Tracking Down a Rogue

C-Rank Mission - Rogue Ninja:

Sleep came early to Natsumi in the winter months. While not as extreme as in other nations, the sun rose late and set early in Konohagakure, meaning the village often spent more time in darkness than not. Add on the recent uptick in mission requests that she’d be asked to handle, and the teen reached the end of each day exhausted.

Most days now followed a similar pattern: wake up, work, and sleep. Wake up, work, and sleep. Wake up, work, and sleep…Surprisingly, however, the sense of monotony that this predictability would have previously depressed the Nara girl never came. Rather, she found that there was a certain comfort in the rhythm of her days as if she was finally playing the part she was meant for and had so often avoided in her younger years.

How strange life was.

This particular evening was no exception to her routine and progress as many did as of late. She cooked egg, rice, spam, and broccoli for dinner, not the most appetizing meal in the world but it was quick to make and, importantly, quick to clean up. After dinner, she read a book, one she’d read a thousand times on the history of the Leaf Village. And then, after brushing her teeth, she slipped into bed and closed her eyes, waiting for the heady embrace of sleep to come.

Ka-Boom!

What sounded like an explosion pulled Natsumi from bed with a jolt. For a brief moment her room filled with an otherworldly green light, which faded as soon as it arrived. Blue, purple, and orange lights followed in quick succession. The teen was at her window in time to catch a pink light burst in the sky, leaving behind the afterimage of a flower—fireworks.

It was roughly the right time of year for fireworks, but something seemed off. For one, Natsumi couldn’t recall whether a fireworks display had been scheduled for the evening. And, two, the fireworks did not seem to be coming from a single location. Rather, they burst up from random locations around the village, locations that fireworks likely shouldn’t have been launched from.

Despite these inconsistencies, Natsumi watched from her window enjoying the display until the last firework dissipated and the night fell silent once more. This time when she went to bed, she would not be disturbed until the morning. Perhaps she had simply missed the memo about the display, it wouldn’t be the first time she missed out on a large happening in the village.

The next morning was the same as any other. She had breakfast, got in a morning run, and made her way to the village’s administrative annex. Surely, she had another mission waiting for her, as it seemed she had every day for the past few weeks. Perhaps it was the busy season or perhaps someone somewhere along the chain of command wanted to keep her busy—it didn’t matter either way, the missions needed to be done.

“Morning, Heito,” she chirped to the familiar administrator at the front desk. “Wild light show last night, right?”

Heito, a middle-aged jounin, flashed her a knowing smile. He was always all business, despite Natsumi’s best efforts to bludgeon him with optimism. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person?

“Indeed,” Heito agreed. “It was quite the show, even if it was unauthorized. In fact…”

He pushed a folder across the desk to Natsumi.

“…today’s mission involves looking into it, Miss Natsumi.”

Natsumi’s nose wrinkled at the use of ‘miss’ but took the folder without further protest. The mission readout detailed a miscreant by the name Shin Hao, an academy student especially skilled in ninjutsu, who was believed to be behind the show. Natsumi’s task was, of course, to capture the rogue and bring him in for questioning. It always seemed that she got these kinds of missions: the annoying ones.

“Isn’t this a bit harsh?” She asked, passing the folder back. “He’s just a kid.”

“Quite the contrary, Miss Natsumi,” Hanzo sighed. “The fact that Mister Hao was able to steal fireworks for the upcoming New Year celebration and then set them off across the village without regard for life or property should carry a stronger punishment.”

It seemed prodigies were judged by different standards if they could be useful to the village.

“If anything, we are being lenient.”

Not wanting to press the point, Natsumi nodded and said her farewells before heading to the academy. According to the mission readout, Shin believed himself to be operating with anonymity and going about life as a normal academy student so as not to draw suspicion to his after-dark activities. Apparently, he had not been as careful or the Leaf Village’s intelligence was better than he expected—Natsumi suspected that some combination of the two was true.

The academy was a familiar sight to the teen who had mere years ago sat within its walls for classes. The building had not changed all that much, but it did not have the same foreboding aura it had when Natsumi once walked its halls. She had not particularly enjoyed the academy and was fortunate to pass, despite the expectations her surname carried of genius.

Coming to classroom A1-B, Shin’s homeroom, Natsumi stopped at the door as she felt a familiar anxiety bubbling up in her stomach. It was the same anxiety she’d felt all those years ago in the academy. This time, however, instead of succumbing to it, she swallowed it and pushed open the door to find class was fully in session.

“Excuse me, Misaki Sensei,” she recognized the teacher—her old genjutsu instructor. “I need to see Shin Hao for a moment, it’s important.”

“Ah, Natsumi,” Misaki Tohai responded and threw a glance to the back of the classroom. “Of course. Shin, you’re excused. Natsumi say hello to your parents for me.”

Natsumi’s face reddened.

“I will, thank you, Misaki Sensei.”

The boy, Shin Hao, meanwhile did not seem flustered in the slightest. To Natsumi’s surprise, he simply swaggered to the front of the classroom. With black hair and sharp brown eyes, the academy student didn’t look like a genius, but looks could obviously be deceiving in the shinobi world.

“So, Natsumi, was it?” Shin asked after the classroom door closed behind him. “What can I do for you?”

There was not an ounce of fear in the boy’s face nor did his voice waver once. It was almost impressive. Perhaps the billing of genius was, indeed, appropriate.

“Yes, Natsumi Nara,” the genin responded. “I’d like you to accompany me to the village’s administrative annex, they have a few questions for you regarding last night’s fireworks.”

If Shin was surprised it didn’t show.

“Sure thing, happy to help however I can,” he flashed a disarming smile. “Lead the way.”

The pair left the academy without incident. Maybe the boy had given up? Maybe he thought he could talk his way out of it? Natsumi wasn’t too sure, but this seemed to be a much easier mission than she’d initially thought. Glancing to her side only to see Shin disappearing around the corner of the block, however, disabused her of the thought.

How was he so fast? Moreover, how had she not noticed him slip away? Unfortunately, the teen had little time to ponder such questions as she gave chase in what was starting to feel like an elaborate game of tag. Just as Natsumi rounded a corner she’d barely see Shin rounding another corner, only for the process to continue over and over for blocks at a time.

Soon the chase transitioned from the streets to the roofs of Konoha. On one hand, this allowed Natsumi not to lose sight of her quarry every few seconds, which was a welcome change. On the other hand, however, she now had to contend with the uneven terrain of roofs, each with its own obstacles and designs. It was clear that Shin had a strong mastery of the surface walking technique well beyond that of an academy student, as he never lost his footing.
Tiger – Horse – Ram

Completing the sequence of hand seals by crossing her index and middle fingers into a cross, Natsumi created an identical copy of her by her side, the shadow clone jutsu. Shin, with his focus on the path before him, did not see the clone split off from the chase in a different direction. In a game of cat and mouse, it was becoming clear to Natsumi that she was not going to be able to catch up to Shin, so once more she turned to a tactic she knew well, deception.

The next ten minutes saw little progress on either side of the chase. Shin remained ahead of Natsumi through the use of the body flicker technique and at times tried to elude her by changing his path. However, Natsumi, for her part, was able to keep pace with considerable effort as evidenced by the sweat on her brow and the burning in her thighs—she didn’t much care for this much physical activity. It seemed the chase would go on until one of the two tired out and at this rate Natsumi wasn’t liking her chances.

Or at least she wasn’t until Shin stopped dead in his tracks as Natsumi’s clone’s shadow met with that of the academy student. While Shin had thought he was leading the way, he was, in fact, being corralled by Natsumi into a trap. Genius or not, he wouldn’t be escaping the grip of the Nara clan’s famed jutsu, it was a few years too early for him to do such a thing.

“Not too bad,” Natsumi panted as she sidled up beside Shin at the edge of a building. “You’re pretty quick, but you should try to use your head a bit more.”

Shin wasn’t able to respond.

“Alrighty, let’s get you back to Heito.”

The three figures wound their way back to the administrative annex without much trouble. Sure, there were a few strange looks from passersby, but for the most part, they had all likely seen stranger things in the village. One of the benefits of living among shinobi and kunoichi is that even the most bizarre scenes had become commonplace.

“Heito, I’m back,” she said, approaching the desk. “One troublemaking genius ready to be debriefed.”

She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder where Shin stood, still bound by her clone’s jutsu.

“Ah, not too bad, Miss Natsumi,” the jounin looked down his glances at Shin. “It would appear congratulations are in order, I expected it to take you a bit longer than that.”

The teen shrugged.

“You two,” Heito continued, directing his voice to two chuunin attendants. “Please take Mister Shin off of Miss Natsumi’s hands.”

The two chuunin secured the academy student, allowing Natsumi to release her shadow clone.

“Now, all I’ll need from you,” Heito returned his attention to the Nara. “Is for you to sign a few papers. It’ll be painless, I promise.”

It was far from painless. The number of papers Natsumi ended up signing and initialing ended up cramping her hand, and by the time she had been fully debriefed it was dark outside. The walk home brought her by food stalls and a few nicer restaurants, but she resisted the urge to stop. As of late, she’d made an effort to save her money, something she had been loathe to do in the past. She wasn’t quite sure what she was saving for, but watching the number in her bank account climb ever higher brought the genin a certain sense of accomplishment.

Instead of spending her money, she returned home and to her routine. She cooked egg, rice, spam, and broccoli, making sure not to burn the egg. She finished her book, making particular note of the rule of Viper Uchiha. And then, as she always did, she brushed her teeth, and slipped into bed. This time, however, instead of being interrupted by an impromptu fireworks display, she drifted off to sleep. As she slept, her mind wandered this way and that dreaming of things that could be and had been.

---

Exit/Thread Closed.

TWC: 2021
Thread Claims:
+ 4000 ryo & 20 AP for completing the C-rank mission linked at the top of the post
+ 20 speed
+ 2000 words toward training A-Rank: Shadow Neck Choke [2000 words + 500 words = 2500/2500 jutsu fully trained.]
+ 21 words toward training Swamp of the Underworld

WC Math: 2000 words for Shadow Neck Choke + 21 words for Swamp of the Underworld = 2021/2021