Second Chances

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

NPC, Nara Yoku

Shit, of couse I get suckered into something as low as this… The man with darkly shaded eyes peered up ahead at the little soul leading the way through the main road. She pitter patted softly across the ground, eyes growing wider and wider at the newest discovery. He shoved his hands in his pocket, sighing more forcibly than a lion set to roaring. He was an ANBU, so how did he get stuck with this job?

Oh yeah, it wasn’t a job. It was a command from that woman. Yoku still wondered why he got stuck with this job when Yukimi was obviously more suited for such a task. He flicked away a speck of lint of his coat recalling that she devil’s words.

NPC, Nara Kotaza

“You are going to watch her and I don’t want to hear any lip. Kioku-San and I have some business and we don’t need children in our way. Don’t try to argue with me! As an older brother, you are far more qualified to watch her than Yukimi. Keep her out of trouble or I’ll be sending Nobu-Chan a little letter.”

“Evil woman…” With his teeth grinding itself to dust, Yoku thought about Kotaza looming over him with that look of smug triumph. He hated her more than words could express. One day, he’d get his hands on the info he needed and she’d be reduced to nothing more than the trash she crawled out from. But then again, he could barely watch a little girl without failing.

“Huh? Where’d she go?” The waifish imp had vanished from his line of sight within seconds. “Masaoko! Come on now, this is no time for games.” He growled, slightly embarrassed as crowds of people strolled by with concerned expressions crossing their face. Being a faceless killing machine was easy, but this… this was pure torture for Yoku.

NPC, Sanageyama Masaoko

She giggled gleefully, ducking into the alleyway for a brief moment as Yoku stormed pass. It felt like everywhere she went now a days, she was guarded. Masaoko just didn’t understand. Back home, papa let her wander where ever she wanted all by herself. It wasn’t the same here. She was kept under careful watch. Unable to interact with strangers (not like she could anyways). Unable to roam freely.

She was sick of it!

The little tyke believed herself home free as she slide out of the alley back onto the road. Across the street was a little menagerie of trinkets that had caught her eye earlier. So, she set her little heart to exploring it before she was forcefully stopped by a rough hand gripping her upper arm tightly. She struggled against the force of the man’s power, unable to free herself as he dragged her further back into the lone alley. She sunk her teeth down on the meat of his hand and gave herself an opening to run as he yelped in pain. However, she was knocked onto the ground by another man stepping into the alley to join their accomplice.​

 

[Shinomiya Masaru]

Taking the back alleys wasn’t his usual way of moving about the village, but when he needed to move without being hindered he found that the dank and shadowy paths proved quickest in such a crowded village. They were much quieter too, a perk that was enough to turn his normally unsatisfying days just a little bit more bearable. Of course such routes weren’t devoid of their irritating obstacles either, you had your standard thief trying to make some ends meet, delinquents that had nothing better to do with their time than look more menacing than they were, and then you had these guys. The type that liked to participate in shady dealings with their primary product being young defenseless girls. They were the types that made your blood boil, the disgusting filth of Kumogakure that always seemed to pop up when you least expected.

Such was one of those times. A walk through the village would clear your head, you’ll feel refreshed and ready to make up for lost time…unless you run into some loli fetish punks who think doing this in the middle of the day is the best keikaku since the murder of the Raikage, Masaru thought with a sigh as he calmly watched the two men try to close down the exits from their prey. They weren’t threatening at all, well at least to him they weren’t but he was basically a certified killing tool. The girl on the other hand would obviously be scared. For a moment while making sure he had good enough reason to use a varying degree of force on the two idiots he managed to catch a glimpse of the young girl’s face. She didn’t seem familiar at all, not anyone he’d seen in his time in Kumo, and yet there was something about her that was nostalgic in a way. It was probably the lost look in her eye, he had that too when he first came to the village, no doubt she was not a longtime resident and probably was either visiting or just moved here. All the more reason he needed to not let her have an unpleasant experience.

Taking note of the multiple shadows Masaru took a moment to wonder how lucky he could have gotten to catch these two in such a shady alley, then again that was where these types of individuals felt safe. Not for long, Masaru thought as he performed a couple of hand seals, manipulating his shadow for a brief test. He quietly moved from his spot around the corner and stood still while his shadow seemed to change into tendrils that he sent out to catch his targets, not surprised when the two men were caught immediately. Making sure to keep an eye on his surroundings and that not all of his threads were used to bind the two men he looked at the girl between them whom he left untouched. He frowned, unsure of how to handle such a young girl. Children weren’t his area of expertise, but she ought to guess that he was trying to help her right? Well if any of his actions frightened her that wasn’t really his problem, after all he was stopping these two from kidnapping her so if she ran back onto the main street the problem was pretty much solved. Masaru closed his eyes finally deciding on his course of action and the men began to be dragged in his direction by the shadows. When he thought them close enough to him and not the girl he let the couple of shadow threads that weren’t in use rush forward and spear the men in their calves. The yelps of pain were quickly cut off as Masaru ended his bind and appeared behind the men with uncanny speed, raising an arm he gave two quick but powerful chops to the back of their necks effectively knocking them out. With such a roundabout way of dealing with two simple kidnappers it would probably be seen as ineffective, but he didn’t want to miss a chance on using the relatively new techniques he had.

While thinking about the slight delay in his commands and the shadow reactions, Masaru bandaged the legs of the two men, tied them together, and left them against one of the walls while muttering to himself about training more. As if just remembering why he had intervened in the first place, Masaru turned to look at the girl. “Ah…” Crap he probably had to find her parents now, Masaru squatted where he was before speaking to her, “What’s your name? Do you happen to know where your parents are at?”

MFT