Starring:
Date: June 3, 2012
Summary:
Unsuspecting victims attending a wine tasting event are unaware that the wines they're sampling are actually siphoned samples from top notch wineries. Yet, one person does and seeks to use vigilante justice upon the criminals, but only ends up causing a disturbance in need of investigation by shinobi. Keiji, Zalosu, and Itami arrive on the scene to figure out what the issue is, but it turns out this hits closer to home than the Councilwoman intended. Taking with her the suspect causing a ruckus, she leaves the rest of the investigation to the two chuunin to perform on their own.
"Siphoning of Sweet Spirits"
A gallery on Toufuu Street in Sunagakure
It's somewhat late at night. Only 8, so the nightlife is beginning to start up. Since it's cooler at night, people are much more active and won't be going in until the wee hours of morning. Speaking of nightlife, there's someone out here that's living it up to the fullest and enjoying all that Sunagakure has to offer at this time. Night viewings of certain shows at the theatre and then off to a wine tasting. And what takes place after? Trouble. Always trouble. Nights like these where drinking and festivies are about is bound to cause problems and in worse cases, dangerous.
There's an individual that needs stopping as they're behaving quite recklessly after having a bit too much to enjoy. It's bad enough that this person wields a weapon and has been just shy of whacking off limbs and cutting people something serious with it. Some locals have tried to stop the person, but with no success. Time to call in some shinobi. Itami, hearing the news, is on the job, so she heads over to where the disturbance is taking place.
Zalosu was out and about himself. Evening was really like mid-day within the desert and so Zalosu was interacting as he did within the desert. At least until he heard a disturbance nearby. Frowning at the cries of pain from people trying to stop the one with the weapon, Zalosu would hop on those skates of his and take off. Figures a teen would use skates whenever he could, eh? The tattoos around his ankles were curved under his feet, giving him that frictionless surface to glide on as he'd head in that direction. Here's hoping he can help out with whatever issue seems to be going on over there.
For a Shippodoku it was still early morning yet. Keiji had risen from his hole in the sand outside the village and was entering it as he saw people running. Like any good assassin, the boy made his way towards the exact opposite direction that the people seemed to be running. He was moving to the source of the commotion. There was not a lot else on his agenda for the day.
The commotion continues just outside of the building hosting the wine tasting. It's finally become apparent that the person they're dealing with is beyond the ordinary person. This is the skill of a shinobi that has just been displayed with the blade belonging to this…woman. She needs to be stopped or so they keep saying, but it's not /happening/. Not yet, at least. It isn't long before some manage to land on the scene and attempt to apprehend her, but she puts up a fight with words. "What are you going after me for? It's these fools you need to go after!" She points out, with her blade no less, to the people participating in the wine tasting.
Before long, Itami eventually arrives and attempts to work through the crowd to get to the ruckus. A few looks of confusion are transferred between her and the event area, but she ignores it. "There's some illegal activity going on in this place that needs to be handled. I'm not the person responsible, I'm just causing the most noise about it," she explained. The wine tasters try to deny this and for now, it's working and the shinobi are drawing closer to apprehending the woman.
Zalosu comes apon the lady pointing at the wine tasting people with the threatening manner. However she's also claiming they are doing something wrong. He didn't notice Itami as of yet, as he'd motion to stop the shinobi from aprehending the lady. Those tattoos for his skates would re-wrap about his ankles as he'd approach her, hands open and out before him. "Alright, listen. I will look into it. Please, put away the sword, tell me calmly what's happening, we will get it sorted out. Right now, because you have a blade, it is causing the most issue and allowing them to continue, if they are doing something illegal, hai?" Zal would smile with a shrug towards the lady. "Stop threatening, we'll get to the bottom of this."
Due to Keiji's height, he decided to walk up the side of a building to get a better view of the situation. The boy spots a shinobi he does not know speaking to the lady with the blade. He then scans over and spots Itami. While Keiji wanted to stop the altercation from occuring, it seemed like someone else had it handled. For the moment the boy decided to sit and watch.
Itami has never been beat to the scene of a crime in this place until now. She's been outclassed, but maybe that's a good thing because the person they come in contact with is strange. Strange as in, familiar. Familiar like…someone they know. Someone that's finally entered into the area. Well, considering the other two were here, perhaps she could let them…"What?"
The woman turns around and flashes a frown at Zalosu saying, "I've been saying this the whole time. What they're doing is not just tasting wine, what they're doing is stealing the wine. All of this is part of a highly elaborate operation, actually. I was fooled when I took part, but everyone was acting so suspicious and with good reason. Maybe you should look into that…" She shot her eyes up to Keiji on the building and then scanned the crowd. Her eyes locked on Itami where she looked surprised and then sheepish. This was an awkward meeting for relatives.
Frowns towards the tasters. He'd study their setup for a moment, that calculating look studying the situation before he'd look back to the lady. Of course, by then, she was looking towards Itami instead of Zalosu. Zal would give a nod of his head then. "Hai. Fine. Then I will look into it. However, the safety of people here is the most important. That means putting away the blade. I'd rather not have to take it from you, hmm?" He'd glance back at Itami, blink and realize that he stepped in as the lead rank.. when he wasn't. He'd square his shoulders for a moment, looking back to the lady. "Put away the blade, we will look into the thievery. It is not something that happens in Suna and we will stop it. Hai?"
The black pupils of Keiji stare directly at the lady with the blade. He does not even blink when she spots him. He was not trying to hide. If he was, he would have come from beneath in the earth. His eyes also spot the look on her face as she spots Itami. It seems this was not the first time they met. Now his attention turned directly towards Zalosu. Keiji was unsure if this man knew exactly what he was in for, or if he could handle it. Keiji himself was unsure if his Sasoriendai could match the strength of this opponent.
As quickly as the thoughts and doubts came, the boy shook his head and glanced back towards Itami. He was waiting for the signal to attack or stand down. She had never actually sent him into a situation he could not handle.
The woman held her blade still until Zalosu managed to talk her down from doing anymore with it. "…Safety? There's no one that needs protection here, all of them are criminals." She paused. "Whatever. I'll stand down," she slipped her blade back into its sheath. It was such that it looked like a walking staff. Perfect for fooling people. "So, go ahead and take care of it now, I'm leaving here." She tried to walk off, but was cut off by Itami.
"I'm sorry, but you can't leave the scene here since you're a suspect," she indicated. The woman winced at Itami, but didn't say anything. It was weird considering it was almost as if the council woman was looking at herself with some key differences. Namely hair and eyes, but even that wasn't that different. Deep red and striking green. "You two can handle this, right?" She asked of Keiji and Zalosu.
Zalosu would point to the people that were outside of the tasters for the wine people. He'd give a nod towards the woman as she'd finally sheathe the blade. Looking back to Itami, Zalosu would give a bow towards her. "Hai Councilwoman. We will handle it." Zal glances over at Keiji, a nod given to the other Shinobi, before he'd start towards the wine taster's place, left hand thrusting into right as he'd crack his knuckles. "Alright. We're going to get to the bottom of this. Now."
Keiji offered a simple nod of his head before dissolving into a pile of earth on the roof of the building. The boy then rose from the earth in the street. It seems the boy really was ready to attack. "There are a few noted details…", he states as he glances back and forth between the two ladies. He then turns towards the Zalosu. "They can wait until later. We will deal with this." The young boy then follows behind the other shinobi.
"Good. I'll leave it to the both of you to investigate and figure out. Since Keiji is a chuunin, he can lead the investigation into this wine tasting. If this woman's words are to be taken for truth, then it's actually a criminal operation. If not, then we have someone to take in and charge for damages," Itami smirked while the woman rolled her eyes. She'd then take off with the woman to administration.
While all the talking was going on outside, the people behind the operation were attempting to make their escape underground where all the casks of wine were held that they'd manage to siphon from other places around here. Best to get on the case. As for all the people on ground level, they're just innocents unknowingly participating in an event they threw their money away in.
"Hai councilwoman Itami." A bow of his head was given towards her before he'd look around one last time. Looking to Keiji, he'd motion to the building. "Lead on, Keiji-san." Zalosu would mentally do his quick checklist to verify he had everything ready for dealing with any would be criminals. This would be an interesting situation they were getting into, so it'd be good to be ready, especially when dealing with another chuunin that he knows nothing about.
Keiji's dark pupils scan the establishment before he gives orders. He spots several figures making an escape into the back of the room. The young boy points towards the figures escaping. "Detain them. Do not let anyone escape until we are able to get to the bottom of this. If you have any special sensory abilities, use them as well. I want to know anything that we cannot see."
The boy then makes some hand signs and a few earth clones rise up from the street. He places them in the doorway of the establishment to prevent anyone from entering or leaving. The boy then turns around and looks back towards those moving to the end of the room. "Alright now to look for anything out of the ordinary."
Those running the wine tasting were running off to the back of the room, seeking to get down below so they could stop the syphoning operation. It wasn't so much a syphoning as in the casks were hooked up to other wineries, bur rather, they were stealing from shops and various other places to benefit from the profits they make. There was a revolving door that lead to some wine casks, legitimate as they belonged to the establishment itself, but below this floor is where the others were held and the true operation was taking place. It was a warehouse, using the tunnels beneath the village to their advantage.
At the moment, they were trying to get rid of the evidence, but considering how close everyone was, they'd probably end up destroying the wine instead. So, while the majority of the criminals were escaping, there were some that stayed behind to torch the wine and cause a terrible fire.
Zalosu noted the people he said was leaving. A nod was given towards Keiji and Zalosu took off. Those tattoos around his ankles would glow as he poured chakra into them, letting him launch forward with a sudden burst of speed to go after the ones trying to start a fire. He would focus himself as he went, gathering chakra for what may be a fight ahead, however it'd be a tackle that launched himself into the group at the wine. Hopefully he'd at least delay that start of the fire.
Keiji rushed forward as well. He was not worried about those starting the fires. Zalosu had them taken care of. The boy hit the door into the tunnels and began to focus on which way the criminals were escaping. His night eyes were scanning the ground until he found a path to take and track them. "Subdue them and keep them here. Feel free to question them!" the boy yelled towards Zalosu.
The men were just about to set fire to the place, but the tackle managed to distract them from setting fire to the wine caskets. However, they did manage to drop their materials on the ground, one of which was lit. It burned on the ground, but didn't present much of a threat for now, but there was traces of wine on the floor that may be able to get caught up in the fire if one isn't careful.
The escaping criminals weren't too far into the tunnels, but they did have a few traps laid behind them should anyone try to keep up with them. That one person just so happened to be chasing them was Keiji and if he wasn't careful, he'd trigger a trap ready to fling sharp weapons at him to pierce him and slow them down.
Getting to his feet quickly, he'd go through a rapid set of seals. There was the tattoo straps from his ankles returning as the lines along his waist would uncurl and pull down both arms, the lines glowing as they would wrap about each other. With both chakra whips out, he would twirl them about, lashing with that chakra control to tag and detain the would be culprits. One of those strikes would be specific to snap out the end of that torch. He wasn't going to go up in flames with the wine here, they were going to be stopped.
As Keiji moved along the tunnel, he was unsure if there had been previous traps or if they would have the foresight to leave one behind. The boy dashes up the wall to walk the roof of the tunnel. His eyes were still vigilant towards traps, but he figured there was less chance of running into one on the roof of the tunnel. For a brief moment he ponders how things were going back at the entrance to the little operation these guys had running.
The flame on the torch goes right out and some of the men were now trying to escape, not caring which way they went. Out of the four, three would be detained, the other was busy scrambling to get away and up the stairs back to the ceremony where people were still lingering around. He'd be captured by a joint effort by the civilians and held there until the authorities could deal with him.
Due to Keiji's vigilance, the trap would go unset, but there were more that were left for him to get through. He'd need to figure out a way to stop them while they're ahead.
Keiji was taking too long. He knew it. So the boy begins to shift and transform into his Sasoriendai form. Now as a giant, red fattail scorpion, the boy lunges through the tunnel using all of his legs. He no longer cared about the traps. He was going to use his size and speed to his advantage to catch and detail those that used this tunnel.
All the traps went off against Keiji, throwing sharps at him the more he proceeded through the tunnel. Some may have bounced off his form, but the majority lodged themselves into his body. Still, he'd catch up quickly enough and the criminals, looking back to see what happened to him trip up and stumble over themselves, leaving them open for capture.
page kon=Sheesh. Well, this should be over now. I'm ending it after this.
You paged Konsatsu with 'Sheesh. Well, this should be over now. I'm ending it after this.'
As Keiji appeared over the men, he would transform back into his boy form. Despite the wounds to his body, he speaks plainly to those he had been chasing. "If you start to run again, I will kill take your lives. This is your first and only warning. Now, come along and I will allow you to face the jounin council. They may be more lenient than myself."
The men think to comply, but they were close enough to a trap to make their escape. They consider what they wish to do until they finally decide it wasn't worth running. So, they comply with Keiji and decide to turn themselves in. It can only get worse from here and they'd catch it worse from fleeing back to their headquarters than just getting captured now.
