Shinji Tackles the Thief

A Disgruntled Few:

Winter had come to the island chain of Kirigakure, the usual shining sun barely showed its head, the clouds obscuring what little light made it through the denseness. Shinji was out in the fields, doing his morning chores, the crops needed to be sprayed to protect from the coming bitterness of the winter. Shinji wore a pair of overalls that covered him from neck to ankle, over the top an apron from when he was in the shop the hour before. The morning pressed on and the sun had risen, a quarter of its daily journey complete, however, the light had failed to penetrate through the cloudbank. It was still warm in the island climate, but soon the frost would set in in these early and late hours of the day, the crops had to be ready by then, a protective spray covering the soil, where the plant entered and then the roots took over. Luckily there was a second benefit to the spray, it also protected against bugs, although in this particular climate they were not very active. Shinji picked up the pack that he wore on his back, it was a tank fitted to a harness that one strapped over their shoulders, and then around their waist, it was heavy, so it needed multiple straps to keep it in place. From the bottom of the tank, there was a nozzle and a hose connecting to it, the hose then stretched out under the arm of the user and protruded outwards until it narrowed into a nozzle. That nozzle then had a valve attached to it so the nozzle could be widened or closed off, allowing for the spray to be either dispensed over a wide area or in a concentrated, powerful, but more precise burst. A few more hours passed until Shinji had complete his pass over the crops, these particular plants were corn, that produced wheat, after the winter had passed and then the next season, they would reach summer. If the weather held up and the crops received appropriate proportions of water and sun they would grow tall and be ready to be reaped, another task that would take the whole family, plus the compliment of farmhands weeks.

Shinji had completed his pas over his assigned section of crops and headed back into the warehouse located behind the farm shop and deposited his sprayer tank in its holster, making sure to empty the tank and clean it out properly so it would be ready for its next round of spraying. Shinji then deposited his apron and overalls back into the shop and made his way back into the family home. Shinji washed and prepared himself for the coming day, it would be a day of training since all his chores were now complete. Exiting the shower Shinji made his way over his sliding door that exited out onto the balcony on the second floor of the building, the two floors below him retreating under the overhang of the balcony, he rested his hands on the banister as he looked out over the road and into the ocean. The morning had a haze of darkness about it, a light fog was creeping in from the ocean and obscuring the normal, scenic ocean view. Shinji's hands rested on the banister as he took in the view, he had this ritual every morning that before he started the second part f his day he would take in the sight, it was beautiful and relaxing, it was a juxtaposition to nature of this island chain, that housed the bloody mist. A few minutes passed and the air started to turn colder, a drop of moisture appeared on Shinji's hand, looking down he was shocked to see a snowflake "How Rare", he said to himself out loud a happy shocked expression on his face. Shinji was not a quiet young man, he was energetic, bouncy, and enjoyed anything that happened to him or around him. Once again a juxtaposition to this island chain he inhabited, much like this morning ritual he had to his normal personality. However, the few moments of peace looking out at the scenic ocean seemed to keep his mind from racing. Shinji retreated from the view, he had only seen snow very rarely in his life and he would dress himself and head out onto the streets to enjoy it to the full.

WC: 737

Shinji began to get dressed, he started by grabbing his wrappings, they were coiled up and sat on his window ceil. He unstrapped the velcro and let gravity unwind the wrappings, they hit the floor and continued to roll until they reached their maximum length. Shinji started by putting his thumb through the loop at one end of the wrapping, he then wound it over his knuckles, he repeated this step three times, each time making sure to pull the bandage tight so that it supported the muscles and bones it covered, but not so tight that it would hurt the circulation. After the knuckles were wrapped he then moved the wrapping diagonally from his pinkie knuckle down to his wrist below his thumb, wrapping around the wrist a further three times, once again tightening any looseness in the wrap. Shinji then looped the bandage up to the gap between his thumb and his index finger and back to the wrist, then up again to the gap between his index finger and middle finger, back to the wrist, back up to the gap between ring and pinky, back to the wrist, each time tightening the wrap. Additionally, he then wrapped around the knuckles a further three times and finally back around the wrist three more times, he then wound the wrapping up his arm till it passed his elbow and stopped halfway up to his shoulder. Shinji then took another wrapping and did the same thing again to his other hand. Shinji then wrapped his feet, using the same technique but with toes instead of fingers, the wrappings stopped halfway up his thighs. He opened up a drawer near his bed and pulled out a pair of trousers, they were black, he slotted his feet into each leg and then pulled them over his feet and up over his knees until they reached his waist, he then buttoned them up and pulled the zipper up. He then selected a belt from among the three that hung on a hook on the back of his door. Shinji then opened up a second draw from his dresser and pulled out a shirt, they were all similar in pattern but differed in the multi-coloured patterns across them. He put one arm through the sleeve and pulled it across his back, slotting his other arm through the opposite sleeve, he then began to button it up from the bottom until he reached the neck, he then flattened the colour down and unbuttoned the top button. Pulling the sleeves down he then fastened the double button at each cuff. Shinji then pulled out his headband and fastened it around his forehead, he then walked over to his dresser and picked up the bandage and wrapped it around his right leg, afterwards attaching another strap over the bandage, and finally attaching his weapon holster to the strap. He then opened up a trunk that sat next to the locker and picked out his ninja tools, 5 kunai, 5 shuriken, 2 explosive tags, and finally two smoke bombs. He deposited 3 kunai and all 5 shurikens into his leg holster. The rest of the equipment he loaded into his weapon pouch and attached it to his back left hip. Closing the trunk Shinji then opened his closet and selected one fo his overcoats, he slotted his left arm through the left sleeve and then pulled it across his back, placing his right arm through the right sleeve. The back had his clans logo emblazoned up the length of it. Shinji walked downstairs and sat on his front step, he fastened his tabi to his feet, he then stood up and straightened his coat "Righ time to hit it", he said to himself as he dropped off his front step and his feet hit the ground, that was now beginning to be slightly covered in snow.

WC: 648
TWC: 1385

Shinji moved his feet back and forth, dragging them along the snow-covered floor, however, as he looked up he realized he was no longer looking at the ocean but a snow-covered hill that led to a steep climb and up to a strange claw-like mountain range. Shinji had never been in the snow like this before, it covered up to his ankle, and every time he took a step there was a clear crunch and slight resistance from the ground as his weight pushed his foot through the layers of snow until it hit the ground of the hillside. Shin ji was distracted and started to jump in place on the snow and then forwards and backwards, like a dog experiencing it for the first time, he laughed as he crunched the snow beneath his feet. Shinji then began to form handseals and slammed his hands down on the floor "Earth Moving Core" Shinji created a small block of the earth that moved upwards from the hillside, Shinji was riding atop of it like a surfboard as it shot upwards at a modest pace. As he reached five meters above the floor he let his hands retract from the ground and the mobile core stopped ascending to the sky and settled, the snow had mostly fallen from this section of earth. However, he could survey the area around him better now, he could see for miles around him until the hillside interceded with the mountain. A voice called out to Shinji "Ho Ho Ho, why don't you come down from there young man", Shinji looked over the edge of the mobile plateau, to see a man below him. Shinji put his front foot forward to support his weight as he looked downward, the man was large, both in height and width, he was as tall as Shinji, as much as he could tell, but was much rounder, he wore a red coat that covered to below his knees. Jutting out from below the coat he also wore red pants that covered down to his ankles were they meet dirty covered black boots, around the man's waist was a belt that held his coat around his large rotund waist. The edge of his coat and trousers were rimmed with fluffy white thrills. In one hand was a large sack that he had slung over his corresponding shoulder, the other hand was up and waving to Shinji. He also had a red hat trimmed with white and his face that was visible was eight percent covered in a big, white and bushy beard. Shinji leaped off his raised, mobile earth core and descended down towards the man, he landed with a crunch and sunk into the snow, he then started to jog towards the man his arm waving back and forth at a frantic pace "Hey there mister, do you have any idea where I am? Do you know what happened to me? Do you know why I was teleported here? Do you know what this mountain is called? Have you ever seen so much snow before? it's so white and powdery, it's never like this when it falls at home it only ever falls from the sky and then never settles on the ground." Shinji reached the man and came to a screeching halt in front of him, realizing that he had to ask far too many questions and he then closed his mouth and put his hand over it so he would not talk anymore, allowing the mystery man to get a word in.

WC: 594
TWC: 1979

Shinji closed his eyes and bent down, placing one finger on the ground and he started to breathe in and out, his mind was racing again and he needed it to slow. The red-wrapped, rotund man began to speak "Ho, Ho, Ho, we meet again Shinji, I have brought you to hear to solve a small problem I am having. Some of my workers have banded together and stolen some of my... presents. I was going to deliver them to worthy people within a few days, but now I have to start making more, that is going to keep me busy all the way up until I have to go out delivering, and I cant be a day late. So if you were to collect the stolen items for me then you could keep some of the stuff that is going to double up, for instance, there are some high-quality materials like Senju wood" Shinji had his eyes closed and was nodding his head along rhythmically with the words the Hollykage was saying, he then excitedly jump up while opening his eyes at the mention of Senju wood. "That's my clan, I've heard stories about the legendary wood, I want to get some, I want to see what its like, I want to make some good stuff from it, although I'm not much of a craftsman myself" his hand came up to his head and he scratched it lightly "I wonder if I could find someone to make it for me, maybe one of my new friends from the village, some of the other genin have custom equipment, maybe I could ask them" Shinji closed his eyes again and sighed, realising he was still motor mouthing. The Hollykage was smiling, but on the inside was starting to get annoyed with Shinji's constant talking "Well anyway that is your mission, now they are hiding just up ahead in a shack, it is in a clearing and very hard to miss. Retrieve my stolen goods and deal with the traitors, whether they live or no is up to you." With a snap of his fingers, the Hollykage was then gone and Shinji stood along in the foreign land, once again bent down his index finger on his right hand extended and touching the ground, his eyes completely shut and he was concentrating on his breathing, making it rhythmic again. After a minute had passed Shinji opened his eyes again, his heart rate down to a usual pace and his mind was running slower, it still had thoughts racing through it, but it no longer felt like ti was going to combust from overwork.

WC: 441
TWC: 2420

The hollykage was then gone and Shinji was left on his own in a strange and unfamiliar land, once again. Shinji kept his eyes closed and rose to his feet, his chin stuck up in the air, allowing snow to fall on his face, it felt nice, but he was not exactly dressed for this weather. Shinji slowly opened his eyes as he let a breathe he had held onto exhale through his lips. Let's get to it, he thought to himself, his objective was just ahead. Shinji advanced up the hillside, it was steady going, every footfall crunching onto fresh snow, he took his time to take in the beauty of this country, he was not sure if he would ever get to see it again, this of course was counter to his nature.

The hill climbed and began to get steadily steeper, no obvious path could be discerned, but luckily the Hollykage had told him exactly where to go, it's not like he could have tracked any other way. As the hill levelled out just before the mountain a house could be seen, it was neatly pressed up against the mountain that climbed up behind it, Shinji thought that it touching the mountainside was strange, but he was no architect. The house stretched to around thirty meters in length and was two storeys high, making it slightly rectangular. On the front of the house was a single door and no windows, poking out of the top of the house were three distinct chimneys, they were equally spread out from each other covering the width of the roof and each was billowing smoke. Around the front of the house the snug had been dug and shovelled out so that the ground could be clearly seen, there were various wracks of weapons and shields, as well as a hitching post for horses, but no horses were actually pitched there. Next to the house, there was an opening in the rockface that led inside the mountain, outside of it were several smelting furnaces and many carts that held ore. So it's a mine, Shinji thought to himself. Shinji had a feeling in the back of his mind suddenly, like he was being watched, he dropped into a lower profile and snuck up to a tree, planting his back against it and peering out of the side at the house and mineshaft. Was he just imagining ti? he could not see anyone, but he had a slight tingling feeling of dread. Shinji's eyes began to scan rapidly from side to side across the Planescape in front of him, but still, he could not find anyone, then behind him, in the direction he had come from a sound was made. Snow crunched, but only for one step, had the person managed to creep upon him, or was that step made on purpose to alert him, if he attacked from his position and the person was not an enemy he would be in trouble, but if he did not he might waste an opportunity. Shinji's mind raced, but he decided to attack was best, he dug his hand into his holster and brought out a kunai, he then instantly span and threw the kunai in the direction he had heard the footstep.

WC: 547
TWC: 2967

Shinji took a step backwards and put his foot down, ball first, then he pivoted his weight across it, performing the one-eighty spin, he did not wait to take in the situation before throwing his kunai, luckily the figure that was there was aggressive and had already begun to charge at him as he released his kunai. The man was dressed in similar red robes to the Hollykage, except he was much more slender and normal human-sized. He had on a hat that also mirrored the hollykage, but his facial features were totally different. He had a small, thin mouth that was bordered by two high, taut cheekbones, his chin flowed down from them either side almost into a point, his eyes were thin and stretched, with well-kept brows above them. The weirdest part of the man's face was by far his pointed ears that stuck out from the strange red hat with white, fluffy trimming. The figure quickly tucked his hand into a weapon pouch on his back and brought out his own kunai, however, this one was made from strange steel that had a red tint to it. Throwing the kunai with equal strength the man continued his run, the two kunai collided and both changed course spinning off and landing on opposite sides of the path between the two men. The man continued his run at Shinji, bringing his fist back behind and under his shoulders, he clenched his fist and as he reached a meter from Shinji he threw the cocked punch. Shinji had completed his spin and got his feet back under himself sufficiently to brace for the attack, he caught the punch in his opposing hand and clenched his fist tightly around the figures balled fist, the momentum was cancelled and they both stood, their bodies intertwined. Shinji's usual smile still plastered across his face like someone who misunderstood the situation, but he could not help it, it was just the way his face was. "Why do you disturb my home? did that fat fuck send you to take my precious belongings?" Shinji's eyes narrowed at the insult to his mission giver, not because he liked the man, but because he felt it was never necessary to speak in such away. "Yes, you have stolen his goods and he has tasked me with retrieving them, will you comply?" Shinji's voice was serious, but his face portrayed a lighter tone. "No they are all mine, all of them, they are my precious things, I slaved all year making them, every year I slaved making them. but, HE always gives them away to unworthy people, people who don't cherish them like I do" The man spat as he mentioned the Hollykage, but not by name, he was clearly very angry and perhaps slightly unstable. Shinji back off, letting go of the man's hand and retreating to a distance that more suited his combat style "Very well, then I'm going to take you down and retrieve the goods, the good that you have stolen, prepare yourself" Shinji said, this time his face narrowed to a serious look, combat was about to begin and now he was all about business. Shinji started to sidestep one foot at a time, making sure to never cross his feet, the man opposite him did the same thing, they began circling each other, Shinji would act first. Shinji shot forward his hand extending before him, palm forward and fingers pointing upwards, he closed the distance between the two and struck at the mans face, Shinji's hand was caught and the man then step through and tried to throw Shinji, but he flipped and reversed the grip, allowing his momentum to settle, Shinji tugged his arm trying to free it, but the man was stronger than he was, Shinji appeared faster. Shinji thought to himself that he was not trained enough for this type of mission, he was a support type, and had barely learnt any jutsu, he could only use earth dome and mobile earth core, both of which had a lot of utility but they were not exactly fight-ending techniques. Fine then, he would rely on his weapons and proficiency with them, he wished he had a sword or some bladed weapon other than kunai and shuriken. Shinji dug his hands into his weapon pouch and holster and brought out a kunai in each hand, he held them in a reversed grip so that he could slash and parry easily, as opposed to stabbing. The two men continued to circle each other, his opponent brought out a sword from under his red jacket, it was not q full-sized katana, it looked like it was a tanto. Shinji could work with this, he would rely on his speed and go for small quick cuts to ware his stronger opponent down, he was unlikely to be able to land a hit in a vital spot, but he would be on the lookout for the opportunity anyway. The two began the circling again, this time they were both armed and the next engagement would likely draw more blood than the first two. Shinji was feeling out the level of his opponent and he was sure the man across from him was doing the same thing, but that faze was complete and now they would likely engage in a more deadly form. Shinji took a final step to his side before deciding he would act first again, he stepped forward and rushed in, not at his full speed, but quick enough that he would still cause a problem, as he steps close he brought his kunai up and slashed towards the shoulder of his opponent, the shoulder attached to the arm and hand that held his tanto, prompting him to engage in a clash of blades, the opponent did so, obviously not wanting to be cut. however, that was exactly what Shinji wanted and used his off hand to slash at his opponent, the man tried to catch his wrist but Shinji was too fast and was able to slice thinly into the man's skin before it was stopped. The man let out a sharp, short grunt of pain, but had managed to stop both attacks, the two men began to struggle against each other, Shinji's kunai that was clashed with the tanto was starting to be pushed back, and so was his other hand that had the second blade and was slightly sunk into the man's flesh.

WC: 1083
TWC: 4050

Shinji shifted his weight to his left and pivoted on his left foot, bringing his blade back from the clash with his opponent, this allowed for his foe to stumble forward as he suddenly stopped resisting his strength. Shinji used that opportunity to slash in a downward arc at the man's wrist that was holding his other hand, the cut was shallow and at an angle that would not cause much damage, but it was enough to make him lose his grip on Shinji's off-hand. At that opportunity, Shinji backed off and gained some distance between the two men. The smile crept back onto his face, and in the situation paired with his narrow evil looking eyes it could have been mistaken for the face fo a madman "You could give up and let me have the items you stole and go on about your life". Shinji started spinning the blades round in his hand, performing his agility drill, he was trying to show the man he was outmatched, and that so far he had not really put much effort into this fight, but it did not appear his opponent cared much for the sentiment. Shinji's opponent did not retort but moved in swinging his blade directly down from his left side to the right, Shinji met the blade with a crossguard from both of his blades, fearing if he just used one his strength would be overwhelmed and he would take the blade to his chest. However, this left the man's other hand free and he swung it at Shinji's face, he did not have time to dodge and still hold his guard in place, Shinji turned his face and braced so that the punch impacted his cheek instead of his temple, this limited the damage put still hurt considerably, he stumbled backwards, their weapons retracting from each other. The man pressed his attack, Shinji dropped his weight to dodge a horizontal slice, and slashed upwards at the man's chest, once again slicing a small cut across his targetted area. Shinji then backed off, he could feel one of his teeth had loosened where he was hit, it fell into his mouth and began to tumble around, he spat it out to the floor, a mixture of blood and saliva flowing out with it. Shinji smiled again, he had not had a fight like this before, he felt like they were at least within the same level of power as each other, although he had a slight edge, especially when it came to the speed of each man. Shinji threw both of his weapon at the man, they were now only around five meters apart from each other. As Shinji loosed his weapons he started to form hand seals, Hare > Ram > Snake. Shinji completed the hand seals in the same amount of time as it took for his opponent to deflect the two projectiles he had thrown at him, as the sparks from deflecting them passed and the man was able to focus on Shinji again he had planted his hands on the floor and activated the Earth Moving Core jutsu. The ground began to split 6 inches in front of Shinji's planted hands, the split equally shot out 2.5 meters from either side of his hands, then the tearing of the earth continued forward for 5 meters and then back towards each other again until a 5x5 square had been ripped from the earth, the ground then began to descend at a speed of 30. The man was left shocked as he ended up in an open-topped prison of earth that was 20 meters deep. This allowed for time for Shinji to plan his next move, the man activated the surface walking jutsu and began to run up the side of the walls. However, this was exactly what Shinji had planned and was waiting at the top as the man crested the climb, he ran into two kunai both directly stabbed into the man's chest, the impact force sent him tumbling backwards and down back into the prison. The wounds were not in vital spots, so the man would probably live, as long as his will allowed him to. Shinji took off towards the house, he was going to use this opportunity o get the items in question and then retreat, he was not particularly interested in killing his first-person today, so he would not finish off his opponent, he hoped he would not come after him either. Shinji entered the house and it only too him a few minutes to find the times in question, there were no others in the house and he then retraced his steps outside and back to the point where the Hollykage had first met him, he returned to the top of his core he had made earlier and waited till the old man showed up. When he did he gave him back the items he had asked for and was given the Senju wood the Hollykage had promised him. Then Shinji was back in front of his house, looking out onto the ocean surrounding that particular island, and the mission was complete. Shinji was now unsure of what to do as he was going to be going training today but had now been In a tough battle that ha probably thought him more than any training would, he had seen holes in his game and now knew improvements he needed to make. Shinji returned inside the building and entered the kitchen where his mother was cooking, he would relax for the resto f the day and then begin training again tomorrow, he was hoping they were having steak for dinner, but it was pasta.

WC: 953
TWC: 5000
Claiming Senju Wood, A-rank Ticket (Use for Chakra Enhanced Strength), +15 Ap & +100 ryo, +30 Vigor, +20 Speed, 1000/1000 for Basic Medical Ninjusu C, 1500/1500 for Dokugiri, 1000/1000 Hiding Like A Mole C, 1500/1500 Earth Style Wall B.

Approved