CANDY SNATCHERS. [M]

[Seijūrō]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Candy Snatchers
Rank: D
Description: Looks like some punk kids recently stole some candy from a store. It’s not a huge deal but we can’t allow things to go unpunished in this city. Head to the store and get the details from the clerk, then round up the twirps and bring em in.

[/size][/spoiler]

---

The streets of Kirigakure no Sato were brimming with life as people flowing up and down the street like two rivers. The sound of store owners bickering and customers hustling them for a good bargain. Needless to say, it was also during this hectic period of time during the day that petty thefts would occur whilst the store keepers are distracted. Most of the time, the store owners would not even notice their merchandise was gone until it was too late and the culprits long gone.

Luckily for this particular store owner, Ichiban Tenshu, had caught a glimpse of the thieves that have been stealing from his wagashi^{(Japanese sweets)} store. The only reason Seijūrō had chosen to undertake this mission was the underlying motive of receiving some sweets for a swift apprehension of the thieves. Even Sei had been hard-pressed not to steal from the wagashi store back in his home village, but after being scolded and punished by his sister Sei was to scared of her to steal food ever again. After navigating through a seemingly endless wave of locals, the Genin had arrived at the front of the store where Ichiban-san was already waiting for him. The teenager could tell from the look on the older fellow's face that he was not amused at the turn of events.

"I specifically told them not to send a brat for this!" Sei was unsure how he should respond to the shopkeeper's greeting but there was no reason to hold any sort of enmity toward the client...yet.

"Ichiban-san, just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't handle this mission." Ichiban looked at Sei before massaging his forehead and groaning. He still seemed unconvinced with the teenage shinobi, but his body language showed that he was willing to compromise just to deal with the problem at hand.

"Whatever, look, all I need you to do is bring these criminals in and teach them a lesson, alright? I saw one of the thieves being about 4'5 so it should be a child who did it, but I'm also pretty damn sure that he or she is not alone. Go look around and see if you can catch them. I have my hands full at the moment back in the shop; I don't have time for this nonsense, I'm busy enough as it is working and now I have to deal with little brats stealing from me as well!?" The short man returned back into his dwelling, leaving Seijūrō to his own devices in order to find these kids and bring them in to apologize and pay for the stolen wagashi.

"Well, what's the worst that could happen?" Sei was very good when it came to handling younger children; having grown fond sometime during his residence within the village. But first, he had to figure out where to start looking for this group of troublemakers. The playground seemed like a good location to start searching, if anything some of the other kids might know something. There wasn't much for the Genin to work with, but it was a start.

[Seijūrō]

The playground was packed with children running around and having fun as their parents quietly watch over them from the park benches. When Seijūrō had first arrived in Kirigakure no Sato, he often went to the playground and sat on the swings to pass the time. As he grew older, he frequented the park less and less and focused more on his training, eventually stopping altogether.

"Sure brings back memories."

Nothing has changed much over the years: the swings, the monkey bars, the sandbox, it was all still there. It certainly brought on a sense of nostalgia within him. Before he could sink back into the deep recesses of his memories; his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of chanting. He looked around to find where the source of the noise was from and noticed a large congregation of children crowding around something in a circle. The teenager walked over to see what all the commotion and towered over the scene, witnessing two adolescent boys brawling in the middle of the mob.

"YOU TOLD ME I COULD JOIN YOUR GROUP IF I DID WHAT YOU TOLD ME!" yelled one of them before tackling the other one to the floor.

"THAT WAS UNTIL YOU GOT SPOTTED BY THAT SHOPKEEPER!" yelled the other kid as squirmed out of his attacker's grip. The two struggled for dominance over the other, rolling around in the dirt. The tackler managed to mount on top of his opponent and began to wailing on him with his fist. But his victory was cut short as a few other kids from the crowd pulled him off and ganged up on him. The kid stood no chance as three of them just began stomping on him from all angles.

"That's enough!" All of the kids turned around and finally noticed that Seijūrō was standing there the whole time. The crowd vanished as fast as it had appeared, the three kids that had been preoccupied with stomping the boy hightailed out of there with great haste. Even the one who got mounted had disappeared from the scene. The only one that was left at the scene was the kid who got ganged up on. He was bruised up from the fight, but he still had enough strength to pick himself off the floor.

"I could have taken them." grumbled the adolescent as he dusted some of the dirt off his clothing.

"Sure didn't look that way from here, chibi." the teenager said with a smile on his face before kneeling. He retrieved a handkerchief from inside his kimono and wiped some of the dirt and tears from the kid's face.

"What do you know?" asked the child with a hint of anger in his voice, jerking away from Sei's hand.

"Well, for starters, I know that you and that group were responsible for stealing from Ichiban-san." The kid wore his emotions on his face; the expression of surprise and shame was evidence enough that the boy knew what he was talking about.

"I wanted to fit in with them. They told me that I could hang out with them if I passed their "tests" and I believed them." The boy was on the verge of crying already but as the tears flowed freely down his cheeks, Sei embraced him.

[Seijūrō]

"You think we're going to get in trouble, Haru?" one of the boys whispered, looking at his group of friends, hoping for an answer.

"Stop worrying about it, Goro." another one said as he rubbed his cheeks which were swollen after the beating he had received before his friends came in to help. He popped out from the bushes and looked around to see if the coast was clear. They were hiding because some of the parents that were in the playground had contacted the authorities to find the kids who started the fight. After a few minutes of looking around, the boy stood up and motioned to the others that there was nobody around to catch them.

"We'll teach that punk Shinji a lesson after school tomorrow." He knew he shouldn't have even considering letting that country bumpkin into the group. Not only did he mess up and almost got caught while stealing, Shinji had humiliated him in front of everyone during that fight. Haru clinched his fist and looked over to his friends, who all seemed to have a look of surprise on their face.

"What?" he asked before turning around to see an tall dark figure looming over the child. Before he could even respond to the sudden appearance of the teenager, a bright flash crossed his eyes and a couple of Haru's hair fell to the ground.

"It's not nice to gang up on other people, you know. It might come and bite you back." Haru could see the sadistic evil smile was smeared over the man's face. His friends were frozen in place with fear, unable to assist their friend in his dilemma. He could feel the cold steel of the katana resting on his shoulders, just inches away from ending his existence. From the shadows of the shinobi, Haru could see Shinji and the shopkeeper from the place where they stole the sweets.

"Now if you apologize to Shinji-kun here and Ichiban-san, I might just let you go with all your limbs attached." His friends immediately dropped to their knees and began to beg for forgiveness. He looked at his friends before looking back at Seijūrō and then Shinji. He was too scared to put on his usual "tough-guy" persona though and ended up dropping to his knees as well.

"Well that was easy, what do you think their punishment will be Ichiban-san?"

"That's a good question, I'll think of something by the time their parents catch wind of what these brats were doing." he said before walking away from the scene to contact the local authorities to contact the kids' parents. Seijūrō then looked at Shinji before ruffling his hair with his hand.

"Make sure to stay out of trouble from now on, alright? I know how it feels to want to fit in, but being you always comes first." Shinji nodded with a smile on his face and Seijūrō smiled back at him as well. Seijūrō saw in him what he saw in all children: their unlimited potential to learn and grow from their mistakes. All they need is a simple push and a little guidance.

---

[MISSION COMPLETE]

[KEITH]

+25