House Call [Solo]

Stone and wood walls, adorned with the trappings of a family: mementos, family photos, the clan symbol, and even the occasional weapon of a retired shinobi. It was home for Koutaku. Even the sounds of his cousins playing, his aunt and uncle bickering playfully across the house, and of his father doing the dishes comforted him. Of course, there were other sounds, the clack of wood against wood as his grandfather and mother trained in the adjoining dojo, the sound of his grandmother's quill scratching across parchment--occasionally stopping before resuming once  more at an even more feverish pace. These latter sounds, they reminded him of his childhood, of expectations, of his training, of the burden that had been placed on his shoulders.

Responsibility. It weighed on him. For that reason, he was sneaking out of his second story window and silently shutting the aperture behind him. As the window's wooden frame went flush with the sill, the sounds of his home became muted memories, but he didn't relax just yet. No, he'd been caught doing this before and though he might not get in trouble, it wasrather embarrassing. With that reality in mind, Koutaku performed the bird handseal, directing his chakra down through his body until it reached his feet. Then, he began running, not a single sound emitting with each footfall.

Wind Release: Quiet Footsteps

Smiling as the wind chakra around his feet silenced his movements, Koutaku leapt from the roof of the Iouchiryo residence and performed the bird and then dragon handseals promptly initiating another technique moments after he hit the ground several meters from the edge of his house's roof.

Wind Release: Step on High Ladder

Immediately he slowed down, buoyed by a cushion of air, which he let set him down gently before releasing the latter technique and initiating another with the ram handseal.

Body Flicker

In a blurring flurry, Koutaku was propelled at 100 speed away from his house and out of sight, having planned his path to avoid individuals and obstacles. As he exited the body flicker one-hundred or so meters from his house--and around several twists or turns to obscure him from view--Koutaku promptly turned and walked one block with a satisfied smile. He'd gotten away scott free, which was always a pleasant surprise insofar as he was concerned.

With store fronts and homes on either side, Koutaku took the time to enjoy the gentle temperament of the day's weather--a light breeze blowing in from the bay. It only took him several minutes to reach the mission board where he scanned over those available. Then, smiling, Koutaku decided he'd do something a bit different. So it was that he picked his mission and then promptly walked away from the job board, perhaps he'd return for more later.

Heading for the drop point, Koutaku considered what he had in his arsenal: Wire, basic tools(kunai, shuriken, a smoke bomb, explosive tags) and a small set of techniques. Quietly, he wondered if this would be enough, before he decided that he had confidence in his ability to give the proper impression. With this in mind, he bounded up and onto a roof, vanishing from the streets in a single leap as he did so. As he headed for the cache, the young Iouchiryo pondered his life and his approach as well. What did he want going forwards. What skills? What jutsu? What path did he want to take? Deep in thought, Koutaku extracted the book he'd purchased the day before and began reading through it. Each technique had its own indicators, its own underlying principles and by-and-large it was these that he considered most fervently as another part of his mind sorted through the questions he'd posed himself.

What path did he want to take as a shinobi?

It was a daunting query, he had to admit, but nonetheless it was one that he needed to ruminate upon if he wanted to get anywhere. He'd heard stories--from his family and some few other adults--about individuals who had simply meandered through life, never knowing what their goals were or what steps they ought to take towards achieving them.

Koutaku refused to be someone like that, no, he wanted to have a plan. So what was his destination, his goal, his modus operandi

A smile crossed his features even as he casually walked off the edge of the building he'd found himself on. Unworried, the young shinobi let one of his hands and a single foot touch the wall as he began to fall through the air and into the alley. Almost instantly his chakra responded to his will, surging through him and partially adhering him to the wall via both points of contact. So fastened he slid gently downwards till he reached the ground where he deactivated the technique and brushed himself off. This done, Koutaku wreathed one hand with Chakra Infusion and tapped a pattern at the base of the alley's rough stone wall. After a moment, a panel slid back, allowing the Iouchiryo to reach in and retrieve the mask and cloak typically donned only by hunter-nin. Amused, he held the mask up before him, taking in its details, before he stowed his book and then donned both mask and cloak.

They felt good on him. He didn't have a mirror, but he suspected that they looked good as well. Satisfied, Koutaku checked the address of the family in question, and then threw a wirebound shuriken up through the alley, allowing it to fall and then get hooked on the lip of the building. This done, the shinobi got a running start, performed the dragon and serpent handseals, and then leapt into the air, using the wire to anchor himself as he dashed up the side of the wall. Then his technique activated.

Sokumen Henkō(Aspect Alteration)

Far above, his shuriken's shape changed, stabbing its now elongated blades deeper into the stone of the roof. Then his boot changed as well, gaining spikes on one side such that with his next motion he stabbed them into the stone of the roughshod walls. Anchored, Koutaku whirled one arm and then pushed off with his other foot, pulling the wire taut at the same time such that he swung up and over the lip of the alleyway. Unable to reorient naturally as he flew upwards in the air, Koutaku let go of his technique and initiated another. So it was that the Monkey and bird handseals activated Wind Release: Jump Technique, allowing him to abruptly alter his orientation and trajectory midair. Twisting his body, using air resistance and muscle, he leveled out so that he was parallel with the roofs below him well before he ever landed across the square from where he'd begun.

Feeling the rush of movement, Koutaku continued on, the wind against his face reminding him of things to come. Techniques he was considering, some that he'd read about, and others that were yet to exist. One day, he'd make his mark, but for now he needed some ryo and a family needed a stern talking to. Arriving some minutes later after a swift run and then a walk over several blocks to get his breathing under control--not that the exercise had been particularly difficult for him--Koutaku found himself at the Teishin residence. More specifically, on top of the one story home. Descending after surveying the perimeters to make sure no one inside would see him do so, Koutaku stepped around the house and up to the door. Once there Koutaku performed a handseal and initiated the transformation technique. However, this was subtle as rather than alter something visible, he changed his voice. That done, he knocked on the door.

"Coming!" A man's voice sounded from beyond the door, sounding muffled. As he noted approaching footsteps, Koutaku narrowed his eyes, letting them take on a serious cast, and then promptly used chakra infusion on portions of his mask. The result was a serious gaze staring through a glowing haze of faintly writhing chakra.

The door opened and stood before the young shinobi was a normal middle aged man with a slight comb over, black hair, and hazel eyes. His clothes told Koutaku that despite their small house they were likely well-to-do, and the man's facial hair--which was expertly groomed--spoke of someone who had good attention to detail and cared very much about appearances. Beneath his mask, he smiled. It never touched his voice.

"Teishin, Kadama, presumably," he said, his voice low and gravely. Kadama's lips parted and his eyes widened fractionally before a metaphorical mask slammed down and into place.

"Yes sir," the civilian replied. Impressively, there wasn't event he faintest shake in his voice. He'd have to change that.

Waiting in silence, Koutaku let Kadama squirm for an instant, before he brusquely slipped past the man without so much as a 'may I come in?'.

"Fetch your family," Koutaku said in his altered voice, his tone coarse and insistent, each syllable chopped off almost too soon. He didn't see it, but he heard Kadama swallow and then hustle down the hall to do just that. Koutaku, firmly inhabiting his role, walked from room to room, peering in to those he didn't hear anyone within for a brief moment before he finally reached their living room, which he promptly entered.

Pleased as he turned the corner, the shinobi found that the man had indeed been swift in gathering the family as Eri, Kei, and Akemi Teishin had joined the patriarch of the family to attend him. He made no effort to show his pleasure, however and instead merely grunted in acknowledgment and gave a single coarse order.

"Sit."

Quickly, the wife--Eri--glancing at Kadama with a worried expression before the lot of them found seats around the room. The children, Kei and Akemi, were clearly more excited than scared, though the boy--Kei--appeared more daunted than his sister. He'd have to use that, though it pained him ever so slightly.

"Your eldest," he began and he felt them hold their breath. He let them, until each of them audibly had to breath again. As they finished exhaling, Koutaku spoke.

"...is privy to certain delicate information that should it reach the wrong ears would be disastrous for our beloved Kirigakure." Each word was rough and grating as it reverberated in the hollow between his face and the mask. Glancing to the family--as he'd begun to pace around the perimeter of the room--Koutaku flexed his chakra, increasing the intensity of the glow in the eye holes of his mask for the briefest of instants.

The youngest boy jumped slightly, and Kadama frowned as his wife clutched at his hand, her own gaze going between their children and the intruder who had so rudely interrupted the peace in their house. Then, Akemi stood up, gave Koutaku a defiant look--her chin lifted up petulantly--and then foolishly retorted.

"What gives you the right to tell my family what to do Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous? I bet you're not even that important! What do you know, huh?? I'll talk to whoever I want about whatever I wa--" and then her mother was on her, covering her daughters mouth with an almost frenzied desperation as she apologized profusely. Akemi struggled, but she wasn't nearly as strong as her parent, and so eventually she capitulated.

However, when Akemi and her mother looked up, Koutaku had gone from across the room, to directly in front of them. Now, as he spoke, there was a smile in his voice, but it was far from a pleasant one.

"I am the law, little girl," he replied, and with a sweeping strike, he knocked both mother and daughter to the floor. Instantly, Kadama rose to his feet.

"That's quite enough!" He snapped, but Koutaku had already moved, catching the man by his throat at which point he promptly drove him back down into his seat where he held him. The patriarch struggled, Kei yelped, and Eri called out in distress. Rather bravely, Akemi--her mother's grasp slackening as fear and shock took hold--shot to her feet and towards her father's assailant. Koutaku didn't look, didn't even hesitate, as he flicked his wrist and pulled a wirebound kunai from his pouch and into his right hand as Akemi lashed out to push him away from Kadama.

Raising his hand, the wire spooled out, then snapped taut around the girl's wrists, binding them together before he threw the kunai with such force that it pulled Akemi over where she fell onto the couch beside her brother, Kei. The kunai embedded itself into the wall deep, thus pinning the girl.

Eri fell back further, tears forming in her eyes as she watched her daughter and husband get manhandled as she remained on the floor, helpless and afraid.

In the relative silence that followed, Koutaku regarded Kadama, his hand still pinning the man's throat to the couch, before he finally scoffed and let him go. Immediately, Kadama gasped and Eri rushed to him, fussing over the man.

"If you speak of such delicate matters to anyone we will know," Koutaku proclaimed, eyeing the daughter before he rounded the couch she was slumped uncomfortably upon and then roughly hauled her up by her wrists with the wire. Meeting her fiery gaze, Koutaku tilted his head, shifting his eyes to an almost bored expression as he made an effort to look as if he were contemplating her fate. "Teishin, Akemi. I will forgive you this disrespect only once. Do not try me again," to emphasize his point, Koutaku pulled on the wire, snapping the kunai back to his hand where he let the cold flat of the blade run against her check and down her neck.

"I am not a patient man, and my superiors are not so forgiving as I. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded, even the young boy, who Koutaku knew would likely bear no small measure of trauma for years to come. The guilt weighed on him, but he knew that he'd been ordered upon this path and he was nothing if not diligent and thorough.

Letting the girl go, Koutaku rounded the furniture and then knelt before the boy and held out an upraised palm. Kei looked between the hellish mask and the hand, seemingly unsure which to be more frightened of. Occasionally he would glance to his mother and father, unsure of what to do.

"You have been the most compliant of your family. Well done, little one," he said, and though his voice was coarse and harsh, there was a strange softness there. Pride perhaps, warmth even. The boy sensed his family relax, and responded in kind, nodding dutifully.

"O-of course sir," the boy replied.

Koutaku nodded, his glowing eyes flaring as he rose to his feet. "Keep that sense of duty and courage, boy and you might one day follow in your brother's footsteps," that said, Koutaku turned from the children and walked from the room, gesturing for the parents to follow him. All too willing, both husband and wife rose and scurried after him, though they tried to retain some measure of dignity in front of their offspring.

Koutaku turned a corner and walked further into the house, entering the kitchen after a brief stint down the hallway. The adults followed and he couldn't help but chuckle internally at the fact that both were certainly his seniors. Of course, they were civilians, so the comparison was hardly fair.

As the two passed the kitchen's threshold, Koutaku took his place before a window, staring out it at the beautiful day beyond. "Kizmaru and his hunters will know if either of you or your daughter step out of line," he side, each word sharp and precise. He turned his head, glancing over his shoulder, "Should one of you do so, it will fall upon you all. Furthermore, do not speak of this to your eldest, it will only distract him from his duties and we wouldn't want that now would we?"

"Of course not," Kadama said, Eri nodding slowly alongside him, watching with a wariness that belied the anger that likely welled beneath the surface.

"Good," the shinobi replied, before he turned and walked between them towards the exit. The mother, indignant attempted to follow, but as she turned a corner she found that the front door was already swinging closed despite being quite far down their long hallway. Her moth snapped shut as the door struck its frame.

---

Leaving the residence the way he'd come, he made sure not to make a single sound or pass any of their windows. It would be like he'd never been there at all.

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