Mission: Hide and seek

[Magma]

A crowd of people gathered around the abondoned building where they believed the kid to be. This place was deserted for a good reason. It looked so rundown, it seemed like it would collapse at any minute. But it hasn't went down in a while so some people had hope it would last. They all waited for whoever it was that was sent to go and retrieve the child.

[Mortalvis]

Another day, another mission. Tobi had struggled to get out of bed that morning, and shrunk at the thought of doing a mission. Orik, his mentor, specifically told him that he needed to balance being a ninja and being a blacksmith's apprentice, so there he was, trotting along the dirt path to the location of his mission.

As Tobi turned the final corner, he noticed a crowd of people had gathered in front of a decrepit building. Cautiously, he approached and pardoned himself as he pushed his way to the front of the group.

At the front, he gently tapped one of the people on the shoulder.

"Um, are there any officials here? I was sent to get the boy out... do you know anything at all about the situation?" Tobi disliked the thought of entering with so little information, especially given the state of the building. However, if he didn't get any answers soon, he would have to go in anyway. The situation was too dangerous to allow any time to slip past unnecessarily.

[Magma]

The person Tobi tapped turned around. It was a middle aged man with a worried look on his face. He fully turned his body to look directly at the young shinobi. "Yeah, a few officials are in there already," he told the ninja. "The situation? Well, the kid's a good hider, that's for sure. They've been looking for him for almost an hour now. A few minutes ago, a loud band was heard next door at the shop. When officials came, they saw the a piece of ceiling had fallen. He might be in the third floor, but the floor on that floor is so unstable, it could collapse at any moment."

It was safe to assume it was a critical moment. Maybe an officer inside could give more info.

[Mortalvis]

Tobi nodded and quickly thanked the man before pressing onward. The very look of the building gave him an uneasy feeling. It was hardly a time to back down, though.

Inside the building, the genin could feel the tension in the air. Tobi approached the first person he could see, assuming he or she was an official.

"Excuse me? I'm here on a mission..." Tobi mumbled. He could hardly find his voice as the queasiness in his stomach gripped him tightly.

"I-I really need to know what's going on here. I was sent to get the boy out." Although he hadn't meant to sound urgent, the situation brought on an involuntary change in his emotions. All the while, he was wondering why they had sent a genin to do a mission like this. It seemed high risk if he failed, but... oh, there wasn't time for such foolish thoughts!

Tobi, shaking his head clear, stared expectantly at the person he had pestered.

[Magma]

The official looked down at the genin and noticed the uneasy feeling he had. She felt uneasy as well, but it was for the best. She pointed to the corner where a huge piece of the ceiling stood. "That fell just a few moments ago," she told him. "This place got old and rusty over time, so pieces of the ceiling falling is to be expected. But that's not the reason we called you here. The kid might be stuck on the third floor. Several rooms were unable to be opened to check if he was inside. And no doors in this place have locks." She tapped her head with the pen she was holding and paused. "We could just go in there with rams and smash through the doors, but all that weight might make the floor collapse under us. So that's where you come in. Any ordinary genin should be able to break a door with no problem."

[Mortalvis]

Except that Tobi wasn't an ordinary genin. He was a below average boy in just about every aspect that could possibly cross his mind. That, of course, was his low self-esteem talking, but he certainly believed it.

"Oh great. I'll get right on that," Tobi said, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Having enough information to proceed, the genin looked for the stairs leading to the second floor. He stepped over various piles of rubble and evaded countless hazards in what the short trip to the bottom landing.

Tobi gazed up the withering staircase with some fear for his life. The stairs looked like the could give in at any time. That's when it hit him: from what he knew about the Water Surface Walking technique, it required a balanced amount of chakra in each of his feet. If he could apply that to this situation, he would likely be able to safely spread his weight between his feet and provide a safeguard from the hazardous state of the building.

Once Tobi was sure he had properly focused his chakra, he began up the stairs. The first few steps were murder, but after getting halfway there, he felt slightly more confident that his idea wasn't going to let him down. That wasn't for certain, of course, but he had to be hopeful in a grim situation like this.

Tobi bustled up a second flight of stairs to the third floor and stopped at the top to survey his surroundings and possibly listen for any sounds.

Jutsu usedShow

*Suimen Hokou no Waza [Act of Water Surface Walking]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
A variation on the Kinobori no Waza (Act of Tree Climbing), the art of water surface walking allows a ninja to walk on water as if it was a solid surface. Focusing an even amount of chakra out of the soles of their feet, they can balance themselves on the very surface of the water.

[Magma]

The first thing the shinobi would notice was that the floor would start to creak as opposed to the first two floors. Two doors on his left and one to his right. One of the doors to the left was opened already, meaning that wasn't a jammed door. So it's safe to say it was checked already. A creaking ceiling fan was the only other noise that would be heard.

Old building, isn't it.

[Mortalvis]

The building gave Tobi the creeps, to say the least. He shuddered slightly and moved forward, carefully watching every step he took. Eventually he paused and looked around. Some of the doors were open and likely checked, so he made rooms with closed and jammed doors his top priority.

Coming up to a closed door, he rattled the rusted doorknob and determined that it was indeed jammed. The genin put his ear to the door to listen for sounds as he slid his hand around the handle of his ax.

"I doubt the door will resist much," Tobi whispered to himself. With one, strong swing, Tobi lodged the pick end of his ax into the first set of door hinges and began to pry them off of the door. He knew he wouldn't be able to kick it down on his own without risking instability, so taking the hinges off was his next best option. He worked at the door until he took care of all three hinges, and then he gently pushed the door to the side and entered the room.

"Are you in here? Hello?" he cooed, hoping to find something.

[Magma]

'Hello' was echoed throughout the room, with the added effect of wind from a cracked window. The creaking of the floor as the shinobi rushed into the room was also heard, but the room was pretty much empty. Except for the bugs that scurried to the shadows.

[Lame post ;-;]

[Mortalvis]

[OoC: Don't worry about it. xD]

Seeing that the room was empty, he poked around a little anyway. After encountering a few scurrying bugs, the genin shuddered and left the room and moved on. The next room was a little ways away, and he carefully danced around debris and other clutter that still littered the fragile floors. Once he was there, he proceeded to do the same thing as he did to the last door; he removed the hinges and pushed the door aside and entered the room.

"Anybody in here? Please... if you can hear me, we need to get you out of here." It was becoming somewhat of a desperate plea, and Tobi was having a difficult time understanding why anybody would have chosen this building to hide in in the first place.

[Magma]

Yet another empty room. However, this one differed from the previous room. Footprints were in the dusty floor below and led to the door on the left side of the room. But the path was blocked by an over turned bed. Putting it right-side up might disrupt the floor.

Maybe the room next to it has a way inside.

[Mortalvis]

Tobi sighed and dragged a hand down his face in exasperation.

"Nothing is ever as easy as it could be," he hissed at himself as he surveyed the situation. It didn't seem like a good idea to disturb the overturned bed, so he left the room seeking another route into the blocked area. The genin headed off to the room next to it and worked at unjamming the door. He was starting to feel drained. Keeping the chakra continuously flowing to his feet to protect him from the conditions was a constant tug at his stamina, but after seeing the footprints to suggest the boy was up there, he had to press onward regardless.

After getting the door down, Tobi stuck his head inside and looked around for his alternative route.

[Magma]

As the door opened, it creaked a little. The room was pretty much in tact. A corner table. A bed. A window. And a door to the side. That was probably the way into the other room that was blocked off before. Only that that blocked this door was a spider's web.

[Mortalvis]

"Hm. This looks promising..." Tobi mumbled as he entered the room and came up to the door. Spider webs didn't bother him like they did other people, but he had qualms with wrecking a spider's home. If the situation had been any different, he likely would have tried the other route again, but now was not the time for thinking about the well-being of a spider when a child was in danger.

Brushing it away, he broke the door down without even checking if it was jammed or not. Bursting into the room, he immediately looked around, hoping that this was it.

[Magma]

The room was a bathroom. A small bathroom with two ways to get into. Clever house design. Nothing would be seen at first. But a small giggle was heard behind the closed shower curtain. The boy then opened the shower curtain. "Aww, you found me," he said, with a smile on his face. "Guess I'm it then."

[Mortalvis]

Smacking himself gently on the forehead, Tobi sighed and moved toward the boy. He doubted that he would be able to plainly explain the situation, so he lowered himself to the child's level.

"Oh, yeah. You're it, buuuuut... there's a new rule. Since I found you, I've got to... uh... carry you outside to the place where you'll count. Okay?" Tobi smiled softly and waited to see if he believed it. It wasn't the best improvising he'd ever done, but he had to at least try.

[Magma]

The boy looked at the slightly older one in front of him. He tilted his head as he heard the new rule and looked around. "Okay," he said, smiling after he finished. The boy then raised his arms up in the air, taking the 'carry' part literally.

[Mortalvis]

Tobi smiled warmly at the boy and lifted him up. Luckily he wasn't overly large, which took the worry of carrying him off of the genin's mind. Now it was all a matter of getting him out of the decrepit building.

Without wasting anymore time, Tobi started his adventure back to safety. He had been careful to remember the path he took to get to where he was. Losing his bearings would have been a critical failure on his part.

As Tobi came down the second flight of stairs in the building, he was beginning to feel exceptionally tired. Not only had he been holding the Water Surface Walking technique the entire time he had been there, but now the weight of the boy was taking its toll on him. Luckily, he wasn't far from the exit now. He slowly made his way down the last set of stairs and rejoined the official he had spoken to earlier.

"H-here you are," Tobi panted, setting the boy down.

"These nice people are going to be your playmates instead. I've got to get home or my parents will be mad at me," he lied. It was all for the good of things.

Tobi smiled and waited to see if the official had anything to say.

[OoC: Sorry if I did too much in my post. Just holler if you want me to take a step back.]

[Magma]

The official, waiting downstairs saw Tobi bring the little boy back down. She smiled, despite it taking longer than expected. As the little boy ran into the crowd of people, he was stopped by hugs from everyone. "Good job, kid," the offical said. "We'll take it from here."

[Pass]