Sabotage Is Such An Ugly Word [Solo Mission]

A cloudy night had crept upon Konohagakure, plunging it into deep darkness. Not even the silver moon could shine through the black mass covering the starry sky. The wind had turned chilly, foretelling of the impending rain, perhaps even thunder. For the most part, the village slept peacefully. People had vanished from the streets hours ago and now, one by one, the last windows lost their lights. Only the residential area of the elders had any movement left, groups of suspicious guards moving around a certain building, even on the roof. In many ways, it felt like calm before the storm. How very fitting.

On a nearby roof, a dark form of cloth lay motionless. Hara Kin, the Kitsune of Konoha, had no trouble staying awake and sharp despite the late hour. The freezing wind constantly biting her toes took care of that. Right in front of her was the target residence, a lavish manor of the stubborn elder. Somewhere inside awaited a relic that had been deemed too troublesome to exist. Thus it had to be destroyed. Getting paid for what was essentially vandalism? It was absolutely perfect for the Kitsune. She had been sitting there for few hours now, observing and memorizing key details: the guard shifts, the patrol routes and everything else an infiltrator needed to know.

And right about now, as the first raindrops fell beside her, she decided she had seen enough.

In a single flicker, Hara appeared on the wall of the building, hidden just beneath the shadow of the roof. She had, briefly, considered using a mass genjutsu to make the guards fall asleep. However, there was no guarantee that she could find the artifact within an hour, or even that all the guards would fall for the technique. People would get suspicious. Informing anyone of her presence was the last thing she wanted to do right now. In fact, it wasn’t even on the list. No, she would much rather sneak in, destroy the thing and sneak out without anyone ever knowing. It would be far more fun too.

The Kitsune enjoyed a sly smirk as she spied a guard shift about to take place near the main entrance, right on schedule. Two men greeted each other, exchanged a password and headed their separate ways. During that instant, as they had turned their backs to each other, Hara dropped into the small spot between them. With her Kekkei Genkai, even such a sudden approach was soundless, perfectly unnoticeable. The oblivious guard headed inside and the intruder tailed him closely like a shadow. Bit too closely actually. She had to take a very sudden sidestep, right around the guy, as he turned to close the door. It was followed by the same maneuver in reverse, with the trickster swiftly avoiding the man’s gaze. In a comedy play, this would’ve gotten good laughs out of the audience.

Luckily, Hara’s sharp reflexes saved her. The man was none the wiser, probably didn’t even notice something dark had escaped the corner of his eye. He just walked down the corridor while the infiltrator followed in his footsteps. The place was just as fancy as it had looked from the outside. Long corridors, lots of doors and plenty of shadows to hide in... And along the way, the Kitsune spotted something most intriguing. A lone guard was standing in front of a seemingly random door. Now, nobody, not even the dusty elders, positioned a guard somewhere random... Unless they had something to hide. Like a priceless artifact for example.

Dodging into the nearest shadow, Hara waited until the patrolling guard vanished around a corner. The door didn’t have a lock, so all she needed was a split-second... Just as the guard opened his mouth for a yawn, she moved, dashing past him. Applying her Kekkei Genkai on the fly, she opened and closed the door in one smooth motion. Genjutsu came in handy. It wasn’t until the thrill of the successful evade faded that Hara noticed a troublesome little detail... This was the wrong room! There were no artifacts in sight, just filing cabinets and paper stacks everywhere. On any other night, she would’ve mercilessly rifled through every single file for precious secrets. But not tonight! For she was on an important mission to ruin an old fart’s morning. Absolutely nothing could sway her from that.

Sneaking back the way she came from, which happened to be easier since the guard had his back turned to her, the Kitsune returned to creeping through the silent hallways. It took good thirty minutes of aimless wandering and dancing through the blind spots until she found the next promising door, which happened to be protected by three guards and a distinct sealing mark. There was no going through that, no matter how stealthy and quick. However, there was a silver lining to this. From what she could remember with her limited sealing knowledge, that particular type of barrier seal wasn’t meant for keeping people out... It was meant to keep things in. Made sense. The guards needed to be able to check the place, but they had no reason to take anything away from there.

And she wasn’t here to take anything either~

After a moment of pondering, Hara was struck with an idea hopefully crazy enough to work. Without wasting time, she hurried to an upper level and through a conveniently unguarded room. The trickster performed quick hand seals and slapped her hands against the floor. Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu. Just as planned a hole opened and she slipped through the ceiling, dropping into the room below. Turns out the place was a treasure chamber, lined with all sorts of shinies. And there it was, on open display like a piece of art. Up close, it looked much like some sort of funny talisman with a purple crystal on the center, really resembling a cheap trinket some superstitious dummy would wear around their neck. Like a certain village elder for example.

Hara stifled her excitement enough to check the pedestal for any traps and triggers before grabbing the thing. It felt light and flimsy, easy to shatter with bare hands. ...Except that it wasn’t. The trickster tried again, squeezing it, clawing it and trying to bend it, but all in vain. It just wouldn’t crack or even creak. She stared at the supposed trinket in disbelief. Nothing was working. She had tried everything quiet except... A sly smile returned to her lips as another crazy idea popped in her head. Reaching into her pocket, she slipped her trusty set of weaponized teeth, Hebihime, into her mouth. The fangs coursed with raiton chakra, ready to sink into something.

As Hara opened her mouth, for a brief moment she really hoped the rumors were just stupid legends. Swallowing her hesitation, she bit. The special teeth worked their magic, cutting through crystal and steel like they were just bread. Very foul tasting bread... Bleh. After chewing, chewing and chewing some more, the Kitsune spat the ruined remains back onto the pedestal. Now it just looked like a pile of junk metal and broken glass. Utterly worthless. Wiping her mouth once more, she climbed through the hole in the ceiling and closed it afterwards. Getting out was much easier. Opening the nearby window sufficed quite nicely. In a flicker, she was gone and only a ghastly giggle echoed through the night.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Jutsu used:}
_{Kitshunsin
Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu}