Hakagakure ANBU Corps Briefing I

ANBU Tapir would inform ANBU Lynx that her presence was required through her ANBU tattoo and sure enough Lynx would arrive at the ANBU base within Hakagakure. Upon arrival she would notice ANBU Tapir upon walking in who would motion for her to follow to a room which was occupied by four other ANBU operatives all of whom seemed to be waiting in a line specifically for ANBU Tapir and presumably her.

"ANBU Lynx, these are ANBU Goat, Ferret, Pangolin and Cobra." ANBU Tapir said, with their descriptions not being as important to someone who was blind as such each of them would make a grunt sound so that Lynx could associate their name with their voice. "These four will be the ANBU you will have the most missions with, as they are part of your unit. Occasionally you may be assigned to other units as part of a mission or series of missions but these are the four who will be watching your back the most in the field. As such it is imperative that you at least obtain a professional working relationship with them, I will give you time to do so." he said before turning around and walking out of the door which would close with a click sound while the others would look amongst themselves before Goat decided to speak first.

"Welcome to our unit ANBU Lynx, due to your newbie status we won't be going on anything too serious for the time being but in about a month or earlier if we can see that you are ready for it we'll be going back to our regular pace. I have faith that you will not need us to handhold you in the field when that time comes. He said his voice seemed to be friendly for the most part and the way he spoke made what he said not sound condescending.

"We've read your file, do you have any particular requirements for our shared living space to make your life easier, or would you prefer for us to not take anything into account. Either is fine, but I would rather know now so that it isn't a point of contention later. ANBU Ferret said with the others being quiet enough that she could be heard clearly despite being rather soft spoken. She was currently sitting on one of the benches near the lockers which they would store their uniforms in though at every entrance within this portion of the base there seemed to be some indents in the wall which would allow Lynx to figure out what section she was in.

"Unit Training occurs at 6 am, you'll be expected to meet us here first change and then head to the ANBU specific training grounds. If you have interest in something but lack the ability or knowledge to get it on your own just speak up. It's annoying when someone tries to just do everything by themselves and ends up screwing us over, that's what happened to our last member, he died in the end so that goes to show how idiotic such actions are." ANBU Pangolin said rather bluntly as he wasn't the type to mince words and judging by what they had read in ANBU Lynx's file she had something of a combative personality, so he wanted to nip that in the bud immediately as he didn't have time for drama.

"Other than that do you have any questions? I know the first one I asked was whether or not our handler was our Buntaicho. The answer was not really, typically Pangolin is our Buntaicho though occasionally Ferret will be, Goat and I almost never unless you get put on a mission with either of us as the most senior ANBU within said unit but that's unlikely leadership isn't really our thing and the higher-ups know that.

Lynx honestly wasn't sure what she was expecting as she was lead to meet the unit she would be part of. Tapir seemed nice enough and as they walked through the area, Lynx dusted her fingers against the walls, feeling the markings that were placed there. Apparently this place was already set up to deal with blind members but would the actual team care about that?

When they entered the room, Lynx spent a few moments looking around. She could only see them in loose collections of static and flickering electricity as they sat around, watching her but not... Watching her... All at once, she immediately felt at ease. They knew she was blind, they didn't even seem to care and didn't seem to want to treat her differently due to it. She let the tension out of her muscles, her fingers relaxing from the tight fists she'd had them in and she let out a long breath.

She put her hands together in front of her and gave them all a bow, glad for the mask to hide the relief and smile on her face. More friends, people that would actually work with her without looking down on her, that was all she wanted.

"It is a pl... Uh it's..." She chewed on her lip and sighed. "It's nice to meet you guys, I don't really do like... Formal shit very well." She muttered, scratching the back of her head. "I also don't do hand-holding, I can't wait to show you guys what I can do and I'll always give it my all. I just... I mainly need one thing from you guys." She needed to drive home the point more for herself than any others.

"Don't treat me any differently, don't try and make things easier for me. I've been living with this for a while now, I've learned to adapt and be stronger for it and I'm scared that if people make things easier, I'll lose that... Edge that I've spent so long building. Uh... Other than that, maybe do whistle a little if you're coming up behind me and in return I'll tell you guys a secret." She grinned and sent out a pulse of static electricity to let her find a seat and take it.

"I'm not... Entirely blind. I don't know if it's a natural adaptation or something I've subconsciously done but I can see electricity and lightning, even the stuff inside people. So I can sort of see where you guys are and I learned to send out little bursts of lightning that highlight everything around me. I can't see colour and I can't see like fire or stuff like that but I can find physical objects and my reactions are really good!" She smiled behind her mask and shrugged. "Do you guys have any fancy tricks? Oh and would someone be able to show me the ropes of the Hakagakure Shurikenjutsu style? I've heard good things about it and it seems like something I could use."

It was strange to feel at ease around people she didn't know but... She needed friends, desperately needed them, a single connection was good but there were things she couldn't really be around Iolana... These people though? Maybe they'd understand.

"Hmph good I like someone with that sort of drive, as for Variable Projectile Throw, Cobra is proficient in that she'll give you pointers." ANBU Pangolin said volunteering ANBU Cobra causing her to sigh and shrug as she was going to offer to help anyways but probably at a later time since she preferred to do things at her own pace. Alas this wasn't possible with a busy body such as ANBU Pangolin but she'd get her revenge on him later.

"That you aren't fully blind is a plus, variable projectile throw is a bit tricky but it should be fun to see how you can incorporate it into what you already can do. Cobra said while Ferret and Goat would seemingly  play rock paper scissors resulting in Ferret's victory with Goat sulking in a corner at his loss. What they were competing on was simple they wanted to be the first ones to say what they could do.

"I prefer keeping a low-profile so I'm proficient in a bunch of stealth based fighting styles but I have a perfect Wind Affinity, it lets me do a lot of cool things but I guess the most interesting is that I can fly. I'll probably be the most difficult person for you to spar in our unit simply because your skill-set and mind oppose each other. But that'll help you out in the field if you ever do come across someone who fights similar to me." ANBU Ferret said before she was suddenly bowled over by Goat with Pangolin catching her with a chuckle.

"Now it's my turn! I can do tons of cool stuff, like use Bubblegum to fight, I'm also really good at making cute figurines, climbing any sort of surface you can think of since I'm not afraid of heights. Oh I also can eat about 10 peoples worth of food and most importantly I'm the one you want if you need something to go boom! ANBU Goat said rather excitedly showing that he had been restraining his personality when ANBU Lynx first entered because he wasn't sure how to act around her but since she had said she didn't want to be treated differently he'll be able to act like his normal rambunctious self.

"I'm more well versed in Nintaijutsu, I likewise possess five different elements, so the combination of the two allows to me cover various threats." Pangolin said with a nod before continuing. "So if you ever want to brush up your Taijutsu or physical conditioning I'm your guy." He had some other skills but they weren't something he considered special as they weren't his preferred method of fighting but something he had picked up during his time with the ANBU corps.

"I mainly deal with poisons, but I guess I can be considered our field medic. I much prefer poisoning to healing so don't be careless or the next time we don't have a mission after I save you I'll poison you with something that'll make you shit for days. Cobra said with a dark chuckle as she seemed to be lost reminiscing about something before snapping out of it. "So you see we all do something different that allows us to compliment each other in different ways. But in my opinion we learn the most when we spar and go on missions as the best way to become familiar with one another is in the field."

As they spoke to her about what they were able to do, Kirai folded her legs up under herself and tucked herself into her seat. It was good to hear about these things, if she had a basic idea of what they were capable of doing then she would be able to work with them better and execute their missions flawlessly.

Once they were all done she spent a few moments digesting the information before giving a nod. "I've been practicing a lot more with wire these days so I'm hoping to mix that with Variable Projectile Throw, make some snares and tripwires and such that aren't very obvious." She then looked towards Ferret and cocked her head to the side, trying to give the impression of a smile or something, it was hard to emote in these masks.

"I've managed to get myself Black Raiden's Lightning, so I'd like to hear more about your stealth techniques and see if you can help me in that sense. I know in the exams I got a bit messed up by some sensory that I wasn't expecting, stupid bone guy could somehow tell where I was even when I was in midair." She clenched her jaw but released it after a couple of seconds and then continued on.

"Bubblegum? That's a weird weapon, probably makes it hard for someone to escape an explosion if they're stuck to the ground though." Lynx laughed at that image and shook her head. "I've found that I don't mind heights so much but I'm probably cheating considering... Y'know..." She waved her hand in front of her face a few times before looking at Pangolin.

"I'm not exactly the strongest but I'm pretty fast and I've got good reactions. Do you think you could teach me anything that would let me like... Escape grabs or something like that? I'm worried about getting pinned down because I don't have many ways around that sort of thing. I'm more of a mid to long ranged fighter though, so it'd probably be best to just have supplementary or escape techniques so I can keep up the pressure." With that done she turned to the last member of the team who threatened to poison her.

"You do that and you'll be finding tripwires attached to everything you own! Won't be able to pick up a toothbrush without tripping yourself." She retorted, making sure that it was obvious she was joking, wouldn't do to insult her teammates early. "Do you have a specific type of poison you specialise in and uh... Could I borrow some? Poison with my kunai and shuriken would make them way more dangerous."

With all that done she gave a nod. "So uh... Couple of last questions... What sort of missions do the ANBU actually do, there's a lot of rumours and stuff and I wanna get rid of them before I actually start and second... Are we allowed to take the mask off or do I need to sleep in this thing?"

"Heh I see you have a sense of humor good, that'll keep you sane. As for poison you can use, I can supply some on missions, but you have to prove your immunity, I'm not one of those amateurs who don't factor in Zireh immunity so you'll have to endure some mithridatism before I'll feel comfortable letting you have some of my concoctions with none of my direct supervision. Cobra said in response to Lynx's comment while Ferret would seemingly be lost in thought after hearing what her new teammate had said trying to think which of her stealth techniques would suit her. Perhaps after sparring or seeing her in action she would know which would be best as she didn't think she possessed Earth Release.

"If you are interested in picking up Earth Release, I can help you a lot more but if not it's fine. I know a bunch, but in exchange you'll help me test out a new method of stealth I haven't had anyone who could detect electrical impulses that I could train with and I've been meaning to develop something that'll conceal me from that type of sensory ever since I ran into some Kukinorite missing-nin who spotted me before I was in the right position for an ambush." ANBU Ferret said after a while of getting her thoughts together.

"Yeah, I really like bubblegum so I figured out how to use it in combat, that way I can chew as much as I want and no one can fault me for it. But yeah I guess it would be easier to not be afraid of heights in your case," ANBU Goat would say almost at the same time as Ferret his voice being louder and thus somewhat drowning her out causing her to turn and poke him in the side harshly with Pangolin clearing his throat before they could devolve into their usual antics.

"Hm I have some things for that, you don't seem like the type to really use Taijutsu but knowing how to escape from grapplers is pretty important. All I want in exchange is for you to join me when I run laps in the morning it's a nice bonding exercise." Pangolin said before turning as the door would open once more revealing ANBU Tapir who would hand over a mission scroll to him before walking out of the door once more. "Hm yep, I figured it would be something like this. We have a choice of three things, since you are new we'll let you choose. Either we go on a B-rank Mission to eliminate a bandit troop who seems to have gotten into child trafficking, a C-rank Mission which involves shadowing a merchant caravan and gaining intel on where they are getting their supply of rare ore, or an A-rank mission which myself, Ferret and Cobra will go on with another two operatives leaving you with Goat as company he'll most likely take you to the training grounds so you can familiarize yourself with our facilities so you are prepared before we train." Pangolin stated before Ferret would speak up to answer the questions Lynx had before their conversation got interrupted by ANBU Tapir's arrival.

"Generally we do covert missions more so than the general populace, our usual batch of missions involve either sabotage, information gathering, protecting extremely high value targets and eliminating threats to the village usually before they truly become such. Our more difficult missions almost always involve completing objectives which come at a risk to our lives in the process. The worst type of missions we go on are the sensitive ones which failure is less preferable to death, but don't worry newbie you won't be getting any of those missions anytime soon. There is a mandatory year of service within the ANBU before you get any sensitive missions, I myself have only done one, Ferret and Goat have done two while Pangolin has done only four and he's been an ANBU the longest out of all of us." she said so as to lessen Lynx's nerves which probably would have been a bit frayed after she told her vaguely what they got up to during missions.

"As for the mask, while you are outside base on ANBU duties you have to wear this, while we are on a mission you will have to sleep in it which is why eventually with your additional ANBU Salary it's smart to eventually buy more outfits so that you can swap them in the field wen we are gone for more than a week. While are are in base the mask is optional when in your common room it's a matter of preference. It's custom to keep your mask on until you are comfortable with your teammates to the point that you are fine with them knowing your true identity, however some operatives never take off their mask. You'll find that they are lifers and have no identity beyond that of ANBU so don't be offended if you never see my face." Pangolin said before waiting to see if this new information had affected Lynx's choice of mission.

Lynx sat for a few long moments letting it all soak in. It was definitely going to be a big change to her life and her routine but that was good. She reached up and ran her fingers over the mask she was wearing as she listened in, learning the grooves and contours of it properly. Did she care about her true identity? She was some nobody Erlang and they didn't even want her, why should she care?

She took a deep breath and then looked to Pangolin. "I'd like to take the B-Rank Mission. I'm already pretty tense right now with everything new going on... So shadowing some asshole would probably be pretty bad. Dealing with some bandits, clear enemies, good allies... That sounds like something that will make me feel a little bit better." The grin she gave this time was a bit more predatory, she really needed to learn to smother that bloodthirst.

With that done she turned to look at the rest of them. "I'm honestly really looking forward to working with everyone and learning things with you, all of you seem... Confident? Skilled? It's a nice environment already... Although uh... I'd like it known that I'm pretty dumb and some words fly right over my head." With that she turned to Cobra and cocked her head to the side. "What does mithre...Mithridatism? What does that mean?"

Giving enough time to get a response she tapped her mask one last time and then stood up. "Morning jog with Pangolin, training and exercises or missions during the day, training in the evening if not too tired, sleep... That sounds eventful, I don't like boring shit. Luckily, even if I catch someone without a mask, I couldn't tell anyone what they look like." She laughed quietly and rolled her shoulders. "So who's going on the mission and when are we leaving?"

"We have experience thats why we are confident, you'll be that too eventually. Also its a medical technique that allows you to build your tolerance by being routinely exposed to extremely low doses of poison." Cobra said having finished putting on all her gear and sitting on one of the benches while Lynx made her decision.

"Alright, do you have all the gear you need as we are going to head out immediately. Yeah typically when we get missions we head out on the spot" ANBU Ferret said after a while of getting her thoughts together. ANBU Pangolin and Goat had finished getting geared up as well, and all of them were essentially waiting on her to see if she was ready or not. If she was they would all collectively nod as one before ANBU Pangolin would lead the way with the group of them all heading out at D-rank speed. They would emerge out of the base and would keep this pace while on route to their destination.

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OOC:

Lynx quickly checked all of the various holsters and whatnot that she had over her body and touched her fingers under her belt, feeling the wire she had looped around her body. She nodded a few times and then gave them all a thumbs up as she started to follow. It was time for her first mission and she was terrified but also excited and that meant she was ready.

"We'll work on that poison stuff later but right now I'm good to go, I pretty much carry all of my stuff with me anyway other than some excess that I have put aside." She told them with a shrug, following them out. It was time to go take out some bandits and Lynx's palms were getting itchy, it'd been too long since she'd thrown shit at people.

[Exit]