The Case of the Missing Persons

Mission Details:

"It's a sad when even the deceased can't rest. No respect; whatever happened to honor among thieves?", the caretaker of the graveyard expressed his concerned whole heartedly; his face teeming with anger and disgust towards the ones responsible for the string of robberies that have occurred for the past few weeks. Everyone week, at least twice, the a grave would turn up undug and stripped of any valuables their loved ones placed in the coffins. Okisho stands along side the caretaker, acting as a buffer, taking in not only the grief but also any information he knew that could lead to the capture of the thieving bandits. It had to stop, moral was beginning to dwindle as new spread. What was the point in defending the village from the lawless criminals from the outside, if the village itself was with lawlessness.

The weather today matched the gloomy feeling of the caretaker. The sun was obscured from view due to the large grey clouds, yet not a single drop a rain could be felt. There was a breeze, a touch of wind that could be felt with each passing moment of somber as the caretaker told his tale. This wasn't the day for celebration, it was a time of remorse and reflection. How  could one of the most advanced villages on the east continent, suffer from such indignities.

"You gotta do something about this! I'm tired trying to explain to angry confused families that I can't do anything about this. All I know, is that whoever is behind this, knows which graves to hit. Not one grave  they turned up empty... well without valuable jewels or family heirlooms I mean.", He looks around, as if he was searching for something , till his eyes focused back on Okisho. "Say, Are you the only one assigned to this case? No offense, but I'd be more certain in you finding out who did this if the village allocated a bit more resources into this thing. This ain't no joke."

As for attire, Okisho is considered a minimalist, nothing too flashy and void of any logos. This also includes his Clan emblem, which much of his people love to don out in public. He is usually seen wearing a simple all black shirt, and a pair of dark navy-blue slacks which stop at the top of his ankles. A single ninja pouch concealed underneath his black shirt. The pouch his attached to his black leather belt, fastened on the back right side of his waist. His shoes are standard issued shinobi editions, revealing his toes and back ankles. HIs headband was fastened tight against his forehead, but not enough to cause any discomfort. Over his usual attire, he is seen wearing a black blazer coat, and a black fedora hat.

Okisho nods his head before speaking, he understood the caretaker's situation. It was bad enough that his job involved him witness families grieving over their lost ones during each funeral, day after day. But to now get it on both ends, and deal with graves being pillaged was not in his job description.

"Thank you for your statement *Is seen jotting down notes in his notepad* ; the higher ups understand that this is a serious inter village problem. My partner and I have been given resources to deal with this matter. If you come across anymore information, please reach out to the higher ups. Anything that comes to mind will be of great use.", he walks off towards the entrance of the graveyard. He heads towards his partner, Saku who was also assigned to the mission. Or simply chats with him if Saku was at his side the entire time.

"This sounds like an inside job to me, that would explain how the grave robbers know which graves to hit. In and out, with no wasted time or deviation. I think we should pay a visit to the HR in the administration building. What do you think Saku?", he waits for a reply.
---
TWC/ 668
TMWC/ 668/ 3,000

Another day, another case.

The Child sighed adjusting the hat on their head, they had been informed said hat was vital for the mission, and turned his attention from the grave to the sky above. Dull and grey, almost as if the weather itself was feeding off the charged emotions in the village. It was the same as the weather on that day, barring the rain, the last time The Child had undertaken a mission. It hadn't been that long ago, yet it already felt like a distant memory. Maybe it was because of The Child's want to distance themselves from it personally.

They shook their head, wiping the memory once more from their mind. Today was not the day to be dwelling on previous work. No, they had to remain focused on the job at hand. A most despicable of acts had committed. The desecration and robbery of the dwellings of the dead. It was the second one this week, exact same crime as before. They were definitely dealing with a serial graverobber.

The main question was why? Well actually, it was who, but also...why? What circumstances could have driven an individual, or group of, to perform such crimes? The Child still didn't truly understand the nature of humans; and on days like these they doubted they ever would.

Removing the pipe from their mouth they re-adjusted their bandage coverings when they noticed their partner for today approach. Once again The Child had been paired with the older Genin Okisho. Not that The Child minded, they seemed to make a good duo, one might even call it a dynamic one. Naturally when it came to dealing with the caretaker The Child had let Okisho handle it. The Child was not a natural talker, and The Child dealing with someone upset and angry would probably not end well.

The Child had decided to investigate the most recent grave. There wasn't much to it, not that surprising. If it were a novice they would have likely left some incriminating evidence, but there was a frustrating lack of such on the site itself. Still, it had been worth checking.

The Child met Okisho half-way, and listened to the man's insight on the way back to the entrance of the graveyard.

An inside job? The thought hadn't occurred to The Child. Thinking about it it made perfect sense, and a flash of anger ran through them.

They adjusted their hat and gave a slight nod. "It's the best course of action." They said, agreeing with the assessment of their elder Genin. An alternative was to just chase down anyone who had visited the graveyard recently, it sounded insane on paper, and also sounded insane in any other way. Definitely not an option.

The administration building wasn't all that far away. Or maybe it had been a long walk, and The Child had been lost in thought again. It was impossible to tell these days. The one thing The Child noted was that today just seemed...grey. Maybe it was the mood or the weather, or maybe even a trick of the light; but the world around the pair just seemed devoid of colour today. There was no time to dwell on that however as the pair arrived at the building in short order.

It was The Child who made first introductions with the receptionist. "We need to speak with HR." They said, only the upper half of their head visible from the other side of the desk. To make sure it was understood the importance of the situation, they even flashed their shinobi ID to the seemingly confused woman.

Now, what exactly was HR? The Child had no idea, but the receptionist seemed to know as they were directed to someone who was apparently this person. They were a nondescript looking person, so The Child automatically deemed that this 'HR' thing was something important. After all, only nondescript looking people were in charge of important stuff.

"We have some questions," The Child would say when the nondescript person was met with. "In regards to the recent string of robberies." They remembered to tack on at the end, best to avoid any confusion.

What were the questions? Would the dynamic duo find their criminal? Find out after the break.

[714]

1382/3000

The admin building was busy as ever, the many fast pedaling pedestrians zipped passed the building at amazing speed with just as many villagers heading in an out. The duo road the wave as they now reached the building and made their way to the front desk to see the Human Recourses department. Normally, an appointment would be required to gain such an audience. Perhaps maybe with a bit of urgency and authority, things could get expedited to help suit their needs,

Before entering, He removes his hat, urging Saku to do the same

"Genin Squad, we're working a case", Okisho stated with a firm an direct voice. He flashes his badge around the same time as Saku. The two were voicing each other's thoughts. This had the be the most he'd seen Saku talk all at once. He smirks just a bit, but remained focused on the desk representative.

"Oh! um... let me see if she is a available. I believe she is in a meeting; but, sometimes these things do get cancelled. That does sound serious, I hope you figure out whose behind all of i- AH! she should just be done wrapping up with her meeting. I'll send you to the office."

"Thank you for your cooperation", Okisho said as he looks down at Saku, gesturing him to follow him with a tilt of his head towards the direction of the desk representative's instructions.

Reaching the office door, it being already opened, Okisho see's a lady shuffling through a pile of papers as she stood near her huge solid wood desk. He introduces the two of them to the lady, and she as well in turn. Okisho immediately noticed the taxing stress she was going through. as it due to the meeting? A subject relating to the case the two were working on? His inquires on files pertaining to few hires and the funeral services department grabs the attention of the HR manager.      

"Those files contains a lot of sensitive information. Plus, with the absence of the Funeral director role, our care takers and the new hires have basically been on their own. I just can't fill the role, not everybody wants to make a career dwelling in a mortuary mall day or night.", she sets the stack of papers down softly on the desk.

The fact that the funeral director role wasn't filled prompted him to ask one last question. "These new hires, could you at least tell us when they started?", his notebook out and hard pressed against the open palm of his left hand, the pen also hard pressed against- it as he wrote down the information he was receiving.

"Oh, that's easy. I hired them... two months ago and the whole group started their first shift a few weeks ago? Yeah, they were so eager to get a job in the funeral services department. I had to hire them. Like I said before, nobody wants to work among the dead."

Okisho perks up upon hearing this, and slowly tilts his head over at Saku, affirming visually at what he just heard. It was all lining up. If there weren't anymore questions, him giving time for Saku to speak, Okisho shuts his notebook. Saku could convince the HR lady to give up the files, that would be even better! If not, the two would leave the office with their new precious information.  If Saku managed to get the files, the two could easily locate one of the suspects and question them. A promise of working out a deal  might influence one of them to flip on the rest of the workers and recover some of the stolen property faster.

"I knew it had to be an inside job, now we just need to catch them in the act, Saku. We should hurry too, before the next set of valuables end up in Tanzaku Town."
The duo would need to go out on a stakeout, after getting a hold of the schedule for this weeks funerals, and catch the thieves in the act. a stakeout that could very well be a long night or a hit or miss.
---
TWC/ 1,361
TMWC/ 2,075/ 3,000

As they reached the office door, which was already open, Saku observed the lady inside shuffling through a pile of papers near her large wooden desk.

The woman seemed frazzled from the get go. A sign of their guilt most likely, or probably just the stressful nature of the job. The Child was unsure, so spent the bulk of the meeting trying to get a read on them. They stood silently by their partner, eyes staring deeply into the HR manager's soul. Throughout The Child's expression would flash with irritation at the woman, who seemed entirely unaccommodating to the requests. They didn't understand why they were being so difficult, though decided it best not to voice any frustrations lest they become even more difficult to deal with.

The HR manager seemed to go on a slight rant about the challenges she faced due to the unfilled funeral director role.

Though most of it was useless, the information provided about the influx of new hires caught their attention. When pressed for more information, the reveal that they were only hired, and started working, recently sent The Child's mind spinning. It was about as blatant as could be, how could the woman not have noticed? It seemed the information was not lost on The Child's partner, who gave them a look. The Child nodded to confirm, yes they had too caught onto it.

It was at this point that The Child decided to finally speak once more. They spoke softly, "These new hires are suspects miss."

The woman seemed surprised, though if it were from the information or the fact that they had just now noticed The Child was there was another question all together.

"We need those files." The Child continued, cutting through the start of some other ramble it seemed. Despite this the woman still seemed reluctant to provide anything at all. The Child's brow furrowed, and they added on the final nail in the coffin so to speak. "If information of upper management aiding grave robbers got out to the general public, it would be bad." It went against The Child's nature for such a threat, but the need to solve the case was the importance now.

It seemed that was enough for the woman to finally relent as the pair left the building with copies of the new hires files, with the promise they'd return them once all was done. As the pair exited, The Child briefly skimmed through one of the files, taking a sip from the coffee in their other hand. It was a lot of words, though most of them weren't useful for The Child.

The Chid briefly considered the idea of staking out the graveyard itself. There was merit to it, the graverobbers wouldn't be alerted until they were caught red-handed. But the downside was that they had no idea how long they could be waiting. Days, weeks even. There was also no certainty that someone from within the administration building wouldn't alert them of their visit today. Better to strike now before they realised the heat was on them.

"We have an address." The Child offered finally after spotting one that was close, handing the file over to Okisho if they wanted to take a look at it. "Not far."

Said address in question was only a short walk away. They moved swiftly through the village, their pace quickening with purpose. The streets were bustling with life, but The Child's mind was focused solely on their mission. The address led them to a modest house on the outskirts of the village. It was quiet as they approached.

As they got closer, The Child's eyes spiked into life once more. The Byakugan extended their vision, granting them access through the walls and into the interior of the building itself. His enhanced vision revealed a figure inside, seemingly unaware of their presence.

"There's someone inside," The Child whispered to Okisho. "One person, in the living room."

[1375]

2736/3000

With the files now in tow, Okisho glances over towards Saku slowly, observing the child analyzing the copies of files. He was quite impressed on how direct and to the point he was during the meeting, though, it was to be expected. Recalling the events of the past missing the last two were on, his work ethic could not be questioned. What he made up for with lack of words, was replaced with a formidable work ethic. Finally, Saku revealed information about one of the workers, their address not too far from their current position. The two, agreeing on what must be done, Speed towards the suspect's house.

Upon arriving there, Saku, acting as overwatch once more, receives the intel of the layout. One man, in the living room. The Uchiha nods his head, only to adjust his hat once more before proceeding towards the house with the files in hand. "I'll go in, you take watch. Good job by the way handling the HR lady...", he said while beginning to saunter towards the house. His heart raced with excitement, reciting the lines and talking points he was given by Saku. He knew what he needed to do, but playing cop around the Okinaga district can send all sorts of trouble their way. But this time, he doubted it. Reports indicated no such record of Shinobi training , but that didn't mean he didn't know how to handle himself.    

Three swift knocks were made, the door swings inward to reveal a man in their early thirties. Okisho was seen talking to the man, only to be invited in. The man peers out looking around before closing it. If he spotted Saku, he'd give a long stare, followed by a drop of his shoulders in depression and despair. He knew it was over.

Okisho, after walking out of the house, the suspect follows him too with his coat on. He agreed to testify against the other criminals responsible for the heist. He gives Saku the update on what was going to happen, and escorts the suspect to the admin office for questioning. He'd get off with a warning, no jail time or anything. The rest of the criminals were arrested one by one; of course by the duo of course after the confession. After all as done, Okisho offered to walk Saku home and then retreat to his own abode. If denied, OKisho would simply walk off to the Uchiha district by himself.
---
Exit, Claiming 6,000 ryo and 30 AP
TWC/ 1,772
TMWC/ 3,147
1,481 words for Swift Wind Wall V7, Previous Training A Rank 2,063/2,063(Discounted due to Maxed stats)
291 words towards Mirage of Decay V7 B Rank 291/1,125(Discounted due to Maxed stats)

All went smoothly after that. The man they had found gave up his accomplices quickly. From there it was just the matter of tracking each of them down. It was a relatively quick affair, the rest of the group none the wiser until the pair had safely rounded them all up.

Another cased closed.

The Child stared out the window of their apartment after it all, glass in one hand. They sighed, taking a sip of soda and shaking their head. It was then they realised that the hat was still perched on their head, bemused they took it off and threw it into a corner.

The colour returned to the world once more, the dreary grey melting away as they room brightened.

Weird day.

[Closed]

[1500]

6000 Ryo
30 AP
760+1500=2260/2750 Perfect Body