Crater City is known for its rather rambunctious group of people. (specify). Needless to say, the local authorities need to be keen in handling the neighbourhoods and make sure they’re free from crimes. Of course, that almost seem highly unlikely, considering that juveniles alone already create quite the disturbances, but to add some of the adults into the mix would make it far more complicated. Factions, groups, gangs, syndicates– they all practically existed beneath the surface of their everyday lives’ facade, vying for more territory, more influence, and more power. Sometimes, this resulted in the local authorise having to ask for help from Konoha, asking for a few shinobis to come handle when things get rough.
This time, however, they may not have enough time to even send word and expect the arrival of help, as local factions have been too active and violent that their turf wars have the entire local authorities on their toes, barely given a moment’s rest. And if not investigating these juvenile factions, they would become busy with reports about syndicate dealings in the underground, or merchant rivalry leading to more disturbances
As such, Kiri, who had recently arrived in Crater City along with the townsfolk whom he helped in apprehending those involved in the forest fire incident in an outskirt town, had come to learn about this problematic scenario in Crater City. By coincidence (or fate), one of the villager’s brother so happened to be one of the rookie investigators of the local authorities and upon learning about Kiri’s help with the fire incident, he asked the young shinobi for help with the current situation. Of course, he offered his small apartment as a place for Kiri to stay. As much as he would want to pay the shinobi, he didn’t exactly have money or affluence to even let him stay in an inn. Kiri, accepted the request, partly out of convenience on his part, and partly because he felt like the ongoing happenings would dampen his mood while in Crater City.
Thus, after saying his farewell with the townsfolk whom he traveled together with for a few days, Kiri would come to stay in Rookie Investigator Tomo’s lodgings. That afternoon, he would come along to the said investigator’s small little office in the local agency building. It wasn’t too shabby, but it was pretty much stacked with piles upon piles of papers and reports and requests. For a moment, it made Kiri remember of those nurses’ offices back in the hospital and he thought of how everyone was doing back there, especially when he isn’t there to help organize the charts.
“So, there’s already a sign of the problem escalating, right?” asked Kiri as he surveyed the reports while glancing at Tomo who was nowhere to be seen behind the tall stack of reports. He swore that the smallest draft could easily topple it down and possible become a nightmare to the young investigator. Moving his chair to the side, Kiri got a better view of the man who was jotting down notes from different reports, seemingly finding a common denominator. He waited until Tomo seemed to be done before he repeated the question.
“Ah, well that’s the thing,” began the rookie investigator as he put down his pen. He carried some of the stacks to an adjacent desk and then spread out his city map with his sticky notes just about everywhere with markers indicating the locations. Then, he began to explain. “About three weeks ago, there had been incidents involving normal brawls along these areas here. Then, a few days later, some graffiti incidents along the public walls here. Then a few more days and a complaint along the neighbourhood here about people going about door-to-door and spreading warnings about factions. Then about a week ago, there was a commotion in the auction house here, and then the market area turned into a long drawn out brawl. A total of 30 juveniles were detained but it didn’t stop there. More rumors about the big wigs from the syndicates are calling the shots and these factions and gangs are out to prove their worth to their big bosses by claiming turfs. Very problematic. However, at the start of this week, there hasn’t been any incident at all. No reports, no complaints. Just silence. Very uncomfortable silence. The others find it convenient so they can proceed with investigating about the earlier reports but I…”
“You think it’s the calm before the storm, huh?” Kiri finished Tomo’s sentence and the latter nodded. Indeed, it smelled nothing more than a set-up to something far worse. “Then we better hurry and find out what’s going on before all hell breaks lose.”
“I know. And the problem is, unless we can have sufficient evidence, we aren’t allowed to ask the Hokage for any help. After all, it’s ridiculous to go on after rumours and gossips. We’d be a laughing stock.”
“True that. Well then, how about these areas here?” Kiri would point to the northern area that was lacking the two-to-three sticky notes and markers that was spread across the city map. “What’s over there?”
“Oh, that’s actually one of the big business areas. They’re quite influential so they don’t easily allow investigations. They say it’s bad for their reputation, so we couldn’t really get any information. It’s true, we need warrants to have a proper and legal investigation, after all.”
“Oh? Well, why don’t you leave that one to me, then? If I get caught, I won’t be linked to the police or anything. Just a passing stranger who got lost in the city, right?”
Tomo felt a bit uncomfortable with that suggestion, but he ended up agreeing. “Please, be careful. And be back by morning.”
“Gotcha.”
With that, Kiri was off, remembering the location by mind. He would wait until the dark of night, perched along the roof of the shabby apartment that belonged to Tomo before he set off. With the shadows all around, and some areas barely lit with lamps, it was to his advantage, especially with his specialty with Shadows. As he reached the said business district, he would come to see the large buildings and the patrolling guards along the streets. He had to use Active Camo Jutsu to hide in stealth effectively and roam about.
But despite watching over the place all night long, there wasn’t any sign of any disturbance. Just a few times some merchant carts would come and go. Perhaps there was something hidden underneath? He wasn’t sure.
And it was just as when dawn was rising, as he was heading back to the apartment along the roofs, a little disappointed and already imagining Tomo’s disappointment too, when he saw one of the merchant carts from earlier that night that was parked in front of a residential. Upon closer look at the back, he saw a head pop out from under the curtain, glancing about. It was a young boy, dirty, skinny, but deadly serious with his expression. He then jumped out of the cart and hurried into the said residential building, more suspiciously, through an open window and not the door.
With that, Kiri would memorise the building’s location and return swiftly to report to Tomo.
WC: 1,215
[MFT]
This time, however, they may not have enough time to even send word and expect the arrival of help, as local factions have been too active and violent that their turf wars have the entire local authorities on their toes, barely given a moment’s rest. And if not investigating these juvenile factions, they would become busy with reports about syndicate dealings in the underground, or merchant rivalry leading to more disturbances
As such, Kiri, who had recently arrived in Crater City along with the townsfolk whom he helped in apprehending those involved in the forest fire incident in an outskirt town, had come to learn about this problematic scenario in Crater City. By coincidence (or fate), one of the villager’s brother so happened to be one of the rookie investigators of the local authorities and upon learning about Kiri’s help with the fire incident, he asked the young shinobi for help with the current situation. Of course, he offered his small apartment as a place for Kiri to stay. As much as he would want to pay the shinobi, he didn’t exactly have money or affluence to even let him stay in an inn. Kiri, accepted the request, partly out of convenience on his part, and partly because he felt like the ongoing happenings would dampen his mood while in Crater City.
Thus, after saying his farewell with the townsfolk whom he traveled together with for a few days, Kiri would come to stay in Rookie Investigator Tomo’s lodgings. That afternoon, he would come along to the said investigator’s small little office in the local agency building. It wasn’t too shabby, but it was pretty much stacked with piles upon piles of papers and reports and requests. For a moment, it made Kiri remember of those nurses’ offices back in the hospital and he thought of how everyone was doing back there, especially when he isn’t there to help organize the charts.
“So, there’s already a sign of the problem escalating, right?” asked Kiri as he surveyed the reports while glancing at Tomo who was nowhere to be seen behind the tall stack of reports. He swore that the smallest draft could easily topple it down and possible become a nightmare to the young investigator. Moving his chair to the side, Kiri got a better view of the man who was jotting down notes from different reports, seemingly finding a common denominator. He waited until Tomo seemed to be done before he repeated the question.
“Ah, well that’s the thing,” began the rookie investigator as he put down his pen. He carried some of the stacks to an adjacent desk and then spread out his city map with his sticky notes just about everywhere with markers indicating the locations. Then, he began to explain. “About three weeks ago, there had been incidents involving normal brawls along these areas here. Then, a few days later, some graffiti incidents along the public walls here. Then a few more days and a complaint along the neighbourhood here about people going about door-to-door and spreading warnings about factions. Then about a week ago, there was a commotion in the auction house here, and then the market area turned into a long drawn out brawl. A total of 30 juveniles were detained but it didn’t stop there. More rumors about the big wigs from the syndicates are calling the shots and these factions and gangs are out to prove their worth to their big bosses by claiming turfs. Very problematic. However, at the start of this week, there hasn’t been any incident at all. No reports, no complaints. Just silence. Very uncomfortable silence. The others find it convenient so they can proceed with investigating about the earlier reports but I…”
“You think it’s the calm before the storm, huh?” Kiri finished Tomo’s sentence and the latter nodded. Indeed, it smelled nothing more than a set-up to something far worse. “Then we better hurry and find out what’s going on before all hell breaks lose.”
“I know. And the problem is, unless we can have sufficient evidence, we aren’t allowed to ask the Hokage for any help. After all, it’s ridiculous to go on after rumours and gossips. We’d be a laughing stock.”
“True that. Well then, how about these areas here?” Kiri would point to the northern area that was lacking the two-to-three sticky notes and markers that was spread across the city map. “What’s over there?”
“Oh, that’s actually one of the big business areas. They’re quite influential so they don’t easily allow investigations. They say it’s bad for their reputation, so we couldn’t really get any information. It’s true, we need warrants to have a proper and legal investigation, after all.”
“Oh? Well, why don’t you leave that one to me, then? If I get caught, I won’t be linked to the police or anything. Just a passing stranger who got lost in the city, right?”
Tomo felt a bit uncomfortable with that suggestion, but he ended up agreeing. “Please, be careful. And be back by morning.”
“Gotcha.”
With that, Kiri was off, remembering the location by mind. He would wait until the dark of night, perched along the roof of the shabby apartment that belonged to Tomo before he set off. With the shadows all around, and some areas barely lit with lamps, it was to his advantage, especially with his specialty with Shadows. As he reached the said business district, he would come to see the large buildings and the patrolling guards along the streets. He had to use Active Camo Jutsu to hide in stealth effectively and roam about.
But despite watching over the place all night long, there wasn’t any sign of any disturbance. Just a few times some merchant carts would come and go. Perhaps there was something hidden underneath? He wasn’t sure.
And it was just as when dawn was rising, as he was heading back to the apartment along the roofs, a little disappointed and already imagining Tomo’s disappointment too, when he saw one of the merchant carts from earlier that night that was parked in front of a residential. Upon closer look at the back, he saw a head pop out from under the curtain, glancing about. It was a young boy, dirty, skinny, but deadly serious with his expression. He then jumped out of the cart and hurried into the said residential building, more suspiciously, through an open window and not the door.
With that, Kiri would memorise the building’s location and return swiftly to report to Tomo.
WC: 1,215
[MFT]