[x] The best friend.
Takuto is far from thrilled to serve as your guide for the hunting paths, but what could he do? As the younger Sato's best friend, he'd certainly accompanied the man on many a hunt and expedition. He is, quite simply, the best option.
"So how long did you know him?" you ask.
"Uh. About… six years? I think," he stutters. Under your boots the path slowly vanishes as you leave the well-traveled areas. "After the war, you know…"
He is also terrified out of his wits by you, specifically. The testimony of others had painted the picture of a somewhat distant, but confident and capable young man. You haven't seen it, though he is navigating the forest with enviable grace for a civilian. And what you picked up from your pseudo-genjutsu barely felt human at all, it was so entirely frightened.
"How did you find settling in here?"
"Ah, a bit rough, to start," he admits. "Didn't really know anybody or… how things were done. But I was a good hunter. And Sato-" He cut himself off.
"Mmm," you hum agreeably, scanning the forest for human traces. Given how many weeks it's been, you're not expecting much. "I assume you've been looking for him."
"Of course!" he replies, before cringing away again. "Of course I have."
You're beginning to think whatever happened to the younger Sato, Takuto wasn't involved. At least not maliciously so - you can't rule out some youthful challenge or argument gone wrong. Unfortunate: it would've been very convenient to have a murderer in your grasp, far from the village. You'll take a gentler tack, then.
"Is there any place you haven't checked? We might start there."
The young man flinches. "N-no. Not that I can think of, and nearby."
You blink languidly. That seems like a lie. Not one you can simply call out, but maybe… you draw your genin's attention with a quick sequence of hand-signs - repeating them when they seem confused - and then focus your attention on a particularly tricky sort of compulsion genjutsu. The hand seals come slowly as you shape your spiritual chakra. The urge to leap off a cliff, the reckless desire to confront an enemy, the impulse that makes a secret-keeper hint at what they know. You take these within yourself, and then share them with Takuto.
Compulsion Technique: Call Of The Void.
Now to distract his conscious mind. "It's worth keeping in mind the possibility of foul play," you observe. "A body might be hidden away from the victim's usual paths."
Takuto nods jerkily, before looking at you. "You think he was murdered!"
"I'm open to all possibilities," you correct, letting Takuto's feet guide your party wherever it is he doesn't want to go. "I'll admit to being a bit curious about your priest, and his fiancee."
He blinks at you with wide, luminous eyes. A very pretty man, you observe distantly. "They couldn't." He pauses. "Could they…?"
"Those closest to the victim are under suspicion for good reason, and they were somewhat suspicious. I don't suppose there's anything he said to you, about them?"
The young man gulped. "Well, he and his fiancee weren't exactly… close? Just, different people, I suppose. He complained about her a lot - I, ah. Tried to avoid the topic?"
"Did they not get on?" you ask.
He shrugged helplessly. "She seemed… nice? I don't know her very well." A frown. "Her father is trying to push for an arrangement with uh. Me, now. If Mr. Sato would adopt me."
"I suppose that would be reason to get to know her better," you remark, as neutrally as you can manage. You'd not heard of any particular pre-marital troubles, but then, you wouldn't. That was the sort of skeleton people kept very much buried in the closet. "And the priest?"
"He's intense," Takuto remarks, voice growing more confident as he's lost in recollection. "He used to be a girl, or something like that? Before I arrived here. They're hot and cold with each other - arguing some days, close as could be the next."
"Involved?"
He actually laughs. "He's so serious about his duties! That's what they argued about, mostly. Sacred grounds, prospecting-" Takuto stops dead. Your genjutsu snaps.
You take one step forward so you can see his face properly. It's slack and pale. His nose is twitching. A couple quick, well drilled hand signs tell your genin to get ready.
"Is something the matter?" you ask innocently.
His wide eyes turn to you. "We shouldn't be here."
Your genin are circling around him from behind. "Why not?"
"It's-" His nose twitches. "We really shouldn't be here. It's not safe."
On a suspicion, you channel chakra to your nose. It's faint, but… there's a distinct smell of something sweet and rotting. It stings your nose slightly, like the wind that carries it is chilly. "If it's not safe, then surely we should investigate it," you point out. "If anything happened, it most likely happened where it's unsafe?"
"No, no, he wouldn't have- he wouldn't be that stupid-" Takuto freezes, and you see the moment when you tick over from dangerous ally to threat. "You-"
You give the signal. Takashi goes for Takuto's legs, while Yume and Akira each take an arm. It works, for the first few seconds - the man goes to the floor, and the genin are strong enough to overpower a civilian relatively safely, three on one. Idly, you note the forest floor is soft and leaf-covered. Interesting, given the season. Something to do with the chill in the air?
Then Takuto lets out a hiss which registers as absolutely not human, and Yuma goes stumbling back with a cut on his cheek.
It's the work of an instant to throw yourself into a body flicker that separates the surprisingly difficult target from your genin and pins it against a tree. It's only another instant to recognize what's changed, and adjust the incapacitating current you were planning on using to something less likely to be accidentally lethal. You're left with three shocked genin, one minor injury, and an oversized feline weakly struggling in your arms.
Well, you reflect, that would explain the odd feedback on your genjutsu.
~
You never trained your genin to tie a quadruped for interrogation. In your defense, the only way you know how to tie any animal is a dead one, for later consumption. It's not something that comes up very often. So you're reduced to holding the now much more frightened Takuto in your arms and relying on the imminent threat of violence to keep them in line.
"So, uh, is he like a summon?" Takashi asks, as though the subject of his question isn't right there.
"Something like that," you temporize, before squeezing the feline - a particularly large example of a bobcat, if you know your local fauna correctly - gently. "So, Mr. Takuto. You've been hiding some things!"
"Please don't kill me," the cat whimpers in what is unmistakably Takuto's voice. Yuma boggles, and even the other two are clearly unsettled. You don't see this sort of thing in Amegakure, outside the rare summoning contract.
"I'd rather not," you agree cheerfully. This is a much more interesting mission than you thought you'd signed up for. You're in a good mood. "I'm pretty sure you didn't kill Sato. I am less sure you haven't hidden information relevant to an Amegakure mission and a potentially criminal investigation. This is only punishable by death in cases where the mission is considered highly critical."
"Oh."
"Also, Yuma, apply some disinfectant to that cut immediately. You don't want cat-scratch fever."
The oddly mundane order shocks your genin into motion.
"That's not to say the lesser punishments can't be pretty painful," you tell him as Yuma rustles through his supplies. It's very odd, threatening someone who's nearly on your lap. "So why don't we go over anything you might have left out, and pretend this never happened." The bobcat nods as furiously as he can in the hold you've got him in. "So. What's dangerous here?"
"It's… the tiger," he says. "This is her territory."
"And what does the tiger have to do with everything?"
"I-" Takuto makes an odd keening sound, which sets your teeth on edge. "This used to be my territory. Our territory- me and my sister. She-"
"I think I get the picture," you cut him off. Interrogation or not, some wounds don't need to be prodded. You never would have made it as a torturer. "And acting as a human?"
He said nothing.
"Mr. Takuto."
"...revenge," he whispers, paws kneading at the leafy ground. "I… saw what humans did. Even a few ninja. I thought, if I could get someone interested in… building something. Or mining, or- I don't know…"
"That ninja might be called in to deal with your tiger," you finish. Not a bad plan.
"Well, to start I just wanted a hunter. But Sato taught me it wouldn't work," he admits.
"He knew?" you ask, surprised. Not quite the standard fox-wife tale.
"More or less. I don't think he'd be stupid enough to go after her himself, but, if he pushed her territory a bit, or got lost. If she somehow knew-" He shivers in your arms.
"Well," you answer. "If a tiger has been eating people, then ninja might be called in."
"I didn't want him to die for it!" He yowls. "I don't-"
"Sh sh sh, it's fine." You resist the urge to pet him. That would be a bit forward. "You've been very helpful Mr. Takuto." You carefully unwind your arms, and the bobcat darts what he probably thinks is a safe distance away. "So I'm going to offer you a deal. We go meet this tiger, and see if she knows anything. And if she has killed your friend, then I'll deal with her."
"It's not safe," he insists, slipping back into his human skin. Now that you know, you can see some of the similarities - particularly in the eyes. Luminous and ever so slightly slit. No wonder he's a good hunter.
"I'm a jonin," you reply. "Tigers aren't safe from me."
~
The scent of rot and ice serves as a simple guide for where the tiger has made her den. Something about the combination of smells tickles something at the back of your mind, but you can't quite place it. The flowers too - they're becoming more and more common as you approach your destination, a striking mix of white and red and black.
"Uh, ma'am?" Akira asks, when the flowers become too conspicuous to ignore. "What sort of flowers are these?"
"I don't know," you admit. "But they seem somewhat chakra-active, so I'd avoid touching them."
Your genin and Takuto crowd closer to you after that. Eventually you reach the dark entrance of a cave, so festooned with flowers that even you'd be hard pressed to make it inside without touching the strange plants. The smell of cold rot is thick on the air, and you finally place it.
"Naraka," you mutter for the other's benefit. "These are the signs of one of the Yin hells."
They all tense. "That seems… bad, ma'am," Akira says. "What does it mean?"
"It means this isn't just a tiger," you reply grimly. "It's reached beyond the animal realm, and we need to be respectful."
Takuto looks at you sharply, fear blending with indignation on his features. "What happened to 'dealing with her'?"
"Still possible," you reassure him. It might even be true - not every earthly god is particularly powerful. "But that's only if she did kill Sato. Now everyone stay quiet."
You clear your throat, and project your voice into the cave. "Jonin Kitagawa Kohaku comes to the lord of the mountain, on behalf of Rain, to rectify an injustice committed in her territory!"
There's no response for a long moment.
"The lord of this mountain hears your petition." The voice is multilayered. A core of bass rumbling that raises the hair of your arms, but around it is wrapped dozens, if not hundreds of other tones. Beside you, Takuto flinches. "But to gain a boon, something must be offered."
"An offense has been committed against heaven," you retort. "Its resolution is not a boon."
"The offense is not mine," the voice rejoins, closer now. "And a tiger is paid respect to by heaven and hell."
The mountain god emerges from the shadows piecemeal. Pale orange fur with stripes blacker than pitch. One paw, then another, and another, then another pair. Three jaws fit to tear you in half work in syncopated time, festooned with roots and those same white flowers. And above all, the smell of ice and rot, and nine glacier blue eyes.
Your genin recoil, and you hold up a fist to get them to freeze. You grab Takuto by his collar before he can flee.
"This one will accept an offering of blood, flesh or observance," the multilayered voice declares. "Name your boon."
It moves slowly and powerfully. Naraka is not a realm of action and violence. Could you beat it? Maybe.
You'd really rather not try.
"The location of a young man, disappeared a month ago, or of his corpse," you reply. "Is this a boon you can grant?"
"It is," the tiger purrs. "If you can pay the price."
"What prices would you accept?"
A pair of blue eyes flick to Takuto. "For the flesh price, give me the little hunter." Two sets of bared teeth. "His sister misses him."
"You-" Takuto hisses, eyes slitting, before you sharply yank him back.
"My apologies, great lord," you say. "This hunter is not aware of the specifics of your blessing. This one supposes you speak… somewhat literally."
"Those I consume exist within me. Forever."
Fantastic. You jerk Takuto's collar again, just in case. "What of the blood price?"
"For blood, I would have you open a vein over my garden." One of the tiger's massive heads gestures at the ubiquitous white-black-red flowers. "Your spirit blazes, shinobi," she continues, tone appreciative. "Even a fraction of your power and knowledge would be worthy of a boon."
That's both flattering and would break every vow of secrecy you've ever taken, most likely. You also don't really want to give a creature like this a piece of yourself. Forever, as it so generously explained just moments prior.
"And observance?"
"Mmmm." You feel that rumble in your bones. "The old salamander has grown powerful from the worship of your kind. Bring the leaders of the little hunter's den here. They can bleed in your place, and seal a pact."
"Hanzo?" Yuma's face twists in confusion. You start making the sign for 'shut all the way up' but it's too late. "He wasn't worshipped."
The tiger's bulk pauses. "Was?" she purrs. "How interesting."
You say nothing, and think furiously about how to pound negotiating tactics into the heads of genin. You really should have covered this.
"Clever shinobi," the mountain god says, slinking slightly forward. Not quite enough to threaten, but enough to put you all on edge. "But if Ibuse is no longer at the right hand of power- who is?" Nine eyes grow half-lidded, satisfied with whatever she sees. "Here is one last price: bring your leader, whoever they are, to bargain, and make pacts of a different kind."
"For as little a thing as a body?" you reply after a moment.
"An invitation is a little thing, is it not?"
"I could not deliver one to my leader so quickly," you say.
"I can be patient, shinobi. If, by the turning of the seasons, no answer is forthcoming, I will take my own price." Innumerable bared teeth. "With interest."
~
[ ] Takuto's flesh, to settle the tiger's hunger.
In many ways, the simplest option. The bobcat isn't human - his rights, such as they are, are curtailed. One life for all the complications of the other options. If you're willing to make that trade. You monster.
[ ] Your blood, to settle the tiger's curiosity.
Easy - but arguably the least legal of all the options. You are, in effect, telling an unaffiliated individual every secret you might have. A mountain god probably isn't going to sell that information on, but who knows what it might do with it.
[ ] The village's observance, to serve the tiger's pride.
This… really isn't your call to make. You could frame it as necessary to get Sato's body back, and his father would pay any price for that, but what about the rest of the village? They could be brought around, but not necessarily happily.
[ ] Rain's Shadow, to serve the tiger's ambition.
Hahaha. Oh god. In principle, this is the easiest price of all - just an invitation and a response. Konan might even be interested. But this is dangerously close to trading favors with the Shikigami, and it's absolutely not your call to make.
[ ] Pay no price.
You're contracted to try and find a person. Bargaining with a hell-tiger is beyond what a C-Rank mission ever entails.
