Fortune and Forts - Search for clues! [Open]

[Kuru Naohiro]

Naohiro walked the streets of the Seki district with a wide grin on his face. He’d worn a colourful robe today, one he’d bought from the district a few days ago. It was like his iconic white robes but inlaid with a golden colour and small runic letters across the sides. He wasn’t entirely sure what the runic letters said, they just looked really cool. Reaching into his new robes pocket, the white-haired performer pulled out a torn-up piece of paper. He’d written to meet up on this street, 23rd Kyoto rd. The white-haired boy looked around with a hint of annoyance before lowering his hand.

“He got lost, didn’t he,” Naohiro said, his smile widening even more, “This is what I get for asking a blind man to help out.”

Folding the piece of paper and placing it back into his robe, Naohiro took a chance to look outward. He’d come here to get a job done, he wasn’t going to leave until he at least gave it a shot. The white-haired boy gave a casual sigh before grinning even wider.

The Seki District​

Naohiro began to walk across the street, watching the lively streets flow with people. His eyes catching the sight of a few guards, some standing just within buildings and others still simply escorting people, likely nobles from one of the higher clans. There would be shinobi that Naohiro couldn’t spot, but they’re probably bored out of their mind. No one does anything in the Seki district. Looking outward at the large building infront of him, its peak built atop one of the underpasses that the people frequented. This wasn’t a one-man operation, he needed a bit of backup.

“This is the headaches I get for wanting to help people.” Naohiro said with a smile.

Spinning on his heel, the white-haired performer gazed outward at the crowds of people. He’s just going to have to get some outside help. The teachers always did say to meet new people.

 

[Azai Momotaro]

The Seki district a lovely place that Momotaro often found himself walking about and doing some window shopping, but today is his lucky day since his father finally managed to go on a hot streak and earn enough money to give his son enough to buy something nice for himself. And the boy did already have his eyes set on something that he wanted for a while now, a necklace with a pendant the boy thought to buy and put a picture of his father and mother inside them.

(before reaching the district)

The black haired boy wore his favorite Robe which was blue and black endowed with a very decorative and flashy pattern of waves, the wave pattern where white as for the his feet wear it was very simple and effective sandals and socks. However his hair was combed by his mother before he left and was kept tidy in a well groomed fashion. His hair had a pretty blue ribbon keeping the pony tail in place, when the boy finished getting dressed for a trip to the wealthy part of town he said goodbye to his mother and headed out to the Seki district.

(back at the district)

The boy walked around smiling at any stranger who crossed his line of sight, he headed towards the item he wanted but stopped once he found a stray cat that looked hungry. Feeling bad for the little thing the boy knelled down to the cat and petted it, he then took out his wallet and decided to go buy some food for the animal. After going over and buying some good meat the boy quickly returned to the cat and began to feed the little thing.

“you must have been really hungry huh ?” The boy said as he saw the creature devour its food rather quickly, it wasn’t until he saw a young man with white hair that he stood up once more looking at the man he looked kinda distressed so he had to go to him and say hi and maybe see what is that bothered him.

“Hello there, excuse my rudeness but my humble name is Azai Momotaro. I was just walking around and saw that you looked kinda troubled is something wrong ?” even though it is unusual to go around asking stranger such questions the boy had to do since he thought that something might really be going wrong.

 

[Kuru Naohiro]

From his gaze of the crowd, Naohiro caught sight of one figure of notice. It was a boy in a blue and black robe that was feeding animals, a strange choice for the Seki district of all things. Naohiro grinned at the oddity of it just before the boy wound up walking towards him. He spoke with manners, but he didn’t seem all that familiar with the district at all. The white-haired boys’ eyes twinkled as he examined the attire once more before speaking.

“ 'Your humble name',” Naohiro repeated, looking at him with a grin, “You sir are way too formal to be feeding cats in the Seki district. That means you aren’t one of those ‘noble clan’ guys. Think you can help me out for sure!”

He looked the boy up and down before gesturing to follow him as he began walking towards a set of large wooden staircases across the street. As he walked, Naohiro pointed upwards towards the large building the stairs connected to.

“I’ll explain the details as we go, assuming you help out,” He goaded with a playful wink, “But long story short, a relative of mine, I’m talking far, far cousin’s brother twice removed type of related. Anyway, he has a place he’s living in up in that big old mansion. I need to get up to him to deliver a letter, but I doubt the guards are going to let me past.”

The white-haired performer reached into his fancy robes and pulled out the tattered yet still folded piece of paper. He displayed it infront of the stranger for a moment before casually sliding it back into his robe with a smile.

“So how about it, Azai” He asked with a nod, stopping near the base of the staircase as people continued to go up and down it, “Want to help a poor guy out? I’ll owe you one ..”

 

[Azai Momotaro]

Shocked by the statement of the white haired boy that despite his looks and manners, the one thing that tipped him off to the fact that Momo was not a noble was the simple act of him feeding a cat, it was strange but then again Momotaro never socialized with the nobles so he is unfamiliar with how they usually act. Blinking his eyes the look on the black haired boy’s face was clearly confused, he did not know if what the white haired boy said was true.

“Am I really that weird, I never met a person from a noble clan before so they will not feed a cat if they were in my shoes ? That seems a bit weird. But um sure I will like to help”

The blue eyed boy was staring at the other man who seemed to look at him from top to bottom, it was strange but at this point Momotaro was used to people looking at him like that, from a young age the friends of his mother kept saying that he was a cute boy. But it was still a bit strange, but there was no point in arguing with it now.

Momotaro’s eyes then widened as the other boy winked at him, he could not understand if the wink had some secret intention behind it or not. The boy decided to trust his gut feeling and that was for him to continue and try to help the white hair boy but also stay on his guard at all times. And after hearing the thing that the boy needed help with, Momotaro felt like this was a simple thing.

“Oh that sounds like a simple thing sure I can help you out, but if you will excuse me I need to know a few things before I can help. First of all I did not catch your name, what should I call you ? And second and that is kinda important why wont the guards let you pass by, is there something wrong ? And please don’t be crazy no need to owe me one.”

 

[Kuru Naohiro]

Naohiro noticed the stranger’s confusion and grinned even wider as he finishes sizing him up. The boy was older by a few years, and he didn’t move away from Naohiro after all his responses. This was someone from the shinobi academy within the village, without a doubt. He listened to the questions with crossed arms, nodding his head with each new question as if in thought at them.

“Alright then,” Naohiro confessed, throwing his hands up in defeat, “I was trying to keep it atleast a bit subtle, we do have customs on these things you know. It’s impolite to ask such things so boldly you know, I thought we were being formal and everything.”

The white-haired boy gave a small smile as he raised a robed hand outward to above the staircase front, the wooden frame held a distinct symbol engraved into it. The Kagetsu symbol. Its engravement on the staircase leading into the large complex gave a clear implication, it was owned or atleast involved with one of the three major clans within the village.

“I’m known as Kagetsu Hidan,” The white-haired boy explained, lowering his voice for a moment, dusting off his white robes, in hands brushing across the runes on his robes, “Born under one of the clan’s elder mothers, Kagetsu Aiko. The relative is known as Kagetsu Ren, while I’m sure the guards would allow me to pass if I admitted my identity … I’d much prefer to remain incognito, much of my family assumes I went off with my uncle to Konoha on business.”

With his explanation done, the Kagetsu raised a casual finger to his lip, gesturing to keep quiet on it. The white-haired performer then gestured towards the staircase, offering for the boy to go before him, then proceeded to begin walking up himself.

“Now with the formal monologues out of the way,” Hidan said, giving a wide grin as he casually walked up the staircase, “I believe we should get a move on. The guards change in about five minutes before lunch! You in?”

 

[Azai Momotaro]

The boy chuckled when Kagetsu called him out on not being formal anymore, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand Momotaro was ashamed of his action, but he had to since he was not left with any choice. “Well I am truly sorry Kagetsu-san I just really needed to know before helping out with whatever you needed help with.” Momotaro then just crossed his arms as Kagetsu began to explain what was going on and why he needed to stay incognito, in all honesty this seemed like a really easy job which is why it also seemed real fishy and the boy with the long silky black hair was unsure what to do now.

“so you want to deliver this letter but also remain incognito ? Hmm so you are saying that I should go deliver this for you ? That sounds doable only on one condition, you either tell me whats on it, or guarantee to me that its not dangerous or illegal. Cause my dad is a jonin and I do not want to get him in trouble over this.” The boy crossed his arms as he made his conditions pretty clear, once they are met he will probably go along with Kagetsu. And in order to convince Kagetsu to listen to his conditions the boy put on his serious face but it ended up being clear that he was trying too hard to look serious

 

[Kuru Naohiro]

The white-haired boy did everything he could to hold back his laughter, throwing a hand towards his mouth to silence himself. After a moment of calming himself, he wiped a tear from his eye before speaking to Azai.

“You really did come from the academy,” Naohiro commented, a wide grin on his face, “You, my friend, ask far too many questions! I’d suggest avoiding comments about your … daddy next time, you’re gonna make us both look bad!”

He moved to pat the Azai on the shoulder, still utterly entertained by the boy’s reactions. Noticing that he wasn’t taking the lead up the staircase, Naohiro gave a raised eyebrow at him before beginning to pace up the wooden stairs himself. His white robes waving casually as he turned from the wooden staircase towards the stone road leading towards the guestroom. The first set of guards standing guard just in front of it. After sighting them, the white-haired boy paused before spinning towards Azai.

“We need to get into that guest room,” Naohiro explained, his smile still on his face, “It’s the best way into the courtyard proper … you’re wearing the right clothes for it, pretend to be a noble or something, you know the type, all pompous and stuff. I’ll just feign a servant. Please don’t mess up.”

Giving a small wink with that final comment, finding some entertainment on the pressure he’s placing. With that, the white-haired Kagetsu raised a robed hand forward, gesturing for Azai to move forward.

“Come now, lord Kagetsu,” The white-haired performer said, speaking loudly to catch the guard’s attention, walking towards the entrance, “We’re almost inside. I’m sure your father will be here momentarily …”

 

[Azai Momotaro]

Momotaro puffed his cheek clearly annoyed at what Kagetsu is doing, he felt mocked and he did not like it. Crossing his arms the boy waited for an explanation from the white haired boy, rolling his eyes the blue eyed boy decided to ignore what he had said to him. “well I guess I can do that, I won’t mention this to my father.” this was a lie because if this did prove to be either illegal or really really dangerous Momotaro is probably going to tell his father anyways. But he hoped that wont be necessary as he followed Kagetsu up the stairs as he listened to his briefing of what to do, and while it did seem dangerous it also seemed like the sort of work ninja should do so that part was exciting.

“got it, don't worry about me I might be a rookie, but I am pretty sure I am a natural and boy am I glad I wore the right clothes for this lets go.” Momotaro then tried his best to look like a rich snob even thought he was not sure if he was doing it right or not, but he is trying.

When he heard Kagetsu calling him Kagetsu however caught him off guard, this is probably going to be very confusion but also really should not take that long. “well hurry up I am not going to waste time here, I cant stand any longer I need to sit down and be given the best tea here, I belong to an important clan so treat me well and you might be on my good side.” well, maybe acting is not Momo’s strong suit but everything gets better with time right ?

 

[Kuru Naohiro]

Passing by the guards, the white-haired lad gave a wink to Momo at his performance, his lips twitching in a clear attempt to hold back laughter. Entering the interior, it was a simplistic guest room. With a few wooden chairs, a single banner with the clan insignia and a glass wall facing inwards to the centre courtyard. Giving a nod towards the crew member he’d brought with him, Naohiro abandoned the guestroom and started walking through the courtyard towards the entrance of one of the larger buildings.

“Now you’re catching on,” Naohiro complemented casually, his head glancing side to side to make sure none of the guards were getting curious, “We work on your acting skills a bit, I might have to keep you around more often.”

The rogue gave a smirk with that comment, reaching the large door before pushing it open. The guards to the sides of the doors seemed confused before returning to their standard old gaze forward. Wandering inside, Naohiro spun towards Momo properly, beginning to walk backwards to the staircase.

“It’s one of the wonders of guarding nobles around here,” Naohiro explained with a grin, still walking backwards, “The guards are busy keeping an eye out for the clowns that’ll go ninja jumping over the walls. No one is gonna investigate the folk that just came from the guest room, too much of a risk of accidentally annoying some noble.”

The boy ran a finger across his neck with a cutting noise, tilting his head to the side lazily with the act. Afterwards he gave a small laugh, spinning around to walk forward. He didn’t bother glancing towards Momo as he started walking up the staircase, that same grin still on the confident boys face.

“So then, Momotaro ..” Naohiro said, casually saying the name to get used to it, “Momotaro. Mamatera. Mumututa. Mumu. Nah, horrible all of them.”

Clicking his fingers, Naohiro looked back at Momotaro properly, remembering the cat incident again.

“I’ll just call you Whiskers,” Naohiro said, deciding on a nickname, “So then Whiskers, tell me about yourself! What’s your family like? Not as difficult to give letters to as mine I hope.”

 

[Azai Momotaro]

Getting past the guards by lying to them was not right, but it felt funny. Luckily Momo is not going to do something bad, he is just helping a kid with some trouble with his parents. He then turned towards Hidan and tilted his head in confusion. “keep me around for what ? you do this thing often ?” the boy did not like the idea of him lying to his parents often, it was not any of his business but he could not help but ask.

The boy then looked around at the expensive looking room with awe, he never saw anything as beautiful before. He then looked back at the white haired boy with golden eye. “yeah, now you can send the letter with ease. I could use this as a lesson to be honest, I did not know I could pass as a believable noble, always thought of myself as a farm peasant.” He said while laughing to himself, sneaking around like this was wrong but also a ton of fun.

“oh hey come on why is my name whiskers, that is not a cool nickname. I don’t even know what to call you now, eh I will come up with a name in the future. Oh and as for my parents they are really nice people, I admire them. And no they are very welcoming, I don’t think I will keep a secret from them anytime soon, and neither should you if we are being honest. Next time be direct with them.” The boy said as he walked casually having both hand behind his head.