Mission Taken - The Family From Hell:

Hikari watched through her chakra radar as a Chuunin ranked messenger came running straight towards their house: it was a messenger she had seen before when other messages and missions had been hand delivered to Hikari. Hikari had been seated at the kitchen table while eating an orange - her favorite food. However, as she took notice of the messenger headed straight towards the house she rose from her seat and tossed the rest of the fruit into the nearby trash basket. There was no real reason for anyone to be moving that fast towards the Yanagi house if it wasn't an emergency, so she wasn't going to have time to finish the delicious snack.

She walked through the kitchen, into the living room, and reached the front door just as the messenger, puffing from the long run, ran up the porch steps. She opened the door and waited for the messenger to catch his breath. "Something up?", she asked and then waited.

The messenger tried several times to speak before he just handed over the scroll that was specially sealed: apparently the Hinowa Council, or more particularly Kouki, didn't want anyone knowing what was inside of the scroll. Hikari broke the seal easily enough - her new Fuuinjutsu skills coming in handy - and unrolled it as the messenger began to speak. "We have an emergency we need you to handle: I wasn't even fully informed of what it was. Hinowa Council member Kouki told me to bring this straight to you, to stop for nothing, and to make sure I handed it only to you or your brother." With that explanation out of the way the messenger bowed to her and then left.

Hikari closed the front door for a moment and leaned against the wall as she began to read: the scroll indicated a growing problem within the village - one she was only slightly aware of because she had seen a few of the mutilated corpses being brought into the village morgue for identification, which happened to be located in the bottom most level of the hospital. People were disappearing more and more according to the scroll and Kouki was personally asking for Hikari and her twin if he wanted to come with to investigate it, find out what was going on, and to stop it before anyone else got hurt.

Hikari frowned, an odd gesture for her since she always was happy and always had a smile on her face, and using her chakra radar she searched for her brother... depending on what was behind all of this mutilation she was going to need some help. She used the same method he often did to tell her that something was wrong: she hit her foot off of the ground twice. She knew if her brother noticed it he'd likely come see what was going on. Meanwhile she opened the front door and stepped outside. Once off of the porch she stopped and waited to see if her brother was going to show up: all while using her chakra radar to begin to search for any sort of signs of some violent maniac within the village. 

Word Count: 526 / 900+

A while back, 4 S-Rank criminals came to Hinowa with the intention of killing the 3 leaders and taking over it's government for themselves. This plan was thwarted by Kurai, Little Kong, and the group's mole and double agent named Riku. Yesterday, some of the criminal's family members came seeking revenge, bringing with them a small army. Kurai, Riku and Hikari along with Little Kong and Hikari's pet Lemur Shiro were successful in driving them all off, and killing the majority of them.

The majority of Kurai's battle was spent fighting a giant, possibly one of the last of it's kind. He wondered if there were any other like Kuma out there somewhere, and whether or not he'd have to face off against one again. Kurai was able to add to his growing arsenal of techniques which would further cement him as a threat and a force to be reckoned with when it came to the village of Hinowa. He'd spent a lot of time around the walls of the village, most of the day actually, keeping a lookout for any more invaders.

He'd spent so much time keeping his eyes on all directions outside of the village that he hadn't had much of a chance to notice what was going on within. When Hikari sent a signal out that he instantly recognized – felt from where he was standing on the wall that surrounded the village – Shinsai told him that she was still at home. She was holding something in her hands, a scroll, possibly delivered to her by the Chuunin making his way back toward the Admin Complex. The frown on her face told him that something was up; possibly another special mission from those 3 leaders.

If they didn't do it, no one would. That was the philosophy he went by nowdays. There was no use getting mad and raising unnecessary drama, although several times he thought of deserting this place. But a beautiful place such as this was the first that he could truly call home; he'd already killed and broken many in it's defense, and was prepared to kill and break many more if it came to that. Kurai turned and jumped down from the wall, jogging at a quick pace back toward the Yanagi home. He jumped completely over several homes which made his black jacket flap around behind him, resembling a cape of sorts.

Kurai touched down upon the front porch of the Yanagi home, after seemingly flying from nowhere. He straightened out his jacket and sat on the stairs, waiting for his sister to explain what the scroll was all about. Little Kong was in the house, in the hammock in his room, snoring away. Whatever was going on, Kurai figured he and his sister would be enough to handle things, and decided to let the simian prodigy continue sleeping.

Word Count: 477/900

Hikari spotted her brother through both Shinsai and her chakra radar as he began to move from where he had been on the village wall back towards the Yanagi household. She waited until he arrived; seeming to fall out of nowhere. She turned to face him and handed over the mission scroll she had been given. "Apparently we've got a person or persons in the village who have been kidnapping the civilians, torturing them, removing various body parts, and then returning them back to their families when they're done with them... likely for some sick and twisted shock value. Kouki's asked for us personally to handle it: she knows we'll get the job done. We're allowed to use any means necessary, and she wants them dead.", or so the special note at the very bottom of the mission scroll had said. There was no dead or alive with this mission: she wanted the problem destroyed entirely - and Hikari personally had no problem doing just that. People like this were exactly why she trained as hard as she did: she wanted to be able to protect their new home from these sorts of villains.

"I don't know how many people are involved, so I figured some backup would be helpful." She fell silent then, returning to searching for anyone who looked suspicious. She started from the village walls and worked her way inward: and while she saw a lot of things she wished she hadn't she didn't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. However, as she hit the outskirts of the upper residential district, not exactly far from where the Yanagi home was, she spotted exactly what she had been looking for: a girl was in the basement along with two males. The girl was breathing, something that she could judge even through chakra radar was shallow, but the two males were not breathing at all which lead her to believe they were dead. "Crap, I think I found what we're looking for. Household at the edge of our residential district. I can see three people in the basement covered in blood: two don't look as if they're breathing but the third still seems alive. The house is to the left of us."

The house was filled with people, at least twelve: however only five of those seemed to be powerhouses: including one who was younger than herself and Kurai. "We're gonna need a plan..." 

Word Count: 406 + 526 = 932 / 900

Kurai took the scroll as it was handed to him and started to read. It went into detail about how some people were coming up missing, only to be returned days later, often with some sort of bodypart missing. Fingers were pointing to a certain house nearby; one that reeked of blood and other things. The scroll went on to detail that a whole family lived there, but only 5 of them were a serious threat. Everyone else would likely try sneaking offenders while their backs were turned with kunai knives. The strongest of them seemed to be a Taijutsu user. His son used swords. The wife could use Medical Techniques like Hikari could; the daughters, one was an archer, and the other trapped people in seals.

Kurai was able to notice the source of the smells around the same time that Hikari was, looking in the direction of that house with a frown of his own. ”...I wonder why I didn't notice this earlier,” he said, rolling the scroll up again. Kurai thought of pulverizing the entire house into dust, but there was an innocent victim inside. He popped the knuckles on either hand. ”People like these... they're gonna see us coming... But they won't see me. Let me go in first... When you start to hear the commotion, come in after me. With all of their attention on me, they won't see you coming, and in the surprise we should be able to deal with them all quickly.”

Kurai began to channel chakra around his body. The chakra began to bend and reflect light, turning him a transparent color. He disappeared totally from view, proficient enough with this technique that he was also able to hide his scent and even his chakra signature. To all but the most advanced of sensors - such as a Holeman, who could feel the vibrations through air – Kurai was totally invisible. He began walking toward the source of the bloody and wrong smells; the horrible scents growing stronger with the nearer Kurai grew to the residence. He walked around the entire place once. Shinsai and his natural sensory told him that many were inside.

Hiding with Camouflage:

An old looking guy and a younger guy – father and son. The father, bandages wrapped around either hand, looked to be a Taijutsu expert. The son was sharpening a sword – Kenjutsu. The wife had no weapons and brought the father various razors and scalpels to use on his next victim – Medical Techniques. A young girl was in the kitchen. She was probably the Fuuinjutsu user, but looks could always be deceiving. In the rear of the home was a girl with a bow and arrows – Archery. There were various other family members in various other rooms of the house, but those 5 looked the most serious. When one of them, an older brother or uncle by the looks of him, came out on the back porch to smoke from a pipe, Kurai was able to slip quietly and invisibly into the sinister home.

The smells inside of the house were unbearable. Kurai failed to understand how someone could live in this kind of environment. Not only were there the smells of the dead, some of which they appeared to be eating, there were also the smells of the living, the many who over-crowded the house. The stench of armpit, feet and human waste hung throughout the residence in a disgusting mixture. This didn't seem to effect the wife, father or son; all of which were in the living room, watching the father prepare an examination table for the next victim, who was barely alive in the basement.

The son's sword was suddenly snatched from his grasp, turned around, and shoved into his neck. To the father and wife, it appeared that the weapon had a mind of his own. The wife screamed and attempted trying to heal the boy while blood sprayed from his wound like a fire hose, and prompting the father to pull two big daggers from his belt. Other family members in the house flocked to the scene but the father yelled and told them to get out of the room...

Chakra: 775/800

697 + 477 = 1,174/900

Hikari nodded at her brother's plan. He was right, they were bound to have someone looking out or at least checking around the clock for anyone coming near the house: they had plenty of victims to choose from in a growing village such as Hinowa, and they weren't going to give it up that easily. Hikari watched as her brother disappeared right before her eyes: she hadn't known he was capable of such a thing and it made her grin. She watched through her chakra radar and began to wait for the opportune moment to strike.

She saw one of the family members come out of the house and light up something to smoke. She then focused her attention on what was going on inside of the house; waiting to see what was going to happen and what sort of chaos her brother was about to cause. She knew that when she went to move she was going to have to get rid of the guy on the porch if she was going to slip in without anyone shouting an alarm: and so that became her plan. She snuck her way closer until there was no where she could hide and then melded into the earth. Within the earth she moved, going closer to the house while continuing to keep watch through her chakra radar: the earth above her completely undisturbed.

She watched as suddenly the kenjutsu user's sword seemed to lift up all on its own and stab him straight through the neck: causing just the sort of commotion that would allow her to slip in un-noticed. She rose up from the ground as the guy who was smoking turned towards the house as he heard the screaming, with a weapon already in her hand. She sent the weapon, a senbon, flying into the back of the man's neck before he could reach the door and go inside. The man dropped to the porch, his body crumpling right beneath him as he began to go into convulsions and bleed from every orifice from his head. Not waiting around to watch him die she slipped inside just as the screaming started up.

She watched as a young woman with a bow came racing down the steps. Hikari assumed she was coming to see what was going on and she wasn't going to waste any time. She reached into her pouch before she could be spotted from her spot in the shadows next to the door and removed two more senbon. With a flick of her wrist she sent the senbon flying where they embedded themselves into the girls eyes and right into her brain. Her body fell forward and tumbled down the steps where it landed in a heap at the bottom: her bow and quiver of arrows snapping like twigs on the way down.

The youngest of the family came out of the kitchen and spotted Hikari. A twitch started in her left eye at the rage that engulfed her and she let out an angered yell. Hikari knew that the rest of the family would be alerted to her presence by that, but she was satisfied with the fact that both her brother and her had taken one out each before they knew they were there: it evened the odds a little better.

Word Count: 555 + 932 = 1,487 / 900

Jutsu and Chakra Used:

The father began to swing at Kurai's head with both of his daggers. He was full of rage and Kurai could almost feel it pulsating from the father. The sound came from behind that someone was falling down some stairs, producing more screams. One of them was of rage, possibly from watching one of their family members fall.

Kurai ducked underneath the swings of daggers and jumped while twirling to the right, extending his right leg to allow his heel to smash upside the head of the father. Kurai was able to feel whatever bone his foot slammed again shatter under his blow, before the father was launched off of his feet to crash across the living room, knocking things over and making a mess.

The wife and mother picked up 2 of the razors she'd previously brought her husband, coated in a paralyzing agent which made operating on victims easier. She attempted to ambush Kurai from behind, but the kid went low and swept the woman from her feet. As she fell onto the top of her head, the father was getting to his feet. Kurai, while rising from the sweep, formed a Rasengan in his right palm. When the father rushed towards Kurai again, Kurai rushed toward him on a collision course. The father was distracted by the blue glowing thing in Kurai's hand, giving the kid enough time to shove his attack into the man's mid-section.

After an explosive reaction, the father was propelled backwards and smashed through the wall near the front door. He landed outside in the front yard, both of his arms and many of his ribs broken. There was severe damage to his head and neck as well; if he wasn't dead by the time he landed outside in the mess created from his violent trip through the wall, he would be before too long.

Rasengan:

Chakra: 750/800

312 + 1,174 = 1,486/900

The girl Hikari was facing off against stopped her yelling and glared at Hikari for a second; at least before she slammed the palm of her hand into the wall that was right beside her. When her hand made contact she sent a burst of chakra into it, activating the seal that had been placed there: the seal began to spread, its soul purpose to trap Hikari where she stood, or anyone else for that matter who came towards the door she was by.

Before the seal could reach her however Hikari dived head first out of the way. She knew that to keep the trap activated the girl had to keep contact with the activation point: and therefore as Hikari dived she did so straight towards the girl. It was risky, there was always a chance she had a weapon on her, but it was the only way to deactivate the seal. Hikari knocked the girl backwards and to the ground. As she half expected the girl pulled a kunai from her belt and swung it straight towards Hikari's neck. Fast reflexes allowed Hikari to grab the knife before it could make contact, and a flick of her own wrist gave her more than enough power to snap the girls wrist, the breaking of the bone loud enough to echo through the house.

Hikari was al too aware of several of the other members of the family running out of the house, some even going so far as to try diving through the windows. They apparently didn't want to stick around to be punished next for what was going on in the house. Hikari also knew she needed to end this quickly, locate the entrance to the basement - which she knew to be the door under the staircase that led upstairs - and go heal the girl who was still alive before she died.

Hikari cocked her fist back and sent it slamming into the girls face while coated with explosive orange chakra: the contact caused the girls face to explode, instantly killing her and ending Hikari's problem. Covered in the girls blood Hikari got to her feet and crossed the few feet to the basement door which she threw open so hard that the doorknob embedded itself into the wall where it stuck hard. Hikari ran down the steps, glad to see that the basement was empty save for the victims, and went over to the living girl.

Healing white chakra glowed from her hands as she made quick work to the many vicious injuries that covered the girl. Her screaming stopped, replaced by a scared whimper. "Shhh, it's alright.. I'm going to have you out of these chains soon.", Hikari said to assure the girl she was fine now. With the healing completed Hikari searched through the bloody mess of scalpels, and other torture tools, until she located the key to the girls chains. She unlocked them quickly. "Follow me upstairs, but stay behind me... you'll see a male who looks like me, that's my brother, he won't hurt you." The girl nodded in understanding and the two made their way up the steps with Hikari in the lead who was paying close attention now to her brothers fight to see if it was safe to allow the girl out of the basement. 

Word Count: 555 + 1,487 = 2,042 / 900

Jutsu and Chakra Used:

Hikari punched someone behind him with one of her bomb maneuvers, creating an explosion. Kurai could smell the aroma of cooked flesh, so it was safe to assume that whoever she hit was no longer alive. She went toward the basement next, most likely to free whoever it was they had captive down there.

In the meantime, Kurai ducked and dodged the many swings of a scalpel in one hand and a razor in the other, executed by the last remaining family member who posed any threat: the mother. Kurai couldn't bring himself to hit her, even if she were a cannibal eating parts of other villagers. What he did do was skilfully dodge her so that she was tripping over her own 2 feet and stumbling outside through the same hole her husband made on his violent trip out.

She stood up and didn't see Kurai, but the smouldering and dying body of her husband. The ground around them, soft and unearthed from the father's impact, suddenly began to move as if it had a life all it's own. The dirt seem to form a large hand and grab the two of them. The female attempted to scream, but her mouth was filled with dirt. Besides the random pop and crunch sounds of bones being broken under the pressure of the earth compressing around them, nothing else was heard.

Earth Binding Coffin:

Kurai rose from the ground, looking toward the front porch while dusting off his black jacket. The person in the basement, a female, was alive. It appeared that Hikari had healed her, so it was another job well done.

Chakra: 730/800

269 + 1,486 = 1,755/900

Seeing that her brother had handled the last of the five who seemed willing to fight, and seeing that the rest who had had no intention of putting up a fight had fled, Hikari turned her attention to the female and motioned towards the door. "You're free to leave. The people who tortured you are dead, and the rest of their family are gone. I'm sure they won't be coming back anytime soon. Head home and let your family know you're safe: I'm sure they're worried about you. Get yourself cleaned up afterward. If you find any wounds I might have missed, or just need anything in general you can find me normally at the hospital - and if I'm not there one of my nurses can find me for you - just ask for Hikari Yanagi." The girl, still shaking but otherwise getting over the shock of being kidnapped and tortured, headed out of the door Hikari had nodded at. She paused long enough to look at Kurai, realize that he was the brother Hikari had spoke of,  before she took off at a dead run towards the place she called home - towards her family who was waiting anxiously for her arrival.

Hikari gave another glance around the kitchen, noticing the way the human flesh was laid out on plates, or chopped up for consumption and gave a disgusted shake of her head. She walked outside and looked over to her brother with a sigh. "I think we should keep an eye on this place for the next while: just in case those people who ran off decide to try and come back and set up shop again... getting really tired of these bad guys praying on our villagers." 

Word Count: 288 + 2,042 = 2,330 / 900