A Thief in Konoha! (Kizaru K./D rank Mission/NK)

Mission:

Chuta was eating breakfast. His eggs and bacon spread out on his plate like the deliciousness that it was. He was digging in when another ninja joined him. Chuta didn't mind the intrusion, though the ninja had a gloomy face. His dark eyes and concerned brow. Chuta looked at him and swallowed, the food in his mouth was a lot and it took a minute.

"Whats up?" Chuta asked. Hoping it was nothing and his face was just like that.
"We have a problem. Someone around town has been stealing. The Ramen shop came up 300 Ryo short Monday. On Tuesday, a kids bike was stolen. Then, on Friday and today someone has taken four scrolls from the library." The ninja answered. "Its been a long week."
"Sounds like a lot of work, maybe a crime ring." Chuta said.
"Nah, just one."
"One?" Chuta was surprised, "How do you know that?"
"The person left a calling card. At each of these places this was found." The ninja slid a black feather over the table. "They are calling him 'The Crow', we need to end this Chuta. The Kage has tasked you and Kizaru to the task. Hurry up and finish eating, its going to be a long day." The ninja stood up and walked away, but not before leaving an envelope on the desk with all the details of the thefts.

Chuta scarfed down the rest of his breakfast and walked out of the breakfast shop. The sun was already up, the streets busy. He began to work his way to the first destination, Lets check out the library first he thought. Kizaru can catch up.

WC: 276
TWC: 276

Kizaru had barely made it out of his apartment door for the morning when a shinobi with a mission scroll sprinted up to him. Out of breath the messenger explained that there was a thief in Konoha who was getting progressively more confident in his skills. Kizaru and Chuta were tasked with locating this supposed 'The Crow' person.

The messenger informed Kizaru that his partner for this mission has already been informed and was probably already on the case. Though he hadn't even had time to eat breakfast the young genin would also hop right to investigating.

"Let's see; Ramen money, a bicycle, and some scrolls from the library." He scratched the side of his head and thought for a moment. The only one of those places really worth a follow up in his mind was the library. Money and a bicycle were probably diversions to keep them from the real crime.

He had to find out what scrolls were taken. "Off to the library then." When he arrived he was pleased to see that Chuta must've had a similar idea.

WC (181)

Walking up to the library Chuta met up with Kizaru. "How's it going?" He asked as they approached the library. There were steps leading up to a large stone looking building. It had two sets of broad doors and a crowd of people trickled in and out, some were dressed with suits and others normal street cloths, even a gaggle of academy students passed Chuta as he walked.

"I see they chose the best of Konoha's Genin for this one." Chuta laughed. He liked Kizaru and hopped his investigation skills were better than his own. "I think the scrolls were from the historical section. Something on architecture." Chuta thought for a moment, What does someone need with 300 ryo, a bike, and scrolls on architecture?. "You can lead the way. I think we have to go up the stairs and to the left."

If they decided to go in the building would open up to a huge vaulted ceiling with two sets of stairs going up their left and right. Forward would be the office spaces, and a little before that the restrooms.

WC: 183
TWC: 459

Kizaru also laughed at Chuta's joke. They clearly weren't the leaf's finest shinobi, yet. Scrolls on architecture could be a lead he thought.

As they walked into the grand library he asked, "Do we know what buildings those scrolls are connected to? Some pocket change and a kid's bike are hardly things worth stealing, let alone leaving a calling card for."

Kizaru was almost certain the first two crimes were simply meant to throw off investigators. The library would have plenty of old building blueprints and historical maintenance records. If those scrolls were about a place of importance, then the thief could be using them to find a hidden entrance somewhere.

(WC 111)

“Not sure what they were for, we may need to ask the librarian.” Chuta said as they made their way upstairs. The stairs opened up to a space full of book shelves and shelves specifically designed for the storage of scrolls. In the center of the room was another circular desk were a person sat. She had glasses and puffs of gray hair that peppered her brown hair. Her skin was fair and she still had a pretty yet older look to her.

“Hello ma’am.” Chuta said. He got her attention and she walked over.
“How can I help yo?” She said in a gentle and quite voice, the kind you would expect from a librarian.
“I was wondering if you could give us an idea on what these scrolls contained” Chuta showed her a page with an identification number for each of the scrolls that were taken.
“Hmm, let me look.” The women stepped a side and took the page he held out. She seemed to compare the numbers on the page with numbers in a book that she flicked through. “Oh, there it is. These scrolls were the architectural plans for the Kaga’s monument and the tunnels inside.” She finished. “There were reported stolen this morning.”
“Thank you ma’am.” Chuta said and stepped back.

He looked at his companion. “What do you think?”

WC: 225

The two ninja walked into a room that probably held a startling amount of information on scrolls. The woman behind the counter informed them that the stolen scrolls were information on the kage mountains. If Kizaru remembered correctly there was an old escape route for when the village is attacked hidden inside the Kage Faces.

"Maybe they are planning something with the evacuation tunnels." He dropped to a squat and scratched his head. He was thinking of possible motives. A reason for someone to steal info on the evacuation routes. He just couldn't think of a reason why however.

"I can't think of what but if we were to check it out over there maybe we could find some clues. Or who knows. Maybe they'll show up if we wait long enough." He proposed. He felt certain the answer was waiting inside the Kage faces.

(WC 145)

"I think your right. Lets head that way." Chuta said. He started to walk out of the library and head toward the faces. He assumed his friend would follow. Chuta knew the area pretty well from all of his running around. The quickest way there was simple for him to find thought it would be a little bit of a walk. "Are you against running, if they stole those this morning something bad could happen at any moment?" he asked as he trotted along.

If his companion was ok with running they would be there in a few minutes and maybe get this guy before he could enter the faces. Though, if they walked they may catch him after they got inside, or only find traces of his disappearance.

WC: 129

"Of course I can run. Let's go!" Kizaru said and then fell in line behind Chuta who lead the way. Hopefully they could ambush or at least surprise the culprit. Kizaru hoped his hunch was correct and they werent missing something.

The two arrived relatively quickly at the stone face entrance. "We've gotta be careful. They could already be inside." He warned. He was sure his companion was well aware that stealth was important here.

He had Mochi on him if things came to a fight. He also knew Chuta was always ready with a weapon if he needed to be.

"You wanna take point?" He asked before they went in. He was more of a backline fighter and he didnt know what they would be walking in to.

(WC 129)

They dashed around the corners and made it to the Kage Monument entrance fairly quickly, and they weren't even sprinting. They went up the stairs and as directed Chuta took point. As he neared the entrance he slowed down, taking light steps. The door was metal looking and the handle didn't have any scratches or signs of a break in. Chuta ran his fingers along the doors edges as it was closed. There was a seal that still sat there, waiting for someone to trip it without permission.

"Lets go around this corner and wait. I don't think anyone has entered the doorway yet. We might be able to ambush the person along this path." Chuta pointed down and behind them. The stone steps were engraved into the side of the mountain. This threw him through a loop for a moment, he wondered how they could se this up.

"I can wait at the bottom and follow him up. You can wait here next to the door, or maybe around the corner." The path continued to wind underneath the faces themselves. "We can ambush him once he attempts to open it." Chuta finished. He really hopped this would work. Luckily the path wasn't too busy and not many people would stop and try to open a door that had a seal, unless they were a ninja with permission or enough chakra.

At his companions word Chuta would vanish down the path and disappear into one of the shops, waiting for someone to make their way up the path.

WC: 258

Kizaru agreed to the plan to separate. It would be the easiest way to catch them in the act. He would wait behind the rocks in the corner while Chuta would follow anyone suspicious up the steps. He hopped back and crouched behind the rocks.

He was a little nervous. If this thief turned out to be someone dangerous, they could be planning something big. What if they were going to try to blow up Hokage Rock? The rubble from the mountain would flood into the village and a ton of people could die. He figured those thoughts were just paranoia, but he couldnt help but worry.

It was most likely nothing serious, he reassured himself. Probably just some petty thief. He didnt have time to worry any longer however. Someone was approaching.

The man was climbing the stairs quickly and he kept checking over his shoulder, as if looking out for pursuers. Luckily it didn't seem like he noticed Chura tailing him.

Kizaru steeled himself in anticipation of what this mysterious character might do when he reached the door.

(WC 180)