Fantasy [ The Fifth Shinobi Age ]

The day had began as it always did, but somehow he ended up here, with six students that he would be responsible for and a mission that he was overqualified for. Despite all of that, he wouldn’t complain. A mission was a mission no matter its goal or rank and these children were a mission as well. “Enough chit chat.” He finally spoke, voice low and soft, but heavy with authority and callousness.

“From this point on you are shinobi on a mission. It should be your top priority.” Morgan stepped out of the car and the sheath of his sword clanked against the metal frame. Right away his pink eyes scanned the area, searching and examining everything in sight.

“You’ll split up into teams. Interview civilians, investigate the area, and report your findings to me. The team with the least amount of clues at the end of this investigation will be up for reconsideration. So pay attention to your surroundings.” Getting to known one another wasn’t important for such a task. They would have time to become teammates later on. Right now his only concern was getting the job done. “Get moving.”

Clasping her hands above her head, Nil Odo stretched vigorously from side-to-side as soon as she had stepped off of the cable car. Normally, the sheer heat of the valley's harvest season would have brought out the lazy whiner in her--especially if she was bound to help out at her father's fish stand--but this was a different sort of day. Despite the punishing sun and stifling humidity, everything felt fresh, as if this were the true first day of one's life. The rustling leaves lining the river couldn't be greener, and the water's deep hues seemed a truer set of blues than those in the early afternoon sky. The banners, tents, flags, and stands scattered throughout the village streets formed a patchwork rainbow of brightly colored cloth; for a moment, Nil nearly felt as if she had somehow ended up in a different, far more beautiful village than the one she knew.

And all that was without even thinking about the path directly ahead of her. At first, she couldn't even pick what to be most excited over; the chance to use her skills as a Genin out in the wild for the first time, the fact that they were on official sanctioned ninja-business, the chance to show off her practiced skills to her group-mates and potential onlookers, or the fact that she was finally, finally, getting something that moderately resembled recognition from her supposed cousin. There was no way he'd be able to shake her now!

Warmed-up to the point of needlessness, the girl placed her hands on her hips and glanced over her shoulders at the other kids comprising their little merry band. Over the course of their new round of training, their names and faces had become familiar enough to her; some of them weren't even as bad as she had initially thought. As long as they didn't get in the way of her own performance, chances were she'd have nothing to really worry about.

Her excitement wouldn't go unsatiated for much longer. Before she could even turn around and ask their overseer what the plan was, the Jounin had already begun outlining the first step of their assignment. Kind of a shame that the letter they had all been given was as vague as it was, but there was no way in hell that Nil was going to sit back and bow out of their first ever challenge.

Heh! Everyone that got left behind must be kicking themselves right now! Even if they were, they surely would be doing it within the confines of a nice cool classroom.

"A trader, huh?" Nil said, grinning as she finally spun around to face the others, "I know exactly where to start! So! Who wants to be on my team?"

"Follow me if you want to. I'm gonna trace their footsteps and see what they were shipping and to where."

Aya sat bolt upright with her hands on her knees through the whole journey of the lurching cable car. Despite the heat, she still wore her jacket with its high collar, even though she could feel a line of sweat dribbling down her spine. It was for the sake of propriety. Her giant iron fan took up the seat next to her, which gave her a small barrier from the armpit sniffing Kama. The view of the city was undeniably beautiful, and she felt a small swell of pride in it.

She was excited to be sent on her first real mission. Of course it was her top priority. She had spent years training in her skills and the chance to put them into action had finally come. She liked the businesslike approach of the jounin who was leading them.

Once they alighted at the docks, she slipped the Otessen onto her back and followed the others off. Already Nil was declaring her idea the best and looking for team mates. Seeing Kama volunteer to go with her, Aya held back. She was grateful for Itsuki declaring another search team and automatically including her in it. She stepped towards him, gripping Takeshi by the arm as she volunteered her young master for Itsuki's team too. “We're coming with you,” she said.

Twinky Rusty of Shackleford

Raiden was bummed when Morgan Odo didn't pick Aki (Akio) to join them on the mission because they were there only good friend amongst the bunch that were either strangers or acquaintances. Nil as per usual IMMEDIATELY wanted to be in charge of a group, and as Raiden was a prideful person himself he wouldn't follow someone like that so he want with Itsuki who was more of a passive person about the whole leadership thing. "I'll go with Itsuki." Raiden says. While he was upset about Aki not being with them he was still happy to be out on his first mission. His skillset wasn't as useful for missions like this since he could only make a few arrays and one taijutsu to help him escape. His brothers always hogged his dad's attention and his mother only knew support arrays so he never got the chance to learn any offensive arrays much to his chagrin.
Mentions: DarknessSama17 _Line 213
Going with: Twinky Crayons

Akio Sakayumi was more than a little annoyed at not being picked to go on a mission. She was irritated beyond measure. Currently, she was hitting a training dummy.

"Ya like that!?" She shouted as he kicked the dummy where a face would be. She landed another in a fluid motion. "Yeah, you do!"

Akio pummeled the dummy like a child throwing a tantrum. "Stupid jonin! How dare he overlook me!"

She then delivered one last hard blow before pausing to catch her breath. It felt good to feel her first slamming against something but it wasn't enough. Sure it was hotter than satan's balls outside the dojo but it was so boring inside. All she could do was train until a higher ranking shinobi chose not to ignore her potential to take her own as a pupil.

Her mind wandered to what kind of badass she would get as a sensei but became more frustrated having to wait. She looked around and saw that a few more kids had left the dojo.

I bet that perv Ray is having a blast out there.

She posed as if thinking to herself. "Hmmm. Maybe my potential isn't the shining beacon i thought it was." She shook her head as if trying to shake the thought I from her mind. She then spoke in a boastful tone. "Ridiculous! As if I'm not awesome! I'll just have to show them that I'm the one to watch out for!"

She then marched over to the message board and read through a few mission briefs. One about a missing dog, maybe. Another about delivering mail, lame. Then it stuck out at her. A mission pertaining to missing trinkets. Suspicions of some kind of animal stealing valuables. Akio had plenty of training stalking animals. Her father would use a trained cat to test her in his quest games. She feel into lakes more often them she'd admit chasing after Sphinx.

"While I'm at it I'll find that missing dog too! Too bad their isn't much loot involved in either case. Oh well. Two birds, one stone!"

She ripped the sheets of paper off the board and headed for the exit. She stopped at the door, her blue eyes scanning the over the other genin. She could take on simple missions but it would be more efficient if she had help.

So taking a deep breath, she yells "hey! Any of you want to accompany me on a couple of E rank missions?!"

JustJazzy

The dojo at this particular hour was quiet.

Gone were the voices of the louder members of Yoko’s graduating class, most of whom had been selected to take part in a mission this afternoon. Although a slight bitterness had twisted her thoughts earlier in the day in regards to that bit of bad news, Yoko was trying to look for the positive in all of it. At least she had this space to herself to meditate for the afternoon. At least she wasn’t out in that insufferable heat. Thinking about positives got Yoko feeling all negative again, the blonde’s lips contorting downwards to make way for a childish pout. She shut her eyes, tried to clear her thoughts again.

She was just entering that state her father warmly referred to as “nirvana” when a thump sounded from somewhere in the dojo. Yoko likely could’ve ignored it had it not been for the words that spilled afterwords, the all too familiar problem dictated in a distinctly feminine vice. She snorted a low laugh as she picked herself up, meditation forgotten as she made her way across the wood panels, peeked her head around the corner. She could make out a slightly familiar pinkette talking to herself, ripping papers off a board Yoko faintly remembered examining just earlier that day with no real interest. At the girls loud invitation, Yoko paused for just a moment before stepping into the girls line of sight, appraising her for a couple of a moments before pushing her lips upwards into a sort of smile.

“I’m down, if we find something interesting enough,” she paused awkwardly after that first bit of initiated interaction before remembering her manners. “my name’s Yoko, by the way? I don’t remember your name, but I know your face.” She offered lamely.

Akio Sakayumi beamed at the other girl. "Aallright!" She exclaimed. "That's the spirit! Sakayumi, Akio. You can call me Akio or Io. Nice to meet you as well."

she then took in the blonde's appearance as she cirlced her. She was lighter shorter than Akio. Is that supposed to be a smile? she thought then shrugged away the question.

"So I have two missions I'm hoping the accomplish. I figure the more we do, the faster we gain experience and recognition. The first mission is about some animal still trinkets from vendors and homeowners near the village exit. What do ya say?"

JustJazzy

Yoko nodded her agreement to the first couple of sentences, even as her lips formed a tense little line. The girl - Akio, she reminded herself - was a little more enthusiastic then Yoko figured the situation called for, but for once that kind of positive emotion was a breathe of fresh air too Yoko. She had probably been left too long to her more negative thoughts.

At the mention of two missions, Yoko leaned forward to peek at the papers in the purple-haired girl’s hands. From this angle they weren’t entirely visible, so Yoko reached forward to remove them, examine the papers herself. The overt rudeness of the gesture was lost on the blonde, so focused was she on the task at hand.

“Huh,” she murmured, more to herself then the girl she was allying herself with. “these sound okay, I guess.” Her head shot upwards, back to the board as her eyes traced some of the papers strewn across it. After a couple of moments she landed on one that stood apart from the rest, at least to her. “maybe we could do those after something like this?” she removed another paper from the board, one detailing a e-rank mission of cleaning the kage’s building of graffiti.

To make the prospect of this mission more persuasive to Akio, Yoko scoured her brain for a proper trade-off, something that might appeal to this girl. “There’s a bubble tea place, just near the kage’s tower. We could stop there, before or after. And it could be on me?”

There, that one had to work. Everyone liked bubble tea, right? Yoko made her blue eyes wider, hopeful.

Morgan Odo

The way in which they divided themselves was disappointing, to put it nicely. Morgan watched as only two people thrust themselves into the leadership position and the others fell in line like dominoes, happy to follow the leader. At least now he knew who might be capable of leadership. It was too soon to judge however. He wasn’t truly surprised though by the two that managed to take lead. Calm personalities like Itsuki’s were often accompanied by rational thought which was a trademark of leadership. It made sense why the others would choose to link their futures with his own. On the other hand Nil was quick to declare herself the winner of the test. Her confidence was a good reason to follow her, but there was also the outgoing personality that she possessed. A charming leader was quick to gain followers, but their skills and capabilities remained to be seen. The one person that she managed to attract wasn’t very promising either sadly.

“I hope I don’t have to tell you what to look for.” As the groups started down their own paths, three small snakes slithered out of the collar of Morgan’s jacket. The black serpents threw themselves to the ground and quickly started to hide in nearby shadows. This mission may have been a simple missing person, but there was always room for it to be something bigger. He couldn’t leave everything in the hands of children.

The Jonin slowly turned to survey the area one more time. “Remember to work as a team and make use of your unique skill sets.” As he spoke one snake began to follow behind Nil and Kama, sticking to the shadows to go undetected. The second snake started to follow Itsuki and his tribe, also trying to stay hidden. The third serpent explored the area on its own, searching for clues on a smaller level.

Akio Sakayumi made a face at the mention of cleaning. "Eeeeeeehh?Cleaning? If you want to clean that badly, my brother's room is a mess."

Cleaning was the furthest thing from Akio's mind. She wouldn't want to be out in that hot sun scrubbing down someone else's house. She was all for charitable acts but that sounds like torture. Really, she didn't even like to clean her own room. She just hated being unorganized and messy more.

Akio started to ask if the other girl was crazy.

Ugh. She thought when Yoko looked a bit wide-eyed with hope and the purple haired genin gave in.

"Okay I'll check this out but if this mission blows a load your paying for my meals three days straight." She was kidding of course. The girl would only pay for today.

Akio reached for the other girl's had.

JustJazzy

Yoko blinked at the suggestion of her cleaning Akio’s brothers room, though by how quickly the girl moved on from that thought to another, she figured it didn’t warrant an actual response. When the girls agreement was finally intoned, Yoko felt a surge of victory, though the victory feeling was a short-lived one, considering just how menial she’d managed to commit both girls too.

“It won’t be that bad. C’mon, it’s the kage’s building. We might have an excuse to go inside after, maybe get a thank-you for our great service,” Yoko was greatly exaggerating the certainty of this happening of course, but a girl could dream, right? “we should head on over then, no use in putting off the - “ she broke off as the girl extended one of her hands for Yoko to take. Albeit awkwardly, she took it, letting the girl lead the way.

Nil couldn't help but click her teeth as the majority of the group chose to fall in line behind Itsuki. For whatever reason the cold types seemed to get all the attention--something about a sense of mystery, or whatever. But who would she be if she were just going to sit back and let that get in her way, though? Certainly not Nil Odo, that's for sure.

And so it was that, though she couldn't help but growl a bit, she figured that she might as well take the one team member she had managed to pick up and hit the road. "...Fine, let the rest've 'em be that way, then," she muttered, mostly to herself, before flicking her finger out at Kama, the one person who had decided to tag along on her route. "Okay! We'll just be the winning duo, then! Follow me, I know exactly where to start!"

With that, she turned, dashing off past the docks and toward the densely-packed buildings at the wharfs' endings. She had no idea where the other team was going, and at this point she was likely beyond caring; the only thing that mattered was getting her own leg of the journey started--and gathering enough information to take top spot on the way.

Fighting her desire to simply blitz into her destination, she kept her pace even enough for her only other party member to follow along, glancing over her shoulder to ensure that he was trailing behind her in one sense or another. Maybe she was lucky that the missing figures were related to the village's thriving trade scene; while others might have been plugged into powerful lineages or political families, Nil liked to figure that her own small family could take the pulse of the the village's people at a moment's notice, thanks to her father's position as one of many friendly neighborhood fishmongers. "We're gonna head to the nearest marketplace, okay? Some've the people there have known me ever since I was little! With the amount of stuff that goes in and out, I bet we'll be able to get a ton of info on all the traders that went missing!"

She was practically grinning by the time she finally slid to a stop within the marketplace itself, punching a fist into an open palm. "Alright! Let's split up and get to work."

Akio Sakayumi marveled at the Kage's building. It was massive to say the least. She had never seen it up close.

Ray is totally gonna get lost in there when he becomes hokage. She joked to herelf. The colorful graffiti that decorated the building made it stand out even more and Akio lost all her excitement.

She gave Yoko a look that seemed to ask, 'how did I let you drag me into this.'

The large structure would take the whole day to clean. They'd be scrubbing way into the night. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. Just thinking about cleaning this thing got her irritated. She'd tough it out though since the pay was good.

"How about we cover spit up. You take one side, I take the other? Or do you have a better idea?" Akio asked, wondering if Yoko could come up with a more effective method.

JustJazzy

Yoko had never been to the Hokage’s building before, it was in part why she’d been so adamant on them taking this particular mission. But now, staring at the massive, old building and the splotches of graffiti that covered its surface, Yoko half-wondered why she’d ever wanted to come in the first place.

She couldn’t make that fact obvious to Akio however, the girl had already vocalized her doubts, and Yoko couldn’t go ahead and confirm them further. She schooled her expression into one of impassivity, set the buckets of cleaning solution she’d been carrying down with an audible huff of relief. She wiggled her arms, her fingers; enjoyed that bit of reprieve from the weight of those soapy buckets.

At Akio’s suggestion, Yoko nodded, half wishing she could make clones in order to make this task go by much faster.

“Sounds good, I’ll take - “ she broke off, vaguely motioning towards the side to the left of her, “this side, you take the other?”

Yoko picks up one of the buckets resolutely, leaving the other for Akio to grab when she was ready. As she walked towards the building, she focused her chakra into her feet, envisioning the stream of chakra being proportioned evenly from toe to heel, heel to toe as she normally did. That felt about right, though it wasn’t a sure-fire thing to Yoko at this point that she could walk up this building. She’d really only ever tree walked before, water walked - she’d never tried to walk up a building, but hypothetically it would be easier then water-walking, right?

Yoko stole a self-conscious peek behind herself to verify that the other girl was there to shoulder her weight if she fell. Then, pushing back nerves, she took a couple of steps up. Relief settled its heavy hand over her senses as she continued up, a triumphant little smile pushing at the corners of her lips. She removed the rag from the bucket, watching guiltily for a moment as some of the water dribbled out into the space below her. No use thinking about something she couldn’t change - Yoko bent her knees a bit and begin wiping at some of the graffiti above her.

After some time had passed she’d settled into a sort of pattern - scrub, step, scrub, step. The more stubborn, undoubtedly older bits of spray paint required more work then just a couple of wipes, but Yoko couldn’t find it in herself to complain. It was a calming task, really, if she ignored the persistent burn in her arms from being above her head for so long.

She’d almost neared the top section of the building at this point, she was almost done with this side. Or more accurately this section of the side of building she was on. Before Yoko could let her thoughts digress into more negativity she heard a clicking sound above her, like a window being unlatched. Then muted conversation, irritated voices. Curiosity got the better of her as Yoko peered up to see a slightly ajar window, cracked to allow some wind to get in, headed up and to the side of it.

“something, something... this heat something, something... horrific... and the ac... something something pay bills on time,” came a distinctly masculine voice. The topic of conversation didn’t seem interesting enough to really be eavesdropped on. Yoko was just making to return to her task when an answering, authoritative grunt was uttered, segwayed by a much lower voice joined the conversation, this one much closer to the window.

“That’s all good and well, Shiro, but you have a report to read, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes,” came the first voice, more flustered and stumbley then before. “but this one is just a civilian complaint. Similar to the incident reported a few days ago?”

“Right,” came the second voice, dismissive. “the little thieves at the traders entrance. You did tell them I’d assign someone as soon as help becomes available?”

“Y-yes I did, sir. But it’s a repeat incident now, which may mean we should probably put someone on it before it becomes a real problem?”

A pregnant, deliberate pause before the second voice answers this time. “I’m sorry. Shiro, are you trying to tell me how to do my job? Because by all means switch places with me and see how easy it is for you - “

Yoko heads down from the window before she hears any continuation to the man’s speel, her heart beating a persistent rhythm in her chest until she reaches the bottom. She sets the bucket down, organizes her thoughts hastily before she sorts out exactly what she wants to do with the situation that’s practically been thrust into her unfamiliar hands. Her eyes touch her partners receding form on the wall above her, and Yoko heads up, determined.

“Akio, I gotta tell you something that might sound kinda stupid, but I think you might be up for it?....”

Akio Sakayumi watched as Yoko picked up the cleaning supplies and get to work. She took in the giant structure once more before starting on her side.

She had practiced chakra control numerous times with her papa and big bro so walking up this building was easy enough. The first time she tried to walk up a tree to rescue a cat that had gotten itself stuck. Needless to say, she was useless. The cat may have been in that tree well into the night. Luckily the cat was clever enough to jump down into Akio's arms. She named the cat Shin and has named his three kittens.

After that incident, she begged her father to teach her how to control her chakra. He was more than happy to oblige. Whenever they left the village on adventures for treasure and rare artifacts, he and Kaden would teach her chakra control, making her walk up trees and on the surface of the water. When the two were away her father would have Shin help assist him in creating a quest, where she would have to use chakra hands or feet. It was tough considering she was eight but eventually she got the hang of it.

Some time had past wen she noticed she had gotten lost in memories. The rhythm she fell into let her mind put her body on autopilot. She enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Guess it wasn't the boring mission I thought it would be. She looked over to Yoko as she stood to stretch. She seemed to have found a pattern too. Seeing that the girl was making good time as well, Akio got back to work.

Several minutes later, Yoko came over.

“Akio, I gotta tell you something that might sound kinda stupid, but I think you might be up for it?”

The purple-haired genin raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Akio couldn't lie. Sometimes stupid things made for a great time. She grinned when she took note of the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"So there's a troublemaker in you, eh? Spill the tea."

JustJazzy

Akio’s excited smile was undoubtedly charismatic in that moment, Yoko finding her own lips tilting upward, partly with excitement. But she found herself pushing that down in favor of calm, she had to be calm in order to explain to the purplette exactly what she’d heard.

“Okay so this is what I heard...” Yoko explained the situation in its entirety, detailing the open window, the conversation, and the more exciting part - the thieves at the Trader’s Entrance.

“Honestly, this feels like a chance for us to prove ourselves? I feel like we could take on those thieves super easy, and imagine how relieved the Hokage-sama will be when he finds out he doesn’t actually have to deploy anyone out because we took care of it for him!” she shut her mouth a moment, made herself slow down as her excitement had been building with every uttered word. And for all she knew the girl might not be into the idea of abandoning their current mission - at least for a little while - to do this more exciting task. But judging from what she had seen of Akio’s personality so far, that didn’t seem a likely outcome.

“Well, whaddya think? In for some fun? And uh, we do need to find them first, maybe make a plan - “ she broke off again remembering the girl hadn’t really agreed, not yet, lasping into a sort of expectant silence.

Akio Sakayumi grew wide-eyed when Yoko spilled what she heard. Thieves in the merchant's district? Akio would always run errands for her mother and father in that district. She the people there always gave her treats back then. She hadn't been there since her last year in the academy.

Akio's eyes sparkled. "What do I think? I think your a genius! If we crack this case then the sensie's would have no choice but to notice our talent!"

She grabbed Yoko by the shoulders her excitement now boiling over. "Oh I could just kiss you! Let's get going!" She added that last part taking hold of Yoko's hand and moved hurriedly towards the trader's district.

She moved through the village with grace and finesse, not bothering to see if Yoko could keep up. She was so warped with thoughts of showing off, she nearly collided with an elderly couple.

"Sorry!" She called out once she landed after flipping over them.

Once her surroundings started to look familiar, she slowed. The air smelled of baked goodies and other treats. There were stalls selling all sorts of things, from burgers to clothing. Whenever her mother needed the crashes groceries this is where she would come.

"Io?' Spoke a familiar voice to which Akio turned turned to see an elderly woman

"Mrs. Fukiyahi! Long time no see!"

"Io why are you here? It's dangerous around these parts." The look on her face was one a concerned mother givers her child.

"So I've heard." Akio gestured to Yoko as she says, "my comrade and I are on the search for the thieves. Any leads that might help us?"

The older woman looked confused before realization dawned on her. "You're a ninja? Congratulations my dear. I'm sure your parents are very proud. Soon you'll be catching up with your elder brother."

"More like surpass him. So Mrs. Fukiyahi, about my earlier question, what are the thieves taking? Anything in particular stand out?"

The woman thought for a moment. "Not really. Just rations, some coins but mostly rations."

"Anything else that may help, ma'am?" Akio prompted.

"Wellt there was something that belonged to Mr. Koji that was stolen. An old sword said to bring whoever wields it good fortune, of course its just a silly legend."

Akio looked to Yoko. "I think we just found our lead. Where can we find Mr? koji?"

"Right about now he's meeting with a few other merchants to find a solution to the thief problem since the Hokage seems to have his hands full. Check near the warehouse district."

"Thanks Mrs. Fukiyahi!" Akio said with a slight bow before grabbing Yoko's hand once again. "Let's go!"

JustJazzy

((I'm unsure of Rusty of Shackleford will be back but at least Crayons and I can try to get something going.))

Yoko barely had the time to react to Akio's compliment before the girl was off and running, dragging Yoko behind her by the hand. It was near impossible for her to replicate the much taller girl's pace without a bit of chakra enhancement - nonetheless, she did her best to match her. Her heart heart doing a backflip as Akio flipped over an elederly couple, Yoko detached their hands quickly as she awkwardly curling her body over theirs as well, into a half-jump, half-flip that had her rolling as her hands touched the ground first. She paused a couple of minutes too long to verify that they were ok. They seemed to be fine, though the mutters of "stupid youngsters" did little to persuade her that she'd be fine if she stayed there any longer. Not to mention Akio was almost a speck in the distance by now.

"Wait - " she broke off mid-sentence to commit herself whole-heartedly to nothing but the run. By the time she'd made it back to Akio's side, the girl was engaged in conversation with an unfamiliar woman whose eyes ghosted over hers curiously. She caught the tail-end of the conversation, a brief mention of a Mr. Koji, a sword, warehouse district?

Then Akio was grabbing her hand once more, preparing to launch off again. This time there were no flips or other acrobatic moves to contend with, Yoko matching the girl's pace with relative ease a step or two behind her. When they reached the warehouse district, Yoko felt the burn of the sun's rays against her back as they were no longer in that relatively shaded portion of the village.

She headed straight through at a slower pace, scanning her surroundings as quickly as possible. There was a group of much younger boys playing with a stray cat in the beginnings of an alley, a few vacant shops set up. It was oddly quiet, maybe too quiet. She was just wrestling with the implications of that when close-by, the lull of low conversation. It could've been any conversation honestly, but Yoko's instincts pushed her to investigate further, so the blond turned to Akio, putting a single finger to her lips as she edged closer to the noise, around the corner and up some steps.

"- mount our own search, these boys need to learn actions have consequences,"

Around the corner was a small group of men underneath the shade of a couple of holey umbrellas. The umbrellas themselves didn't seem to offering much respite as a couple of them were fanning themselves with bits of newspaper. They hadn't seemed to notice the two girls yet, so Yoko sat down quietly on the lowest step, pulling the purple-haired girl with her as the conversation continued.

"And the sword isn't the only thing they've stolen," the voice continued, "you've all been impacted one way or another by all this. Goru, wasn't your grain the first to be stolen, cart and all?" a pause as the man in question let out an answering mumble in too low a voice for Yoko to make out. Nonetheless, the answering, angry rumble from the group of men was enough to let her know the contents of his response. "Then you, Ryuu. A simple trader just making his way back and forth between this village and the next. They stole your whole fruit cart. How are you going to feed your family now?" the answering rumble from the men this time was louder, the angry under-tones of it sending a chill down Yoko's spine as she made an in the moment decision.

She stood abruptly, pulling Akio up with her. She schooled her face into seriousness, straightened her robes. "It's a good thing the Hokage sent us then, isn't it?" there was no answer for about a minute or so before the men broke into answering chortles at the sight before them. Yoko felt annoyance snake its way through her slight form though she held her position, her expression twisting into an even more severe seriousness.

"Children.. The Hokage sent us -" the man speaking broke off to start into fresh laughs that the rest of the men chorused behind him.

"No," Yoko went patiently on as if she hadn't just been ridiculed by a group of grown men. "the Kage sent you capable shinobi. All we need from you is a location, a cart someone is willing to give up for the greater good, and we will take care of it. Does that sound okay to all of you?"

Aya glanced towards Raiden and supressed a sigh. Why had he decided to come with them? Not that there was anything bad about him most of the time … just the way he seemed to look women in the chest instead of the eye. Despite her personal misgivings, she didn’t say anything. Maybe he would prove himself to be useful, she could at least give him a chance out in the field. She followed Itsuki towards the docks accompanied by the rest of their little team.

She was a little surprised that he wanted them to split up already but she understood it. It would be far easier to talk to people if they weren’t in an intimidatingly large group. She wouldn’t want them mistaken for juvenile delinquents after all. “Right!” she agreed, returning a small smile. “Come on,” Aya said to Takeshi and Raiden. “Let me do the talking, OK?” she said to Raiden. There was a look in her eye that suggested that there might be painful consequences for him if he decided to say anything. “Look out for anything that seems odd or unusual.”

She walked confidently to the Quartermaster’s store and entered, pushing the wooden door aside and stepping into the main room. There were all kinds of boxes and bales of rope around the room, overflowing or waiting to be put away. Aya stepped up to the counter and peered over it. “Hello? I have some questions if you don’t mind,” she called out in a clear voice. Was there anyone there who would answer?

Crayons Rusty of Shackleford EldridSmith
Aya // Takeshi // Raiden

The three Genin had almost no place to stand in the store. Boxes and rope covered every available space, and, close to the top, cobwebs made their little dance and pretty patterns across the old wooden roof. Aya's voice didn't feel like it was being projected at all; it too had nowhere to occupy, and it did it's best to fill the gaps in between the boxes; the cracks in the wood. But after a few moments of silence, and a little shadow of doubt hanging over their small bodies, a resounding "What?" made itself present in the store.

From behind the counter, a small, dwarven-sized old lady comes. Her body is tiny and seemingly fragile, and she wears a robe and huge glasses. Her ams and legs are small, and it can be assumed that there are cobwebs up top because she simply can't reach so far.

"What do you want? I don't sell anything to children.", the lady said, already turning her back and climbing up the chair besides the counter. She was doing something, for sure, but what exactly it was, none could tell. Atop the counter, a big, dusty book stands, with rows and rows of numbers and letters.

Twinky
Itsuki

The dockmaster's office was completely closed, and Itsuki could recognize a Chunnin right in front of it. He wore the Valley's Vest, and had a troubled look on his face. Civilians would try to come to him, but he would greet them with a bow and an apology. Itsuki observed from afar. "The dockmaster couldn't come today. I'm very sorry", he seemed to say. Truth be told, most of the common folk had nothing to do with the dockmaster. But the very fact he was missing seemed to be odd - and that was, for the people of the Valley, much more entertaining than the actual missing cargo and personnel. Gossip started to make it's way through the people - and it would surely be good if the dockmaster came back. Else, people might start trying to make a connection between the crime and his sudden dissappearance.

_Line 213 Japanime
Nil // Kama

The marketplace felt like home to Nil. As soon as she got there, the bustling crowds and chatter didn't feel busy at all. Quite the contrary: they felt comforting and inviting. And even though she looked at the world from below most people's eyeline, she could clearly make out a lot of familiar faces: Ishi, the fisherman; Buko, the shoemaker; Ai, the butcher; Yata, the baker. Trade seemed to be flowing normally. The dissappearance seemed like a far off threath - if even acknowledged at all. For most people, it just wasn't their business if it didn't affect them personally. Everyone seemed happy and normal, trying to get by. But that also meant that it could be harder to get information from people.

If they were to take things more dramatically, though, there were a couple of boxes standing around, as Kama promptly pointed out to Nil. If anyone would do something as bold as climbing on top of the boxes and shouting to the common folk, it would be her, after all. But that was by far not the only approach available. A small group of traders seemed to be talking right besides Ishi, but Nil had never seen them in her life; in fact, their bright yellow hair seemed to suggest they were not even from the Valley.

LadyOfStars
Morgan

Morgan kept watching over the docks, lightly scouting for information - until his hand twitched. A throbbing sensation overcame his right arm, as if the muscles of his index finger were being pulled. The third snake, the one who wandered off on its own, had found something. Or had been found.

Tracking the serpent was fairly simple - as they crawled, his own chakra trail was spread on the floor. He quickly made his way to the snake. He was a Jounin and properly dressed like one, so he didn't even have to ask for people to lend him passage. It felt like a gentle reminder of how Ninja were valued in the Valley - more than professors or noblemen, a Shinobi was a valuable asset to a Village, and the common folk seemed to recognize that.

A gentle reminder, that came to an abrupt halt. As Morgan entered an alleyway, he found his snake pierced through and stuck on a wall. Besides it, three big, muscular man stood. "Wh-who are you?!", they cried.

JustJazzy DarknessSama17
Yoko // Akio

The men felt embarrassed. This girl had formed a more cohesive plan in a matter of seconds than they had in hours...or not. Perhaps that was not it. Perhaps they were embarrassed she stood up and wanted to fight back, whereas they moaned and cried about their losses.

The tall man in the middle sighed. "You're Shinobi, right? Even so, you're too young. We can help you with that. What if you went with a teacher?", he said, but was promptly smacked by his colleague. "A teacher? Don't be stupid, Yun! We're coming with them!", the fat man in the right said. The other one nodded. "Yes. We'll handle the cart, and you'll hide inside it. Then, when they come to get you, we all tackle them together! Sounds good?", he said. All of them nodded. "What about you? Are you all up for it?", said the fat man. "I'm Ueta, by the way. This is Yun", he said, as he motioned to the tall man in the middle, who seemed a bit embarrassed now. "And this is Taga", he said, as he mentioned to the other man.

"But before we proceed, I'd like us to be as clear as possible on this. The Hokage sent you, right? So you should be here, correct?".

Akio Sakayumi frowned as she leaned down next to the other genin. She was able to focus on the conversation without being seen. What she was hearing made her want to pound these thieves into a pulp. She wondered if cutting off a fingers was a suitable punishment.

Yoko made their presence known to the men. They laughed at her statement and Akio fold her arms. She was offended and thought about telling the men off but only listened when Yoko spoke again.

Akio assumed Yoko would was using it as bait somehow. The men murmured amongst each othert until Mr. Koji stepped forward.

"I'll vouch for Tamaki's kid." He said. "Her brother handled a situation like this once before and solved it almost with ease. I must admit, I'm curious to see if you can do the same. Take my cart." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at his wooden vegetables cart.

Akio gave the man a big grin and a thumbs up. "Thanks Mr. Koji! We won't let you down!"

The man nodded. "We're counting on you."

Akio's suspicion of Yoko using a merchants cart as bait was correct. She found it relieving that the two were on the same page. It would make teamwork a lot easier.

The blonde ninja stood near the entrance of the trader's district. She played the part of a feeble merchant well. When Akio's stomach growled she was tempted to blow her cover and ask for carrots.

Good thing see didn't. She noticed a small group of boys stalking her.

"I don't like the feel of these guys." She said as she moved closer, flipping onto a structure lower to the ground. She got on her belly seconds before one of the boys looked in her direction.

She saw one of the boys had a sword on his back. Where does a kid like that get enough dough to afford something so extravagant and well crafted.

Akio jumped and landed on the boy just as he turned around. He fell to the ground. Grabbing a handful of his shirt, her fist collided with the chin and she felt him slump.

She quickly spun to avoid the knife from another boy and her heel connected with his chest, sending him to the floor.

Yoko wasted no time taking down the other to boys. Akio snorted. They were childplay.

She plopped down on the boy with the sword, dropping all her weight on his chest. The boy woke and gasped for air. Akio waited until he realized what was happening.

"Hey there guy. My friend and I would like to know where you got that sword. No way a nobody like you can afford that."

"I ain't telling you squat." The boy said.

Akio pointed to Yoko. "Look here guy. Despite het size my friend over there is very bloodthirsty. I once saw her rip out a man's spine for looking at her funny. So would you rather me clobber you or have that pintsized monster have her way with you? Honestly, you're safer with me."

The boy stayed silent.

"Fine by me. Koko, " she started but was interrupted when the boy have in.

"Okay, okay." He said. "I'll tell you just don't hurt me. There are thieves, real cutthroats hiding out in an abandoned building near the docks. I wouldn't mess with them if I were you. These guys are bad news."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Said Akio. Her fist once again connected with his chin and the boy was out cold.

She then looked to the other genin. "Let's go see what we're dealing with."

JustJazzy