It’s rare! It’s temporary! It’s the place to be! Avid representatives are roped in to per Sadayo’s whims for a special, unconventional request.
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2021 4:40 pm
Sadayo◦❖◦Soga 貞世 蘇我
A cop, a tattoo artist, and a cafe owner walk into the Hokage’s Office. What do they all have in common? Nothing! Alright, alright, it’s a joke. What they have in common at the very minimum is that they all signed off on accepting the hard strung task of giving their all in the military service for hire. On demand. Their faces, names, records, and a bare boned basic outline of their skill sets and specialties put on the record. Their boss? One overworked mechanical engineer who was tasked with trying to skew odds for success among so many other responsibilities.
Kai, Roku, and Mina were selected for a mystery job. Why? Bad luck? Good luck? Their names could have literally been pulled out of a jar blindly- in dismay- or some meticulous planning actually went into this. Whatever happened, however it happened, requests were sent previously to bring these three here on vague details. A request. A special assignment. Being a special assignment, the details weren’t formally reviewed in an office setting.
They were requested outside and to meet in a space that felt more casual. Tidied and tended with full and green hanging plants. At this time of day the stretching reach of the green cliffs above, marking part of the perimeter of Takijinsei, cast a shadow on the arrangement of wicker furniture. One could see the falls that curtained the administration building from this side. It was a peaceful breath of fresh air that Sadayo couldn’t seem to soak in. She sat reclined in one of the wicker seats with her arms folded and ankles crossed. At least one foot was shaking and she was evidently biting her lower lip. A glass top coffee table was centered among the seats with a fancy, opened envelope addressed to SOGA SADAYO on its surface and a closed, plain file beside her. She was anxiously waiting for something, apparently.
The Crimson Nekomata of Konoha Rank:Jonin 磁気 | Classes:Taijutsu | Genjutsu | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Lightning,Earth,Fire,Lava
“You want us to do what?” Mina blinked and looked at her Kage with wide eyes and a bewildered expression on her face. She had to roll the mission details over in her mind a few times, just to make sure she’d processed them correctly. Sadayo seemed like such a stick in the mud, which made the chances of this being a joke microscopic at best. Which just put even more confusion about the situation in Mina’s mind. “Lady Hokage, are you feeling alright?”
“I mean, I’ll do the mission for sure.” She continued. Mina held her hands up defensively as she spoke. “But I can’t help but feel…” The Jonin looked at the other shinobi in the room: Kai and Roku Uchiha. Seeing the rapper Uchiha back into action so quickly made Mina worried. Additionally, the sight of him made her stomach twist into a knot, as the scar he’d given her as The Poisoner burned. “...that we’re a little over qualified?” Something else was eating away at her too. If Mina was going to be trusted on a mission again, then she wanted to make sure her team would be safe.
“With all due respect, I’m worried about if Kai is fit to return to work.” She had to get the words out quickly before she second guessed herself. Words that the redhead was sure would get a reaction out of Kai. “Because it wasn’t that long ago you and your squad were assaulted by some lunatic.” She replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “So I’d be lying if I said I was certain you were ready to be back in action.”
Kai was uncharacteristically quiet in the office, chewing on the mission at hand. Part of him had considered if it was a trick to get him into the office, if he was going to be demoted and removed from the KPD because the Hokage had learned the details of his earlier incident. Now that he was in the office, he felt an uncomfortable weight on his chest and in his throat. It was hard to look at Mina after the incident. For all of writing and rapping, he was completely out of words when he was around her. He had practiced for hours, but his apologies sounded insincere and his explanations sounded like they were straight from fiction. He didn't know everything The Poisoner had done, only chunks of it made it to him while he was trapped in his own mind, so he couldn't properly apologize without knowing all that The Poisoner had done.
As for Roku, he just didn't know the guy. "Hey," he greeted the guy quietly as Mina spoke with Lady Hokage. He agreed that they were probably grossly overqualified, but he didn't mind something easy after all he'd done. After all, this was a nice reason to get out of the village and take a breath. It would be nice to see something else that didn't remind him of the destruction he had witnessed. That his hands had caused. He still wasn't sure how to feel about being held hostage in his own body, but he was desperate to claim it back for himself. He leaned in towards Roku. "You do tattoos, right?" Maybe some permanent art would help him feel like he owned his body.
He turned his head sharply to Mina as she mentioned a concern for him being in the field. "I'm clearly fine," he contested, gesturing to his body. "You were also attacked, right?" There was a bit of heat in his tone - was Mina playing a game here? Was she trying to suggest that she didn't trust him? Was she intentionally not mentioning his hand in the events at hand because she respected his privacy, or because it was something to hold over him? No, that wasn't Mina. And it wasn't like him to think that of her, either. Everything was so much darker post-Poisoner. It put him on edge because he was losing sleep because he was paranoid because he never knew if one slip up, if one bad feeling would summon that thing again, if it would force him to be unwilling witness to a new set of crimes. "If you're doin' alright, I am too, yeah?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:45 pm
Roku wasn't completely sure why the Hokage had placed him on this mission. Perhaps she saw it as an opportunity for him to start to dip his toe back into things as he hadn't been on any real missions in awhile. He was too focused on keeping his tattoo shop running and rebuilding his family home as of late. It felt almost nice to be away from all of that though. Being in his home often became depressing after spending more than a few hours in it. A nice and easy mission to get him back into things. Sure that made sense. The Hokage was even putting him on a team with Mina, his squadmate, and Kai, a guy that Mina had mentioned to him recently.
"Yeah I do." Roku replied to Kai's question about tattoos. "I own the biggest shop in Konoha. It's called Karasu." Roku couldn't help but wonder how the shop was doing without him being there. For the most part he had enough artists and managers to never really have to worry about it, but it was almost like his baby so he couldn't help worrying. "It's uh nice to meet you by the way. Mina has said nice things about you in the past." Roku nodded and returned his attention to Mina and the Hokage's conversation. It seemed his squadmate and Kai had both been through some sort of fights lately. Though Roku did recall hearing at the shop that some people were attacked in the middle of the streets and another attack had happened the same day. The man stayed out of the conversation for a bit as he didn't think it was his place to decide who got placed on this mission and whether or not they were fit for duty. Afterall he was still a chunin and his two squadmates were Jonin. Rank alone meant their words meant more.
Mission Title [ Rank ] Mission Info EXP: Ryo: Passive EXP: 5
❖￤ Passives
● Flame-Resistance Technique [ Bounetsu no Jutsu ] ● Fireproof Technique [ Taika no Jutsu ] ● Electrical Resistance Training [ Teikou no Kuntou ] ● Fire based techniques are reduced by 5 chakra per rank with a minimum of 5 chakra to be paid for a technique. For each rank of a technique, it's flames burn actively for one post or one additional post if a limit is given. ● Fuuinjutsu techniques require [10] less chakra per body rank of the Yozen clansman (maximum of 60 at S+) without losing their potency. ● Able to do seals with one hand. ● Bloodline techniques are considered overwhelming. ● Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique and must pay no less than 5 stamina.
As fate would have it, the police officer Kai was alerted to an emergency needing his expertise. Mina and Roku remained.
”This ordeal shouldn’t be a situation where you might be ambushed, face traps, and no one should be out for your life. You two could very well be the best there.” Sadayo was giving a fair shake to voicing confidence, assurance that this was going to go well. Granted, one blaring thought was keeping her from dispensing sugared lies that could bite back at her. She winced. Sadayo actually winced, ”only, I don’t know what to expect.” The truest of details were out of her reach and it was blatantly embarrassing being the position of client on an outlandish task.“To be blunt, the competitions' pocketbooks will be defining all able-bodied qualifications. I would be so lucky as to hire overqualified help."
“It means putting up with a party of wealthy, high class snobs. That environmentis not for everyone. Here,” She passed a letter to either one of them to take, averting eye contact, as a soft, hiss of a sigh escaped her. “This was sent from the auctioneer.” With a moment’s pause, Sadayo peeled a second item off the table: a glossy printed booklet (that certainly wasn’t cheaply made). “This Oodoko character mentions regulations but I have only a letter- that you will need- and the promotional sale booklet.” The booklet, in one hand, was thumbed open. One by one, Sadayo peeled back colorful pages practically loaded down with photos of numerous, expensive looking nicknacks advertised for sale: pieces of jewelry, "exotic" imported artisan weapons, fine "forgien" ceramic dishware, quirky elaborate clocks, imported rugs; a bunch of pieces lacking any enthusiastic traces of Sadayo’s inkpen. "They screwed up and sent two. No rules and regulations attached either. I’ll give you this copy for reference.” Again, she extended her reach with the open booklet ready for the two to take. I've only circled the item I want. Well,” she shrugged, trying to be modest. ” Ear-marked, actually." Toward the back of the booklet were goods being advertised for the main event, the auction. The ear-marked page was a full, single page featuring a text block of information (which Sadayo had earlier circled vehemently) to explain the photo of a six-piece silk screen panel: hand painted with gold leaf, "one of a kind", rendition of a scene with delicate trees, flowers, and four birds spread across the collection. Four pheasants with gilded down feathers. “You can refuse. I won’t hold it against you.”
the spoiler is important to the story:
Dear Miss Soga,tab tabThank you, esteemed customer, for your interest in the auction at the Maeda Mansion conducted by Oodoko Auction Enterprises “Pop-up Parlor”. You have completed the steps to prepare for your visit. We have received your reservation fee and processed your absentee reservation for up to three visitors. tab Guests are expected to arrive at 10 o'clock in the morning and remain on the Meada's property until all goods are awarded to their highest, respective bidders . Guests are required to check in and collect their identification badges under the party's name 'SOGA SADAYO' granting access, entry, and participation until the badge is removed. We recommend keeping a pamphlet containing our house rules for a fulfilling visit.
We are excited to see you at this biannual event. tab Sincerely, tab Oodoko Emon Owner of Oodoko Auction Enterprises. tab Dictated but not read.
The Crimson Nekomata of Konoha Rank:Jonin 磁気 | Classes:Taijutsu | Genjutsu | Ninjutsu 力 | Body Rank:S+ D 勇 | Elements:Water,Wind,Earth,Lightning,Fire,SacredFire
Mina reached over and took the booklet, thumbing through the pages. She was sure there were items she would have wanted. But once glance at the price tags almost made the young woman set the damn thing on fire. And from the sound of it… Yup, they were definitely overqualified. “So do you think there’s gonna be any foul play?” Mina asked as she took a look at the item in question. She didn’t have much of an eye for the fine arts, so the price point and the reason behind it was lost to her. Mina nudged Roku with her elbow before passing him the pamphlet. “Oh!” Mina’s eyes lit up like firecrackers as her energy level increased as an idea hit her. “Are we going undercover? Like one of those heist movies? Well, that’d make you the organized leader type, Sadayo. What would that make me, I wonder…” Mina pursed her lips thoughtfully and hummed to herself for a second. Then the Jonin gasped before snickering in Roku’s direction. “I guess that’d make Roku the Casanova type, huh? I always knew you were a lady killer~” She taunted him while giving her friend a side-eye and a smirk. “Oh that’s gonna be so cool! We’re in!” Mina hopped up and pulled Roku in by wrapping her arm around his neck. The idea of living out the dramatics of one of her favorite movie genres seemingly put Mina in a trance.
Roku's eyes watched as Kai was escorted out of the room do to some emergency. It seemed the mission was destined to be only Roku and Mina. Roku would take the pamphlet from Mina as it was handed to him. "Hmm." The man would open up the pages and begin looking through the different items. There was even some stuff that he might even have liked to pick up for himself. "Hey if I'm a Casanova then I suppose that makes Mina the femme fatale of the situation." Roku would tease his friend back, a slight smirk of his own appearing. "Yeah, it sounds good lady Hokage. I think we're definitely both it." Roku's smile would grow wider as she felt Mina's arm wrap around him and pull him in. A mission with her was all he could ask for at the moment.
Mission Title [ Rank ] Mission Info EXP: Ryo: Passive EXP: 5
❖￤ Passives
● Flame-Resistance Technique [ Bounetsu no Jutsu ] ● Fireproof Technique [ Taika no Jutsu ] ● Electrical Resistance Training [ Teikou no Kuntou ] ● Fire based techniques are reduced by 5 chakra per rank with a minimum of 5 chakra to be paid for a technique. For each rank of a technique, it's flames burn actively for one post or one additional post if a limit is given. ● Fuuinjutsu techniques require [10] less chakra per body rank of the Yozen clansman (maximum of 60 at S+) without losing their potency. ● Able to do seals with one hand. ● Bloodline techniques are considered overwhelming. ● Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique and must pay no less than 5 stamina.
If there was any reason to hold her breath, this was it. The anticipation for rejection, acceptance, what have you, had Sadayo figuratively on the edge of her seat. Now she could begin hoping it would all work out. “A-ah, alright,” she stammered through a nervous laugh, relieved. She had no idea what Roku and Mina were going on about. Organized leaders? Casanova type? There was a joke she wasn’t in on. She grinned. An exasperated sigh of some sort escaping her, ”I’m glad to hear it.” Odds were the other two might find the response a little uncharacteristically happy for their boss but it was a change of pace from the beginning of the matter. Sadayo leaned in forward her seat to, once again, hover over the plain folder where she bent the interior pocket for more papers and handed over more papery goods. A hefty, folded paper map and a weighted envelope marked ”travel”. ”You won’t have to travel far,” the map was extended up and outward to Mina. “You’ll have to leave the village. You’ll be taking a southern route to a coastal town called Daikyocho and any travel expenses are covered but it shouldn’t take you long to get there.”
“Just give yourselves plenty of time to mentally prepare for dealing with a lot of people who are…” she dragged on the thought when a wide-eyed look came to her face. She drew a wispy breath through her toothy frown. She did already call the other customers ‘snobs’ but she frankly worried the term wasn’t enough. “...not acquainted with working for a living.”
“Oh! Right,” she whispered aloud as a bright eyed look crossed her face, suddenly snapping her thumb and forefinger. It was here that Sadayo stood from her wicker seat and turned herself within a small, limited space, wedged between nudging the edge of the glass coffee table, and lifted the cushion she’d been sitting on. A brief case. From chair to table, the closed container was laid in place among them. The noisy clinking rattle of shiny metal hand-cuffs announcing themselves as they tapped the glass table. One cuff fastened on the case’s handle. She continued then with a hesitant tone to her announcement, “this is the amount I want to work with.” She thumbed the latches open and lifted the lid to reveal an organized flat of paper ryo bound and beautiful. Mina’s comment about her boss being the organized leader might have been on the money; it looked like any movie scene where the organized crime-lord was flashing briefcases full of cold hard cash to get their way.
“Roku, can I trust you to secure the money? I can take the handcuffs back…” Her demeanor was far from sounding like anyone wanting to boast about their bank account and was frankly sheepish about admitting the cuffs being real. “They’re police grade, of course. You probably don’t need them.” As if the measures were seemingly overkill. The amount in total was inscribed on a small, open-face ledger, tucked inside beside an ink pen. In Sadayo’s hand the numbers: 2,000,000. Two million was easily the average, running cost of initiating two heavy handed S-rank assignments. It wasn't the average person's play money. A million ryo alone was a sum which often functioned for ninja as "serious business" money that trickled down from wealthy patrons for serious business! She hadn't been a shadow for very long at this point. How she came into two-million was a matter Sadayo couldn't help but worried seem strange from their angle.
She cleared her throat and finally attempted solid eye-contact with both Mina and Roku. ”Ideally,” she continued, treading carefully on her request. Her sights switching slowly between the two. ”I wouldn’t want you to spend the whole case on six panels. Some of this is a cushion,” her attention fell the top of the case again and she tightened her lips. ”A cushion from my savings.”
A letter, the booklet, a map, money, and a briefcase.
The Crimson Nekomata of Konoha Rank:Jonin 磁気 | Classes:Taijutsu | Genjutsu | Ninjutsu | Bloodline 力 | Body Rank:S+ 勇 | Elements:Water,Wind,Earth,Lightning,Fire,SacredFire
It was an auction, how hard could the job be? Mina tilted her head once Sadayo gave her a map, examining the paper thoroughly. “From what it sounds like, we’re not going as shinobi. Just civilians then, huh?” The red haired woman’s reen eyes glanced over at Roku. The two of them had started spending time together, but it was mostly training or missions. While this did count as a mission, it felt more like… an assigned vacation? Mina idly wondered if the pair would have time to sightsee. She shook the thought from her head; they were going on a mission still. So she needed to stay focused. Still, their destination looked pretty…
Sadayo bringing out a briefcase brought Mina from her thoughts and the Jonin leaned over to look at its contents. As soon as the ledger was opened, revealing the amount, Mina’s jaw dropped to the floor. “T-t-t-” she stammered before she recollected herself with a cough. It was more Ryo than Mina had ever seen in her entire life, that was for sure. It definitely helped Mina gather a frame of reference for the type of people they’d be dealing with. “Y-yes ma’am. I think we just have to get packed, right Roku? I can’t imagine we’ll need much…” Mina trailed off as she cupped her chin between her thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. “Meet you at the gate in an hour?” She turned to Roku inquisitively. Once she got an answer, Mina nodded, bowed to Sadayo, and turned to leave. As she did, she muttered to herself. “Two million… geeze…”
Roku's would watch as Sadayo produced a briefcase full of money. The hokage managed to pull out a briefcase that represented about half of his life savings. It made him wonder what kind of money she had to play around with if she was able to spend 2 million on such an adventure. "No worries Hokage. I know the type you're talking about. I'm sure Mina and I will be able to blend right in." Roku would smile as he would place his right hand on the briefcase. With just a touch he would absorb the briefcase into his hand, transforming it into a tattoo on the back of his hand. Once it was transformed the tattoo would slide along his exposed skin until it was hidden on his chest. "Consider it secured Hokage. Nothing more secure than a human scroll." Roku would tease. "We'll do our best Hokage." He would turn to Mina and nod in agreement to her statement about getting ready. "I'll see you at the gate." The man would bow simultaneously with Mina before disappearing off to his place. Not long after he would appear at the front gate, waiting for Mina.
Mission Title [ Rank ] Mission Info EXP: Ryo: Passive EXP: 5
❖￤ Passives
● Flame-Resistance Technique [ Bounetsu no Jutsu ] ● Fireproof Technique [ Taika no Jutsu ] ● Electrical Resistance Training [ Teikou no Kuntou ] ● Fire based techniques are reduced by 5 chakra per rank with a minimum of 5 chakra to be paid for a technique. For each rank of a technique, it's flames burn actively for one post or one additional post if a limit is given. ● Fuuinjutsu techniques require [10] less chakra per body rank of the Yozen clansman (maximum of 60 at S+) without losing their potency. ● Able to do seals with one hand. ● Bloodline techniques are considered overwhelming. ● Techniques used for a blocking, countering or evasive action have their cost reduced by 5 stamina per rank of the technique and must pay no less than 5 stamina.
Weather was fair. Roku and Mina’s route south had generally very few obstacles outside of your not-so-typical stampede of wild boards to come racing out of the woods somewhere on the path. The occasional cloud passed idly for a time until a few clouds had become several, and several clouds clustered into being many, many, more until breaking as a gray downpour and did so for a few miles on the path.
The timing of the long, generous downpour of rain was blatantly not fair. It hardly showed signs of letting up and carried on for hours. What’s more, the entirety of the storm completely dodged Roku and Mina’s destination: the town of Daikyocho. The well off coastal town was already contently alight in the morning hours with the beginning of some festival. As if work didn’t matter today. From the road, it wasn’t hard to take in some of the sights: the coastline dotted with docked boats bobbing on the waves, tall, well kept buildings decorated with colored streamers and kites on the wind. Some streets were already becoming occupied with people all moving along like the idle ocean current.
The party, based on the markings on their map, wasn’t their destination. Maeda Mansion’s location nearly bypasses everything fun.
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