The Valley of Deceit

The sun was high in the sky, blazing yellow against the azure skies above. It was a particularly warm day, though not so warm as to dissuade one from wearing long clothes. Hyaku placed his hands on his hips as he stood, waiting for his three team members to arrive.

Did I forget to tell them to meet up at the main gate? I certainly hope not...        He thought to himself.

Though he tried to hide it, Hyaku was extremely nervous about being a team captain for the first time. It honestly wouldn't have surprised him to learn that he had, in fact, forgotten to let the rest of the team know where to meet. Before he left to meet the others at the gate, he had taken it upon himself to triple check his equipment. Ironically, he himself had almost missed the allotted meeting time due to his over-preparation.

Kunai, medical salve, smoke bombs, signal flares...    

A list of the items he had decided to bring along echoed through Hyaku's head, as if attempting to make him second guess himself. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Hyaku turned his attention to the matter of his team. All he could do for the moment was wait for them to arrive... Which Hyaku hoped, would be soon.

Sprawled out on the top of the monstrous sized village gates, Emilio was examining his Team Captain for this mission. Medium lengthish dirty blonde hair, not too tall, not too bulky, he appeared to be a typical ninja. Of course there was more than what met the eye of course, but Emilio didn't have time to worry about that. Even from the booming height of the village gate, Emilio could tell his captain was a tad bit nervous. Or maybe a lotta nervous, but trying to hide it. Oh well.

Producing a cup of creamy white yogurt, Emilio also withdrew a spoon. not items he always carried, but today was a special occasion. One scoop was all that was needed as his let the single scoop of yogurt descend. No wind was present, so it would fall straight on his captains head. The purpose? To appear as bird poo of course. Sadly Emilio wouldn't be able to see if his ploy followed through though. After tilting his spoon letting the yogurt fall, he would scoot back on top of the gate, careful not to be seen.

He heard a *plop. Maybe it hit, maybe it didn't all that he knew was that the bird poo hit something.

Kasai was told to join a few villagers on a mission to try to make a name for herself again though she didn't want to go with ii she ended up joining. She made her way to the main square when she forgot to pack something. Kasai clenched her fist and made her way to a shop. She picked up some foods,arrows,some kunai and things of the sort. "That'll be 1000 Yen." said the cashier, looking at Kasai. Kasai's eyebrow was raised and she replied,"How about 0 Yen..ok..ok" She took the things she was going to buy and ran out the store.

Some people were chasing Kasai so Kasai thought of a plan,"They'll follow me to this corner..I'll just jump and attack." She went with her plan and set some explosive tags around the walls which obviously caused an explosion. "Haha see you later.." Kasai exclaimed as she ran. She got to the main square and saw two of the three members of her team. "A blond guy with yogurt on his hair and what seems like a prankster...great.." Kasai muttered. She bit her lip and went up to her fellow team member. "Hello, my name is Kasai and I am honored to join you." Kasai bowed down to her team leader.

Illya sat with her legs crossed engrossed in a novel she began reading this morning. It was the day she was to meet up with her team for a mission and she had made it rather early. She was a reasonable distance away from the squad leader, a man she had known from her clan, she decided not to greet the man until everyone was assembled as she wasn’t in the mood for useless chatter. She wasn’t too keen on going on a mission with a team but it had been awhile since her last mission and she needed the ryo.

When it seemed as if everyone was gathered she would close her book and walked towards the two gathered in front of the gate. She said nothing however , but just gave a nod and awaited further orders.

Hyaku frowned in dismay as he felt something wet hit the top of his head. First impressions were very important, and he was determined not to screw this one up. Sighing, Hyaku wiped what he could only hope was yogurt out of his hair. After which, he turned his attention to the two women whom had approached him.

One of the girls was from the Uchiha clan, and had been his sparring partner a few times. Beyond her name, and what he had heard about her, she was a mystery to him. The other girl was unfamiliar, she bowed her head politely at Hyaku, which caused him to blush out of embarrassment. She smelled of sweat and singed hair, which was odd since there had been a small theft nearby involving explosives. Deciding not to link the two coincidences together, Hyku smiled at both of the girls warmly.

"I'm glad to see you two made it, now we just need our third member." He said, happily.

"I do hope you've both come well prepared, we won't be seeing any villages on the way to our destination. I'll tell you both more once everyone has arrived."

Taking a quick glance over at Illya, Hyaku noticed that she had slightly distanced herself from the group. He decided that he would address the situation later, for now he had to worry about getting everyone together.

Taking a peek from atop the village gates he saw his yogurt had hit is target. He was wiping it out of his hair, but at least he was hit. In a mild fit of chuckles Emilio made his way down the humongous village gates. Still crawling so he would not be seen, he made his way to the gates hing and hoped onto a guard tower. There he lithely scaled his way down and found himself safely on the ground. Not necessarily in sight yet, he approached the duo, in a light jog. Coming to a stop his two sets of nunchaku jingled and lightly tapped the other as if saying a friendly hello. "You have a little bit of something in your hair sir." Emilio pointed at his team captains locks of medium length hair. He miraculously also held back his giggles.

Whether he further examined the mischief again or not, Emilio would then make a small introduction. "Anyhow, I'm Emilio Nagasaki sorry for being a bit late. Placing a horizontal fist in an open palm in a traditional position, he would bow to his captain. Out of respect and a tad bit of guilt. "Nice to meet you to, seems like you're a hard worker." He gave a light smile and chuckle, after picking up a hint of sweat from her body. "Is our third member here?" He would ask, he noticed the Uchiha sitting away from the group, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions and assume she was paired with them.

With the light bit of natural traffic the gates normally had at least one or two souls going in and out, so with each passing person his hopes would rise then fall.

Kasai smiled at her new leader. "How foolish, he didn't suspect a thing.." she thought. Her red eyes wandered about till she saw another team member. Kasai went up to the lad and waved at him. "Kasai here!" she said, smiling a bit. The girl remembered something and she told her team that she needed to go get something. "How could I forget it.." Kasai muttered under her breath. Arriving at her cabin near the village she got her infamous cloak and put it on. "All good now.." she said to herself. Footsteps were heard near Kasai's cabin and she recognized the sound. "Misu come back here!" she yelled. Kasai had gotten a cat about a year ago to keep her company as she was lonely and the two were the best of friends. Kasai grabbed her feline friend and set him down on the floor. "Stay here ok.." Kasai whispered. A few minutes passed and she was now with her group. "Sorry I took so long." Kasai took a deep breath and sat on the floor.

Illya shook her head as she watched everything unfold. It seems that they had a prankster and a delinquent on their team, just great, Illya thought as she brushed the dirt from off her pink sun dress. She silently hoped that they wouldn’t cause the poor man any trouble as it was obvious he was nervous about leading his mission, if they made him lose his cool it would look bad on the other members of the Uchiha, something she wouldn’t allow to happen, after all she took pride in the Uchiha’s reputation and won’t anyone soil it.

It would seem that they were waiting on her so she slowly made her way towards them, after arriving she would make herself known as the last member of the team. “Uchiha…Illyasviel. ” Those were the only words to escape her lips as she remained silent until the squad leader informed them of the mission details. In reality she wasn’t one for team missions as she hated depending on others and having others depending on her. To others she came off as cocky and over confident but that was the type of person she was like it or not, after all she didn’t become a ninja to make friends.

Hyaku nodded at the three ninja before him. Now that they had gathered, he could begin the mission briefing.

"Our objective..." He began. "Is to recover a stolen scroll that contains a forbidden jusu, considered too dangerous to be used."

Hyaku gave the three of them a serious look, hoping to transmit just how dire the situation was.
"This is normally a job for the ANBU, but they're out on another mission at the moment, and this cannot wait."

He allowed the three to take in what he had just said before continuing. "The only intel that i can give you about the thieves is that they're Konoha shinobi, and  that they're very dangerous. I'll tell you as much as I can on the way, but for now let's get moving."

As the four shinobi proceeded to exit Konoha's main gate, Hyaku grabbed Illya's arm softly, pulling her aside. He did not look her in the eyes, opting to give her a sideways glance instead.

"Illya... I know that you don't like working with a team, but we need you to lend us your strength." Hyaku paused for a moment, his thoughts forming sentences. "I need you to be my second pair of eyes. Should something prevent me from coming to your aid, I'll need you to watch over Kasai, and Emilio."

Hyaku looked away, then spoke one last time. "If anything were to happen to them... I don't think I could bear to give their parents the news. So please, I'm asking you as a fellow Uchiha..."

Emilio's hands found their way behind his head, as the briefing began. He nodded signifying he was listening and understanding and got a bit excited towards the end. He would be going on a mission normally for Anbu! Indeed it would be a challenge and a test of his skills. A chance to show his teammates that he wasn't your typical Genin. Still a task to be taken serious however, so he kept his composure and showed no excitement.

"Dangerous Konoha missing ninja. Bleh, hope we aren't killing today." As they trudged along through the gates, his attention was caught as the captain pulled the other Uchiha to the side. His arms still on his head, hid his sharp feline like eyes that glanced over. "Already underestimating everyone else, typical." Emilio scoffed, then stepped a bit closer to Kasai. "What do you think about the Uchiha tag team? Surely we are being underestimated." He would speak in a low tone, so only Kasai could hear him. He would keep his eyes, on Hyaku however, to ensure he didn't return while he was speaking.

Kasai's eyebrow was raised as she thought. "A mission normally for ANBU...why send chunins and genins then, eh whatever I'm better than an ANBU." Kasai looked at her fellow team members once again to study them. "Two Uchiha clan members and the prankster is that of the Nagasaki clan.." the young adult thought. She got out her bingo book, which contained information on the Hidden Leaf Village and it's ninja. Kasai put her book away as she noticed her team was now leaving.

Her eyes were locked on the two Uchiha clan members as they were talking in private. She read their lips to see what they were saying, which made her clench her fist a little. The prankster, as she called him, came towards her. Hearing what the yogurt boy said, Kasai nodded in agreement. "It's up to us to show him we're strong then right?" Kasai whispered, as she walked.

Illya shook her head when the man finished giving the mission briefing. A mission that is given to Anbu will be taken by a jonin, a chunin and a genin. Not only was something like this impractical, it was borderline crazy! How there wasn’t enough anbu in the village made her question whosoever was running village operations. But this would also give her a chance to show how those incompetent Anbus that she was more than capable to do their job. Can you say promotion?

With a broad smile on her face she would begin to head towards the exit, but her happiness was short lived however when she was grabbed and pulled aside. It seemed her squad leader had something to say but didn’t have the decency to look her in the eye. She decided not be a brat and listened to the man’s request and when he was finished, a soft sigh escaped her lips. Her eyes shifted on the two who were looking their way and she noticed the other female in her group looking at their lips and knew she was reading their lips. Doesn’t she know that it’s rude to try and include yourself into something that doesn’t concern you?  Turning her back to them both, she would face the man “I have no problem with being your second set of eyes but I believe you’re talking to the wrong person Senpai. In terms of rank I’m the weakest here, so I don’t think asking a genin to keep an eye on two chunin makes much sense and besides they can handle themselves they are chunin for a reason.” Pausing for a second she would place her hand on the man’s shoulder. “Let’s do our best Senpai, I’m counting on you.” She said before turning on her heels and began walking towards the gate.

Side note I'm still a Genin in this thread, since it was started before my advancement.

Hayate swept through the trees, his body flowing with the wind and waving fauna he passed. The sun flashed through the slivers of the under story, warm and bright; the Hyuga boy kept a hand over his eyes to spare his site. The sky was warm, and clear. The clouds were scarce, and gave precedence to a lovely day. As he made his way, thoughts of the impending mission were slowly beginning to form inside of his mind.

-An S rank mission, given to Jounin of the Hidden Leaf- Hayate pursed his lips. -Hyaku had mentioned something about bringing Genin along, considering they were under his jurisdiction. Hyaku and I are Jounin, so just ourselves should be enough for this mission... Unless Hyaku-san is feeling as though either they need the experience, or we need the help-.

Hayate planted his foot on the tallest tree within his nominal site, and launched himself upwards. His hand gripped the branch he met, and he pulled himself upwards. In almost a feline manner, he crept to the top to view the surrounding area. He was greeted by the glow of the sun, the slanted shadows showing the day to be early afternoon. Without warning, a force of Chakra pumped through his ocular veins, forcibly activating his Byakugan. Everything in the area became enhanced, and his site was bathed in clarity. Due to the forced strain, it was painful at first. Luckily, Hayate could feel the Chakra already begin to falter, and his Byakugan will fade within minutes.

"Ah!" Hayate picked out his targets, the group he was to meet. Hyaku would have to explain the situation, as Hayate was only recently briefed. He settled himself for a moment, and launched through the forest once more.

After near five minutes time, Hayate exited the forest to the main trail. He trotted up to his cohorts with a small smile, to add comfort when meeting Hyaku's team. He approached them; Hyaku, two women, and a boy. He had to guess a mixture of Chunin and Genin, hopefully more of the prior. One girl seemed uninterested, her eyes seeming to gaze outward. The other looked more average, her skill would probably show itself later. The boy seemed relaxed, if not uncaring. He seemed younger than the gazing girl, but not than the homely one. Hayate gave them each a smile, and extended his hand towards his friend.

"Hyaku, it's nice to see you again. So this is your team? I can only wait to see their exceptional talents. So, would you mind repeating the details of the mission if not done so already? The head didn't give me much details, telling me to run and ask later".

Hyaku ordered the group to halt as he greeted their new guest. Clasping his friend's hand, Hyaku smiled in response.

"It's good to see that the council sent us some backup, we need all the help we can get." Hyaku remarked. He nodded to the group, a signal for them to proceed. Hyaku gestured for Hayate to follow as the four made their way down the forest path.

Hyaku made sure everyone was present, then spoke briefly.

"The scroll that we're after contains a forbidden jutsu, one that can be used on a large scale to sever multiple target's ability to mold chakra."

Pausing for a moment, Hyaku let the implications of the current situation sink in. Then he proceeded to spell it out just in case the danger they faced wasn't clear.

"If such a technique were to be unleashed upon the village... The reprocussions would be staggering, so I'm sure you can understand why it is imperative that we recover this scroll. I know that many of you have doubts about your ability to complete a mission of this level, but i'm confident that we can see this through together."

Removing his hands from his head, Emilio moved his eyes to the new arrival. Obvious a high ranking ninja. He was already acquainted with the team captain, so this almost locked the belief into his head. As the groups march was halted, Emilio would take the time to get acquainted with the Genin Ranked Uchiha and to get a juice box from his backpack. Moving his head in the direction of Illya, offering Kasai to follow, Emilio headed over. He didn't necessarily want Kasai's company, but he didn't want anyone to be left awkwardly standing alone. He assumed from earlier Illya was the type to distance herself, so he would suppress his personality and approach in a subtler manner, but wit a lighthearted smile.

"So are you and uhhh." Noticing the team captain never introduced himself, Emilio recalled what the other high ranking ninja had called him. Hyaku? . . . Yeah are you and him related. I know you are both Uchiha, but I'm not sure how it works out over there, forgive me if you take offense." His voice wasn't low, but it would surely sound like a mumble to anyone not in immediate range of them. He would peer up at her occasionally while fiddling with his pesky straw. "I swear, I get the worst straws when I buy these." He chuckled as he finally punctured the foil covering with the plastic point and took a sip.

"Doubts, as if..I'm sure I am the best!" Kasai thought, while her team leader talked. As Kasai still wanted to seem kind towards her team she curtsied for the newest member. "It's great to have two high ranking members on our team." she smiled. Kasai made her way as the others were walking. Everyone walked in pairs well all except for Kasai. Emilio then gestured her to come with him and Illya. She put on a fake smile and joined him. "I know they all have they're ideas on who I am and I know they don't want me here..." Kasai thought as she walked. Kasai got out one of her books and started reading it as she walked. "Illya and Hyaku are both that of the Uchiha clan, both have a form of the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai.." Kasai thought to herself.

Once again they were ordered to stop. It seemed as if they would never get to the location of the mission much less finish it. Brushing the wrinkles off her dress, she would silently wait for the two men to finish greeting each other; of course it didn’t really matter to her who this person was as she just wanted to get this mission over with as soon as possible. Leaning against a nearby building she bang twirling a kunai between her fingers, first clockwise the counter clockwise. It was the only thing she could do from keep her falling sleep right where she stood. Her red hues watched as the clouds slowly danced through the clear skies, still twirling the kunai of course. It seemed that it would be a lovely day to travel and maybe she would need up enjoying her time out after all. Yeah maybe.

Hayate contemplated taking the time to greet his new company personally, yet until proper introductions were to take place, he would be settled with a small smile. "Formidable indeed. I can see why the higher ups need this taken care of".

The Hyuga patted himself down, and made a gesture of movement. "Shall we head off? I'm anxious to see what this team of yours is capable of, my friend. As well as yourself. Time will begun to run short if we don't move... I'd rather have this Jutsu under lock and key as soon as we can".