Just Your Average C-Rank....

[The Legend Excalibur]

Vale awakened to the light of the morning sun shining, rather annoyingly, directly on his face. A brief, irritated moan was all he could muster in response to the intrusion, as he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes clear of sleep. Yawning, he looked around his room, with his eyes resting on his personal desk. On it, lay mission equipment and supplies he'd laid out the night before, and a scroll containing a mission missive.

That's right, he thought to himself in sudden recognition. Today he was supposed to set out on an assignment. Surprisingly, it was another C-Rank, a strange occurrence considering this was his second mission of this rank in as many months. Did his performance during the boar problem merited more assignments at this level? Or was he still he being tested in some way? Vale had mulled over that question for nearly the entire day yesterday, eventually coming to the conclusion that the why wasn't really that important; he had the mission, and he had to complete it.

Getting out of bed, he did his daily morning routine; stretches, shower, bed-making, and prepping his and Memi's breakfast. Usually he'd eat with her, since his parents work often had them out of the house for the majority of the time. But the scheduled meet-up with his teammates for the mission was rather early, causing him to have to miss out for the day. After finishing preparing her breakfast, lunch, and somethings for the next few days, he'd return to his room to gear up.

His old jacket he'd often worn in the Academy and even on his first mission was torn and dirtied, and he hadn't had a chance to get it repaired. So he'd replaced it with a black waist-length poncho, which sported a rather large hood that could hide most of his face, and used his forehead protector plate as a clasp for it.

After dressing, he'd gather his supplies and equipment, before picking up his most recent piece of gear, and perhaps his favorite; Dibaida, his families heirloom battle-axe, which his father had passed down to him the night they returned home from the Akari Council. The weapon stood nearly as tall as him, though his recent growth spurt had really helped with the difference. It had a nice, even weight to it; it felt good to hold, and wasn't to heavy nor light.

Placing it on his back in it's sheathe, he then departed his home, using the building's rooftops to transverse the village. The meeting place was on a rooftop overlooking the Wall's Gate station. Finding a seat on the edge of the building, Vale would sit and wait for his teammates, which the missive said their would be two of. His hood would be up in an effort to block the sunlight from his still sleep-recovering eyes.

[Kao]

As soon as Kotaru walked into the kitchen, everyone in the room knew just how sour his mood was. He didn't greet anyone - he rarely did besides a small wave or murmured 'morning' - but instead skulked to the refrigerator and and opened the door to stare at the contents inside. His foster father was at the table drinking coffee and reading the paper, while his foster mother was finishing up cooking a heaping pile of bacon. "Mission today?" Kakuto asked without looking up from the news. Kotaru groaned in response.

"With that kid," the jounin groaned as he closed the fridge, orange juice in hand. "The one with the dad that fucking choked me in front of the council." The man finally looked up with a frown, while his wife chastised Kotaru about his language. The jounin had never planned on telling anyone what happened, but after that incident his countenance had oscillated between meditative and murderous so suddenly and so often that the family practically forced him into recounting the tale.

Kakuto started some spiel about keeping Akari business within the compound and Kotaru inwardly sighed. He didn't need to be told that; the jounin, despite his usual demeanor, took his job as a jounin serious and refused to let what happened with the clan interfere with his duties. Usually. After the incident with the council now he wasn't so sure. But for now, he was only simmering.

Kotaru said his goodbyes and headed toward the Enkouten compound. Thankfully he wouldn't be alone in this. The jounin went to where he and Mitsuo had agreed to meet before the mission started, thinking it would be better if they went to meet with Vale together.

[Yura]

Am I bringing enough? Mituso questioned himself, peering down at all of his supplies laid out before him on his dining room table. He had all of his normal supplies and weaponry in addition to an extra change of clothes, a sleeping bag and a rations, but he felt like he should be bringing more. He had received word late the night before that he was being sent out on a mission in the morning with Kota and yet another Akari whom he hadn't met. "I'm becoming the Akari whisperer" he remembered saying with a laugh when he had read the mission assignment. It was kinda odd, really.  He and Kota were being paired with a genin to investigate the disappearance of a popular merchant's daughter and while he understood how important the mission was, it just seemed like a bit of overkill given how lowly the mission was ranked. With no reported evidence of foul play, no ransom demands, nothing saying that the girl simply ran off on her own, it really seemed like something better suited for a pair of chuunin to investigate rather than a pair of jounin and a genin companion. Though, Mitsuo had to admit that the prospect of gaining favor with a  well known and well connected merchant of Rock Country was very appealing for him given his family's business. Do the mission right and bring back his daughter and Mitsuo may have found a powerful resource to rely on in the future. What's the worst that could happen? he thought to himself with a shrug as he shoved all of his supplies in his bag, tied the straps of his pack shut and hauled it onto his shoulder. At least they weren't being sent into the Catacombs for once.

Exiting his home, Mitsuo made his way to the entrance to the Enkouten compound where he found young Kota waiting for him nearby. Even from a distance Mitsuo could tell that he boy wasn't in the greatest of moods though the exact reason for it wasn't immediately clear. The boy was naturally moody so it was difficult to guess why without asking. "Looks like someone isn't happy to be going on this mission." Mitsuo teased as he approached his teammate, likely eliciting a glare and perhaps even a retort of some sort from Kota. The pair would leave the compound together, making their way through the village and eventually to the rooftops as they approached the location where they agreed to meet the genin. "Akari, Vale I presume." Mitsuo called out as he and Kota landed on the roof, arriving at their destination, finding a smaller hooded figure seated at the edge, "I'm Enkouten, Mitsuo." he said, introducing himself. "I believe you and Kota have already met so what do you say we get going? The longer we wait the colder the trail gets."

[The Legend Excalibur]

Vale could feel his mood instantly sour at the of Kotaru's name. They hadn't seen each other since the Council Chamber, which was basically a blessing. He'd been dreading the Elder calling them both back for a followup, secretly hoping to avoid it. And now here they were, put together on another mission. What were the chances of this happening?

He took a slow sigh, mentally preparing himself for the tension that would no doubt come in the future. Maybe wearing the poncho was a good choice, Vale being thankful for the hood hiding his no doubt depressive expression. Standing from the ledge, he'd pull down his hood and face the two Jounin with a neutral expression "Nice to meet you, MItsuo-san." He looked towards Kotaru, managing to maintain the expression. "Kotaru." With greetings done, he'd nod in agreement with Mitsuo's suggestion that they get moving.

Along with the two Jounin, they'd leapt from the roof, and exit the Iwagakure to the main road leading to the village. From here, they'd follow the route that'd been included in the mission brief. The journey to the hot-springs, which was located in a fairly large village known as Getsu, would take about a day. The team of three shinobi would proceed at a quick pace, maintaining a brisk sprint as they followed the roads. With not much else to do, Vale began to consider the information they'd been given. The daughter of the merchant, Mei Tayumi, had departed from Iwa some seven days previous. She arrived at Getsu five days ago, stayed for two day, and then left. That gave a time frame of three days between them and her disappearance, which wasn't a good start.

It was reported with certainty that Tayumi had departed Getsu with her retinue of five guards. None of them made it back to Iwa. So what possibly could've taken place between then and now? 

"Do either of you two have any theories on what happened? I think it's a kidnapping. Bandits or something holding her for a ransom."

[Kao]

When Mitsuo jokingly suggested that he wasn't happy to be going on the mission, the look Kotaru shot him could only be described as murderous. But it wasn't Mitsuo the boy wanted to strangle, but the boy they were on their way to meet. "What gave me away?" he said with a scowl, but he didn't want to get into the details. He hadn't quite gotten around to telling Mitsuo and Tatsuo about what had happened between him and Vale's father and part of him wanted to keep it that way. After all, though Mitsuo was his best friend, Kotaru was still a secretive person. The Enkouten didn't need to know everything.

As soon as he saw Vale his blood began to bubble. He couldn't hide the scowl or his heavy glare, and he responded to the genin's greeting with weighted silence. Kotaru forced himself to turn away and take a deep breath before his emotions got the better of him. 'Think of the mission,' he told himself. It was an important one, and he couldn't let his desire to throttle Vale with genjutsu until he was incoherent heap interfere with their job. Somehow he reeled himself in and the trio headed off into Rock Country.

By the time the mile-thick wall of Iwagakure was long out of sight, Kotaru's head had cleared and his emotions had settled. For the most part. "There's been no ransom," he responded with a slight edge to his voice, "so we can't even assume she's still alive. For all we know they're dead. If we're assuming she was kidnapped without a ransom then we have to treat this as if they don't plan on giving her back alive."

It was a rough situation. More than 24 hours had passed and there had been no word from possible kidnappers. The ideal window for the girl's safe return had long passed. It wasn't looking good for her. As the trio got closer to the place she had last been seen, Kotaru remained mostly silent, letting Mitsuo and Vale talk through their theories and plan of action.

[Yura]

Mitsuo simply sighed and slightly shook his head at the two boys as they each sunk down into their mutual hatred of each other. He had never met Vale before today, but he had spent countless hours listening to Kota describe the boy in great detail complete with awful nicknames and plenty of insults, making it abundantly clear that he didn't like the other Akari boy. Based on the look that Vale had given Kota when they first arrived, it was pretty clear that the feeling was mutual. The pair seemed to be amiable at the moment, to some degree anyways, but Mitsuo hoped that their hatred of each other didn't have a negative impact on the mission.

Well after they had left, once they were quite some distance from the village, the other boys began discussing the mission while Mitsuo simply listened at first. He found it interesting, though expected, that Vale had immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a kidnapping despite having no concrete evidence of the fact. Given what they knew, kidnapping was certainly a strong possibility, but Mitsuo didn't want the boy to focus solely on that one theory. "There are plenty of possibilities, really." Mitsuo replied, "Not all of them involve foul play either. We could very well be dealing with a kidnapping, but we could also be dealing with a case of a runaway girl whose guards were too ashamed to return to their employer without her, or a group that wasn't prepared for the strong storms that have been blowing through the region for the past week and they succumbed to the elements. Hell, for all we know the girl could have killed the guards in their sleep and run off." Mitsuo elaborated, making sure to use his best "teaching" voice as he explained. He didn't want it to come across as scolding the boys or as shooting down the idea that it was a kidnapping, he just wanted to make his point. It was his job as a Jounin to use moments like these as teaching moments after all. "All of these have varying degrees of plausibility and we won't technically be able to rule any of them out until we learn more about the girl, the spa, and the area. Kidnapping is a strong possibility, but I don't want us to be so focused on it that we're blind to evidence of other possibilities."

[The Legend Excalibur]

"Right. Of course." Vale listened to the older shinobi's suggestions. He hoped it was as straight-forward as a kidnapping. If it was a case of a runaway, they may end up having to chase the girl across Rock Country, and if she we're bold, out of it. Some form of rebellion against her father, or maybe running away with a lover. The storm's would possibly be the worst, as it'd be hard to find evidence of their bodies, let alone what happened. Rain, winds, as well as the rock and mudslides that were all too common in the country side would prove recovering, well, anything, a task. And finally... what if she did kill her guards? How would they need to handle her? Take her into custody?

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. What Kotaru had said to him on his first mission remained firmly planted in his mind. He always over-thought the situation. Sometimes, a shinobi didn't have that luxury. Sometimes, they had to go with their gut. That was something Vale was working on doing. "Getsu is a popular destination in Rock Country. Merchants, politicians, nobles... all of kinds of people frequent it." He began to recite what he had heard and read about it beforehand. "It's fairly big. No where near the size of Iwa, but, it'd take us while to scout the entire place. Since it was built around a hot spring, the surrounding terrain is mountainous, meaning cliff-sides and peaks. Three main paths into it. No recent trouble with any bandits or animals of any kind."

The sun was starting to set in the sky as the three continued their trek."Kind of an odd team composition for a mission like this, right?" He asked, suddenly.

[Kao]

Kotaru scoffed and replied, "The only odd thing about our composition is that you're here. I still don't understand why they insist on teaming me up with you and sending a genin to do something this important." That wasn't entirely true. There was one explanation he could think of, and it had to do with a certain old woman who had taken an annoying interest in both Kotaru and Vale. The jounin shook the unpleasant thought from his head and continued on so they wouldn't waste more time.

Getsu was a sight to behold. Nestled on a mountainside, it looked like a welcoming haven in the middle of a jagged and unforgiving mountain range. Even from below it was impressive to see, with its tall buildings that blended in beautifully with the scenery, and much of it was carved from the mountain itself. The trio made their way to the southern entrance, and they entered with relative ease. Once they were inside of the village, Kotaru realized just how easy it would have been for someone to get lost in the crowd. They immediately found themselves in the busiest area of town, where tourists and locals alike bustled here and there to their locations. It would be difficult to find and follow a trail that was nearly cold.

"Fantastic," the boy grumbled as several people shoved past him, chattering eagerly about visiting the hot springs. It was unclear just which hot springs they were talking about. At every turn there was an advertisement for one spa or another, this hot spring or that one. "Where is this spa again? Without the specific name, we'll be searching all day."

[Yura]

"Play nice boys." Mitsuo quipped, trying to hide his slight amusement. He knew full well that it was going to elicit a glare from Kota, the boy never liked it when Mitsuo 'scolded' him, but he also needed to be the buffer between the two. "You never know what or who you might need on a mission like this so it doesn't hurt to have a range of backgrounds." More than likely the higher ups just wanted to tack him onto this mission because no one else was available buuuuuuuut he doesn't need to know that.

As the trio approached the town under the setting sun, Mitsuo began to recall the previous times that he had visited Getsu as a child. It hadn't been often, and he hadn't visited since becoming a shinobi, but he recalled his parents bringing him from time to time for a "vacation". It was an extremely popular vacation spot for villagers all around the country, even for the occasional out of country traveler, and the town gradually expanded as it gained more and more business. Even since just the last time that he had visited, less than a decade prior, Mitsuo was noticing differences in the number of shops and hot-springs offered in the town.

"I don't remember the name of the spa, but if I had to guess it would be down that way." Mitsuo responded to Kota, pointing down one of the busy streets. "It's been a while since my parents brought me here, but the closer that you get to the center of the town the more high-profile and luxurious the handful of spas get. If the merchant's daughter was here, she likely ended up at one of the spas down there." Mitsuo looked up to the sky and contemplated their next move. The sun had almost finished setting and the town's nightlife was starting to come to life. "We might be able to find the spa and ask a few questions, but I'm willing to bet we won't be able to really investigate until the morning." Mitsuo said to his companions, "We might be better off just locating the place and then finding a place to stay the night."

[The Legend Excalibur]

Vale simply looked slightly irritated by Kotaru's comment. By themselves, Vale would go word for word with Kotaru, equally his spite with his very own. But around others, at least, he tried to maintain some degree of neutrality. But he found that the other boy was having none of that, and simply continued his hostile attitude toward him. Mitsuo was likely just trying to mediate the situation, seeing as Kotaru wasn't completely wrong; he was still a Genin, with only a single mission under his belt. It'd be strange if they didn't wonder why he was there.

Vale internally marveled at the sight of Getsu. He had never really been outside of Iwa, save for trips he'd take with father into the surrounding environment for training. He wasn't sheltered or anything like that, he'd just really had a purpose for journeying outside of the Walls. It was actually quite a experience to see the streets so busy and full of life like this. At Kotaru's mention of the spa, he snapped out of his brief daze and scanned his environment, indeed finding multiple signs leading to different spas. He express his disappointed conclusion with a low sigh. It seems the mission wouldn't be quite as easy as he thought.

"A little rest might do us some good. We have been traveling all day." In addition to this reasoning, Vale was also looking forward some time away from Kotaru. Even the short day they'd already spent together was enough to give him a headache, so some rest might return so energy for tomorrow. That was, if he could sleep.

The three would find lodging at an inn further into the village. It was semi-popular, meaning it saw plenty of foot traffic, but was never outright booked. Paying for it with money from the mission's stipend, they'd be shown to their rooms, three semi-small suites that each contained a closet, a bed, a desk, and a lamp.They all were adjacent to one another, and separated by thin walls. After having settled into his, putting away his weapons and other gear, Vale decided before going to bed to get some air.

Through a window, he scaled to the top of the three story building, and sat on the edge, watching the so-called "nightlife" of the village. People were loud, rambunctious and drunk, constantly flowing from gambling dens, to restaurants, to something called a "pleasure den", to hot springs. It reminded Vale of watching ants go from ant hill to ant hill, a living ecosystem. Everyone seemed so carefree, so happy. Well most, he noted, as a brawl erupted on the streets between two men. He couldn't help but let a small chuckle out at watching it.

[Kao]

It didn't seem right that they made it to their destination and immediately sought out some place to rest. They were already several days behind the missing girl, and the longer they took to find her, the worse their chances were of finding her alive and well. The jounin wasn't tired, but if his teammates needed the rest then he would oblige. "We shouldn't stay long," he noted, "since we can't waste any time."

Once in his room he was restless. He managed to doze off a few times but otherwise he couldn't truly get any rest. At one point he heard Vale moving around, and after rolling his eyes he peeked into the room to check on the genin. To his surprise and chagrin, the younger Akari was gone. He groaned and immediately walked to Mitsuo's room. He expected his teammate to be sleeping, and if he was he'd roughly shake him awake. "Oi. The brat's gone. His window was open so I'm assuming he snuck out for one stupid reason or another."

The muffled sound of the nightlife below reached their ears, and Kotaru frowned. The last thing they needed was for Vale to get caught up in the riff raff that was outside. "We should go find him before he doesn't something dumb."

[Yura]

Mitsuo was surprised that the group had been able to find lodging so close to the center of the town and even more surprised when they were given separate rooms as part of a larger suite. It had cost them a pretty penny, an amount that had made Mitsuo reconsider staying at the place, but the inn was only a few blocks from the spa in question and it only had the suite available to fit them all so.....guess they were treating themselves. The village wouldn't mind, right? Since they were paying for it, Mitsuo had treated himself to a quick shower and ordered the group a small meal included as part of their initial payment. He may as well be clean and well fed when they continued their mission the following day.

When it finally came time to sleep, Mitsuo bid the other boys goodnight and settled down into his bed for the night. Embracing the comfort of his soft bed and warm blankets, Mitsuo drifted off to sleep before long. His sleep was short lived, however, as the sound of his door opening pulled Mitsuo back into a conscious state and he rolled over to find Kota standing in the middle of his room. "He's a big boy, Kota. He doesn't need to be on a leash." Mitsuo groaned, rolling over and pulling the covers back up over his head. After a few moments, he threw the covers off of him with a sigh and started to lift himself out of the bed. "But I suppose you're right. We can't have a genin taking off on us. Give me a minute."

Having taken a moment to redress himself and gather some of his equipment, Mitsuo motioned for Kota to lead the way, following the boy to Vale's room to find the open window. "I can't imagine that he went too far..." Mitsuo muttered to his teammate as he stuck his head out the window, "Let's try the roof." Climbing out the window, Mitsuo channeled chakra into his feet and began walking up the side of the building, finding Vale as he reached the top. It was a tad annoying, really. He had been pulled out of bed just to find the kid people watching on the roof. "You should really be trying to get some rest, you know." Mitsuo called out to the boy as he approached, "We start our day at sunrise which isn't far off."

[The Legend Excalibur]

Vale would see the two older shinobi climb out of the window of his room and begin walking up the side of the building towards him. What could the problem be? Had he made too much noise going outside? He'd tried to be quiet in doing so. When Mits approached him, he'd offer a nod to the jounin greeting him "Ah, you're probably right, Mitsuo-san." He looked back out over at the city streets. The brawl was being broken apart by some on-duty guards, a crowd having gathered around to watch the spectacle. "I just needed some air to clear my head. It'll help me focus tomorrow. I'll be back in within the hour..." The genin's voice trailed off, as something had caught his eye.

A couple of men would be seen exiting what looked like a side door to one of the spa's each carrying what, from this distance, looked to be a body. A third man would exit, placing something in the hand of a worker of the spa. That... that was shady. Standing up, Vale would suddenly leap from the rooftop towards a lower one, close to the streets to get a better look. Scanning the area, the men had seemed to disappear, but, with his curiosity piqued, Vale hopped down to street level, and began walking towards the spa.

[Kao]

Kotaru rolled his eyes at Vale. He didn't care that Vale needed to clear his head; he could have done so in his room, in bed. The jounin already felt like they were wasting time by resting and not investigating, and if they were going to continue to not sleep then they shouldn't have bothered with the hotel in the first place. He started to say this when the genin took off, furthering Kotaru's irritation. He almost wanted to let the genin go off by himself and get caught up in a brawl. But on the other hand, Vale was his and Mitsuo's responsibility, and if he let the genin run off and do something stupid - or worse, get himself kidnapped - he was sure there were a few people that would reprimand him. He didn't feel like dealing with the headache.

The jounin turned to his friend and teammate. "What do you think? Should we let him 'clear his head' and possibly get jumped or drag him back? I don't really care either way." Kotaru didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, and paid no attention to the men below exiting the spa. Vale's decision to do things on his own had severely distracted him, but he kept his eyes on the genin as he jumped onto the street and began walking around.

[Yura]

Mitsuo sighed as he watched the genin rush off after the man in the alley. He had noticed the man himself, but he had chosen to ignore it. "I suppose we should follow him. Last thing we need is him dying on us." Mitsuo said with a sigh, "Can you imagine the amount of paperwork that we'd have to fill out?" He added half jokingly as he hopped down to street level.

As Mitsuo followed behind the genin, he realized that he had a problem on his hands. While nothing of consequence had happened so far, Mitsuo realized that Vale was the type to take off on his own and sooner or later it was going to come back to bite them in the ass. Sure, this mysterious man carrying a mysterious object that just so happened to be human-sized was suspicious, but Vale had said nothing about it to either Mitsuo or Kota, his superiors on this mission, and instead took off after the man. A decision that was potentially dangerous.

Quickening his pace, Mitsuo caught up to the young genin and grabbed him by the back of his shirt to pull him to a stop. "We need to talk." Mitsuo said in a hushed tone as he lowered his head closer to the smaller boy's ear, "You can't go running off like this, you understand?" Mitsuo began, all while keeping an eye on the man walking in the distance, I get it, the guy is suspicious and you want to investigate him, but we're a team, a unit, and if you go running off on your own you endanger not only yourself but us as well. If we don't communicate, then we're weaker as a whole and trust me, I won't let you make us weak. So no more lone wolf crap, got it?" Mitsuo released his hold on the back of Vale's shirt and continued walking forward, following the suspecious man from a distance. "Well, are you coming?" He called back.

[The Legend Excalibur]

The sudden yank on his shirt had caught Vale by surprise, and he'd quickly twist around to confront whoever it was who'd thought it was a wise idea to just tug on another person's clothing, only to meet the scolding eyes of Mitsuo. "Mitsuo-san, those men-" He began, before the older boy hushed him and proceeded to chide him. Vale hadn't even considered what he did to be that bad. In truth, he didn't even think about it. He'd acted on impulse, in an attempt to follow the advice that Kotaru had once offered him. He didn't think his actions would cause that much trouble for the other two.

As Mitsuo finished, he was noticeably less lively than he had been, though he did his best to hide his true disappointment. Following after Mitsuo, he caught up to the young jounin. "I'm... sorry. That was reckless of me. It won't happen again."

The alley they approached was blanketed in darkness, the light that leaked from the main street barely providing the ability to see. What was clear, though, was that there was no one in the alleyway. It was a dead-end, closed off by a high wooden fence with no hinges or panels that would allow entry or exit. Spare crates and boxes lined the walls of the buildings in stacks, supplies that'd be used later no doubt sitting within. Vale had inspected the fence itself, on the off the chance that it may be a fake or false one, only for it to remain firmly in place. "I don't understand. I know I saw them come down this way. Though his tone was contradictory to his words, as it was uneven and unsure.

Perhaps he was more tired than he thought?