Good Intentions, Disasterous Deeds [Open, Requesting Sousuke]

[Kazu]

The night was dark as Takeyashi neared the Obsidian Palace. The spiderling shifted the weight of his cargo from his right shoulder to his left, having gotten tired of carrying the girl thus far. A light was on up on the second floor, which probably meant there were people working inside. Takeyashi lowered the hood on the cloak that he wore, revealing the smile of a job well done that had spread all over his face. He was ready to be out of this cold, and to be done with this kidnapping mission. All he wanted now was a nice hot meal, and a hot shower. Effortlessly climbing up to the top floor, the young man let himself in through one of the windows leading into the hall right outside the lit room. Sango was still passed out, with only minor cut and bruises around her ankles and wrists. It was her fault for being so uncooperative, though. Shrugging these details aside, the young man made himself look presentable before picking her up again. He wanted to look proper when he delivered the daughter of the Daimyo and finished his exam.

Knocking at the door to the lit room, the young man called in with a respectful and apologetic tone in his voice. "Excuse me, but may I come in? I was told that I should bring her here once I got back to the village?" Takeyashi was completely unaware of the political ramifications of what he'd done by kidnapping Sango. No one in Sunagakure had been told that he was doing this, least of all the Kazekage. It was almost guaranteed that whoever answered the door would be shocked and confused as to what Takeyashi was doing here with the girl. It was even more likely that the Kazekage would be called directly here, as this was a matter of country-wide safety. And poor Takeyashi would be here, utterly confused as to what exactly he'd done wrong.

[ooc: Anyone is free to join as the person who answers the door. Sango will be instantly recognizable by anyone. Continued from here.]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would arrive seconds later. He had been called, and called by Ginjiro or something related to him. The Spiderling was someone Sousuke would ... called straight as Robb. It was a term his grandmother used, and he never would understand it. He figured its meaning, but questioned why it was a person named Robb in its meaning. He did in fact learn that it was in reference to a person Sousuke never heard of in some foreign land. The Kazekage wore a black and white mesh suit of sorts. This was his usual wear, and it was not one of his hulking armours.

He would look to Ginjiro and then to the blind folded individual. Sousuke knew the person, or had a very good idea of who this was. Long black hair. Fair skinned. He had drawn a picture of her before, because he had worked on this from descriptions from books. This woman looked very familiar, because she shared a number of traits of her brother. A man who Sousuke liked to consider his friend, but even then that friendship was damaged. Sousuke would reach out and removed the blindfold. His features visibly showing signs of fear? No it was not fear. It was anxiety. Mainly because if this was indeed who he thought it was, then that would be a big problem. There was a certain marriage that was supposed to happen. That marriage never occured. Sousuke knew who he was going to come to blows with because he knew that eventually Sungakure and Soragakure would come to blows over the mere existence of Sungakure. What Sousuke did not want was to get in a fight was with the other party of that marriage. There was a very specific reason for that because the other party was Otogakure, which to Sousuke was an enigma and a variable. Well, let's find out how... close Sousuke was to the truth.

"Please don't tell me you've got in your arms one Ishii Sango the daughter of the Daimyo, brother to the heir Ishii Susumu, who is then the ... half sister Ishii Shouki aka a mass murdering psychopath."<i></i>He would look then to the Spiderling, "I suspect there is a full story and a report to be given."<i></i> There was a 33% chance he had saved her. There was a 27% chance he was ordered to do this. There was a 15% chance that Takeyashi himself took it upon himself that he was going to do something to ... gain the favour of his Kazekage and went rogue. There was a 15% chance that Takeyashi had gotten himself captured and reprogrammed like Uri. The remaining 30% was a mixture of various odd ended theories that Sousuke did not really want to consider because most of them were what his Grandmother called 'crack pot'.

 

[Sand Council]

Sango​

So she arrived, a woman whom had seen better days. Restrained and blindfolded, she was still in the same nightclothes that she wore the night Takeyashi absconded with her. She was bruised, abraded and unconscious. When she was awake she put up a fight and she was troublesome to listen to. The injuries, however, were for the most part superficial in regards to her wrists and her ankles, both cut into by her restraints but neither actively bleeding. The blood mixed with sand had coagulated around her sites of bondage. She had not been free for some time. The bruises were of varied age, some from even before her kidnapping, not all of them visible. The abrasions, mostly healed although most of these shallow wounds were never cleaned and had sand mixed in. The pale skin surrounding was inflammed, the start of a probable infection.

She was still unconscious when Sousuke removed the blindfold from where she laid. She was cold to the touch but she was very much alive. Her breaths were shallow but even. He greatest plight was the fact that she had endured the heat and the long journey without food or drink and without appreciable protection from the elements. This was not something that Sousuke could punch all better, sure the abrasions would fade away and even the likely painful sunburn might become a distant memory but the sprouting infection and the severe dehydration would not shrink away so easily. But her 'problems' were the least of Sousuke or Takeyashi's concerns, the likely war they declared on Sound would likely be the Kazekage's priority and why the young Chuunin hopeful was being denied his accolades would be Takeyashi's first probable thought,

Maybe it would not be too bad. Sand and Sound had no history of bad blood. It is not as if the wedding between the Daimyo's only daughter and the Otokage was delayed because of rowdy incidents in some of the exams. Nope, that was not Sand's fault at all -- that was a Sand guest from Mist, a barren, frozen wasteland against a samurai from Iwa or perhaps that was Kohona. No matter, totally not Sand and that was all that mattered. It is not like he would have a vendetta against shinobi's for causing a ruckus in Soons, contributing to the raincheck of their union. Maybe he did not even like her. Let's just hope that is the case. It is not as if the Otokage has made his way into Sunagakure with some of his men. It is not as if he was looking for her right this second. It was not as if the Otokage would be so clever as to pick up something of Sangos' from her room and follow the chakra signal.

Nothing can go wrong. Nothing.

 

[Kazu]

The sound of footsteps approaching from behind him distracted Takeyashi from the door he'd just knocked on. He turned around to see who it was that approached him, expecting to see some minor administrative agent trying to send him a message on behalf of Rioshi. After all, she had been the exam proctor — perhaps it would be time to announce that he'd successfully completed his Chuunin Exam? To his disappointment, there would be no celebrations of success. The Kazekage was the one to approach Takeyashi, saying nothing as he approached. He was dressed in an odd black and white mesh suit, no doubt one of the other oddities that he tinkered with in his own time. When the Kazekage had gotten within arms reach of the Spiderling, the man of metal and gears simply extended an arm and removed the cloth from Sango's eyes. As the man looked down at the woman's face, Takeyashi tried in vain to read his leader's expression. Sousuke was a man who was impossible to read, his expression always either stoic or unreasonably lost in thought. It wasn't until the Kazekage opened his mouth, asking if this was Sango, that Takeyashi knew what was going through his head. "The very same, sir. Although, I can't speak to whether she's related to a murdering psychopath — that wasn't in the mission dossier." As the Kazekage asked about his mission briefing, the young man instantly snapped to attention. "Why yes! Of course, sir!" Takeyashi would stand at his full height, the daughter of the Daimyo still held in his arms. He'd been given an order directly by the Kazekage, and would be damned before he ignored an order from his commander in chief.

"The mission started as a routine Chuunin Exam. The team initially consisted of myself, Naoki Samejima, an unnamed ANBU that went only by 'Watcher', and Sunaku Yuko. Our mission was to infiltrate the Palace of the Glorious Immortal, and to retrieve Ishii Sango unharmed." The young man went through the other specifics in his head, trying not to leave any information out. "We were told that we were kidnapping Sango because of increasing strain between Otogakure and Sunagakure. I didn't really understand much of it, to tell you the truth, but it sounded pretty important. But then, when we got there, my team vanished..." His breath became a little uneasy Takeyashi still wasn't sure what had happened to them. They could have been captured. They could have fled into the wilds, going rogue from the village. They could have been killed! He probably wouldn't know for a long while. Steadying his breath, Takeyashi continued with his report. "So, I continued on with the mission. I located Sango being kept in a secluded tower of the Palace, guarded by a really tall man with flaming red hair, lots of face piercings, and fought with a gigantic seven foot blade. Actually, now that I think about it, I think his name was, if fact, Shouki..." Takeyashi pondered on the oddities of this, about how the Kazekage knew about this brother. Maybe this was something he should be concerned about? However, they didn't pay him to think — he got paid to do missions. And part of that was giving mission reports. "But yes, I managed to abduct Sango without being identified. I traveled all through last night, and all of today, in order to make it back in time. We were told to take her to the Obsidian Palace, so here I am. I think that's everything..."

Takeyashi tried to think if there was anything more, but he was having trouble coming up with anything noteworthy. He wracked his brain, going up and down the mental checklist of what had happened during this mission that he needed to report, but nothing was coming to mind. He'd already reported most of the information, so anything more was going to be a lot harder to think of. Suddenly, the young man clapped his hands together. "OH! I know! The name of our proctor! It was a little weird having her be the proctor, but Rioshi certainly knew how to inspire the group!" Unbeknownst to Takeyashi, the Kazekage's heart probably just started beating at a million miles per hour. This was the truth of the matter: Rioshi had tricked them all.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"The dossier? What dossier?"<i></i> Sousuke questioned. His brows furrowed. Who in their right minds would put something like this together and forget a very important fact. Takeyashi would then confirm that this was indeed who he feared it to be. The Spiderling detailed the mission, and the logic behind it. Sousuke's brows continued to be furrowed. The details continued to spill forth. His brows event went up as he heard Naoki's name being given as one of his comrades. This very much sounded like lambs being sent to the slaughter, but somehow Takeyashi managed to avoid engaging in combat with Shouki. That ... that ... was actually quite remarkable.

That was not all, the name of the mastermind of all of this was revealed. Rioshi. At this point Takeyashi would see the blacks of Sousuke's eyes. His eyes were very wide and very focused. He was not glaring but giving the genin perhaps the most concerned look of all time. He went silent for a long time. He was stuck. Mother Suna had just played her hand, and had driven a giant spike through the brain and or heart of Sungakure. They were going to be fighting three fronts now. Mother Suna, Fuujin, and Homura. That was one front. Soragakure and the Sovereign. That was the second front. The third front was now Sound. The problem? Sousuke knew absolutely nothing about Sound. All he had was whispers, and those whispers meant nothing. He knew that Nao was an associate of the Daimyo, but he was from Sound. An incredibly powerful Necromancer was in league with the Daimyo. The problem? Sousuke did not know if the Otokage knew this. He did not even know who the Otokage was, he had a name and that was it. He was told to watch Nao, which was something that was absolutely not to be ignored. Sousuke would take a very deep breath. He would then take a second one.

Takeyashi was a man of the faith. Mother Suna was a soul eating Ancient. She did not bless the Sunahoshi clan. She cursed them with abilities that while powerful were not their original powerset. Instead of honing them, she had distracted them. Katsuo was perhaps the first one to break that tradition which had consumed the Sunahoshi for years. Sousuke knew that Takeyashi was a man of the faith. If the truth about Mother Suna damaged Sousuke the way it then, then for Takeyashi it would be shattering in ways that not many could take. Perhaps it was for the best that Sousuke had the knowledge of this and not many others. Sousuke took it and lived with it because he knew others counted on him to continue on and push on forward.

Sousuke would take another deep breath. He looked over the girl. She was not in the best condition, and he needed her alive above all else. Sousuke knew how to work metal, not human beings. "We're going to the hospital now."<i></i> He stated for the first part. There was an odd emphasis placed on the word now. "Rioshi is not who she seems to be, she just played the two of us. We need to keep this woman alive, or else we're going to be fighting a war on far too many fronts."<i></i> He spoke in an eerily clam fashion. "From this moment forward you take orders from me personally or one of the sennin, unless I implicitly say otherwise."<i></i> He would begin to form hand seals and conjured the metal in the area to form a gurney. He would take Sango from him and he would place her on the gurney. He would very carefully undo all the binds that held her. "I cannot afford to be in a war with Soragakure, Otokagure, and Ancients."<i></i> He would state. Perhaps the last of those would make Takeyashi blink. The Kazekage was talking of mythological, but ... for a man so rooted in science ... could such be true? Ancients? "As of this moment, you are known as Agent Rifter. You did succeed in something, but it is not for our benefit."<i></i> Did Takeyashi know what he got pulled into? No. Could Sousuke tell him the entire truth? No. Was Takeyashi trustworthy? Yes. He had been used a pawn. It was time for a pawn to become a knight.

[Topic left with Sango, will link new topic when made]

 

[Sand Council]

Sango remained limp. As Sousuke peeled the restraints from her wrists and ankles, he would pull away at the stubborn scabs that had glued those bindings in place. She started bleeding from these sites, the blood was a sluggish trickle, a dark maroon color. She did not moan or cry in complaint, she was not even there. Her mind was lost to the void, that place where unconscious people go and then later forget because there was nothing of interest there in the nether, Just darkness that grabbed and clawed but was never felt, that screamed through the night but was never heard.

The poison -should- have worn off by now, if not much earlier. Had it simply reached toxic levels in her blood that her mind now refused to wake from this comatose state or had her condition deteriorated so during her day and night journey here. It would be hard to say here, neither of them were a field medic. They could simply toss her into a cell and hope (or not care) if she recovers, lives or dies. That is what some would do without care for the prospect of war, however the risk of war was very much real. Sunagakure's enemies were simply growing by the day and there were forces within Sunagakure that sough to further the agenda of Sunagakure's enemies. Rioshi being one of them. How Sousuke figured it out would be a matter for another day. The name, an anagram yes -- those three letters Ri O and Shi can make only a few names Shiori, Rioshi, Shirio, Rishio, Oshiri, Orishi being other options. Perhaps he kept a list assuming that she would be prone to picking the same name again that she gave herself when she chose her first human avatar. Perhaps it was a madman's compulsion. Sousuke might even have a list detailing every civilian with a name similar to Shiori's. Either way, surely Sousuke would be dealing with Shiori later or hiring someone to do so in his stead.

For now, however time is of the essence. The tiny buzzing insects have been skittering and crawling, flying and finding her. Otokage Kageoni was not far and soon enough they would suffer the fallout for their part in this misdeed. Oh what tangled webs we weave when we first practice to believe.

[Topic Left by Whomever]​

 

[Kazu]

The young Genin hadn't expected this. The Kazekage was supposed to laud the job well done on his exams, not stare glossy eyed as his subordinate gave a report — no wait, it was more like he was...scared? But, how could the Kazekage be scared? Takeyashi was confused. When his leader then stated that they were to travel to the hospital, especially with that tone of finality and hurriedness, Takeyashi knew that something was wrong. He wasn't sure what yet, but he knew that the situation must be grave to illicit that sort of response. When the Kazekage spoke, Takeyashi listened intensely to every syllable that he spoke. A moment passed, and the young man barely managed to croak out a few words. “Huh? Rioshi...orders...Rifter...I don't understand...” It didn't matter if he didn't get it yet, since the Kazekage had already begun to wheel Sango away on his impromptu gurney. Instinct took in, the weary and unsure ranger broke into a jog to catch up to his superior. He matched pace with his leader, and tried to process everything that had been said thus far. A moment or two went by before the young man was sure that he had a grasp on the situation.

“So, wait. Rioshi, your secretary, is trying to start a war? And she's using this girl to do it?” Takeyashi hadn't really interacted with Rioshi much, but he did recall that one time he saw her speaking with that rather odd individual. She had acted a bit weird then, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time. Maybe it was related? “And wait, did you say Ancients? As in, the Ancients that fought the First Men? I don't...” Takeyashi's voice trailed off, his mind trying to grapple with the words that the Kazekage spoke. On one hand, there was no way that could be true. The Ancients were defeated generations ago by Primus himself, weren't they? Takeyashi supposed it was possible that beings as powerful as The Ancients would be able to survive so long, but that was still really hard to believe. But on the other hand, this was his Kazekage. Takeyashi was willing to go on dangerous and often time life-threatening missions for this man, so why couldn't he trust the words that he spoke to be true? Takeyashi wasn't sure. All he knew was that his commander had ordered Takeyashi to answer directly to him. If that meant fighting Ancients, then so be it.

A half smile crept onto the young man's face. “Agent Rifter, huh? No offense, sir, but 'Agent' sounds a little too formal for me.” The young man pondered the issue for but a moment before an idea came to him. “How about just Rifter? I can work with that.” The light tone wouldn't last long, though. A looming darkness crept up on Takeyashi as he thought through what was to happen. The young man seemed to come to a decision while considering everything, since his frown seemed to ease up a little. “Sir, I don't fully understand everything yet, but you can count on me.” The young man seemed to straighten up a little more as he spoke, as if just saying the words aloud was enough to bolster his spirits. “Whatever it is ahead, I'll leave nothing back. That, I can promise you.” Takeyashi meant it. Sunagakure was his home, and it was what he fought for. This village, these shinobi, had given Takeyashi purpose. He might have gruffer methods than many of his compatriots, but he loved this village just as much as anyone. He'd defend his home until his dying breath.

[ooc: Topic Left with Sousuke and Sango. Continued here.]

 

[Michi]

Upgraded to Chuunin from Genin as per Sousuke's next thread here