Starring:
Date: November 14, 2012
Summary:
Two young kunoichi are tasked with pretending to be slaves to infiltrate and break down one of many human trafficking rings. It requires quite a bit of acting to pull of the roles though, but once they are in is when the real fun begins.
"He'd Be Dead Any Other Time"
On the coast just outside of Sunagakure
Team Two,
The slave market has always been an issue in Sunagakure. The distance between cities makes it hard for local or national patrols to keep the roads safe. Some of the smaller villages are not safe either. In general people vanish all the time and very few actually notice. In the defense of the people from the land of Suna, the shinobi village has been trying to infiltrate slaving rings. While men and boys do fetch a price, the market practically begs for women, especially young girls. To complete this mission, Kuroki Kameko has been added temporarily to your team. Within the next few pages is a list of cover identities, a contact name, a location on the coast and a time for the meeting. Follow the girls and find those responsible. Destroy the ring.
Outside of the target village, Keiji stands behind a large rock. The sun is starting to set. "Alright ladies, here are the costumes. Remember you two are kidnapped slaves. This will take a little bit of acting. I will be selling you both off at the contact point and then following you to their location. Trust me. I will not lose either of you. I am pretty certain they will take you somewhere on the coast to a ship. It's a matter of finding the ship and freeing those on it." the young boy states as he hands them off their new attire. The clothes were nothing fancy, though each contained a collar and hand bindings. Keiji could not help but smile.
Kameko raises an eyebrow as she is handed her clothing and glances up at Keiji. She could not help but notice that this was not exactly something she'd normally wear, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices especially for the village. "I hope you are not expecting on watching us change…I know some are curious if I have tattoos -everywhere- but it is not something I'd like you to find out.." She grins over at Keiji obviously joking before going out of view behind the rock. If he did try peeking or anything like that, she'd have to rough him up a little bit mission leader or not. Once Kameko steps out in her attire she adjusts her collar and looks down at the hand bindings. "Alright I believe I look the part…now lead the way Master." She chuckles faintly at that and waits on Akina to get ready as well. This should be interesting considering she has not worked with either of her new temporary team members.
Already she was getting an uneasy feeling about this mission. And it didn't help that Keiji was enjoying this all too much. Well, Akina assumes so in any case. It was difficult to tell behind the mask he wears. But a mission is a mission, regardless. Giving the folded set of clothes a short glance, the young girl lifts her dark eyes beneath her own mask up at Kameko when she emerges, dressed in a new outfit and a collar. Clutching the garments against her chest she turns away and disappears behind the boulder to change. It isn't until several moments later that Akina steps out tentatively, without the plain white mask and her dark raven hair loose over her shoulders. The short sleeved, plain dirt brown kimono boldly hinting at the mesh netting along her chest and revealing that the young girl was already budding. Her hands tug with some anxiety at the short hem brushing at her thighs, the slave collar wrapped around her neck with one side of the rope bindings snug on a wrist. "Lets get this over with…" Akina mutters, keeping her eyes averted.
"Only in my dreams, would I ever." Keiji joked back. He was trying to keep the mood light. Both these girls were risking a lot. As they both returned, Keiji was able to sense some uneasy feelings from Akina. He moved towards Kameko first and placed a leash on her collar. "Kameko, due to your tattoos, you will be a native from the northern section of Sunagakure. To the best of my knowledge, born a slave. Not very vocal either. You will play the exotic type."
Keiji then moved behind Akina. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You will do fine Akina. You are very pretty. If they touch either of you, I will kill them. Just relax." His words came out firm. Finally his hand moves to place a leash on her collar before he moves in front of them. He places both of his hands together into a henge jutsu. Once the smoke clears, he appears to be an older man with his face covered by the normal desert garbs. "Alright ladies, it is time."
The slaver (Keiji), then moves them along the road towards a small establishments on the outskirts of town. It was a bar for rabble. He opens the door and then yells towards the two ladies. "Get inside. They dont have all day."
A few people turn to see the new meat entering the place. Most know the goods are off limits. As the girls enter, a man opens a door at the back. "Right this way…"
Kameko nods indicating her understanding of the role before looking over at Akina and smiling at her comfortingly. "Do not worry, I am sure that they have not had to deal with any slaves such as us. Just smile and focus on getting through this." She then allows Keiji to lead her on by the leash as they make their way to the outskirts of the town. When they get closer to their destination she looks around making mental notes of her surroundings keeping her head down low as she did so. When her new slaver orders her inside she hurries in after him avoiding eye contact with any of the patrons there. She wanted to come across as obedient to avoid any unwanted attention besides she would likely get enough from it from the fact that she was covered in tattoos. She does look up at the man opening the door for them before looking back down at the floor and following Keiji inside. This was about to get interesting, if not somewhat uncomfortable. Still part of her couldn't help but wonder how much she'd go for as a slave, much like how she wondered how much one of her paintings would go for when she sells it. It would definitely be an amusing chance to see her worth to others, even if it is just the opinion of scum.
Akina grunts once as if she doesn't really believe him, but doesn't move away when he reaches up to click the leash onto the loop of her collar. It wasn't so bad, she just felt uncomfortable wearing so little. Her lips part with a small breath as she resigns herself, lifting her coal black eyes up at Keiji when he henges into the old desert rat. Giving Kameko a small glance she turns to follow after the lead of her leash, soon lead deeper into town. Akina makes sure not to visibly glance around or appear too curious. Closing in on one particular building, she steps inside with her owner's urging, quick to follow after Kameko.
Keiji moves with both the girls and enters the room. There he finds two men waiting. They were big men. Kind of burly. He makes eye contact with them. They were obviously muscle. He nods his head and pulls lightly on the leash to stop the girls from moving if they had not already. He then gives a slight nod of the head towards the girls. "Shall we discuss price?" he asks.
His words are met with a nod. "What's their story?" the smaller of the two goons asks in a deep voice.
"The older one was a slave up north. Born and raised. I bought her in a trade. She's been well trained and very obedient." Keiji then makes a snapping noise. He points to a cup on the table. He then looks back towards the other man. "The younger one is a bit more feisty. She's not quite use to the life style yet. I… inherited her three days ago. She has come a long way."
Both men looks over the two ladies as each is spoken of. Then as the fingers are snapped, they look to see just how obedient the tattooed slave is. "Does she have tattoo's all over her body?" the larger man asks curiously.
Kameko immediately responds to the snapping noise and reaches for the cup to offer it to her slaver, kneeling before him and keeping her eyes fixed on the ground as she did so. She still remains silent as the men looked over them, but does offer a soft nod to the men in response to the question presented about her. Whether or not it was actually true was a mystery, but she figured it'd make her seem more 'exotic' if she let them believe what they wanted. She stayed in her position waiting for Keiji to instruct her otherwise. She was somewhat glad they seemed to be giving her more attention than Akina at the moment. The girl probably wouldn't appreciate anything they had to say about her. Especially if she already did not like being quite so exposed.
With the tug to her leash Akina comes to a pause, biting at her bottom lip as she gives the burly men a small glance. They were huge, and she tried to look intimidated by taking a defensive step back from where they stand. Just in case. Her dusky eyes flick quickly from him to Kameko, seeing as she's the one drawing interest at the moment. Probably because of her tattoos as the other girl originally suspected.
Keiji in his henged form nodded his head. "They do. They are quite something. It must have been very painful. So, what will you offer me?" he asks. He then snaps his fingers again so that Kameko can get back up. "She is able to remain in that position for hours." It was amazing how well she could act. Keiji was truly impressed. His eyes then momentarily moved to Akina. She was doing her part. She looked timid.
"700k on tattoo. 750k on the other. I think we have a few buyers who would be interested." the smaller of the two men state.
The henged face of Keiji almost looks enraged by the offer. "Tattoo is trained. No one will have to train her! As for the other, she's worth twice that!" his voice continues to raise. Finally he places a hand over his eyes. "950k on each. That or I will go trade them up north." It was a clear bluff on Keiji's part. He had to act the part. The girls had to appear to be meat.
Kameko rises to her feet when told and simply listens as Keiji begins bartering with the men for what they'd sell for. Her face remains calm and hard to read as they stated such a price for them, she was impressed especially with the other girl. Akina being able to work up such a price without acting was really something, she herself would probably sell for much less if she was not so consumed in her role. Still for now she just keeps her eyes on the ground her focus unwavering when Keiji begins acting upset. She'd definitely have to talk to him later about that 'being able to remain in that position for hours' comment. Not exactly something you'd want to tell slavers, since their minds tend to drift to unsavory places.
As Kameko rises to her feet, Akina flicks her dark eyes to the older girl for a short moment before quickly returning her gaze to the guards. The starting price, it was actually more than she anticipated, and the bartering was a good sign. It meant that they were convinced Keiji was who he said he was. It was only a matter of time now. She takes a timid step closer to Kakemo, anxiously watching the exchange.
"Fine. Deal." The smaller man states. He then nods to the bigger man. The bigger man then pulls out a bag of coins. He takes a few coins out of the pouch and then hands it over to Keiji. "It's all there." The man then reaches for the leashes which Keiji readily hands over. He tugs them towards another door further back. Once opened, a wagon could be seen. It was obvious that they were going to be taken to their transportation via wagon. As the girls are pulled out by the bigger man, the smaller man smacks Akina on the backside. "Hurry up."
Keiji takes the bag of coins and nods his head. "It better be or I will take my business elsewhere." He then waits for them to move the cargo out. Though he shows no signs of anger at the smack of Akina's backside, he makes a mental note to kill that man slowly.
Kameko follows after the men as she is tugged along showing no indications of fear or intending to struggle. They did go for quite a good price, more than any of the paintings she's made so far have sold for. She does glance down at the smaller man's hand when he violates Akina's personal space, but otherwise does not say a word. She just wished the man knew how lucky he was that they were not to their intended destination yet or he could see what her and her tattoos could really do. After all not only was she a team mate at the moment, she was a fellow woman, and as the saying goes girls have to stick together. Climbing aboard the wagon she sits where she is told and waits for them to arrive, remaining quiet as ever. She was glad she was not given a speaking part since she was naturally not that talkative to begin with. She does offer a comforting glance to Akina in an attempt to make her more at ease during their journey.
The end of her leash handed to one of the burly men, he gives it a tug to prompt Akina to follow, though with clear reluctance as she dips her chin down. The length of her raven hair obscuring her face as she obeys the silent command. Led to yet another door further back, it comes to no surprise to see a wagon. No doubt to transport their newly obtained cargo. The smack to her backside was sudden and unexpected, clapping loud with the contact as it makes Akina jump several inches. A fierce flush rises in her cheeks and the girl quickens her pace and scuttles into the wagon after Kameko, anything to get away from the pair of men apparently.
After the girls are loaded into the wagon, the men lock the door and hop onto the wagon. It then takes off down a road traveling south on the coast. The trip itself took less than an hour. The ship was in an unmarked harbor. One that no one would find on a map or go looking for. That was the reason that the village could not seem to find the ship in a normal port. Once there, the men decided to open the doors and march the girls up the ramp. A few cat calls were made by some of the sailors. If either girl was paying attention they would be able to see roughly twenty people including the two that they already knew. They were then shoved into a cargo hold below the decks.
The tracks were relatively easy to find. Keiji only lost them once, but chose the road moving along the coast instead of heading inward. He was almost tricked as he came to a cross section. There was no marked harbor on the map, but he saw the fresh tire grooves and hoof prints. Moving along with the tracks, Keiji spotted the ship. Now it was time for him to move. He had located the ship and soon the girls would be breaking out. He wanted to ensure they were not in any danger. Remaining in the shadows of the night, he makes his way out to the water. He then moves across the water. There is only a moment pause as he waits for a sailor to move by his post. Then the boy walks up the side of the deck.
Kameko ignores the cat calling but does attempt to count the heads of people on the ship while being marched up the ramp. There were quite a few of them, but it shouldn't be too much more of a problem in the end of things. As she was shoved into the cargo hold she waits for the entrance to be shut before looking over at Akina and giving a nod of approval. "You did well..Nice job not snapping his hand in half…help me look around." With that said she walks around exploring the cargo hold glancing over what slaves were there before them allowing Akina to go off and explore for herself if she wished. The fact that other innocent people were here dismissed her plan of possibly sinking the ship if things got too rough for them.
She glances down at her wrist restraints and frowns to herself. She could simply pull out her blade to cut herself free, but it would be better saved for when she was absolutely sure that it was time to strike. She knelt by one of the fellow slaves and offers them a smile "Don't worry we will get you out of here soon enough…Stay quiet and just wait a little bit longer for a signal. For now though I can make your time here a little more comfortable.." She flowed chakra through one of the crescent moon tattoos on her wrist just enough to slightly expose the sharp blade of her chakram dagger. She lightly begins only slightly cutting through the other slave's restraints just enough to weaken it to the point where the slaves could snap out of it if they needed to. She stops by each slave doing such for each of them.
The door is opened with a rush of fresh, salty air as Akina blinks her bright eyes up at the back of the wagon. The pair of slaves are pulled out and lead to a dock, and the young girl couldn't help but blink her bright innocent eyes up at the sailors with curiosity when they catcall at them. Over a dozen of them, nearly two even. Whoever they were, they're only given a brief glance before the pair of slaves are practically pushed into the cargo hold, the doors slamming closed with a heavy click.
Inside, Akina releases a long breath as she glances back at Kameko, a slight smirk tugging at her lips, "I would rather poison him for a slow and agonizing death." she mutters easily with humor in her voice. Not that she won't get him later. As Kameko starts glancing around, the girl turns to do the same, frowning to herself with thought for a long moment or so. "How is it that they did not check anything?" she murmurs. "We could be hiding a number of weapons, but they did not pat us down, check the inside of our mouths, or other any other place. They just straight out bought us with so little information. How unprofessional are they." Akina glances up again. "What if this is a trap?"
Keiji placed his hands against the side of the ship. Soon his tail popped out. Now that he was prepared, the boy dashed over the side of the ship. He pincer finger meeting the throat of the first sailor that he crossed. The sound of that sailor's scream was cut short. It drew some attention though. "Slavers of this ship, place down your weapons and I will grant you a swift death. Fight and those you enslave will become your tormentors." Of course his words fall on deaf ears. Now there is a gathering of around fifteen men with five heading towards the slaves in the hold. As Keiji's eyes pass thecrew, he spots the smaller man from the earlier trade… the one who smacked Akina on the backside. Keiji dashed to the side of the man though his tail stabs him in the stomach, injecting his paralytic venom into him. Unfortunately the young Chuunin did not have the time to talk trash before the rest of the men attacked him.
Kameko shrugs vaguely as she finishes her work with the other slaves climbing to her feet before speaking to Akina. "Women are often underestimated, especially under dressed women. I do not know about you but it would not do them much good to check me over either way so it wouldn't bother me if they did. I suppose you are right it could be a trap, best remain on your toes." She walks over to Akina and looks over her restraints as well cutting into them briefly with the blade on her wrist. Once finished she stops the flow of chakra to her tattoos for now reverting the blade back to its original design on her skin. "That should allow you to break your bonds easily. Remember though we are still helpless until we are certain that the situation is ready to be handled by our 'Master'…"
She perks up when she hears the sailor's scream and grins to herself. "Which that seems to be now. Be ready." Swiftly she flows her chakra back through to both of the blades this time fully expanding them this time easily cutting through her own restraints. "That's much better…" She glances over at the five sailors who rushed down to the cargo hold who seemed more than a little confused as to how a slave managed to sneak weapons like that onto the ship. "G..grab them!" Gliding forward with her lightning chakra on her feet Kameko moves and slices through three of them with ease specifically aiming for their stomachs. They barely have enough time to get out a yelp as they hold at their stomachs and fall forward to the ground. Not wanting to keep the fun to herself she allows Akina to have at the other two. "Slaves if you wish to be saved then stay behind us. We will protect you."
Just the fact that Kameko agrees with her suspicions makes Akina a bit more on edge, shoulders tensing subtly as she gives the door a brief stare. When the other girl approaches, she tightens her jaw but doesn't hesitate to lift her hands up for the blade to catch on the rope, slicing just enough to allow the girl to tug and snap them through. Just at Kameko's comment the noise is heard through the door, earning a glance and a smirk, "Sounds like my kind of song." Akina slips the single, poisoned tipped senbon from the folds of her sleeve. "Yeah, ready." When the guards hurry to unlock the door and rush in, it's Kameko that moves first, with a flash that makes her look as if lightning itself came from the speed of her feet. Three are taken down with such ease that it's impressive, leaving two more. How generous. With a flicker of speed, Akina appears between the last two as she slashes at the throat of one, using the momentum behind a quick spin to slash at the other.
By the time the girls arrive above deck, the sailors are all dead except for the one that had been paralyzed. "If either of you two want him, there he is. Otherwise I will put him out of his misery." Keiji states. He then looks over both of Akina and Kameko. "You two ladies did very well. Without you all of these girls would be off to a life of slavery. On the other hand, I am liking the outfits." Keiji then shrugs his shoulders.
As Kameko arrives she looks over the deck with a smile, see easy enough. When the man is mentioned, Kameko glances over at him and allows her blades to return to her wrist before walking forward and simply grabbing a hold onto the back of his neck. With a soft smirk she sends a quick jolt down the man's spine, enough to put him in a lot of pain but not enough to kill him. "That is what you get for thinking your hands can go anywhere on a woman's body…You may have the rest of the honor." She walks away from the man approaching Keiji. Akina was the one who he got handsy with so it was only fitting that she allows her to finish him off if she wished. "Thank you, I appreciate it. Although that 'can stay in that position for hours' comment went a bit far. What if they wanted me to prove that hm?" A grin tugged at her lips and she chuckles at the last thing Keiji says. "I much prefer my robe…has more of a certain flair to it, and I enjoy the feathers. So are we splitting what we sold for, or are we to donate it to Sunagakure?"
Emerging on the deck, Akina lifts a brow as she glances over the number of bodies that litter all around their feet. She knew her teacher was good, but even this impressed her. Turning, the girl follows Kameko at a slower pace as her teammate reaches down to grab at the man's neck, sending a jolt of electricity straight through his spine. And even that didn't kill him. After walking away Akina just silently stares down at him with a purely passive expression. Even after he slapped her backside she didn't feel strongly one way or the other about him. Breathing lightly through her nose the girl kneels close to him, allowing the man a good look at her before Akina holds up the senbon needle in her hand. "See this? It is coated with a special poison that I have developed myself. It will kill you in twenty four hours, has no antidote. And all the while you'll be in constant pain, like your insides are on fire. All it takes is one little prick." The needle faintly taps at an existing open wound. "Regardless what you might think, I am not doing this for myself. It is because you took the wives and daughters of families…"
