Starring:
Date: June 17, 2015
Summary:
Shinobu and Tatsuo witness a thievery in the middle of the day! The pair team up quickly to stop him.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Magic Master: Now You See Me, Now You Don't"
Konohagakure
Vine Street [Konohagakure]
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What is said about Vine Street that once reaching this road, you could reach any destination in the village. This was the first road created when the village was made. It is dense with population and places of importance. This used to be the fact that this is the center of all attention, but the village has grown to such an extent that Vine Street simply provides a reminder of a start. Vine Street, however, only has two important destinations; it heads straight from the village gates up to the Hokage Tower far in the eastern distance.
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As Tatsuo and Shinobu leave the Police station, they are suddenly encountered with a rather unusual scene before them. A magician is performing tricks! Kids are lining to to see him, cheering happily and applauding. No festival or anything, but the man did manage to set up some snacks for a few bits of Yen or Ryo from their eager pockets. "And now! Be amazed as I… Disappear~!" With a puff of smoke, the magician is… gone?! So is everyone's wallet (at least, the adults that were standing around that were holding their money realize it's gone missing! Oh no, a thief!
Tatsuo is happy to be out of the police station, away from Zori, even away from Kenta at the moment. He wasn't quite sure what had happened in there or where his sudden bravado had come from. Had there been a voice in his head? He had stopped just outside the building, leaning up against the wall with a hand on his head and his eyes closed. At first he doesn't notice anything else that's going on, and he only has gathered himself by the time Shinobu has exited and then…well, that is quite a gathering. He doesn't move from his spot for the moment. At least, not until people start complaining that their wallets are missing. That's not good! Tatsuo pushes off the wall and runs towards the group, looking around quickly to try and find something the man might have left behind. Or maybe an alleyway the man had snuck down.
Shinobu blinks as she hears people complaining. As a Shinobi, she should help… Right? The girl is hesitant, but Kame, much like always, is not. The pup skitters over to the crowd, sniffing at the ground and trying to sense where this magician's scent disappeared to. It was strongest where he stood, branching off and disappear for a moment in the smoke. But Kame was able to get a good trail. Tatsuo, though he had no ninken to guide him, would see a few footprints. They were more impressed into the ground, the person likely running rather than walking… Hmm…
Tatsuo scans the grand and surrounding quickly yet carefully until he finds the footprints heading off in the one direction. He also spots a Kame. "Kame-chan!" He says, seeming a little surprised despite knowing that they had just been in the police station. "Where is Shinobu-chan? We need to help these people and find this person." He looks around quickly but decides not to wait just yet as he starts running off in the direction the footprints led, focusing inwardly to prepare for whatever he may find and steeling himself against that other part of him. Most importantly, he reached out for any and all water sources to know where they were should he have a need for them.
What water was there in the village? Well, there was plenty! People drink, bathe, and use it to wash things with, after all! So Tatsuo would notice such, but it may not be wise to draw upon all of them… Kame yips a greeting, nose to the ground as she ends up where Tatsuo is: near the footprints. They're on the right trail. Shinobu follows along, running after Kame as the pup leads both human Genin along the trail scent she had found. The trio would have to fight their way through some of the daily traffic, too, hordes of people carrying groceries, laundry, and shipments!
Ugh, stupid people, going about their daily lives and just totally getting in the way of this very important wallet search and rescue mission! Tatsuo pushes past folks without really thinking about it but, sadly, one set of footprints becomes impossible to follow with all the people walking around. Hocus-pocus! "Shinobu-chan, Kame-chan, can you help? We need to find this person. We can't let someone just steal from our people." He sounds somewhat resolute which is, again, kind of odd for him.
Shinobu sniffs a bit at Tatsuo. Was he okay? Her eye showed uncertainty, but she nodded and pointed to Kame, who was dutifully has her nose to the ground and is following that scent! People squeak and tumble as they're shoved aside, dropping their things and sort of yelling at Tatsuo. Shinobu doesn't get the brunt of it because it's mostly Tatsuo that's doing the pushing. They would continue to follow the trail, and it eventually winds off into… just outside the village. Dang.
That's not helpful! Normally Tatsuo would likely call it there and just report the thefts and what the guy had looked like, but something continues to spark him onwards. The boy hesitates there only for a moment before he pushes on, moving outside the village to follow whatever trail he could find on his own. He apparently doesn't expect the other two to follow so he is again relegated to looking for prints. At least out here less people traveled and he should be able to tell if any prints are fresh, thanks to the recent rains. He would just have to follow them.
Tatsuo would get to notice with his sharp eyes that … Well, the man continued to head west. He's heading towards the river, in all likelihood! What he may not know, though, is that the river is currently a raging torrent of watery death. Its current was strong with the rains from recently. Kame dashes ahead of Tatsuo, yipping for the boy to follow her while Shinobu continues to tag along, panting a bit from the running.
Tatsuo looks surprised when the young ninkin bypasses him and yips, but he'll take it as a good sign as he runs off after Kame, pausing only when he realizes that Shinobu is lagging a little. He stops, then quickly crouches and motions for her to hop on his back, "I'll give you a ride Shinobu-chan. We have to hurry, come on!" Regardless or whether or not the offer is taken the boy will then run after Kame, eyes following the pup as well as scanning ahead occasionally to see if the mystery man might come into sight.
Shinobu hesitates, but climbs onto Tatsuo's back when prompted. Good thing she's smaller and younger than him, or she'd feel /really/ bad about holding him up. The girl clings, arms around Tatsuo's neck and legs around his waist. They eventually would get to the river, Kame reaching it a minute before the pair. The pup is barking loudly at a strange-looking man. He's dressed as the magician, and he has a large sack on his person that he's using as a weapon against Kame. When the magician spots the two Genin, he narrows his eyes, but gets his composure. A suave smile crosses his face. "Hello, little boy. Is that your sister? Would you like to see some magic~?" At the word magic, he pulls a Ryo from Tatsuo's ear (if the boy doesn't bite his head off and Kame doesn't attack) and offers it to the Nara.
Tatsuo lets Shinobu slide off of his back as they come upon Kame and the man, the boy looking rather stern and serious. Frowning, he watches the man as he comes close before he shakes his head. "I don't want to see any magic. Give back all the money you stole and I'll let you leave." Granted he'll have the mans description and MO given to the Village and sent out to anyone else so that he'll probably never be able to pull his tricks again, but at least he won't hurt him. Probably.
Shinobu moves off Tatsuo's back, forming a triangle with the other two around the magician out of instinct. Formation… Huh. The team they're on together might actually have paired them well. The magician furrows his brows. "What are you talking about, little boy? I don't have any money," he claims, still trying to act all cool. Kame doesn't buy it one bit and gives a warning bark… Which isn't that threatening because she's a really cute Labrador Puppy.
Apparently Tatsuo isn't having any of it either. "I just saw you performing tricks and then you vanished, and so did everyone's wallets. A good magician wouldn't have left after a trick without waiting to get tips from the spectators." With that he forms a few quick handseals that draws some water from the river behind the magician. Water the forms a small column and then shoots towards the man.
Well, these are just a couple of kids! The dog is a bit worrisome, but that's all. And then that tone… In the Nara's voice… It was too mature. A frown gets even more lined on the man's voice, and he attempts a strained smile. "My dear boyThere is n-ACK!!!" Suddenly the water pushes him forward, and his group on the back loosens. It thumps on the ground, revealing it to be filled with many valuables. Jewelry, wallets, gold, silver…. So much money! Shinobu is quick to follow up with Genjutsu, keeping the man bound in his spot with images of a cute puppy in his lap. Happy place! Kame snatches the bag up in her mouth for now, tail wagging.
Tatsuo shakes his head after a moment, a hand going to his forehead once more as the false bravado fades once again. So…strange. "Um…let's…just leave him here…We can send someone back to pick him up. We can…take the other stuff back to the police so they can give it to the people it was stolen from…" he says, then walks forward to take the bag from Kame, scratching the pup briefly before he hefts the thing over his shoulder. At least they don't have to run anymore. "Good job you two…thanks for coming and thanks for helping."
"Wait, nooooo…. Puppy, come baaaackkkk…" comes the dream-like voice of the man Shinobu had Genjutsu-ed. He was being drawn towards Konoha with the genjutsu! Useful. That, and he had some cause to run because he felt a bit unsafe with some dogs chasing him… Sadly, he wasn't a fast runner while under an illusionary technique. Shinobu follows after Tatsuo, giving him a small nod while Kame hops into Shinobu's arms. Mission accomplished! The two would get to turn both man and stolen goods to the police without any issue!
