Various C Rank Missions [Private][5 C Ranks, 3,658 Words Total]

Catch the Animal:

"What's first on the list of things to do today, Arty?", asked Fa Mulan, the albino monkey with whom Artemis had been friends with for over five years now. Artemis looked down at the scroll in her hand and unrolled it. She glanced over the mission she had decided to take - she felt like she had been slacking and wanted to make up for it - and reread it silently at first.

Artemis then shifted her attention onto Fa Mulan and smiled a bit. "Seems like we've got an interesting one to start with. A C rank none the less. We've been tasked with finding a pet cat whom escaped earlier today. Apparently it's completed domesticated so the owner believes it won't survive the night if it's not found before then and I happen to agree." Artemis then turned the picture that had come with the scroll around so that Fa Mulan could see the picture of the orange colored tabby kitten.

"Oh no! We must save that poor adorable kitten."

"And we will, no worry, Fa. We'll get to her before anything bad happens. Come on, let's not waste time." With that said the pair were out the door and well on their way to the last location the kitten was known to have been seen in. The plan was simple; start with the last confirmed area of sighting and then track from there. If that didn't work? Then they would go the whole way back to the beginning - but she trusted the report, and didn't think that that would be nessecary.

When they arrived at the location they began to search around carefully, while being sure not to disturb anything and make their jobs harder. Fa Mulan took to the nearby tree, using the height to her advantage, while Artemis remained on the ground. There were definite signs of tiny paw tracks near the tree, but none coming from it. "I see tracks that are tiny enough to belong to the kitten, but they seem concentrated around the tree and nowhere else. Do you see anything Fa?"

"There's a tuff of orange fur up here. The trees are close enough that the branches are nearly touching. Maybe the kitten climbed the tree? I'll spread out a bit and see what I can find.", came Fa Mulan's response before the mokey began to do just that. Artemis followed from the ground, still keeping a look out for any hint of orange among all of the brown and green. Another minute or two would pass before she would hear Fa Mulan speak again, "Here kitty cat. Come here... I won't harm you. Come on, I know you're stuck." Artemis looked up to see Fa Mulan attempting to coax the small kitten over to her; the cat was all but clinging to the tree branch. Soon enough though the kitten edged closer, more and more, until Fa Mulan was able to carefully scoop up the cat and climb down with one arm. Fa Mulan handed the kitten over to Artemis, and together the two took her back to her owner's house, who was more than happy to see her safe and sound, albeit a bit scared due to having been trapped up so high.

Word Count: 542 / 250

Protection Mission - Escort the Ninja:

"Come on, Fa. I don't want to be late.", Artemis called out to her monkey companion who was busy in the other room doing only the god's knew what.

"One second, almost done.", Fa Mulan called back. Seconds later the albino monkey appeared and climbed right up on Artemis' back, which had been her usual perch when she was much younger, but which she still liked to use from time to time when she didn't feel up to walking. "What are we doing again, today?"

"We have to escort the leader of a minor village back home since he's done meeting with Temaki. It's not supposed to be dangerous, but Temaki thinks it'd be better if he had someone to go with him just in case."

"That makes sense. Given his position of power he's likely worth a bit of ryo."

"That's exactly what I think Temaki was thinking too. Plus, it betters village relations."

"Eww, politics. Enough said." Fa Mulan stuck her tongue out; she didn't like village politics at all. The monkey, for as smart as she was and as well versed as she was in everything, keeping it simple was still the best. She preferred to be handing bad guys their asses instead of worrying about shmoozing up to another village and making nice. Artemis happened to agree, but she hadn't voiced it given who all she lived with. Artemis simply laughed and walked out of the house and to the meeting point which happened to be right at the north most village gate.

When they arrived Artemis looked around as Fa Mulan climbed down from her back. Their escortee hadn't arrived yet which was all well and good because it gave them a moment or two to talk and work out a plan of action. "Fa, while we're escorting him I want you to keep to the trees as much as possible; the way you can move through them so smoothly will work wonders and give us a height advantage over the area. I'll be to the right of our escortee so my dominate hand is free at all times in case the need for action arises. Alright?" Fa Mulan nodded, hopping up and down in place; she was excited to get going.

Shortly afterward their escortee arrived wearing tradiational leader - not kage mind you but close enough - robes. "Hello, I'm Artemis and this is Fa Mulan. We'll be your escorts today."

"Ah, splendid. A lovely young lady to converse with, and a lovely young monkey too.", the escortee teased lightly; he meant no offense as the twinkle in his eye and his playful voice dictacted, so neither female was insulted in the least. Artemis simply chuckled and Fa Mulan hid her face in mild embarassment before taking to the trees like they had discussed.

"Fa Mulan will be our eyes from above while we walk. I'd like you to keep to my left please, this way my dominate hand is free."

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Are you expecting trouble?"

"No, but I prefer to be safe instead of sorry."

"Brains too? Splendid."

Much of the trip went without cause or incident; gentle and light chatter, some mild flirting which was so innocent and harmless that Artemis couldn't even be insulted or irritated by it. It wasn't until they got near the escortee's village gates that a warning came from above in the form of a monkey like chirp. Artemis threw her hand out, stilling her escortee who took one look at the kunai now in her hand and knew he had to keep silent.

From behind them she heard footsteps and turned in their direction as Fa Mulan dipped deeper into the trees shadows; if she hadn't been spotted then she would use her position for a sneak attack. "How stupid are you? Traveling out here with only one bodyguard, and a woman at that.", one of the two spoke.

Artemis took a moment to look them over; they didn't look all that strong - she placed them at genin level strength. They also didn't look to be heavily armed; though she could assume they likely had some sort of projectile weapons at aleast on them. The most prominent trait of course was that both of the Hinowa hitai-ate they wore had a slash mark through them, marking them as missing-nin. "You shouldn't talk like that to the lady, she might kick your asses.", her escortee responded; he too had caught on to the fact that they hadn't mentioned the monkey, and he knew better than to bring it up.

"If she's so great then can she dodge this?!" One of the two shouted, suddenly slipping a kunai from its sheath and flinging it at Artemis. Artemis simply caught it between her index and middle finger, flipped it up into the air, and as it came back down she spun to pick up momentum before kicking the handle of the kunai and causing the thing to go speeding right back towards its owner. Given their lack of training there was no dodging the kunai that lodged itself into the genins eye, killing him before his body even dropped to the ground. Before the remaining missing nin could respond Fa Mulan launched herself from her hiding spot, kunai in hand as well, and landed on the genin. She made quick work of slitting his throat open, and was off of him again before the blood could even begin to squirt out. The remaining missing nin was dead seconds later, laying in a pool of his own blood.

"Well, can't say I didn't warn them, right?", came the voice of the escortee whom was now looking at both Artemis and the monkey with fascination in his eyes. Artemis nodded with shrug of her shoulders, and then nodded towards the village. "Go ahead and get inside before anyone else shows up. I need to get back and report this, and get someone to handle the bodies."

She would wait long enough for her escortee to get inside before her and Fa Mulan would take off back to Hinowa, and off to report in on what had happened as well as the two bodies left behind which would definitely need cleaned up properly.

Word Count: 1,044 / 250

Stop that Thief:

"We need to pick up some more weapons; I'd like you to be able to carry your own this way you don't have to rely so much on mine; not that I mind. But, this way you're always armed too.", Artemis explained to Fa Mulan as the pair walked down the market. They were headed towards the stalls that sold weapons, as well as the blacksmith shops. Artemis could have custom ordered the stuff ahead of time, but she rather liked to mess around and waste time watching the blacksmiths work their trade.

Fa Mulan, from her usual perch on Artemis' back let out a serious of monkey-like chirping noises: she too liked the market becuase the people fascinated her about as much as she fascinated them being not only a monkey but an albino one. The pair made a variety of stops, grabbing up all manner of weapons, as well as a few wireless radios and a good two hundred feet of wire. Artemis also grabbed a tiny backpack, meant for a child, but perfectly sized to fit on Fa Mulan's back; it would allow her to carry her own weapons without issue. She put her own weapons away, as and got Fa Mulan situated with her own, before they began to make their way back through the market.

Just as they were hitting the portion of the market that sold a variety of jewels and precious gems she heard someone shout out "STOP THAT THIEF! SOMEONE HELP! STOP HIM!" Artemis and Fa Mulan shifted their attention towards the noise and then towards the individual who was busy fleeing the scene. "You take the high road, I'll take the low?", Art suggested. Fa Mulan nodded and jumped up to the nearby awning. She began to jump and move from one after another while Artemis made her way through the thankfully thin crowd. They each took a different side, effectively beginning to box the thief in and force him down the center of the main market road.

As soon as the crowd began to thicken he found himself a sitting duck. Artemis caught up soon enough and grabbed at him, easily forcing his arms behind his back before he could try anything and thus restraining him. The kid struggled, but he was no where near strong enough to break free from Artemis hold. Fa Mulan disappeared to go grab an on duty shinobi while Artemis made quick work emptying out the kids pockets. Just as she was finishing a fellow Jounin appeared and she handed the kid over who was quickly hauled off.

Artemis made her way back to the stall from which the goods were sold and handed them over. "Oh thank you so much."

"No prob." Artemis said with a wave, before joining Fa Mulan who was standing a ways away and heading back towards home.

Word Count: 478 / 250

Patrol Duty:

It seemed that Artemis had pulled patrol duty; not that she minded, especially given the village was momentarily short handed. Nope, there'd be no complaints from her. Besides, the money behind it was good, and she was saving up for something pretty special. So yeah, no complaining would come from her. Besides, it was a very good excuse to take a nice and long nap during the day without anyone being able to call her lazy for it - not that anyone would, well, not anyone important at least. Fa Mulan had likewise sprawled herself out in her hammock and taken a nap, too. They both would need to be rested enough to pull an 11pm to 7am shift after all.

When Artemis' alarm clock went off at 10pm she looked over at it with a glare before slapping the thing into silence via the button at the top. "Come on, Fa. Up we go.", she called out into the darkness. Though, knowing Fa Mulan she was likely up already, and sure enough in the next moment that became clear.

"Already up. I made you a huge cup of iced coffee, just like you like it.", came Fa Mulan's voice from the doorway. "I also went ahead and packed up our weapons, too. I don't think we'll need them but better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"That's right. Awesome. How long have you been awake for?", she asked while she yawned and stretched out before jumping to her feet. A quick fix of her ponytail was all that was needed before she followed Fa Mulan out of their shared bedroom and into the kitchen where sure enough there was a huge cup of coffee waiting for her with a lid and straw so she could take it with her if she wasn't finished with it by the time it was time to leave.

"Just an hour or so. I figured I'd make my time useful and give you a chance to sleep; you didn't sleep much the night before so I thought you needed it."

"Well thanks, Fa. I appreciate it."

"That's what friends are for.", Fa Mulan responded, waving away the thank you. Fa Mulan liked taking care of Artemis because Artemis had taken care of her; it was a equal situation type of deal. Artemis simply chuckled as she slid her butt onto a stool by the kitchen counter and began to take a sip of her coffee. As the two continued to converse the clock ticked down until it was finally time to go. A quick double check of weapons from both of them and they were out the door; Artemis with her remaining coffee in hand.

The pair reached the meeting point, were given their assignment quickly enough, and took over to the location they were supposed to spend the night patrolling - the market. Fa Mulan took to the rooftops and awnings as she often did while Artemis remained on the ground. The pair made their way along their assigned route and back again, making a full circle every five minutes on the dot at their pace - plenty good enough for a simple patrol duty after all.

About halfway through their patrol, when it was nearly three in the morning Fa Mulan made a soft chirping noise and then pointed towards what was clearly a young kid who was definitely outside past curfew. Artemis approached slowly, as to not startle the kid into running. "Hey, shouldn't you be home in bed?"

It was then that a female head emerged from the shadows next to the boy; the pair had been making out clearly. "Getcho butts home, now." They didn't talk back, nor did they hesitate. The pair took off, heading back towards the residential district: when a Jounin told you to move you moved after all.

With the kids gone Artemis and Fa Mulan took back to patrolling the area, continug on that same five minute loop as before. The next few hours went past without incident, and eventually the sky became filled with a variety of beautiful colors as the sun began to rise. A check of her watch and Artemis could see that it was 7am, quitting time. "Come on, Fa. We'll go stop somewhere and get breakfast and then head home, alright?"

"Sounds good to me!" Fa Mulan exclaimed as she jumped down from the nearby awning, landed on the ground, and then scrambled up to her usual perched spot on Artemis' back.

Word Count: 750 / 250

Defeat the Bandit!:

"So, what's the plan this time Arty?", asked the albino monkey standing at the strange looking woman's side. Artemis had begun to undergo some changes, albiet some rebelious looking ones but ones she enjoyed none the less. Artemis made a soft Hmm? type noise as she shifted her strange colored gaze down to the monkey who was looking up at her. "To get this bandit that's been robbing everyone...?", the monkey added, clearly amused to have caught Artemis deep in though.

"Well, I've looked over the reports and figured out a sort of path that he's been making through the upper class district. It seems like he hits every two to three hours down the row. I figure I have the location of his next hit figured out pretty well, so we'll wait in the shadows and see if he strikes. From the amount of items that have been taken I'm assuming it's just a single person - a lot gets taken, but not more than what would fit in a sack or two. Definitely not a large job. He hits around the same time each night too, which while not smart on his part will make our job a whole lot easier.", Artemis explained to the now silent monkey while the pair walked at a casual pace up the street. It was dark already and getting darker still. The moonless night would certainly help to keep them hidden as well as giving them the upper hand - both her and Fa Mulan were trained in night combat the same as day combat, and given how long they'd been in the dark already their eyes were definitely adjsuted to the lack of brightness.

"Sounds excellent. Are we going to catch him going into the house, or coming out of it?", Fa Mulan asked when Artemis had gone silent.

"Well, we need to make sure we get the right guy, and since we don't have a description of him, we'll catch him going in if he uses lock picks, or coming out if he just walks right in the place like he owns it. We need to make sure it's the right guy, becuase if we snatch the wrong one he might get tipped off and change his motive of operation."

"That makes sense. Where are we hiding?" Artemis made a motion for Fa Mulan to follow her and the monkey did. The pair found a nice and dark spot among some bushes. The bush had recently been trimmed, and had a fairly decent spot within it that the pair could sit in safely while still being able to have an excellent view of the surround area. It would also help to keep them better hidden than just some shadows and darkness. So, the pair took up position and silently waited with the kind of patience that came from years of training doing things such as this.

It took nearly an hour of waiting before a very suspicious individual began to make his way up the street. He wasn't dressed richly like the rest of this areas populace had been, and he was wearing all black. He had a black hat on top of his head, and he was carrying two sacks that looked more like pillow cases than anything on his shoulder - though they were empty at the moment. He kept looking around, clearly looking to see if anyone was around. This paranoid act got even worse as he walked up the path to the house across from where Fa Mulan and Artemis were positioned. After one last glance he kneeled down and reached into his pocket where his lock picking tools were. As he got busy trying to pick the lock Artemis and Fa Mulan made their move.

Artemis circled wide to the left while Fa Mulan took the right; moving like a pack of highly trained wolves - and lets face it, after you lived with so many you picked up a thing or two. By the time the bandit saw them it was too late. Artemis lunged, dodging a poorly thrown kunai, as she grabbed at the mans arms. Fa Mulan made quick work of disarming him of the other kunai while Artemis got a better grip on her captive. "That's enough, keep struggling and I'll put you in a prison jutsu you won't enjoy." Bluffing, she was defintiely bluffing, but he didn't need to know that. However, the threat was enough to get him to comply, and she made the arrest, leading him straight for processing and booking.

After her and Fa Mulan turned the bandit over, Artemis made quick work in filling out a detailed report of what had happened, sticking around long enough to hear reports that the bandits house had been searched and all of the property that had gone stolen had been recovered. Figuring that was a good days work she turned in her report and headed out of hte building with Fa Mulan in tow, off to grab a bite to eat before it got too late.

Word Count: 844 / 250