Catching the thief

Mission spec:

"That would be all for now, you may be dismissed. I'm counting on each and every single on of you."
With those words, the Hokage had informed the young ninja of the task ahead of them. 

(Earlier that day)
"Rise and shine Minato", he said to himself. Stretching his arms and legs, rubbing his eyes, Minato started to wake up.
He had a day off since there were no missions planned for him this day, so he had the chance to sleep in this time. 
Or so he thought.

"Knock knock", he could hear the knocking on their front door.
"Minato, it's for you", his mother yelled.
Stretching once more, he decided to go and take a look at who it could be.
When he arrived in the hallway, Minato could see it was one of the Jounin.
"Sorry to interrupt you on your day off Minato, but the Hokage has assembled all available Genin to go to the Hokage Office as soon as possible. So get dressed, take everything you might need as if you were to go on a mission and when you're ready we'll go together to meet everyone else."

"Yes sensei", Minato obeyed the orders of the Jounin.
Putting on his clothes, headband and shoes, Minato made sure not to forget to bring his katana he'd been practicing with. 
"Oh right, can't forget this as well", he said to himself as he was putting in his newly bought Piercing of Swiftness. Made to enhance the person's speed, this would benefit Minato greatly as he was already quite the speedster.
"I'm ready sensei", he said to the Jounin and so they took off together to the Hokage Office.
Minato decided to inquire about the reason the young Genin was called upon by none other than the Hokage himself.
"So would you happen to know why all of us are expected at the Hokage Office?", he asked the Jounin. 
"The Hokage will explain it more detailed, but it seems there is a thief running around the village, going around stealing from different people and although being spotted he has never been caught, so the Hokage decided to put a stop to this once and for all to avoid it from escolating further."
He had heard of the recent stealing happening in the village, but he didn't expect it to be such a big manner for the Hokage himself to be taking action.
And with that, they finally arrived at their destination.

(Present day)
Leaving the Hokage Office, all of the available young Genin were informed with the current situation. Someone had been stealing various items from people around Konoha and the Hokage had tasked the young ninja, those who were not out on a mission, with catching and stopping the thief from stealing anymore, weather by words or physical means. Meaning they had to be careful since they didn't know who they were dealing with. Ideally, the thief would be stopped just by talking to him but chances were they would have to uprehend him using force, even though they didn't want to hurt him, especially if it was someone from their own village. And to complicate things even more, they were on their own. There weren't enough Chuunin or Jounin who could accompany them since there were also other duties needed to be done.
Thinking about their course of action some of the Genin were starting to form little groups. Minato thought it would be better to spread out and cover as much ground as possible so he decided to go out on his own, staying close to the others just in case he or someone else had found the culprit. Minato was thinking about a strategy, running over all the information he had received about the thief. He acted by himself, always managing to get away without being caught or recognized. Which could mean a couple of things. Either the thief was extremely professional or he just knew when and were to act. Since Minato knew that the thief wasn't stupid, he had decided to go with the second option. The easiest way of never getting caught and getting away successfully was to act at places where there weren't much people around. So Minato made the decision to check out the less populated parts of the village, hoping to catch the thief in time.
Trying to get a better view of everything going on in the village, Minato thought it would be best to get to higher grounds. So he started to climb up the houses, running over the roofs and creating a better view for himself. Watching carefully if anything was going on, he could see the other Genin running around as well. Everything was organised very well so it would be difficult for the thief to go around unnoticed.

After patrolling around the village for the last hour, there was no sign of the thief. Decided to regroup, Minato and the others returned to the starting point. Considering their options, they were going to take a small break to continue their search afterwards.
Not having eaten all day, Minato thought it was a good time to replenish his empty stomach. So he went to the closest ramen shop he could find. "I'd like to order Miso Pork Ramen please", he asked the owner of the shop.
Now that he was at the ramen shop he thought it might be a good idea to ask the owner if he had any information on the thief. "If you wouldn't mind me asking, have you heard anything about the recent robbings that have taken place in the village?".
"Well of course, it's the biggest news since Kiri invaded our village. But I'm afraid I don't have anything that could help you with your investigation." 
Finishing his meal and paying for it, Minato thanked the man and once again took off to continue his search for the culprit.

"Maybe nothing will happen today", Minato was thinking. Who knows the thief had gotten word that they were looking for him which made him lay low for a while. 
Strolling around the streets, wondering if the thief would show up, Minato was starting to lose hope until he suddenly could hear a voice in the distance.
"Help, help. Please, stop him!", a voice reaching out for help. "Could it be?", Minato was thinking.
Following the shouting, Minato hurried to get to the place where the voice was coming from. Hoping he wouldn't be the only one who heard the call for help, he had arrived at the scene. Sitting on the ground in the middle of the road there was an old woman. His first thought was to check up on the lady if she wasn't hurt or anything.
"Are you okay miss? Are you hurt? Tell me what happened here." Calming the woman down, Minato was waiting until she was able to get out of her words. 
"I'm okay, I'm not hurt. But my bags are gone, someone took them", she explained to the young Genin. "I was just coming out of the shop, and before I even saw him coming, a stranger suddenly came closer and before I knew it he had taken my bags with all my money inside."
He finally showed himself, the culprit. Now that he was getting so close, Minato needed to take action. Making sure the woman was okay, he helped her up and promised to get her bags back. "Don't worry miss, I'll return your stolen goods. Did you see the direction the thief was heading?".
"It was only for a moment, but I thought he was running in that direction", the old lady said. 
When some other villagers had shown up, Minato asked them to take care of the old lady so he could start the pursuit.

Speeding through the streets and running down the alley, Minato was hoping he was getting closer. Suddenly he could hear someone running. It had to be the thief, no doubt. Coming out of the alley, Minato could see someone in the distance. "I'm almost there, just a little further".
The next street was one with a dead end, this was it. "Stop it right there, you have nowhere to run anymore", he said to the man. "This is as far as you go".
Wondering if reinforcements would soon show up, Minato decided it was his responsibility to confront the man. When the man turned around, Minato would finally be able to see who he was dealing with. Slowly but steady the man started to show himself. When he had revealed himself completely, Minato could see his face. It was the face of a man presumably in his thirties. If you would pass this individual in the streets there would never be a moment where you'd think this man was the one responsible for the crimes going on in the village.
Cornered by Minato and having nowhere to run, the man had no other option than to confess to his crimes. "It's true, I'm the one who's responsible for the thefts going on in the village. You must believe me when I say that I never wanted this to happen, but I had no choice. I lost my job on the moment when my wife was pregnant with our third child. Soon after she got sick and I didn't have the money to pay for her medication. And now I have to go home everyday to my sick wife and our three children and nothing I can do for them."
After hearing the man tell his story, Minato had no other choice but to feel sorry for him. But still, it didn't justify his means to change his situation. 
"I understand it's hard for you and your family, but that doesn't mean it's okay for you to steal from other people who might have the same problems as you", Minato said. Even though he had mixed feelings about all of this, it was his task as a shinobi of Konoha to protect it from anything that could harm it. It was his duty to uphold the law even if it ment putting a man trying to provide for his family behind bars.
"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I'll have to take you in", he explained to the man. 
The man started panicking now that he was being pushed into a corner without a way to escape. Starting to act like a threatened animal he wasn't paying attention to Minato anymore, not listening to what he was saying. Minato knew something was about to happen and was preparing for the worst. There were some old materials like old boxes laying around the alley which the thief had also noticed. Picking one up and throwing it in the direction of Minato he decided to use this to try and make a run for it. Dodging the projectile heading towards him, Minato had to jump aside which cleared a path for the criminal. Because of his action he gave Minato no other option than to react with force.
"You leave me no choice", Minato said. He started to form the tiger handseal which meant he would use one of his newly tought techniques.
"Temporary Paralysis Technique"
The man suddenly stopped moving, it was almost as if he had been bound by steel ropes. "I wish there was another way but there is no way that I could let you go", he said almost apologizing, knowing he had put the man under paralysis. It was the least painful solution he had thought of without extremely harming the man. 
Minato just had to hold on until the reinforcements would arrive. And when you speak of the devil .. A couple of other Genin arrived at the scene so Minato could undo the technique whilst the others took the man in, delivering him to the police force.

Being complimented by his peers, all he had to do now was to report back to the Hokage Office and let the Hokage know that the thief was taken into custody. The Hokage was very pleased with the good news and promised to see that they would be rewarded for their efforts.
It was time to go home, since it has been quite the eventful day. Contemplated if it was the right thing, locking up a man who was only trying to take care of his family. But he was a shinobi now, and he had to be able to put his feelings aside.
Nothing more, nothing less.

(Exit)
(TWC: 2094)
(Claims: Chakra Infusion 2000/2000, 3 AP, 1000 Ryo)

Approved