Kids! (D-Rank Catch the Prankster)

Bah! Kids. Salzem's annoyance knew no bounds for those kids. Why can they not just learn and train as he did? Salzem sighed. He had been searching for almost an hour with no sign of the prankster. He saw his graffiti however. Not what Salzem would call... flattering to the hokage. He leaped to the top of a roof to get a better look at his surroundings. Adults... Adults... kid, no paint.... Adults... Ah! He saw about 20 meters ahead of him, a kid carrying a bucket of blue paint and brush was running on top of a roof, splashing paint as he went. Salzem ran after him, jumping roof to roof as he approached. The kid seemed to notice he was being followed and turned around. He saw Salzem and stuck his tongue out at him, smiling cockily. Salzem wonders if he would do that again if he had that kid's tongue in his grasp. The kid dropped to the ground and Salzem followed, unwilling to give up the pursuit. The kid ran down into an alley and Salzem followed. Suddenly, a large cloud of smoke impeded his vision. A smoke screen! Salzem jumped through, expecting to see the kid or something of that order. Its never really that easy though is it? Salzem saw only a trash can and garbage scattered throughout. Curses! He lost him. Salzem walked back out of the alley way. Maybe he can still catch him if he left right now. Salzem heard snickering as he moved out of sight of the alley way. He turned and put his back up against the wall leading to the alley. When Salzem glanced inside, there was no more trashcan, there was the kid, splattering paint with his brush over the near by walls. Salzem stepped into the alley, where the kid had a clear vision of him. The kid stopped painting the graffiti when he saw Salzem approaching.
"You REALLY know how to get on everyone's nerves, don't you?" Salzem asked the kid as he advanced, raising his voice on the word really. The prankster only snickered when Salzem spoke. He did not run when Salzem stared down at him.
"Your coming with me, kid." Salzem growled. When Salzem's hand touched him, he erupted in a cloud of smoke. What...? Suddenly, he felt feet land on his back, sudden change in weight forcing him to the ground. He felt the feet leave him as he heard the prankster's cackling echo off the walls as he ran away. "A clone. Of course its clones!" Salzem muttered under his breath as he got to his feet. Wait... If that kid was a clone, was the paint... Salzem looked at the wall where the kid had painted. Nothing there. Of course. Salzem followed the kid's droning laughter.
"I swear, If I get my hands on him..." Salzem muttered as he ran. "When I get my hands on him... He better hope to his lucky stars that there's enough of him to deliver back to his parents." The kid had made his way to the roofs where he was just flinging his paint can around, splashing blue paint over everything in sight from tree tops, to civilians, to wild life. Salzem leaped up on the roof with him, his sandals landing in the paint. The kid seemed surprised that Salzem had managed to follow him all the way here after being tricked. Salzem smacked a fist into a palm, hoping to scare the little tyke into giving himself up. The kid backed away from Salzem until his feet were almost at the edge.
"You realize this will only end badly for you." Salzem said, advancing slowly. The kid looked back, then down to the paint in his hands and smiled. Salzem failed to notice.
"You can stop now, Or suffer worse when I catch you." Salzem snarled, taking a menacing step forward. The kid quickly threw the paint can at Salzem, A wave of paint obscuring his vision. Salzem leaped back, dodging most of the paint but a small wave splashed across his breathing mask's eyes, effectively blinding him. Salzem took his mask off, Red eyes burning with rage. Annnnnd.... The kid was gone. Salzem was just about ready to break something before his common sense kicked in and he calmed down. Deep, rage filled breaths diminished in favor of calmer, lighter ones. Obviously, this was what the prankster wanted. Obviously, Salzem was going about this the wrong way. Salzem's direct get-n-grap tactics were doing nothing more than enticing the young prankster to continue his shenanigans while encouraging Salzem to keep reacting to it. Salzem took a deep breath, banishing all remaining rage from his system. He needed a plan. Perhaps a little talk would do better than just forcing him to comply. Salzem hid underneath the hokage face carvings.  Surly, his "art" would bring him there at some point. Turns out, Salzem didn't have to wait long as the kid was making his way up to the rock with a new bucket of fresh red paint. He stopped when he saw Salzem in his way, looking out over the village, paying no attention to him. Salzem turned and looked at the kid. He had nowhere to go now.
"Hey." Salzem said waving lightly at him. The kid said nothing, clutching the can tightly, ready to throw it at Salzem if he made another move against him. Salzem didn't. He looked at the prankster for another moment before looking back out over the town.
"Nice place, hmmm?" Salzem said to the kid, referring to the village. A confused look crossed the kid's face. When he didn't answer, Salzem trained his blood read eyes on him. He wasn't looking at him in anger anymore however. It was a look of sympathy. Salzem pulled his mask over his face briefly, getting a few more breaths before taking it off again.
"Here," Salzem said. "Hand me that paint can and brush." The prankster eyed Salzem suspiciously.
"Why?" the kid asked. He finally spoke. He obviously didn't trust Salzem. Why should he? Salzem threatened him, chased him, and attempted his capture. Salzem shrugged in response the kid's question.
"Just figured, you know... These walls seem a bit bland, don't you think?" The kid's eyes lit up. The prankster was intrigued that the ninja sent to capture him was offering to deface the hokage wall with him. He handed the bucket to Salzem, brush inside. Salzem pulled the brush out of the bucket and stared at it. What was he going to do?

Salzem stroked the paint brush across the rock face once before putting the brush back in the bucket.  Bright red paint arced where Salzem had stroked the rock. The kid looked disappointed. He was expecting the ninja to totally wreck the rock face with paint. Salzem handed the bucket and brush back to the kid and moved out of his way.
"Your turn, hmmm?" Salzem said, motioning to the rock face. The prankster didn't move for a moment but he shrugged his shoulders and moved to deface the rock. Before he could paint anything, Salzem spoke.
"You haven' fun?" Salzem asked. The kid froze then turned around and looked at Salzem questioningly.
"Huh?" The kid asked.
"Well, painting over all these different surfaces can't be that much fun. I'm just wondering if it it's as fun as you make it look." The kid looked at Salzem, confused before answering.
"Its not the painting that's fun. It's all the grown ups that are funny." Salzem nodded understandingly.
"You're in the academy, right?" Salzem asked. He already knew the kid was but he wanted to hear it from him. The kid nodded.
"Your bored, hmmm? That's why you're here and not there."
The kid nodded again.
"You hungry, kid?" Salzem asked, sighing. He can be too nice sometimes... As Salzem spoke, he heard the growl emanate from the boy's stomach.
"Yeah." The boy said, all traces of mistrust leaving his eyes.
"Come with me. I'm buying." Salzem said. The boy picked his bucket and was about to leave before Salzem stopped him.
"Might want to leave that here. To be safe." Salzem said, referring to the bucket. The kid was about to argue before he saw Salzem's point. If he left with the bucket, it would spell to the whole village he was responsible for the graffiti. The kid dropped the bucket and followed Salzem down from the rock face.
"So... Why paint?" Salzem asked as they made their way to the nearest Ramen restaurant. The kid looked down when he asked. Salzem thought the kid wasn't going to answer but then, he did.
"I was bored. I.. dunno. I wanted to do something else other than train and study." Salzem nodded, listening silently. The kid went on, talking about how he hated his teachers, that they were SO boring and that he was practically asleep at the end of each lesson and that he wanted to get back at them. Salzem pulled his mask over his mouth to breath before taking it off again. The kid noticed this and looked at Salzem, a question on his face.
"And by the way, whats that mask and why do keep taking it on and off?" Salzem noticed a Ramen  resturaunt near by and steered the kid toward it. He ducked into the shop and sat himself down on a stool and the kid sat next to him. The cook came to take their order, pulling out a flip pad and pen.
"Ramen, no egg, extra pork." Salzem asked, then gestured to the kid. "And whatever this joker wants." The kid makes a face before speaking his order. "Small ramen, no egg." The cook went about his business cooking, and Salzem turned to address the kid's question. "This mask is my life. I cannot breath without it. Think of it as a pair of spare lungs." The kid opened his mouth to ask another question but then shut it. He looked at Salzem, in admiration. Why is he being so nice to him?
"Why are you treating me?" The kid asked. Salzem faced him and smirked. He didn't know himself.
"We're only human, kid. You and I worked up an appetite playing Cat-n-Mouse with each other." The kid smiled a little at Salzem. He seemed like a big-brother figure to him. To be honest, Salzem saw this kid as a little brother himself. Their food arrived, looking as magnificent as he expected. Salzem gave the money he owned to the cook and took a pair of chopsticks. "Time to eat, hmmm?" Salzem said looking over to the kid who was just digging in. "Mmmhmph" The kid responded, mouth full. Salzem chuckled a little and dug in himself. When their meal was done, Salzem and the kid left the shop, Salzem maneuvering the kid in the direction of the delivery point. As they walked, they talked about things ranging from graffiti, to food, school. Salzem decided he needed to tell the kid where they're going.
"We're going to the delivery point." Salzem said. The kid looked at him confused at first, then his eyes widened in understanding.
"You can't take me back! They will punish me!" The kid cried. Salzem looked down at him, shocked by his sudden outburst.
"They most certainly will." Salzem agreed. "But not as bad as you might think." Salzem saw the point in the distance and the two chunin who will take it from there. Salzem turned to face the kid and put a hand on his shoulder "If you ever feel like you want to deface some buildings, come find me. I'm sure I can find something for you to do. By the way, name's Salzem."
"Guran" the kid said. Salzem smiled at his name. Seemed like a name for a giant but he was so small.
"Nice name. Come on." Salzem said as they moved to the point. The chunin led the kid away and Salzem was left alone again. He supposed he would have to go collect his reward but he decided to sit down for a while. The offer he made to the Guran will most likely sap more time out of his routine than anything else. Bah! Kids! But Salzem couldn't help but smile.
(Exit)
(TWC: 2057)
(Claiming 1000 ryo and 3 AP)