....The Fuzz....

Right where is this poor predictable bastard? The musky sweet aroma of the markets filled Tsuneo's senses as he breathed, freshly cooked pork ramen and stirfried wok noodles sizzled their stomach rumbling scents into the air, before oaken grapefruit inscence cleared the air sweetly and refreshingly. People of all kinds chatted happily on either side of the street, bartering for the lowest prices to settle their various appetites from hunger to fine silks and immaculately crafted candles; the diversity of the biggest shinobi village in the world was wonderful. Entire families came to together to shop for the day, lone travellers made their pilgrimage from the far reaches of the Land of Lightning to ply their trades. The market was truly a wonderful place to be in a busy afternoon. Tsuneo felt at home here, though he half wondered if that was purely due to his blood calling, the thirst for the nomadic life, never truly settling and always moving. It sounded incredible.

Nevertheless, Tsuneo had found his mark - or at least a mark of his mark. As Tsuneo moved through the crowd he'd spotted the odd person's money pouch to be, not a money pouch at all but a bag of sand. This particular thiefs moniker, The Sand Thief, and of course he always targeted the busiest stall swapping their money pouchs for sand, perfectly mimicking the weight of the coins and notes before dextrously replacing the victims hard earned money with something they won't notice until it was too late.

Tsuneo actually admired the thief's delicate skill, there was a certain grace to what he did and he never targeted the poor, only the wealthy though he kept all the earnings to himself seemingly. With a broad smile Tsuneo approached the unwitting jewellery merchant, knowing that he was to be the prime target of the day, and faked interest in a beautiful silver and onyx amulet of a hawk - which annoyingly turned into genuine appreciation of the craftsmanship displayed in crafting such a beauty. This was a waiting game, and Tsuneo simply needed to blend into the crowd while having a perfect view of the merchants open money box, which he continuously tossed more small pouches of Ryo into. The thief would come, as he always did, and Tsuneo simply need catch him as he plyed his own form of trade with the merchants. As part of the sales pitch the merchant passed on the young craftswoman - who also manned the stall - to deal with him, while he attended to other more evidently well off customers.

She was a pretty thing, though she was obviously rebelling in her style, with a stark blue disheveled pixie cut with several colourful ear piercings and an incredible air of life that shone through her diamond blue eyes; a loose fitting white strap top streaked with the black marks of the smith, underneath, a black bra was clearly visible and served to complete the look; rough worn denim blue jeans ended in equally jaded black boots, strong and tough however, having unmistakably travelled long distances. As they talked Tsuneo realized he had been distracted, and time had charged passed, they weren't even talking about the damn amulet anymore. Fack. Swiftly he glanced towards the money box.

Shit! His plan had worked, and he'd just glanced back in time to see a hand slip away from the money box, fingers grasping the largest bag possible and speedily retract away from the stall. Tsuneo immediately knew chasing the man would be fruitless, even if he was faster than he was, navigating the incredibly busy crowd offered far too much cover and obstacles for a successful chase and capture. Even so, he was only four people away from the cloaked body the hand belonged too, and so he followed the quickest route - or perhaps the laziest - to capture the man. In a flash Tsuneo had boomeranged a kunai with a wire attached around the entire group of people, and promptly tied them together. Hush fell over the shoppers as they witnessed the spectacle, and the yelps of surprise from the innocent bystanders caught in the trap soon fell silent Tsuneo announced the thiefs presence as well as his chuunin status and punched him once, sending him into unconsciousness.

With a little nod to the applauding audience Tsuneo relinquished the wire that bound the people together, and calmly hoisted the small masked thief up onto his shoulder after removing the money pouch still clenched in his hand.

"Hey, I believe this is yours."

Tsuneo spoke with a smile to the silversmith as he passed the bag to her, who then passed it to the merchant coolly. At once Tsuneo felt something was off, especially when she regarded him cautiously when before they conversed warmly.

"First time, I've seen one of you shinobi accomplish something without hurting anyone."

With those cold words she blinked away and turned back to the stall. Oo. Ouch. Don't even know her name yet. Tsuneo simply shrugged this off and cheerily responded.

"Same here, catch you later."

As he left the scene of the crime, Tsuneo swore he saw a glimmer of a smile upon the girls lips at his quick remark.

[Exit]
Balls, 876 words
Mission

Spoiler: