Mission Saga (Hoshi)

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Another day, another mission!
 
Fu had completed her first mission in Hoshigakure with another Kunochi, Jun Fuji, and it wasn’t long after that she had received her next mission—well next two missions to be exact, although after reading through the document, Fu had a feeling that the two missions could be related to one another.
 
It was early in the morning, approximately 6:30AM. Fu was sitting at a small, round wooden table that was nestled in the corner of her kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and shuffling through some papers. Now that Fu was a resident of Hoshigakure, she was in need of a new home, and she was lucky enough to secure this location just on the outskirts of the village for a modest price. The home itself wasn’t anything impressive. The home consisted of a bedroom, a bathroom, and an open floorplan kitchen/living area that was a modest size, just large enough for the small table she was sitting at and a bed for her familiar, Archie.
 
Archie was still fast asleep. Fu glanced up from her paperwork, took a sip of coffee, and then her eyes shifting over to her giant, snoring bear. Fu giggled. Archie was sleeping on his back with his paws flailing in the air. Knowing Archie, he was probably dreaming about chasing down a rabbit- or an enemy shinobi, but Fu guessed it was probably some sort of animal for him to snack on- he was always eating. If it wasn’t for how expensive Archie’s diet was, Fu may have been able to afford a nicer place, but for now- she was content.
 
Fu glanced down back at the mission papers once more and finished reading them. She laid the papers down on her table, took another sip of coffee, finishing the cup, and then sat back in her seat. “So a wealthy merchant’s estate was raided and then he shows up missing? Something doesn’t add up here…” Fu thought to herself out loud. Fu talked to herself a lot, although Archies company made her feel saner about it. “What do you think Archie?” Fu turned to the snoring bear once more, “Hey! Wake up sleepy head- we have to leave soon, and I don’t want to be late because of you!” Archie snored louder and Fu, now agitated, threw her empty coffee cup at the bear and it bounced off his large furry head, abruptly waking him.
 
Once Archie was over being upset at Fu for waking him up, he would eventually prop himself up against the house wall, causing the wooden boards to creek- he yawned. “You know, this doesn’t really seem like a mission for Genin, but it does seem a lot more interesting than sorting books at the library. Were going to be real life detectives Archie! Fu and Archie, the crime solving, ass kicking duo!”
 
Fu was way too excited for this early in the morning and Archie wasn’t having any of it. “I know just what to wear! I’ve been saving this for just the occasion!” Fu scurried into her bedroom and a few moments later, exited in a completely new wardrobe. She was wearing a tan trench coat and a funny looking hat. Archie seemed to be amused- only if bears could laugh. “Detective Fu! Reporting for duty!” Her short, blue hair stuck out of the beige detective’s hat and although she looked like a 1950’s spy, her outfit really complimented her tan skin and orange eyes. Fu’s excitement quickly sunk into her stomach. “Hey Archie- I just thought of something…  If I’m supposed to be snooping around, I think a large bear following me around may blow my cover…” Archie gave her a blank look. “So, I guess you’re just going to have to sit this one out. I know how bad you wanted to come.” Before Fu could even finish her sentence, Archie had laid down. “Well you didn’t have to be so honest about it!” Fu pouted. “Okay! I’m off, don’t destroy the house while I’m gone!” Fu gathered the mission documents along with the rest of her belongings she may need for the mission and was out the door.
 
Fu traveled to the address of the estate that was listed in the mission documents. The neighborhood she found herself in was much wealthier than where her new home was located on the outskirts of town. There were several other shinobi going in and out of the estate wearing generic matching outfits. There was one person on the scene who looked much more important than the rest, and upon Fu’s arrival, would approach the girl.
 
He was a tall, slender man in his late forties to early fifties. He had a thin and bony face and a black mustache that looked as if he dyed it to prevent becoming completely gray, but besides his mustache, the rest of his face was cleanly shaved. He had narrow, beady eyes and a aura of authority about him with a commanding voice.
 
“You must be one of the village shinobi assigned to aiding us in our investigation. My name is Lt. Sashi.”
 
“Hi! I’m Detective- I mean I’m Fu! A new Genin of this village.”
 
“A Genin?” He’d say- seeming to be caught off guard. “This is normally the type of mission they would assign to some kids; the village must be really spread thin with all the missions they’ve been receiving recently. Alright now, just stay out of the way until the others get here and once you all arrive, I will brief you on the mission.” Lt. Sashi exited the conversation, turning his attention to one of the workers who had just dropped one of the evidence boxes and was now proceeding to chew him out.
 
“Woah he’s intense.” Fu said to herself under her breath. Fu relocated herself out of the way of the workers and waited for the others.
 
WC: 988

Youta would wake up same as usual eat breakfast. He saw a letter on the counter and began to read it to himself. He thought to himself “man another merchant has been kidnapped or gone missing, what is going on with Hoshi lately? Why are so many merchants having this much trouble with bandits lately?” He would look to see who had sent the letter but it was the hoshi police. So he assumed Hoshi had chosen team spring to do their thing again even though Zeref was out doing another personal mission. He would’ve his usual mission outfit on and put his headband on his head and get ready for a mission. He would head towards a building where a lieutenant would come up to him and ask “Are you here with the other Genin?” Youta would look up and respectful now and say “Yes sir, I am here to help in whatever way I can offer my assistance. If you could please lead me to where the other Genin is that would be great.” He would walk with the man and come in saying “What is going on,” and before he could get a name out he would notice that it was not Fu or Regis who are on his team. But instead what was there was a younger Genin in a trench coat. Which kind of left Youta speechless. But he quickly got his wits about him.

“Hello I do not know if we have met before. My name is Youta. Do you know what we are doing here? No offense, but you are not who I expected when I walked in here today. Do you know who else is coming today?” He would wait try to strike up a conversation with this new Genin.

WC 298

Loghain found himself with a great deal more time now that he was using shinobi arts to more quickly get logs to the village. Being able to call forth the cut down trees with just a few hand seals made it almost too easy to the point where it felt like cheating. Returning to his cabin to eat and clean up, he would be delivered a parcel. Loghain knew exactly what this was. When he got a pacel from the village it was almost always orders for a mission of some sort. His nose and tracking capabilities usually came in handy for finding lost people and those that didn't desire to be found. Despite the orders, the wolf would set them on the table and make sure he put some food in him before leaving for the day. A half-dozen eggs and a few sausage links would find their way into a pan and get fried up. The wolf used to have to hunt for his food, but with his new promotion he was able to move freely around the village. That meant better and easier food options. 

Loghain would sit at the table, opening the letter and withdrawing its contents to read. He'd scarf down the food while looking over the assignment. It didn't seem like a particularly difficult task. Finding a lost merchant was simple enough, but there was a second assignment with it. Something about tracking down where large sums of money were coming from. What caught his attention was the fact that the raid was that of a treasonous noble family... His mind immediately shifted to thoughts of Vaenar. Hopefully he was not the one to have been involved in this. The wolf respected that man, despite his shunned status in the village. Paperwork wasn't his strong suite, so the wolf figured he would probably have the most luck assisting in locating where the merchant was taken. 

He would wash the sweat from his face, toss on some baggy breeches and a loose fitting long sleeve shirt and make his way towards the rendezvous point. The assignment mentioned the others he would be working directly with, but the only one on the list that he recognized was Youta. Well, at least he knew what to expect from the young Shinkou and knew that he was good at not only following orders but taking initiative when it was needed. 

Finding himself at the address listed, there was a large estate with various guards moving about. There was one man who really stuck out from the rest, having an aura of authority about him. Loghain would approach, yet keeping distance between them, his gaze meeting that of the Lieutenant. "Loghain, on assignment for the village." A quick whiff of the air suggested that Youta was close, the Shinkou's scent memorized by the wolf. He would look around, hoping to spot his comrade. He would notice the young man, along with another young woman that he was unfamiliar with. Her outfit was... rather odd, but the wolf didn't really care what she wore, so long as she was able to assist in completing the tasks at hand. He would walk over to greet them.

"Good to see you Youta." He would offer with a nod, then look over the the young woman, "A pleasure to meet you as well. I am Sebastian Loghain." He didn't ask, but he did hope that the young woman would return the respect and kindness and also introduce herself as well. He would shift his eyes over to the estate once more and all of the soldiers moving boxes of 'evidence' out of the manor. While he was sure that some of it might have truly been evidence, not all of the things being removed looked to be as such. Perhaps the village was allowed to take all of your families belongings if it found you guilty of treason, but it still didn't sit well with the wolf. Was the whole family guilty of such, or just a few key members? Better to not dwell on such things...

"Is it just me, or has there been a great deal of nobles, merchants, and other wealthy people disappearing as of late?" Loghain would ask, to nobody in particular. "It is starting to make me wonder just what is going on." He would think back to the all of the recent tasks he had dealt with involving such. It would almost seem as if someone was targeting them specifically. 

wc:753

A yawn escaped the young forge master as he sat his hammer down and begun getting his things ready for the day. His days had been filled with training and dealing with his new team, which by the way had been in a pin in his ass. Who knew being apart of a shinobi team would be so...frivolous and tedious at best? It was good for his sword arm however since he had been able to hone his abilities with actual people than dummies. Today was a considerable lull in his business so he decided to go ahead and deal with getting some extra ryo to fund the business as a whole. He had been given a mission missive already so he was heading out of the door to meet up with whoever he had been assigned to do the mission with. With his usual attire, armor and sword on his person he would let out a small yawn as he began to walk toward the mission meet up area. He took his time to get there mostly to wake himself and not be his usual tired cranky self but as he arrived to see the others he would give a half wave, " Seems i'm the last to arrive...Shall we get started so we can get this over with?," he would of course absentmindedly forget to introduce himself, but at some point he would when he was awake.

283 WC

Youta would greet this strange character in a trench coat and strike up some small talk. Just simple things to try to get to know this person a little better especially since they were going to be working together. Youta always found that working together with people you know makes it a lot easier when it comes to missions. Soon after he arrived and started talking to this young Genin he good friend and teammate Sebastian would arrive and would greet both of them. “Yeah man a lot of kidnappings as of late. I wonder what is going on.” And as he was talking to Sebastian a young man, another Genin came up who seemed like they were in a bad mood and just wanted to move forward with the job. However Youta would walk up to him and say “Hello, My name is Youta. I am looking forward to working with you on this job.”

Soon Lt. Sashi came up to us and said “Oh so you all decided to finally show up. This is the situation where a noble merchant, oh what is his name again oh here it is Shin Hisaka. He seems to have been caught up in some kind of scheme against the crown. Whether or not this is on purpose or he was blackmailed or coarse is still unknown. There seems to be some large files showing that he has been getting ryo from an unknown source. With the way the crime scene looks and the fact that Mr. Hisaka has not been to his office in a couple of days, which means he has probably been taken. There is obvious evidence of a struggle and more files are missing from his desk and other storage so I need you all to find and bring back Mr. Hisaka to answer these further questions and be tried for prison.” He would then look to another police officer and say “help the shinobi with whatever evidence they need but” he would pull them in closer and go to more of a whisper tone “keep a good eye on these children.”

After this briefing Youta would look to group and ask “I have no idea where to start. Do you guys have ideas? I do not even know what evidence to look for to find out who did the kidnapping or this whole treason business?”


WC 389
TWC687

Loghain would nod. It was indeed strange how many kidnapping and disappearances were happening. Signs of an even larger plot in motion, no doubt. The wolf would note that another was approaching them, offering a half wave. The youth seemed like he might have been the youngest among them and didn't seem particularly thrilled about this assignment if the wolf was to take any meaning from his words and tone. "So it looks like we are all here." And before the wolf could get anything else out the Lieutenant would speak up to address them all. As bad as it might seem, the wolf didn't have a great love for nobles typically. This sort of game they liked to play, moving people like pieces on a board and treating them as nothing more. Some might have called it envy of their status and position or their money, but the wolf didn't really care about that stuff. He didn't like when others were mistreated by those in positions of 'power'. 

The officer made it clear that his men would help the shinobi party as best they could, but the whispers of Lt. Sashi to his underling suggested that he had something to keep from them. It was no matter, for the wolf was accustomed to mistrust. "I'm fairly certain that I can locate the noble, so long as he didn't get too far much of a head start on me." The Hound of Hoshi was very adept at tracking people down by his keen olfactory system, so as long as they didn't take great efforts to hide their scents he just needed something that belonged to the noble. "Please bring me one of the nobles coats or hats, or perhaps another garment that he may have worn and has yet to wash." It might have sounded gross, but the wolf didn't want any of the cleaning agents to interfere with the smell of the noble, either by removing it entirely or diluting it enough to make the process more difficult. 

Addressing the concerns of Youta, Loghain would chime in, "There is a very good chance that I can track the missing merchant. I'm guessing that any of the missing papers are what would be the incriminating evidence." The wolf would shrug, "But I am no sleuth, so I'll let you guys make the final determinations on those bits." The wolf would wait for one of the Lieutenants men to bring him some article of clothing, keeping an ear on any discussions the group had as to the best course of action moving forward. If the clothing is presented, Loghain would hold it close to his face, inhaling deeply through his nose to pick up the scent of this man. 

wc: 458
twc:1211

"..."

A missing merchant? Ryo that had a curious and dubious route into this families coffers and other channels? That was something Morio could without a doubt go through and peruse while the other sniffed clothes and pondered on what was going on. Grabbing a seat (if they were on the inside of the house, if not he would make movements to get them into the house) and he would aggressively push it up to the desk. With a swift motion he would push all of the papers into multiple stacks and begin to go through them quite easily, writing some things down as he went figure wise," I would heavily advise that no one disturbs me while I do this. And no. The young shinobi does not need help crunching and reconfiguring big adult numbers. Sarcasm. But in all seriousness do your best to not disturb me and stay out of my way I should be done in the next five minutes," and with that he would go quiet, the only thing heard from him had been the quick writing and muttering to himself. One of the few things he had gotten from his adoptive family and Mercurio had easily been the ability to track and manage money from any source whether it was through a business, loans or even shady business. With each paper he went over and made notes on, he effortlessly slid them onto to the floor on either side of him. One side for legitimate reports and another for anything suspicious or fishy. So far some of what was reported had been true and honest but the further he came into the reports and data the more it started not to add up. The pile on the right would begin to get significantly bigger from the left as he chuckled and continued forward.

He had not been paying attention to the others but when he came across a specific paper he would slam his feet onto the desk and look at it," Well lookie here. After all of that crunching of the funds, the comings and going, and the numbers don't add up. What's interesting is this paper here which denotes some shady business going on here. Let's see," he would begin to read the message, it was a little coded but after a moment or two he would give a surprised sound as he blinked," Looks like they promised a lump sum to the village of Iwa...That place is defunct though," setting the paper onto the desk he would slowly bring his legs down onto the floor and stand up," So what did you find over there bloodhound?," it wasn't a terribly bad name, but he was trying to be...friendly I guess.

457 WC
TWC: 740

Not long after Fu had arrived and spoken to Lt. Sashi, another shinobi would show up. This boy introduced himself as Youta and then stated that Fu was not who he was expecting. Fu didn’t know quiet how to respond to this comment and decided to keep it lighthearted. “Nope! Just me, I’m new around here.” Fu would say, then stick her tongue out at him. He then inquired if she knew who else would be joining them today. “No clue.” Fu would respond shortly.
 
Shortly after meeting Youta, another one of their team members would show. This man appeared to be older than Youta and Fu. He introduced himself as Sebastian Loghain. “Hi Sebastian, I’m Fu! Nice to meet you.” Fu would respond in an upbeat manner. Loghain would make an observation that a lot of nobles, merchants, and other wealthy people had been disappearing lately, which was news to Fu. “I wouldn’t know, I’m still pretty new around here.”
 
Finally, the last member of the team would arrive. Another boy. Forget surplus of missing nobles, there seemed to be a shortage of kunochi in this village. Unlike the previous two males that joined her, the last didn’t bother to introduce himself and seemed to have a lackadaisical vibe about them.
 
Now that the group had all gathered, LT. Sashi plugged himself into the equation once more and explained to the group that the merchant they would be searching for was named Shin Hisaka and they had discovered he had been getting large sums of ryo from an unknown source. He then went on to describing the scene where there was some sort of struggle that took place before his disappearance. Now that Sashi was finished debriefing the village shinobi, Fu would turn her attention to Youta who would express that he had no idea where to start. Fu thought the same, and choose to remain quiet to see what the other shinobi had to say. Loghain stepped up and stated that he could probably locate the noble if he hadn’t traveled too far away from their current location. How he would do so, remained a mystery. He requeted one of the nobles coats or hats, or something that he may have recently worn, presumably to locate the missing persons scent?
 
Fu followed Morio into the suspects home and did her best not to get in any one’s way. The lazy boy, Morio, then got to work and pulled a chair up to a desk and began rigorously working through papers and files. He made some snide remarks about leaving him alone, which was fine by Fu. “You got it boss man!” Fu would say to him, giggling. While Morio worked, Fu circled around the same room, fidgeting with various things. Fu picked up a paperweight that was frosted glass shaped like the earth and proceeded to begin playing with it in her hands. The glass ball then slipped out of her hands and made a loud crashing noise as it struck the floor and cracked into a bunch of little pieces. Fu looked at Morio sheepishly, “S-sorry about that!” Fu ceased her fidgeting until Morio finished, not wanting to disturb him anymore than she already had.
 
Morio finished and then informed the group that there was a deal of shady business and funky numbers with a trail of ryo leading to the village of Iwa something. Fu staired blankly, doing her best to not let the others know she had no idea what he was talking about. “Oh wow! Nice job lazy boy!” Fu would say-trying to fit in. Morio then asked Loghain what he was able to figure out.

Youta would see Fu stick her tongue out at him and stick it back not really knowing how old this ninja was but even though they were acting childish Youta would be respectful. He would then childishly stick his tongue back at her. He was having a good time and after seeing Sebastian he would shape back up and get ready for the mission. After Sebastian said he could track them as long as they did not get too far ahead. Fu, Morio and Youta went to look at paperwork which was not Youta’s strong suit. He would end up yelling “I do not get any of this. So many numbers.” But Morio looked like he knew what he was doing. And said to leave him alone and let him do his thing and let him figure it out. Soon he would say that he found something. “Hey Morio, what did you find? Did you find good evidence?” He would then turn and yell “Sebastian, Morio found something! Did you also pick up the merchant's scent? If so I guess now that we found some evidence on him we should maybe give it to the cops and get out of here and start looking for the low life. I guess Sebastian should lead the way.” He would turn to Sebastian and say “What are your orders?” He would then wait for Sebastians orders.

WC 233
TWC 920

The Lieutenant would bring a hat over to the wolf who would then bring it up to his nose. The scent was there and strong and with a few more inhales he was fairly certain that he would be able to track the missing merchant noble. He would move about the area, scanning for tracks or signs of a struggle. He would make his way to the Eastern edge of the plot, picking a bit of soil up and drawing it closer to his nose. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. The missing person had been taken this way, though it was difficult to determine if he was being forced to move against his will in these travels. There was definitely another scent, but he had no idea who it belonged to. Maybe it was a relative he brought along, maybe it was a criminal kidnaping the man. 

Loghain would turn back, making his way towards where the others were located when he heard a loud crashing sound like that of glass shattering. Was it an attack? He would hustle, hoping that he wasn't too late when he would hear Youta shout for him saying that they found something. The wolf would see the others, answering both Youta and Morio at once. "Yeah, I picked up the scent. The merchant was travelling East-bound, though I know not for how far yet."

Youta would await orders, though Loghain still didn't entirely feel used to such responsibility yet. "I've no intentions of disrupting any work the police are doing. I saw we offer them up anything that they need for their investigations." The wolf would let the others weigh in as well, having no real qualms with a differing opinion on what they should do. "I can follow the scent, but I don't know how long of a trek this will be. We have to make certain we are all prepared." 

If everyone was ready to go he would take the lead and follow the scent trail to see just where this merchant had been off to. 

wc:346
twc: 1557