Stormfall (An AU Naruto Quest)

Kenzō frowned minutely. "Stealing from the Daimyō herself? I dunno. Sneaking around a dark forest is one thing, sneaking around a guarded estate none of us know the full layout of is another…"

Shion, who was spinning a kunai around a finger absently, looked pensive. "Hmm. Maybe instead of sneaking in, we could disguise ourselves as peasants and rummage around when no one's looking? Maybe convince a group to go with us to see the Daimyō, could help hide us."

Shaking her head absently, Momoka spoke in a soft tone. "None of us possess the raw presence to capture a crowd like that. Nor will people be interested in risking their necks for dubious gain…"

"Could just rush in and grab it, no subtlety at all?" Kenzō suggested.

Shion raised an eyebrow. "Do we really want to piss off one of Iron's five major Samurai Clans in our first week or two here? Before our business is really concluded?"

Kenzō shrugged. "Just floating ideas."

Shion nodded and hummed to herself, before saying. "If we're blowing up subtlety, we could just make direct contact with the Ishida, get our fingers on the pulse so to speak."

"If we are willing to make contact with the Samurai, shouldn't we simply return to our previous idea of just buying a map from the merchants?" Momoka asked.

"I'm still not keen on the idea of revealing ourselves if we can help it, personally," Kenzō said. "We don't know enough about them or how we'll be received yet, and what we do know seems to indicate a negative reception."

"Buy the map in disguise?" Shion floated.

"Dubious," Momoka replied morosely. "The prices of those maps… well, it is within our available funds, but it may seem a bit odd for some lowly civilian we pretend to be to spend that kind of money, especially on a national map of all things. We don't have the resources to pose as a merchant, and getting them would probably mean stealing from one anyways…"

"So, the easiest option is likely doing the job as presented," Kenzō concluded, solemn.

Momoka nodded, looking down.

Shion looked between them and scoffed. "We're in this mess because Sensei was addicted to putting in overtime for people who dig in the mud all day. Since when did this team care about the easy option?"

Momoka gave her a curious look as a smile danced on Kenzō's lips.

---

They had done a few subtle sweeps of the bazaar, looking for an ideal target to nick a map from. They would strike soon, whenever Kenzō got an opening. He lurked a few paces away from a line of stalls, slowly counting small sums of money while prospective buyers moved back and forth to examine the merchandise.

Shion's ears pricked at the plucking of string instruments from a small street band performing nearby, tucked into a corner and surrounded by colorful streaming ribbons of cloth. Idly, she wondered about their team obtaining some instruments, wouldn't be bad cover in the future…

She snapped back to attention. Kenzō was subtly signaling to her to distract the nearest Samurai to his position. She steeled her will. Whatever happened, fear wouldn't hold her back. (Or embarrassment.)

At an intersection of cobbled road, a young Ishida Samurai stood attent, holding a poleaxe. Shion readied her most demure self. From what they'd observed, Iron civilians were still spooked by the power of the Samurai, but weren't quite as afraid to approach them the way Rain and Fire civilians seemed to cower at any interaction with a shinobi.

"Excuse me, your lordship, I seem to have misplaced my scarf…"

"You are welcome to search for it," he responded, not even looking at her.

She tucked her hair behind an ear as bashfully as she could manage. "O-of course, sir, I was just hoping-"

He continued ignoring her, his eyes snapping to attention elsewhere. "Hey, you there! What are you doing?" He stalked away, shoulder knocking her aside.

Uh oh.

Sorry, Kenzō, she thought ruefully. She just hoped her curse only applied to teachers, and not to teammates.

---

"Hey, you there! What are you doing?" An Ishida began moving his way after he'd nonchalantly and (what he'd thought was) discreetly shoved a map into his coat.

Kenzō's mind ran through possibilities they'd discussed, and settled on the most obvious one. Run for it!

Best to capitalize on a lead as quickly as possible. He immediately started pumping chakra, boosting his way through the crowd and weaving around confused shoppers and merchants at blistering speed.

The gray cobblestone clacked loudly under his feet as he blasted down the main street, trying to hide his profile in the colorful banners strung about all over the marketplace. Another Ishida Samurai came from his side and he ducked a poleaxe swing, crashing through the outdoor furniture of a small restaurant, diners leaping out of the way as two Samurai sprinted after him. He chanced a glance back and saw a third Samurai a few seconds behind the other two. Great.

Momoka and Shion would be following as subtly as they could manage, but would likely be too far away to get to him in time - before yet more Ishida caught up, anyways.

He continued running, before abruptly chakra-adhering to the ground below him and throwing himself to the side in a painful redirection of momentum. The Samurai scraped their poleaxes against the stone wall, slowing themselves down and hurling themselves around the corner. As Kenzō faced forward and pumped his arms to pick up speed again, he noted ironically that the poleaxe corner trick was a maneuver similar to one he often used with his hooked swords, which he greatly missed at the moment. He had a tanto tucked away if he really needed to fight, but hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Despite the unwieldiness of their long weaponry, the Samurai seemed to be gaining on him. It seemed they were well accustomed to maneuvering with them in the downtown area, though the environs were gradually opening up as they continued to run from the heart of the town.

The small buildings gave way to the outskirts of Hitachiwa, and trees began to crop up, thickening back into a frosty taiga. His eyes flicked back and forth for some Substitution targets to give himself a lead that would let him fully throw his pursuers in the woods, but while sprinting through the thick branches of the forest, he only spotted good Substitution targets when they were too close to be helpful.

He barely sidestepped another weapon swing and grimaced as their axe split the ground and sent fissures pulsing outward. What the hell? It seemed they'd avoided using anything especially fancy while in town but were no longer hesitating.

That settled it. He'd wanted not to reveal too much of his hand (and by extension, potentially his identity) like this, but it seemed necessary. Time to show them what a shinobi was capable of. Moving towards an open grove within the forest, Kenzō meticulously molded his chakra. "Wind Release: Vacuum Step." As he rocketed forward, the frost and snow beneath Kenzō's feet burst up into a diffuse cloud, spraying all over his pursuers.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Step. Wind Release: Vacuum Step. Wind Release: Vacuum Step. Wind Release…"

Ordinarily, the technique required a clear path to activate. Evidently, in the eyes of chakra, this counted. He ducked around and over trees and branches, flying into the forest at speeds the Samurai could not hope to match, his reserves steadily ticking down each time he used the technique.

Suddenly, after traveling nearly a mile in just moments, he stopped himself to listen for his pursuers, but heard nothing. He considered using Stolen Whispers, but decided to put the chakra into a few maximum-range Substitutions to break his trail, before he set to work, more completely obscuring where he'd gone.

With any luck, he could meet Shion and Momoka at their rendezvous in just a few hours.

---

"Gone, eh?" Lady Maita said, amused.

"Your ploy failed," the Ishida Captain spat.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, and apologies and all that. The robbed merchant will be compensated for his troubles, of course. Though, I take it that your grumpiness is moreso due to your men being taken off-guard despite knowing of multiple groups of shinobi present in town?"

Ishida merely growled in response.

"Thought so. If it's any consolation, I do not hold it against you. These are duplicitous types. It is to be expected."

"Hmph. I do not excuse it amongst my own men. Nor would my superiors, if I had done the same under their watch."

The Lady inclined her head. "Fair enough. You may hold your people to whatever standards you see fit."

"So, how do you intend to prove Sada Yoshiro has been hiring ninja now? I certainly won't tolerate using my men as bait as you attempted with those miscreants."

She shrugged. "I'm certain the opportunity will present itself."

---

Chopsticks gripped loosely in one hand, Shion slurped another mouthful of spicy noodles and once again felt a wave of gratefulness to not be eating wolf meat for the twentieth time. Momoka and Kenzō sat on stools to her right, quickly eating their own bowls. Having finally made it to Yamagakyō, Kenzō was insistent they eat 'food meant for people' before anything else. Shion was quick to agree.

Compared to the more rural Hitachiwa, Yamagakyō was heavily urbanized and industrialized, with plumes of smoke trailing into the sky all over the city from home furnaces, kitchens, and smiths alike. The city was largely composed of a uniform black stone with silver detailing, or the occasional splash of blue. The streets were much wider, and oxcarts could periodically be seen trucking goods and raw materials through the city streets.

There was a notably increased Samurai presence here, though with the size of the city, getting a concrete number would prove challenging. Shion also suspected that the quality of Samurai would be better in such an important city. Much as Kenzō might insist otherwise, the fact that he could outrun three Samurai chasing him down did not speak highly to their skill level in her estimation.

With a little under five thousand Ryō between the three of them, they'd be able to reserve basic accommodations for at least a few months, if necessary.

Somewhere in this city, the Iron Yakuza manifested a subtle but firm presence. Among their ranks was the info broker Tetsuya, who might be their best bet for furthering their goals, and for getting a grip on whatever cataclysm was shaking the continent at the moment.

Shion only hoped that, if meeting him was a mistake, it wouldn't be the last one they make.

---

You made it to Yamagakyō intact, congrats! Based on the events of this arc and the voter participation, the net XP accrued for this arc is 235 XP. This will be added to all three character sheets.

Currently, Shion has 2 FP remaining, Momoka has 3, and Kenzō has 1. These will be refreshed to 4 at the start of next chapter.

Vote time! What to do?

[X] Surveil the town and get an idea of who the major players are.
[X] Meet with Tetsuya immediately and haggle for information.
[X] Introduce yourself to the local Sakamoto Clan to look for work.

Write-ins are accepted.