The art of kidnapping [Tutor]

[Junan]

It was an average day and Junan was using his newest puppet. After all he needed practice with it, needed to understand its limits, needed to make sure that it would do what he needed it to do. After all he had promised that he would try to, and Junan didn't break his promises.

A young girl of Sandy origin would receive a small invitation to join him today though as he sat at a cafe eating cake and drinking some local Wind Country tea. If Junan could taste then he was sure he'd enjoy them, but he'd not bothered installing taste buds on any of his puppets, including his original body. A sense of smell however he had worked with, and so he could smell the flavour.

The invitation would tell her where he was, and that if she would like to help him with a job he'd received by a minor noble in one of Wind Countries towns then she should meet him where he sat.

He hadn't really expected the request, he'd made a bunch of noise on his way to Wind country though, and obviously someone had heard what he was doing. Perhaps this was an opportunity to gain some very real business. The order was for a young boy, pre-teen, needed to be slim yet strong, like those trained by shinobi, whether he was trained or not didn't matter. Had to arrive whole, no limbs missing, and preferably "attractive". Junan didn't really know how to judge that and so would normally ignore it, but maybe Ayame would know.

Still this was a good opportunity to see what stage Ayame was at. See what she was capable of, what she did and didn't know, what lessons she needed to learn.

 

[Ayame]

The moment Ayame received the invitation she smiled. Finally, another interesting thing was about to happen. Life became very interesting for the little girl, so this only made her happy.

Couple of days passed since the fight with Amaya and Ayame was recovering better than expected, most likely because of the demon, the blood and… the mutations. Still she was bandaged and some of the wounds needed more time and blood, but compared to before she was waaay better. The girl was able to cover her minor mutations with transformation jutsu so she didn’t looked that different from before. But she felt different. Better.

Her brother went to Leaf so she was all by herself, free to do whatever she wanted and of course she enjoyed that freedom. Not that if her brother was here she’d sit still, but now she didn’t had to explain herself . Ayame thought that maybe Akuto was ready to go to Leaf too, but unfortunately she wasn’t ready – the girl had to deal with some stuff here, before leaving.

She needed nothing more than an invitation. Ayame quickly got dressed and made her way to the cafe.

She didn’t had to look around to spot Junan, he was very noticeable – big guy, sitting there, eating a cake and drinking a tea.
She giggled and sat on the chair in front of him.
The girl was curious about that puppet thing her brother said when they met, but restrained herself from asking. Still there were things she wanted to learn about the guy, that’s why she asked something that sounded like an ordinary question.
- That cake sure looks good, Akuto-san. What flavor is it?
Since their conversation at the pond they didn’t had any contact with each other. Ayame hoped that he’d be more talkative about himself now, but the chances were low.
She’d wait for him to answer or avoid the topic and would ask him why he invited her to this… strange place.

WC: 330​

 

[Junan]

Ayame arrived and sat herself down, watching as Junan consumed his food. She opened up the conversation asking about the flavour of the cake. In this case Junan knew, but only because he'd had to choose it at the counter. What it tasted like was unknown to him, what it was however Carrot cake. he said with a grin, showing that he understood what it was that she was trying to do.

Most of the cake remained and as if to entertain her curiosity he opened his mouth and literally just stuffed it in, pushing it down his throat with his fingers till it disappeared. He went to speak but something wasn't working. He did have separate tubes for talking and eating, but they were also joined, and in this case the cake was now stuck, stopping him from being able to speak. Looking a little displeased he didn't have muscles to be able to force it down with and so now his little stunt had backfired... to a point.

Pulling up his plate to his mouth he opened his mouth and through the force of wind he blew the cake back up onto the plate, squished into a tube shape.

So then. He said as if none of this had just transpired.

We are to be friends and that means you will be kidnapping people when I need you to. Junan didn't know the concept of friendship Because of this I need you to be able to do it in a proper way. As I was taught how, so will I teach you. He grinned I think we will have much fun with this.

There would likely be nearby people who could overhear it, though most wouldn't even if in earshot because most people were too involved in their own conversations. Still someone like a waiter or something might pay attention. In addition this would be the first sense that Ayame would likely have that perhaps Junan was capable of being sneaky. Just maybe he wasn't completely bat-shit crazy.

Or maybe this simply was another aspect of his insanity.

Only time would tell.

Standing up he placed some money on the table and left, gesturing for Ayame to follow.

Tell me. How do you go about kidnapping someone? Yanno, cos everyone does it.

 

[Ayame]

"Carrot cake? Ew..." she thought.
Junan opened his mouth and stuffed it in what's left from the cake. At first she was surprised and it was written all over her face. Why would someone do something like that? Junan tried to speak, but he was having troubles. She saw his displeased face, a big smile appeared on her face and she started laughing. He pulled his plate to his mouth blew the cake back up onto the plate in a tube shape. This was a fun moment for Ayame, maybe the first funny moment she had since she settled in Sand.
Her laughter became louder and she covered her mouth with her hands. She was drawing too much attention.

So then. – Junan began like none of this happened. She quickly calmed and started listening to him. If they were to be friends that meant she’d have to kidnap people for him. Ayame never had friends, but unlike him she knew the concept of friendship – in her lifetime she had to act always like someone else, blend in with the crowd and groups of people, good or bad, so she observed their reactions towards their friends. She had an idea in theory, but in practice… well not at all.
Still she knew that his suggestion was wrong, but never said anything.
He wanted to teach her the proper way of kidnapping and she didn’t mind. She did this once and knew she had to practice this useful skill more.
The girl looked at the people around them – it seemed that no one noticed what they were talking about. Sometimes the busiest places were the least suspicious places for the first contact. They were crowded, people were talking and it wasn’t quiet at all. It was hard to distinguish words or sentences from a distance, because all the people were talking.
Ayame agreed with Junan for only one thing – this would be fun.

The man placed some money on the table and gestured Ayame to follow him. She was inpatient so she quickly ran to him – it was kinda hard for her to keep up with the big man’s pace, but she managed to walk faster.

Tell me. How do you go about kidnapping someone? – he asked. She smiled.
- Ah… kidnapping is not like stealing. Well, it depends if the victim is a child or an adult, you know. When I had to do this I had to lead the victim to my people, cause there was no way I could deal with this guy, but back then I wasn’t trained as a shinobi.
So… I’ll try to learn as much as possible about this victim, his habits, his routes, his schedule, places he visits.. you know, the usual stuff. Then I make a plan and act based on the things I’ve learned. They’re two ways – either I meet with him and act like a friend and when he trusts me I can easily lead him to you or to some place where I can do my job, or I ambush them on a place without witnesses and boom – it’s done.
She lifted her head to see Junan and smiled:
- But It’d like to learn your method, Akuto-san.

WC: 534​

 

[Junan]

He nodded as she spoke. She was more advanced than he was at her age at knowing how to do the job, but then most people were... after all... he was a broken puppet trying to help Kumo for a few years before that.

Well, it seems you know more than just the basics already. My way is similar though I don't try and befriend them. The way the job has worked for me is I get given a description, kidnapping as a business is rarely a specific person. Most of my work is for rich nobles who might have had someone killed by shinobi, or feel wronged by them in some way shape or form. They want someone who is weak in shinobi training to fuck as they please, whatever their little fantasies are.

He said all this without any real care, as though this was normal, because for him it was.

So when I say hear that someone wants a blonde teen girl with blue eyes and big tits who is chakra capable I go to where I know I've seen one before, I wait and then I do pretty much what you said. Though I don't always make the first one my target. I need to see what their situation is first, if there's anything I can do to make the job easier. They have a kid? Perfect. They have a husband who's a shinobi? Less than desirable.

Moving forward he continued, though his voice was quieter.

Age has little to do with the skills of shinobi, sure the younger they are the more likely to be weaker they'll be, but sometimes the kids are the nastiest. Kids also don't feel tied to things the same way as more seasoned shinobi. Every now and then we'll get a request for a specific person, but those are rare and cost heaven and earth as usually it'll be against a skilled shinobi. We tend to send out multiple operatives in those situations, no point taking the risk.

She would probably begin to realise that actually... despite his lack of subtlety, Junan was actually a very risk adverse person. He did everything he could to avoid the fight, though lacked the ability to do the friend approach, so he had adapted to blackmail and threats against loved ones instead. Make someone submit to him without a fight needing to break out.

 

[Ayame]

The girl listened to Junan. She was interested in this business. As a former thief she only had to learn how to steal, but kidnapping… well that was something different. She knew only the basics about this job, but as a criminal she had the flair for it.
Junan could notice she listened carefully and absorbed the information, putting a lot of thought into this.
“Interesting” came to her mind.
Of course rich people would be able to afford this service, only rich people hired people from her organization before too. These jobs had risks, so it’s only logical their services to be expensive. But for her it wasn’t all about the money, almost everything she earned was taken away from her. It was about the thrill. There was nothing more exciting than doing the plan and then putting it into action. It was the only time she felt truly free, away from them, away from her cell and the torturing, she was free to do whatever she wanted, to be whoever she wanted… she was free.

When he spoke that they didn’t had to look for a specific person the first job opportunity came to her mind.
- Akuto-san… - she grinned, while looking at her feet – if we don’t have to look for a specific person most of the times… then… we can do whatever we want.
She looked at him with a little spark of madness in her eyes.
- Let’s say… someone want’s a girl with long black hair, pale skin and red eyes… - her smile became wider – then… you can take me to him. I’ll be the helpless little girl he wants. And when I have the opportunity I’ll kill him and steal everything! We can be rich in n…
She realized she was talking too much. The girl really liked the idea, he could see that she was the type of a person that wasn't scared to take chances, but maybe this was too much.
- Ah… sorry. It was just an idea. So… why have you called me? You have work for me?
If he had work for her then this was a damn good opportunity for a bloody meal. She felt hungry. And maybe he wouldn’t mind the victim to be slightly bitten.

[WC: 382]​

 

[Junan]

Her reaction was not what he'd anticipated, it was something which had been thought about previously of course, but Junan had been informed. At least the Organization did that part right.

No, doing that would be bad for business. There is risk involved but to give people a deliberate set up can cause issues. To get more contracts we need to have the least amount of incidents, so capturing a shinobi too strong is not encouraged. Also remembering that chances are that they'll let the shinobi off of their chains at some point they'll need to be strong enough to put on a show, to show that they're shinobi, but weak enough that the guards the client has will be able to subdue them. A happy, alive, client means that word spreads, it means more money. Junan said as his reply.

He wasn't annoyed with her, his tone was like that of someone telling someone else something that they didn't know, almost teacher like.

I called you because if you're going to work with me then I need to know you will do things the proper way, that you wont create problems. And we will go through the way it works first, then I'll give you a target.

He looked her in the eye... for his eyes were actually visible this time around.

You said you didn't want to be anything less than my equal. So you need to get up to being my equal. Otherwise we cannot be equal. This was how his mind worked in many ways. If he wasn't going to be the one telling her what to do then she needed to get to a point where she would do things the way they needed to be done without being told. Otherwise he would have to tell her what to do, which in turn meant they were not equal.

Simplistic... but in many ways Junan was simplistic.

So to do business we need to do it well, we are not after quick and easy one off payments. We need to do the job well so that they are happy, so that we get more work, so that we get more money. Sure... Junan didn't need the money himself, not really. But he knew that money motivated the others he worked with, which meant that it must motivate some people. With money he could motivate people to do what he told them to do. It's how the villages worked as well. They told shinobi what to do and then paid them for doing it.

As it seemed to work so well, that is what Junan would do.

 

[Ayame]

- Hm... I was left with the impression that your organization doesn't care what might happen to your customers. Back in the bar, remember? You didn't react when I threaten that I'd kill the person who buys me.
She smiled at him as he continued talking. She listened his every word and noticed something. Yeah, he was right, the job had to be done properly and the girl always tried to do her job perfectly. In the past. She was just a pawn for someone, pawn that had no right to have dreams or her own thoughts. She was just a person that had to follow orders, nothing more. But now she was free, so there was always a possibility of causing problems.
But she wasn’t concerned about that. Akuto, as she called him, used the word “equals” too much. Why? Why was this so important to him? People were no equals, every person had it strengths and weaknesses. Not always friends had to be equals, or partners, it seemed Akuto was putting entirely different meaning to this word. Then something popped up in her head.
“We are to be friends and that means you will be kidnapping people when I need you to.”
The girl remained silent for some time, thinking. This man sure was strange. She always tried to learn how someone’s mind worked, and most of the people were easy, had pretty standard minds. But his…
She looked at him as if she were examining him.
“Either he is messing with me or he isn’t able to see that things are more complex than that.”
She stopped right there and stared at his eyes. At least this time she had the chance to see them.
- Okay, I’m willing to learn. Gonna do whatever you want. But… I’d like you to do something for me, it’s not dangerous at all. It’s quite interesting. In fact, it’s like a game. And the loser will have to do whatever the winner wants for one week.
She knew she had to think twice before doing or speaking something to him. Also, maybe the game approach was the right one. If she was right, then Akuto was a competitive type of person and had the desire to win or prove himself that he is better than the other.
- When we’re done here, we gonna meet in like.. hm… 2 days. During these days you will have to think what’s wrong with the thing you said “We are to be friends and that means you will be kidnapping people when I need you to.” If you’re right, you get points, if you’re not you get nothing. And this will be a long game, Akuto-san. It might take days, months.. but we’ll have to answer honestly to every question. If we don’t want to answer, then we don’t and lose points. The loser is the person with less points and he’ll do everything the winner tells him for one week.
She smiled playfully at him. The whole equal thing made her think that he’d love if she was his subordinate for a whole week.
- Oh... and if someone dies during the game... he loses the game.
The girl remembered that this game would take some time and there was a good chance she might end up dead, but she wasn't the type of a person who'd leave things unfinished. Also, he seemed like a person who'd risk his life just for the thrill, so maybe this could be something that will keep him off some serious troubles. After all... she wanted to learn more about him.
- You want to play?

[WC: 610]​

 

[Junan]

He shook his head idly.

They care. I don't tend to, but if we're going to do this then we need to do this right. He grinned. He knew what was what they wanted, he knew what they didn't want, it wasn't understanding that challenged him, but it was the temptation, the desire which ached underneath to cause harm, to cause chaos. Still he behaved within the organization, they had taught him everything he knew, they were why he lived.

His behaviour was also why he never had anything to do with the end client.

Still after answering her question he continued on what he'd had to say. After he finished she spoke up again, but she wanted to play a game with him. His smile slipped from his features as he listened to the rules. The loser would do whatever the winner wanted for a week... but... what would she do if he won? He didn't have anything for her to do right now.

Also her time limit on it seemed unusually non-specific, she could decide to end it as soon as she were ahead.

Two years. It ends in two years from now. Each correct answer is worth 2 points, if part correct 1 point. An equal number of questions must be asked by each of us of the other before the end. Also the prize doesn't have to be at that moment, it can be at a time of the victors choosing. His head leaned forwards and he grinned. Agree and we will play.

 

[Ayame]

She listened carefully to what he was saying. Yeah, his words made sense. But also they made her think…
“Can I really trust that guy?”
It was too early to tell, but by his words she learned that maybe something kept him in that organization that had nothing to do with loyalty or friendship. Maybe he was like her? Staying there because of fear? She knew what was like to be scared of something like this, but she managed to break free.. with the help of…
“Nataku…” – her smile disappeared and she looked at the ground. Most of the people came out from situation like this liars, broken, but definitely not trustworthy. Most of the people. In her case it was something like that… but only with the strangers. For her people’s sake she knew she’d risk her life and die if needed. Is she had any.

Spoiler

But now it wasn’t the time for remembering the past, so Ayame quickly returned the smile on her face and looked at Junan.
- Well, well… aren’t we the bossy type… - she said at him, when he was done establishing the rules of her game. But that’s what she wanted for him – to be active, that way she’d be able to get to know that scary guy in front of her. This game wasn’t for her, it was for him…. Even though she’d be exposed just like him if they were sincere, which was the whole point of the game.
“I guess you have to take risks if you want to accomplish something..”

"You're pathetic. Why do you want a friend like him? You can't even feed from him." - he said inside of her head.
She tried to ignore him. The only question she was asking herself was… why him? Maybe it was because the first impression.
"And a fool, apparently. When you first met him you were entertained, you had fun and he was intimidating, started killing with no reason – that’s what made things interesting. You need the thrill and for you he means... freedom."
He was right. He was right once again.

- Okay, Akuto-san. I accept the rules. Remember, you have to answer to what’s wrong with “We are to be friends and that means you will be kidnapping people when I need you to.” You wanna meet again in two days at hmm.. midnight at Soon’s Harbor?

The girl deliberately didn’t remind him to ask her something. She kept her secrets hidden and wanted to see if she could do this too in this situation.

[WC: 428]​

 

[Junan]

He nodded.

It seemed that todays lesson was done. This would take time to train the girl properly... though first thing was first, he'd need to answer her question.

While she thought she was being sneaky by not getting a question from him, he thought he was being sneaky not asking one. He would see what he could figure out to answer this question... maybe he'd have to ask someone for help.

Two days at Soons Harbor then. He replied and grinned, walking away from the girl. He would do his best to get this question right. Doing so would give him the edge in their competition, and winning would be better than losing... he'd have no idea what kind of things she'd get him doing.

Maybe have him tidy her room... do her laundry... what kind of shit do young girls want slaves to do? Hold her shopping? Pay for her shopping? Good lord. The horrors he may have to endure in a womans clothing store!

These were the assumptions that Junan was making on the subject in his mind. Not that he knew what he'd want to use her for either. He didn't need anything... but perhaps one day he would need something, and it was this that he was doing it for. Of course if she turned him down at that time then he would kill her, unless he was killed due to whatever he needed her for of course.

He had no clue on these matters.

[tutor thread complete. Topic left]