Protection Money

Mission Details:

Kureji's introduction to Iwagakure was rough, but it seems that the Tsuchikage was willing to give him a chance, and that's all he needed to prove his worth. He has been rather accommodating so far, but it was time that Kureji pull his weight in. He had a few chances to work at the hospital, but it was mostly nursing. It seems that the people of the rock were true to their gimmick and are quite stubborn, in the sense that they wouldn't let Kureji handle more responsibility. They brought up his lack of Iwagakure origin often as an excuse to keep him as a nurse and they knew to keep him at an arms distance and despite his pushing, he couldn't do much to make them budge on that front. "Here's a list of the supplies we need, you can get them at the general store." was the last thing said to him alongside a note with a list and like a good obedient worker, he played the yesman and went to chase on a simple grocery run.

He wasn't expecting the red carpet as soon as he started to be apart of the village, but he wasn't expecting to be shunned so casually either. The Tsuchikage's speech came to his mind, "You have to work hard." but despite his willingness to work hard, no one is actually giving him the chance... but whatever, if he had to play the role of a yesman to get in their good graces, so be it. The market had people, but fortunately it wasn't too crowded and he navigated through easily enough.

He came across a general store, which was a good place as any to start looking for what he needed from that damned list. He opened the door and a bell chimed, with the first thing Kureji seeing as he walked through the door is the person at the counter, who respectively stared right back at Kureji. "Welcome!" he said, so excitedly. Kureji gave a nod to him, and the man's cheeriness died down a little. Kureji felt a little bad with how much energy he put into that welcome, but he wasn't going to brown nose for a random person, even if that person is a shop owner. Kureji minded his own business and was quick to go to the sides, list in his left hand, spare hand in the right as he looked from aisle to aisle.

"... Do you need help?" the guy asked, but Kureji who wasn't even looking at the guy shook his head, one by one, he grabbed the items he needed and it'd take a while to from each inch and corner of the store to get the specific items he needs to grab.

Mitsu was trying her best, as always, to put on a brave and happy face. She wanted nothing more than to fit in here and be accepted by the Land of Earth. In a lot of ways it had been easier in Suna, the people there were more accepting of her strangeness, here she found that the mountains were not the only things that were cold and unforgiving. Chen, Masaru’s protege, had been especially unkind and while she agreed that she probably deserved it, it didn’t mean she liked the treatment. Everything she had done since that fateful day at the Heavenly Emporium had been with the sole purpose of trying to make up for her monumental failure of Iwagakure’s people.

This particular morning would be no different. She had been assisting as well as she could with rebuilding the village and helping return Iwagakure to some semblance of normal. Not that the citizens seemed overly concerned with much of anything, they truly were the ‘Children of Earth’ in about as poetic a way as you would expect. Steadfast and hardy they were able to pick up where they left off, a trait which Mitsu had found admirable if somewhat confusing. In Suna when someone attacked a tent city the residents would just abandon it and make a whole new one. ‘Just one of the many differences between us I guess. Transient and traditional.’ She kept up her musings throughout her travels to the marketplace, only pausing to smile and greet anyone she came across.

That morning was a cold one, and she’d had to pile on even more clothes just to brave walking outside. On top of her now typical attire of head to toe red leather she wore a red and gold cloak with fur edging which she pulled tightly around her as she walked. ‘One day I’ll get used to this. Soon hopefully. You hear that Universe? I would love to be warm here for once.’ Being a child of the desert had its drawbacks, and apparently adjusting to the considerably cooler mountain air was one of them. She pulled a list out of the pocket of her bodice and looked it over, trying to keep as much of herself still under the warm cloak as she walked. Most of the items she was meant to order were tools, things she wasn’t overly familiar with. Like a masonry slicker. She wasn’t even entirely sure that the word wasn’t made up just to make her the butt of the joke.

Pushing her way through the door of the general store she would smile happily as she heard the tiny ‘ding’ of the bell when the door hit it. Her reddish-pink eyes would scan her surroundings and settle on a man behind the front counter, who smiled and offered her an exuberant “Welcome!” The white haired woman would return his smile with equal enthusiasm and walk up to the counter, list in hand. “Thank you! And good morning yourself.” Her melodic voice carried easily in the small space and for a moment she felt like her old self again. Pushing her cloak so that it hung down her back she would place the list on the counter and smile once more at the shopkeeper as she began to explain what she needed. “The stonemasons need more equipment, and since I wanted to help but know almost nothing about masonry, I was sent to order some things for them. I hope that’s no trouble for you.”

"Oh, no worries at all!" he mentioned, he eagerly picked up the list. He looked down from some of the items, though his face looked worried at a particular item. "We're a bit short on clay unfortunately, but everything else we can get for you, but we have lime. That might be a good alternative if they're using it as a mortar." when he thought back to the line of her not knowing anything about masonry, he decided to retract that statement. "Eh... actually, check with your masonry friends first. I wouldn't want to decide for them." a part of him felt a bit sad that he couldn't quite get what she was after, especially with how nice she is compared to the buzzkill that entered his shop, which speaking of, wasn't too far behind Mitsu.

"If you pass me the money, I'll get someone to load up everything else on the list and deliver it at the location you want. I doubt a lady like yourself could carry all that." the list to him looked like a lot of masonry supplies, lots of stone involved as well. If she were to agree or to hold off on it and get the list adjusted with the absence of the clay in mind, he'd pay his attention either way to Kureji, who's right behind. "Hello, quiet man." and in an instant, Kureji slammed down two arms worth of supplies. He didn't come with a bag, so he was carrying quite a bit in what little space he had with his two arms. "Turmeric... haven't seen someone grab that off the shelf for a while, and a few other medicinal supplies... a doctor?" he asked, his opinion suddenly changed of him.

"No, I work as a nurse at the hospital." still, a certain social respect was given to anyone who aided in the lives of others, and that's how the shopkeeper saw him now. "I see why you were so quiet, the hospital environment getting to you, huh?! my bad!" Kureji just stayed quiet to it, although the shopkeeper was a bit disappointed that didn't incite a response out of him, he understood well enough that if he didn't want to be social, he didn't have to. He went through all the items that was at the counter, coming to a price which Kureji paid for. He was nice enough to put it all into a bag, to make it easier so he's not barely holding onto everything with his two arms.

With Kureji's business just about concluded, the door's bell chimed again and this time, two men entered through. They were a mix between both respectable and shady in appearance, Kureji's eye was focusing on of the man's pockets which was bulging out, the outline was clear to him as day... a dagger. He knew better than to play the hero, taking the bag as fast as he could and planned to head out the door, brushing against the two men who immediately made their way for the counter. The shopkeepers happy attitude was suddenly shot down, as if he recognised the faces of the two men that just entered.

"We've come to collect." not much more information was given, as if the shopkeeper was supposed to know what that meant. "You've been avoiding us for several weeks now, but easy times over. We're sick of following you around like a sick puppy, pay up." the men clearly knew there were others around, and tried to be brief and less-threatening as they could be, but anyone perceptive enough with the right read on social cues could clearly see that it's a shakedown. "I'll report to the shinobi about this!" and the bold man's eyebrow raised. "We both know you haven't, otherwise they would already be all over us. We're always watching and the instant you think of blowing the whistle, you're already dead. You don't want to end up like the others, do you?" with no regard to Mitsu and Kureji, their threat was far more direct. "I won't ask again, or else we're going to take what is ours."

Mitsu listened politely as the shopkeeper tried to explain why certain things weren’t available and other things were. She didn’t understand most of it, she’d had only the barest concept of what she was coming here for and the nuances of stone masonry were beyond her ability to grasp. She would nod appreciatively as the man tried to solve her problem though, kind as ever. “It’s quite alright, I’m sure we’ll be able to get those things at some point. No point crying over spilled. . . clay?” She would laugh as her idiom fell apart, moving to the side and pulling out the money she’d been given for the task. Noticing the man behind her she would offer him a smile, her eyes still twinkling with the delight of her failed attempt at humour.

Leaning on the counter as she counted out the ryo, Mitsu would glance up as the other customer mentioned he was a nurse at the hospital. She knew how that could affect people, and her heart went out to the quiet man, giving him another smile should he happen to notice her staring. There had been much to cause pain during the war, and it broke her heart to think of it. Turning her attention back to the money she would busy herself counting it out until her attention was grabbed by an outside source yet again. ‘Honestly Mitsu, at this rate you might count it out by the time the sun sets.’ Looking towards the chiming bell of the front door she saw two men enter and head straight towards the front counter.

They didn’t look particularly friendly and Mitsu would let her hands rest on the pile of ryo that she had been failing to count and watched the scene unfold. She’d seen that look often enough, the grim determination of someone who had a job to do and hated it. Or hated something. She saw it all the time on Chen, and she’d seen it on Argent’s face as well. It chilled her as one of the men spoke. She wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘collect’ but by the look on the shopkeepers face, it certainly wasn’t good. She was clearly staring now, and as the shopkeeper mentioned reporting to the shinobi she would stand up straight. There was only one reason someone would mention that as far as she knew, and as the thug threatened the shopkeepers life she knew she couldn’t stand silently and watch.

Clearing her throat she would walk towards where the two men were, placing herself squarely between them and the counter in front of the friendly shopkeeper. “What do you think you’re doing?” Her voice hardly sounded authoritative as it’s gentle melodic tone seemed to make the question something you might aim at a disoriented kitten. The two men would glance at each other with raised brows and then laugh. A cruel and incredulous laugh. Mitsu didn’t get the joke, and would cross her arms in front of her, her brows furrowing together as she tried to look more serious. ‘I don’t see what’s so funny, unless they’re laughing at me. That would make sense, I’m not exactly scary looking.’  She would wait until they quieted some before speaking up again. “There’s no way you just walked in here and threatened this nice man. I don’t like to judge people, but as far as choices go, that was a fairly stupid one.” In the past weeks she’d had just about enough of watching people bully others, and even though she was vastly underprepared she wasn’t going to stand for it.

The men looked at Mitsu seriously, up and down in a condescending manner. He then looked over to where Kureji was, his hand had already opened up the door and bashed against the bell, chiming once more. "You should follow the lead of that man, at least he has the right idea." at least, Kureji was planning to be out until this turned into a scene, but now that the shopkeeper and potentially the girls life is involved... maybe it was time for him to act? the logical side of him screamed at him to walk out that door, there is no benefit whatsoever... but the human side of him wants to turn around and help those two. "Kureji Toukei, what the fuck are you doing?" he thought in his head. The door closed once more, and when one of the men looked towards his direction instead, they saw Kureji heading back towards them.

In that instant, the man unsheathed the dagger from his pocket. "What is it with everyone playing hero these days? oh well... more corpses to add to the pile." the man didn't even consider Mitsu a threat, so he simply walked past and went straight for Kureji. The man was snarky, confident and physically more impressive than Kureji's slim frame. That's what Kureji hoped on, to be underestimated. The man went for a quick stab, normally Kureji wouldn't be quick enough to perceive such a quick jab, but he would let it hit and his senses were keen enough to predict where it would be hit. It would've entered the flesh, if the spot that the man tried to pierce didn't suddenly bounce off, the dagger fell from his hand.

If anyone saw through the torn hole in Kureji's shirt, they could see his skin was blackened, a clear use of some kind of jutsu, before the man could even react to grab his dagger again, the hardening went around Kureji's hand, who clenched it into a fist and charged it at the man's side. It would feel like being hit by a rock in the face at great force, which was enough to knock the man down instantly.

The other man was quick to panic at the sudden outcome, his first instinct was to grab Mitsu as a hostage, but the shop owner hadn't sat idly while the man was distracted at what happened. His big arms went around the last man's neck, getting him into a chokehold that would stop his breathing for a bit, to the point until his body stopped responding. He hadn't killed him, but only knocked him out. He then gently led the man to the ground afterwards.

Kureji believed that the situation was handled, he started to walk out of the door. The shopkeeper instantly looked at him in a confused look, "Where are you going?! you have to help now, otherwise their gang is going to kill me for this!" Kureji's golden iris looked sharply back at him, displaying a critical side of him. "That's your responsibility. If you got involved with them somehow in the first place, that's your burden to deal with, not mine." Kureji wanted to ensure that nothing happened here and he at least achieved that. He wasn't obligated to help any further. The shopkeeper looked panicky as it looked like Kureji was genuinely about to head out the door.

Used: Earth Spear

This was not the first time Mitsu had stupidly decided that her only course of action was to literally attempt to block attacks with her body. The look on the thugs faces told her that she was not a concern for them, and she would agree. The only thing she had going for her was gumption and that didn’t count for a lot when violence was involved. She held her ground though, unwilling to let these men hurt the nice shopkeeper. As one of the men took out a knife and went towards the nurse who had been just about to leave she would speak up briefly, “Hey, come back-” Only to turn her attention back to the thug in front of her as she saw the situation handled effortlessly.

She wasn’t entirely sure how her day would have gone had the shopkeeper not leapt into action. Probably not very well, as she saw the panic in the second thugs eyes. Panic made people do stupid and dangerous things, and at that moment she was the only thing in arms reach. She would wince in sympathy as she watched the shopkeeper's large arm curl around the thug's neck, holding him there until he passed out and was gently set on the floor. The whole exchange was swift and Mitsu would turn to look at the man who was currently leaving again, echoing the shopkeepers request as she bolted to where he was near the front door. “Please.” She spoke the word frantically, pausing to calm herself as she thought of how best she could persuade this unknown hero. “Firstly, are you alright? That one had a knife and. . .” She would peer at the man’s form, searching for any sign of injury before continuing. “Thank you, I didn’t really have a plan and if you hadn’t been here, I think that would have gone very differently. Those men. . .” She would gesture towards the two unconscious thugs laying on the floor of the shop, and ask a question of the shopkeeper. “You said they’re a gang? There’s only one crime family left that I’m aware of. They’re not the Kai-” She didn’t get the whole name out before the shopkeeper would nod solemnly. Shaking her head she would turn her attention back to the man at the door. “This is bad. Really bad. Please, I need to fix this. But the last time I tried to deal with them on my own I failed. These men are incredibly dangerous. Well… not these ones in particular, clearly. But the family is.” Her eyes grew dark as the memory of what Argent had promised pushed its way to the forefront of her mind. “They won’t stop with just roughing up a shopkeeper. Please help me, whatever you want, if it’s in my power to give I’ll grant it to you.” She’d learned that inspiring words were not enough, she wished they were, but if her experience with Argent was any indication - most people preferred money.

The words of the women had definitely stopped Kureji in his tracks, he really had no reason to help them. The fact that a crime family is involved is business that he already knew not to push into. He made the mistake of raising his fist, a voice inside him that told him to do the right thing... but his charity had ended, and even with the woman's words, his head tilted back towards the door. "These men rule with an ironfist... once they hear what happened here, they're going to kill me for sure. You're a nurse, right? well, probably more than that with how you handled yourself. I'm asking you for your help... isn't that what you do?" his hand remained on the doorknob, the offer of what she could give in her power didn't sound like it amounted up to much.

He stood there, motionless for a few seconds until he closed his eyes, gave an annoyed sigh and turned around. "Right then, it's best to lock up these guys for now." the shopkeeper seemed worried at that logic. "You think that'll stop them from finding out?" Kureji shook his head, "No, but it'll delay the time they'll figure out what happened here. That gives us more time to deal with this problem." he made himself comfortable on the shop counter, to which the shopkeeper obviously had an objection by his body movement alone, he kept quiet about it.

"They mentioned they would do something to you to what they've done to others, what does that mean?" Kureji asked the shopkeeper, who looked at him. "Some shopkeepers tried to blow the whistle and go to the Tsuchikage's Complex, they were never seen again and it was made clear what would happen if any other shopkeeper tried to do the same." to Kureji, that meant this is a group with lots of eyes in the town. It was even more imperative that these men don't leave the shop, but that also made him cautious of who they're actually dealing with. "You didn't finish saying the name before." he looked on over to the woman now. "It's obvious to me that you both know who's behind this, if you want me to help you, I need to know exactly who we're dealing with... how many men they have, base of operations, how much reign they have in this town. It sounds like to me they have eyes everywhere, so we definitely can't let these two leave." he motioned to the two unconscious bodies. "Spare no detail, every bit helps."

Mitsu would listen quietly as the two currently conscious men exchanged words. She knew she should be better at it, or at least try, but diplomacy was still not her thing. She desperately wanted it to be, but her confidence had taken a massive blow as of late. The war had proven to her that she was sorely lacking in some core skills, and while she had resolved to try harder, it was supremely difficult for her to ignore the two unconscious thugs on the floor of the shop. Violence of any kind was not something she had been used to seeing throughout her life, even during the bandit raids when she was younger and travelling through the desert with her parents, they must have taken great pains to shelter her from the reality of the attacks. She couldn’t recall seeing people get hurt or anything, which as an adult didn’t quite make sense. She should have seen something and yet all she could remember was the peace and love she felt as part of her family. So now, the scene of two men lying on the floor was jarring in a way that left her tongue tied.

Following Kureji’s lead she would move back over to the front counter and make herself comfortable. For her though that meant hopping up gracefully and sitting with her legs hanging off the edge. She swung her legs back and forth anxiously, the whole situation made her extremely nervous, and with so much nervous energy it had to be expelled somewhere. And since she didn’t think dancing would be viewed as an appropriate reaction to dealing with a crime family, swinging her feet was what happened. ‘All you had to do was get some supplies. That’s it. Nothing special, just a simple stone masonry order. Whatever that means. But somehow you ended up involved in yet another situation involving the Kaifeng’s’ Mitsu’s mind was wandering and it was only brought back when she realized that Kureji was speaking to her directly. With a minute shake of her head to clear the day dreaming she would turn towards him, leaning on her arms as she rested them on the tops of her thighs. Her face turned serious as he asked for every bit of information she had. Serious was a relative term, and while she was serious about this, her face was unused to frowning, the effect being closer to thoughtful than serious as she answered his questions.

“The Kaifeng family.” The word ‘Kaifeng’ was nearly inaudible, she was genuinely afraid someone might hear and then suddenly all hell would break loose. “They’re the last remaining crime family in the Land of Earth. They’re ruthless and despite my husband’s best efforts have proven to be difficult to remove.” She would pause and hop down from the counter top to stand in front of Kureji, raising her reddish pink eyes to his gold ones in an attempt to impress upon him how serious she was. “I met their. . . leader? I guess he was their leader, he at least was given authority to speak for them all. Argent.” She would shudder as she remembered the man’s anger in response to the threat she had given him, and the scorching of the world around him at his rage. “Argent was very powerful, and I can only expect that the rest of the family are well suited to violence. He described them all as ‘survivors’ that had done terrible things to get by. I would love to believe that those missing merchants were just being held somewhere. But I’m not hopeful. They had sworn fealty to the Tsuchikage, but recently they broke their oath and have likely by now sworn fealty to Konohagakure. I was sent to negotiate on behalf of the Tsuchikage to assure their assistance in the war and I failed utterly.”

She would pause again and look down, her face creased with shame and sadness as she felt the weight of that failure rest heavily on her shoulders once more. “So that’s why I must fix this, without any intervention now they’ll just run rampant throughout the Land of Earth. And during those negotiations my husband was promised a bloody death if he involved himself, Argent said nothing of me.” She was fully aware that her storming a Kaifeng base was a truly terrible idea, but she needed to redeem herself, she needed to do something good. And if that meant disrupting at least some of their criminal dealings, then she would do it. “I know that they control the Northeastern province of these lands, so we’ll need to go there. I don’t know how many of them will be left since their switch in allegiances so it might not end up being too difficult to make a dent in their criminal empire.” Gesturing to the two thugs she would look at Kureji questioningly. “What do we do with them? Tie them up or something? I don’t really know how to handle this to be perfectly honest, and you look more. . .  experienced than I do.” She would chuckle awkwardly as she looked around the room for some way to keep the thugs under control.

He listened to the details that she put down, every little bit helped to map out who these guys were. He played it as a visual imagination of a wall in his head, every piece of info helped put pages of information on the wall and put it together. "Crime is always a current unfortunately, get rid of pests in one place, you'll find them in another." ideally, it'd be nice to root out criminal activity like that once and for all, but that's just an unrealistic expectation for any nation. The best they can do is minimise it. He didn't realise that she was personally involved with these criminals, he only considered the shopkeeper, but he hadn't considered her involvement in all this.

After she explained everything to him, he pieced it together as best as he could, imagination wise. "The Kaifeng family, the leader is Argent. They're in the Northeastern Province..." he muttered to himself. The question came to what they could do with the two thugs they've beaten up, they wouldn't be asleep forever. "If I'm being honest, the logical side in me is saying to kill them off... but..." he looked at the shopkeeper and his newfound ally in this mess, they didn't strike him as someone who would be comfortable with such a decision and wouldn't want to waste time trying to convince them otherwise. "Just keep them in here for now, if they have eyes in town, they would notice if we try to turn them in. The longer they stay in here, the more clueless the rest of them are."

"By the way, what's your name? I'm Kureji." he asked to the lady. If he's going to be working with her, a name would be needed. "If your husband is ballsy enough to try and get the rest of them in control, he must be someone significant in this village." only a handful of people would try to do that, as most common folk wouldn't come near the thought of messing with criminal elements. "We won't kill these men in here, but I don't know if I can say the same when we find the rest of them, they're most likely going to attack us with full intent to kill and I can't hold back if they're as powerful as you're making them out to be." He'd rather not deal with that talk, but he needs to make it clear that killing isn't out of the question. He couldn't think of a reason for them to not be dead, but he knew that people with differing morals would have a different mindset. "If you're okay with that, I'd say to cut off their head, this Argent guy you mentioned, best way to deal with organised crime is to make them disorganised and make chaos for them. That'd be easier to pick them off then and make that dent we want."

Mitsu was glad that the man was willing to listen to her, it gave her hope that she wouldn’t have to do this alone, and that she may actually be able to correct her failings during the war. As he commented on her explanation she would nod along in confirmation of his understanding. Only pausing as he mentioned the idea of killing the two men that lay on the shop floor. It was difficult for her to hide her horror at the suggestion, she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of killing anyone. She wasn’t against the idea of it happening necessarily, should the Universe deem it the natural course of things who was she to argue, but for her to do it? That seemed far above her inherent right to decide, whether a person should be allowed to live or sentenced to die.

She was obviously relieved when he suggested that rather than kill them, the thugs should be kept in the shop away from prying eyes. It was a far preferable solution than cold blooded murder and she would agree emphatically. “I like that idea much better. If we tie them up well enough they won’t cause a problem and then we can deal with them properly. No killing necessary.” Her entire philosophy revolved around the Universe being allowed to turn as it should, and forcing your will onto its designs never ended well.

There had been one piece of information that she had withheld, not intentionally, but Mitsu wasn’t the type of person to understand the significance of ‘dropping names’. Hearing Kureji talk about Masaru made her smile and also made her suddenly feel very rude for not having introduced herself earlier. Clearing her throat and holding out her hand to offer a friendly shake she would introduce herself properly to Kureji. “Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude there was just so much going on. I’m Mitsukira Tatsudashi, though you may call me Mitsu.” Whether Kureji shook her hand or not she would lower her hand and continue. “My husband is Sandaime Tsuchikage, Masaru Tatsudashi.” More quietly and with a touch of humour in her voice she would lean in and add another comment on his observations. “And yes, I guess you could say he is kinda ballsy.” There was a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke of Masaru, adoration evident in her innocent doe eyes.

She would nod again in agreement to Kureji’s sentiment of not killing the thugs in the shop. She couldn’t agree more and her constant bobbing of her head was almost comical. “I don’t expect you to hold back if it’ll cause you harm. I would prefer no one get hurt, but I also realize that’s a fool's dream. I’m just happy that you’re willing to help me with this. There is nothing I would currently love more than to ensure that Argent and Masaru never meet, so if we can do that somehow then all the better.” She found some ropes and began tying up the thug nearest the counter, helping as best she could to secure the men and follow the first part of Kureji’s plan. “I’ve never been in combat myself by the way, I’ve been trained and I’ll follow your lead though.” She didn’t want to appear as any more competent than she actually was and falsely lead Kureji into thinking she was a skilled fighter.

Kureji was glad there was a understanding given, with how these thugs meant business, he had a feeling the crime family didn't care much about the morality behind killing, and he couldn't hold back in that case. "Looks like the shopkeeper should stay here then, he'll keep these guys locked up." Kureji was surprised that so far, nobody had walked through the door. He supposed with how the market was before he entered outside, it wasn't too busy so that worked into their favour, but that also meant it'd be easier for any prying eyes to see them, and more critical that the thugs don't leave the shop, questions will be raised sooner or later but the sooner they get this out of the way, the less they would have to worry about loose ends like that.

"Northeastern region, huh? that'll take some time." he was saying out loud, but he was surprised to hear that she's the wife of the Tsuchikage, his posture remained stoic, but internally, his mind was shocked at the revelation. He supposed he made the right decision of intervening... otherwise, if her husband had heard about what happened and he did nothing to stop it, that would've looked bad on him. "You haven't been in combat?" Kureji asked... he wondered if there was anything she could help with at all. "What are you good at? any skills or elements?" he needed to work out what he's dealing with.

It was time for them to get moving, but in doing so, a thought came to possibly prepare themselves. "Is there any gear you need before we leave?" if she doesn't have much combat experience, having some tools might help her in that case. He wasn't sure how tough this Argent guy was, or how tough those following him are, but they surely can't be more powerful than an duo of shinobi. They were in the general store, so while it didn't have a focus on weapons, it should have some general equipment that they could use.

Mitsu was satisfied with the amount of tying up she’d done on the two thugs. She’d maybe used too much rope, but she wanted to make sure that they couldn’t get away and hurt anyone. She didn’t want to hurt them either, but she was less concerned for their well being than that of the shopkeeper. She was relieved that Kureji hadn’t made a big fuss over who her husband, and consequently who she was. His stoic assessment of the situation was doing a lot to keep her calm and she made a mental note to thank him for it later.

His questions regarding her combat experience weren’t overly surprising. They were about to attack the Kaifeng base, or at least one of them. And there were only two of them. It was reasonable to want to know what she was capable of, since she would be providing back up. She had already seen that he was good at not being stabbed, but he had seen nothing from her. Partly because there wasn’t much to see, combat wise. If the Kaifeng family wanted to have a dance off to save the Universe, that was a different matter. But that was incredibly unlikely, no matter how much it tickled her to think of. She would answer his question honestly and simply. “What I’m actually good at is probably not overly useful in combat to be truthful. I’m a dancer. But as far as shinobi skills go, I have training in medical and sensory and access to wind and lightning. Pretty standard stuff, and like I said I have been trained formally. Just never tested in the field.” While she spoke she was gathering some supplies from the shop; bandages and rope, a canteen and some food. She knew the trip was fairly far and she wanted to be prepared should anything go wrong. She still had to gather her weaponry but she would wait to do that until they were ready to leave.

She wouldn’t have felt confident if someone told her that, so she wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to back out, or find a better partner. “I’m also pretty good at just standing in the way of things, maybe not the most healthy of habits, but I’m willing to do it. I need to deal with these criminals, and I’m going to do everything in my power to settle this. One way or another.” Mitsu was an oddly brave person for being so unskilled. Some people may have referred to that as ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’. But not her, she understood that within the Universe sometimes the only thing required was to stand up and try, and the pieces would fall into place. And if they didn’t fall into place, then that was how the Universe meant things to proceed. And that she was also accepting of. So when she spoke it was with utter certainty. She would not allow this to go any further than her. Not as long as she was alive. If she didn’t deal with it then undoubtedly Masaru and Argent would clash and that would be a sad day for everyone.

His face was already casual, keeping a straight face and an ear to her next words... the words "I'm a dancer" was so unexpected that it got a snicker from him, not out of disrespect, but just the last thing he'd expect to be brought up in a ninja's resume. The skills mentioned after that though were a bit more notable, medical, sensory, wind and lightning. She had a bit of potential but it was good of her to admit she didn't have much battlefield experience... to be fair, he didn't have much time on the battlefield himself, but he had a fair bit of training to make up for it. "Medical and sensory are pretty useful, mostly the sensory. We can make use of that." he could probably pick up on any sneak attacks since he doubt these bandits were a serious threat, but having someone sense and pick up on jutsu will definitely be helpful.

"Bravery gets you far, but just makes sure it doesn't border on bravado, that's what gets you killed." that was a bit of advice for her, he liked her attitude towards this, but at the same time, he wants to make sure it's not the death of her or in this case, the death of both of them in a critical situation. "Okay, I think your training is enough to deal with these hooligans, fortunately, we're fighting shady criminals, not trained ninja." The latter would make it more difficult, but that's why he's confident himself. He wouldn't put it past the thugs to know at least a few jutsu at most, but they should be nowhere near the elite level of shinobi.

Kureji grabbed more standard ninja equipment and did not hold back in what he wanted, which seemed to tick off the shopkeeper just a tad bit. He grabbed kunai, shuriken, a pouch bag, wire, he would've grabbed more critical equipment like smoke bombs and explosive tags, but he should've expected a general store to not have those items. "Alright, ready to go brave Mitsukira?" if she followed her, he'd make his way back to the door. The shopkeeper would take care of the thugs for now. Kureji opened the door, immediately heading out and looking amongst the crowds. As far as his eyes could tell, no one was peeping. He turned his head around and gave a nod to Mitsu, giving her the signal to come along.

As they walked, Kureji would ask her more about the Argent guy. "I doubt these criminals can stand against a duo of ninja, but you mentioned their leader." he didn't say his name in public, as he didn't want to draw unwanted attention. "Tell me, what is he like? power wise. The more I know, the better prepared we can be." he needed to know how much of a smooth criminal he was.

Mitsu smiled at Kureji’s snicker, she was used to the reaction, and she never took it personally. She had been well prepared to have the world look at her antics as odd. Her parents had always insisted that she was a ‘free spirit’ and had told her not to worry about how others might view that. Being able to laugh and dance and sing was part of what made her unique - and happy. And if all that amounted to was the occasional laugh from someone, she saw that as more than worth it. She had also found in her limited dealings with shinobi that most of the time people were willing to laugh with her, or at least quietly appreciate the gentler parts of her personality. ‘Most of the time, when it’s not Chen.’ There were always exceptions though, and Chen was definitely one of them. The only smiles she’d ever seen of his were . . . not nice.

Taking a few moments Mitsu would gather a few shuriken and a kunai, promising to repay the shopkeeper as she did so. Taking a small bag with a strap that slung crossways over her torso she would deposit the supplies and weaponry she had gathered, double checking that her twin tessen were secured to her belt. She would nod as Kureji gave her advice on how not to die, the kind of advice she was always willing to take. Dying would spell the end of her adventures and she wasn’t eager to end them just yet. Mitsu would follow along with Kureji answering his questions as best she could. “I’m not really worried about dealing with the ‘hooligans’ as you say. If they’re like those guys in the shop I think it’ll be fine. I’m not so sure about their leader though, he seemed to be fairly important and based on how negotiations went it’s likely he’s not even here anymore, probably in Konoha. But if he is here I think we’re in trouble. He made the water in a glass he was holding boil away to nothing, even scorched the glass. No hand seals or anything that I could see. Also scorched the chair he was sitting on, again just sort of passively. And that was with a momentary bit of annoyance, I’d hate to see what he’d do if he was angry enough to actually fight.” Mitsu would activate her sensory ability as they travelled, getting a good sense of what Kureji’s chakra was like and scanning for anything that seemed odd. What ‘odd’ meant was not entirely clear even to her, she was still getting used to using the ability and so still wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to be looking for. “What are you good at by the way? Other than being a nurse of course. And handily taking down thugs.”

[Activated Sensory]

It seems like they weren't dealing with simple hooligans after all, as he hoped. He wouldn't be surprised if one or two thugs had some decent jutsu, but he certainly didn't expect them to be trained and with the description that she provided, it might even be harder to pull his punches. It sounded like a legitimate threat that he'd have to deal with. "You keep saying scorch... are we talking literal scorch, or is he good with fire?" the difference would be key here, if it's not fire then it must be a special ability, possibly a kekkei genkai. He might be able to hold his own even then, but details were important. The question came as to what he was actually good at, and he pondered. "Medical jutsu like you said, Earth which you probably saw with the hardened skin... I do a fair bit of summoning... I think that's honestly it. I'm at peak performance as a ninja alongside all that." now that he thought about it, he really should add more to his arsenal. He has the capability to add more, he just hadn't made the effort yet.

"I think we're rushing it if we try to get this done in one day, I don't know about you, but it's been an exhausting day for me and I imagine you didn't plan for your day to turn out like this either. How about we rest for the night? there should be an inn or somewhere along the way." with how these mountains were, some businesses might take advantage of the rough terrain for constant resting spots in the most convenient of places.

"Oh, fun fact. I came across the land a while back and Masaru personally recruited me himself, he had all these earth walls around me, likes to be a guy who intimidates I guess." he didn't really fear Masaru at that moment, but Kureji was smart enough to know that was a fight he didn't want to take on, with his words ending up saving him.

As they walked Mitsu did her best to answer Kureji’s questions. Her best was probably not up to par with what could be considered high intellect, but she tried. “I’m not sure that it was actual scorch, to be honest I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t just fire. I was too afraid to ask.” She would shiver as she thought of Argent’s anger that day, it was the first time she recalled being threatened and also the first time she had felt true fear.

She was intrigued about his mention of summoning and her mood would lighten considerably as she questioned him about it. “What sort of things do you summon? I’ve heard of summoning but I’ve never seen it. It must be nice to be able to summon companions to help you!” In her mind she was picturing majestic birds and adorable critters. Which was probably not what he meant, but it was enough to put a spring back in her step.

They traveled for most of the day, Mitsu leaping onto and off of any surface that was even remotely higher than ground level. She would chatter on about her various adventures in Iwa and in Suna, mostly speaking of her cousins Jethro and Stefan and their musicality. If Kureji listened to her stories all the better, though she was content to simply express herself to the world. His suggestions of staying somewhere for the night brought an excited “Oh!” from her as she jumped down from another rock.

Placing both hands on her hips she would look up at him and nod her head emphatically. “I think that’s a great idea! We could get some food! Oh, I’m actually really hungry now that I think about it. Yes, let’s go find an inn or something!” Without really waiting she would start bounding off to higher ground in search of a resting spot. Hearing him talk about Masaru made her pause and her pace would slow slightly. “So you’re not from Iwa originally either? Where are you from? If you don’t mind my asking. And what do you mean earth walls? I assume you mean a jutsu of some kind, but yes he does like to be intimidating.” She laughed warmly as she spoke and barraged Kureji with questions again.

Mitsu continued to question Kureji as they moved to the hideout of the Kaifeng that remained in the Land of Earth. Mainly she prattled on with inane questions and comments about the landscape and ideas for how to enjoy the scenery better. As it grew darker Mitsu’s vision improved considerably and before long she could clearly see a number of tents with a small fire glowing in the center of the half circle the tents had made.

Still using her sensory ability she could pick out half a dozen chakra signatures, though they were relatively weak. She thought hard about what the mission they were embarking on entailed, and decided that she could probably scare them off easily without hurting a single one of them. Moving quietly she would sneak to within sixty meters of the campfire and form the Ram hand seal, focusing her chakra into creating four small tornadoes of fuuton in the center of the campfire. As expected the tiny tornados would swirl the flames into themselves and create fiery zephyrs, which having appeared out of nowhere were enough to startle the six criminals that were still gathered in the small camp.

Inspired by a game she used to play as a child, she would form two hand seals, the Ram and then the Dog and finally she would place her hand against her throat. Focusing on her memory of Argent she would alter her voice to mimic his and center it on the campfire and the tornados she had created. She figured that anyone in the Kaifeng family would recognize Argent’s voice and considering the man’s reputation they wouldn’t think too hard about whether or not it was actually his voice.

”With enemies on all sides can ye really afford ta be dividen yer attentions to include sittin around? Get ta moving! Now!"

It was possibly the most clever thing Mitsu had ever done. And she really hoped that it wouldn’t come back to haunt her later. But as soon as Argent’s voice boomed from the fire the six criminals jumped to their feet and began packing up their camp as those all the devils from all the nine hells nipped at their heels. Mitsu would stay hidden until she saw them depart, breathing a sigh of relief that the fear they had of their leader was enough to get them to leave without any violence involved.

It was a long trip back to Iwagakure in the dark, but she could see well enough and the stars and Kureji kept her company. She parted ways once they entered the village, returning to the general store and releasing the ‘prisoners’ with a stern word of warning regarding extortion and the penalties that would follow if any further crime was conducted within the city. She made no effort to hide who she was, she was known well enough in the village and if anyone wanted to mess with her she knew she had the support of at least those loyal to Masaru. With the mission to scare away the remaining Kaifeng complete, she would return to her home to care for her husband and keep watch in case he should wake.


[Exit Thread]
[Trained 1 Custom C-Rank Technique 200/200]

Technique Trained: