Starring:
Kiyoshi, Sosuke
Date: August 14, 2013
Summary:
Kiyoshi and Sosuke find themselves roped into a bit of d-rank level security detail at a Konoha's Bazaar. Unfortunately, the weather is horrible, somebody has a particular bad grudge against the merchant their aiding, and… illusions. Lots and lots of bad, bad illusions…
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"LIllusions Are Never Your Friend"
Roughly - A Konohagakure Bazaar
Kanana Moon [Konohagakure]
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The great Kanana Moon, a middle of nowhere location with countless possibilities. This is the pride and center for all the needs of the villagers be it Ninja or villagers. A constant bustle of activity is seen here during the days as people wander around heading towards the several interesting small shops set in this area. There are coffee shops set next to take away shops where the smell of fresh ramen looms in the sky. There are news stands and hawkers, the essence of voices chatting in this area is not a shy sound to come upon. What's the most attended shops is the large item shop set in the north where things such as scrolls, stationary and even toys can be purchased. This shop is rumored to be the biggest in the city and has just about anything someone might need.
Furthermore there is a small tower marked with a picture of a Kunai and Shuriken, the sign 'Hiro Weapons' is read above it. All matters of Ninja items are sold here and up for display. There are common items, interesting items and even the few rare items that can be purchased here. Ninja from all over the village come here to do their majority of shopping for weapons due to the fact that stock is never limited at Hiro Weapons.
The village housewife also finds a place to shop here. Set in a corner in the southern section of the moon is a grocery store stacked to the brim with fresh and colorful vegetables. The vegetable shop always has business selling not only the freshest vegetables in the village, but the most nutritional and tasty to note. Known to be somewhat pricey it doesn't seem to ever not attract business. Often woman come here to converse with each other as their husbands wander to Hiro Weapons or the item shops
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It would seem that even after leaving Kirigakure, Kiyoshi would not be able to escape the threat of being drenched by either sweat from humidity or rain. Why one may ask. Because Konohagakure during the spring time equals showers. Showers that inevitably bring down great torrents of the bothersome liquid. Thankfully thus far the clouds only threatened to release said torture upon those residing in the village. And while there is, or better yet -was- the option of just staying in all day because of the weather, big brother Souta needed supplies. A simple enough errand… except, Konohagakure seemed a bit short handed due to the exams. As a result, somewhere along the way Kiyoshi is roped into assisting with some kind of protection detail at the Shopping distract along with another impromptu recruit. At least, that is was the plan. The recruiters just needed to delivery the news to Kiyoshi's partner while he remain on guard at Ko-san stalls.
"They better not have me here all day," Kiyoshi muttered deresively, arms folded across his chest as he scanned the crowd. His feet kept tapping to some unnamed tune.
"Well this is impromptu to say the least. But I am not complaning." Sosuke comments as he walks up to the Ko-san stalls. A chuunin departs from his side having just finished briefing the young Gansao about his assignment and partner. Sosuke's gaze goes to Kiyoshi and it is a scrutinizing gaze. There is silence as Sosuke takes in the half pint genin. Sosuke finally speaks "Were you waiting long? I apologize. I assume you've been informed of our duty?"
Kiyoshi gives Sosuke's form about as much scrutiny, if not more than the boy gave him. Rather or not he is pleased with having some flat-chested girl as his partner is hard to discern by appearances. The gas mask in particular render it impossible to read his facial expressions. "Yes, to both." He states bluntly and perhaps a little too rudely. "Watch Ko-san stalls, ward off thieves, be-… detain the more persistant until our relief shows up." He adds, listing off each duty with a finger being raised. A sigh escapes his lips. "Moto, Kiyoshi by the way. Keep that in mind please while you take up your position at the other end." The Moto jabs a finger towards the end of the line, a few meters down and thus still within hearing range. Visually on the otherhand it might tbe difficult with all the traffic about in the area despite the threat of rain. Then he immediatly posts up against the stall and waits for trouble.
He never did bother to ask for Sosuke's name in return…
The short and to the point attitude didn't bother Sosuke at all. People like this were easier for him to deal with. So rather than say anything Sosuke just nods and heads to his respective post at the other end. Sosuke peers upwards at the sky. "Hmmm hopefully our relieve arrives before the downpour." Upon arriving at his post he folds his arms and stands vigilant with patience. Sosuke occasionally glances over towards Kiyoshi. The boy generates a fair amount of curiosity but none so much that Sosuke felt compelled to pry.
ALthough he showed no signs of being so, Kiyoshi was taken aback by Sosuke's response to the command. Apperantly, not everyone was as stubborn as the Kaguya. Or as Kiyoshi himself for that matter. A good thing to because he was hoping to pass through this little side 'quest' without any bumps in the road. Sadly, Some part of Kiyoshi's mind was not in full agreement. His mind began to meander down the past as he observed the comings and going of villagers and shinobi alike. Kirryu. This is where most of his kinsman had settled after the great divide. Perhaps his parents too had return to this land after losing their son, for peace and support. If so, now was the perfect opportunity to — "No!" He yelled out from behind gritted teeth.
He missed them.
They probably missed him.
He had a new family now.
The Moto brothers were not blood.
He… He had responsibilities back in Kirigakure.
They would not understand.
He gave his head one more weary shake before shuffling the matter to the back of his mind. The only thing that mattered was to stay focused. Like on the fact that some little street urchin kid was trying to snatch one of the lighter goods off of one of the stalls while the merchant was busy with another customer. "Oi. Hands off." Kiyoshi growled out at the urchin, freezing the boy in place long enough for the Kiri-nin to snatch up the stolen item and drop it back in place. "Leave."
The boy's terror stricken eyes into Kiyoshi's one way visor for a few seconds more, then avert as he tries to scamper off into the crowd.
Sosuke's attention diverts for a moment only towards Kiyoshi. The sudden shout made the young Gansao very weary. "Are you….?" Sosuke started ask until Kiyoshi caught a thief. Sosuke he nods softly then walks up to the thieving boy. "Better luck next time. Be thankful you get a next time. This time." Sosuke waves the child off and looks to Kiyoshi. Now even behind the mask Sosuke could see there was something else on the boy's mind. The young Gansao figured he should make the attempt to be civil in hopes to ease whatever unrest was troubling Kiyoshi, for the sake of the mission as well. "Tsukinamida Sosuke. That's my name. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. Anyway good job." Sosuke turns to head back to his post now.
"…"
Silence and a blank stare is all that Sosuke is given in return for the greeting before moving on. No point getting the chick hope that he would remember the name. The boy is just that bad at remember names. Sometimes, even faces are difficult; barring an exception four to six at the moment. A mental note is made to at least give Sosuke some consideration after the mission, though, chances are that'll be forgotten too!
"Hm? Again already?" Like the eyes of a hawk, Kiyoshi's eyes zero in on an adult — probably the village idiot — trying to slip one of the goods into his pocket >while< distracting the merchant with some suave explination about boosting sales. After taking a quick moment to see if the adult was perhaps a foreigner or a shinobi in disguise, Kiyoshi outright walks up to him and grabs his wrist just as elder man was shifting the item more comfortably into his pocket. "Give it back." The Moto grips the man's wrist tighter. And while the action does incite some amount of pain, its hardly enough to get the man to let go. So, when that fails Kiyoshi forced his hand out, forcing the item into view. Needless to say the merchant is not happy one bit.
"That takes care of that." He stated dryly as he watched the elder theif get dressed down by merchant. The latter of which made it a point to not give the thief in a word edge wise, slip away without getting yanked back by the ear, or a chance to steal again by standing in front of the stall this time. Their argument concludes with the woman shoving the man away and giving him a swift boot to the rear to make him really get a move on.
"The number of thieves has really gone up." Sosuke stated as he watched Kiyoshi bust yet another potential thief. The young Gansao was both pleased and disappointed that this assignment was turning out to be more eventful that he initially expected. Why even he caught a bit of action as he noticed two children trying to pull the oldest trick in the book. They created a diversion then attempted to make away with the stolen items. Unfortunately for them Sosuke was infinitely faster than them. Heading them off he shakes a disapproving head and retrieves the item stolen. He then motions the children to get lost. "Not bad." Sosuke said with a smirk. He then returns to the ko-san stand and returns the item to the merchant then returns to his post. "Not bad at all."
'Tch, seems Jiji-san hired some decent guards'
Kiyoshi snorted derivatively at the sight of another pair of thievies being apprehended, and then began to wonder just how safe Konoha was. A thief or prankster every other day or so is fine and dandy, especially if a place is particular busy. But four in one freaking day!? All of which were targeting a single stall line no less! That's madness! "… Hnn…" Kiyoshi emitted thoughtfully before carefully scanning the crowd without giving away his intentions too quickly. As if sensing some type of disturbance in the force (albiet in reality he just noticed the mastermind glaring at Sosuke), Kiyoshi's attention lands upon a fellow in the distance. A leafer genin by the looks of his him, as well as the very definition of average. What with the dark brown hair, generic semi-athletic build for a teen, and relatively fair skin. An easy to miss fellow in the crowd, but now…
"Oi, Girly. I need to go use the facilities." Kiyoshi meandered closer to Sosuke to say before making his way 'discretely' to the fuming boy. Sadly… he exactly what one would call, fleet of foot, and ends up causing a minor commotion along the way after misplacing his footing here and there.
"Grr, Sorry. Now please step aside." He emits from time to time, but never without outright success in his endeavors. His actions unfortunately grab his target's attention; prompting him to whip his hand about in the air before taking off deeper in the crowd.
Meanwhile, the adult thief, urchin, and the snatch'em up thieves all catch sight of the signal, then turn to glance at one another once before forming the ram signal. The henges are dispelled, revealing the thieves to be… CLones!? Close, but not quite, for in truth their more than likely to be of kin to the supposed mastermind given their appearance. As one, they all begin to slip their way closer to the stall. Their intent now clear and straight-forward: Ko-san stalls will not stand after this day.
Sosuke blinks at Kiyoshi when he says girly. "My name is Sosuke, and go on ahead. I'll should be able to manage by myself for now." The young Gansao mistakes 'Girly' as a mispronunciation. But in no time things escalated form bad to worse. In what all seemed to be too coincidental to be a mere burglary attempt. At the spread of similar looking gents before him Sosuke whistles. "Clones?" he looks a bit closer but he realizes that's not the case. "No….well then." Sosuke doesn't retrieve his scythe just yet instead he pulls out a simple kunai. "Whatever you're trying to do, it's not worth it." he warns.
A Kunai? "Aniki says it is. And we gotta do what Aniki says or else will end up buddy for it later," says the largest of the quadruplets(?) and offered Sosuke almost an apologetic look before being the first to rush the boy. A second of the 'clones' rush in the wake of the first. The first aims high to try and clothesline the boy while the second aims low just in case. Their taijutsu is sloppy and straight for genin. Unfortunately, the other two that hang back are accel at genjutsu. Together, the weave of field of spiritual energy of sorts, masking the disturbance as another mundane argument from everyone else while also trying to impaired Sosuke's vision with the illusion of sudden passerby brushing past.
Kiyoshi in the meantime stays in hot pursuit of the ring leader, though, he changes his tactics from trying to sneak up on the boy to try and ram him into the ground. He is…
… Not successful in the least. The ring leader was just to silky smooth with his movements and managed to slip to the side just in time.
Sosuke stands firm when the lookalikes charge. The genjutsu is easily perceived and dispelled by the Gansao Genin and with the illusion gone Sosuke can see the attacks coming. As they seem unwilling to retreat but apologetic for their disturbance Sosuke can take advantage of the hesitation in their actions. "If body and mind aren't committed to the same goal then a margin of error presents itself and expands." Sosuke says before evading the close-line. He then takes the kunai and punishes the other lookalike that tries to strike him low. Sosuke cuts to wound but not kill. He then throws a hard punch towards the first lookalike's sternum to punish and force him back. "Who is aniki? What is his goal exactly?"
Both brother's are shocked from Sosuke's display of skill. While they weren't exactly the top of their class when it came to Taijutsu, they still felt that they were pretty good at. Just not good enough apparently avoid getting slashed across the arm or punched hard in the sternum after trying to shove Sosuke away in a panic. Needless to say, the 'elder brother(?)' out of the current quadruplets is down for the time being. The one that cut however is furious. Angry yet in control enough to channel his rage into a kick aimed at Sosuke's mid-sections. One of the genjutsu using brothers catch sight of the rage filled one's intent but cannot call out a warning in time to stop him. The most they could do was alter their illusion patterns to try and make it seem as if one of the stall keepers had lept over to try and grab Sosuke from behind.
"Tch!" Kiyoshi knew he met his match in this slippery devil. At least in turns of a direct attack. BUt how about in ranged combat? Thinking quickly, Kiyoshi searched slid to a stop and searched high and low for something to non-lethal at the boy. Rocks end up being his weapon choice, and are pelted at the back of the runner's knees.
Sosuke easily broke yet another genjutsu and with that done he could see the horrible openings in the enraged lookalike's kick. Sosuke weaved around and pinched the leg of his attacked between elbow and knee in one quick and painful motion. After which he press the boy's head to the ground then took him by his hair and brought the kunai to his neck. "Rage is the enemy. Allow it to control you and end up making yourself a puppet…for your oppenet as well." Sosuke tugs on the boy's hair "Try not to move. Though you can't really go anywhere when someone has you by your hair….and then there is the matter of the kunai at your jugular." Sosuke presses the cold blade to his throat. He then looks to the remaining opposition. "I'm growing impatient here. Answer my questions or I will proceed to dispatch with each of you, starting with this one." Sosuke's tone is cold and promising. "You're teamwork is decent but you really need to grasp when you're outmatched." Sosuke presses the kunai a bit more against the neck of the downed quadruplet. "Now then. Who is aniki? I want a name. And what is his…goal? Tell me now and save yourselves the grief."
They were unmatched. This the eldest(?) of the quadruplets figured after the first few moves. "Goro! Stop struggling. The rest of you, drop the jutsu." The eldest called out to each of them in turn, though one called Goro remained relunctant to keep from struggling until the blade starts dig in. The remaining two just look at each other uncertainly. Then as one, the illusions fade before they all turn to peer at Sosuke…
Kiyoshi managed to wing the runner! Perfect! Now all he had to do was catch up to the slick little devil and the chase would be over. This silly mission completed. And his errands completed for the day before the spring showers put an even greater damper on his mood.
Ten Feet…
Kiyoshi leaps over a barrel.
Five Feet…
The Moto just barely manages to slide under both a stall table and beneath a between a passing woman legs in passing…
There is a scream…
They were white and frilly…
One foot…
Kiyoshi leaped with all his might, fully focused on tackling the runner down for good this time! Then a wall appeared out of nowhere and totally screwed up his aim. Not to mentioned scrambling his brain for a good five seconds or so before his eternal prisoner set things right again. "Uugh… What the…? Where did he…?" It was all an illusion, or at least part of it was. Because at some point the runner slipped away during the chase; leaving Kiyoshi to stare in wonder at the back wall of a dead end alley without a single window to escape into. Forget the errands. Forget the weather. And forget the fact that he was technically in unfriendly territory! A slight of this magnitude would not be so easily pushed aside!
"That girl better had learned something *winces*… better sit down for now."
