Starring:
Date: September 23, 2015
Summary:
An assassination mission for Kumogakure! Unusual, but the job must be done.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Thieves of Torture - The Morality in Question"
Land of Lightning
This may be a rather odd mission for Kumogakure's forces to take on, but it was one that managed to slip into the pile. What it amounted to was assassination. Michiko had called Yori to the gates so that they could begin their journey. If the Saito had any questions, now was a good time to ask!
Both of them would know the targets, of course. It was a rich family that lived in the wealthier districts of Raiun City. They would often go into the countryside, visiting their little home to enjoy a quainter environment, and overall they seemed like perfectly nice people! But there is such a thing as too perfect, and that's likely what was tugging on rumors of darker rituals going on within the home. The report itself was written in a shaky hand and had a few blood smears on it, too, which could prompt even more of a reason why Kumo-nin were being sent.
"First we investigate. If we find that the rumors are true, we'll kill. I don't think it would matter too much on how we kill them, either, Yori-san," Michiko tells him in a rather grim tone.
Yori wasn't too pleased with what all this mission entailed, but at the same time there's no way he would try and find someone else to send out to do such a mission as this. He would make sure this deed was done himself. And, well, Michiko was coming too but he'd try to keep her from having to do any of the actual dirty work if he could help it. He couldn't help but feel bad for her having to be involved at all but then he was probably overthinking it. "Hai, Michiko-san. I hope the reports we've received are false and this family is not guilty of what they're being accused for. To think people like this exist within the Land of Lightning. It's a horrible thing."
Michiko nods lightly. "I do too, Yori-san." She continues to head towards the center of the Land of Lightning where the family's cabin was, not speaking unless spoken to. It was, in essence, a very boring journey that likely had too much tension in the air. Eventually the pair would get to the country house, just as the family was arrivingvia horse-drawn carts. "There," Michiko says, stopping at the edge of the tree line that surrounded the area. It gave the whole place a sense of isolation with the trees.
Yori has nothing to add for the trip and no questions he needs answered. He's seen the reports, he only needs to get this task done and try and make sure that they were sure before they did anything. Upon arrival Yori would stop next to Michiko, remaining hidden as he watched the carriage that brought in the family from this distance. "How did you want to do this Michiko-san?" he asks without looking at her.
"I think… we should watch for now. If they do anything suspicious, don't try and act unless you have to save someone's life. We'll come get each other if we can. Got it?" Michiko says in a quiet voice. The family is getting out of the cart now. They seem to be happy since it's, in a sense, time for relaxation and fun!
Yori nods slightly as he watches the family in all their cheeriness get out of the carriage. "Hai…I'm going to move around to the other side of the cabin and see if I can find some windows to watch." He says. As long as Michiko doesn't say no or anything he would move off to do just that, moving quickly through cover to get to the other side of the house. Once there he would approach the house as quietly as he could so he could try and see inside…
COMBAT: Yori attacks target 1 with STEALTH with a roll of: 28
COMBAT: Michiko attacks target 1 with UNDERGROUND-FISH-PROJECTION with a roll of: 43
"Hai. I'll go around the back and see what I can find before looking into the house with you, Yori-san," Michiko says with a small nod. Then she slips into the ground like a fish into water, moving swiftly and silently towards the home and then its backyard. The girl finds a shed that doesn't seem to suspicious. And a lot of random yard decor, such as gnomes, bird baths, and fake animals.
Yori would have no shortage of Windows to peer through, though his vision of the goings on would be limited to the larger rooms if he decided to keep low. The family was made of a mom, a dad, and a little girl about seven years old in appearance. They were setting things up, putting clothes away, and otherwise doing all that unpacking business. What fun, right? So far, nothing unusual!
Yori could only peek without being seen, since any further look has the possibility of getting him caught and ruining the mission altogether. If they suspected they were being watched they would be the perfect family for the entire trip. So the young Saito remains low and slips from window to window, looking around for anything on the ground floor that seemed out of place as well as for any basement windows or any such thing. So far all seemed normal, but who's to say if that was entirely true.
[NPC System]: Family roll(s) Perception vs Yori from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Michiko
[NPC System]: Family roll(s) Perception vs Yori from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 24. - Rolled by: Michiko
[NPC System]: Family roll(s) Perception vs Yori from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 12. - Rolled by: Michiko
The family continue on their merry way, straightening and the like. It seems that the rumors circulating may be just that: rumors. It's nearing lunchtime by now, and the family is getting ready for lunch. This is a rather mundane life, no? Yori would get to see everyone sitting and chatting, talking about things in a very casual tone. "So, what should we do this week?" the father, Gyoukon Sanero asks his family. "I think we should try the new tools and make sure they didn't break on our trip," says Chichi, the wife. "You know how expensive they were!" The little girl just says, "I want to play with my toys~." Quite normal.
Michiko continues to scout around the house, moving carefully as she resurfaces briefly for air and to see if there's been any change. Nope! So she gets to keep moving through the ground, Jutsu parting the way. She feels a bit like a worm right now with all the tunneling…
It was all fairly normal and Yori was quite alright with that. He would like nothing more than the rumors to be untrue and to be spying on a perfectly normal, happy, innocent family. But he wasn't going to stop watching just because things 'seemed' normal. Nope, he would keep watching, leaving Michiko to do more exploring while he watched the family itself, mainly the parents for the time being. The girl was too young to be of any real danger just yet.
Michiko moves continuously along the earth, not finding anything suspicious. If she was going to look into that shed, she'd have to be careful… So the girl goes to find Yori. It only takes a quick pulse of chakra to locate the Saito, and she starts heading in that direction, skirting the edges of the basement that she found using the same earthen sense.
After a little while, the family gets up and begins to clean their dishes. After lunch, it is time for tea. A rather western family despite appearances! They sip tea and read the news while they wait for three o'clock to roll by. The father quickly told his family to be ready by 3pm, which means people would be getting ready at five before. The young girl was just playing with a baby doll that looked /very/ realistic.
Yori continues to watch, not getting impatient in the slightest as he pays attention to the family. He intends to stay through the night at the very least to make sure nothing untoward happens. After all, many atrocities are done at night and not during the day for various reasons. When Michiko finds him he'd be watching through a corner of the window before ducking back down again. "They seem perfectly normal Michiko-san. Perhaps a bit too nice, but then that may not be such a bad thing," his tone would be soft as he speaks, just enough so that Michiko could hear when she neared. As for the doll…well, it was a doll, so there wasn't much to tell from this distance.
"The only thing I found unusual was the back shed, but it would take more time than I think I have to open it. We should definitely stay here longer… If they don't do anything odd, then we'll have to deem the mission request false and not receive payment." Michiko frowns a bit at the lack of resolve that might bring the client. but she couldn't kill innocent people!
The wait for time was excruciatingly slow with nothing to do, sadly. Michiko tended to just relax and meditate, keeping tabs on the family through their footsteps. The head ninja is all too grateful for the respite in sitting. "Yori-san, they're heading to the back yard…" she murmurs. "Let's keep our distance like before."
Yori made himself comfortable as well, finding a spot that kept him hidden from sight while giving him some limited visibility into the window. They all vanish from the room however before Michiko speaks and he quickly nods. "Hai. Are they all going?" He wants to know if the little girl is going with the parents or not, at this point. Could she really be involved in something bad? Then again maybe the shed is where they kept their crumpets. He stands quickly and peeks around the corner before he would start to follow the family, dodging from hiding spot to hiding spot.
Yes, even the little girl is going! They all go to the storage shed in the backyard, not bothering to check who might be present. They had come themselves, and people had heard enough rumors that most wouldn't near the place unless invited. The padlock is undone, and the door creaks open to reveal darkness and an amazingly foul stench.
"It looks like it," Michiko replies quickly, sinking back into the ground to follow after. She. isn't too far when they open the storage shed, and she's extremely grateful that she decided to have her shinobi tools with her. The ones that were just there and didn't need charging/forming right before use.
Yori follows well behind yet he still manages to catch a whiff of the interior on the breeze, causing him to grimace. So much for the hope that they really were innocent. His sword is silently drawn as he moves towards the shed. He doesn't even much care if he's seen now. The scent alone gives enough of a reason to investigate the shed and he will regardless if they wish to allow it or not.
Michiko and Yori both seem to be alarmed by the shed, though Michiko is approaching from below. Within the shadows, Yori would see a rather gruesome-looking torture chamber with blood and guts spilled all over the floor, as well as some rotting carcasses of humans off in the corner. Each body looks like it was tortured to death, though all of them in different ways. A few were scalped, one had its skin completely removed, and another looked like it got dumped into acid .
Michiko blinks in alarm, knowing that those rumors about these people are, in all likelihood, true. The family didn't seem too surprised to see those bodies, at the least. Where /is/ the family, anyway. That little door off in the corner looks promising! Michiko points Yori to it if he hasn't already spotted it. These folk… They weren't going to get any mercy from this if they were the ones doing these horrendous deeds.
RP: Yori makes a Pow roll and got 13.
Yori moves into the shed and amongst the mess that's inside, his file fixing into a mask of neutrality to keep himself free from emotion for the time being. IT was horrible and disgusting. At Michiko's motions he nods before channeling a bit of lightning into the blade in his hand, the blade glowing lightly from the chakra flow as he moves to the door. Hope she wasn't expecting him to be too quiet about it. Yori walks up to the door and just kicks it open loudly.
When the door is kicked down, Yori is met with countless upon countless of cages, as well as the three in the family (well, two… The kid is watching with her doll in her arms) drag one of their captives out. He's bound and gagged. "Don't worry, this will only hurt a lot~" singsongs the woman as she tugs him off… She blinks as Yori slams the door down and a look of pure rage flits over her face. Then it's gone. "What is he doing here? He shouldn't be here." She states flatly. The girl's eyes widen a bit as she sees the Saito, but she doesn't say anything (perhaps wisely).
Michiko is able to, because the walls are made of brick, slip into the room from behind. A soft whistle escapes her, as if she's impressed. "I would ask how and why you have this little collection here, but I am not interested enough to listen…" she comments, making the mother turn quickly. A hint of fear begins to enter the eyes of the family. Caught red-handed, after all!
Yori looks over the room after the door is knocked down, eyes flicking over the different people as his expression remains neutral. When Michiko speaks and draws their attention the young Saito moves into room, sword flicking side to side and cutting through locks to let people out as he nears the people who are running this shit show. He doesn't stop until he's near, sword at his side and eyes staring at the family each in turn. Even the young one.
Michiko watches as the cages open. No one can really escape since they're all bound, but a few of the stronger ones are able to roll themselves out with great difficulty. "I wonder… I should just keep you trapped here forever… That might be best… No one will find the bodies," Michiko says thoughtfully. "What do you think, Yori-san?" she asks the Saito. As she speaks, one of her hands seems to be idly forming strange figures. Half-seals.
The man is the first to work up the courage. "We've done nothing wrong. We're just helping with cleaning the trash of society. These people are beggars, thieves, and black marketers. Do they not deserve this treatment?" He seems to be less afraid as he goes into his little tirade!
"That's not your decision to make," Yori says to the man once he speaks. "A human life is not something to be toyed with, whether you deem it worthy or not." He adds before he nods to Michiko. "I think it might be a good start, though after the pain they've inflicted it might even be a bit too nice for them. We could, perhaps, torture them with their own tools instead."
"It was for the good of everyone," the man states unwaveringly, though he does start to look worried. Michiko nods lightly in agreement. "Hai, we can do that." And then the brick walls have large hands shooting out from them, three grabbing the three and keeping them in a very hard grip before a 'grave' forms around them. "What should we do first?" Michiko wonders, moving to one of the cages that still has someone inside. She uses a kunai to cut the bonds, helping others as best she can so they can all escape. She was pretty sure they wouldn't be doing any 'wrongdoings' anytime soon.
Yori does the same as Michiko, cutting a few free with his sword before sheathing it and looking to what the tools were that the group had brought with them. "Since the man likes to speak so much, perhaps we can test some of this on him." He picks up a tool that's used to stretch a tongue before cutting it off. "This one looks intriguing. Seeing as I'm not aware of it's proper use it will require some testing."
The young girl bursts into tears, dropping her dolly…. Which is actually the dead (and preserved) body of an actual baby. The woman and man both make a rather strangled sound as they hit the wall, then get trapped in the graves. Sadly, the graves don't prevent talking. Just moving. "You inquiring ninja think you can do whatever you want! Well, we people have our own sense of justice! What do we need you for?!"
Michiko picks up something that looks like a fingernail remover. "Hmm… This is an odd instrument. Very specifically designed to fit around a finger… Hmmm…" She glances over to the Saito. "Yori-san, you can take him. I'll get the woman." The child would be tortured the least, if only because she was dragged into this life by her parents. They would have to find out later just how far the parents' influence went…
Yori walks towards the man with the tongue trimmer. While he truly had no intent to torture them he needed them to think that he would. "We people? You mean the people that you've been torturing and killing? Or is there some other 'we' that I need to locate as well? How about this, if there are more people doing this and you tell me now, I will torture you that much less. I'll say, one less tool for each family you name." Yori looks around. "If you want to not be tortured at all that would be near thirty family names, I'd say." He clicks the tool loudly as he steps up threateningly towards the man.
"There aren't even that many that do this! Only seven other families! Jinzen, Koutamani, Wagaren, Pyochi, Myuzunai, and Rangyuza." yelp the man, eyeing the tools with fear. "FOOL" spits the woman. "Betraying them so easily…" Though a glance into Michiko's eyes makes her wilt just a bit. "Anything else you need to know?" she asks weakly.
"Hmm… I don't know the Pyochi family… Who are they?" Michiko asks, crouching down to look at the woman's hands. The woman pales quite a bit, then. "Middle class. They keep to themselves. They keep to the four winds as best they can, though the far north isn't in our territories."
"Well I suppose that is seven down. Any other information you might want to give to knock off a few more tools before we begin? I might even let you choose which tools I don't use," Yori says, sounding almost sad as he speaks of not being able to use all the various tools. It was amazing how well he and Michiko worked together, without even speaking about it they had the same plan in mind. Which is why they were part of a team!
"Th-there's…. someone in the capital. He runs the show every now and then. We don't know who, but he calls himself a 'dispenser of justice' and he gives us orders. He never tells us where he is, either. Just mails us the orders… We have a cipher to decode the message… A list of key words. We can teach you it," the man says quickly, hoping Yori lessens his sentence.
The woman is still being stoic, so it seems Michiko has to actually give a better threat than just saying so…. "Hmmm… Anything to add, miss?" she asks, putting the tool onto the finger and starting to line it up properly.
Yori considers the man for a time before he nods slightly. "Well, I suppose you'll need your tongue to teach me the cipher. This will have to wait until later." Yori throws it over his shoulder without looking before drawing his sword. "Maybe a little of my own torture is in order instead. Do you know how it feels to be continously electrocuted? Perhaps we'll test it on you first before I move on to the child you've dragged into this travesty."
The man pretty much loses all the color in his face at the threat. "It… is not something I wanted to feel," she says in a dry voice. "Just… let us be. We won't do this again. If we get another letter, we'll show you it. I swear." The woman still does not budge, though she doesn't look happy when Yori mentions her child. Which gives Michiko a spark of an idea. She removes the fingernail remover from the woman's hand and makes her way over to the child. "I suppose… if you won't talk, then maybe I can have her make you talk…"
Yori won't put the little girl through any more trauma. As it is he plans to take her back to Kumogakure and have someone not only watch over her, but also have someone who can help with her mental state work with her as well. With luck she can learn from this as she ages and turn her life into something worthwhile. Yori looks towards the woman then before he lifts his sword and unceremoniously stabs it into her shoulder, filling it with lightning for a few seconds before removing it and flicking the blood to the floor. "Answer her questions or I swear you will wish you'd died long ago." Yori, for such an innocent youth in general, can look and sound quite evil. He turns back to the father. "You will show me what you currently have. Michiko-san, release him please. I'll be back shortly to assist with this woman if she won't answer you."
Michiko wouldn't hurt the girl either. She really only walked towards her when the woman opened her mouth, only for the woman to let out a long piercing shriek. Michiko doesn't flinch, but instead crouches by the young girl who looks at her with wide eyes. She wasn't entirely untouched by her parents' 'tutelage', but she could hopefully be recovered. "What's your name?" Michiko asks in a kinder voice than she used before. "Don't be scared. We won't hurt you," she promises. "M… M… …Maya…" the young girl says, voice trembling. "Well, Maya-chan. I'll let you and your daddy go now. But we're going to have to talk with your mommy, okay?" Maya nods silently, too stunned to do much else. The earth recedes from Sanero and Maya, leaving them be for the time being. "Yori-san, please escort these two to the main house while I deal with this one." He said he would, of course, but having the other two hear it should allow for some comfort. "Maybe some cookies for Maya-chan would be nice. I bet she doesn't get cookies before dinner."
Yori's sword is resheathed and he goes to join Michiko, reaching to take the young girls hand gently when she is released. "Come on young one." He turns his eyes to the father and nods. "Lead the way back, and please don't think of doing anything foolish. I can promise you I am many times faster than you are." With that said he looks to Michiko before his eyes settle on the woman, the promise of his words showing in his eyes before he would go back towards the main house.
Once outside the shed he would give a brief look around before looking back to Sanero. "Do you have one of these notes remaining? Or have they been destroyed?" Obviously if they were smart they would burn them, but he doesn't give this family much on the level of smarts.
Maya takes Yori's hand and follows him rather obediently. Sanero leads the way, not trying to do anything odd or funny this time around. He was broken like the people he had tortured not long ago. And in truth, he never could stomach this sort of thing. "we burned them… The instructions said to," he would tell Yori, thinking back to his wife trapped against the walls… It was always his wife that he put first… Speaking of Chichi…
Michiko peers at the woman. "Considering the child is no longer with us, I can use the full force, I imagine." She makes a handseal, and a needle of metal from the ground forms. It's extremely hot at first, but then it cools down. Michiko slips the metal into a serum from her pouch and promptly stabs the woman in the arm. "Now then. This is a poison that will end your life in five minutes. You can tell us what you know, or you can die. Simple as that."
"Now, who were you working for?" The serum was actually a truth serum, and Chichi would feel compelled to respond… But instead she clamped her mouth shut. "Oh? Do I need to add some more pain to the mix? I can, you know…" Michiko prods the open wound Yori had made, making Chichi give a groan of pain. "Koretsu Motayama… Is one of the names he goes by…" she hisses out, the effects of Michiko's drug working.
Yori nods, not seeming too surprised by the answer. When they reach the house he would take the girl to the kitchen and sit her down with a few cookies. "You sit right here okay? I'll be right back." He turns back to Sanero then before taking him out of the room. "Show me the cipher and how it's used. While I have no real intention of further harming you or your wife, the safety of others comes first. No matter who they are. Afterwards you will be coming with us to Kumogakure, where the leaders there will decide your fate. It's more than you've done for others, as even if they decide death, it will be swift and painless. The more you help, the less severe your punishment is likely to be."
The man swallows and quickly shows Yori the key to the cypher. "I'l… It's confusing, so I'll show you the next example…. Umm… But that's the best I can do…." The girl nibbles on her cookies, looking around for a pillow, plushie, or doll to play with now that she's calmed down (technically) with sugar.
Michiko comes back shortly after, dragging an unconscious woman along. "Ahem… She fell asleep, but I got what I needed to know," the Iwata says. "We'll be taking you all back to Kumo. No one will know what happened today. Things will look as if nothing happened. Understood?" she tells Sanero. "Things must be as normal as possible so we can figure out this little case."
Yori goes over the cipher despite the man's insistence on how confusing it is. "I've written coded messages and ciphers since I was six," he says offhandedly without looking at the man. He understands it well enough, and it was a decent one even. When Michiko returns he nods. "IT should be dark enough to return to the carriage. I'll drive. Michiko-san you can sit inside with them and watch our surroundings. And that's what he would do. He would even give the little girl a piggy back ride to try and keep her happy on the way to the carriage so they could return to Kumo.
Michiko nods to Yori. "Good plan," she tells the Saito. The girl keeps the woman firmly tied up, even in her unconscious state. "Let's go," She tells the man. Maya refuses the piggy back ride, walking alongside her father. But the five would be able to escape without incident. With kidnappers, torturers, and bandits… Well, what will Kumo be facing next? At least this mission is largely a success in finding out information, though the true purpose of it was tossed out the window long ago.
