Chapter one The infiltration.

Poets have tried and failed to paint the city of Okubiro in words. Perhaps there was no word in their arsenal to describe the city that shat gold. Feudal officials, however, were better in this regard. They described every debauchery of the city in one word: opportunity. Maybe that was the reason a city with such blatant gangs and organised crimes existed.

Aki Tsuchisaru was not here to find the reasons why illegal brothels, loan sharks and cheating casinos were given a free chit here. He was here to infiltrate and observe the boar bandit group.

They were an infamous lot, renowned for capturing young girls from villages and running one of the finer brothels in the city.

His mission was going poorly, not because he was terrible at infiltration. No, no, quite the contrary. His mission was hindered because he was too good at his job. The boar bandits had made him the barkeep of the VIP lounge. And that was the source of his conundrum.

The night when he was supposed to kidnap the Black Boar, he was stuck making drinks for the guests. Even so, he kept the character going. He was an urchin of Okubiro, born to an ageing whore and a goat fucker from the land of Rock.

The goat fucker was a stereotype and not even an accurate one, but that is why the boar bandits kept him around. He was a good laugh, plus he could count. That practically made him a genius among a lot who described anything more than their finger as a lot.

"Oye, goat boy, bring some sake for the lady," Ushioda said.

"Right up, boss!"

Ushioda was the second in command of the bandits. A plump man with more hair on his chest than his head. Today he was entertaining some distinguished guests in the lounge. A geisha of the chamber, a noble lady from the capital, and two ninjas.

The chamber was the governing body of the city, run by thirteen geishas. Not even Aki knew who or what they were, and he had been stationed here for a month now.

"Your drinks, my lady," Aki said, offering the first drink to the geisha. He stole a quick glance at the other guests. Up close, he recognised two of them.

Inagae Reizuka, the young wife of the old minister of coin and commerce. Her husband used to be a staunch Konoha ally before falling ill. Now, he recuperates in Konoha hospital, while his son has manned his office. The son, however, takes little after his father.

The other one Aki recognised was one of the two ninjas. Hori Sato, a sensory nin from his village, assigned to the current minister of coins. From the way Inagae was sitting in his lap, he was doing more than guarding the stepmother of the current minister.

By the rules, he should not even be here. Assigned guards never leave their charge, not even to guard their relatives. Something odd was at play here, Aki could feel it.

"Ushioda, where did you buy this one from? I thought you didn't serve the diverse customers?."

"Buy? We picked him up off a fisherman's boat and heard him bragging about this kid who could count. The best deal we ever made, lady Geisha."

"He sounds like-"

Aki knew right then that his cover was blown. He could see it in the Geisha's eyes. She had caught on to his accent. So the rumours were true. Geishas knew every soul of the city by their sound. He slipped the smoke pellet down from his free hand, trying to grab the geisha with the other.

The scheme failed. He was kicked in the stomach by the other ninja he did not recognise. The kick sent him flying to the wall, undoing his transformation. Ushioda and his band of twenty were on their feet, approaching him, weapons drawn. Oh, these silly bandits, Aki thought. He raised his hands in a boar seal, whispering katsu with his winded lungs. That would teach them to trust strangers with their laundry.

"Goat Fuck-"

Ushioda never got to complete his sentence as explosive tags came alive under his clothes. Similar things happened to others. Something was glowing brightly under their clothes. Was it glory? If it was, it burst out of them with a bang. Tearing the bandits limb to limb, the minor charge of the tags ensured the explosion was not big enough to engulf everyone in the room. Just enough to be a painful way to go.

Aki stood up, winded. He probably had a cracked rib. The room was deathly still, the red smoke from his pallet still plaguing its every corner. That red smoke was a signal to the backup team sent by the village. He was praying they were competent enough to rush up. If they did not-

"Die, you little cunt !"

Aki turned to his side, at the source of the voice, only to be kicked from the back. The kick sent vibrations through his shoulder, shaking him from the inside. The pain was too much for the fourteen-year-old genin. He cried out as he rolled away.

"You like traps, don't you runt?"

This time the voice was coming from behind him, but Aki did not turn to face it. He waited for the attack, and seeing the smoke clearing on his right, he thrust his kunai there. His kunai pierced the fist coming for him. His opponent flinched and Aki cashed in on the opportunity, following up with kicks and punches.

"Using the same trick? Did your village teach you nothing?" Aki said.

"This is what you call taijutsu?" The assailant said, elbowing Aki in the nose followed by a punch in the gut. "Did your village teach you nothing?"

Aki felt his face burn as he crashed on his back, and not just from the pain. The Leaf instructors had tried to teach him better taijutsu, he just had a weak physique to show off any of that. He reached for his kunai, but the assailant was on him.

"What? Did you think the poison in the smoke would get me?" He said, twisting Aki's hand and putting him in a lock. "We of the hidden sound are not that weak. Now be a good boy and hand the antidote over. In return, I'll make it quick."

"Take the scroll… from… my back pouch… and…"

"And-"

"Shove it up your ass, bitch!"

Aki watched as the ninja's face turned into a snarl. The assailant drew a kunai from his hostler, ready to stab the disrespectful boy. His hands froze mid lunge, his face turning purple, he collapsed clutching his chest and frothing from his mouth.

"That was clever, a poison that flares up with the use of chakra. Seems to me you like your poisons and traps, but why set them in our city, shinobi? Your kind is not welcomed here."

Aki froze in his steps. Standing right behind him was the Geisha, her hair, clothes, and makeup as immaculate as ever. The poison in the smoke bomb should have been strong enough to paralyse a civilian instantly. Yet here she was, looming over him with a blade in her hand. She lunged at him, and he realised her face had no defining features. No prominent brow, nor noticeable eye, a fairly common mouth and nondescript nose.Odd.

Someone crashed into the odd Geisha, sending her flying into the wall. That was his backup, Asuma Sarutobi. A jonin of the leaf village, he had his knuckle-blades equipped with a cigarette still light in his mouth.

"I thought the plan was to be discreet?" Asuma said.

"I thought both the balls in a nut sack were of the same size-"

"Wha-Stop, stop, I was asking about the mission"

"Not exchanging facts about things we thought were true?"

"No!"

"Oh, it was because of Inagae Reizuka. You know, the woman messing with our budgets."

"Where is she?" Asuma asked.

"She's just behind us, near the-"

Aki turned to show the jounin where the VIP guests were sitting. Across the corpses of torn and twisted bandits, near the bar of the lounge. Aki could see the poisoned Hori Sato, but not Inagae Reizuka. She was not in the room.

"This does not look good," Asuma said.

The jonin was bent over the corpse of the Geisha, which was composed of metal gear and wood. She was a puppet. Aki re-assessed his evaluation of the chamber. This city and its ruler were a greater threat than he gave them credit for.

"Hey guys, I think we should bolt, alarms are going off near the lighthouse." a chubby genin from team Asuma said. He was shouting from the roof of the building opposite the lounge.

"Shikamaru, gather the scrolls in this room. Choji, you help Aki. Ino, keep an eye out." Asuma said, putting the puppet in a sealing scroll before carrying the paralyzed ninjas on his shoulder.

Choji helped Aki out on the roof, making their rooftop escape together. The city of Okubiro had no shinobi, at least according to intel. But tonight so much had happened outside the provided intel no one wanted to risk getting surprised.

"Now you owe me money, Aki. I bought them here faster!"

Aki tiredly looked at the source of the voice. It came from the white marten riding the only girl on the team. The white critter was wearing a black haori with matching black glasses. How that drunk thing saw through those glasses at night, Aki did not care. He just wanted to get out of the city.

"I'm talking to you, shite stain. Answer me, no- thank me, pay me now, or my girl over here-"

"Why, you dirty little rat! I'm not your girl!" Ino said, punching the marten away from her shoulder before he could complete his sentence.

Aki made sure to step all over the marten's tail before he jumped over him. Alas, the chubby boy helping him was kind and made sure to not put his body on that lecherous marten.

"Where did you even get that pet rat?" Choji asked.

"He's a summon, a lousy one at that," Aki replied.

"He came to us for help," Shikamaru said.

"Asuma already knew the signal," Aki said. "GIn's a coward, so made an excuse to run away at the first sign of trouble."

"Send him back. Why don't you?" Ino asked.

"Trust me, I would if I could."

"We'll chat later, kids, now we run," Asuma said.

So they ran, rooftop to rooftop, out of the city and into the surrounding woods. They ran for an hour straight, heading towards the north, towards home, before finally stopping in a forest clearing to rest.

"This was all such a drag."