A sigh came from the furthest-back warehouse of the Karakuri Weapons and Items Shop. Back, of course, in relation to the actual front-store. This singular warehouse was more apt to theft than all the others, at fault for its (not rare) high-quality items stored within. These had to be the things that the ANBU swung around.

The sigh, however, came from a singular Noriko, camping out inside the warehouse. Thus far (it had been, what, an hour after closing), this was a boring night for her. Nothing happening....and it made the afternoon all the more boring that she had no one but Enoka to spend it with.

That is, she was assigned to this post. In order to catch the culprit, someone has to be watching....and readily able to subdue the said criminal. Luckily, these were both things that Noriko excelled at, greatly. She was an expert on barrier techniques, and was a sensory-nin to boot. There was probably no Genin-rank ninja who was more qualified for this than she was.

But, nothing really made sense to her. If she was supposed to be here because this place was regularly burgled....then why was no one showing up!? It had to have been, what, 3 hours after closing at this point. Impatient was a word that definitely could have described her right now. And thus she decided to make her own....excitement. She weaved hand seals: first Ram, then Hare. With that, she made her way out of her body. Venturing outside her lonely but voluntary prison of simple wood beams, her spirit roamed the warehouse district. Odd that they would keep their shop right next to this place, but that was their choice. Though it did make sense, it did make for a very.....how should it be said, obvious target.

She wasn't worried at all about what might happen inside that place. Even with her physical eyes closed....her body was more than capable of picking up some silly sounds that a run-of-the-mill burglar was making. After all, she was a ninja. If all else failed, Enoka would make a racket. He had a penchant for being good at that....at worst. At best, he would do his damnedest to keep the thief at bay long enough for her to return. She had a very detailed plan for how this would go down. Whether she would follow it, who knew. But she had a plan, and she was proud of that.

Not that it....mattered much, she supposed. This seemed to be a dead day. Her dis-embodied soul sat at the docks to the east. About 100 meters. Nothing she couldn't clear in the blink of an eye. Watching the ebb and flow of the bay, she sat for the entire night. The moon illuminated the ground and buildings, leaving a pale glimmer on the surface of the water.

What a horrible waste of a day.

[501/1000]

Another day, another disappointment to come.

Well, that's what she hoped she wouldn't have to say when this mission came to a close. The contract was only listed for 2 days, so in a monetary respect she was set, whatever happened today. That notion in her mind, however, did not absolve the feeling of regret and disdain that she had for not being able to complete a task. It was simply against her nature to take something as-is if it wasn't perfect. That was something she wished she could fix about her own personality....but if her dealings with other people gave her any insight on herself, it was difficult to change.

Thus the slightly lonely Ronin mused to herself, once again confined to a large box. Being lonely....it was not just being alone. It was missing the presence of others. It was a sad state to be in, and she was it. Yasuo, her friends, family, Yuki....Noriko couldn't quite let go of them yet. She knew not if this was correct, or if she was tied down too much to the past....but she was who she was. "Her own way" was the only way she could take, now.

An unsteady path that one would definitely follow....it almost made her laugh.

No time for laughing, though. She had a job to do, and musing was for times when she....well, had time. Funny that she could have such deep broodings when on autopilot doing something else. Funnier still that, even now, she could find something ironic in passing thoughts....

Focusing back on the mission, Noriko knew that she had to scout. And scout she did. Closing her eyes, she opened what was proverbially called the third eye; she turned on her spiritual sense. Opening her eyes to confirm what her gut feeling--what she confirmed in this state to be a solid basis of evidence--told her. And it did not lie; for there was someone right outside her door. That is, she saw their hitodama, a ball of flame symbolizing the spirit. It was definitively.....not her employer.

Well, the fact that it was two people that weren't her employer kind of tipped her off to that. Their death-candles weren't exactly...bad, or evil. They were more sickly of colors, and she didn't know what to think of that. She....didn't want to, she supposed. No one wants to think about the worse things in life....usually concerning the living, for Noriko. Her demeanor towards death was pretty laid-back....well, not that, per se. Accepting was a sufficient word for it. There wasn't time for thinking about that right now, of course.

These miscreants were trying to break down the door!

...well, not break it down. But open it, sure. A tinker here, some picking there. The doorknob was definitely turning (to none of the intruders' avail). Still, she had to be careful. And quick. Quickly careful.

That is, she would have to set a trap for them. But, she didn't really take a liking to hurting people if she didn't have to. Luckily, she had a snare of her own that would work just fine. And she knew just how she would make it.

She was a medical-type ninja, so she was very suited to what she was about to do. She had good chakra control by default, and her training in the Katou clan members' way of ninjutsu made it even easier for her to precisely control her chakra even at a distance.

Her knowledge in sealing led her to a very odd conclusion; that seals just told chakra what to do. Whether it was where to go, how to act, or simply to stay put. Thus, it was only natural that she could tell her chakra what to do from any length or distance. Tell it she did, of course; she did what she knew she was able to already. Noriko was already with the ability to solidify her spiritual energy at will. She was easily able to make it affect the physical world, surely it could be a medium for....you know, her own chakra, right?

She wondered if anyone else trained in the Sealing arts was able to figure this out. Probably not.

Back to business! She wove not one, two, nor three jutsu together, but four.

First: Fourth Dimension Spirit Senbon. It was a simple toss, eight of them. All she had to do was seal this perimeter, so to speak.

Sealing Technique: Aerial Sealing Method. She sort of....spread out the energies contained in the Spirit Senbon, moulding it into chakra. She shaped it into the familiar shape of three-inch-by-seven-inch 'sealing tags'.

Sealing Technique: Embossing Seal. She used the same chakra that she used to make the tag to inscribe onto it. She knew exactly what to write onto each one.

Technique: Barrier Tag Formation. This was the final step. She wished that she could stop walking through stuff in her head in slow-motion. Now all there was to do was wait. Though she didn't have to do that for long....

"Tokusa! Just wiggle it like this!"

~click

The door swung. Two figures entered.....completely unaware that Noriko was in the room. Then again, she was right next to the door, a bit shielded from their sight. But, what was done was done. She knew they were in range. Making the snake hand seal, her chakra would seal off every end of this place.

Touching a thumb to her palm-seal, a poof enveloped the room. "Enoka! Let's wrap this up." The man, Tokusa, grimaced at the pair of lady and pet.

"Riemi! It's all gone to shit, we need to leave!"

They both grabbed a multitude of the throwing weapons littered throughout the store, and threw them---rather sloppily---in the general direction of their captor. But, Noriko didn't even move out of the way. She simply stood while her pure spirit energy took the attack. "If you want to resist further, I can't ensure you won't be going to the hospital. I may not look it, but I'm an able fighter."

They really should not have put that past her. But, what could they do, she supposed....civilians weren't trained to stay calm in combat situations. The excelling shinobi academy of Yukigakure saw to it that Noriko was, however. It would be a shame how fast she dealt with these people. A single hand seal was all it took....she made the Jin-Water seal, like the Bird only with just here pinky and ring fingers up. Suddenly, out of thin air (they were by the docks so it was rather humid), spheres of water started to form. They practically filled the room, save for a few spaces and the walls. "You'd do well to just give it up. I'm going to keep these here all night, and the proper authorities will come and arrest you."

The man and woman simply sat down, probably the only movement they could have taken at that time. They looked rather....depressed. Noriko wasn't sure what they were planning, but it didn't seem like they were too eager to share with her. A shame, that, since she would have eagerly listened.

But, Noriko simply sat, even dozed off a bit (she could luckily afford to since most of the chakra control was being taken care of by her seal), until the morn. When the shopkeeper came back in, he was...surprised. It was revealed that the thieves were none other than his son and that son's....significant other. It was rather sad that people couldn't trust each other, even family.

Either way....Noriko could say that she was still disappointed in this mission. Not because of what happened, but probably because of who it happened to.

But, she couldn't help it. She got a signoff from the shop owner, and returned to the Konoha Administration Building. She gave them what they wanted, and she got the satisfaction of helping.

"Thanks, Raraka! We hope you'll participate a bit more later." It was almost funny. Who needed Henge when you could just fake a name?

~Noriko left the thread~

[1399 words this post. + 501 from last post = 1900 words.]

[1000/1000, Mission Complete.]
[500/500, Trained E-rank: Aerial Sealing Method.]
[150/150, Trained Perception E-1 -> E-2.]
[225/225, Trained Perception E-2 -> E-3.]
[25 random words left over. And a lot of brackets.]