Get It Back! [Mission]

[Mishio]

OOC: Mission Details

IC: Great, another mission. At least I won't be doing it alone this time. Despite Keeva's very best efforts to stay one step ahead of his mother, that blasted woman had finally tracked him down, and delivered yet another ultimatum; to work or get worked over. Needless to say, he decided to go with the former. He sent in a mission application with bated breath, hoping it wouldn't be something too difficult (like that was ever going to happen) While he wasn't sure how difficult the mission would be, it was certainly going to be strange; he'd been tasked to recover a stolen... anvil of all things. Well, as long as I don't have to carry it. He thought, grinning masochistic. Fortunately, this mission would be different from his previous ones, primarily because he wouldn't be doing it alone. He was supposed to meet up with a college named Davak, whoever that was, and they were supposed to work together. Keeva wasn't so sure how that was going to work out, but he hoped it was something with more brawn then brain; if he could foist all the work onto his partner, it would be the next best thing to getting off Scott-free.

At that moment, Keeva was sitting on a rock, waiting for his temporary partner to arrive. They were supposed to meet about a quarter-mile from the village who had sent for their aid, just a little off the road, where it would be easily to get to (without fighting loads of undergrowth) but hidden from those who weren't supposed to be there by the forest's foliage; an ideal place to meet up. He had no idea how he'd managed to get there first, as he tended to be the lazy one, perhaps all the traveling he'd done in the past few months had gotten him used to walking long distances. Maybe his partner had gotten caught up in something. Keeva didn't mind, as long as Davak arrived before it started raining or anything.

[Davak]

Davak had been lazy the past couple of days and when his grandfather realized it he decide to throw him right out of his comfortable space under a tree in the sunny courtyard and back into the shinobi world. He spent an entire day at the mission office to get Davak something to do and when he came out of it he had a great big evil grin on his face.

That evening during supper Fu said``Davak, I singed you up for a mission that I want you to do, I want you to recover a stolen artifact, a golden anvil a relic for blacksmiths all around the country. It has been stolen from a museum.´´ Davak looked and listened and when his grandfather was done nodded, he had been traumatized from his first mission and was happy that his grandfather had signed him up, he wasn’t comfortable being too lazy and it would give him the chance to try his new technique. ``Sure gramps consider it done´´. The old man smiled,`` Ohh by the way you will be in a two men cell with another ninja, not Aiko, but how do I say it very special indeed...´´

Davak hadn’t know what he meant by it but now that he was walking along a road headed for the meeting place between him and his partner, it was an open space between some bushes hidden from those who weren’t looking for it, he thought back at his first mission and hopped that this one wouldn’t be a criminal or a psychopath like his first two teammates… turned out this one was a rat in a clowns costume. Davak sighed but then smiled again and said approaching to boy `` Hey, you must be my teammate for this mission, I am Davak Aiko of the Aiko clan´´ he bowed down gracefully and when he came back up he continued ``So where do we start ?´´

[Mishio]

Fortunately, Keeva didn't have to wait long before Davak showed up. A boy with rather messy-looking black hair and weird stripey tattoos on his face. Was it some kind of warpaint? Keeva didn't care enough to ask. He seemed a little distressed (or at least surprised) by the Rat-boy's appearance, but he clearly didn't want to make an issue out of it.

“Teammates? Yeah, something like that. The name's Keeva.” He didn't plan on doing very much of the work, but he wasn't going to tell him that. His partner's next question, however, was a bit more annoying. What would they do first? “Where do we start?” He asked, sounding a little surprised Davak hadn't figured it out on his own. “We need information. Information about the anvil we're supposed to recover, where it was taken from, who took it, where they might have gone with it. That sort of thing. Since we can't exactly ask the thieves, we're going to have to go into town and talk to the museum employees about it, as they're probably more then willing to help, and will certainly know a great deal about the stolen anvil.”

That much should have been obvious; it was why they'd chosen to rendezvous near the town; it was their starting point. If Davak didn't ask any more questions, the genin would start walking back onto the road and start heading into town, where he'd try to find the museam and try to talk to someone there about the robbery. Probably the curator or owner of the museam, and try to learn whatever he could about the incident, perticularly about those responsible for the stealing.

[Davak]

Something like that, what that’s supposed to mean? He wasn’t quite sure how to react around this boy and so decided to just continue smiling and staying positive, the boy introduced himself as Keeva, a funny name fitting to his odd look, like a circus attraction of some kind, he wondered about this boy and couldn’t quit figure him out.

He seemed a bit annoyed over his question and when he thought about it yeah it must have sounded a bit stupid, not like Davak was smart or anything... He decided to pretend he didn’t relies that his question must have made him look like a total clown and instead focused on listening to what the boy had to say.

When he was done Keeva looked at him for a short time and when he realized Davak didn’t have any questions left he walked back out into the road. Davak silently followed him to his right joyfully hoping that this mission was going to be fun.

[Slushie]

As the two genin approached the museum they would see smoke rising into the air. As they came closer they would be able to make out the design of the museum. The museum was pre third great shinobi war in style, there was a tall central building with two smaller buildings on each side about half the height of the taller one. There were four pillars supporting the roof of the central building with smaller windows at the top, too small for any normal sized civilian but small enough for maybe a small child to fit through. In front of the museum was two staircases that both led up to the main entrance. On each of the smaller side buildings there was one entrance each and it appeared that they were exits to the museum after a tour was over. There was a forest that surrounded the back and sides of the museum making it a kind of secluded spot in the village.

The museum was fairly new so everything looked pristine and polished save for the rather large hole on the side of the left building where the smoke was originating from. As the two genin came closer to the museum they would see the staff frantically attempting to put out the small fire that had started from lingering ashes due to the explosion that took out the wall the night before. They worked with buckets of water from a local river not very far from the museum. However the staff was moving too slowly to be effective and the small fire was quickly starting to become a rather large fire and if someone didn't do anything the environment around the museum would surely catch fire as well.

[Mishio]

Dvak seemed to be content with what had already been said, so they headed right into town. Keeva had originally thought that they'd have trouble finding the museum, but that turned out to be a false assumption; the smoke was a dead giveaway. The building itself looked fairly old, as most museums tended to be. They obviously put a great deal of effort into maintaining it. However, the left building no longer shared such a pristine state that the rest of the building still had, primarily because it was on fire. The people were trying to put it out as best as they could, but they didn't seem to be having much luck with it.

“Bugger.” Keeva muttered darkly, just loud enough for Davak to hear. “Let me see what I can do about the fire. Watch the crowd and keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.” Once he was close enough, Keeva started staring at the fire, making the hand-seals for Suiton: Mizu Senbon [Water Release: Water Needles], deliberately doing a half-assed job when prepping the shape manipulation for the jutsu.

Feeling the chakra-created water rise into his mouth, Keeva opened it and, the the probably surprise of everyone present, let loose a small torrent of half-formed water needles, aimed at the nearest portion of the fire. He wasn't sure if he could put it out, but he figured it would at least give the people trying to put it out a leg up, and probably get the attention of everyone present. Though he also held back on the power, so it wouldn't damage the building itself, the needles were under greater pressure then bucket water, and would probably do a better job of putting some of the fire out, not to mention get the attention of everyone who could see. “Excuse me, but can we speak to whoever's in charge?” He asked someone who appeared to be one of the museum employees.

[Davak]

They reached the city fairly quickly, from the entrance one could easily make out the smoke that was rising out of a large building a bit farther away, it wasn’t long until they could see the museum very old fashioned and beautiful in its glamour, everything except the large hole in the side of the building which was also the source of a small fire that was slowly growing into a rather big one, Damn, we have to help but I don’t know and water techniques he was thinking of using his rather think vest in order to put it out but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it, luckily his partner seemed to more of a help using a water Ninjutsu to put out the fire, great that also got him everyone’s attention.

But he had listened to what Keeva had said before starting his watery rescue and while he did, Davak looked at the reaction of the people and thought he saw some surprised faces and some other reactions. He would mention to his partner the people and their different reactions if there were any if not he would tell him so.

Then Keeva asked for the person in charge and Davak, continued observing the people around ready to respond to anyone doing something suspicious.

[Slushie]

Keeva's plan of using his water needles ninjutsu was met with great success. As more and more people started noticing what he was doing, all of the members of the staff stopped their inefficient river bucket method and started watching Keeva. As the water needles doused the last of the fire everyone started cheering and clapping, cheering on Keeva as the savior of the museum. All except for one person who was shorter than most in the crowd.


The shorter person was dressed in black baggy pants and a black hoodie and was more toward the right of the museum. The shorter person put on their hood and made their way behind the museum moving quickly out of sight. If Davak was paying attention it was something he would have had to be looking at in order to catch.


Keeva's request to meet with someone in charge was met with more of an odd response. Everyone stopped cheering and just pointed toward the entrance of the museum where a taller very thin elderly gentlemen dressed in a fine black suit with a black tie was standing, arms crossed. Needless to say the gentlemen didn't look too happy. If the genin approached him they would be met with quite a rude welcome:


"About time! One of the most precious treasures in this entire backwater country is stolen and one simple request for ninjas takes a day to process? Not only that but they send low ranking younglings to do a job suited for higher ranking shinobi! I want ANBU! I want Black Ops! I want the Kage himself! Does anybody care about our history anymore? Unacceptable. If you two had been here sooner maybe you could have prevented a few of our exhibits from sustaining fire damage AND water damage! Do you know how much all of this is going to cost? Well, what took so long!? Let's see what kind of excuse you two can come up with. AND THE REST OF YOU, GET BACK TO WORK!"


It was easy to see the man wasn't exactly to most understanding type and he deeply cared for the museum, he was also pretty old, which could explain some of the crankiness. At any rate the rest of the staff made their way back to their jobs, cleaning, repairs, moving exhibits around, etc.

[Mishio]

If there was one thing Keeva was proud of, it was successfully working a crowd. He didn't have as many opportunities to do that anymore, since he'd left the stage, but it didn't take as much effort off-stage. One of the reasons shinobi had a bad repuatation in certain circles was that they wielded supernatural powers, and used them almost exclusively to kill people. By using them, so casually and in such a helpful manner to those around him, the boy had no difficulties winning over those around him. Even his father probably would have been impressed.

By unspoken agreement, Keeva would handle talking to the client while Davak kept watch, probably. As it was unspoken, the genin could never be sure, but since something like this was very much a performance as anything else, it fell along with Keeva's specialties, and though he wasn't entirely sure, he doubted Davak could say the same. It was better for him to use his eyes were they were needed, allowing the showman to work his magic. Well what do ya know? He's being useful already. Rat boy thought, suppressing a grin.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like their client was going to be nearly as cooperative as the rest of the lot; an elderly gentle men who kept his opinions on his sleeve. Lovely. Keeva was pretty sure he could handle him though, as long as what they wanted remained more or less the same. Well, they wouldn't get very far if they didn't talk to him, so Keeva mentally braced himself, thought up a few lines, and took the plunge.

Before Keeva could even start asking questions, the man launched into a tirade about the importance of the stolen anvil, and how he wanted big shots like ANBU or the Kage to deal with it. As annoyed as Keeva was, he simply responded with a smile; the most patronizing smile he could make, the kind of smile indended to make somone feel like they were a two-year-old talking to their baby sitter. After waiting for the man to finish off his first tirade, Keeva began responding in a rhythmic rapid-fire manner. “Sorry, but this is out of the ANBU's area of expertise, I believe, the black ops specialize in interrgation, and the new kage is probably buried under paperwork as we speak.” He didn't really know Zack very well, so he didn't know if the last one was true, but it was probably a safe assumptin. “As for the paper work, you have no idea how many requests we get;” a safe assumption, since Keeva didn't know either, “it takes a while. At any rate, we're here and we're ready to get it back. What can you tell us about the robbers and the robbery?”

[Davak]

Davak had his eyes pinned on a small figure which was wearing all black and completely hidden by his baggy attire, the young ninja had noticed him because when all others had been clapping he hadn’t, and instead walked away. Davaks eyes followed him as he quickly made his escape around the corner of the museum towards the back. For moment there he realized that his hand was on his projectiles readying himself to throw this at the suspect. Had he become so senseless that he was going to throw shuriken at anything suspicious? Damn

He realized his mistake and instead walked up to Keeva shorty before they reached the client and said ``Small, wearing black, on the right side of the museum, just past and is on the other side´´ he waited and then continued ``should I follow?´´ he wasn’t sure,after his first mission he had decided to talk everything over with his teammates before doing much.

He listened to the overly old and grumpy client, but only halfhearted he was trying to see if the boy came back, he had to wait but he was ready for anything to come, the moment Keeva would agree to let him follow he would and the same if he said no, if Keeva wanted to go it was no problem either, but he knew he wanted to fight, his blood was hot and he was itching g for it now.

[Slushie]

The elderly gentlemen was not amused, he quickly scoffed at Keeva's statement as to why the higher ranked shinobi weren't handling it and scoffed again when Keeva made the statement that he had no idea about how many requests they got.


"I don't need the likes of you to tell me why these so called shinobi don't care about their history. Everyone knows those who aren't aware of their history are doomed to repeat it which means this country will be under attack again and again and again regardless of who's in charge. I've seen what war does, I highly doubt you two have any war time experience at all."


It seemed he had calmed down at least a little bit. Maybe it was the way Keeva responded that made the old man take a second before he had made his response, or the presence of a second shinobi making him feel outnumbered, either way it seemed he was ready to cooperate.


"Let's see. The Robbery. Ah yes. It took place the night before last, I was ushering the last of our visitors out from the museum because it was closing time. I locked up all of the doors and as I was locking up the main entrance I looked up and noticed one of those higher windows were open. I didn't think much of it because nobody ever comes around here that late and the windows are rather small. At any rate when I came back the next morning I noticed the anvil was gone, and there was a rather large hole in the wall, the same one that reignited that you helped to put out."


The old man took a deep breath and yelled at a few of the workers who were just standing around and lolly-gagging. He would then turn his attention back to the young genin after a long pause.


"Anyway the only clues we found were that the main entrance was unlocked so whoever moved the anvil wasn't working alone and had made it inside the museum to let their accomplices in. We also noted there were a few sets of footprints headed straight into the forest from that hole in the side of the building most likely caused from carrying such a heavy anvil no doubt."


As Davak had made his report to Keeva an explosion on the most outer wall of the right building had echoed throughout the area. Smoke and debris quickly filled the air and a small quick shadowy figure made it's way from behind the museum, heading the same way as the sets of footprints were. The staff scrambled to the scene as well as the curator to assess the damage. Before he left the curator told the two young shinobi


"I believe it would be in both of our best interests if you caught these little terrors before they do any more damage, this has gone on long enough!"

[Mishio]

It didn't take very long for Davak to spot someone who looked suspicious. Black clothing, hoods, and leaving at that perticular point in time were all very suspicious. Davak asked if he should go after them, but Keeva shook his head. “Let's not get separated.” If they had the manpower to leave someone behind to watch for a pursuit, then the two genin were almost certainly outnumbered. The last thing they needed was to walk into a potential trap. The only way to prevent that would have been to start a fight then and there... while in the middle of a group of civilians, which would have been a bad idea for multiple reasons. Besides, the man had some incomplete information on hand, and Keeva wanted it to reach the others as soon as possible. At least they knew what direction to start going in.

It seemes the elderly man wasn't exactly satisfied with Keeva's explanation, but he wasn't going to waste any time arguing about it. Quickly, he told them everything he knew about the robbery. The open window drew his interest early on. One of the thieves must have climbed up and opened it during the opening hours; they'd probably gotten in “the regular way” then climbed up when no one was looking. Since normal humans couldn't have gotten through it, it was ignored.

“Agreed” He said to the old man. “I'd like to take a closer look at the hole they made first though.” With that, Keeva's investiagation of the evidence began. First was the hole itself. It might have been made with an exploding tag or two, or it could have been done with a ninjutsu. The genin tried to look for anything that would indicate which method had been used (ie it's size, shape, and the amount of charring around the hole) After that, he took a look at the footprints. Making a foot print of his own for comparision, he tried to compare the depth of their footprints to determine if they were carrying a heavy object such as an anvil.

After getting all the information he could, Keeva would report his findings to Davak. “Alright, we'll learn nothing more here, let's go after them. They can't be going to fast; if they haven't sealed the anvil in a scroll or anything, they won't be able to move very fast.” That was, of course, a fairly big if. Generally, even Academy Students could unseal items, but sealing them required the skill of a chunin. But then, if they had a chunin with them, odds were Keeva and Davak wouldn't have stood a chance anyways.

[Davak]

The conversation between the client and Keeva went on Davak still not listening, only at the end for the actual information did he hear what the man had to say, he watched Keeva take a look at the hole and as he did Davak came a bit closer to make his own assumptions, while inspecting the hole Davak leaned Yusei his sword against the outer side of the remains of the wall as it was getting too heavy for him to carry under his vest. He wasn’t quite sure either a Donton Ninjutsu or a tag? Anyway after looking it up a bit more he would walk behind Keeva and they took a closer look at the footsteps and where they would lead, Keeva came to the conclusion that they couldn’t be too far away because he believed non had the ability to seal the anvil away and so Davak walled back to the hole to collect his sword.

A boom could be heard as the side of the wall exploded and assumingly the person he had seen earlier made his escape Davak picked up his blade and ran towards the hole but first he shouted at Keeva standing behind him Lets go we can’t let him get away´´

[Slushie]

Upon inspection of the area around where the explosion occurred there would be bits and scraps of tag paper scattered about, some of which still burning. It seemed the explosion was caused by exploding tags, and quite a few of them. Upon further inspection it seemed the wall was destroyed in such a way that the exhibits on the inside avoided as much damage as possible, some nearby exhibits weren't even touched by the blast.


With all of the commotion caused by the second blast it allowed the hooded figure to make a run for it. When the last of the staff had left the area where the first explosion had occurred the hooded figure appeared from behind the museum and quickly made a dash for the forest. As the small hooded figure made it's way into the forest it would use a clone jutsu to create 3 clones. They clones would run in separate directions in attempts to throw off the two genin. Not only was the figure clever it was also quick so if the two genin didn't want to lose their only lead they would have to catch up quick.


If the genin chose to follow the small hooded figure then they would have to figure out a way to track the real one or take a gamble and follow one of the figures and hope it was the real one. If they decided to follow the footprints in the forest they would eventually see the footprints led to a river and then turned and went upstream. However no path they chose held the promise of being clear of traps and such… dun dun dunnnn

[Mishio]

Keeva's investigation turned out to be short-lived; he almost immediately saw scraps of what appeared to be an exploding tag. That did suprise him a little; he thought tags were entirely destroyed in the blast they created. He also noticed oddly that none of the exhibits were damaged. Odd, and something to think about later, but not at the moment. “Alright then, let's go.” Keeva said, and promptly took off at a moderately fast run. He wasn't particularly fast for a genin, but he was much faster then Davak, and he'd slow down as soon as he realized it, staying a little ahead of his partner, but not to far ahead. He figured that if there were any traps waiting for them, it wouldn't be a good idea for them to be bunched together; they could both be taken out by the same trap if that happened.

Unfortunately, odds were that their slippery target would be able to get far enough ahead of them that they'd lose sight of him in the densely wooded forest. Fortunately, his running meant that he had no time to cover his foot prints. The foilge below them, mostly grass, dirt, and scattered tree limbs, was ideal for tracking. That also meant they wern't fooled by the bunshin, who didn't leave foot prints. However, Keeva was an amateur at tracking, and whether he'd succeed in following their quarry's trail would depend on how obvious the tracks were.

[Davak]

We can’t let them get away....what a fail I am letting him get away why am I so slow DAMN IT !!!! Davak was mad about himself when they started running he was able to catch a glimpse of Keeves real speed but as soon as his partner noticed just how slow Davak was he had to slow down his speed by a lot in order for them to move in a group.

They were in the forest now, following tracks Keeva seemed moderately skilled in it so Davak would just follow he was mad, the moment he would even get a glimpse of this little thief he would bombard him with senbon, he was aired carrying 5 in each had between his fingers ready to use them on command. His throwing skills were good and he would put them to even better use. Earlier their target had used the bunshin technique but it seemed that Keeva didn’t worry about it Davak only realized now, that the bunshin wouldn’t make an actual footstep ... it seemed his partner was defiantly more than what he seemed to be.

[Slushie]

As the two decided to track the obvious footprints left in the ground left by the quick mysterious figure it seemed the forest had become quiet and the only noises that were being made were the ones being created by Keeva or Davak. In their pursuit of the tracks they would come to a fork in the footprints. The footprints split off into three different paths, as if one person had suddenly split into three, an odd sight indeed because as they said, bunshin don't make footprints. This gave the genin three options, they could follow the tracks leading left towards the sounds of the river, tracks leading straight into some not so dense forested area, or right, the tracks on the right appeared to lead right back to the museum.


However if they looked down each path at the end of each one was the hooded figure, taunting them only for a second before each one took off in random directions, it seemed the figure knew it was being followed, which meant it wasn't going to make its capture too easy, and it was going to avoid being caught at all costs.

After the figures took off the silence in the forest would be broken by an odd, deep and muffled sounding voice. The voice would appear as if it was coming from everywhere around the two genin eliminating any way for the two to figure out where the source was.

"Leave Now foolish shinobi! This is none of your concern so... go home! Or we. . . will.. annihilate you! So yea, stop following us. You have been warned. "

clearly based on what was said, it was the work of a genius mastermind of the highest caliber who was behind the anvil theft.

[Mishio]

Strangely, when they came to the part in the path he'd apparently made the bunshin, it did still split into three. It was extremely strange. Either they had actually been solid bunshin, or it was a genjutsu of some sort. Keeva took a closer look at the point where the tracks split in thrice, to see if two of the sets had somehow been spontaneously created, or something else. He probably wouldn't get much though. I need a more reliable way of tracking people. He thought with annoyance. He looked directly down each path, only to see the figures themselves taunting them and vanishing off the trail. “Bah, there's no point in pursuing them now; it's pretty obviously a trap.” Actually, they were probably just trying to throw them off, but he didn't want anyone to see him losing confidence. That said, he tried to take note of which side each one of them vanished into, just in case there was a connection.

Just then, they were met with an untraceable voice, seemly coming from all directions. Not this again. Keeva had run into this particular jutsu during his last mission; against the Black Knight. The dramatic effect was impressive at first, but it got old really quickly. It threatened them, but whoever was doing so didn't seem very good at threatening people. Actually, it is our business; we're getting paid for it, aren't we? Keeva sighed. He didn't like being played with; the only thing he could think of so far was for them to draw one of the thieves out, beat 'em up, and try to get some information out of him.

[Davak]

They continued following the path Keeva in front Davak at the back, while Keeva kept his eyes on the ground Davak looked straight forward hoping to see something, Keeva suddenly stopped and Davak would have bumped into him, his partner was looking at the ground but Davak wasn’t he saw them, three covered in black figures all standing and looking back at them, Davak’s anger got the best of him `Take this´´ He turned and threw five senbon at the one staining towards the river, they were at waist height. When finishing his turn he threw the other five at the path leading back to the museum, he hopped to hit them and make them slower so that the two of them could catch one of these guys.

But like Keeva said it would be stupid to follow them, then suddenly a voice called out to them "Leave Now foolish shinobi! This is none of your concern so... go home! Or we. . . will.. annihilate you! So yea, stop following us. You have been warned. " Davak sighed, Idiots...

[Slushie]

While Davaks anger got the best of him, his 5 senbon had been true.The figure standing at the edge of the tracks moving toward the river wasn't quick enough to evade all of them and found two senbon stuck in his hip. By the time he threw the other senbon the figures were gone, and were fleeing the scene after hearing their ally cry out in agony.


"Ahhhhh! Crap… guys.. guys?Help me! screw it i'll do it myself!


The figure yelled out in pain, the voice identified the figure as male. He was in pain and went down on one knee, he pulled the senbon out and threw them back at the two genin and limped away out of sight leaving a trail of blood next to the river try as he might to cover the wound. It seemed the two young shinobi now had a clearer way of tracking their target but there was still a matter of getting to the trail of blood as the young genin had still not chosen their path.