Family Ties

I was at last released from the hospital nearly four days after the attack on Elkwood. I was angry about a lie I discovered I had been told while in the recovery ward and was punching the trunk of a tree trunk to alleviate that tension.

Kiwanu would be out and about once again but today he wasn't in the happiest of moods as he had recently heard about the attack on elkwood. He would walk along the path with a rather upset look upon his face " I should have at least been sent to help or something". He would stop walking for a bit and sigh as his normal energetic personality was in a dormant state at the moment. He spotted another kid punching a tree, why? Ki had no clue so he set out to find out. He would walk up to where the kid was and lean against the same tree he was punching and stare at him "what did the tree ever do to you?".

Another kid walked up and asked me a question, I stopped punching the tree and looked at him to see that I did in fact recognize him from around my clan's land so he was probably family I hadnt met yet. I would shake my head and look to the ground as I spoke, "Nothing at all. It's just a stand in because I can't do this to that lying doctor scum." I would look up and punch the tree one more time, harder than before. So hard that my knuckles started bleeding.

He would listen to the boy speak and watched ass he slammed his fist into the tree once more causing his own self to bleed. He would shake his head "well I believe the tree has been defeated! rejoice". Ki would push himself off the tree and stare at the boy he did seem familiar but more then the usual familiar. "So what has this doctor said that's got you all fired up?"

I would hold my fist against the tree for now as I spoke heavily about why I was so angry, "He told me that everyone from Elkwood had been accounted for and was either resting or in the hospital. Well Ive been out a full day and my friend Hebi is still missing." I choked back some tears at the last part, one of my dearest friends was a prisoner of war and all I had done was lay myself up in a hospital for four days straight, I felt as if I had failed him and myself deeply.

Ki would fold his arms across his chest and listen the boy's issue and then nod his understanding even Ki could tell that this Hebi character was close to him. Ki would then unfold his arms and smile " Well if we must, lets go find your friend shall we? beats sitting around here doing jack nothing, right?" Ki himself was rather pumped at the thought of getting out of the village as his smile would widen as his recently dormant energetic personality was slowly returning. "So what do you say? Ya think you're up for it?" Ki would await the boys answer.

I shook my head as my bleeding hand fell down to my side, "Don't you think I've thought of that? I have no problem running through a squad of elite enemy shinobi if I have to for him but I have no idea where he is being held." I would lean forward, my forehead resting on the tree trunk now as I contemplated my options in this situation, another Kuma helping me would double my 1% chance of success which was better than nothing but I still needed to discover where he was before I could charge in.

Ki would calm down a bit as he heard the boy speak and pondered it for a bit "well we could always look for clues and all that tracking business, maybe... honestly never been good at all that but you could always try". Ki would swing his arms in a circle as he had the urge to just be moving as he couldn't just stand there for a long period of time as they contemplated their options.

Thinking about the situation and listening to the other kid triggered a thought process with the buzzword clues. I instantly remembered lord Haru coming to visit me two days ago in the hospital to collect information on the attack, there was no way he would release any of that information to a genin regardless of their reason but there was no doubt that his reports would hold something about the rebellion's prisoner holding sites. "I have an idea, but it may require breaking into the office of the man that runs the imperial army with an iron fist."

(Breaking in...... Breaking... In) Kiwanu would smile a devilish smiile as he heard this and look to the boy one that only kids this age could produce "I'm so down for that! just tell me what I gotta do!" Ki was far from being a goody too shoes and this idea seemed like the most entertaining thing he has heard all day it was no wonder the boy was getting too excited for his own good. Ki would await the kid's response "oh hey by the way the name's Ki, Kiwanu if you want the whole thang".

I would nod, "And I'm Takoda." I would motion for him to follow as I started walking towards the center of downtown Mori, the location of the general's office. "After we arrive we will need to make sure the coast is clear, I'll head into the lobby and make sure no one goes into the office while you enter through the window to start searching through his documents for absolutly anything concerning prisoners from the Elkwood battle. Simple enough right? We just need to make sure not to get caught at all costs."

Ki would follow after Takoda and listen as he explained the game plain to him, it was a rather simple dealio but it was just risky business is all. "Simple indeed, this should go smoothly". Ki would go ahead and survey the surroundings sense they were nearing their destination, for you know just in case purposes. It was clear that whoever Hebi was Takoda was extremely close to him to be going through with this, while Ki on the other hand clearly had too much free time on his hands.

We reached the building, a three story tower built directly into a giant tree. Formerly this had been a sort of warehouse but after the refugees flooded in it had been converted into the government office building standing before them. I would look for a moment and point at a locked window on the third floor, "That's your target, the flower bed should provide some footing but don't put all your weight onto it else it'll break and bring attention to what you're doing." The pair was lucky that this late in the evening not that many people were walking around this area but a few stragglers were present. "Just give me a signal if the coast is clear for you to enter, when you do I'll go inside and try to buy you anywhere from five to ten minutes. I'll be sure to send you a signal though if that changes. Alright, lets go."

Kiwanu would stare at the building, he still could not get over how one simply turns a tree into a building for work, and living and such it was crazy, but those thoughts would have to wait. He listened to Takoda as he pointed out his target and stated he could buy at the most 10 minutes "sounds good". The plan was set in motion as Ki set out to scaling the building finding his foot holds along the way, reaching the third floor window he would use the flower bed as a foot hold as Takoda had instructed. He would try his best not to use all his weight while peering through the window, the room seemed deserted for the time being, so Ki would throw up a thumbs up as a sign that the room was clear. He would hold off on trying to jimmy the lock until Takoda entered the building and provided his distraction.

I would observe Ki scale the building straight up to the window and then give me a thumbs up that everything was good to go. I would make my way into the lobby that still had several people in it and walk over towards the reception desk while taking in my surroundings.

With Takoda now inside Ki would return his focus to the window, it was locked and not a simple lock that could be wiggled around and then boom you were in no this lock was more advanced. "ah screw it" Ki would attempt to force the window open and after multiple attempts he got it open, was difficult indeed without breaking his only foothold. He would scurry inside and began searching with now only about 6 minutes left of his original 10. He would move sheets and folders around hoping to discover the needed documents.

I made my way to the kiosk and spoke to the lady sitting behind it, she looked absolutely exhausted from a day of work. "Hi there, I was wondering if the general is still in his office today." She slowly turned to look at me, after sizing me up she gave me an answer. "'Fraid not dearie, he went home to rest for a while. Should be back in a few hours though." I would nod to her, it wasn't a big deal but I would act disappointed as I turned and left the room. I would lean against the outside wall and wait on Ki, he should be finishing up fairly soon and as far as we could tell the coast would remain clear.

After another minute or so searching he found what he was looking for, it was a dark colored folder which read 'Rebel supply camps and imprisonment sites' if this wasn't the right folder then all hope was lost. Ki would pick up the folder and make his way back to the window and crawled back outside. He would shut the window and then drop back down to the ground, upon landing he would spot Takoda and walk up to to him "sup guy? how'd the distraction go?" he would hand over the folder to Takoda whom would probably be anxious to see it.

I saw Ki come down and hand me a folder, asking how my end of the job had gone. I would take the folder as he offered it and respond as I opened it to read, "Fairly well, apparently the general is at home resting for now so we timed it perfectly. Lets clear out of here though, don't want to be caught with this." I would close the folder and tuck it inside my jacket as I casually started walking away from the building.

Ki would nod as it would best not to be caught now that the task was completed what a bummer that would be. He watched as Takoda stashed away the newly acquired documents and began walking off, Ki would put his hands behind his head and follow after him.

We would walk quietly for a few minutes until we were back on the Kuma clan's land and away from prying eyes and ears. I would pull out the file and read it over, what I read didn't look good though. "Seems he is in a low security cell, but the catch is that his cell is located within Chikagakure..."

Ki would listen as Tak would read off the location of his captured friend, however he was located within Chikagakure the main base of the rebellion's forces. Even with this in mind Ki would just smile at his family without a care in the world "so we're going mountain climbing I see? I'm Ill equipped but I'm sure we can work it out". Kiwanu would lean against a nearby tree and await Tak's thoughts on the idea of heading straight into the enemy's main base.

I would also lean against a tree several feet away as I pondered this, "Entire legions of shinobi couldn't break through the defenses of that damned fortress. But then again they could see a legion coming for miles. A couple of kids could sneak up but even at it's weakest their defenses are strong."

Ki would listen once again as Takoda elaborated on the defensive power that was Chikagakure, hearing this Ki would sigh as he knew that Chikagakure has yet to be penetrated by Imperial forces."We could always walk right in, act like refugees or something, don't think they would turn down kids and if that doesn't work then we use plan B my favorite plan, wreck everything... but it is your friend Tak so it's up to you".

I stopped for a moment, I had completely forgotten the policy Chika held for refugees but luckily Ki was sharp as a tack. "No no, the idea of posing as refugees is near perfect. We could use that to get in no problem, we just need to determine a way out but for that we would need a map of some sort."