Try your luck (IO)

Re-Approved after edits have been made to get rid of mission rewards from the claim, since the mission's WC hadn't yet been completed.

The cavalier way that this Ryumi went about the mission bothered Isaribi a lot. In the Jaws, an operation like this would take days of setup, coordination, and communication. Little meetings in dark rooms or underground bunkers, and all that. Against a force like the civilian police or the shinobi, that kind of preparation was always warranted, and frequently still wasn't enough. The shinobi, after all, had their own big brains on their side, and their weak points were very publically known. What was it people said? Defend where they cannot attack, attack where they cannot defend? As annoying as it was to admit, the old sayings did turn out to be true sometimes, and that was what made the shinobi strong. They had supplanted everyone and everything else, and made Hoshigakure their home turf. For that, Isaribi would never forgive them. How easy it had been for a force like that to influence and change the way the whole village worked at once. The council was directly to blame for this, of course, but the way she saw it, if the shinobi hadn't established themselves as the pinnacle of legitimate violence, the council wouldn't have implemented the policies that it had.

Everybody here made her nervous, moreso than any possible threat that could arise from this mission. While it would be better for her to get on with it and take up some kind of good surveillance position, she couldn't help but take another good look at the people around her. Ryumi was someone who practically exuded danger. She didn't need to have any kind of sensory techniques active to know that. The bulkiness was intimidating to laymen, but Isaribi was smart enough to know that that wasn't the real threat, here. That powerful form hid something else, something that was apparent to any experienced fighter: speed. The fluidity that she moved with made red alarms go off in Isa's head. She could probably blow away half this building or more with a single attack, if she wanted to. Why had they sent someone like her to an operation like this? Isa would have expected her to be crushing bunkers or other hard targets, but instead she was here, at a casino, doing a jobs for thinkers and such. That was probably the scariest part of all. Isaribi would have to develop some kind of countermeasure for people like her. She had some ideas, of course, but ideas only got her so far.

Preparation was everything, as far as she was concerned. Skill, luck, even raw power were all nothing in the face of a flexible plan and an abundance of resources. Given the right tools and enough time, she was sure that she could neutralize any single person in this group, though maybe not all of them at once. Well, dealing with groups would always be an uphill battle, though she had her own methodology for such battles. Healers, for example, had to die first. It was tempting for her to go after sensors, but she was confident in her own abilities in that respect. No, healers were by far the most annoying. Were any of these fine people medical shinobi? After the miracle that had healed her arm, Isaribi had moved healers up the list of dangers. Regrowing a limb... even the healers of the Jaws (at least, the ones she had met; she now suspected that there were even more talented ones among them) were not capable of such a feat. The fact that the shinobi had had this kind of power the whole time was almost blindingly infuriating.

Fu, on the other hand, was a type of danger that Isa felt more familiar with. That truly titanic chakra signature was nothing to sneeze at, but she was confident in her ability to handle someone like that. To clarify, not the self assured kind of confidence. That tended to be the downfall of anyone without the common sense to cast it aside whenever possible. No, this was the confidence earned by practice and years of experience. Though physical fighters like Ryumi weren't rare, they were certainly not nearly as common as the other specialists, and their chakra arts, and it was those that Isaribi had encountered the most in her life. She used to believe that targeting the hands was the best option, and had a set of genjutsu to do exactly that, but as she grew older she realized that there were more and more people like her, who possessed varieties of visual prowess. Now that was something else she had to make a solution for. Well, she had time, and it didn't seem like any of the people here were planning on stabbing her in the back. As long as she didn't show too much of her hand, she'd come out of this just fine.

Jun was a conundrum. She didn't seem particularly talented, but it was those types who always ended up carving out an essential niche in the group. Nothing about her movements betrayed any kind of explosive power like it did with Ryumi, but Isaribi's perception was just skilled, not perfect. For all she knew this Jun could have some trick up her sleeve that Isa just couldn't detect, or, worst case scenario, she was a sensor. If that was the case, then Isa would have to keep an eye on her once they got back to the village. Of all the people capable of stopping her plan, sensors were at the top of the list, and she wasn't about to let someone like that get in her way. She had her own ways of blinding other sensors, turning their assurance in their own abilities against them. It wasn't about what kind of techniques you could apply to them, it was about how you could manipulate information, twisting it while keeping the opponent full of that unearned confidence, all for the purpose of finding their weakness and exploiting it until the fight was won.

Anyway, this wasn't how Isa would have ran the operation. Meet in a quiet place, lay out an exact plan, and most importantly, sync watches. That was how to do it. Call her OCD, but the really didn't like the "fly by the seat of your pants" method of missions. Oh well, she'd just have to keep an eye out for these folks. As long as she didn't get too separated from them, she could just follow them back whenever they decided to reconvene after completing their tasks, or if there was an emergency meeting of some kind. To that end, Isaribi focused in on her sharingan, noting the color and texture of her teammates' chakra signatures. Alright, now she was ready. She looked out over the crowds down below and put her mind to work. Everything here ran on a pattern, just how she liked it. The casino staff moved on their routines, and with a few minutes of observation, Isa was able to pick up on the basics. Timings weren't precise, but they were certainly moreso than anybody else on the floor. Staff, custodians, even the head honcho, all had little timers on every single action they took. She figured that with the amount of money coming in and out of this place, whoever owned it wanted it kept running like clockwork. The order of institution profiting as ever from the chaos of humanity.

She was familiar with the kind of person she was looking for. Someone who was out of the order of things, but who unlike normal people, was trying to hide it. Typically, that was a signifier that this was somebody who was already knowledgeable and aware of the casino's internal clocks, and who was trying their best to move with them. However, by doing so, this jackass was exposing themself to her sight. The patterns of movement fit perfectly into the pattern-matching wetwork of her brain, and in no time at all, she had isolated a good number of candidates. She thought about culling some of these from the list, but figured that it would be better to leave that task to the others. She retreated to a bathroom, and whipped out a piece of paper, upon which she began to write precise descriptions and locations of the suspects she had picked out. There were five in total, and she was sure that these people were distinct enough for her compatriots to locate and deal with on their own.

Now, how to get it to them without moving from her spot? They hadn't set up any kind of communications to begin with, and she didn't think anybody had mentioned a signal that would get them to convene again. Well, she would have to create a signal unique to shinobi, then. Dead drops were impractical, as again, there hadn't been any discussion of what to do with information that they had discovered. For a second, she thought about testing Jun or Fu by leaving the paper in a potted plant, or by some other bullshit stealthy means, but fucking with them at this juncture didn't seem like a good idea. At the same time, she eyed the front desk. She could have whoever worked there page one of her teammates, but that also seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Attracting attention was just something normal people did, but that might be a little too much. Damn, but this place wasn't great for thinking and planning. She needed to focus, block out the distractions. Well, luckily for her, she had lots of practice in situations like this.

Crowded bars? Noisy theatres? Those were the venues that held the Hoshigakure underworld up, like pillars to the cathedral roof. Isaribi didn't need that much time to devise a clever solution. She folded the paper neatly, and headed out onto the casino floor. There were a few stares, of course, but she didn't care about being casually dressed. To them, she was just another tourist. Moving with confidence was more than enough for most people to think that she belonged there. Besides, how many of them really cared? They all had their own lives to get on with. Maybe the guards were taking note of her presence, but considering that their management were the ones that had put this job out in the first place, she doubted that they gave a shit. Come to think of it, this was the perfect opportunity. Anybody who reacted to her presence while she was out here on the floor, especially from the pool of candidates that she had drafted was somebody to look out for. By this method, she could put pressure on whoever the culprit was, keep them on their toes. Make them afraid, make them suspicious of rational action.

She walked up to the bar where Ryumi was ordering something from the barkeeper. Nice place; she hadn't seen many that she could call better. Isa wasn't feeling particularly thirsty, though. Instead, she glumly slipped the piece of paper into one of Ryumi's pockets in a sleight of hand. Again, if anybody noticed, that was something she could also turn to her advantage. Eventually, Ryumi would discover the piece of paper, and move to act on her own. For now, though, Isaribi felt that she'd done a pretty good job of things. Oh, sure, it wasn't the kind of job that required her to sacrifice her vision (at least, not yet) but she still felt good about herself. It was nice, come to think of it, to be out here surrounded by people. Better than being alone, anyway, better than being around either nobody or around people who hated her. Even if she didn't trust any of the people she was working with, at least they had the same goal for the time being. She had a role defined by her talents, and she could do what she was good at to earn a living for herself, and that, really, was what she wanted for everyone.    

[WC 2010]

Phew. Fu thought to herself whilst exhaling a sigh of relief. After speaking her mind about what she thought ought to happen, she slowly drifted towards the back of the group- both physically and metaphorically, as Ryumi stepped up to take charge of the situation- something Fu wanted no part of. Of course, this didn’t go without garnering a raised eyebrow from the muscle woman, which Fu considered worth the price to pay. Ryumi provided instruction on their first order of business now that the group had formed into some sort of strange cohort in the middle of the casino’s floor. Their first task was to locate anyone that looked out of place or suspicious. Looking around at the faces in the group, Fu was confident she had just found 3 fairly strange looking characters. The kunochi giggled to herself at her own jokes and then became aware of her environment once more. Fu could feel eyes beginning to fall on them as the muscle shinobi barked orders to the rest of the woman. Once Ryumi was done, the group would seem to split- which Fu thought made sense, as together they looked very out of place, but alone, they were much more inconspicuous.
 
Now that the game plan had been laid out for the women of Hoshigakure, Fu took this opportunity to disappear from the group before Ryumi could assign any more tasks. “Look around for strange people, huh?” Fu thought to herself, as she traversed the casino floor, her petite body weaving in and out of patrons as she walked by. Fu was light on her feet and her gate was elegant and purposeful. She moved about the crowd like a ghost, going almost unseen to the normal people who aimlessly stumbled around the establishment half drunk, gambling what was left of their hard earned wages from that weeks pay. “Everyone here looks weird.” She thought, figuring that such a task was impossible. Casino’s were a place that attracted all walks of life: rich people looking to pass the time, skilled people who slowly worked the system to turn over a livable wage, and those who were desperate, looking to hit big off their last couple of dollars. There was also the criminal or two, looking to wash their money- maybe these were the people Fu was supposed to be warry of?
 
Fu continued along the velvety, red carpet that now closely resembled an almost dark maroon color from all of the foot traffic, drink stains, and cigarette smoke. Her senses were constantly being bombarded by all sorts of quirky, electronic sounds that were being emitted from the sea of slot machines the spanned the casino’s main floor. Fu’s eyes scanned each row, darting between seats, observing what Fu thought looked like, zombified people who were constantly pulling a lever and groaning when they lost. Once in a while, there would be the occasional winner and the zombie would burst into life in excitement that they had won. It really made one think- was it the greed that drew people to this place or was it the rush of winning? Fu tried to compare this feeling to her own life, trying to find a common connection between the two different worlds that were now colliding. Was power her addiction? What was the reason she desired it? Was it to feel the rush of being the best or was it to protect what was important to her? The line of questioning could be pondered for ever and just before Fu could fall down this rabbit hole of questioning, a chakra signature caught her eye.
 
Fu walked clear by the row where a flicker of chakra had made itself known to Fu, which was most likely unintentional, but when Fu rewound her steps to take a second look, the chakra signature was gone. “That was weird..” Fu thought to herself. Fu was sure she knew what she had just saw a moment ago. “Looks like there is someone here doesn’t want to be caught.” Was that uncommon though? A casino was a place probably swarming with people who didn’t want to be found- whether it was law enforcement or a loan shark did not matter, they just wanted to hide in plain sight and do what they loved best- gamble. Fu activated her Sharingan, her right eye now scouring the crowd around her for her prey. This gave Fu a chance and reason to explore the casino further. The loud buzz of the crowd reminded her of Tanzuka town, a town nearby Konoha that Wan had brought her during their travels across the continent. Tanzuka town was known for their gambling, women, and hot springs. This brief thought caused Fu to miss Wan and her old home, but the feelings fleeted as quick as they came and Fu refocused her attention on the task at hand.
 
After a few more minutes of searching for the mysterious person, Fu felt the presence of being followed herself. In the middle of walking, Fu stopped abruptly and turned the opposite direction, surely catching whoever was following her off guard. The sudden action caused a man and a suit to freeze up, not expecting Fu to spot him so easily. “Can I help you?” Fu would say cheerfully, eager to know what the person wanted. They quickly straightened up and attempted to speak from a point of authority. “Have you found the intruder yet?” They asked. Fu’s face was stale as she assessed the situation. The person asking the questions and stalking her appeared to be an employee of the casino based on their outfit and accessories, but why were they following her? “Intruder?” Fu would say, playing dumb. This made the man uncomfortable, “Y-yeah, you know, the intruder. We hired you to find the intruder, now hurry up!” Fu didn’t appreciate their tone. She didn’t mind being spoken to that way from higher ups within the village, but she wasn’t going to tolerate it from some casino worker. “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” By this point, Fu’s killer intent would have manifested in the form of a demon behind her, displaying to the man she wasn’t the person to mess with. Of course, only this specific casino worker could see this display of power or else she would have caused mass confusion amongst the gamble zombies around them. The man was now frozen in fear and Fu used this as an opportunity to extract some information. “Now tell me,” She began, “What has you so interested in this intruder?”
 
The man eventually caved and led Fu to an area exclusive only to casino staff, so that they could talk in private. Here, Fu took in her surroundings, making notes of their snack and beverage selections, concluding she would conduct a quick raid before exiting. “Alright, sorry about that.” The man said, “My name is Yuniko. My father is the owner of this casino, and you see…” He placed his hand on his head in a nervous manner, “It’s really embarrassing, you promise you won’t tell anyone?” He pleaded with Fu, reluctant to continue with their story without having Fu’s word they would not tell anyone. “Pinky promise!” Fu said, thrusting her pinky into the mans hand and securing his pinky and creating an interlocking of fingers- signifying their deal. “Okay, well, I was leaving work the other night, and it was really late, and I had been working all day,…” After about 5 minutes of back story and excuses he finally go around to the point, “So I was leaving and then this really sketchy guy cornered me and after putting up a fight, I eventually told them the combination to the casino vault room. Of course I didn’t tell them the actual combination to the vault because father would never trust me with that information, but I’ve been so paranoid that something is going to happen and I’ll be the one to be blamed for it! I’m already on my last leg here and if something goes wrong and they found out I had anything to do with it, I can kiss my future goodbye. So what do you say, do you think you’ll be able to help me capture them before it's too late?” The man was now on his knees pleading for Fu’s help, their hands cupped together around Fu’s and shaking furiously. “Please, please, please!”
 
Fu could see the desperation in the man’s eyes. He seemed earnest and Fu figured only a desperate person would confine such information in a stranger they had just met, so confiding in Fu must have been their only option. “Okay Yuniko, I’ll help you, but first I’ll need you to answer a few questions for me…” Yuniko was now beaming with appreciation and smothering Fu with gratitude. After another short conversation, Fu would walk away with a description of her target and a wholistic view of Yuniko’s altercation with them, along with the operation plans for the casino. “A classic game of cat and mouse.” Fu would say, exiting the staff room with a arm full of snacks and drinks.
 
Fu spent the first 30 minutes of her new mission polishing off the various snacks she had taken from the employee break room. This of course, resulted in her becoming tired and taking a power nap which lasted about an hour. After her nap, Fu decided she should probably get around to finding their mystery person or else she would run the risk of letting her team and Yuniko down, and she didn’t want to appear to be completely useless for she had a reputation to maintain if she ever wanted to become a Nova. “Alright you little bastard, where are you.” Fu would say under her breath. Fu performed a few hand seals and transformed into a small black bird which took flight from the casino floor and flew towards the ceiling of the room where she would then morph back into a human, her feet now glued to the ceiling using the tree climbing technique. From here, Fu could see the entire room, her sharingan picking up on multiple chakra signatures- some belonging to those she was working with, and some not. It didn’t take Fu long to locate the signature she was after and from this distance, her divine sight allowed her to see her target in full spectrum. He was messing with a slot machine, placing what appeared to be a fuinjutsu on it. He pulled the level and the machine exploded. ‘JACKPOT’, ‘WINNER’. The machine yelled, as the man was beginning to shovel coins into a bag, whilst looking every which direction as though not wanting to draw the attention of others. How ingenious, Fu thought. Rigging the slow machines with a fuinjutsu to short circuit the machine to collect the jackpot. Although smart- it was against the rules and it was now Fu’s job to pass judgement on the criminal. “You there!” Fu would shout, pointing at the theft while hanging upside down, her powder blue hair falling towards the floor revealing her entire face. The room seemed to pause as Fu had now drawn the attention of everyone in the main floor, including the theft, who was now beginning to realize that Fu was singling them out. The rushed to stash the remainder of the jackpot winnings from the slot machine and started to run. Fu, had now activated her Rinnegan in her right eye and had held out her right hand, trying to lock onto the thief as they attempted to blend into the crowd of people. “Almost… Almost…, Got em!” Fu would say, now using Bansho Tenin on the thief. His motions were halted immediately as Fu gained control over the reality around them, and then off the floor he went in the direction towards the kunoichi glued to the ceiling. The criminal traveled through the air towards her until his ankle was clutched by the girl who would begin shaking the man wildly, causing all the coins that the man had just won from the machine, to rain down on the patrons below, causing a wild frenzy of casino goes diving on the floor at their chance at securing some of the thief’s stolen winnings.
 
Not only were chips raining in the casino, but so where Yuniko’s tears. Fu had effectively don’t the exact opposite of what the casino owner’s son needed. Of course, Fu felt she had done a good deed by catching the thief, but in the same breath, she had also caused mass chaos amongst the casino goers who were now evolving into an angry mob as they fought over the coins that Fu had just helped spray below. “What have you done!” Yuniko would scream towards Fu who seemed to be enjoying the madness. Fu continued to shake the thief by their ankle, causing anything on their person to be sprung from their pockets. “Please! Stop! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” The thief pleaded, but Fu continued to shake the man until they fell unconscious. Once unconscious, she dropped down from the ceiling, landing next to Yuniko, with the thief’s body falling on the ground next to them with a hard thud. “Oops, sorry about that.. I must have gotten a bit carried away.” Fu said coyly now seeing the damage she had done. “At least we caught him!” Fu went to give Yuniko a high five, but the man had been reduced to a sad puddle of tears, knowing his father was sure to disown him once he finds out what happened here today.  “Alrighty then, looks like I’ll be going.” Fu bent over, picked up a handful of coins from the ground, counter them out, and then stuffed them in her pocket. “That should be just about enough to cover everything I lost today plus my fee for helping out. Thanks for everything Yuniko!” Fu would yell out while she walked towards the portal that had brought her here originally. As she walked towards the exit, she recapped her day: She had lost all her money playing poker, ran into some friends and comrades from Hoshigakure, played cat and mouse with some low level thief, helped out the casino owner’s son by taking out the target. Over all- it had been a great day and she had really worked up an appetite. “Helping people can be really tiring, I wonder how Archie’s doing.” Fu would say, now coming to the portal and paying her fee to travel home. Fu was confident that her comrades were doing just fine and would be okay completing the rest of the tasks without her. Hopefully they would catch wind of what Fu had done by helping the owner’s son catch the pesky thief and not think she was as lazy as she was. Fu passed through the portal, returning to her home of Hoshigakure.
 
Fu made her way to her little home on the outskirts of the village where she was greeted by her large brown bear Archie. “Archie, you won’t believe the day I’ve had!” Fu threw a few logs into her fireplace, which was the focal point of the room, and pulled up a seat next to her large, furry companion where she planned to tell him the tales of the day.

WC: 2568
TWC: 3895/3875 Mission WC Requirement

[Exit/Missions Complete]

Spoiler:

Well, everybody else certainly seemed like they were having a good time. Isaribi, however, was having a good time in a different way. The satisfaction of seeing a plan come together, especially in a high pressure situation like this one, was like a fucking high. Maybe satisfaction was the wrong word, here. Isa had been taking time to expand her vocabulary, to learn more about language, and though she wasn't much good at it (and probably never would be), she had just the word to describe this feeling: vindication. Not just winning, as she understood the word, but winning a lot, and where others wouldn't expect you to. Yeah, it was a rush, and she kinda liked it. Taking people by surprise was the best, in more ways than one.

The high didn't last long, though, Isa soon found herself slumped against a wall, eyeing up a drink and a few high class looking folks smoking something or other. It all looked very nice, but it wasn't exactly for her. Which is to say, if she started acting like the people here, she'd become a target of some kind. That was how the movers and shakers, the rich and powerful operated. People like her were tolerated to an extent; after all, someone had to do all the heavy lifting in the world. But the society they built had a key element that she would probably have to think about her whole life: she and they were fundamentally different. Not in a level that could be observed (though its signs might be), but on a level essential to the people involved. Something that was supposedly deep within her was different from something within them, and that made them BETTER, or at least more fit to control who did what, and how. It was a belief that disgusted her to her core.

She wondered, with no small amount of smugness, how many of these people were here to launder money. Oh, almost all of them were here to perform some kind of illicit deed, but she could imagine that a good deal of that population was at this place to clean out their cash flows, so to speak. Yet another reason to dislike the shinobi: they were paid in legitimate money for their misdeeds. That the council of Hoshigakure had the most competent, well-funded and well-equipped gang in the village as its private army was an obvious fact that did not escape her. Even so, she still had to do the right thing, even if it meant opposing forces like that.

Oh, it was so fucking stupid, and she felt stupid just for thinking about it like this. Of course, when she framed it in a fight or a struggle, she always envisioned herself losing. That was just how she was. Isa tried to think about it a different way, tried to reframe the problem in a different light. Not a struggle, then. A game. She liked games, she was good at them. Every individual in the game was capable of a limited number of moves, and as long as she was better than her opponents in that respect, she could win. She was also, of course, willing to cheat if she had to, but she didn't feel good about it. She had a fairly good idea of what weaknesses she would have to aim for if any of her current teammates got in her way, and how to aim for them properly. Others would be more difficult, and would require a lot of very unsavory work to uncover. Who did they know? Where did their families live? So on, and so forth.

And to get that, she suspected, she would have to spend more time with each of them, personally. This wasn't something that could be solved by just going on a single set of jobs like this one. It was a process that would take a lot of time and patience, time that she didn't have. Don't pick all of them, then. Just get cursory information now, and if any of them posed a problem in the future, she could take care of it then. No need to waste time and resources stressing out over things that were mostly out of her control.

Well, she was as good as done here. Everything on her checklist was ticked, and no doubt the payout would be coming down the line soon. No doubt, the others had held up their end of the job as well. They all seemed like folks with a great deal of power  to bring to the table, even if she wasn't quite yet aware of how much experience they had. In that, Isa had the utmost confidence. No matter what, violence was the greatest form of power in the world. Again, it wasn't a judgement of good or evil on her part, but a descriptive truth of the reality that shinobi lived in. Until she changed the world, it was a hardship that she had to face.

[WC 839
TWC 3875/3875 missions complete!
Claiming:
1000 Ryo / 10 AP / 3 Chocolates
2000 Ryo / 10 AP / 4 Chocolates
5000 Ryo / 25 AP / 7 Chocolates
7500 Ryo / 37 AP / 10 Chocolates / 1000 Casino Chips
2000 Ryo / 10 AP / 14 Chocolates / 1500 Casino Chips
2000 Ryo / 10 AP / 17 Chocolates / 3000 Casino Chips

97 AP


1500 toward https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47004-genjutsu-choking-v7
1500 toward B-rank of https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t45251-false-surroundings-technique-v7
Exit]

Approved

+19,500 Ryo

Claiming the Ryo + 102 AP and exiting out of thread.

New Bonus AP Amount 622.

Ryumi Hiyu wrote:+19,500 Ryo

Claiming the Ryo + 102 AP and exiting out of thread.

New Bonus AP Amount 622.

Approved