Missing Potential[Mission]

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Target:
Tsuchiyama, Mesumi
Target Rank:
D-class
Mission Rank:
C-class
Objective:
The return of student Tsuchiyama Mesumi to Kumogakure's Academy. Restricted force may be used in apprehension. Death of objective is to be avoided

---

Mesumi had once hated the Academy. As the daughter of a Chiji nobel, the tiny blond had grown accustomed to a lifestyle and future that excluded the very thought of shinobi. Nobility was an easy paved path for a child; she had known who she would marry, when she would inherit, what she was obligated to do. Her lessons were tailored towards becoming an upstanding young woman,

In Kumogakure she was forced to endure difficult training that stretched her body and mind to thei limits. The teachers were cruel and demanded perfection without reward. They weighed and measured her every move, unapologetically critical of her every fault. There were days of survival training where they were granted little to no sleep, hours spent pouring over 'The Theory of Chakra,' and 'Simplistic Disguise'. They spoke of augmentation of modification while forcing her to take unexplained concoctions that enhanced her bit by bit.

The little noble had endured. She grew and with her new knowledge came new wonders; her first time moulding chakra correctly; her first leap between forest trees; her first successful battle. The children in the academy became commrades, friends and rivals. They were her peers and for the first time she was an equal among many. They liked her, they actually liked HER and not 'Lady Tsuchiyama'. Her new reality ate away at the old one like a hungry monster. Every win was her own doing and reinforced what it was they were training her to be. She would be a shinobi. Little Mesumi, darling first born of Tsuchiyama Shoru, would be one of the creatures of legend and a living weapon.

Would have been. Bound, deaf and blind, she could no longer feel her fledgling powers. Her hands had been broken in three places and each attempt the little Academy Student had made to form handseals had failed with pain and misery. She knew only that she was moving, as she knew by the gentle sway they she had been tied to the back of some beast of burden.

Hope was lost, and she wished only that they would kill her quickly.

======.:.~~.:.~~.:.======​

The mission call had come via headset in the early hours of the morning before the sun had decided to rise. Anbu and Main Branch sought available shinobi for an internal mission. The radio'd orders would reach two anbu in training, a genin and the former Anbu Sennin; a full team as dictated by he Ansatsu codex and an ideal match up.

"Kurogane Shin, Otsuki Kumori, Ito Ren. Your mission leader is Kaze Kounin." droned the authoritative mission coordinator, apathetic the the information they mechanically produced, "report to the academy immediately. Your objective, find and apprehend Academy Student Tsuchiyama, Mesumi by any means possible. Target is considered an asset to Kumogakure and is wanted alive. Death of objective is to be avoided Details will be given upon arrival."

======.:.~~.:.~~.:.======​

-------------

Koto - Chuunin --------------------- Tekechi - Academy Student​

They would be greeted by an anxious looking student and a wary Chuunin at the gates to the Academy's dormitories. The building, an old decaying piece of stone arcitecture loomed behind them; a dark, vine covered titan in the slowly brightening sky. The building was set to be destroyed soon and students were slowly being moved to the new building named for the lost Raikage Hayata Shin. It was a much needed exchange.

The elder of the two, dressed casually in maroon coloured pyjamas with his chuunin's vest thrown over top, puffed nervously on a cigarette. His brown eyes had the dark circles of one pulled early from their sleep and his brown hair had not seen a comb.

The second, an Academy Student stood solemnly next to the edgy man, fumbling with the sleeve of his own bed clothes. He too looked exhausted, and his sad blue eyes would dart between the arriving shinobi with barely veiled hope.

Tsuchiyama Mesumi, had gone missing hours after midnight and past curfew from the Academy dormitories. The chuunin set to watch Kumogakure's fledglings had begrudgingly made an initial search for the girl after being alerted by another student but had been unable to locate her. Mesumi was to be regarded as a runaway until proven otherwise. The gates had been placed on high alert as the initial assumption was that she intended to sneak out to return home to her family in southern Lightning Country. All this was curtly explained by the Chuunin himself, though he seemed more vexed to have been forced to call on the village for help then the child's disappearance.

He produced for them a file containing Mesumi's photo, along with her basic height abilities. The student, it seemed, was potentially a very strong Pyro.

"Tsuchiyamaha has always been trouble," The wary chuunin muttered, as way of explanation, "We get plenty of kids that decide they want to run away. They always come back eventually." he flicked his cigarette ash towards the ground, frowning at the ground as if it and everything else in the world had gone wrong. "I tracked her as far as the northern side of the Academy grounds but lost her trail in the forest but I suppose you'll want to start at point zero? She will probably be circling back towards the gates to make an attempt at leaving."

"But Mesumi likes us now!" interrupted the smaller male. He cringed as his chuunin guardian glared but added solemnly, "she didn't want to run anymore. She was looking forward to the exam next week." He seemed irritated with his sensei's description of his fellow student and scowled back at his sensei.

The chuunin, Koto, would show them to a second story window that had been left ajar. Below were the heavy foot imprints of a young teen that lead, as the man has said, south past the classed and training area of the academy to the edge of Kumogakure's Ancient forest.

[OOC: No post order but maybe allow Kouin/Rai to go first. 3-day post time or I'll make your character do silly things(maybe).]

 

[Kouin]

The sennin made sure he was prompt to the arrival of the mission; it was unlike him to take a low ranking mission, but his trainees needed to get out and experience some real action, which he had hoped for when this mission crossed his desk. Missing potential always had an air of potential threat, but it was simply a mere academy student, so how much of a threat could she actually be? Though something really didn't seem to be too "right" about the whole situation. How could a mere academy student give "highly trained" shinobi the slip so easily, and have such a difficulty tracking her down? Maybe there was more to this than met the eye, which was why he was so keen on leading the mission.

As he awaited for the group of three to arrive for the mission, he turned over all the details in his head; likely suspects, likely avenues of escape. The gates were already on high alert to advert her from trying a forward escape, and the gates had no other breaches that he was aware of, unless one could be made, but that would be heard from a mile away. So, when she first arrived to the academy, she was pretty much your typical petulant child; disobedient, crude, and lacking respect. Those were always the most troublesome children. You had to break them harder than the rest so they understand truly what position they are in; some make it through the fires of the forge, and come out as sleek blades of destruction, yet some crumble under the intensity and shatter under pressure.

After the man was finished talking, he would briefly introduce himself to his squad, I am not much for formalities, so I'll keep them brief; I am Kaze Kouin, currently Co-Sennin in junction with Santaru Yoshi till he is deemed able to lead alone. He took in a brief sigh, he never wanted the position, at least not in a foreign state, but he had little choice and the position grew on him a bit, much like the people he lead. His eyes glanced up to the second floor window that was left ajar; Even for a rookie that's rather sloppy. The evidence kept buildingg up in other directions rather than pointing to a legitimate attempt at fleeing the village.

The chuunin led them into the building and up to the second floor; the window was open ajar, and heavy footprints that led in the direction of the ancient forest. Hm... For someone who was supposedly hellbent on going missing, this is too dirty of a job, even for a student. The training regime in the academy teaches students basic subterfuge tactics, and the way of stealth and cunning. Everything here pointed otherwise. The job was sloppy with the window open and footprints brazenly in the open. He kept this bit to himself, if it was a kidnapping they would cross that bridge when it approached, but they had to stick to what the mission had told them; only when it was clear that the mission shifted objective would he call it in.

His eyes scoured the room briefly; he turned to the chuunin, Are any of her personal affects left? Anything that she kept close to her? Anything that she would keep on her person would do.

 

[Kumori]

Things had been going well for Kumori. He was quickly getting through missions and exams without much worry, and surely he was closing in on the final ANBU exam. He couldn’t wait to be a full-fleshed ANBU, and feel that sudden surge of authority that came with it. Today he had another mission, another job he would complete easily and without worry. The objective was easy. All he had to do was find and bring back an academy student that had escaped. He took the mission because he thought the person he had to bring back would be that little girl he had found in the forest. Although he didn’t really care much for her, for some reason he felt the responsibility to bring her back to the village. Today it was somebody else though. The girl that had run away was apparently the daughter of some important noble out in the country, who had been sent to Kumogakure to become a shinobi before going back. A bunch of nobles sent their children to learn the shinobi arts, but normally they didn’t run away, even if most of them were soft from the start.

Running away from the academy had repercussions. Once you became a shinobi, you couldn’t leave without permission from the Raikage, the council, or the sennin. Kumori had learned this first-hand, something he was not proud about. Now he wanted to become an ANBU, and as part of the ANBU, it was his duty to catch runaways and missing nin. The girl had a surprise coming for her.

“Mononoke, reporting in.” – he said, standing in front of the ANBU sennin with his mask on. He did not expect the sennin himself to be there as the mission leader, but he wasn’t about to let go of this opportunity. He needed to show Kouin that he was strong, and ready to become an ANBU.

Kumori entered the room and looked around just as the sennin had done before him, trying to find anything he could have missed. The room was the typical academy student chamber, with just the essentials for living, though this one had more decorations, which was surely facilitated by the kid being a noble. It had been a very sloppy job, and from his perspective, it did not look like a runaway case at all. There were footprints just outside the window, which on the chuunin’s account, lead all the way to the ancient forest. “If someone were to run away, they would know to do it as fast as possible, so why would she go to the ancient forest? Delaying the exit would only give her hunters more time. If she -did- run away, she would already be far gone by now, seeing that no one has found her yet.”

Kumori took a step back form the window, turning to look at the chuunin, and then glancing at Kouin. “What have the sentries reported? Maybe there’s a little more to it than simply running away?” – his mind was racing with ideas and questions. He needed to know more about the girl in order to come to a better hypothesis. “What was her age? How did she act during the week leading to the event? Does she have any close friends? Was there anything troubling her?”

Although it most likely did not have anything to do with it, Kumori couldn’t help to think this could have something to do with that other operation he had been tasked with observing. Perhaps it was the mafia doing another move? Strange things had been happening in the village. The inside of Kumogakure was not as safe as most people thought.

 

[Nara Raian]

Shin had been inspecting his new equipment, when his headset had gone off, alerting him of a mission. He silent prepared himself, snapping on the new armor before adjusting his mask on his face. His original set had been damaged in during a previous assassination and while he had recovered fully, there was at times phantom pain, especially as he adjusted the new set. Using a secure lift towards the surface, he allowed a thin line of chakra to form around him, cloaking him as he made his way towards the academy. The less people aware of his presence, the easier it would be to get to his location. It would also help Shin to get back in the grove of things, using this low ranking mission to practice some of his less used skills. Killing targets came easy to him, but letting them live…it was a rather new experience.

Approaching the vicinity of his mission, he allowed the chakra to drop, Shin eyes briefly looking at the worn dormitories, before looking at the cast in front of him.

“Kyōfuno reporting, sir.” Shin spoke, nodding briefly Sennin and what he believed was the second trainee. His attention then turned on the chuunin and the student. The exhaustion was clear on their faces, as the trainee listed silently to intel, his hands briefly opening the folder and examining the contents. He frowned underneath the mask, this was rather troubling. Student didn’t normal attempt to flee a shinobi intuition, especially considering the severity of the punishment they could receive if captured. But even the unruliest child won’t be dumb enough to go AWOL. Let’s gather more information. He listed intently to the interaction before the chuunin and the student, allowing his Sixth Sense to reach out and analyze the conversation.

He waited while the Sennin and the second trainee asked their questions, allowing him to silently open his Third Eye, the mutation hidden by the white mask He might be able to pick something up during the answers, and being prepare never hurt. He made small hand signs as a single tiny eyes appeared, his hands moving it to investigate the points of interest while he waited with the squad. Once it was done, he would dispel it. Hopefully he could catch something as they waited for answers.

MFT
WC: 385

 

[Ren]

Ren took a deep sigh, nothing like the smell of fresh bread in the morning. Nothing could ruin such a beautiful morning Ren thought. Almost immediately the muffled ringing of the headset was made audible. Ren was assigned a mission to return an Academy student to the Academy. She had either run away or was kidnapped.

Ren was often taking the journey between his home and the academy. It was a journey as familiar to Ren as a McDouble to an obese American. As a result not much significant happened on the way. It was nice to be awake before the majority of people taking up the free space that would soon be a packed street.

Upon entering the Academy Ren found the rest of the team already waiting for him. A Chuunin in his PJs accompanied an exhausted Academy student as well as the ANBU Sennin and two ANBU in training. The obvious leader of the group introduced himself as Kaze Kouin co-sennin. The two trainees gave their names, reporting in. The only non-ANBU in the room Ren bowed and filled in the formula, Ren, reporting in.

Questions began flying and it seemed every ANBU was already up to something. Ren stood idly by unconfident in his place in the squad. I wish I had a mask.{/i] Ren’s mind wandered as he waited for directions. The leader would surely have a plan formulated soon.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The team assembled and exchanged names or alias before diving straight to work like the good shinobi they are. The Chuunin paled and the Academy Student gasped to find out the missing child had gained the attention of an ex-Sennin, Co-Sennin, whatever he wanted to call himself. Hadn't the mysterious and ill-reputed Anbu-Sennin been rumoured to be out gallivanting across the country side doing everything he could to wave off responsibility for his Branch? Did Sennin do penance for shirking their responsibilities in the form of C-rank missions with their Mempo?

"An awful lot of you for one missing student, isn't there?" The Chuunin commented, scratching his chin in a show of verbal bravado spurred by exhaustion as she watched them sleuth for clues. The lowly main branch didn't usually gain much attention from the special-ops as the branches tended towards handling their own matters internally. The mysterious A.N.B.U were a virtual unknown with their underground base and fancy training. He wasn't sure what a couple of AiT and a Genin were meant to do when he'd already followed the trail cold, but who was he to question the mighty HQ?. He raised his hands in a 'what can you do' fashion.

In true shinobi fashion, they left no stone left un-turned. The Chuunin Koto gestured for his Academy Student companion to stay with the AiT and Genin while he trailed after Kouin and Kumori, aka Mononoke . "I'll show you the girl's room Anbu-sama." Koto sighed, thumping up the single flight of stairs. The building was devoid of life save for a few rats. "I called in a favour with an Academy Sensei and had him take the students that stay here on an early-morning training exercise so they wouldn't be underfoot."

Each room had a hand written name-plate, bespeaking to the quick turn over of Shinobi Trainees, and Mesami's was no different. Her room was exactly as one would expect of an affluently parented Academy Student. She herself might not have been aware that her blankets were a little warmer, her pillow a little fluffier and her clothes softer than the average student. The second floor of the old dormitories was warmer than the first, making the room almost-pleasantly balmy and liveable. While some students had been forced to double-up Mesami had maintained her privacy it seemed as the second bed in the room was stripped and untouched. Class division existed even the neutral spaces of Kumogakure no Sato.

There was no journal, no tearful note, nor had she packed a bag. Everything sat as if Mesami had started another day at the Academy.

"Tekechi said he heard a noise in the girl's room and went to investigate. He saw her leaving by foot and immediately alerted me." Koto explained, pointing out the prints far below. "She's twelve," he said trying to dredge up the answers to Kumori's questions," just about done with the Academy and looking pretty promising. She had seemed settled into training for the last six months, but she was a handful to start. Pyros always are. I don't really keep track of who the kids are friends with, sorry, that seems to switch every week. Can't say I noticed anything out of the ordinary either, besides the usual. We had a student fail the process ten days ago and they've all been squirrely. "

If Kouin were to follow up on Kumori's suggestion to check with the village sentries via headset, they would inform him no-one had seen the girl come or go. It was as if the forest itself had swallowed her whole.

Kouin had asked for a personal item the student had worn, so Koto opened the top drawer of her solitary hardwood dresser and rummaged around through the child's personal affects without respect for the ladies inherit right to privacy.

"I'm not so sure that Tsuchiyama is worth this much effort, Sennin-sama" he said, shuffling aside under clothes and trinket jewellery, "Unless you're running some sort of training here? Students run off but they're always returned. My guess is she went to sneak into the Cronopolis to find a bar that would serve her alcohol and ended up going the wrong direction in the dark. She is just an Academy Student. They bungle things all the time." Koto seemed to touch every item in the drawer before finally pulling free a thick, red, woollen scarf.

"She wears this all the time, will it work?" He asked, offering it up to Kouin.

======.:.~~.:.~~.:.======​

Meanwhile outside Shin had decided to take the work avoiding route of using his third-eye whilst avoiding those pesky stairs. Ren seemed content to hang around, waiting awkwardly for his mission leader to lead him on.

"I was assigned to look after her," Tekechi spoke up, having remained silent until THE Anbu Sennin left, though he still eye'd the remaining white-masked with burgeoning panic and directed his question to the unmasked and normal appearing, Ren. The shaggy haired kid was exceedingly nervous but it was impossible to tell if the cause was agitation from his friend's disappearance, being around AiT or another factor entirely. Of course Academy students would be much more comfortable speaking to a familiar rank and faced individual though; they dealt with Genin and Chuunin all the time.

Tekechi raked his hands through his hair and glanced around before adding remorsefully, "I should have chased after her. She was upset about Shika and Umi. Do they think something bad happened?"

Shin would find that the girl and only the girl had left the window; confirming the other Academy Students story. The footprint was definitely the correct size for a girl that age, but they were correct in their assessment that she had done nothing to cover her leaving the building. The trail rounded the building to a set of shrubs that provided ample cover to anyone watching the front of the buildings, where they stood in fact, then continued on back towards the forest as the briefing had described.

Following a hunch, Shin would search their immediate area for tracks as well. There would be the set from the chuunin leaving in pursuit then returning, a stampede of tracks headed directly to the academy and a trio beneath those that in a round-about way ended up at the same place Mesumi had entered the forest.


-------------------------

>Super Kouin 2.0: He shows up. Asking all those pertinent questions.
>Shin finds a secondary set of tracks leading towards the same section of the forest, leading him to believe the lost Student may have been following someone.
>Tekechi retrieves and gives Kumori a personal item of Mesumi's as-per Kouin's request.
>Ren gets talked to; woo information.

 

[Nara Raian]

Shin narrowed his eyes at the chuunin exiting with Kounin and Kumori, the man’s rather lax attitude starting to bother him. While searching for students weren’t typical of trainee missions, one would think that a teacher would take this case as a security risk, something that should have shook the exhaustion from him, and made him a bit more attentive. But, fortunately he and the other member of the squad, Ren, was dealing with the second witness.

Well…more Ren then himself as though boy’s nervousness was unnecessary but typical. Most shinobi of demonic ancestor contain a taint of evil that would hang on them like a second skin. Seasoned shinobi would be able to shake of the feeling of dread, mainly because they would have seen far worse things than a phantom fear. But, he was getting off topic, his mind focusing back to the task at hand as Tekechi began detailing events prior to their arrival.

While this happened his crystal eye fly slowly though the being, his visions split partial on three actions, making mental notes as he compared Mesumi’s foot size. While he analyzed other clues, he spoke offhanded, directing words to the student in the a normal tone.

“Who are Shika and Umi, and why was Mesumi upset about them?”

While he spoke, his eye noticed the evidence amateur escape, leading down towards a trail with a pair of shrubs station by, big enough to cover…well a person. He waited to see if the boy would answer his questions before notifying his partner with a raised hand.

“Ren, I be right back, I think I found something.”

Walking over to the shrubs, he began scanning the grounds for more evidence, he forgotten tracking skills aiding himself slightly. Bending down he counted the foot prints, causing him to found slightly. One set belong to lackluster chuunin and the other the missing student. But some of these seemed a bit more faded, as if someone else had be there prior to the two.

“Kyōfuno here, I’ve found another set of footprints near a pair of shrubs. I believe our missing student was following some, but I can’t tell who yet.” Shin spoke quickly though his headset, scanning the area to see if anything else of interest caught his eye.

MFT

WC:381

 

[Kouin]

The chuunin was a bit mocking of the number of people that came out, he shrugged The youth and prosperity of our youth is an important thing Chuunin-san; it our obligation to train them and make them better than we are. He took in a shallow breath for a moment; it was a rare occurrence for him to be running a mission with others; he was more of the solo operative kind of guy. The number might be excessive, but they are all novices in one way or another, and can stand to gain a lot from such an important, low ranking mission. Plus it teaches some humility; neer above to do even the smallest of missions. He countered with his own "what can you do" fashion hand gesture.

He watched Shin go off to do his own things; he had faith that the boy was semi-capable by himself, he gave off this malicious aura, which reeked of blood and death. Death comes normal to our corp, but it smells to natural on him to be normal.. But who is normal anymore these days? People are running around with demons locked inside them, tendrils flailing from their arms or being able to control six separate bodies at the same time, it was rather ridiculous. Kumori brought up a valid point; he put a finger to his headset and called in a request. No one at all? It was doubtful a child would be able to slip by the anbu sentries scattered around the village, which reinforced his idea or being kidnapped, but she did leave alone... Ren, you gather Intel from the other students and report to me what you find.

Kyofune buzzed into his ear reporting another set of tracks that were missed. Kumori, you go with him and investigate, report in via headset with any new findings. I have a few more things to handle here. He would turn to the chunnin, something wasn't quite right about the man at second glance, but he didn't have enough to act brashly, Was anyone seen lingering around the training grounds where Mesumi was training. Any suspicious figures?

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Ren it seemed was lost in the world of cake making and the construction of his very own Anbu mask made of hardened sugar and fondant. If he were to paint it right, could it pass inspection? Would ANBU mind? At least then he could use lines like "If I'm wrong I'll eat my mask," and follow through. Wait was the student talking to him? Oh well, there were AiT here and they could take care of things. There were confectioneries to dream about and surely the demon aura'd, masked shinobi would just as easily get the information they needed.

Or not, but cake.

Tekechi balked when the masked Kyofune asked him who Shika and Umi were and nervously blurted, "They failed, so they were sent home." while rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. The brown haired student seemed unlikely to offer up any more information than that without prompting but Shin's attention was more intensely on the second set of tracks and the scenario that evidence was starting to piece together.

There was nothing in the immediate area, but if Shin was inclined to follow the trail through the academy grounds, passing small groups of curious students, he would find the path Mesumi had taken flitted from hiding spot to hiding spot, each one specifically chosen to cover her from the main path the mysterious set of tracks. The places she picked were actually quite good, and in the context of tracking someone, rather than running away, the sloppily left foot prints made perfect sense. The shinobi-to-be had been unconcerned with being followed, just as they would not be in following her.

The trail did not exactly go cold within the forest either. Now that one assumed she had been hiding from the group taking the main path, the natural course of action to take to the cover of the foliage above made sense. Squashed insects, sections of bark rubbed from tree branches and the occasional deep-set mark of a kunai used to steady herself left a path that was not easy to follow for all but the most experienced tracker and it was now also understandable how the Chuunin had been incapable of finding it. Sadly, Shin's hunches would run our now and he lacked the refined skills needed to continue. It was up to him if he continued to struggle following the girls path or back-tracked to join Kumori.

There was the second trail.

Meanwhile, the trio of tracks told their own story. Two were large adult sized prints, one with deeper than average imprints and the other light but definitely belonging to an adult. The third set was small, smaller than Mesumi's, and seemed to scrape through the dirt every so often as if their creator needed to be reminded to walk. When the three tracks reached the forest there was scuffing and three became two with the third vanishing. about thirty meters into the treeline a set of horse shoe shaped prints joined them and while a centaur might've been cool; they were probably from a horse or mule.

The tracks continued on deeper into the forest then another two hundred meters in turned sharpy off the path and into the woodland. The first lighter set of tracks vanished here, and there was no evidence of how or in which direction they took. The second set continued on, overlapping with the horse as the filed down a deer path, towards an outcropping of the mountains. There was an old mine down that way though it had caved in three decades before and been left to be eaten again by the mountain.

The greenery of the forest ended abruptly in a small clearing that had been created for the mind. Shrubs and trees had begun to take over old machinery abandoned to rust. The old mine shafts retained their seals meant to keep out all but the most persistent explorer out.

More importantly, a battle had happened here and recently.. Patches of gravel had been charred, trees turned to cinders and prints went erratic as they seemed to dodge and return the oncoming attacks. Several boulders the size of a bull had been thrown in retaliation towards the forest, knocking down entire trees. A circle of un-scarred land set in the middle of the chaos with the deep hoof prints of the steed that had been inside.

Given that the girl was meant to be a Pyro, it seemed they had picked up the trail of their lost student now.

A spattering of blood and the continuation of the heavy footprints would give them fair assumption as to whom had won.

All of this would be relayed back in a robotic voice back to Kounin via the general channel, letting all four know of Kumori's findings. The AiT seemed to have no strong feelings or opinions on his findings, though he reminded the Sennin that he had used his call sign and using his first name broke protocol. (tsk)

------

As the ANBU in Training tracked the girl Kounin was left with the sour company of the Chuunin. Koto glanced at his watch and sighed, "Listen Sennin-sama you know everything I know. There hasn't been anyone suspicious around lately and the girl was acting no stranger than she ever did. I don't know what she is expecting to accomplish by running off into the woods either. The kids have been telling stories about a monster child in there for the past few months, but Tsuchiyama-san wan't part of that. If there was something going on -in- the academy you would have to ask the teachers. I just watch the brats over-night." His apathy to the girl's plight continued, though he was unaware of the information being relayed to Kounin and it could have been that he was used to taking a low-emotion approach to dealing with the students in the dorms.

"Hika-sensei maybe? Or there is always the head mistress. Likely she's been informed of things by now. I desperately need to sleep, Sennin-sama."

[I took some liberties assuming you guys actually continued to follow the obvious to you leads - Ren, snap out of it buddy! Kumori, I miss you.]

 

[Nara Raian]

Shin walked in silence as he eyes followed in detail the trail lend him through the academy grounds. Passing by he barely glance at the students he walked by, some intentionally moving out of his way while others whispers in their cliches. A single look made them quickly go about there business. Reaching a break in Mesumi trail, he analyzed the area, not getting a clear read on what he was taking in. He could tell she was hiding, her tracks as he noticed, being hidden from general view. The trainee knelt down as he ran his finger s along his trail, his eyes looking up hoping to spot something. At most he was able to see small marking of kunai, but his lack of knowledge regarding tracking was beginning to come back and bit him.

Standing up, his headset began to ring, as the one known as Mononoke began reporting details of a secondary trail. He began frowning, the details clearly making this mission a bit more dangerous that what they had been lead to believe. This and he had not doubt whose blood the splatter belong to. Touching his headset he began speaking.

"Sir, Mononoke and I can investigate the mine, while Ren gather some information from the students. They seem...more at ease with someone they can put a face too."

As he waited, he began walking towards what he believed was Mononoke location, maybe in search of another clue that the other trainee might have overlooked.

 

[Kouin]

The apathy in the chuunins demeanor was strong; he showed no like or dislike, and seemed to not even care if they would live or die. The students could be rough, they could be brash and act like brats, but they were the future generation; the generation we would eventually hand the reigns over to when it came time for us to lay down our arms and retire hopefully in peace. He mumbled to himself how people are more willing to stand by and watch something transpire rather than do something to help remedy it, such was the plague that infested most people. I suppose I'll have to chat with the head mistress then... Go get your precious sleep while i find the student that is missing. He have wanted to throw in his face that he is somewhat responsible for the student disappearing by failing to keep a diligent eye on them, but he wasn't going to stoop to his level.

Carry on Kyofuno, I trust you can track the mine with Mononoke; I already have Ren attempting to accomplish that, but he seems to be blanking out into space every once in a while; I'm going to speak with the head mistress and then one called Hika, I'm assuming these are people are regularly overseer the students, and can probably provide more information than the simple chuunin night guard. He cared little if the chuunin was still there, he had a job to accomplish, and the chuunin could do little to actually progress things forward. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was simply off with this chuunin. His demeanor was terse with the students, too terse for his own liking. Their had to be more to him than met the eye, but he couldn't dawdle here the whole time. He formed a seal of summoning, one to bring forth another path of existence. It was a lithe looking women with cold emerald ripples. She gave off an unsettling pressure that even bothered himself. He had keep the path close by to Ren in case anything broke out in the area while his went off to speak to the Head Mistress.

He would make his way out of the building and towards the main building of the academy. He would traverse the halls quietly and observe anything and all the he could take in. He followed directional signs that eventually lead him to the door of the Head Mistress's office. He formed another summoning seal and hailed for a path for the nether. A shimmering blonde hair entity crawled out from the void; he wore a similar business attire as Kouin, but not as dashing. He would leave the path outside the door as he would knock and announcing himself, Head Mistress-san, it's me, Sennin Kouin; I have a couple questions for you about the missing student.

 

[Shinrya Riko]

There was another blond in the forest. Her hair had been dyed a rusty red by the blood of animals and by virtue of the dirt and soot in it. She had been living here for some time, and this domain was not only her home, but she protected it as though it were her territory. She watched with a morbid curiousity as another academy student got lost in her forest. She leapt from the trees above and spied her steps. She moved like she didn’t want anyone to see her - especially not the big gentleman who had come this same way. Neither of the pair seemed as keen to their surroundings as Komora was. The engagement was brief. The young shinobi proved her ignorance in the ways of battle.


They traded jutsu. She with her fire style, and then he with his earth techniques. Komora watched as an opportunity arose and the big fellow took the little girl down. Did she fall unconcious? Komora wasn’t sure because she was some distance away. Curiously the man turned tail with his beast of burden and left towards a boarded up cave. Komora wasn’t really one who cared for keeping track of time. She went about her merry way. It was survival of the fittest after all, and she would only really care if it was a threat to her - but so far the man who had been bumbling about as though he didn’t know what he was doing, in Komora’s opinion of course.


She continued on her way with her pride of cats as they stalked the woodlands together in search of something to eat. Komora snacked on some berries she had discovered, but then, her ears perked up. It wasn’t usual for so many people to be wandering through the woods who weren’t inuzuka. She thought it was curious that these new comers seemed to be following her usually trails around. She leapt down from the tree. She was prepubescent young woman. 12 years old. She smelled like she hadn’t taken a bath in years and her breath carried the scent of rotting animal flesh. She sat on her haunches as she considered she for a moment. ”More lost ones? Komora can show you the way home.”

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

"Good Afternoon, Sennin-sama." The headmistress Hatako, Emi spoke, looking up from behind her desk, "Forgive me, I would stand but these old bones wear on me." The nearly sixty year old appeared much younger than her age, but that didn't lessen the damage of time. I had heard about that. I am at your disposal if you believe there is something I might know that can help. I've taken the liberty of having my assistant pull her file for you." The kindly woman slid the manilla folder across the desk to the Anbu Sennin and patiently waited him for read the contents.

There was nothing much different within the folder than had been told to them already. Mesumi's photo, identical to the one in the brief stared up from the corner of the page ever secretive. When he was done, Emi would offer her take. "Mesumi has followed the typical pattern for someone of her 'class' joining Kumogakure's academy. She took some extra time to warm up to self sufficiency but excelled at her studies. She was quite average in her physical abilities to begin with, but once her affinity to fire began to develop and she saw the results of the training we put her through she redoubled her efforts and began to excel. She was working with Hika-sensei to help train some of the newer students, and I saw something of myself in her. Generally by this point of a students development they don't run away without good cause. The last example I can think of was a few years ago after one of our students received unauthorised news about a death in the family immediately prior to their Genin exam. Then, unlike this case, the student attempted escape through the gates. No messages have come through from her family, I am certain of that, so I am anxious to have her returned to us so that the reasoning can be laid to rest. I am certain there must be some mistake, as Mesumi was set to be good shinobi."

Emi massaged the bridge of her nose, clearly upset with the current situation with one of her students. The headmistress took "She isn't first one to vanish in there. One of the Mochizuki troupe disappeared months ago. No one's been able to find her." Not that many people had tried, nor were their situations remotely similar. Komora was touched, and her attack on Chou had shaken people. The shinobi community was uncertain on what to do about her, and so they avoided that ugliness by leaving her to the woods. Probably not the most assertive course of action, but the headmistress could only do so much. A search party of students was certain to end badly.

>Kouin asking all the things.

----

Radio silence from Ren, who seemed to be doing his best impression of an unprompted RPG NPC. Did he not know what to ask, was he still lost in dreams of cake and confectionery? Only Ren could answer those questions, but he seemed content to allow the conversation die off into awkward silence. The student, Tekechi offered nothing more freely even once Shin left the area. He seemed agitated, like he was fighting to overcome himself, but could not . With Kouin's leaving he was directed back inside the building by Koto who was exuberant to be able to finally sleep.

In the lull, Ren's headset would come to life. Someone had goofed on the odd team composition and he was to report back for a different mission. Leave the ninja hunting to the ANBU; that was their speciality.


>Ren started the game, saved and forgot to play again.(Gave him an out so we're not expecting more info on that front.)

----

The second set of tracks, though faint, seemed to lead back out the way they had come. There was no telling if they went directly back to the Academy or changed direction towards the village. What was certain was that whoever the second man Mesumi had been tracking was now back amongst the people of the village. Kumori held back, but kept within sight of Shin, almost like a lost puppy who wasn't certain if he should explore the the caves without back-up.

That was when Komora arrived, smelling of death and wild like a Gaelic fae.

Kumori signalled that he was going to head back towards the cave while Shin dealt with the odd creature that had emerged from the woods. In actuality Kumori was excited at the chance to catch his old quarry. They had met in prior circumstances and it seemed THIS time there would be no meddling murderous puppet men to stop his bringing her in. He would gain double the acclaim by bringing both Mesumi and Komora back to the academy; a feat that would definitely secure him a promotion within the ANBU. He just needed to tell Kouin and receive orders on what to do with the woodland menace. Out of hearing rangem because Komora might know him, and sight beca-

WHACK!

Before Kumori could make the call, he was knocked unconscious abruptly and unceremoniously dragged away. He was well out of sight and hearing range by then. There was only radio silence.

-----

>A wild Komora has entered the game. Maybe she's a special quest item?

>Kumori has become a damsel, oh the embarrassment.

-Sorry for the wait. I leave the RPz to you guys. I'll be a bit quicker with the next, sorry.

 

[Nara Raian]

“Understood sir.”

Shin slowed followed the trail in silence, his partner suddenly having lost the need or ability to speak for some reason. As long we can find the girl, I’ll ignore his…quirks. Glancing around, he noticed how the trails seemed to move in opposite direction from the trail they were following, causing the trainee to frown. That’s odd. The crave waited in front of them, and he wouldn’t be able to investigate the cave and go off location a person, who by now would just be another face in the crowd. Before he could report these findings, something decided to drop down in front of them.

Shin said something, because while the thing in front of him looked like a small female child, it smelled like the second coming of death. Shin had been knee deep in the blood during some of his hunting trips, even his assassinations. None of them come close to stink that was rolling of the child. He had to stop himself from dowsing the child in a waterfall to drown out the smell. Shin silently created and Invisible Shell around his body. It wasn’t for the smell, just some nagging sense that these child traits were reminding him of two people.

Rather than say anything, Kumori decided to signal him and leave to no doubt escape the incarnations of pestilence. Just drawn out the smell. He watched as the man form vanished inside the cave before look down at the child and speaking.

“What other lost ones, Komora? Did you happen to see a girl around your age in the area?”

Waiting for a response he reported the sighting of the child to both Kumori and Kounin. Ren it happened was either lost in his own word of having vanish from the area.

 

[Kouin]

The situation was growing more perplexing; he had gotten two different angles to the same case, but why? The head mistress seemed to hold a similar sentiment as him. Has any of the teachers been acting strange since Mesumi came into the academy; or maybe a certain chuunin prior to her disappearance? He wasn't going to just drop Koto's name haphazardly, creating more idle suspicion wouldn't make things progress any more easily, but if she inquired who, Kouin would oblige and inform her that Koto looked sketchy during his questioning of him.

He placed the folder back on the desk and mimicked the rubbing of the bridge of his nose, more things just keep popping up that make little sense, If you have a profile on Komora I'll ensure her safe return as well. He would wait for her to produce a file on Komora and he would leaf through it for a character protrait and engrain it in his head. I won't let any of them stay missing.. He swore silently to himself, he didn't just make an oath for himself, or to Saito that day; he made it to the entirety of Kumogakure, and he wouldn't fail them if he could help it. Don't worry, I'll bring Mesumi and Komora back as well. If she had nothing left to say he would turn and make his leave, Get some rest, my team won't stop till they are both back safely and learning once more.

He sighed as he walked out of her office, he was still no where closer to finding the girl, and now he had another missing student that he had to locate. He placed his finger to his headset and radiod Shin, We have another student missing, she is, or rather was apart of the Mochizuki troupe, name is Komora. Might appear to be slightly feral due to extended exposure to living in the wilderness. Proceed with caution; I'll be heading en route. He took the scarf from his path that he had guarding the front door, and he formed a set of very standard seals that any anbu trainee would know; he was hoping that his Chakra Sense Mastered would give him a sense of direction of where they would need to go to be able to find the missing student, but for now he would make haste to the forest to regroup with Shin to inform him of what he had learned.

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Komora watched the ANBU Kumori walk off and vanish. She ignored him in favor of Shin who was before her and was being inquisitive. ”“What other lost ones, Komora? Did you happen to see a girl around your age in the area?” He asked of the people that Komora was talking about.


”Lost Ones always come here!” She explained. ”Komora sees them all. She helps them go home.” She put a finger to her lips as she looked up at the canopy. ”Some ones come here who are not lost.”


Komora walked up a tree until she was now hanging upside down from its branches with a pensive look on her face. ”Komora sees them in that cave sometimes. A man. Never Inuzukas though. Only strangers. Komora thinks hiding something? Sometimes Junan hides things here too. Lots of people hide things here, not everyone is lost.”


Komora dropped down from the tree. Like a cat she landed on her feet again. Her pride of Kittens began to emerge from their hiding places as they began to sniff at Shin since it seemed to them that Komora had deemed him not a threat. ”Komora saw her - she thought she was a lost one too - but now they are hiding her now.” She pointed at the genjutsu cave entrance. ”She burned the tree.” Komora pointed at the charred bark.


She saw the fight between the academy student and her attacker in person, however she reviewed the evidence with Shin, as she pointed out the way the Earth was warped by the man’s earth style, and how the charred left overs of fire style jutsu had licked the trees. ”Not lost - but hiding. Komora doesn’t help them hide.” She began to scratch furiously at her head. Perhaps it was lice, or some other equally unpleasant insect living in her rust red hair that had since flowed long and untamed.


”Still here though.” Komora pointed out the tracks - despite the battle having occured here, she pointed out how there was no fresh signs of exiting. ”Maybe they went inside?” Komora reached out her hand so that she could pry a piece of wood free. She found herself confused when her hand went through the sealed entrance instead.


”Squishy wood?”

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Squishy wood, or more exactly a visual Genjutsu which dissipated into a tickle of chakra when Komora's little hand probed into it. Beyond was a smooth wall of stone with one door's width opening cut perfectly into it. There was no obstruction in place to keep those who passed the initial barrier out, but an Inky darkness swallowed light before it reached whatever dark stone walls that lay beyond. If any traps existed they could not be seen; just a continuation of the earth which eventually faded to hard stone. The melodic tinkle of water and the breath-like wind the whistled across the dark maw made it impossible to pick out any sound of living occupants.

Halogen lights strung haphazardly suddenly flickered to life one after another, revealing a long abandoned shaft that descended then twisted deep into the stone of the mountain. An effort had been made to fix existing safety structures along the ramp with cement and steel. Fresh footprints, hoofprints and even narrow wheel markings blanketed the floor. There were no traps immediately apparent but a single security camera hung, staring, with one giant round eye in their direction. The green recording light blinked twice then turned black.

The tunnel sighed as a gust of wind hit it, drawing attention to a lump of fabric left just at the edge of sight. Above it, nailed to the stone was a blank ANBU in training mask.

----------

"Strange?" The academy teacher laughed quietly to herself and shook her head, "forgive me Sennin-dono but we shinobi are the strangest of the strange. Most often those sent to teach in the academy are the strangest of us all. If you mean Koto, well, he is an odd one to be certain but I have never feared his dedication to the students he looks after. He is not a teacher, though, just a keeper so my interactions with him have not been lengthy."

She sighed and leaned back into her chair while gathering her thoughts, "I cannot think of any other teachers that might have affected Mesumi like this. The only recent issue was the leaving of one of her Kohai; a little black haired girl I cannot recall the name of. She turned out to have a weak ability in molding chakra so she was sent home. Those ones, as you well know, are often contacted later by the shogun's military but for us they are unsuitable.

With a pensive smile, Emi pushed her wheeled chair to a filing cabinet behind her and fished out a folder twice the thickness of her thumb. Komora was a problem child, an oddity among oddities, and it seemed her every class had contributed to the growing file. Emi leafed through it and fished out one of the only photos of the little Mochizuki. "I will not blame you if you cannot catch her. There have been many sightings of our wild child, but none have been capable of capturing her. Even for you, Sennin-dono, the mysterious Komora may be too much. Since she is not your immediate target, perhaps we will revisit speaking of her in the future."

Kounin made no effort to say farewell, she neither did Emi and at his leaving she reapplied herself to whatever office work had kept her attention before. She was content to leave the search for her lost student to the ANBU. They were, after all, the best of the best. How could they fail when headed directly by a Sennin.

~~**End part 1**~~

Since Shin has hit word counts for this mission (as has Kounin) and we're about to move into a new-ish part I'll call this now. Do your last posts here and I'll post the next part afterward in a new thread that I'll link you guys.

Link to reward request: https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=50300

 

[Nara Raian]

We have another student missing, she is, or rather was apart of the Mochizuki troupe, name is Komora. Might appear to be slightly feral due to extended exposure to living in the wilderness. Proceed with caution; I'll be heading en route..

Shin felt a small smile appear on his face at the mention of the Mochizuki, though internal he was screaming calmly. He had encountered two members of the clan during a hunting missions, empaths of some sorts. As a person known for keeping control of his emotions, his was not an overly pleasant feeling of having his emotions slightly influence. That and the hugs. But, they have proven their worth and helped keep him alive, something he was grateful for. Helping one of their siblings [cousin or etc.] was the least he could do. Touching his headset he answered.

“I’ve encountered Komora sir, I getting some details from her about recent activity. Mononoke went to search up ahead, over.”

”Lost Ones always come here!” She explained. ”Komora sees them all. She helps them go home.” She put a finger to her lips as she looked up at the canopy. ”Some ones come here who are not lost.”


Komora walked up a tree until she was now hanging upside down from its branches with a pensive look on her face. ”Komora sees them in that cave sometimes. A man. Never Inuzukas though. Only strangers. Komora thinks hiding something? Sometimes Junan hides things here too. Lots of people hide things here, not everyone is lost.”


Komora dropped down from the tree. Like a cat she landed on her feet again. Her pride of Kittens began to emerge from their hiding places as they began to sniff at Shin since it seemed to them that Komora had deemed him not a threat. ”Komora saw her - she thought she was a lost one too - but now they are hiding her now.” She pointed at the genjutsu cave entrance. ”She burned the tree.” Komora pointed at the charred bark.


She saw the fight between the academy student and her attacker in person, however she reviewed the evidence with Shin, as she pointed out the way the Earth was warped by the man’s earth style, and how the charred left overs of fire style jutsu had licked the trees. ”Not lost - but hiding. Komora doesn’t help them hide.” She began to scratch furiously at her head. Perhaps it was lice, or some other equally unpleasant insect living in her rust red hair that had since flowed long and untamed.


”Still here though.” Komora pointed out the tracks - despite the battle having occured here, she pointed out how there was no fresh signs of exiting. ”Maybe they went inside?” Komora reached out her hand so that she could pry a piece of wood free. She found herself confused when her hand went through the sealed entrance instead.

”Squishy wood?”

Shin watch as the semi-feral student began detailing events, making mental notes as he glance at the cave before moving towards the burn tree, feeling the charred bark on his fingers. It was rather impressive display a power for a student, perhaps her natural bloodline boost her latent fire abilities. Craning his neck he watch a single insect bounce off the hair of the scathing child. His irritation for the lackadaisical chuunin slowly boiling. There would be words after this. Bring himself back into reality he watch as Komora pointed at the tracks close to the cave, before her hand send to phase though the entrance that was board up. Genjutsu?

Watching silently he saw the illusion dissipate, the smooth wall of stone greeting his gaze. Stepping forward he looked into the darkness, his hand on his headset. Before he could report anything, lights began flickering on twisting down into what appeared to be a mine shafted. Glancing up he saw the giant eye of a camera staring at them, a single green flicking off. How long has that be watching us? Looking down he narrowed his eyes at the clear signs of trails, both of humans feet and wheel marking, probably a carriage of some sort.

A gust of wind brought his gaze towards a signle pile of fabric on the edge of the cave. On the stone a single mask. An AIT mask.

"Gensai, I found the trail, but we have another problem. An AIT was found at the edge of the entrance and I think it's Mononoke's."

Waitting for a response he looked at the stange child. Leaving her alone would just result in another mission to no doubt find her again. However he wasn't sure how Kounin would feel about bring her along. Taking her back would take more time, something that they seemed to be losing more control of.

"Komora, would you like to help find the one's hiding?"

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Komora considered it the proposal for a moment. She didn’t feel any sense of imperil for the girl that had been kidnapped, and it wasn’t anything that was needed for her survival. The only thing that she had going for her is that it would get these people out of here so that they would stop bothering the animals and making it harder for her to find food. Even as shinobi they all had such heavy steps and heavy hands in the forest. She glanced briefly at the charred tree before seeming to come to a conclusion. ”Komora will find the hiding ones.” She wasn’t sure what would happen when they did but her expectation was that they would leave.


At first it would seem she was going the wrong direction as she headed for the scene of the battle. She crouched low to the ground and examined both sets of foot prints belonging to the humans. Having thus identified them she used her nose to now identify their scents. She was pretty sure she knew which scent belonged to which person now. She perked up her and followed the smells back to the cave where they met the scent that matched the mask that Shin had found. Like a trained dog she was on all fours sniffing at the ground. ”This is the way.” She explained to Shin as she followed their smells deeper into the cave, tracking them with her powerful nose.