Starring:
Date: April 2, 2013
Summary:
A stolen treasure from another land winds up in the Land of Water. It's of high value and points to foul play on Kirigakure part if it isn't recovered and by their shinobi.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"The Worst has Yet to Come"
Fish Market
The sun was high and bright today in the land of Water. The thich mist though always obscured the light casting a hazy dull over the land. The time was one full rotation after noon and some excitement was cooking at the Fish Market. The pungent aroma of fish was in the air. So robust this smell that the weaker nerves and stomachs wouldn't be able to handle the intoxicating smell. Fuuta steps into the Fish Market looking around for the genin that he was supposed to be leading on this assignment. Fuuta showed up later than the agreed time due to arriving first then heading back to change clothes because he didn't want to get the fish smell all over his favorite uniform. The young man glances around looking for a clueless or impatient genin. He was sure the genin wouldn't be off doing too much yet, after all they wouldn't have been briefed about the mission yet…that was Fuuta's job. "Hmm….maybe they took off already?" Fuuta thinks aloud.
Sumiko is a Chuunin! And standing near the corner of a market stall, remaining absolutely silent as she watches the crowd going about their business. Hands clasped together in front of her, one absently smooth's her black kimono ad she takes another glance about. And spying Fuuta, she steps that direction and bows her head when the man looks her direction. The woman's voice when she speaks, is monotone and flat, no inflection to any of the words, "Fuuta-sama? I have been assigned to your mission, I believe."
Fuuta stares at Sumiko for a minute after she addresses him. "No I'm looking for a genin about.." Fuuta opens his scroll and reads from it "Kaguya Hibiki, yeah that's a guy which you definitely are not." Fuuta looks back to Sumiko and smiles. He then catches something on the scroll. "Wait…..oh this is tomorrow…." Fuuta then starts checking his person for another scroll. He finds it pulls it out and reads from it "Sumiko-san?" He looks to her and then scans her from head to toe. "Yeah looks like it." He clears his throat and coughs "I am…" Fuuta folds up the scroll and then bursts into a spin with outrageous energy "The one and only! The man without limits! The envy of all things blessed! HOLY am I alone on Heaven and EARTH! Yooooookooooo FUUUUUUUTAMA!" He stops on point with one finger raised skyward and a grin worn on his face. He then bows to Sumiko "The pleasure is all yours." he folds his arms and nods "Now let's get down to business. You're probably wondering why we're at the Fish Market right?"
"Hibiki-kun," Sumiko says the boy's name, then adds, "I am not Hibiki-kun, no. I know him. He is odd." Her head tilts to one side, dark eyes watching him as he looks for a different scroll. She nods at her name, and…stares blankly at Fuuta as he goes into his little spiel and points upwards. Her expression doesn't change one bit, blank as she watches and then she says, "It is nice to meet you, Fuuta-sama. It is good to know that there are not two of you." She looks around the market, then back to the Jounin and nods, "I am, yes. My kimono is going to smell like fish."
Fuuta nods "The world can't handle two Fuuta's." He chuckles and looks out to the various fish stands. "Yeah that's why I was so late. Came here and realized that this place is going to destroy whatever I wear into it so I went back home to change." Fuuta sighs "Well too late now for you. So our mission is basically to locate some octopus….gah what was the name of the trout thing again?" Fuuta checks his scroll once more then looks back to Sumiko "The Saphire Spiked Octopus." Fuuta nods "So then to elaborate some, it's not ours. It belongs to some guys in the Land of Rain…some noble or something. Anyway he has pull and if it looks like this treasure was stolen by Kirigakure then I can only imagine our good name will be tarnished. So a little tip from our good friends over in Sunagakure says that it'll be arriving here in…about 30 minutes ago….oh ok. Well that just means we'd better hurry." Fuuta states with a soft chuckle.
Now there are many things going on in the fish market but only a handful of them would stick out as odd. First of all every fisherman was shouting trying to get the attention of every and any passerby. However there were two fisherman that were deathly quiet and just appeared to be looking and waiting for something. The second thing that stuck out was that these two fisherman owned the only octopus stalls. Seems suspicious enough so Fuuta would look to Sumiko "Well take your pick right or left?". The Fisherman on the left was skiny and doned a black bandana with evil eye designs. The fisherman on the left was a bigger man, definitely muscular but also a bit portly. He work a hat that masked his eyes when his head sunk. "Both look promising?"
"I go through a lot of clothes training, anyways," Akiko answered with a nod at the comment about it being too late. The girl's head tilts again as she listens to the Jounin, "The Sapphire Spiked Octopus." She blinks, looking curious for a moment, "Is it actually..an octopus?" She nods at the rest of the explanation, "I understand, I believe, Fuuta-sama. 30 minutes? It's coming through the market? Are they going to cook it?" Sumiko looks curious at that, then shifts her attention as Fuuta draws her attention to the two fisherman who don't seem to be trying to sell their wares.
Dark eyes study the pair for a second, and the Chuunin absently smooths the dark silk of her kimono as she considers them. To Fuuta, she answers, "I will take the left, the one in the bandanna. What are we doing? Asking about the octopus?"
Kiku pages: Keep in mind, the Joes were just attacked by 10 Apaches that had to come from Somewhere in the area…
"I go through a lot of clothes training, anyways," Sumiko answered with a nod at the comment about it being too late. The girl's head tilts again as she listens to the Jounin, "The Sapphire Spiked Octopus." She blinks, looking curious for a moment, "Is it actually..an octopus?" She nods at the rest of the explanation, "I understand, I believe, Fuuta-sama. 30 minutes? It's coming through the market? Are they going to cook it?" Sumiko looks curious at that, then shifts her attention as Fuuta draws her attention to the two fisherman who don't seem to be trying to sell their wares.
Dark eyes study the pair for a second, and the Chuunin absently smooths the dark silk of her kimono as she considers them. To Fuuta, she answers, "I will take the left, the one in the bandanna. What are we doing? Asking about the octopus?"
"It's not an actual octopus. It's a treasure." briefly explains he looks between the two fishermen and chuckles. "What do you mean? Be a customer of course! That's how you get closer. First see what you can discern via observation skills first. Try to find a reason why he'd be quiet or odd. Then after you gained all you can from simple observation use that mouth muscle of yours and ask him some things. It should've arrived 30 minutes ago so I feared we might have missed it but they still look like they're waiting for someone…" Fuuta explains.
"Left eh? Fine I guess I'll get the big guy. Good luck." he says with a yawn as he walks over to the big man. If Sumiko noticed when she came to the man in the bandana his eyes flashed up specifically to her headband around her neck. Once he notices it his expression becomes a bit less apprehensive. "Whatcha fishin' for?" he asks her, a hint of glare in his eyes. Fuuta meanwhile would have quite a different experience. "Eh so you don't have any more octopus?" the man shakes his head "No, all out. That guy across the way hasn't seem to have much business today though. Try him." Fuuta looks back to the man Sumiko was supposed to be investigating. "Normally that place is just as busy as me but the usual fisherman isn't there today. He's probably sick and is having his son watch it or something…never seen that guy before." Fuuta nods "Ahhh…well I'll go check with him then. Thanks." Fuuta starts to walk off but turns around "Oh…if you don't have any more octopus then…why are you still here?" The larger man yawns "I'm waiting a guy to come in with tomorrow's stock." Fuuta blinks "Ah. Well laters."
"Right. A treasure," Sumiko comments, then blinks. "Oh, thirty minues ago. I thought you said in thirty minutes." She shakes her head and then wanders over towards her fisherman, as directed. The girl takes in the man's stall, and him as she gets closer, dark eyes searching. As she stops in front of him, she nods to the man's question and says, "Hello. I am not fishing. I think that is your job, isn't it? My sensei sent me to see if you had any octopus left. He is wanting some for a special dish." The young woman's head tilts a little and she looks around the stal, seemingly looking for octopus while looking for anything that might possibly seem out of place, "He is going to be very disappointed if I don't return with any."
Fuuta is on his way over to Sumiko when he spots another Kirigakure shinobi heading down the Fish Market. Fuuta blinks "I don't recall another shinobi being assigned to this gig…" he mutters. Fuuta approaches the shinobi. The man is a special jounin specializing in tracking and stealth. Fuuta waves to the man "Heya. Um who are you?" Fuuta asks. The man just looks at Fuuta before noticing Fuuta's a jounin. Meanwhile back with Sumiko the man's eyes flash away from Sumiko when she answers him. His personality becomes more withholding now, not at all like someone you'd see in a marketing occupation. "Uh he looks around…" Sumiko would notice buckets of octopus, all old. There was a lack of presentation in the stall. It was still dirty, water damaged wood and what not told all that care has been neglected. The man seems to be fumbling "I…uh we don't have any fresh octopus. Sorry….you'll have to try somewhere else." his voice was low and it sounded as though he was rushing her away.
Fuuta continues his talk with the special jounin he's run into. "Oh, you're off duty. Huh makes sense….academy classes usually cut out around this time. Just be cautious ok. I'm in the middle of a job right now." The special jounin nods to Fuuta "I'll try to stay out your way." The special Jounin heads to the stand Sumiko is currently investigating now. The special jounin was a tall man with hair as black as coal which contrasted heavily with his pale blue eyes. He gets in line behind Sumiko and looks around to the fisherman.
It seemed as though there was nothing more for Sumiko to note other than the odd behavior and the poor attention of the fisherman to his stall. Fuuta stands watching all this from a safe distance.
Taking in the obvious lack of attention the fisherman has paid to his stall, Sumiko's expression remains blank, her gaze returning to the man's face as he essentially tries to shoo her. The girl sniffs sharply and gestures at a bucket of old octopus and she snaps at the man in seeming irritation, "What kind of fisherman are you, letting your catch go to waste like that? And this mess. Are you even trying to run a business here? No wonder no one is stopping by your stall. Is this even your stall, or do you work for someone else? They need to know what a poor job you're doing, or see about banning you from the market, when you're stinking it up with old stock." The presence at her back causes Sumiko to glance to the man for a moment, and she blinks at the Jounin before commenting, "This man's supply is all old, and I'm not even certain it's edible anymore."
Fuuta notes the poor care of the stand too. He inclines his head and smiles before heading over to Sumiko. The man at the stand start to become nervous. His eyes dart around checking, scanning for something. "If you're not satisfied with the merchandise then leave…" the man hisses. Fuuta suddenly slides up next to Sumiko "Ahhh there you are! Well did you get the octopus or not? Oh…OH look at this place! Bleh we're going this is disgusting. We're leaving, come on." Fuuta takes Sumiko by her shoulders and starts to drag her away. The special jounin blinks looking at Fuuta then Sumiko and finally the fisherman. "That's fine. That other guy seems to be out. These aren't too old." he smiles and steps towards the fisherman. "Watcha fishin' for?" The special jounin then answers "What have you got that's fresh?" the fisherman nods and gets up and drfits to the back of the stand where more barrels and boxes are kept.
Fuuta looks back to the special jounin then to Sumiko "Ok good work. So what we're going to do is follow that jounin." Fuuta states. "That fisherman doesn't normally man that stand. I'm guessing he was a sit in. THe guy that normally mans the stand seems to have come down with something….how strange no? Anyway the way he reacted to that special jounin should've told you something. You can make yourself scarce when you need to right?"
Sumiko sniffs sharply as the fisherman hisses his words out, and then Fuuta is yanking her away, and she goes along without offering any resistance. Her dark eyes lift to his face, and she nods, "It is bad, yes. Sorry I took so long, sensei, I was trying to find some for you. I don't think there's any left in the market though." Her head tilts a little as she listens to Fuuta once they've gotten a little bit away from the stall and other Jounin. She nods, "He seems to be hiding something, I agree, Fuuta-sama. And the other Jounin. Do you think he is involved? Is he a real Jounin?" The young woman hmm's and nods, "I do, yes. What do you wish me to do?"
Fuuta nods to Sumiko "Yeah he's got the headband and seal to prove it. But that doesn't mean he's not up to something." Fuuta states with a grin. "Oh one more thing I forgot to mention. I LOVE how you call me Fuuta-sama. You're either smarter than most the people I've had to work with or you just recognize GREATNESS when it's standing right before you." He nudges Sumiko forward "Here is what I need you to do. Wait outside the fish market for this guy. I'll keep tabs on him until he leaves, take this…" Fuuta hands her a detection seal "I'll know were you are so long as you keep moving. If you stop…well I'll know that too. Don't get hasty or anything just follow the guy and see what he's up to." Fuuta explains. "He knows I'm on a mission so I can't really justify leaving this place so soon after witnessing what went down. But I'll be right behind you after you two have established some distance from this place." Fuuta nods "If you have no concerns then off with you now." Fuuta shoos her away with both hands.
"Thank you for your business." The fisherman bows to the special jounin who is now carring a sack with something a bit more rigid looking than some octopus. The special jounin bows and looks to be on his merry way. Fuuta would intercept the man giving Sumiko time to get into position. "Hey so since you're here…mind telling your thoughts about that guy." The special jounin looks back to the stand then to FUuta. "He's hiding something obviously. I mean even if he is a sit in…he should know how to manage the place ya know? I think you should keep a watchful eye on him. He doesn't seem to be trying to attract any costumers." Fuuta nods to the special Jounin "I was thinking the same thing. Thanks." The special jounin nods and continues. Just then the fisherman looked to be closing down his stand. Fuuta would drift towards him giving the impression that he was about to investigate.
Sumiko answers Fuuta's grin with a simple comment, "You are a Jounin, I am Chuunin, Fuuta-sama." The young woman nods as she takes the seal, slipping it into a fold of her kimono without a word. She then moves off towards the edge of the market, glancing back briefly to spot the special Jounin as she leans against something, and takes up a disinterested pose, watching the crowd as it passes. Occasionally flicking a look back into the market, she watches Fuuta, the jounin and the merchant, then devotes her full attention to the unknown Jounin as he nears the edge of the market. As he makes his way out of it, the girl smooth's her kimono with one hand and waits a few seconds before pushing away from the wall of the building she was leaning against, and following the man, keeping her eyes on him.
This Special Jounin is taking quite the strange path. Sumiko would notice a lot of frivolous turns were being taken. It seems the jounin suspected he was being followed. Sumiko was doing well to remain hidden though. Eventually the special jounin came to a clearing somewhere in the thicket of the mist close to the beach. It was there in this mist that sat down the sack and opened it up. The special jounin looks about before standing and whistling a soft singsong tune. It was a melancholy tune and when he finished the wind began to whisk about like a blade was being swung through it. But whether or not Sumiko noticed the true signifance of the whistle was the real mystery here for it could mean life or death for her. The special jounin's eyes go right to her now. "I thought something was…fishy." he grins darkly rubbing his nose. If Sumiko did notice then she'd have to be quick or she'd find a kunai at her throat.
Sumiko keeps up with the Special Jounin relatively easily, all things considered, and she thinks she does a fair job of staying out of sight. But, when he comes to a stop in a clearing, there's only so much one can do to hide themselves, you know! As the whistle sounds, the young woman's dark eyes flicker around, noticing the new arrivals. One of who is coming towards her. The Chuunin ducks and twists away into a roll, which leads her closer towards the middle of the thicket. And surrounded.
As she comes up out of her roll, the girl's hands flash into a quick series of handseals, "Water Style Jutsu : Mizu Hari!" And as she finishes the seals, she gestures with both hands, an array of water-forged senobon forming from the mist and flying away from her in every direction.
Fuuta wasn't too far behind Sumiko. He noticed that she came to a stop and set off for her. It took quite a while for her to get to the distance that she had traveled. This arouse as an oddity in Fuuta's head. He then noticed she's started moving again. Fuuta blinks in confusion and makes haste now. Meanwhile in the clearing of the mist Sumiko's water needled attack failed to land on any of the targets. The special jounin is the closest to her, both of them stand surrounded by three Rain SHinobi. "Careful with that. You nearly got me." the jounin says to Sumiko. His eyes go to the rain shinobi. "Give back what was stolen mist ninja and you won't be harmed." one of the rain shinobi states. The jounin takes the bag in hand holds it out towards Sumiko "Take it an run." he says. "I'll draw their attention." he nods to her. The rain shinobi run out of patience and attack from all sides. Each one tossed an umbrella into the air and in seconds it was raining senbon.
Sumiko blinks a little at the brief conversation that is exchanged after her attack. Her eyes flick about, warily watching the Rain shinobi and then looking back to the Mist's Special Jounin. As the Jounin holds the bag out, she reaches to snatch it away from him. Hopefully she didn't just get played. But, regardless, Sumiko's only real physical talent lies in her speed and she's a smart girl. And she's dedicated to her Water Jutsu. As the umbrella's are thrown into the air, she uses her speed to dash towards the edge of the clearing, back towards the town, leaving a water clone in her place. A number of the senbon pierce Water-Sumiko! Nooo. And it starts to leak, and then after a second, dissipates entirely, while the girl sprints to get out of the clearing with the bag in hand.
Fuuta ends up running into Sumiko on his way over to assist her. She had successfully escaped from the rain shinobi but the pursuit would be hot assuming she had what they were after. Fuuta stops Sumiko and once he sees what she's holding he sweatdrops "Uhhh what….well good work. Let's get that back to the…" Fuuta's eyes narrow as he detects two figures rushing their way. Fuuta taps Sumiko on the shoulder and leaps high "Look out." He warns her as a flurry of shuriken come his way. Fuuta looks back to Sumiko "Who are they?" he asked." Fuuta readies his tools.
Sumiko runs practically right into Fuuta, just barely pulling up at the last second. She looks up at him, the bag held in one hand and hurriedly tries to explain, "The Jounin gave me this..not sure if it's a trick or not…thought it'd be best to get out for now either way.." Twisting and shifting, she dives to the side as Fuuta taps her shoulder and jumps away. The girl calls out loudly, "Shinobi of the Rain! I saw three of them! They attacked me and the Special Jounin!"
Fuuta nods to her and show hishands to the shinobi. "Wait!" Fuuta shouts. He looks to Sumiko and waves for her to hand him the bag. Fuuta then looks back to them "You're here for for the treasure right? Relax we were trying to recover it and get it back to you as soon as possible." Fuuta explains. The rain shinobi look to each other then hold out their hands. "Fine give it here then." Fuuta tosses it to them and in that moment shuriken come flying out of the mist killing both shinobi. The bage is then grabbed by the special jounin who has blood on his shirt. "Close one there. Gotta clean up. A jounin and a chuunin? Sounds fun."
Sumiko hands the bag to Fuuta, looking warily towareds the Rain ninja as Fuuta asks them to wait. She nods slowly as he tries to explain to the Rain ninja, the girl thinks for a moment, blinking as she murmurs, "What….what was…" and then she gets her answer sort of, as the two rain shinobi are suddenly killed and the shuunin flicks a look towards Fuuta as the special jounin grabs the bag that seems to be the focus of trouble here. Shifting into a ready stance herself, her hands move, drawing a pair of kunai from the folds of her kimono. She doesn;t make a move yet, flicking a look towards Fuuta and letting the Jounin decide what to do.
Fuuta sighs and looks to Sumiko. "So you're a traitor or are you not a Kirigakure shinobi at all?" the jounin smiled and shook his head "Can't say…even if you're about to die." Fuuta chuckles and shakes his head again. He looks to Sumiko "We need to recover that bag first. Wait for an opening. He's skilled." Fuuta pulls out a kunai. He charges the man but its clear that his target was the bag. He slashes at the bag clearly missing. The special jounin makes him pay for it and kicks him back. As Fuuta rolls back shuriken would come reeling around from behind the special jounin. The shuriken are going for the man's arm. He'll have to drop the bacg to save his arm.
"Are we killing him?" Sumiko asks, her eyes on the Special Jounin and the bag. She dances to the side a few steps, fingers flying into a series of seal and throwing a spray of water senbon towards him, more distraction than anything else as she sport the shuriken flying back towards the man's arm and the bag. She dashes closer dark eyes studying the enemy, ready to spring into motion should the bag come free, one way or another.
The special jounin is caught off guard by Fuuta's shuriken. They sliced his arm making him loosen his grip on the bag. When the water needles come he has to move quick. The bag was torn by them. Out slipped the treasure which indeed was a sapphire jeweled octopus. The octopus would be recovered by Sumiko. Fuuta seeing that Sumiko has recovered the objective takes measures to capture this special jounin. "Salmon. You'll pay for that." Flashing through handseals he begins to cast a jutsu. Fuuta and Sumiko would feel a strange sensation come over them. Their bodies would grow heavy like they were being weighed down by invisible chains.
Octopus! Sumiko scoops it up, blinking a little at the odd, light weight of the thing. She manages to steel herself against the enemy's genjutsu, breaking free of it almost immediately before she calls to Fuuta, "Fuuta -sama! I have it! Assuming it's the real thing…" she blinks and gets distracted for a second, trying to ascertain what is inside the treasure, which may not be a good idea, what with the enemy ninja still standing over there.
Fuuta grins as she grabs the octopus, then slings his hand outward. The wire he'd used to manipulate the suriken was then used to snare the special jounin after breaking the genjutsu. He succeeded and trapped the man taking his arms. "So you wanna explain this? The fisherman, the rain shinobi, all of it was orchestrated by you? Why?" The special jounin smiled and looked to the octopus then smiled. "There are many ways to get a spark. PErhaps starting with water and rain wasn't the beast method." he rips one arm free suddenly but the other is still ensnared in Fuuta's wire. THe special jounin dashes into the mist but Fuuta hholds the wire firm not releasing his grip until he suddenly feels a sharp tug then the wire went limp. Fuuta frowns having an idea what was done "Let's report back quickly. We've got three dead shinobi of the rain and a stolen treasure from the Land of Rain. Something isn't right and I bet this isn't the end of it." Fuuta reels the wire in along with a severed arm that then bursts into flames, azure flames that discinigrate into the mist. "Let's go…"
