Fetch boy!

[The Dude]

Name: Pursuit!
Rank: C
Ninja needed 1-3
Mission info: Important scrolls were stolen from Mr Yanhai who resides in a neighboring village close to Kirigakure and need to be retrieved immediately. Find, catch, and bring them to justice. Return the scrolls to Mr Yanhai and report back.

It was almost mid day, the sun was high banishing the morning mist for the time being. Birds chirped happily in the fine weather, the only clouds in the sky were light and fluffy coasting lazily along the winds above. Near the coast line a small village consisting mostly of small circular huts with straw roofs, awaited the arrival of one of Kirigakure shinobi. The young Aburame would not keep them waiting much longer now.

In fact he had left the village a little earlier that morning and now he was already on approach to the village's entrance. As he drew closer what excuse the village offered for a town guard clambered out of the small hut by the road side and stood before him. With in two meters distance of them one of the guards held out his hand to show Takumi to stop as the other one spoke in a friendly tone.

"Hail traveler, normally we would allow you to come and go into the village as you please but thieves and brigands have been about as of late. One of our own citizens was even robbed last night."

Takumi came to a halt looking back at the guards before giving a courtesy nod of understanding. Guards would be guards, they didn't know what dangers they could be standing before them they were simply doing their jobs. These two seemed like two honest simple folk, surely they could be reasoned with after some conversation.

"A robbery in this small town? Who would do that? Your village seems too small to have anything of great value no offense, what could anyone possibly want from you?"
The guard scratched the back of his head abashedly, he knew what Takumi said was true. The village was too small and insignificant for most who lived there to have anything of use to others, but there was one civilian who did. He sighed at the thought that in his quaint little village there was only one person of note to the rest of the world.

"Well, a retired kiri shinobi lives here if you must know. He didn't really care for living in Kirigakure no Sato after he retired, too many bad memories he says. He said they took a scroll from him, something to do about ninja but I don't understand half of what he's talking about. He got angry with us and through a fit proclaiming us useless before he sent a messenger bird to the village for help."

[The Dude]

Takumi ran his tongue over his teeth in his mouth thoughtfully as he considered the facts. So the scrolls in fact belonged to a ninja, that meant they could be of great value to many indeed. Of course it could also mean that the were simply something sentimental and the ninja had over reacted and called in his old friends in the military. The reasons and motives were no longer important though, Takumi was being paid to retrieve the property and that's all there was too it.

"Well, I'm actually a ninja from Kiri myself. I was dispatched to hunt down the scrolls but I was hoping to ask for some more details before I began my pursuit. Would you two happen to know where I can find the gentleman right now? The sooner the better, half a day has already transpired since the crime and I would prefer to not let them get any more of a head start."

The guards smiled warmly at Takumi in recognition of one of the powerful ninja they had heard rumors about. The ninja of kirigakure no sato were to be strong and merciless monsters, but to have them as your allies they looked more like champions. The first guard lowered his hand and stepped away from the road back into his hut while the first pointed down the road towards the center of the village at a much grander building.

"You'll want to just head on down the road to the big building in the center of town, That's Mr. Yanhai's house. I don't know what he must have done while he was in service but they certainly gave him a generous amount to retire on. It must be nice to be a ninja for kiri and know that when you retire you'll be taken care of."

Takumi walked past the guard with a smile and another courtesy nod as he passed. As he made his way toward the building he thought about what the guard had said. The village was powerful, and it did take care of what few veterans were still around, but there weren't many at all. Most were sent on extremely dangerous missions and killed in action before they made it to retirement where they could take it easy.

"If we retire we'll be taken care of."

The large building did seem a little out of place as Takumi drew closer. It had a large stairway that lead to a stone porch and a massive set of large oak doors. Takumi reached forward grasping the heavy solid brass knockers on the door and wrapped lightly. Even as lightly as he knocked the massive knockers could be heard resonating throughout the rest of the house. If Mr. Yanhai was home there was no chance he hadn't heard Takumi.

[The Dude]

Takumi could hear the sound of hurried shuffling and footsteps from inside. After a few moments the footsteps ran up to the door and the sound of a multitude of heavy dead bolts and locks were undone before the latch of the doors opened. The doors swung out and a short elderly man with a long white flowing fumanchu stepped briskly onto the poor looking around as though he didn't see anyone.

After a moment the man spied Takumi and jumped back with a small yelp as Takumi had been standing only two feet away. He placed his hand over his chest breathing heavily from the fright before straightened his clothes and faced the Aburame while stroking his magnificent facial hair proudly with a friendly smile upon his face.

"Oh my dear boy you shouldn't sneak up on an old man like that, you'll give me a heart attack. There are dangerous folk, some even broke into my house last night even. They robbed me while I was sleeping the cowards, but if I had been awake I assure you I would have given them what for!"

The man was ancient and senility had crept up on him much more than he was aware of! Takumi would simply gather the information he needed from the old man and set off to finish the mission as soon as possible. Staying here any longer could leave him trapped in rants of the glorious days of Kirigakure no Sato.

"My name is Takumi sir, I'm here to gather information and then retrieve your property. I understand they were scrolls? What were on the scrolls who took them and do you have any idea where they may have been taken?"

"Well I have no idea who took them obviously! I already told you I was sleeping! They were most likely taken to the Mizu no Miyako, it would be the easiest place to sell something like that without being tracked down. The black market in a town of... questionable merchants is a great place to begin your search. Now stop wasting my time and go get those scrolls!"

The door's slammed shut again and Takumi was left confused and standing on the porch still. He made a strong mental note that the man had avoided the question. Whether he had done it intentionally or his obvious senility had been the culprit was unclear but it was still important to note. The Aburame turned on his heel and walked back down the road and out of the village. Destination? Mizu no Miyako the harbor village and central hub of trade in the water country, if the thief was looking for a place to hide he couldn't have picked a better spot.

[The Dude]

The gulls called out to the residents of Mizu no Miyako and anyone who would hear their hungry cries. It was oddly reflective of the citizens and patrons of the village, hungry opportunists waiting for any chance they could get to turn a profit. Sailors, soldiers, merchants and even a few pirates, the kind of scum you could find in the bottom of the barrel trying to claw their way up to the top at any costs. Finding a thief in this town would be like finding a needle and a haystack, but Takumi was determined.

As he approached the village from the road, kikaichuu crawled out quietly from the leggings of his pants onto the ground unnoticed. They would crawl out and about throughout the town scouting and looking for information. Sometimes it was good to have tens of thousands of little soldiers to do your bidding. With kikaichuu scouting everywhere looking for everything and listening for everything it would be hard for the thief to seek a buyer without Takumi knowing. Of course that was assuming the scroll wasn't already sold, but if it was there were still strong chances that it would change hands a few more times before it left the port.

As Takumi approached the gates of the village a troupe of dirty clothed guards stepped out blocking the road. Their faces were covered in five o'clock shadow as they rubbed their red eyes slowly adjusting to the sunlight. They were tired, understandable since they were guards of one of the biggest merchant cities in the whole world. Fighting a losing war to keep control of the streets would be an all day job every day, they were most likely run ragged by now... that or they were high. Either way it didn't matter, as Takumi lifted his hood a little to expose his forehead and the Kirigakure no Sato headband. He was here on business and no lowly city guard would slow him down this time.

The soldiers shambled out of his way grumbling crankily about ninja meddling in their affairs but abiding by the superior agency that was the ninja. Takumi made his way down the road his eyes darting about reading signs and watching people's actions carefully for anything suspicious but still there was nothing. A few angry fistfights, yelling merchants that screamed and calling for anyone's attention, and of course the shady man wearing dark glasses dragging people aside to offer them their 'fix.' It wasn't long before Takumi found himself pulled into a side alley by a large man in a black trench coat with a pair of dark glasses.

"Hey buddy, what can I get for you? What's your fix? What's your pleasure I've got it all!"

Takumi withdrew a senbon from his pouch swiftly placing the point of the needle against the man's throat. Grabbing hold of the man by his coat Takumi forcefully backed him up against the wall of the alley with the senbon poised to pierce his jugular with ease. He wasn't about to be bullied into buying whatever this man had to offer, but perhaps this crook had some knowledge?

"Knowledge is my pleasure, friend. Tell me, you must have a large customer base in this town. I'm on business looking for an old friend of mine, he's trying to sell some scrolls I'm looking for. Not just any scrolls mind you, these scrolls would fetch an impressive price on the market. Probably worth more than your life actually. Which brings me to my next point, how valuable is life to you?"

[The Dude]

The man smiled back at Takumi confidently showing no fear despite the threat and the needle's point that leaked a small trickle of crimson down his neck. The man was not afraid of needles, his business was needles in many cases after all and it was something he was around constantly. The same went for death threats and rough handling by either the guards or desperate customers looking to get their fix.

"Listen kiddo, I've been around the block a few times now. You're not the first Kirigakure shinobi I've dealt with and you don't scare me at all really. I'll tell you what I know just for the asking, but please put the needle away. If people see me being threatened by a ninja while I'm at work it tends to be bad for business. People start thinking I'm turning in my clients, I can't move my stash quick enough and soon I'm out of work."

Takumi looked at him quizzically before letting him go and lowering his needle slowly. He still held tight to the needle in case the man decided to get any funny ideas but the man was willing to comply with Takumi. Smart man, perhaps Takumi could let him live after all, it wasn't as if killing the man would help clean up this town anyway. There were hundreds of dealers roaming around this town, where there was demand supply would follow.

"Alright then, let's hear what you know. If it's enough for me to go on, then I can forget about you dragging me into this alley and go about my day. I suggest you do the same once I'm gone."

"The guy you're looking for can be found down by the docks actually. He was looking for a good price for the scrolls but no one was willing to pay the outrageous price he was asking. Instead of changing the price though he's simply gone and bartered passage on a ship with some pirates, good friends of mine actually. He's hoping to voyage to another city where the scrolls will be worth even more and he can get the price he feels he deserves. I tell you, the kid's so full of himself he acts like he robbed from Kirigakure no Sato. Word on the street is he just stole it from some old senile ninja. Anyway if you want to get to him you'd better move fast, they're leaving now and they won't be returning for three months."

Takumi didn't have time to stay around and consider punishing the dealer like he probably should have, besides his information had been more than sufficient to track down the thief. His kikaichuu that had infiltrated the entire city flew silently through the air gathering at the docks looking for the appropriate ship. Takumi himself ran up the alley wall straight up into the air before landing on the roof and sprinting off towards the docks. This had gone on long enough and it was about time to rap it all up now.

[The Dude]

Racing along the rooftops it didn't take long at all for Takumi to sprint his way across the skyline of the city and leap from a lower rooftop to land with a tumble along the street. Kikaichuu descended from the sky just after him and circled around him buzzing excitedly before slipping silently into his clothes and reporting their information to him quietly. They had found the pirate ship and it was indeed just leaving the harbor, but it was loaded with pirates that stood upon the deck along with one person who stood out strangely to the kikaichuu. He certainly didn't belong among them and it was more than enough information for Takumi to go on and assume that he was the thief.

Takumi bolted out along the dock before bounding from the dock out onto the water. He moved quick and fluidly along the surface of the water chasing after the sailing ship but he simply wasn't moving fast enough. With a quick little jump into the air the kikaichuu swarmed from his pant legs forming a solid cloud beneath his feet he landed upon. The cloud zipped through the air upwards ahead of the ship causing the crew to point and shout excitedly drawing their blades.

Above the ship, Takumi dropped down suddenly landing on the deck of the ship with another tumbling roll behind the man before quickly rising to his feet. Grabbing hold of the young boy that was the thief Takumi locked his arms behind his back dropping the boy to his knees and holding the senbon poised at the back of the thief's neck just where the neck joined the head. The pirates drew their blades and made to approach but stopping five meters away at the command shout of a gruff voice.

"Alright alright stop yourselves before you get us all into trouble! He's obviously a ninja and we don't want to bring an entire village down upon us if we can avoid it. Tell me ninja, what brings you aboard my ship to threaten my passengers so abruptly as this?"

"The boy stole some scrolls from a retired ninja of the village, he's been trying to sell them. I was sent to retrieve them."

The captain who had strode out from the crew pushing them aside looked first from Takumi down to the boy. His face that had been once controlled and calm became contorted in serious thought and stress as he reached up pulling the beard on his face. This had been more trouble than the captain had anticipated, he had only promised the boy passage with no questions asked. The foolish child had drawn the attention of the village and been more trouble than he was worth though.

"The scrolls are in his shirt, take them and then hand the boy back over to us. He payed for passage to another port, he didn't pay us for added security so the scrolls are yours for all I care."

Takumi quickly rifled through the boys shirt before nodded politely to the captain shoving the boy over to him. The captain grabbed hold of the boy grabbing the money he was due before slitting his throat and tossing his body over the side of the ship heartlessly. When he turned back, Takumi had already jumped ship landing on his kikaichuu cloud and soaring off. He flew back to his village and returned the scrolls for a messenger to take back to the retired ninja, as far as Takumi was concerned his part in this job was over.

[exit]

[tigaevo]

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