Private Ninja cops, who needs them?

[Kazumi]

The village was in a real mess. Aria presumed it wasn't always this way, but it was becoming quite clear that it was not meant to hold as much of the country's population as it currently was. On one hand, she didn't stick out like a sore thumb, at least not from being a foreigner. On the other hand, with tensions rising between the locals and the refugees, she knew she had to keep her distance from most people. Unfortunately, she was unable to make her way freely into the deeper parts of the city, given that she was on some probationary period of review or something. It was all nonsense, but nonsense that she had gone through many times before.

Standing in the shade of a nearby shop, Aria took the time to observe the locals, try to figure out more about the village and its people. Garbed in a loosely fitting set of what looked to be white sheets wrapped over and across her body, she stood out more than she cared too, but thankfully not enough to have aroused the attention of the heated situation that was arising not a dozen paces from her. As far as she could tell, the taller woman who had her hand around the plump man's throat was the owner of the shop and she was displeased about him allegedly stealing and eating some of her wares.

"Cough it out or cough it up!" The taller shopkeeper yelled, as the man tried to squirm from her grip. He weighed likely twice she did, but her grip held tightly enough on him as to nearly make him blue in the face. "I know you pinched some of the pills and shoved it down your blubbery throat, and don't give me any crap about being poor. One look at you and I can tell you either aien't poor or you aien't got sense." Aria had no idea what she was referring to, but she likely was referring to nutrient pills that shinobi sometimes brought along with them on longer missions, an expensive and heaven sent blessing for any of the hungry refugees.

The man gripped at her hands, pulling on them just hard enough as to allow himself a breath. "I didn't take," he took another gasping breath as she tried to pin his neck harder against the outer wall of his show. "I didn't take nothing!" Despite his girth, he looked ragged and somehow malnourished. It was evident that he was part of the refugee crowd that had been forced out of their opulence elsewhere in the country and into the relative safety of the village. Seeing that he wasn't getting out of her grip, he let his right hand go away from his throat as he began to fish around desperately at his waist for a knife he had tucked in there somewhere.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

As the man drew his knife he would find it suddenly sent flying out of his hand by what appeared to be a shard of bone. "I don't think we need to be escalating this situation any further, do you?" The tall, brown-haired Shinobi stood, his jacket flowing in the wind as if he was making some kind of dramatic entrance. "Set him down please, there's no need for this to be a situation." He diplomatically pleaded to the shopkeep. Approaching slowly in a stance that indicated he meant no harm. "I don't know if this man stole from you or not, but strangling him to death won't help anybody." He continued, hoping he could get her to set him down. He approached closer just in case she didn't heed his words.

If the shopkeep did not relent Riyota would hold up a satchel of coins. "Look, stolen or not. I'll pay for the goods, so now there's no problem." He explained, hoping that would placate her. If she did set the man down Riyota would turn to address all the refugees. "I know you've lost much, and I'm sorry we cannot feed you. Nobody was ready for this, and I fear that things are going to get worse before they get better." He would pause for a moment and look to the shopkeep and any Sunan residents watching the scene. "But we need to work together, now more than ever. Or we might as well start digging our graves now, save the unbent the trouble." He finished on a note of grim humour.

"Now everyone please disperse, if I have to write file all your arrests it'll give me terrible cramp." He joked, hoping that would be the end of it. If the crowd began dispersing he would walk over to the shard of bone he had fired at the knife. He would wrap his hand around and dissolve it into a powder. Making sure it couldn't be used as a stabbing weapon. His eye would glance at a woman watching the scene from afar. She had a strange look about her, almost like she was ready for a brawl. After looking for maybe a bit too long he would start moving off, his path leading him to move within earshot of her.

 

[Kazumi]

Caught entirely off guard as the grip of the weapon flew from his fingers, the man froze as the weapon skidded off into the street. The woman seemed completely oblivious of what happened until she saw the weapon come to a halt as the newcomer began to speak. Her grip tightened on the man's throat even as Riyota began to speak. "And what are you-" she stopped her indignation as soon as she saw who it was talking. "O-oh, of course," she said, immediately dropping the man who collapsed to his knees from the sudden fall. He reached up and gripped at his throat, letting out a few pained yet relieved breaths.

The woman's attention quickly shifted to the pouch of money as she internally wrestled about refusing the coin or taking it. Pragmatism won out and she reached out to gingerly take the coin that the shinobi offered her. "Why, thank you very much. You are too kind, really too kind." She seemed genuinely thankful, though not enough to refuse the opportunity to get her money back. Her attention shifted town for a moment to the man, but he didn't pay her might mind, his attention fixed on the shinobi that addressed the growing crowd around them. As Riyota's attention, the man hurried to his feet and pushed his way through the crowd, beating a hasty retreat before anyone changed their minds.

Only a few people noticed his escape, but it only took a few moments for the rest of the assembled mass to disperse at the shinobi's command. As they went among their ways, the shopkeeper dusted herself off as she made her way back into the building, calling out something indistinguishable as the door closed behind her. At about the same time, the newcomer nudged herself off the wall and began to casually walk her way over towards the peacekeeper. "Aien't you just got a way with words there, Mister Guardman." She gave him an amused smirk as she stepped across the way, stopping a few feet from her with her hands nestled together behind her back.

"If you hadn't stepped in, that might have broken out into a riot." She looked from the shopkeeper's doorway to the direction the man had run off from. "But, since you're giving handouts. How much you give me if I told you he stole something from me too?" She unclasped her hands and reached one out to him with her palm up, gesturing expectantly. "Or do I need to threaten someone first? That's how it works in these shinobi villages, right?" Her face looked rather causal, making it difficult to tell if she was being serious or not.