"Acquiring" A Home

It was nighttime in Chikagakure, and the moonlight could be seen through the open peak of the mountain so many feet above. It was time for me to find a home. I began wandering around the wealthy districts of Chikagakure for an abandoned place of residence; I needed a place to stay that would accommodate my needs for rest and for research. I would begin in the Northern Quad, searching up and down streets, still garbed in my Native attire all the while. Perhaps after I accomplished this mission, I would need to establish a new outfit. The pain of my scar increased with every passing second, and I grew weary. Hopefully my search would end soon.

After scouring for several hours, I realized that the few wealthy houses that Chikagakure had attained were indeed all occupied. Well, I had no means of allegiance to this village, so I few murders would go unnoticed and free of my conscious so long as I staged them properly. I would have to do this the right way, the just way, and sooner than not I would have a base established. I began walking around town, asking questions and finding clues to ascertain the proper establishment.

After searching the district for clues, I had overheard a certain group of servants complaining about a man they had previously worked for. "He beat Linda. Locked her in a closet even. He treated all of us terribly as well. Don't feel bad, Rosh, we needed to get out of there." And after even further eavesdropping, I figured out the exact location of the house. To think, the Yamakage let this behavior happened under his watch? This is why I do not ally myself with any government. Corruption at its finest.

I finally reached the house, and I immediately recognized it as one of the houses I had passed earlier. I needed to do this stealthfully by making the kill quickly and quietly, as well as properly disposing of the body afterwards. I climbed the house quickly to the roof by grabbing notches in the stone layout as well as window ledges and anything else sticking out of the walls I could use to grab onto. Soon I reached the top, and located the skylight. I stood above it, peering into the house's top floor. Crawling with maids and servants. They were skinny, and they limped about slowly. They were mistreated heavily, and I would soon be doing the world a justice.

I was on my way home until I had noticed the boy. He looked like the same age as I but he didn't look like he was from around here. He was wearing some style of clothing that looked alien to me and his skin was much darker than most people's. I had heard recently that there was a young boy who had started a fight with a miner but an old man had intravined and had stated that the boy was his servant. I went out to find this miner and he had told me that he wasn't from here and that we should not welcome them. I asked for further information but he didn't wish to speak about the matter anymore. I then went around the village asking questions about the boy. No one seemed to know much besides the fact that he was different. I was able to find out that the boy had a scar on his face, perhaps a large burn. I went off of this information and began my search. It had become frutile and decided to give up for the night. It was around that time I noticed the large scar. He was walking fast towards the wealthy district. 'He must be in a hurry' , I thought to myself. I found it odd that he would be heading towards that area at this time at night. I was curious by this and decided to tail him for the night to see his motives. I stuck to the roof tops, leaping from building to building but not to close that he would spot my movements. When he reached the district he was obviously looking for something. I was sticking to the shadows to conceal my presence but in a good enough spot to keep a close eye on him. He seemed to find what he was looking for because he started to move towards the house. It was a house he had already passed but now he was performing the unexpected. He was climbing the house! WHat on earth is he doing? Surely he won't break into someone's house, especially someone who is wealthy. I put a hand on my head and rested it there for a few seconds. My head was still a little bit dizzy after the inciddent in the library. The boy had reached the top of the building now and I decided to move in closer. I won't perform any actions until harm is done. I had found some shadows to hide in by the house the boy had climbed. "Now let us see what comes out of this night."

I was about to leap down into the house when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a blur of movement hopping from rooftop to rooftop. “Idiot!” I thought to myself. I had let myself be followed, and I had completely missed it. I wondered for how long he had been tailing me, and thoughts began to run through my head as to what might happen next. He was leaping rooftops, which obviously meant he was a shinobi, and if he was a shinobi, he was one of the village. If he had been following me for very long, he will have noticed my shady actions by now. I had hidden myself from the people I was stalking, but if anyone else had seen me, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t on a favorable path for the night. If he was indeed a shinobi for the village, I would have to make my actions brief and subtle to avoid his detection. I leapt down into the skylight of the roof, and landed in the second story lobby. It was night, and the servants had all gone to bed. I crouched behind a large father clock, and withdrew one of the daggers from my side. I needed to act quickly.

‘Crap, he’s already entered the house’ I thought to myself. I laid out a plan in my head. If violence were to come out of this night, I wouldn’t be able to use my lava release because I would be endangering everyone in the house. I would have to rely on my speed and strength alone if anything should happen. I don’t want to hurt the boy in any form either; I just want to ask a few questions that’s all. When I landed on a rooftop a few buildings away, I built up my strength and made a powerful leap towards the spot where the boy had entered. I landed a foot or so away from the opening but I stopped and took a peek inside the house. It was quite so everyone must be in bed, asleep. I felt a slight pounding in my head again, causing me to clutch my head. “Come on, not now” I said quietly to myself. It has already been many hours since my visit to the library. I quickly jumped down into the second floor and quickly looked around. There was no one to be seen…yet. I stood motionless for a few seconds and tried to make out any sounds, nothing. I couldn’t tell if the boy was here or if he was somewhere else in the house. I quickly pulled out a kunai in my left hand and a shuriken in my right. I took one more glance of the room and saw a large father clock, larger than I have ever seen in my life. It must of took a lot of ryo to buy that. I decided to stay motionless and listen to the quietness until I could locate the boy. Surely he would make some kind of ruckus.

I saw my pursuer drop down from the skylight in front of me. I hushed my breath so he couldn't hear me, and he remained motionless. He looked to the clock I was hiding behind, but the shadow concealed me well enough. He moved on and looked at something else, which is how I knew I was still hidden. I would have to move quickly to dispatch this man, I did not have time nor need to explain myself to this stranger. Every second I spent was a second my target could find me. I would just have to confront this guy after my mission was complete. With my daggers drawn, I dove silently and swiftly across the hall and over the railing down to the next floor. I landed gracefully on my feet in the courtyard of the second floor. I would move quickly to the nearest door and slip through it. I wandered the hallway, checking every room. I found the servant's quarters, which was nearly empty with how many had quit or had been beaten to death. I heard weeping from within. A rather young lady by the sound of it, was crying in her sleep. What a nightmare to live under this awful man. I would rid the world of him soon. After a few seconds of swift exploring, I cracked the last door open in the hallway, and felt relieved. It was a massive room with a massive bed and the head of a bear mounted on the wall behind the headboard of the bed. This was it. I slowly entered the room, and shut the door behind me. I stood next to the bed and stared down at the snoring man. His grey beard covered with drool and his fat stomach bursting out of his nightshirt. Disgusting. I raised my knife in the air. "Time to die," I whispered.

I sensed movement and I looked quickly around the room. I was able to see a less than a second glimpse of a small object darting from the room to the hall. Before long, I hear the sound of feet landing on the ground. So, he’s moved. Better provide chase. I ran out of the room I made a leap towards the first floor. I landed softly on the hard floor and I could hear little taps of the boy’s feet running throughout the house. He was apparently looking for something specific because if he was to rob this house, he would have grabbed anything he could get his arms on; unless, his target is the head of the house. Of coarse, capture the head of the house and he will give you anything to spare his own life. So blackmailing, perhaps? I picked up my speed and focused on finding the main bedroom. I took a different path, relying on a hunch hoping I will find the headmaster’s room. I passed by an open room that had two servants sitting on a sofa. Their heads were down and they were quietly talking to each other. One was comforting the other because one had been crying rather loud. I also noticed that they were very thin and looked rather ill. I was puzzled at this when it was law that a headmaster must provide proper treatment to all servants. This man or woman was violating this law to an extreme. It seemed these servants have been fed only tiny portions or nothing at all. Soon, I was able to find the room and realized what this was about. The man, fatter than a pig, face covered in his own drool, and an aroma that smelled quite bad. So this man glutens himself and lets his servants starve. What a shrewd man you are. I heard footsteps approaching my position quickly. The boy was probably a few seconds away so I hid in a corner to see what would happen. If this boy is to kill this man I will have to stop him. News will reach out that a man has died and everyone would expect the new arrival. He has already caused problems with the folk and the last thing he needs is to be put into jail. He wouldn’t last very long in there. I saw the boy walk into the room and head towards the man. He pulled out a dagger and raised it above the man, saying the words “Time to die.” At the sound of those words I leaped from my corner and laid a firm hand onto his shoulder that would hopefully stop his descend. You shouldn’t do this. I have seen the crime that has been committed here and I will gratefully take care of this man for you. If you were to kill this man, attention will be drawn even more to you. Let a resident of this village take care of this man’s Judgment. Besides, you probably have other plans to take care of. I tried to speak with earnestness hoping the boy will understand his situation. I closed my eyes and waited for what will come next.

As I raised the knife into the air, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. It seems my pursuer had found me. "Too late," I said with a bitterness as I dropped the knife. I stabbed it into the side of his neck. Before he could begin to choke on his own blood, I then pulled it across his neck, immediately ending his life. I then brushed the hand on my shoulder off and looked my chaser in the eye. "Others cannot be relied upon to carry justice. When you say "Let someone else do it,' I am that someone. I will judge the greedy and rid the world of their error." I saw this as I wiped the blood from the knife blade in my hand using a blanket from the bed. "Someone has to do it. Besides, don't you worry about me drawing attention to myself. I'm good at covering my tracks, and no one will miss this man enough to go looking for him." I would then walk over to the desk in the corner of the room. I reached into it and found some parchment and a quill. I wrote a letter to all the servants, firing them because the master was moving away permanently. I would then nail it to the outside of his chamber door. I took all the bloody blankets and threw them in a bag I had found in the wash room, as well as the corpse. I looked to the stranger as I walked out of the room, "You'd best get out of here before a servant finds that letter." I hauled the bags over my shoulders, and walked away. I would leave the house to dispose of the body, and would return in the morning. Little did I know, this would not be the last time I would meet this boy.

[Exit]

I was too late, he had already performed the kill. He brushed my shoulder off and spoke to me, I could hear a foreign accent to it. He then went over and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something onto it. He had then left with the body and told me to leave before a servant finds me. I stood there for a few moments but shook my head. I walked out into the halway towards the nearest window. When I was out of the district, I stopped walking and looked down at the ground. Not everyone can stay hidden forever. Everyone is found one way or another. I raised my head up to the opening of the mountain that let the light shine in. Right Nanabi? I then continued to walk towards home. I wil keep an eye on that boy. There's just something about him.