The Shadow Man (IO)(NK)(Page)

The Manipulator

Shin read the mission report on his bedside that he had gotten this morning. He was preparing himself for the day and for the mission, packing his kunai and shuriken into his weapon pouch and arming himself with his forearm protectors. Shin scanned the mission report before he would meet up with his partner to take down this man. From what the report said, it was about a shady figure that has been seen doing some suspicious stuff, even reports of "illusions". Ugh, not Genjutsu, Shin thought to himself. He didn't like facing against genjustu users as they used trickery to claim victory. The report also claimed that the man had been dubbed "The Shadow Man." Shin found it a bit cheesy for an illusionist. He had never heard of this "Shadow Man" before this mission, so it would be interesting to find out what he finds. 

After informing the "Lost Winds" of where he was going, he would set out for the meeting location. The market square. It was the last place he was seen, and most of the reports triangulated around this point. Now all Shin and his partner had to do was find this guy and capture him. 

It was the evening as the perpetrator seemed to work at night. So it would allow a couple of hours of daylight to prepare for the mission and start gathering intel. The wind was still and the sun was beginning to set, lighting the sky in splashes of orange and purple. The bustle of the market was starting to go down, making the area quieter than it is in its prime time. There were still plenty of people moving around however that they could use to get some intel.  

WC: 290

Sarutobi Sensei had told Page he was going to be working with someone knew today, and knowing he was going to have to be making a good first impression, Page actually managed to wake himself up early, as opposed to having Sheffield violently jostle him into consciousness per usual. He took a shower, got dressed, complete with his headband, still fresh, and forearm protector, had a nice fruit breakfast, shared with good ole Shef of course, drank his tea and was out the door by 8 am, sharp. This was not to say he was fully ready, however, as he sat at the stairs of his teacher's tea shop tying a headband around the wolf for the pup to use as both a scarf, and an identifying mark as he was, in his own way, a shinobi of the Sand.

The two departed for the meeting place his dossier outlined, traveling a long path through the village. For a minute Page noticed Sheffield had gone missing, but there was a comforting feeling there reassuring Page that nothing was wrong. He took the time to grab some to gather his surrounds, getting a feel for the area where the crimes had been reported by his lonesome, getting used to the sights and smells unperturbed by the stress that being relied on by another bore. Sheffield eventually met back up with him, street meat it appeared venders had given him hanging from his mouth that he was still chewing on. This mid day feast did nothing to quench the wolf's appetite, as when Page found a place to hold out for the ally he was supposed to meet, a table out front a food stand in the market square, he ordered up a late lunch and waited around for the person... what was their name? Page thought, halting as they had a micro crisis, fearing the embarrassment of not knowing their to be partner's name. Shit, Shit, Shit, kept repeating in his mind, ohhh Shin! Shin Kenshin. Wow this is an embarrassing way to remember their name. He relaxed in his seat, enjoyed some beef kabobs, fed some to his dog, and awaited for their arrival. 

He waited and soon his fellow Sunagakure Shinobi showed up, he could tell by the headband, the searching eyes and the one distinguishing bit of armor that had been pointed out by his teacher, a pair of forearm protectors. "Howdy there, name's Page, I assume you are the person I was assigned to work with, shi- Shin Kenshin, right?"

WC: 423

Shin waits alongside the outside of a random building in the market. He wanted to be noticed by his partner when they came around. Shin also used it to eavesdrop on some conversations of the market folk to hear about this "Shadow Man." 

"I heard he might be coming around tonight to rough up some vendors that figured out his identity." Shin's ears perked when he overheard the conversation made by two older women closing up their vendor stand for the night. 

"Yeah. Shadow man isn't a man to be messed around with. People should watch what they say. They might end up the next victim to his wickedness." Shin rolled his eyes. This guy sounded more of a local nuisance than an actual threat to Sunagakure. But this was going to be his next paycheck and he owed it to the village. Besides, you can't always judge things on the surface. 

Before Shin could hear any more intel from the gossiping old ladies, a man approached him. Confused at first, Shin soon realized that this was his partner, Page. "Yup, I'm Shin Kenshin. You must be Page." Shin gave him a warm welcoming smile. The man seemed to be in his late 20s, not quite old enough to be called "old" but defiantly a lot older than the 16-year-old. His face shown great labor as it bore markings made from intense sun and long periods of sweating. He looked to be a friendly and approachable man. However, and Shin didn't want to say anything out loud, he didn't look like a shinobi. The man wasn't fat but he seemed untrained, looking more like a common citizen than anything. 

Appearance aside, Shin had a partner for the mission and he was thankful. Information gathering is a pain to do alone. "Okay, I'm guessing you've been briefed on the general stuff about the mission?" Shin lead Page down a market alleyway to keep their conversation away from public ears. "I've got some information on this "Shadow man," Shin used his hands to emphasize the name. "He seems to be this figure that terrorizes targets in the market, using his genjutsu. I don't know yet if he's just a prankster or if there's something underlining. Either way, we are getting answers tonight. Tonight is rumored that he's planning something against one of the vendors. We need to find out who his target is and follow him. That'll lead us to the Shadow Man." Generally Shin wasn't the leader of missions but it was always nice to have a change of pace. Shin would then break from Page so they could split up and find who the Shadow man was targeting in the market.

WC:451
TWC: 741

"That would be me," Page replied, "And this is Sheffield," he continued, pointing toward the hound at his side before changing his hand to a normal petting as the dog stuck his hand out to the stranger, seemingly asking for a shake.


Page stood up, sort of adjusting himself as he sized up the younger man, no, adolescent, ahead of him, placing proper spacing between the two. Page flashed a smile, put out his hand for the shake of a human variety and said, "Pleasure to meet you, now let's get down to business, here this... guy is up to no good." Page followed Shin, responding to his question with a simple, "Yep." Page slightly cringed, mostly internally but a tad slipping out at the name "Shadow man," the name was just a bit too ridiculous for him to just swallow in its entirety. He listened patiently as she described the additional information, noting the differences in the account and the briefing. "Well taking that into account, I've taken the time to memorize the scents of this place, every time someone new comes around I can tell you where they are, we can check em out, see if they're our guy," Page suggested, offering a way to find new faces and keep an eye out for the ne'er do well. Assuming they followed this tactic, Page and Sheffield would separate, Shef leading Shin with their nose, Page leading himself through the crowd until eventually he spotted someone who matched the description Shin gave, alerting Sheffield who in turn tugged the side of Shin, leading him down to the suspect.

Page had picked them out of the crowd, they were making their way to one of the shops in the market, specifically the back door at the end of an alley to a place Page knew well this guy didn't own, it was practically confirmed at this point. Just as he was walking up, the former farmer tailing him, Sheffield would put himself in front of the door, blocking his path as Shin arrived nearby. Seeing the dog and the shinobi, the man turned around and bumped right into Page. He had tracked him down to one section, but if shit got tough, they, the dog and the man, knew that a cornered dog fights the hardest, so before he started anything he wouldn't have to, Page opened up a dialogue with the suspected "Shadow Man."

"Got any place you are going mister," Page asked, "And mine telling me why you showed up around here? Ain't exactly a common location to take a stroll." Page prepared for any sort of attempt of the cornered man to run, staring him dead in the eyes with the kind of look that told him, if you move, I won't hesitate to beat the shit out of you and sick my dog on you, you piece of crap.


WC:483, TWC: 906

Shin had been so focused on Page's sudden appearance, he didn't notice his doggy companion right away. Page introduced him to Sheffield. Immediately Shin was in love. "Oh my god!" Shin squeaked. Sheffield raised his paw for a shake, which Shin gladly accepted. Shin would add a head scratch as well. "You are the cutest thing in the world!" When Shin was on the street, he was quite known for giving scraps of extra food to stray dogs that looked more pathetic than he did. There was always a special place for dogs in Shin's heart. 

The playtime had to end though as they had a mission to complete. Page explained that he memorized the scent of the market, so he'd be able to check out everyone that comes into the area and investigate. "You can do that? No wonder you were put on this mission." Shin was genuinely impressed with this feat. Shin wondered if this was the dog's doing or his own, unaware of the Inzuka clan and their unique scent-based tracking. This skill of Page's would help this mission go by a lot more smoothly.

Night had fallen and the only lightning the market area was getting was moonlight and street lamps. There were still people out in the marketplace, but since most vendors were closed it was mostly citizens passing through to get home or go to the bars that were still open. Shin patrolled the area with Page and Sheffield. Shin kept a close eye on Page to see when he spots something suspicious or odd. Once Page finds something, it'll be Shin that takes down the perp. 

It didn't take long for Page to get something behind a market building through the back way. Shin noticed it when Page confronted the figure and cornered him against the back wall of the building with Sheffield. It was a small hooded figure with their face covered in darkness, making their face hidden. Before Shin could come up to investigate, the figure would kick off the wall, jumping over the two, and propel themself onto the roof of a building on the other side of the alley. Their speed was no joke. Shin tried to chase after them, joining them up on the rooftop but the figure was too quick for him. Shin would need to increase his speed. "You should've stayed out of this," the hooded figure said. Their voice was oddly robotic. Shin took this as a challenge and weaved two hand seals for temporary paralysis. The figure would freeze in their place at that moment. It seemed they were fast but not that strong. This allowed Shin to catch up and tackle the hooded figure.

When Shin tackled the figure, he processed to remove the hood. He was surprised to find that the Shadow "man" was actually a young girl, around the same age as Shin. "You're a woman?" She just struggled with his grip, not replying to him. Regardless, their mission was to capture the figure that was terrorizing the market place. Shin picked her up but kept her arms behind her back so she couldn't weave any genjutsu. 

WC: 526
TWC: 1267

"That's Shef alright," Page said before they departed for their search, eventually cornering the suspect before the fled. Page couldn't help but grin as the person ran up the sides of the building to the roofs, knowing that his partner for this mission was not far behind them at all, ready to pounce. He saw a blur of motion chase up, followed by a loud thud, both the scents had seemed to become static, locked in one place, and so Page took his time scaling the building, making sure not to waste time, but also to avoid the potential mistake of falling.

Page eventually reached the top, and seeing that Shin had tackled some sort of figure asked, "So, that our guy?" before he got a good look at their face, revealing them to be female, and continuing, "so to speak of course." Page looked them over, getting a good sense of the person before shrugging and putting his hands in his pockets, "Guess we should probably take the perp back down to the information center, they'd probably do a better job getting the motive out of them, but as far as I think our job is just about done, lets seal this deal before they escape or try to get any bodies to help em," he said, loosing all semblance of the casual speaking he had introduced himself with, before restoring his own levity and asking, "After we get this serious stuff out of the way, what say we celebrate and grab some good food, I found a good spot for some beef kabobs."

Page would offer to help Shin Kenshin take in the now captured foe, but he figured the young man would be more than capable of it, his area of expertise was finding the "Shadow Man," theirs was to take em in.

WC: 306, TWC: 1212

Shin had easily captured the newly dubbed "Shadow Woman." Page suggested that they should take her down to the information center right away. Shin nodded in agreement, smugly smirking at their success. "You know, that just seemed all too easy." Shin's been on easy missions before, but this one was made especially easy with Page's sensory ability. 

Page suggested that after the "serious stuff' was over that they should go get some kabobs. "Hell yes!" This gave Shin the motivation to move in double time to get to this kabob place. Shin, with Page, released the woman to the information center for them to deal with. Then they filled out the annoying report on the mission. After all the serious stuff was out of the way, Shin took Page up on his offer and went with him to this Kabob place. 

After an hour spent chatting with Page about random things and eating delicious kabobs with an assortment of meats and vegetables, Shin would exit the restaurant with Page. "Thanks for the dinner!" Shin bowed to him in gratitude. "We defiantly need to hang out more after this!" Shin gave a parting scratch to Sheffield's head. "I'll be seeing you around too!" Shin chuckled before finally departing from Page and Sheffield. 

WC:211
TWC: 1478
EXIT
CLAIMING
Mission success: 5 ap 2000 ryo
1478 WC toward Armor of Bone (1478/1500)

Page was glad to have that over, and without him having to do the kind of fighting he loathed to boot, signs of a good day. Another sign was the potential of gaining a friend, chances increased as they enthusiastically agreed to join the former farmer and his pet wolf for some kabobs after the mission. They brought the "Shadow Woman" to the drop off point to the information center, left them off, spent way too much time on the arbitrary paperwork, and then headed to the kabob shop with great celerity, Sheffield keeping up as much pace as he possibly could, eager to get his share of the beef. 

Page led the motley crew through the streets of the Village Hidden in the Sand, the night was quiet and sparsely lit with lanterns, to a grand outdoor grill. Tables had been scattered around the place and there was a big sign above glowing coals that read "Big Kyle's Kabobs." The former farmer led his fellow sand shinobi to an empty bench alongside the grill, sliding in first offering plenty of room for Shin and Sheffield. He ordered a tray of ten kabobs, six for his dog, four for himself, and opened the floor for Shin to order, offering to cover it. They kept up solid small talk forming the fundaments of a bond between each other, one that may one day develop into a full on friendship, eating kabobs, and ordering more with the occasional kabob coincidentally going missing each time Sheffield found another one, occasionally being caught with an angry, "Hey Shef, stop that!" followed by laughing it off. They ate and they ate, agreeing to meet again sometime but the night grew late, stomachs grew full and eyelids grew heavy, and the group split in two, both going back to their homes to rest for the night.

WC: 310, TWC: 1522

Claims
Mission Complete
-Exit
4,100 Ryo
+20 AP
+8 Stats Page
+7 Stats Sheffield
Puppy Dog Eyes B Rank 1500/1500, 1522/2,500

Approved