Flash Back: A Day of Inspections (Kizaru/NK)

Chuta was assigned to this mission last moment, getting a letter at his hotel room an hour before he was going to sleep. It was a matter of public health, he needed to inspect a shipment of fruits and vegetables coming in from the land of water. Critters and disease like to hitch rides on the stuff, it gives them something to eat, materials to make a home, and shelter from the elements. Travel was a plus usually and spreading around an illness, that was just something that came with the territory.

It was early yet and Chuta was still heading to the carts. They pulled them in with mauls and donkeys. It was interesting how they kept them fresh, some they stories in dry areas, things like barrels. Others they kept together but let air flow around them, kept them moist.

Chuta walked up to the edge of the road and stood there. There was going to be around seven shipments of food coming in. The missions department put him and one other ninja on this job. Kizaru, he had been working with him on and off for a bit now. Going on missions, but most of those had been investigation types.

The first cart pulled up...

WC: 208

Kizaru was walking up the steps to his apartment when he was stopped by a messenger from the hokages office. A mission to inspect crates from a foreign land. Chuta was also assigned this task. Kizaru had grown fond of the older ninja.

With Kimchi sleeping already in his hoodie's pocket he went to go meet his partner at the rendezvous point. He hoped what they were doing wouldnt be loud enough to wake the sleeping monkey.

Kizaru walked up behind Chuta as the first carts started rolling in.

"Looks like I was on time for once." He called out.

(WC 100)

"Hey man, how are you doing?" Chuta said as he caught Kizaru walking up behind him. The first cart was pulling up and Chuta pulled out his flashlight to take a look. It was being hauled by two mauls, the cart itself was five feet long, and the driver was sitting on a seat that was above all of the boxes in that were at the bottom of his cart. When Chuta turned on his flashlight to look under the canvas covering he could see a dozen spotted creatures dart out of the spotlight. Some of them had purple spots, others had yellow. When Chuta pulled his head out of the cart he shown the light at the wheels of the cart. They pushed their dark thin bodies into the cracks of the earth beneath his feet.

"The hell was that?" Chuta asked.

WC: 143
TWC: 351

"I'm pretty tired honestly," he said as they walked over to the first cart and peeked inside. There were fruits and vegetables from the land of water, that actually looked pretty appetizing. Upon closer inspection there was something moving among the crops. They appeared to be small spotted lizards. The flashlight seemed to startle the creatures. They skittered out and around the two ninjas feet, before digging down into the ground.

Kizaru jumped back quick and gasped, "I don't know but they came pretty close."

(WC 85)

Chuta was surprised the little black creatures could fit their thick looking bodies between the cracks of the ground. These things seemed like they knew where they were going. Scattering and rushing for the ground, he wondered what they would have done if there wasn’t a crack there.

“Alright.” Chuta singed. Walking over to the driver he began to speak, “sir, I’m afraid I have to quarantine your cart for a day or two, inspect it for infestation. You know anything about these lizards?” He asked.
“Oh those damned things” the driver slammed his hat into his lap. “This is the fourth shipment that those lizards got into!” Hopping down from the drivers seat the man walked to the back of his cart and pulled off the canvas that was covering it. He climbed in.
“This isn’t necessary sir..” Chuta began but the driver only continued. Taking a broom he swept the lizards out of the cart and into the street. “Sir! You must not do that!” Chuta raises his voice. The man stopped and looked at him dumbfounded. “We need to protect the environment. I must quarantine your cart for the time being. This is to protect Konoha from invasive species or illnesses not endemic to this area.” He said.

Chuta raises his hand and a couple of people rushed over and pulled the cart away. “We need to find out where those lizards went, hopefully they won’t damage anything.” Chuta said to Kizaru.

WC: 247
TWC: 598

When Chuta questioned the driver of the cart, he had claimed that it was the fourth shipment of his that they had gotten into. Kizaru felt bad for the man, as a former traveling merchant himself he was empathetic to the plight of not being able to sell your wares. He was most likely in dire straits and desperate for money. That would explain his sudden outburst and attempt at clearing the problem. He had probably hoped that the two would just look the other way and let him through. Kizaru wished it were that simple, but the goods would have to be inspected for contamination.

Kizaru handed the merchant some change he was carrying and told him, "Your goods are just going to be checked out by the authorities for contamination. Why don't you go get a cup of tea in town while you wait. Someone will come contact you about the goods."

With the man saddened but seemingly willing to accept the current situation, he walked off to go ask about his cart. The young ninja turned his attention back to the situation at hand.
"They all seemed to head underground from what I could tell. Maybe we look for an opening somewhere?" He proposed. It was possible the lizards could be congregating in some sort of cave below the path.

(WC 223)

"Yeah, I think there is a way down to the sewer system. I found a puppy down there once." Chuta said as he pointed in the direction they needed to go. It was only down the street, an access point was through a door in the side of the road, it was a small shack like structure packed between buildings. When they opened the door you could smell mold and a light scent of sewage. Stairs led down to the main tunnels that ran underneath the city, they were large enough for a small cart to move through.

"I saw what you did back there. It was nice of you. Given then guy some money for tea, what brought that up?" Chuta asked as they walked.

When they finally got through the building and down into the tunnels Chuta would turn on his flashlight, sending beams down to the right and left.

"Which way you think?" He asked.

WC: 158
TWC: 753

"I grew up as a traveling merchant. I remember what it was like when you're down on your luck." He said as they walked up to an old smelly shack. "I just wanted to do something to help, as small of a gesture as it was," He laughed.

The smell of sewage burned the young puppeteer's nose as they descended into the tunnels below. It was so rank, that Kimchi roused from his sleep. He poked his head out from Kizaru's pocket and made a disgusted face.
"Sorry buddy. Stay tucked in for now."

The path eventually became split and they had to make a decision of which route to take. Kizaru tried to orient which way they had walked underground with the road above them. He wished they could rely on Kimchi's sense of smell but he wouldnt be much use to them down in the sewers.

"If I remember correctly we would be close to where we saw the lizards if we go right." He stated.

(WC 168)

"Well, it was nice of you man. I'll have to keep that kind of stuff in mind. Sometimes I just get caught up in the work and forget they are people too." Chuta said. The smell was pretty bad but he tried not to pay that much attention to it. The layout of the streets above had him lost but when Kizaru siad, "right" it rang a bell.

"Good thinking." He said and started that way. The tunnel had a three inch layer of water at the bottom. It flowed slowly and was more like a puddle than a small river. Chuta shined his flashlight in that direction. As they walked he shined his light on the sides of the tunnel and on its ceiling. There was a crack about two feet long and a few inches thick, it was wider here than on the street.

"You thick this is what we're looking for?" Chuta asked as he inspected it. He didn't seen anything suspicious though, he was almost sure this was it. He shined the light down the way. He caught the a few moving through the water, their bright yellow spots giving away their position. They turned the corner, water rippled with the movement.

"There." Chuta siad. He pulled a kunai. The darkness of the area made him nervous. That plus the odd lizards moving, who knows what they where doing, or how big they got. "If this is the fourth shipment, there could be a lot more lizards crawling around under here." He said. "Lets be careful."

WC: 260
TWC: 1013

Kizarus skin started to crawl as the light showed a large number of creeping critters. If they had been breeding down in the sewers the problem could be too big for two genin to handle.

Kizaru readied his hand over Mochi's holster in case he needed a weapon and prepared himself to take the corner. He knew he had to be brave right now.

(WC 64)