Thank-you for Smoking!

Takahashi Aki · May 9, 2013

Sousuke was not well known for his taste in fine dining. Was it because he didn't prefer fine dining? Or was it because he simply couldn't afford it? Today's fare was simple BBQ pork ramen with an egg. The Steward inhale the smell and reached for his chop sticks and dug in. The Steward ate contently of course no one would notice the small crest in his eyebrows displaying such contentedness. It was a rare sight to behold, but no one would notice it.

The Steward went to pay for his bill and opened his wallet. He had just barely enough to pay for his dinner. Oftentimes the proprietor would waive his fees for the meal since having the Steward dine at your place was good publicity, but the Steward didn't mind paying. The Steward paid what he could for the tip, and went out to get a breath of fresh air, or what best you could given the nature of the grand Palais. The Steward sniffed the air. There was something slightly foul in the air. Not that it was the smell of methane, but it was the smell of something stronger. The Steward slightly winced as he came to realize it was the smell of tobacco. The Steward snorted and thought real hard about attempting to input a bylaw to cease others from smoking in public places, but ... then again where else would one go to smoke?

Hanone · May 9, 2013

A tall, tired looking man with a gruffy beard sat smoking like a chimney near the small ramen building. His leg was poorly bandaged and a hint of blood was beginning to redden the white fabric. He seemed to be perfectly fine despite the hindrance. In one hand he was holding a bunch of dried fruits, ones he apparently wasn't eating, but was holding them anyway. The other contained a piece of paper, crumpled and ready for discarding. The cigarette was poked between his lips.

Saemon was back from a mission. It'd went well, but he'd managed to get his leg torn up on the way back. It was a really stupid mistake so he'd been too embarrassed to go to the medical center. It would heal up alright. In time.

Worn out, the man was surprised to look up and see a familiar face. It wasn't that sort of familiar like seeing your brother or a long time friend. He knew the face because... all shinobi worth anything knew their leader by face. Dropping the food to the ground and shoving the paper into his pouch, Saemon stood up and made his way over to the Steward. He'd never had the chance to speak to the man before... "This is an odd place to find Suna's leader." he peered at the restaurant. Ramen? "I didn't think you would eat there. I always get sick from their food personally. Bad pork usually. You're good if you didn't eat the pork."

Takahashi Aki · May 9, 2013

The Steward looked up. Saemon overshadowed him for the most part. So this was Roku's brother? The man who taught Roku quite a bit it would seem. The Steward began to cough as the cigarette smoke was starting to affect him. He coughed for quite a while in fact and finally calmed down. The Steward again looked up. "I--" He coughed again and pointed to the fruit that Saemon had dropped. The Steward closed his eyes for a moment. "You dropped your fruit Saemon-sama." The Steward went to go get said dropped fruit to give it back to him. It was not often the Steward spoke with a suffix, but he did so when it was a person older than him by several years, and from what he knew of Saemon, the man was five years his elder. The Steward cleared his throat and attempted to adjust to the cigarette smoke. "Their pork is fine ... it depends on what chef is on the job. I've made a formal complaint about their Tuesday chef because he doesn't clean the pork proper, and nor does he cook things at a high enough heat to incinerate micro-jilnilistic bacteria. It's a nasty little bug that makes it way into pork, and resides within pork mainly because of the pig's lazy nature. It's really a parasite, but it often dies off in a human system, but first it makes the human in question often very sick." The Steward explained.

Again he erupted into a coughing fit, but this time it was not as long. "I may be the Steward, but I am constrained by my clan's modest financial positioning. We don't even have a fraction of the Toraono's financial strength... it's a fact that most people seem to either not know of or they forget."

Hanone · May 10, 2013

Well whatever he thought about the man by story, it certainly wasn't this. He seemed to frail and weak; coughing pitifully against his swirling smoke coming from his death stick. He immediately felt bad about it and snuffed it out on the ground, but not until after he'd already driven the man to a miserable set of coughs. And then the fact he went over and collected his fallen dried fruit for him was beyond him. He attempted to bring his face to a neutral expression, but this was very strange indeed.

Accepting the fruit and pouching it without a thought, the fairly tall Jounin filed away the few things he had just learned about the steward (all very quickly too) and spoke casually despite his inner amusement/confusion, "I'm surprised you know me by name." It was the most basic thing to say. What on earth could be contribute to the information about parasites and germs and shit? Smart, sickly, young, humble, broke. This was the steward. Okay then.

It made it a lot harder to hate him now.

"I don't think anyone knows you're hard for yen. It seems awfully backwards. Don't you have a salary or something for your position?" If he hadn't already eaten, he would have probably offered to take him somewhere to eat that was a little better than this shitty shanty. He really hated ramen...

Takahashi Aki · May 13, 2013

The Steward stared at Saemon for a full minute saying nothing. He blinked a few times. "I am having difficulty in processing your query." He said suddenly. He broke eye contact and looked up, thinking harder about the subject. "Ah. You mean a government salary...? I can't say that I am fortunate enough to have one of those. I get a small inheritance allowance monthly, which I have to the yen pre-calculated and spent in order to survive for the month. I do have some piece-work jobs from time to time when a private wealthy member of society requests a commission of sorts be it a weapon. Most of my fee there is to pay for my supplies, because if I charge highly then they take their work to another producer for lower fees. Then very rarely am I employed to solve mysteries that are outside of the Anbu's wits. Those jobs pay ... well but I invest those into my inheritance allowance. It works out to me getting an extra yen notes, which I then allot to clothing that I need since ... I get a lot of handmedowns from House Toraono." The Steward explained his livelihood or what little livelihood he had.

The Steward entered another fit of coughing. when he stopped ultimately he searched his lab coat for a puffer. He shook the device a few times and then placed it inside his mouth and pressed down on the cap. The Steward took a moment to recuperate. "I wouldn't be a good Steward if I didn't know the people. I know that you taught your younger brother many things like how to be charming. I would like to learn that skill set too some day. It is something acquired over time, but most useful in social situations like now. I also know that you know of Yume and Shinji." The Steward thought harder. What else did he know about Roku that he could place onto Saemon? "You must be popular with the ladies like your younger brother. Though you don't quite have the golden locks like he does... I would then suspect it must be your broad shoulders and height that attract those of the opposite gender."

Hanone · May 21, 2013

Saemon found the whole thing very odd. The steward talked way too much... and revealing about himself. He was unable to get a word in until the man began a coughing fit, which of course made it difficult to speak since the man was coughing. Then he took right off where he left off. The older jounin pressed his thin lips together and waited for another pause in the rather endless stream of speaking. When it came about, he lingered a moment to be sure he was done for the time being. "Well. I wouldn't call myself charming." And after an odd look, he added, "I get the feeling sometimes the broad shoulders and height attract more than just the opposite gender. Thanks for noticing I suppose."

Clearing his throat a little, the jounin struggled to think what he could really say to his steward. He wasn't what was expected. He looked fragile too, which was a little disheartening. And if he could guess, they had about as much in common as a blunt nail and a walrus...

"So can I accompany you toward your next appointment? I have a free hour." It was polite he supposed to offer to walk with the man wherever he was going. In truth, it would be good to know him a little. He did have a low opinion of him before they had met, so maybe it was right to try to learn the truth before making a judgement.

Takahashi Aki · May 22, 2013

The Steward stared at Saemon with a dead panned expression when he spoke of his features attracting members of the same gender. He did raise an eyebrow at the matter, "I'm not quite sure what you mean." The Steward living a sheltered life of sorts, didn't quite have the ability to grasp such a concept that Saemon spoke of. The Steward broke eye contact and stared off for a moment. He was trying to put together in his mind what Saemon spoke of. The image still did not come to the Steward. At the end of it all he merely stop trying.

What next to topic was a bit of a surprise to the Steward. The Steward reached into his lab coat and took out a pocket watch. It was an old thing and certainly looked out of place on the Steward. The thing at least looked two hundred years old. "My next appointment is in three minutes, and thirty-two seconds." The Steward spoke as he closed up the pocket watch. "I will be attending the condominium on the platinum stairway. Floor thirty-six and apartment sixty-two. A crime scene of sorts, a break in and theft of sorts. This is one of those private jobs I get. I would be ... ... ... most grateful if you would come. Sunaku Harupia usually attends these with me as I look for a second opinion of sorts." The Steward paused for a moment. Some people passed by, two women and one man. "Lord Klaus of the Emerald Division. His wife must be on a vacation of sorts because he is only seen in the presence of his wife. It could be his daughters, but no he would usually have an armed escort walking with them. If you notice the way the one is walking on the left, I would say that she is not highly educated on manners. She is letting her heel drag as she walks. Clearly she is used to wearing a much higher heel. Her dress is getting in the way because it is too long, she is much more used to something shorter." The Steward shook his head. "The woman on the right is strutting, a very confident strut of sorts that reveals her profession all too well. She is taking her time because if she were to out-walk Lord Klaus it would damage him mentally. She is taking her time to be noticed, but not by Lord Klaus, but by the other woman with her. She is attempting to teach the strut. Rather obvious by the shorter strides, which if you notice now the other lady is attempting to mimic." The Steward exhaled. "Lord Klaus is cheating on his wife, and hired not one but two women of the evening. This is the second time he is doing this as he is walking less gingerly. He was caught the first time, but paid people to be quiet. He somewhat disguised because of the different hat he is wearing, and in addition he is wearing his finest which I've only seen him wear perhaps ... once a year? No twice. His hair too is dyed as he is trying to hide his age from his ... escorts." The Steward's eyes shifted back to Saemon. "He is trying very hard tonight, but he is simply not trying hard enough as I have noticed him."

The Steward shook his head. "Well then, let's be on our way." A blocks walk at the two would come to the condominium in question. The Steward had to buzz himself in, and was let in on the second attempt on entry. Most annoyingly he was almost escorted off of the property by the security guard if not for Saemon's imposing figure. On the elevator the Steward mostly kept quiet except for one moment. "The security guard doesn't like me. I once had him arrested for stealing from the reserve fund from the building. I was hired for that job too actually. It didn't talk long, I just had to look at the books and made a few inquires with the right people. It also helps when you analyze hand writing and notice people are using tracing paper... usually the dead give-away is a slight tremor is doing the loops of particular letters." The Steward shared. "What's slightly tricky is when it is an Uchiha, but they oftentimes don't realize that in copy someone's else writing they sometimes impart characteristics of their own." The elevator eventually stopped at the right floor and the Steward stepped out. "I'll split today's fee with you. They're paying higher than most of my usual jobs. It must be because they're afraid of their insurance fees going up if they claim their insurance proper."

Hanone · Jun 24, 2013

(now that its been an effin month....)

The man talked waaay too much. He was glad eventually when the kage said 'let's be on our way'. Some talk about a rich man and his whores disinterested him, but made him feel strongly about not telling the steward too much about his wn personal life. He very easily spoke of secrets her knew to other people he barely knew. Did he need everyone knowing he had two girlfriends? Probably not.

The pair walked almost swiftly to the steward's new location; a nice looking housing building. They stood at the doorway for some time. When they were allowed in, the man at the door obviously didn't recognize the village leader, something that earned the man a dark and threatening look from the enormity of a man before him. It seemed he understood his point and let them pass. They entered and quickly ended up in an elevator. The music inside was so expectantly typical he almost sighed.

When the smaller man spoke again, Saemon's original impression that the guard didn't know who Sousuke was was tossed out the window, which actually made him even more angry. He filed away a thought to break that man's face later. Everything else the man said he sort of zoned out. Right, Uchiha, blah blah. Money...

He tuned back in then and exited behind the young leader. "I'm good, I don't need the pay, thanks." It was true too. Saemon was well off. He lived so modestly that he had accumulated a large sum over the years/ He only really spent good money doting upon his two ladies. And besides, after the ramen today, the steward needed the cash more than he did. Not wanting to hear otherwise, the mountain of a man, waved his hand at the open hallway they now stood in. "So what are we doing then?"

Takahashi Aki · Jun 25, 2013

The Steward looked like he was going to interject about not sharing today's wage with Saemon but the older man raised his hand and made a motion. This motion would essentially silence the Steward as he took the note not to continue on the matter and to proceed. Once asked what they were doing the Steward searched his lab coat and produced a letter. He then proceeded to hand it to Saemon, the writing was very curly and well written.

Dear Takahashi Sousuke,

It has come to my attention that to combat ennui you solve crimes. For a modest fee of 50,000 I require your skills in finding a missing ruby necklace of mine. My husband bought it for me just this year, and apparently it has gone missing. I can detect no break and entry into my residence, and nothing else has been taken! I have perhaps misplaced it, or perhaps some crafty ninja stole it from me. Kindly attend my residence this Tuesday after dinner.

Awaiting your most excellent and fine detective skills,

Lady Haku Tomoko II.

The Steward attended the suite he spoke of earlier and knocked the door three times. The door was opened up and a tall woman was there. She had short black hair and a great fur coat. She was taller than Sousuke and thus overlooked him seeing Saemon. "Oh. Takahashi-sama! So good to see you! Oh my. The rumors they had about you being short are unfounded! They didn't mention you were such a handsome young man either. Oh those shoulders. Oh my." The Steward merely looked up as Lady Haku Tomoko the second reached out to him. A hacking cough came over to the Steward which caused the tall woman to look down. "Oh. What a cute little brother you have." The woman stared long at Sousuke, and then at Saemon. "Oh. My mistake. You're not Sousuke, he is. How droll."

Sousuke exchanged glances with the Lady Tomoko. "May I investigate your apartment? That is what you hired me here for, not my good looks." The woman nodded her head and welcomed the two in. Suffice to say, Lady Tomoko the second was a well to do woman. Great chandeliers, wall sconces, and excellent furniture. The Steward entered the room and began walking about. "There was a break in." The woman snorted at that remark. "It's not the front door approach, or a window approach. The seals are left intact, and there is a particular crease in the metal to suggest these windows have never been opened." He looked to the lady of the house who raised an eyebrow. She did nod her head. "The windows do not reveal a laser cut in or a line cut either. Curious. You keep your front door closed with three sets of heavy locks, but there is only one lock on the door. You want to be protected, but the outside of your door does not show that. The locks are bound by a key turn that needs to be jerked twice, and then a fully rotated round about. Very ease for someone like myself to pick the lock." The Steward spoke as he made his way around the house once more.

"Lovely child isn't it? I think he's playing a game here of ring around the rosy. Can I get you a drink?" She asked Saemon in particular, but not of Sousuke. "Oh dear boy, do be careful. I do have some precious items about, your wandering may rattle them and upset them." She warned as the Steward returned after his fourth walk about.

"Your ceiling needs cleaning." He spoke up after a moment. He paused for a moment and taped his finger against his lip. "You had it done about four months ago... but in particular the hallway seems to be quite messy."

The Lady Tomoko balked at the statement. "Oh pashaw. Obito cleans the roof every..." She paused. "My dear boy, you might be quite right. I've never seen him personally clean it... because most of the time I am out." She turned to Saemon, "How does he know these things? You must tell me. Ohoho." By the time she turned back to Sousuke, the young man had left and was in the bedroom. He returned with a note pad in hand and he was making notes. "Busy little thing isn't he?"

"There is an exceptionally clean area in the bedroom, about three feet from the bed. It spans out to be a square. Mr. Saemon, would you kindly follow me? I wish to conduct an experiment." With that the Steward would lead his companion and the Lady Tomoko to her bedroom. The Steward stood slightly off from the area he mentioned. "Please Mr. Saemon, stand here and would you kindly smoke? I'm not worried about the sprinkler system, they're already appear to be defective in the extreme."

Hanone · Jun 27, 2013

Well this was interesting. Saemon stood beside the steward, his hands slipped casually into his pockets as Sousuke had knocked and was met by a older, fancy-looking woman. Her haughty air about her and arrogance immediately prickled his nerves. But it wasn't enough to quell the amused, mixed feelings he had when she mistook him for the kage. The way her eyes dragged over his broad and muscular frame only amused him further. In the back of his mind he mused that this was the type of woman who would happily pay a few hundred yen for the 'company' of someone like himself.

But his entertainment and laugh subsided as she too, after coming to the truth and realization of her mistake, looked down upon Sousuke as though he were a mere fly attempting to enter her vicinity, perhaps land on her freshly frosted cake (or at least that's how he took it). His face returned to a dark, neutral expression and entered wordlessly as they were granted access.

Saemon was a man of means. He was a modest man though, living with dull, economical furnishings. He didn't think much of people who had money and felt the need to surround themselves with it. He stood fairly unimpressed. Sousuke, unlike himself, started to dart about rapidly and talk, talk, talk... Despite the excessiveness of it, Saemon was able to get a glimpse into the man's thought process. He was pretty smart.

""Lovely child isn't it? I think he's playing a game here of ring around the rosy. Can I get you a drink?" Oh, an 'it' was he? Saemon felt his teeth grit and he curtly shook his head no, declining the liquid offer. He hoped she would just leave him be, maybe pick up on his displeasure, but she seemed fairly oblivious. She pushed on, asking him another question, one he responded to with a nonchalant shrug of his oh-so-handsome shoulders. At least that as genuine. He didn't know crap about the man running around like a... mouse. He really reminded him of a mouse. Not the dirty kind, but just a busy little mouse.

Finally he found an excuse to move away from the wrinkly woman and did so happily. And he took a certain amount of satisfaction when given his direction. "Aye, nezumi-sama." he said. Once he was standing in the overdone, perfumy scented bedroom, Saemon withdrew black-papered cigarette and stuck it between his lips. He quickly flicked his fingers through a set of three handseals then clicked his fingers, starting a patch sized fire at the tip of his thumb, one he used to light the deathstick before shaking the flame out. He loved his vice. A deep inhale brought a hefty intake of hot smoke, obviously seen by the brightly lit embers and sharp increase of gray ash at the end, then he released it in a large cloud from both his mouth and nostrils. He couldn't help himself but peer over at the woman; certainly she wouldn't be pleased.

Takahashi Aki · Jun 28, 2013

The Steward watched intently as the cloud of smoke Saemon produced headed up. It went on an angle which the Steward calculated it would. Up, up, up it went. Contact with the ceiling with imminent. Contact with the unusually clean spot in the ceiling. Everything else seemed dusty and had some minor cobwebs. The Steward's eyes narrowed as he squinted he watched the cloud of smoke go up and failed to make contact with the ceiling. Well it made contact but not made contact in the normal way of things. The smoke would have bounced off and expanded in form. No instead it went directly through the ceiling. "Fascinating. I knew something was wrong with that part of the ceiling. The smoke passed through it as if a phantom of sorts." The Steward's eyes widened as he folded his arms and paced about. "The smoke should have collided with the wall and spread like so..." Sousuke made a motion with his arms to illustrate what he was getting at. "I should have a closer look." The Steward looked about for something to help him get a bitter look at the ceiling. Nothing was available that would remotely help him. The Steward reached into his lab coat and removed a paper thin seal. He placed the seal underneath the area he was fascinated in. He released a short blast of chakra to trigger the seal. The seal began to unfold and transform into a platform. The Steward stepped onto the platform as it went up, up, up like the cloud of smoke. The Steward looked at the ceiling. He then reached up with his left hand and placed his hand through the ceiling. No rubble came down, just his hand went through the ceiling as if it wasn't there. "Oh. That's clever. Let's see... " The Steward placed both of his hands up and traced a square. He placed his hands up further. "A hidden passage? No merely a vent." Sousuke then proceeded to climb up into the vent. His entire body passed through the visible but not solid wall. His platform began to shrink. The Steward popped his head out, and for a moment he was upside down. He again reached into his pocket and produced a device he threw it at Saemon. "It's a microphone headset mini receiver... I'm working on. Smaller design. Place it around your ear and your hair should hide the rest. " Sousuke then went through the ceiling again and began crawling. The sound of clanking could be heard as he was making his way around. The Steward next spoke through Saemon through the microphone. "Hrmph. Curious. I'm finding alot of genjutsu seals in these vents. It must be what is maintaining the ceiling that I just climbed through. I will keep you advised of my progress Mr. Saemon. I do believe I am travelling the path of our thief."

Just as Sousuke made his exit, the mostly absent Lady Tomoko entered his bedroom wearing a silk violent gown of sorts with a very large glass of wine in her hand. "Well now that I'm comfortable, how about you boys and I..." Tomoko paused. She looked around. "Oh. Your friend. He's gone. Oh well. He wasn't my type. Being short and all." Tomoko approached Saemon. "I like my men tall, dark, handsome, and muscular..." The woman took a seat on her bed and patted it. She was looking deep into Saemon's eyes and then began looking down. "So..."

THUD. THUD. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. SIZZLE. SIZZLE. SIZZLE.

It sounded as if something below had just made contact with what sounded like a fan. The noise continued for a few seconds before it stopped. "I wonder what that could be..."

Sousuke's voice came from the microphone. "I seem to have come across a booby trap. I have successfully disarmed it with plasma and steel. I also seem to have found our jewelry thief. It appears to be the door man as I am looking down upon him from a grate, and he is playing with a very elegant and expensive looking ruby necklance... Mr. Saemon would you kindly go to the first floor and proceed to citizen's arrest the man. I am working my way through more traps."

Hanone · Jun 28, 2013

The very tall man stood passively, smoking like a chimney, as the smaller male watched the results of his test. Saemon's eyes followed the smoke as well, interested to see what exactly it was they were doing with his cigarette swirls. He was shocked to see it literally pass into the ceiling. His surprised registered with the faintest hint of an arched eyebrow. Then the small man was scrambling up into the previously unknown space with relative ease. Certainly the jounin wouldn't have made it in that hole, lucky he was here.

When the steward's head popped out from the vent again, he dropped Saemon a small thing and explained it's use to him quickly, though he couldn't resist giving an annoying expression when he suggested the rest of it would be concealed in his hair.. like his half inch behind the ear was gonna do anything. So he was left there in the room. Deft fingers slipped the earpiece into his earhole and he looped the one end over the crest of the extremity. It fit comfortably and after a second, he knew it worked as well. Fancy.

Saemon took another drag from his cigarette, inhaling deeply enough to fill his lungs. He all but coughed it out as he caught sight of the elderly woman entering the room. Her body was not well hidden beneath the thin layer of colored silk. And knowing better than to look too closely, his eyes returned pointedly to the ceiling, but fuckall, his peripherals were very well trained... Oh god, was she at least wearing a bra? Outwardly, Saemon was like indifferent stone; standing tall and solid without a flinch. Inside, however, he was recoiling. The woman came closer. He could smell her perfume; it was pungently strong. No doubt she thought it was appealing and bragged of her wealth. He thought for a moment as she paid him the compliment to his body that she might touch him, run a hand over his back as some women thought was a welcomed touch. Thankfully she did not. Her invitation to sit beside her on the bed was too much and the jounin closed his eyes. His mind flashed the image of red hair and lips... and an evilly amused grin. Koho would think this is so funny. A smile touched his own mouth, he did not realize she had been looking at his face then and would certainly think the expression was for her...

Luck had it, however, and Sousuke decided to crash violently into something.. then sizzle.. Worry creased the jounin's brow for a moment then his hands reached up to the vent. He gripped onto either side with an iron hold and lifted himself upward. The vent was small, but he would see himself through to aid his leader if need be. He had effortlessly lifted his immense frame from the floor and was ready to pull himself through or break the thing apart if it came to that, a display that might excite lady Tomoko, when Sousuke's voice came through the com in his ear. Saemon stalled in the half lifted position, his arms holding his weight well and the short sleeves of his clothing were pulled up from gravity, revealing the coarse lines of his strained arm musculature.

He seemed alright, good. And he was giving clear directions which also suggested he wasn't damaged. "Yes, kazekage-sama. Be careful this time." he said, his deep voice more demanding than worried. The monster of a man lowered himself once more to the floor and almost forgetting his courtesies, he headed for the door. At the last moment, with the cigarette nearly smoked out hanging from his lips, he turned and said to the woman, "Excuse me, Sousuke-sama has found the thief." then he moved swiftly from the room and apartment into the hall. He skipped the elevator, because he didn't like allowing something to take his life into it's metaphorical hands, and went for the stairs. He easily descended, skipping whole sections of stairs with swift ease. Once he was back on floor 1, he slowed himself and exited casually, as to not raise any suspicion. His dull blue eyes scanned the area for the guard who had been so terribly rude to Sousuke beforehand and spotted him. A feeling of pleased justice swept his mind's forefront; he had wanted to pay this man back for his slights.

Saemon slipped his hand into his pocket, the other gripped the deadened cigarette butt from his lips and he tossed it on the ground before him. If the man was paying him any attention, no doubt his littering would bristle him and cause conflict; just what he wanted.

Takahashi Aki · Jul 1, 2013

The cigarette butt hit the floor and bounced three times. The security guard looked at the butt. He let out a very audible snort. He placed the necklance he was toying with back in a drawer. He got up from his desk, took out a piece of gum and proceeded to go to town on it. He chomped on it very audibly. He proceeded to take out a night stick, and began twirling it. "Okay hot shot. Pick that up. See. I've got a badge here. It gives me privileges. It lets me get free food from the vending machine, it lets me throw people out." He continued to twirl the night stick and ultimately he placed the end of it on Saemon's chest. "Yup. I can throw you out. It's a get out of jail for free card."

By the time he finished his sentence, the vent above the guard's desk dropped. "Well, it's your lucky day. I'm going to ask you to leave nicely, instead of putting you in the wood chipper." As he finished saying that several things began to fall from the vent. Several weapons that did not look to be legal. Vain Shurkiens which were legally banned from being sold by merchants, blaze guards which didn't make it past the proper tests for field use, and even a gluttony Samahada dropped which was deemed not at all safe as the sword from time to time devoured the user. Following the illegal weapons drop the form of Sousuke dropped down too. The Steward was fully encased in steel. He dusted himself off, and as he did that his lab coat fell apart as it was basically sliced up. "Oh. Boy." The guard said as he scratched the back of his head. "I wonder what those could be... that's mighty unsafe."

The Steward went to the drawer and pulled out the ruby necklace. "Let's see ... an illegal weapons cache of several items not safe for public use. I'm surprised you didn't hurt yourself while using them, and secondly we have some stolen items here including one ruby..."

"Get out. Both of you. That's enough property destruction for one day." The guard tried to keep things cool of course. He began to twirl his baton again. "I'm going to have to call the Anbu now. You can't prove that any of these things are mine." He continued twirling the baton. "How do I know that you don't own those weapons? Hrmph?"

"Because I-" Sousuke was cut off.

"Because what? Because? Becase? Because you're an expert on them? Hrmph?" The guard interrupted. If anything he was trying to cover his tracks and fast.

Hanone · Jul 1, 2013

Saemon watched the foul man take the bait. Any man like him liked to push his self-asserted power on others. Saemon was not like that. What he could do to a man was enough to know he did not need to reconfirm himself before others. If someone wanted to fight Saemon, they would end up in the hospital and that was that.

But that didn't stop his internal anger from rising a little as the smaller man touched the tip of the baton against his muscled chest. The threat had been empty and cocky, while the touch was a opening for Saemon to stomp the man like a bug. Whatever he was going to say was halted as the vent above them opened and several beast looking items dropped out. He was far enough away from the location of the vent opening to have to move so he simply watched.

Finally the steward wormed his way out and dropped to the ground. His clothing was shredded and he revealed underneath a body encasement of shining metal. Though it wasn't time for such thoughts. No, the man before him with the weapon twirled it around again, putting on his 'manly' show. His worry came in the form of threats once more and as the first time, Sousuke was met with such rude behavior. The guard cut him off and that was enough for Saemon.

He took a single, quick step toward the man, faster than he might have anticipated and he caught hold of the baton as it swung in an arch. The slap sound resounded loudly from the contact of the metal to skin, but Saemon was unfazed. He took another step toward the man, certain he wouldn't release the weapon and was mere inches from his face. The monster was a calm one in public, but once he was ready to end someone, there was a disturbing lack of emotion and empathy within him and his eyes showed the level of his lack of mercy. He had made men piss themselves with the same look before; it promised pain or much worse.

With a voice as even as ever, he said, "How dare you? Do you think yourself so mighty and powerful that your steward is below you? Do you think you are mightier than I am?" he paused to let him think about that one a second. "And do you think, with Sousuke-sama standing right here that the ANBU will come to your call? That they would look between a worthless wretch and their lord and remove him from the premises like a stray dog?" He let the baton go, assuming the man would either move back or strike at him. Neither would get much of a chance, however as the huge man then gripped the man's wrist and squeezed.

He increased the pressure gradually until his wrist threatened to shatter. He could scream, he could strike him, but he would be unfazed by all of it. And then it happened; the bones could not take the grip of the man, one with the strength of a bull, and they gave way with a sickening crunch sound.

Takahashi Aki · Jul 3, 2013

A resounding crunch echoed throughout the lobby. The guard's fuss continued. He shook for a moment. His breaths were slow and shaking. He proceeded to speak to Saemon in a low voice. It was sickeningly calm."You didn't grow up with this retard. I should have --" He let out an 'urk' noise. His injury was starting to affect him now. The shock. The loss of use of limb. "I broke his arm once when we were dueling as kids. The instructor watched me best him and disarm him. He said it was enough... but no I wanted to hurt him more. I--"

Sousuke's voice rose up now. It wasn't emotional, it was merely projecting itself. "I thought I recognized you Setsuko. Yes. The confident strides. I should have realized it earlier. I think that's enough from you." A sickening laughter came out of the now identified early childhood peer of Sousuke. "Those weapons. You acquired those from Shizune didn't you?" Setsuko nodded his head. Sousuke turned to Saemon. "Childhood enemies of mine. Bullies if you would. I won't bore you with the details of my life. I have spoken of my childhood to your brother. I think I will make a call to the Anbu. Thank-you for apprehending this criminal Mr. Saemon." With that Sousuke tapped his faceplate. "Obsidian Palace kindly send two anbu to pick up a criminal at ... yes. Excellent. The charges are theft and illegal ownership of blacklisted weaponry. ... ... ... Good. See your men or women soon."

Within minutes the Anbu attended the building and made the arrest. It was remarkably easier considering Saemon had done most of their work for them in the form of breaking down the man in literal ways. Sousuke stood with the ruby necklace in his hand alone in the lobby with Saemon. "I don't know what your brother tells you, but I had an exceptionally difficult time growing up. Most of my peers around my age didn't treat me well as I'm a higher level minded singularly focused autistic directive with medium to extreme anti-social capabilities. People younger or older than I seem to understand my problems better than peers of my own age. It's something I'm still working to get over. At times I very much want to lock myself up in my labs at Keystone at work away... but things are expected of me." Sousuke merely shrugged. "Well done though Mr. Saemon... and thank-you for smoking." Sousuke looked at the ruby necklace. "I ... should return this and pick up my payment. I believe I am due for a new lab coat or two. I don't think Lady Tomoko picked up on the fact you didn't want to be social with her, but I did. People see things and hear things, but they don't observe."

Hanone · Jul 3, 2013

Saemon's grip didn't lessen the entire time and it took his struggling effort not to change his hold from the man's wrist to his head and give it a hard jerk to the right. He knew just how hard to turn one's cranium to seriously injure or to snap a neck. He'd done it over 2 dozen times in his line of work and this man... he wouldn't mind killing him. It was the sole reason Saemon was rarely allowed to work for the ANBU anymore. He was ruthless and had a record of killing unnecessarily.

So as the man prattled on, he forcibly shut his brain down. It wasn't until the ANBU came and took the man away that he began to relax again. It wasn't that he didn't hear the man or Sousuke's story, but he wasn't able to respond until the man was gone. In a lot of ways he could understand the steward. He was never picked on, hardly... but he understood having a handicap others couldn't really understand and the feelings you had to live with, normal or not. He felt compelled to place a hand on the man's shoulder, but as always, he resisted the contact. Instead he nodded, showing he understood him.

"Anytime, Kazekage-sama." And he meant it. He didn't understand how he came to appreciate the man so quickly, but he did. He was weird and talked to fuckin' much, but he was a good guy. As Sousuke's eyes trailed over the necklace in his hand and his words turned to his next action, Saemon knew it was time for his own.. "Ya, you could use that new lab coat. It was a pleasure. Anytime you need me.." and he staretd to make his way back out from the building. He was NOT going to go back up where the old lady was and risk her attempting to seduce him anymore than she already tried.

[topic left unless stopped]

Thank-you for Smoking!

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja

Takahashi Aki

Faithful Ninja

Hanone

Well-Known Ninja