The Kazankage spared no expense when he commissioned this apartment for his representative. The place was huge. There were three bedrooms and two baths, as well as a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a small workout room. Why the oldman had thought to get a three bedroom apartment for one representative was unknown to Kano, but he was glad he did that.

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KCA1
KCA2
KCA3

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"Guys?" Tsu said, knocking on the front door for a change, a sure sign of trouble "Are you in there?"

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Hinji was there, but he didn't answer. He was busy putting the final brushstrokes on a new summons scroll and he had to make sure that it was flawlessly done. Therefore, his raven flew into the main room and squaked an affirmative.

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El who had yet to fix his guitar came out of his bedroom, sliding the soji sharply with a bit of aggravation. "Yes sensei?" He asked. He would normally be excited at the prospect of a new mission if he had managed to fix his guitar.

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Kano looked up curiously from the couch. It was the first time he'd relaxed all day. It was odd to see her come in through the door..."Something wrong, Sensei?"

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"We've got a new mission." Tsu said, walking in, the papers under her armpit "It's dangerous." She swallowed softly, then shook her head and moved further into the house "Briefing. Now."

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Kano swallowed hard and got to his feet, following after her a little nervously. She never acted like this, especially about missions. "Is it bad, Sensei?"

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"Yes." Tsu said flatly as she walked into the main room

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El p-eeked back into his room, looking at the shattered guitar on the floor. He closed the soji and followed after them. "Sensei..." He said, ashamed to admit it. "I... I haven't been able to fix my guitar... I have no weapon..."

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Tsu let out a curse. She glared at the files, looking too serious for her own good. "Have you got no back ups? No other weapons at all?" she asked.

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Kano grimaced when El said he was weaponless..."Where are we off to, Sensei? Maybe we could pick up a guitar for him to use there?"

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"We'll be protecting some merchants. Basically, the biggest merchants around. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a guitar or two laying around." Tsu said, before looking around and saying "Where is Hinji?"

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Hearing his master's name, Hinji's raven cawed and turned his head to point his beak toward's his room. It then looked at Tsu and shook its head 'no'.

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Tsu glared at Hinji's bird before saying "Get him now, or I will eat you. Do you understand me? This is an A rank mission, and we cannot mess around here waiting for him."

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The bird didn't fear being eaten, as it was nothing more then a solid manifestation of shadow. It did know that Hinji would punish it if it were to disturb him, and that was a bigger concern for it. It decided that checking to see the progress of Hinji's work wouldn't bother the young ninja. So, with deliberate lack of speed, it walked to the edge of the couch it was on before lazily taking flight and going into his master's bedroom.

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"That bird is both cool and creepy at the same time..." Kano said quietly, hidign a smirk with his hand.

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"I can borrow Akane's Ocarina." El told his sensei. "And if we are raveling to a merchant village I may be able to purchase a few guitars... Normal guitars will not hold up against the chakra I must channel into it though."

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"Ask her about it. If she doesn't need it herself, then take it. If she does need it... Maybe they'll have a guitar with your specifications." Tsu said softly "These people supply ninjas everywhere. They might have a guitar for you."

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"If that is true then I may very well find a guitar from my own village." El said hopefully. Though it still meant he had failed to repair his own. "Though... one of my village guitars would be far too expensive..." He suddenly thought of Kami and her abundance of wealth she had no idea what to do with. "I... I could ask Kami..."

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Hinji came out of his room shortly after his raven entered. He had a large scroll strapped to his back and the case Kano had bought for his supplies under his arm. "Why are we protecting merchants?" he asked simply.

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"Because A-class mercenaries are trying to kill them." Tsu said flatly "And a good relationship with the merchants means good deals."

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"So what are we up against?" Kano asked her curiously, wanting to know the strength of their foes.

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Tsu indicated the files on the table. "Five jonin level ninja. You can read about them here. They're very deadly... but we were requested by name. Us and the other team. And... there really aren't any other teams in this place."

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"Sensei, may I run and ask Kami a question before their squad leaves for the Tardis?" El asked. He glanced at Kano, Kami was his after all. "If I might purchase a guitar there..." He had some money saved, but he sent so much back home.

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Kano had an idea about why El wanted to see Kami. He would be in the same boat really, if there was something in this merchant village that caught his eye, he'd probably have to ask her as well...

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"Go." if El wanted to ask her for money, then that was fine. Tsu just hoped the place actually sold guitars. She looked around at the others "Any more questions?"

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"Thank you Sensei." El said, hurrying out the door. He stopped in his room to quickly gather his supplies so he didn't hold everyone else up. He then hurried out to Oita's house.

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Kano grabbed the file and started flipping through it. "The Mistress of Chains, the Assassin Archer, and the Master of Blades? Who do they think they're kidding with names like those? I mean...I can understand the assassin guy, with a name like Iteza, I'd want another name too..."

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"They have killed thousands. Each. These men are in the Bingo book, they're A rank assassins, and they... have silly names, but they're still dangerous." Tsu warned Kano "Don't take them lightly."

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"Just because I make jests of their names, does not mean that I do not respect their power, Sensei." Kano tried to explain himself. "Their crimes are...rather astounding, and mostly done in a single night as well." He swallowed hard and looked at the others, "The Mistress of Chains destroyed an entire village overnight..."

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"They are almost something to admire, where it not for their horrendous crimes." Hinji said as he looked over the files with Kano. "To achieve such power must have taken great sacrifices and training."

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"Be careful of the bowman, alright?" Tsu said, frowning and pulling out the file "He strikes from a distance and is likely to try and kill us without us even knowing. Do not stand still, do not run in patterns. Use cover until you can get close."

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"He's the only one who seems all that threatening according to this stuff. I mean the chain lady, she flattened a city; and this Iron Face guy sank a ship and killed the crew. I don't mean to scoff at their abilities, but the archer took out 38 Jonin...all alone. That's really nothing to shake your head at..." Kano explained with a shudder.

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El came back, not bothering to knock. He looked a little breathless from having ran.

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Having nothing to add, Hinji continued to look at the files.

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Tsu looked around a gave a small nod to El. "You've not missed much." she said gently, motioning him to move closer to the table "Look at the files. These people will be our, and the other team's opponents. Now, this one," she picked up the Master of Blades file "I think... he has some kind of history with Ishiaki. Yes, see, from the same village. This means that they will likely fight. And he seemed nervous about him, so I suggest you don't approach him at any point in the battle."

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"He made Master Ishiaki nervous?" Kano asked in disbelief, the man always seemed so calm and collected. The thought of someone making him nervous was very unsettling.

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Tsu nodded "He's dangerous. Don't go near him." She sighed softly, flicking through the files slowly "I'm not going to lie to you. I tried to reject this mission. I do not think we should be heading out after people like this when half of us are still recovering from last time."

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El moved to the table as Tsu Sensei had said and sat, looking at the files.

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"I want you guys to fit some extra medical supplies in your packs if you get manage it." Tsu said, frowning as she tried to think on the spot "We might have more injured than we're used to."

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"More injured amongst who?" Hinji asked not sure if she was referring to their teams or the merchants.

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"The teams. Merchants. Anyone. These are going to be violent and sudden attacks. We will do our absolute best to protect everyone, but it's also a good idea to have items there for when you can't." Tsu said grimly.

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Kano swallowed and nodded. He didn't have many medical supplies in his pack to begin with, just the basic bandages and salves. "I..I will have to pick up some more, sensei." He sighed and flipped through the folder a little more. He settled on the grim sketch of this Tetsu Vizago. "The Iron Face...they don't even have a picture of the guy...I take it this sketch was done by someone who had seen him, right? I can see where he gets his name. Is it a mask, you think?" The drawing certainly implied that. The majority of the man's face was seemingly hidden behind a metallic mask. The 'mask' covered from cheek to cheek, it starting at the top of his forehead and spanned the length of his face. Just above his mouth it broke, so as to enable breathing. There was no nose to speak of in the entire sketch. "Very intimidating."

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"Agreed." Hinji said in response to Kano's comment on the mask. "I wonder if that is the purpose of the mask, or is the man's face disfigured?"

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"Kill him and find out." Tsu said with a little shrug "Now, I don't want any of you going one on one with these guys. Not like before. If a fight happens, make sure you've got back up."

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El nodded hard at that. Though he had succeeded against Victor he had only done so by the skin of his teeth. This bunch looked much worse than the rogues who had attacked the Frost.

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"If he's the leader, it'll take a lot more than it would the others to take him down. Just like in the Frost." Kano noted and tried to think of what this Iron Faced would be capable of. "So what could this caravan possibly contain that would warrant such force?"

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"Sometimes it's not just the cargo, but the people. From what I could learn from a rather... sparse discussion with the Kage, we're protecting a senior tradesman and his cargo. So the person is as important as the items. I'm sure we'll get more informed about it as we go along." Tsu said with a small sigh.

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"So we protect this..." Kano had to pause to look up the guy's name in the pamphlet. "Vannor from these mercs, and protect some sort of cargo that he's got. That shouldn't be too bad..." He didn't sound sure of that at all.

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Hinji recalled their fight in the Frost about as warily as El did. We're it not for Tsu sensei he would be nothing more then a frost bitten husk in the snow.

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Tsu gave a weak nod, closing her eyes for a second before straightening up "Go get packed. We'll meet the other team at the Tardis."

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"Yes sensei." Hinji said before vanishing into his room.

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Kano couldn't help but linger behind at the table. "Sensei, do you believe we can succeed?"

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"I believe we can succeed. I just... I don't know if we can succeed without injury..." or death. Tsu sighed, running a hand casually through her hair before giving a weak smile to Kano "I'll have your back, I promise. All of you."

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"I shall endeavor to do the same for you Sensei." Kano told her boldly and rose from the table. There was so much to pack...

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El, who didn't at all feel well about having no weapon and potentially needing to borrow currency from Kami to get one, followed Kano.

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Kano set to packing up as many supplies as he could possibly cram into his bags. He couldn't shake the nervous tremor that traveled through his body as he packed. Their sensei was nervous about this mission...that was certainly not a good sign. He ran through the checklist in his mind, making sure to double up on weaponry and medical stuffs. He would have to purchase some more when they got there...given Sensei's nervous attitude at least.

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Hinji returned from his room with a backpack on. He had stuffed it full of the necessary supplies, both medical and not, and the case holding his calligraphy supplies in case he had the chance to make up more cards. "Ready when you are sensei."

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"Alright. We're just waiting for the others for now." Tsu said, nodding her head, looking obviously troubled. She didn't like this at all. She'd prefer to go alone with Ishiaki.

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El's poncho sagged a bit, laden down with extra supplies. He was just about ready to leave when he turned back to the scroll with his guitar, smashed into pieces laid out on top of it like an unfinished puzzle. Maybe once more? He crossed the room and sat in front of his guitar and checked the instructions on the scroll. It required the full vocal spectrum, or that of another guitar... He preformed the necessary hand signs and began to sing.

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Giving his bags a once over, Kano adjusted the distribution of their weight slightly and then righted his vest before heading out the hall and pausing at El's door. He heard his friend singing and hoped that whatever he was trying for the guitar worked. The thought of going into battle without all their weapons was a little frightening and El's best weapon was his guitar...

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Tsu cocked her head at the singing, but didn't say anything just in case. There had to be a reason why El had broken out into song after all. She could let him be for a moment... The longer they held this off the better in her opinion.

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Hoping El's attempts would finally prove fruitful, Kano continued out to the main room. "Ready as ever, Sensei." He declared and stood by the door with Hinji.

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El trembled, trying his very best to put his guitar together again. His chakra flowed from him, picking up the pieces and forming them into the shape of his instrument. It was all there, all perfect, every little piece and splinter all perfectly prepared for the jutsu to work. A bead of sweat fell down and off of El's nose as he sang the last of the notes of the jutsu. As he fell quiet his chakra looked as if it had fused the broken bits of the guitar together. He had just enough time to smile his success before the whole thing fell apart again. The sound that came from his room next were a string of curses in his native tongue.

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"El... are you alright?" Tsu called out, hearing the yelling from the other room. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible... Though... she didn't know. Staying here sounded like a good idea.

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El came out a moment later, slamming the soji behind him. "Fine." He said angrily and headed through the front door.

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"Does everyone have everything all packed up?" Tsu asked, looking around at El, Kano and Hinji. She wanted to double check.

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"Everything I've got." Kano told her with a nod.

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"Yes." Hinji said like a child who had been asked the same question repeatedly. He was ready and anxious to go.

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"Lets go then." Tsu said, almost wanting to punch Hinji for being an ass in the face of possible death. She'd asked if he'd had any questions and had been completely blown off for it. She suspected he wasn't taking this seriously. She opened the door, leading them out.

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