Starring:
Hige, Soku, Zankuro, Kenta, Usagi
Date: January 21, 2015
Summary:
Shinobi skilled thieves plague a Land of Fire towns market. To catch a shinobi you have to think like a shinobi! Or at least hire some to think like one for you. Too bad they picked a day the thieves decided not to strike. There's always tomorrow…
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Thieving Wanderers Lie Low"
Sotami (Merchant town in Land of Fire)
It's early morning, very /very/ early morning. The sun hasn't yet even begun its ascent through the sky yet and the first of its rays are just barely making themselves known. Who would be up at this ungodly hour is a very valid question. Who would be sending out birds to gather people for a mission is an even better question! The answer comes as none other than Random Administrator Person. Yes, RAP. The birds each said to gather supplies for a day long mission and to meet at the front gate of Konohagakure to gather with the rest of the team assigned.
The first person to arrive at the front gate is Hige, the Inuzuka boy trailed by a yawning Konsho. The boy doesn't look much better off himself as far as the sleep department goes. It really is a horribly early time to be awake but he knew that it was for a reason. Hige has a pack across his back with his supplies including things Konsho might need for the duration of the trip and the mission itself and he now just waits semi-patiently for the others to arrive.
As Konsho and Hige approach the gate, Usagi drops down a moment later from a nearby rooftop, opting to not bother those actually up for something else on the streets, and instead making her way quietly across the rooftops. As she drops down, she seems at least alert, a pack across her back, the same matte black that the rest of her outfit, vest included, is. She nods at Hige and raises a brow. "You ready for this, you two?"
Kenta is an early bird himself, but it was a surprise when one of the birds landed on his gate while he was on his way out of his house. Since the letter that the bird was carrying had an official seal, he figured that the whole secret mission thing must be legitimate. He arrives shortly after Usagi does. The young man is dressed in his normal uniform with its altered Chuunin vest of many additional pockets, a backpack, medical pouch and a cloak draped over himself for warmth. He jogs up and waves when he's within sight of the others. "Good morning," Kenta calls out. He comes to a stop a few feet away to bow politely. "Anyone know what this mission is about?"
Early morning! Awful for the average person but, not for Soku. He's not one of those old geezers shaking his fist at dang RAP for waking him out of his beauty sleep.
The Senju looks is dazzling as ever, humming as he comes in from behind. "Eyo!" Calls the teen, sliding a thumb under the strap of his pack, his other hand occupied by a water bottle. It's some guy, Hige, Konsho and eye c- er, what the heck was her name again, did she ever say it? Did the mission briefing mention it? Well, he'd play it cool for no and completely dodge saying the name like he does with all the other peoples' names he forgets. "How you guys doing?" Though he was mostly staring at the exhausted Hige not asking because he was curious he was just poking at Hige's misery.
Zankuro /is/ one of those old geezers. The morning was not a friend. At best it could've been maybe a frenemy for the Sarutobi, but his sister had made certain to ruin that by running drills every other day. It was as if she thrived on his suffering!
Thankfully, the promise of a mission the next day meant freedom from said suffering and extra sleep. It also kind of, sort of, maybe meant arriving late and still tired if the great, big yawn he gave was any indication. "Yo.. Howzit.. *yawns*.. hello.." He greets the group along with a weary, absent-minded wave.
As everyone begins to gather RAP begins taking a head count until he's sure that everyone is there. Once the group is complete he nods, than clears his throat as he holds up a lantern to help light his face in the dark. "Thank you all for gathering this morning. I'm sorry it had to be so early but you have a ways to travel before it gets too late and the Village didn't want to risk having you gone an extra night with everything going on."
The man coughs into his hand to clear his throat again before he continues, "Alright then. You've been called here to go on a mission to a large town called Sotami a few hours to the south-west of here. This town is one of the larger market towns for the Land of Fire and is considered important not only to those within the town but the nation as a whole. Lately there has been a rapidly increasing number of thefts in the market from vendors of all types from food items to expensive jewelry. While normally the local city guard would handle a situation like this it's been reported that the thieves are possibly wandering shinobi by their ability to escape and hide as well as steal in general.
"Because of the importance of the town and the larger size of its market we are sending a larger than normal force to deal with these foes. The town has asked that they be taken care of but has not specified as to how. With this in mind the Village has decided to leave it up to you all how best to handle those you find. While we would like to avoid unnecessary casualties if they attack you then do what you must." He finally pauses as he uses the lantern to scan the group. "Any questions?"
Hige yawns widely as Usagi, then Kenta and the others all arrive and he offers a tired wave as his greeting. "Hey," he says simply before offering a tired smile to Usagi. "Yeah, we're ready, don't worry." Kenta's questionwell, it was answered by the babbling RAP. "All I know is we shouldn't ever have to start missions this early," the boy mutters as he listens to what their instructions were. The boy gives a short nod when everything is explained but refrains from asking any questions. He can't really think of any anyways.
Usagi shakes her head as the RAP asks the last question. She glances around the group, noting who's here, and what she knows about them. She looks around at the others to see their responses to the question, and hmms softly. "We can discuss how we deal with them along the way. I've a few ideas as it is, but we'll work on that later" She looks around again, then looks back to the RAP. "If we're dealing with wandering shinobi, any ideas on what level they're at? Genin, Chuunin, jounin, anything?" Best to know what they're up against…if at all possible.
"I was already awake anyway," Kenta points out when RAP tries to apologize. He listens to the briefing with a serious expression on his face and nods his head to indicate that he understands. He makes a thoughtful noise deep in his throat. "It sounds like these thieves usually operate during normal business hours and aren't the type that do break-ins after all the customers are gone, is that correct?" the young man asks after thinking about the information that they received so far. "The presence of civilians could complicate things a lot."
"Hey hey." Soku says to Zankuro and the briefing begins soon after. A few nods to show he was sort of listening, "Well that answered my first question…." Which was 'why them for thieves?' He swirls his bottle of water around idly while whispering to Hige, "Better to be a little cranky throughout the day than getting eaten by zombies at night." As other questions go out he nods just awaiting answers on those, if he had another question it doesn't appear to be coming yet.
Until RAP decided to speak up, Zankuro busied himself with trying to blink away sleep as he looked over the time. His eyes linger on Usagi in particular; but, whether or not it was because of lack of familarity or some other reason is hard to say. The rotund teen start and focus on RAP once he begins the debrief, noting whatever his sleepy mind could grasp. Which isn't all that much, so he sort of folded his arms and looked to the others to either dumb it all down a little more for him.
"They're estimated to be between five and ten Genin and Chuunin level based on what and how they steal. However the number and their real strength cannot be proven in any way until they are confronted. You are all urged to use caution when confronting them and to not take any unnecessary risks. If it becomes too troublesome to capture them alive then dispose of them and leave the bodies with the guards to take care of." RAP really does not seemed concerned whether the thieves are dead or alive in the least. Pretty standard, actually.
At Kenta's words the man nods in understanding to his early hours. RAP doesn't look tired either. "They do all their thefts while the vendors are open throughout the day with no distinguishable pattern. There have been instances of different vendors being hit at once and times when only one or two are touched all day. You will have to be monitoring everyone carefully the entire time and, because of the size of the market, it will be extremely busy. We believe they do this on purpose to help hide their movements. Civilian casualties will also not be tolerated." Juuuuust in case that wasn't obvious before. "Anything else?" Last chance for questions
Hige is one of those 'be silent when older people are talking' types and he falls back into that fairly easily as the questions and answers come. Really they are good questions and worthy of being asked but, uh, yeah he wouldn't have really thought of any of them. Just chalk it up to something else he needs to learn besides how to just kick butt. Also need to learn to ask the right questions.
Usagi nods once, slowly. "Alright….well, this makes things interesting…." The young woman seems to be thinking, at least having what information she needs. Can do's and can't do's. She looks at the others for a moment, then back to the RAP. "Do we have any friendlies in the area we could work with that owns one of the market stalls, or at least a way we could set up our own?" She looks at the others, apparently sizing a few of them up.
Kenta shifts uneasily at how casually RAP promotes the dead or alive goal for capturing the thieves. It's not exactly that the medic-nin hadn't killed before, but it's something that occurs very rarely and it's not something he likes at the least. The easy way that it comes out also makes his mood darken due to memories of experiences on a very recent mission. Where there was no smile on his face at all, now there's no other emotion displayed either.
Soku opens his mouth then shuts it, Usagi asking a question he thought of last second so he waits until going and asking the main one that was on his mind, which he felt a bit uneasy asking, "Do we… get a bonus for keeping them alive? By we I mean the Land like uh, do they know something or… Accidents happen and all, though if people decide to hold back that can allow an escape, just wondering if there's any incentive to actually hold off." Soku adds a weak shrug, realizing how that question may sound villanous, "Not planning on trying to, you know…" He just lets the man answer the question shutting up for now awkwardly shuffling his way towards the path they were most likely taking.
Zankuro nods absently, though it remains unclear by expression if he is actually getting anything down. What with his continuing to nod even after a question is given. Sensing the eyes of another upon him, the Sarutobi starts again, then looks about rapidly until his eyes fell upon Usagi. He gulps audibly and looks away sharply, whistling an awkward tune. Soku's villianous sounding words jars him out of the nervous funk and earns both a glare and a good natured bop to the head. "Don't bring up silly stuff."
RAP nods to Usagi at her question, "Yes. When you arrive one of the guard will be waiting for you and introduce you to two separate vendors who are willing to assist however possible." RAP smirks ever so slightly, the lantern light making the facial expression look a bit odd. "They are the two that have been heaviest hit and are footing a large portion of the bill with the town's help." So basically vendors with super expensive stuff.
"There is no incentive to keep them alive and no reason to suspect they are part of a larger ring. You do, however, need to insure that you capture or kill them all. Leaving any to go free will constitute only a partial mission completion so make sure you have them all." How they do it is up to them of course, but with the varied people in the group certainly they can find some way to do so. Torture is always fun.
RAP looks between those gathered to make sure everyone looks prepared before pointing off in the direction they'll be heading. "It's nearly a two hour trip to run and you need to be there before the morning crowd settles in. You are all expected to do your best and are expected to be back with results within twenty-four hours. For the duration of this mission it was decided that Zankuro-san will be the team lead with Kenta-san and Usagi-san giving advice. This is a time for Zankuro-san to show his leadership skills." Yep, throw the Saratobi under the bus day. "Go!" The single word is meant to spur them on their way.
Hige remains quiet and not exactly aloof but not paying full attention either. He knows what he has to do and it will be done once they get there but, you know, they have to get there first. Once they are released Hige lets out a little sigh before glancing at the others and walking over to try and muss Soku's hair because he's a little punk. "Alright…" And with that he's off in the direction they're sent, leaving it to the Chuunin to discuss their strategy.
Usagi nods as her question has been answered. She looks at Zankuro and nods, then over to Kenta and does so as well once that is decided. As the word is spoken, she's off in that direction. She does come up aside Zankuro as they go, looking at them. "Any initial ideas of how we're to go about this?"
Kenta isn't liking Mr. RAP much by now, but he nods his head up and down to confirm that he understands what's being said. He steps up to the other Chuunin. "I think that two of us should disguise ourselves as the merchants with a Henge. That'll allow us to be at the hardest hit stalls without having to find a suspicious looking way of hanging around. It'll be good to have someone that close to the action. Ummm… Assuming the merchants don't complain about not selling anything while the fake them are in place…" Kenta says in a quietly somber voice. "But we'll need to have others in position anyway, so maybe set up some fake stalls next to the expensive ones too."
"Ow." Given how much of a punk Soku is, the bop on the head may of actually hurt him! "Not silly, I don't want to hesitate and end up dead I uh… never did a mission involving other ninja." Soku looks a little off at the moment, even when he's stumbled on words before he's never looked this timid. He continues to ramble, moreso to himself as he stares at the floor while walking. "It'll be hard to hard to make sure we've got everyone, that may lead to serious measures that might make us look bad to ensure it's a success. If theft continues afterwards, that'd still make Konoha look bad." He gnaws on his bottom lip, as he thinks, snapped into reality by hair ruffling which causes him to turn and peer at Hige. "C'mon man…" With a few gentle shakes of his head Soku's hair falls perfectly back into place like magic.
"Uh, yeah that sounds good. One of us is bound to catch onto one of them." He looks at the group, "Maybe have Konsho watch over us and when we give him the signal have him track the thief. With his nose he can track at a distance and is small enough to disappear into the crowd, so it'd be easy to follow him to their hideout… assuming they're all working together."
Zankuro puffed out his chest, refusing at first to even consider Soku's point. Then his brain spoke up, deflating the Sarutobi a little. He stands there, staring and musing over the right thing to say, only to end up using Hige's hair ruffling as his chance to focus on the mission details. "I'm to be…" Zankuro trails off from there, understanding all to well what just happened. Aside from frowning a little Zankuro offers no dispute against the orders. As for the others, well, he listens solemnly. "Works for me.. I.. yeah. Is there anything else or shall we get moving?"
They're already moving! The trip begins going through the heavily wooded area around Konohagakure but as they continue along the forest begins to thin out and becomes more sparse in the way of large trees. Even as they discuss the strategies the group makes all haste towards the town that hired the sinobi. Eventually the group is no longer in the trees but running along grasslands and in the distance the town comes into view. Between the shinobi and the road to town sit two guards on horseback, their banners making it known who they are. Both men are looking in their direction and one raises a hand in greeting when they arrive. The two men wait patiently for the shinobi.
Hige grins at Soku as they go along, keeping an ear on the discussion at hand but not really offering much in the way of help to the strategy part. He's a fighter, not a strategist. Okay, well not a good one. He's getting better but there's still plenty of time for him to really work on that. For now let him just beat the snot out of people. "Don't worry too much Soku. With those three," he thumbs over to the Chuunin, "we ain't got anything to worry about." The Inuzuka considers a moment before he reaches out to muss the other boys hair again. Kind of fun, actually. Konsho yips a few times and Hige nods to the pup, "Konsho and I will both use our senses to help out with whatever you guys decide." With that he just continues going, slowing some when the guards come into view to allow the Chuunin to do their thing.
Usagi nods once. "I like the idea, though I was hoping some of the people had some marketplace experience with things. Sides, we 'can' sell some of their things, just need to make sure you know what you're doing, or you ask for tips. Secondly, we could act as helpers, bringing stock to and from the stalls, or even a delivery service. Kenta-san, your idea is essnetially the same as one I had, just we'd have to find stock, and a convincing seller out of our group to do it. I'm a stealther, I can hide in near plain sight if I have to. I can also be a lookout to see what's going on"
Kenta spends most of the journey silent except when he interjects to give an opinion regarding plans. The ill mood that had taken over him isn't getting shaken off at all. At least having an important task to concentrate on keeps things under control. "I'm not very good at selling things, so I might not be very good for the merchant roles myself. But I also have a way to make myself almost invisible, so I can stand somewhere high up and follow our culprits if they show up and manage to escape." His brows furrow slightly. "Umm… I could also possess a bird, if we can find out, and fly around to watch things that way, but it kind of mean that I have to pass out somewhere safe…" He squints his eyes. "Oh look. We're here."
Soku will definitely just try to distract the thieves! So he doesn't get shanked or something, that's what thieves do right? Maybe? This, is one of the many conversations Soku has with himself mentally as they run along. Eventually they start to get closer and as they run Soku nods in response to Usagi, "I have zero sales experience." Or work experience outside of training.
"I can try to… do one of those merchant things though. I'm only good at tracking someone if I know their chakra beforehand so I'd be no good as a lookout or well, not as good." He looks toward the Chuunin, awaiting their orders.
To those that knew him well enough, the Sarutobi is oddly quiet throughout the entire trip, and intended to remain so well after. Despite seeming to run on auto-pilot, the teen had been listening to the others; especially his fellow Chuunin. He winces at Usagi's suggestion for no obvious reason. If noted, the Sarutobi is quick to wave off any concern, both literally and figuratively, grinning sheepishly. Either way, the Sarutobi is keen to shake off the funk over his soul, and truly devote his attention to the others as well as the mission at hand.
"Hmm… Yosh. Usagi-chan, go ahead with the hiding in plain sight on the ground level and.. see if you can stick close to the exits while doing so. Soku, me and you are gonna see about getting ourselves hired. I ain't one to brag but I can be a pretty decent salesman when I put my head to it." He brags, rubbing his chest with a smug grin. Zankuro snaps back into a more serious state as he regards Kenta next. "I'll leave the high road to you, Kenta-san. Signal us if you spot anything, but don't engage unless it seems absolutely necessary. If worst comes to worst, we'll need you to do that bird possessing thing and keep track of them if they escape us. Hige.. hrm… with little Konsho there, you'll be better off pretending to be a shopper than working in all honesty, so.. that's what I want you on. I'll loan ya some money now if ya think ya might need it *winces*.. *coughs*.. but aside from that, don't engage without signalling the rest of us. Period… Am I clear to y'all?" He asks one last time before focusing back on the guards.
As the shinobi get closer the guard who appears to be in charge gives them a salute in greeting. "Greetings Konohagakure shinobi. Thank you for coming. We're glad to have you here to help with our problem and we are very hopeful you can remedy the situation." The two men turn their mounts to start them walking towards the town and motion for the shinobi to follow. "I'm the Captain of the guard. Whatever you need just let me know and we'll make sure you have it. We have a number of vendors who are looking forward to your arrival and willing to assist in any way they can in order to bring these criminals to justice." The man looks up to see where the sun has just started to rise above the horizon and hmms softly. "We have less than an hour before the morning crowd is allowed in so please make your preparations quickly." The Captain looks down from his horse over the gathered shinobi. "Is there anything we can do to assist with your plans?"
Hige is silent for the trip, perhaps nodding thoughtfully as he hears an idea he thinks is good but over all he just focuses on their getting there. Even Konsho is relatively quiet. They're in Mission Mode! As Zankuro reveals the plan the boy nods and grins ever so slightly. Oh boy they're giving him money to shop! What exactly is he going to buy. The mystery of the night. Once they arrive and approach the guards Hige hangs a little back and tries to snag Soku's sleeve to keep him a little behind as well so that the Chuunin can talk with the guards even as they approach the town. "See, you'll be with Zankuro. Nothing to worry about. And make sure to give me a discount on what you're selling." It's spoken softly to Soku but not a whisper and he's grinning the entire time he speaks.
Usagi looks at Zankuro as she nods to his suggestion. She does look to the guards and raises a brow. "Do we have any likely suspects we should watch for, or any identifying marks?" She glances back to the genin who seem to be hanging behind, then back to the guards and Zankuro.
"Nice to meet you, Captain," Kenta greets the mounted man. He glances up at the sky, also noting how much lighter it is now. With the the plan's in place, Kenta decides to focus on his task right away. The ones on the ground would be able to handle anything else that needs to be set up with the mentioned eager merchants. "I'll should go look for a good spot to keep watch now. Maybe on top of one of the taller buildings or one of the sturdier stalls could work." He takes a tag out for one of the many pockets in his best and holds it at ready.
Soku is effectively thrown off by Zankuro suddenly taking charge after how silent he was the whole time, probably just plotting the whole time now that Soku thinks on it. All the plotting going on amongst the Chuunin makes Soku sort of forget about getting murdered, yaaaay~
He seems to be back in his old ways, "Clear." Soku takes off his jacket and folds it up to mask the blatant Senju and Konohagakure marks on it, to avoid being instantly pointed out as a shinobi. He looks down, it was really the jacket pulling this whole look together, he felt like his clothes were clashing now. "Pinch…"
He shrugs and peers at the money gaining Hige, "Hey get me a snack or something with that money dude." He gives Hige a look, somewhat of pleading before he moves on up preparing to join Zankuro in the land of sales.
Zankuro breathes a little easier once everyone eyes aren't upon him. Normally it would be the exact opposite, but this was to be his first assignment as team leader. Like, genuine first assignment and not the mess he and Isura were apart of that one time with the silence and the undead and spider folk and the really, really, really hot and possibly — Zankuro rapidly shakes his head before the group reach ear shot fo the guards. He gives them an amicable smile. Beyond that however, the Sarutobi left the talking to the others and just observed for the most part until the issue of money is brought up.
Grudgingly, Zankuro fishes out a ham fist sized purse, and after giving it a few idle tosses in the ai he passes it to Hige. "Try to stay on task, Hige.. Shessh.." He emits as he idly went about trying to seal away his obvious shinobi gear.
"Unfortunately we don't have any detailed descriptions on any of them. They all wear cloaks with the hoods pulled up to shadow their features. All we have is general height and build and even those we can't confirm if they're multiple people or the same ones on some." The Captain shakes his head slowly, "I'm afraid it's been rather difficult. It doesn't help that with the temperature still so cold in the morning much of those shopping are wearing similar clothes. We considered banning cloaks for a time but then no one would come out." The man gives a sidelong glance towards the closest shinobi as he adds, "I've heard that you shinobi have a keen instinct and senses. I'm hoping you can use that to help us out."
As the man talks to the group and some of the shinobi split off to do their part the guard leads the rest into the town. "On behalf of our town I bid you welcome to Sotami." The town itself is only a little over average size but already vendors are setting up so many different stalls that they are beginning to spill out of the town proper down some streets and some are even on the outskirts of the town. A few people mill about as they wait for stalls to start opening but for now it is fairly quiet. "We have about another thirty minutes before the crowd comes. They come in caravans from all directions to buy these wares."
The two guards dismount and the Captain hands his reins off to the other man who takes the horses away. The Captain leads Zankuro and Soku to a vendor selling some expensive looking jewelry encrusted with jewels of different kinds. "Mariato-san, these are the shinobi from Konohagakure. They will be assisting us in capturing the thieves and may wish to use your stall as we discussed before."
"You boys use my area as you will," the elderly man says with a smile. "I'm just grateful you're here to solve our problem.
Hige smiles gleefully as he snatches the money purse out of the air and the boy looks up from the thing to Zankuro before giving an innocent little shrug. "Catch the thieves. Got it. Pretend to be a buyer of good things using someone elses money. Got it." The boy bobs his head at Soku, "Couple of snacks coming up." Yeah he's going to have fun with this. "Any other requests?" He asks, glancing around a bit before putting the money safely within one of his own pouches. Double pouched. Keep the pocket pickers at bay. The boy isn't so lucky in hiding his ninja features since one of them is clearly marked on his face. Instead he makes a few handseals and his clothing changes while his Inuzuka marks disappear. The rest of him doesn't change but now he looks more 'farmer boy' then shinobi. With that he starts doing a little wandering.
Usagi nods as she starts picking out the entries and exits of the place, committing them to memory. Her ability to move through shadows, and the sheer number of them, she'd have plenty of ways to pin someone down if she wanted to. She nods to them, then moves off. "I'll keep an eye for signals" and with that, she practically vanishes into the shadows.
Kenta glances over at Soku. He rumbles into a small pouch hanging at his waist and takes out a protein bar, which he tosses at the Genin. "That'll probably be better for you than a snack from a vendor right now. Umm… you don't want to find out mid-mission that you ate something that doesn't agree with your stomach," he tells the younger shinobi. With that said, Kenta is one of the shinobi that quickly splits off from the group to find his hiding/vantage point.
Kenta nods his head curtly to the others before he activates the tag in his hand. As the cloaking barrier that it generates covers Kenta from head to toe, he vanishes to sight, smell and chakra senses alike, although not perfectly. If the team doesn't know where he is, they also can't give his position away by awkward glances in his direction. The medic-nin trots off in this state and eventually finds himself one a good building to perch on top of.
Soku's bag and jacket are left with the guards, now lacking any shinobi gear. He wasn't good with them anyway. As for Kenta's bar, Soku does thank him, "You're right, I'll save the snack from here when I get home, I can only imagine it'd be really good for how pricey it is."
Soku pretends as if Hige was doing nothing wrong with offering to buy more as they move on with the mission. "Ooji-chan, we'll take care of this in no time. The Senju doesn't henge personally, seemed like work though he had his persona all set. He'd wait for business to begin and immediately bow his bangs up with a huff, leaning over while looking bored.
Looking like a bored teenage pretty boy that has something better to do, like nothing, must've gotten dragged into working here for his grandpa. This is mostly to cover his behind for not knowing how to handle sales~
'I'm gonna regret that.' Zankuro's expression practically said as the teen regarded Hige. His expression brightens a little with Kenta's intervention on his behalf. There was no guarantee Hige would actually take advantage of the offer — what with protein bars being too the dread ration bar — but hey, at least there was the option. Zankuro turns with the intent to see for himself just how Usagi meant earlier, only to wind up wasting a few moments frantically looking around before belatedly refocusing on catching back up with the guard and Soku.
Like Soku, Zankuro ditches everything save a few easy to pocket scrolls, and dons a bandana. Why? Well, despite claiming to be a decent salesman, the whole fact Soku had the bored pretty boy thing going for him meant he was practically a one man army. So instead, he played the random hired help/foreign/Mr. Bright, shifting supplies as seemingly needed.
As the various folk get into their assigned positions the guards and the merchant take their leave to allow the shinobi to do their work. The activity in the market begins to pick up amd for the first few minutes it seems like things are going to be quiet and then WHAM! It's almost like a tidal wave of people coming in from various directions as their caravans arrived, parked, and the people started making their way in. It's a wonder no one gets trampled! Much as the Captain had said the throng of people thickens greatly and a good half of them are wearing cloaks. And about half of those with cloaks have their hoods pulled over their heads! If the shinobi are going to see anything out of the ordinary they're going to either have to be very good or verrrrry lucky.
As it happens they're all simply in for a very long day. Despite their efforts the thieves fail to even make an appearance and by the time evening begins to roll around and people close up shop the Captain of the guard appears. "It seems that this was one day where they decided not to come. It doesn't happen often but it would be just our luck." The man sighs softly before he continues, "We've arranged rooms for you all at the inn and we've been in contact with your Hidden Village." He pulls out a scroll to show to them, "You're allowed to remain for another day and try tomorrow." He looks around the group and motions for them to follow. "If you'll all come with me we'll see you properly bathed, fed, and make sure you have a warm bed. All at no cost of course." With that the man leads them to the local inn to allow them to rest for another attempt at the thieves the next morning.
