Starring:
Date: January 11, 2013
Summary:
A team of Konoha nin infiltrate the local branch of a smuggling ring.
"Smuggling Spies"
Land of Fire city
In an alleyway of a fairly large Land of Fire city, Noab waits with his squad, here on a clandestine sort of mission. He leans on his axe-cum-cane and speaks to the ninja in his command, engaging in the age-old tradition of exposition disguised as review. "All right, let's go over this one more time before the target arrives. We've identified a prominent member of a smuggling ring who should be passing by here soon. The plan is to infiltrate the ring's local base of operations, learn everything we can, then shut them down from the inside. Yamanaka-san, you'll be taking over the target's body and acting as our means of getting inside. Satonezu-san, Aburame-san, you'll be acting the role of his hired muscle. I don't expect you'll be able to fool all of them for too long, just get what information you can manage then bust them. I'll be waiting out here to guard Yamanaka-san's body and try to catch any escapers. Any questions?"
Not too long after, the target comes swaggering down the street in typical Yakuza style, one hand tucked into his robe and the other resting on a ratty sword hilt.
Nori would be there, dressed in his usual winter apparel, a coat made of rags and a farmers conical hat…a sukegasa (the hat Raiden wears too), which just so happens to be a fairly good form of urban camouflage seeing as only poor beggars would wear this sort of thing. This is especially useful when slumped over as the Yamanaka looks to be a drunkard sleeping it off.
When Noab tells him the plan, he nods once, a face serious enough for the end of the world. It looks like he'll be up first, and soon, and he is ready. "I'll need one of you to go out and ask him for something. I can't hit a moving target that easily. Once he is stopped, I'll take him." When the target comes sauntering down, he knows who it is, and he prepares himself. Assuming the plan works and one of the others stop him, he'll unleash hell.
"No questions from me." Eremi would offer after hearing once again what it is that's expected of them. It was all pretty straight forward and clear, though being given the task of guarding the Yamanaka's body would have been a sweet gig, but he wasn't going to try and take that away from the Akimichi. Not if he still wanted to work with the man on future missions.
While he looked around at the other two in his group, the familiar Etsu and the new face, Nori, he'd clench the strap of his backpack as he resituated it upon his shoulder. Normally this would be the part where he'd drop the pack off, but this time he didn't see much of an issue in bringing it along. "I can do that Nori, I'm not much of a threat in appearance, I doubt the man would be too suspicious."
A quick glance would be given to Noab and Etsu before he walked out of the alleyway and toward the man that was their target, "Hey mister! I think you dropped this." In his free hand, Eremi held an almost overflowing coin purse. It was sure enough to get the mans attention.
Etsu looked around idly as she listened in to Noab's briefing regarding their mission. She figured it'd be simple enough or at least, it sounded that way. She can't assume that it will be simple, but she thinks the group will be able to get through this just fine. "Hired muscle…" She remarked and looked at her arms. Of course, she was a bit on the thin side, but she had more than enough ability to make up for it and apply the muscle needed for him. "I don't have any questions," she remarked. "Ah, yes…You handle that, Eremi…" She states while readying herself for her role…not that she had to try that hard.
The smuggler turns his head with a laconic scowl. "Hanh? Fool, I'm not so clumsy as to dr — " The smuggler's greedy eyes bug out and his expression changes suddenly. "A-ah, why yes, that is mine, thank you so much for — " The smuggler's words are cut off again, this time by Nori's chakra invading his body and taking it over. o.o; Noab carefully sets Nori's body in slumped sitting position against the alley wall. Phase 1, complete.
It doesn't take long for the team to reach their destination, it was right around the corner. A guard leaning in the doorway straightens up as they approach. "Hey, Kainashi-san, we've been waiting for you. Who're they, new bodyguards? You haven't been getting threats or anything, have ya?"
It worked, he's inside. Nori has learned to ignore the state of his body while in another. If you worry too much about what you will return to, the whole state of things can fall apart before you want them to. So, he quickly runs a self-diagnostic of the new body, jumping here and moving there. He does the whole hand-shake, head-roll thing too, and then nods. As Eremin and Etsu fall in behind him, he heads to the destination.
Nori knew the look his mother gave to him or his siblings when they mouthed off, and as the door-man asked him something he thought might be personal, knowing all too well how most adults value their privacy, he gives his mother's look as best as possible. It is one of those, how-dare-you-even-speak-to-me-right-now-I'm-so-mad! looks. Nori does manage to speak, in as low a tone as he can register, "I've got a cold. Better to be safe than sorry when sick." Hopefully that'll explain the voice being slightly off too.
Seeing the man suddenly grow speechless, Eremi knew the target was no longer in control of his own actions, "Nice work, Nori. You made that look easy." He'd offer as he tucked his coin purse away and watch the other get acclimated to the new body. The abilities of the Yamanaka were definitely interesting and quite scary actually. Though the latter depended on if they were in control of the users abilities as well. He knew so little of the mind-body switch and just hoped to never be taken over by it. A smile would be given to Etsu as she walked out of the alleyway leaving Noab and Nori's body behind, then Eremi would take a position up on the left side of the man, allowing the backpack to hang on his right for a better ensemble as they headed toward the destination.
When they approached and were stopped by the guard, Eremi would allow Nori to speak first as they were simply the hired muscle, but for an added insentive for the guard to drop the subject, he'd quickly spout off, "We're here so he doesn't get any threats."
Etsu walked up with Kainashi along with Eremi. She held her tongue, thinking it wasn't best to say anything to the guard. She thinks she'll congratulate him later. They're not done here, yet. She stared straight ahead and when necessary, sometimes at the guard. Standing there listening to the small talk bothered her, but she didn't show it. She'd much rather move quickly to get this work done, but patience is key. She'd slip her hands into her pockets and relax until everything was sorted out.
The guard blinks. "A cold?" *processing, processing, processing…* "…Well, hope you feel better soon." Apparently having forgotten how the topic first came up, he leaves it at that, stepping aside and letting the group through. Phase 2 successfully initiated. c.c
Once inside, they find a relatively respectable, stereotypical front for a criminal organization: a bar. Various 'patrons' and employees glance at the team as they enter. Most see Kainashi's face and accept the visit as ordinary, but a few are curious about his companions. One person in particular bustles up to talk to them. "'Ey, Kainashi, they're waitin' for ya in there. Better get a move on, you're almost late. Oh, uh, y'don't need to bring in your friends, do ya? Y'know how the boss is about extra ears." :P
Nori/Kainashi enters the bar, not quite sure what to make of it. He hasn't been in many bars, seeing as he is all of 11 years old. Still, he has read plenty of stories about spies having secret rendezvous in bars, so the appeal is only momentary. He heads to the bar, as that is the usual thing to do in the novels, and that is when he is approached. The smuggler looks between the two, not entirely sure what to do here. He is the youngest and most inexperienced of them all, but he is playing the leader…so as such, he states, "They will stay by the door." He then coughs, playing up the cold and states, "Sorry, I've a cold and am losing my voice." He clears his throat and says, "Lead the way. I wouldn't want to make the boss's operations run less efficiently by being late."
Entering the joint, Eremi would stay close to Nori and give a quick glance about the area to get a better fill for the area, the amount of cover or obstacles in the way and finally count the total amount of people that he could actually spot. Upon seeing one individual actually walking up to the group, Eremi would clench his left fist and take a step forward as if he was prepared to clock the guy for getting too close to Kainashi. Just trying to keep up the image. Though once hearing what the guy had to say, he'd loosen up just a bit and then give a nod, "We'll stand close to the door boss. You holler if you need us."
Etsu entered into the establishment, focusing closely on Kainashi, though even closer to the others around her. The mention of not being able to bring hired help with him is disappointing, but she could find a way to circumvent that. She'd give Kainashi a couple pats as if to help silence his coughs, but what she was really doing was planting a few insects on him so that they could gather information and return to her.
"Yes. Call if you need any assistance," she agreed with Eremi with a soft nod.
After 'Kainashi' is ushered into the inner room, he finds a group of similarly unwholesome figures gathered around a table. One of them, evidently the head of the immediate group, nods. "Good, we're all here now. Let's get started." Apparently Nori's act is good enough to prevent any immediate suspicion, and they launch into their meeting with no questions asked. The boss talks about various matters, a fair bit of which are useful bits of information for the spies. Mission successful in that aspect it would seem. Then he has the various lieutenants report on activity in their branches going around the table. All good things must come to an end it seems, because 'Kainashi's' turn rolls around and the boss asks about something Nori can't possibly answer on. "So, Kainashi, why don't you tell everyone about that special assignment I sent you, and how it went down?" Yeah, now might be a good time to signal for some skull-cracking, before the element of surprise is totally lost. :P
Nori is doing his very best to remain quiet, to listen, and to keep mental notes. It isn't the easiest thing. I mean, you try concentrating on holding control of a mind, not panicking, and then cataloging everything going on. So, when it comes time for Nori to spill the beans, he stands and bows his head, "Well, about that…" and then he does the only thing that pops into his head…or, well, Kainashi's head, as that's where his mind resides currently, he flips the table over old-fashioned fire-fight style. That should be loud enough for Eremi and Etsu to hear. Meanwhile, Nori immediately goes for the boss with a punch in the after-math of his move.
Crash and a bang, immediately followed up by a rustle behind the door. That was definitely the signal for them to enter, that or Nori had been figured out, either way Eremi wasn't going to wait anymore. "That's our cue." He'd say to Etsu, but loud enough for anyone to hear, expecting the person that approached them earlier or any other person in the joint to rush over as well after hearing the same noise they had.
The first person moving toward them however would get a heavy surprise as Eremi clenched the strap of his back, spun it around and flung it through the air at them. If it hit, they'd get the full weight of his gear otherwise it would just cause some nice damage to the building. After which he'd shift over toward the door and kick it open or down, maybe even off the hinges if possible then dare any of the men inside to come toward him.
Etsu was gaining info as the talk went along with Kainashi in it. She approved of this mission so far, but then a table flipped and things started to get out of hand. Time to hop to action…
Etsu ran forward and burst into the room following Eremi. She wasted no time in using her insects and having them all gather underground where they'd move the soil and cause it all to cave in in an instant if successful. No one wants to be buddies with a pit full of kikaichu except for Etsu….
Nori is struggling to handle the boss. Fighting taijutsu style isn't the easiest for Nori under normal circumstances, even in his own body. He is a ninjutsuist pure and simple…but here, in someone else's body in a bar-brawl, he's having a hard time. He's also starting to think about the pain he'll be feeling when this is over, which he knows is against the rules, but he's doing it anyway. So, punches, kicks, and more punches are all he's got to work with in the taking names department. And then the floor caves in. At the end of the day though, Nori leaves Kainashi as he gets buried in the wake of the damage for Etsu and Eremi to handle, while Nori's mind heads to its body. This will take a little time to heal from, and he bites back the tears upon entering his body and the pain strikes him like a needle.
Aaaaand that's a pretty effective way of keeping a bunch of criminals in one place. c.c There are screams and yelps as the smugglers are poured into the artificial sinkhole in a mass of tangled limbs. Outside of the room, most of the other patrons and employees get the idea that something just went seriously wrong, and in true criminal fashion they flee! Noab manages to stop a few of them with earth traps, but the ones that get away aren't critical figures anyway. Mission accomplished!
