Setting the stage 2

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Sable holds his breath, pulling his chakra close to his core. His entire body is tense, muscles taut and ready to spring to action. The black cloak that drapes over his arm moves and a glint of metal under the moonlight reveals that he is indeed hiding a short blade on his back. He moves closer to the targets that he and his team were shadowing: two nuke-nin from Suna.

It was a pity, for Suna. They were seriously understaffed and overworked after the Third Shinobi War, he didn't blame them for defecting.

Besides, they gave his squad some work. 

And boy, did he like work.

His team had been tracking them for about two to three weeks, they've been pretty crafty and giving them a slip. Unfortunately for the two nuke-nin from Suna, this was Sable's home turf.

The two figures below the branches didn't seem to have noticed him yet. They were huddled up by the small fire that they made, roasting a couple of lizard-like creatures for food. Leave it to Suna shinobi to make the local, scaly wildlife into food. If you looked under Sable's mask, you'd likely find a smile of disdain. 

Sable had not much love for shinobi from Suna.

Two hostile. Clear. Engage? He raises a gloved arm, signing in rapid succession. Sable then sucks in a breath and gazes towards the canopy ahead, waiting for a signal.

Hound nods, a lock of silver hair pokes out of the side of his mask as he signs back.

Affirmative.

Sable's lips spread into a face splitting grin, angling his fingers to make an oblong frame. Like a viewfinder, only deadlier.

"Shiranshin no Jutsu!"

A small bolt of chakra crackles from between his fingers, piercing into one of their bodies with an audible sshng.

On cue, his entire squad erupts out of the leaves; fangs bared and weapons unsheathed. The two other nuke-nin didn't stand a chance.

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"Ne, Hound-dono, " Sable dusts his hands and adjusts his cloak, "I think we were supposed to bring them in alive."

The mangled remains of their targets lay strewn across the little clearing that they chased them to, courtesy of Hound and Weasel of course. Ever since he got thrown into ANBU, the Sandaime had ordered Hound to, uh. Look after him. In a nutshell.

Sable hopes that the Intelligence Bureau could identify their disfigured faces so that he can collect their bounties. He doesn't voice it out.

"It's better if they're dead," Hound responds, his voice curt and concise. He swings his tanto into a wide arc in front of him, the blood and liquid remaining on the blade scattering on the ground.

It was Hound's habit to do such things. Effective, but flashy.

Otter gives a wry chuckle as he wipes a blood spot that had splattered on the front of his flak jacket, "We didn't need that many people for this mission, Hound could have done it on his own."

Hound ignores Otter and unravels the large scroll marked with a black band strapped to his back and seals both the bodies inside. Sable doesn't know if the Intelligence Bureau would be able to identify the bodies later for their bounties, but he held his tongue. To him, Hound always seems on edge, ruthless and effective. Sandaime seemed to have given Sable a scary guard dog.

"Let's head back to the village," Hound commands and the three of them disappear in a flurry of leaves.

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