Means to an End

[Valkier]

Naohiro yawned, and his fingers fumbled the small strip of silk, causing his hair to fall away from his half-hearted attempt at a topknot.

“And no wonder!” His mother’s voice, sharp and disapproving, called from behind him. He turned bleary eyes on her and raised an eyebrow. “Serves you right for staying out so late last night, Nao.”

“I was with Megumi.” He mumbled, and turned back to the mirror. It was no use; a simple ponytail would have to do today, and damn anyone who thought him lax. He picked up a small comb and began to run it through his hair again, putting it back to order.

“I know you were. But that’s no excuse. You might be betrothed to her, and I’m sure you like spending time with her, but remember your priorities!” Her nagging voice was beginning to give him a headache. He finished his hair and began skulking back to his room to change.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Good!” His father chimed in from another room, lending an air of finality to the discussion. “I won’t have you sullying the family name by performing badly on a mission, just because you’re tired!”

I can’t wait to move out of this place… Naohiro grumbled to himself as he closed his door and began getting ready.

---

An hour later, refreshed, fed, and presentable, Naohiro showed little sign of his earlier lethargy as he walked briskly towards the shining tower of the Mizukage. He pushed through the main doors and found his own way towards the mission office before presenting himself with a well-practised bow.

”Aisu Naohiro, reporting.”

An aide behind the desk, a woman in her twenties with a shock of white-blonde hair, nodded absently and waved him to one side.

”Okay. Wait over there ‘til your partner arrives.” She said flatly, without so much as looking up.

[Luciain]

A day off, finally a day off. No training, no missions with her team nothing at all. It was glorious, a vast open potential of the day stretching out before her filled with potential. She could go shopping, sneak away to finally play her tonkori or even just lie in bed! That last one sounded particularly good, sleep relaxation, maybe wheedle breakfast in bed out of her parents as a reward for all the hard work she’d been putting in recently.

It was a pleasant daydream, a nice use of the 30 seconds she had until her father through a towel on her head, gesturing for her to get out of bed. “You didn’t actually think we’d let you laze about in bed all day did you lazybones? Up and at’em champ, don’t let your grandma catch you.” “Catch her doing what?” An icy voice cut through the easy banter between father and daughter, stifling the retort Chiaki had been preparing. “Goodness child, you’re still in bed.” “I…” Chiaki looked down at her toes, a red blush rising to her cheeks as she examined the foot of her bed with extreme interest, unwilling to meet her grandmother’s gaze, “I had a day off,” “And you thought you’d lie around and relax? These are the days you get up earlier, train harder. No child of THIS family is going to give anything less than their all to be the best, am I understood?” “Yes ma’am,” silence reigned in the room for a moment before a soft smile touched the older woman’s lips. “Go get dressed and get ready, the family was looking for someone to run an errand with one of your cousins so I volunteered you. There’s a lot you could learn from him…and if you do well then we can go out for dinner.” The woman turned away, pausing in the door long enough for her son to wink at her, “You’re a giant softy aren’t you mum.”

So here she was, at the Mizukage’s tower on her day off, although to be fair at least this time she wasn’t here because her music was too loud or she’d accidentally jabbed someone in the ribs with her tonkori…it hadn’t been an accident. The fiction was useful though, and she’d managed to stop a potential fight before it erupted into something worse. A well-manner bow to the lady manning the desk sent Chaiki padding softly across the room to the boy who looked familiar, but then the Aisu look wasn’t a hard one to spot. “Naohiro? I’m your partner today, Aisu Chiaki.”

[Valkier]

Naohiro needed only sit and wait for a few short minutes before Chiaki arrived. He noted the Aisu girl as soon as she entered, and thought that she seemed vaguely familiar, but it was only when she came up to him and asked his name that he twigged that she must be his teammate. He rose, and bowed his head in a respectful nod.

"Chiaki? I think I recognise the name," he said, though he knew nothing about her other than that. "I am Naohiro. You can call me Nao or Hiro if you like - most people do. I look forward to working with you." He gave her a smile then, trying to set her at ease. Usually the Clan was insistent on excessive formality, especially among themselves, but being paired with someone who seemed a little younger than himself gave him the freedom to lighten up a little. Hopefully she wouldn't mind too much.

Introductions done with, he walked back over to the aide at the desk with Chiaki. The woman glanced up, frowned between the two Aisu for a second, then pointed to a side door.
"Okay. Make yourselves presentable and take that door. You'll receive your orders from the client directly, in the last door on the right. After that, you should depart immediately."

Naohiro nodded simply, then turned to make sure Chiaki was ready. He ran a hand over his hair to check it was still in place, then opened the door and strode through, following the hall beyond until he reached the correct door on the right. He gave it a sharp double-knock before striding in, pausing only to hold the door for his new colleague. The inside of the room presented two very different men; By the door was a Kirigakure shinobi, a young man with short hair and a stubbled face, who stood watching quietly. The other man, evidently their client, was a tall and gaunt fellow wrapped in what appeared to be a yellow robe that looked to be as expensive as it was bright. Numerous golden rings decked the man's fingers, and necklaces were arranged neatly around his collar. His beady eyes searched the two Aisu up and down as they stood infront of him.

"Good, good. I was getting impatient!" His voice was reedy, but somehow still commanding despite that, as if he was a man very used to telling others what to do. He glanced to the ninja by the door, who nodded as a way of telling the man he could begin his briefing.

"Yes, good. My name is Takao Kamatari. I am an advisor to the Daimyo of Mizu no Kuni himself.” he began with no small amount of pomp, and then proceeded to rattle off a list of titles and explain his position in the Daimyo’s court. Many of the words would be meaningless to the two Aisu, but it’d be easy to determine that he was someone relatively important. Eventually, he pulled out a tightly-wrapped blue scroll and began to speak as he glanced over it.

”A sensitive situation has arisen which requires a swift and decisive response, from individuals who understand the need for… thoroughness. A group of the Daimyo’s esteemed excisemen - that is, official collectors of taxes - have vanished, along with their collected tariffs.” Takao paused to see if the two ninja reacted, since tax collectors were rarely a popular topic and he wanted to gauge the ninja’s attitudes. When he saw nothing of concern, he sniffed and continued in his pompous tone.
”The court of the Daimyo has seen fit to employ Kirigakure in the investigation to find the cause of disappearance. It is essential to your mission that your task be known among the locals, and that you are seen to act quickly and decisively, and root out the truth. Should… unsavoury locals, shall we say, be involved, they are to be dealt with harshly. Openly. And returned, if at all possible, to the capital so that their crimes and punishments can be made into an example. If there is no foul play, which I scarcely believe, you are to find some and deal with it in the same manner. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

[Luciain]

“Nao-chan,” The word came slowly to Chi’s lips as she flushed slightly, the boy was her cousin, she knew that and she was sure that she’d seen him around the compound before but…well, theirs had never been particularly emotive of close family. To show familiarity, to show closeness was a weakness which was not to be tolerated. Yet within moments of meeting her Naohiro had offered his first name, an abbreviation of his first name no less, it was unusual and disconcerting to find a Aisu who was that open. The idea left an unusual feeling in the pit of the girl’s stomach, the stricture’s, the control wasn’t something that had ever sat well with her and she felt a spark of hope that she’d found a kindred spirit. The girl’s teeth worried at the soft flesh of her lower lip for a moment, the flesh turning white under the pressure before she breathed out, answering him in a soft voice and a soft smile, “Chi…you can call me Chi.”

Even as the receptionist gestured the pair towards the door her hands came up, tugging at her clothing, straightening and pulling it into place, ironing out the smallest of imperfections. Pale hands ran over her white tunic, pulling the fabric down as she nodded her head at Naohiro in thanks, slipping into the room. Slipped in and stopped short, pausing just to the left of the door as she stared at the man, their client. She hadn’t ever seen someone dressed like him before, or as bedecked in jewellery. Even her mother and grandmother were far more chaste then him…he was wearing more jewellery than she even owned herself. That more than anything marked him as someone influential, there weren’t many people in the country who could afford such an ostentatious display of wealth.

The man’s words left a cold feeling in the back of her spine as if crystals of the ice she manipulated were sliding down her back. He wanted them to find a scapegoat and throw them under the fire…just so the court could save face. But…that was the mission, and the honour of her family and her village were on the line. She couldn’t just turn them down but, it didn’t feel right to fabricate evidence, bring an innocent man up for nothing more han letting men like this to parade how effective they were. Her fists clenched at her sides as she twisted around ever so slightly to let her gaze fall on Naohiro’s face, looking for a sign of his thoughts, her face carefully schooled into studied neutrality.

[Valkier]

Naohiro carefully kept his face blank as Takao spoke, trying to project the cool and professional image of a Kirigakure shinobi, despite the uncomfortable feeling that the briefing so far was giving him. He noticed Chiaki grow tense at his side, but when their eyes met a moment later her face was equally controlled. He felt a small swell of pride at that; such control and reservedness spoke well of the Aisu. She’ll do the Clan proud, he thought quickly, whatever this mission brings. He gave her a very slight nod, almost imperceptible, to acknowledge that he understood her glance before turning his attention back to their client. Thankfully the man showed no sign of having noticed their brief exchange.

”We understand.” He gave a polite bow of his head before continuing. ”I would like to confirm some details before we continue. May I?” Takao turned to watch him but made no objection, so he continued a moment later. ”What can you tell us of the tax collectors?”

Kamatari sniffed and raised his chin a little higher, as if dealing with something distasteful. ”Everything, naturally. There are three of them, plus a retinue of their attendants and whatnot.” He waved a hand dismissively, suggesting that he thought the exact numbers of the group to be of little importance. Servants and guards were probably beneath his notice entirely. He slipped a smaller scroll of parchment out of his robe and handed it over. ”You will find their names, descriptions, and their expected route in that scroll. We are quite thorough about such things.”

”Thank-you, Takao-sama. I understand that our task is to find and report the cause of the trouble to the capital. If—when—we find the tax collectors themselves, should I assume our mission extends to returning them safely home, too? And recover the lost taxes?”

This time Takao seemed less certain of himself. The question actually seemed to take him off-guard, as if he hadn’t considered the option until now.

”Well. Obviously. If it is at all possible, yes. But it is not your primary objective to return these men; the most important thing to ’communicate’ to the local area that the Daimyo’s men going missing in their lands is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. They must never be stopped, harmed, or impeded, and your task is to make sure that message is received, to prevent the same inconvenience from ever happening again.” He fixed them with a hard stare for a moment.
”Obviously securing the Daimyo’s men will be appreciated, and the taxes if possible. Perhaps a bonus can be arranged for those. But the locals can always be taxed again to recover the losses. It truly does not matter to me.”