. "You two just...go get some rest. I need to go debrief the results of our mission." And hopefully figure out the in the hell they weren't told about the bandits in the first place.

"Right...you do that." Kenji stifled a yawn and started towards home. "See you later, Kensai."

Megumi, meanwhile, dropped by the front of Setsuna's administration building and met with the receptionist, practically demanding she be let in to see the village leader, or someone else in charge she could rant to.

When they made it back to the village Kensai wasn't all there like Kenji he was exhausted and simply followed the two to their house, "Can I take a second here?" the white haired genin asked, more like pleaded with his teacher taking a seat on her couch. It could have been made of stone, but it was still comfortable enough for him to almost instantly pass out on the spot after exhaling once letting all the stress of the journey fall away with his head falling back to be supported by the backrest pillowy seat, his mouth hanging open and his eyes making an almost audible sound as they snapped shut.

"I'm sorry you are...??" The front desk Secratary was different from the one that'd been there when she picked up the mission asked unsure of exactly what crazy black lady wanted.

"That's Hirohata Megumi, Jounin leader of team Megumi." The the voice of a man with a stack of paperwork coming out of the shadows on the stairs up commented, the shadows cleared the top of his head showing off his proudly displayed crimson mane. He knew exactly who she was from the picture on her ID which he had. He'd quickly dumped the small mountain of paperwork in his hands onto the Secretary's Desk. "Hanako. Please file these."

The woman looked distraught for a moment when the red headed man addressed her. "Don't refer to me so personally." She responded callously.

"But I know you so personally." Was the short quick response from the man now leaning on the desk, Hanako would scoff and look away to cover her blush, picking up the papers to quickly scuttle off to file them in the appropriate cabinets, leaving just the two.

He would look back to Megumi, but before she could start in. He would hold out the beauty's Jounin Association membership card and introduce himself. "I'm Uzumaki Kai. Welcome to the Elite, Hirohata-san."

"Uh....huh." Megumi stared at the card the man held out as though it might jump out and bite her. She wasn't sure who she expected to be greeted by, but it wasn't this guy. At the very least she was hoping for Setsuna herself... then again that was probably too much. "So you're the guy who sent the fox to inform me of the bandits we should have been told about before we left. Why am I not surprised?"

She didn't take the card, instead, raising her gaze up to the man's face. "You...have red hair."

"Ah yes." Kai uttered looking a little embarrassed, but continuing to hold the card out to her. "I have to apologize for that." He was seemingly ignoring her red hair remark. And since nobody was around to rat him out. "I was expecting the opportunity to personally brief whichever team took that mission. As I had been out on business when you took the mission I wasn't aware of your departure until later that day when I dispatched Poro to find you with what was a fairly vague mission update. I couldn't afford to have details of the mission be intercepted. And you haven't been properly briefed on the encryption Honegakure uses." Now the conversation would take a turn for the weird as her second statement was addressed:

"I see you've been talking with Makaru."

"What kind of sense does that make? Why keep the bandits a secret in the mission details at all? That mission was in the D-rank list. I took it specifically for my new students, who aren't yet used anything higher than--" Megumi had to force hr mouth to pause when she realized what Kai had just said to follow up the poor excuse for the mission mishap. She tilted her head sideways a little, eyes narrowing at him in an odd mix of confusion and suspicion. "...you know the bandit leader?"

"Know him? One of his daughters wandered into Hone a few months back... So we got acquainted."  Kai said, "This is why I wanted to brief you BEFORE you left on the mission. Again my fault." He would motion to himself with his hand speaking apologetically. He would then look around for a moment to make sure nobody was listening. "It's going to cost Hone an arm and a leg to get that rail road in here, money we don't have. And to keep the railroad from owning us financially, we needed a counter. They had enough skilled labor on payroll that they wouldn't contract out for unskilled labor. So I... engineered a reason they would need to hire us for a combat ranked mission." Kai wasn't exactly proud of his double dealing but moral sacrifices needed to be made to ensure Hone's future. "I appropriated the services of the bandits under the explicit contract that they not grievously injure or kill anyone, but make themselves a big enough nuisance that the rail workers would have to hire us. And would most likely do so under false pretenses. It all seems a little pointless to explain now, but I guess if it helps found understanding..." Kai would relax a little more, forming a less nervous smile.

"Certainly a beauty like you can find it in your heart to forgive me? Please?" Kai was definitely turning on the charm now.

"Wait...you did WHAT?" Megumi had to...take a second, to wrap her head around what she was being told. From what she now understood, the village she worked for had hired bandits to cause damage to a rail line so the workers would have to hire shinobi to protect them. Now, she might not have been the most brilliant of individuals, but even she could recognize what this was. "You're telling me that you knowingly put people in danger just so you could extort money from innocent workers who might have been caught in the crossfire and...who knows what could have happened. Not to mention all of the bandits are dead now, because you hired them! Are you insane? Who sanctioned this? Does Setsuna know? Because if not, she's about to!"

Kai smiled.

"It's exactly as you think." Kai responded, "Setsuna doesn't know, and I doubt Setsuna will care if she did know. Those bandits were living on borrowed time, If it was yours or any other team eventually they would have met just as bloody an ending as you gave them. Makaru was under explicit orders nobody dies or all of his daughters die. I imagine he kept one within arms reach of him at all times during raiding to ensure at least her safety... but with you out and about, that came back to bite him didn't it? Also I wasn't extorting the workers, but the Rail Conglomerate itself for the cash. But what it doesn't know can't possibly hurt Hone."

"Were there risks in the mission? Innocents getting hurt? Most certainly. I did my best to mitigate those risks. Considering the wording you used, I'd guess you were successful in stopping unnecessary loss of innocent life." He paused, "As far as authority goes, I enacted this whole plot on my authority as Magistrate. Economic matters being in my jurisdiction." He would stop cold there.

"Perhaps, we might come to an agreement to keep this between us." Kai also had plausible deniability on his side as well, he could just as well claim ignorance of the entire issue outside the mission update and come away squeaky clean. Megumi on the other had as such a new arrival throwing around damaging accusations without any more proof than he-said-she-said might damage her career. "I think," He looked her up and down once checking out her curves, "I could make it worth your while."

Megumi wanted to scream something. She wanted to rant, or curse, or just punch this guy in his stupid smirking face. And yet for once she managed to hold some sort of restraint. There were several things she could do here, none of which offered much of a positive outcome. She could storm into Setsuna's office and accuse Kai right there. She'd probably be thrown out in that case. She could wait and come back and meet Setsuna in private. Setsuna might believe her, but probably not, if this Kai was that high up in the ranks. or she could just punch him.

Oh she wanted to just punch him. But that wouldn't have helped either. Actually that could make things a lot worse for her. Attacking a fellow shinobi in the middle of the administration building would probably get her fired, or put on leave, or at least suspended, or something. That was work she couldn't afford to miss. So really, what could she do, aside from hold in her seething anger and try not to explode?

"And what exactly are you insinuating..." she breathed, glaring down Kai's wandering eyes.

"I'm willing to let you know that I value your capabilities and discretion." Kai's smile left his face, as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his checkbook. Picking up a pen from the desk he scribbled into one of the checks and tore it from the book, added it to the Jounin Assiciation members Identification and held it out to her again.

"I understand how hard it is to move into Hone, the basic Shinobi retainer isn't much. You've racked up a few bills since you got here, plus you have that kid brother of yours." Kai was talking like some kind of mind reader, he hadn't looked into her personally but many shinobi had the same story. "If you can play ball, I want your help and maybe your company more often, possibly dinner."

Megumi would be able to make out the money signed on the check. It was for Eighty Thousand Ryo. Four times the amount she would receive for completing the C-ranked mission alone. In the 'For:' section it had on it: "Overcoming Unseen Obstacles with Dignity."

At first, Megumi was suspicious of Kai's offer. She really didn't trust him right now, not after what he'd just told her, and the impulse to punch his head clean off hadn't yet subsided. When she took the check from him and glanced down at the total written on it, however, her eyes nearly bugged straight out of her head. "What the hist" was all that came spouting out of her mouth. She couldn't bring herself to look away from the check, as if afraid she's realize she was seeing things.

Megumi was hardly one who could be bought, whether for her silence or her company, but suddenly she felt much more willing for...well, anything really. "Huh...yeah sure...no problem." Still, she stared at it, unblinking. Anyone else watching her might find it a bit unnerving, but she didn't notice. She didn't care. A few more checks like this and she and Kenji could kiss that crummy old apartment goodbye.

When she looked down at the check unflinchingly Kai realized something that this opportunity had gotten a lot bigger. "Perhaps." Kai started with his more confident smirk returning, "I could hire you as an my Assistant and Attache, you receive a stipend like that, and I gain a set of hands, eyes and ears outside this office." He would leave the desk and move closer to her, a breaths distance away, speaking in a much softer more intimate tone "We can hash out the details later in private, but for now, if you like what you see and don't mind getting your hands dirty to help the village prosper then maybe we can come to a working agreement?"

When Megumi finally came out of her stupor, she tucked away both the ID card and the check securely into her pack to make sure she wouldn't lose them. This day had just taken a sudden but miraculous turn, and as Kai might notice now, her entire mood had shifted. "You know what, I've never been an assistant before, but what the fuck, let's make it happen. I like getting my hands dirty."

Hell, if he kept paying her like that she'd be his damn personal maid if he wanted. As far as she was concerned,she needed whatever job paid the most, and if she could do whatever work Kai wanted on the side, in addition to her actual shinobi work, with those kind of benefits, well then sign her the hell up.