He almost was beginning to regret this. Taking on a group of academy students for training was something that seemed so innocuous and normal when it first occurred to him. It disturbed Chigetsu how easily his mind had accepted the idea in the moment. Their first encounter should have been enough to tell him exactly what sort of trouble he was getting into. They were all only eight, and because of that the common sense that should have been common to a shinobi was completely absent from them. The 'training' that he gave to them so far consisted of beating the trash out of them and then later asking them to stay under water as long as they possibly could. Both events he had experienced with them consisted of what he assumed would be unpleasant experiences. There was also that while they were at the pool Chigetsu had punched a child so hard that it appeared like he pooped his pants. Needless to say, it seemed like these children should want to have nothing to do with him. For some reason each event only made them more insistent on catching his attention. It was frustrating. It was annoying. It was extremely odd. Chigestu didn't understand. Understanding and speaking to children should have been easy, right? He thought that maybe practicing with these eight-year olds would give him enough confidence and experience that maybe he would eventually be able to hold a conversion with somebody his own age, but this wasn't working at all. Especially with how they seemed to want to follow him around so often. He had promised Akari some one on one training, but this really wasn't what he had in mind. She was clear in the corner of his eye now, trailing along in a manner that Chigetsu might even call 'stealthy' if he were being kind. The girl had no training in stealth of any sort, having only entered the academy relatively recently, so her idea of stealthy was very similar to what an absolute beginner would think was stealthy. She was simply doing her best to stay out of sight, but at the same time was following at a fixed distance in a rather obvious way. She stopped when Chigetsu did and moved when he did as well. He almost wanted to chide her. She should know better and it was tempting in the moment to stop and give her a lesson on what real stealth would look like, but Chigetsu was determined not to allow her to notice that he was on to him. Plus, that would be long and extensive training session that would take multiple lessons, and he was supposed to be doing this mission. He would just have t- "Kill her. Strike her down. Leave her bloodied and -" "No." Chigetsu would immediately whisper down to his kunai, who seemed to have the wrong idea about this all. "She's just a child. I don't really want to kill-" He would hush suddenly, realizing that his muttering had caught the attention of a passerby. Two big brown eyes were caught on him, staring him down rather intensely as the shopkeeper from the stand he had been inspecting gave him a rather nasty case of the stink eye. Slowly Chigetsu would offer an awkward smile towards the man before turning away. He needed to make a mental not to be more careful before conversing with weaponry in public. "You want to though, don't you?" As soon as he was a good few steps away from the shopkeeper he had disturbed he would resume the conversation, shaking his head. "No. It's just a little bit irritating. Don't need to do anything hasty." "Why not? It would be easier that way." "Not afterwards. Too much mess and then there'd be consequences if anyone..." His mind would trail off. He was getting too distracted. The fact that he was currently on a mission and was apparently doing something important occurred to him somewhere in the back of his mind. All he really had been doing was wandering aimlessly through the streets of Kirigakure. It wasn't as if they had given him much direction in specifics for this one, but he felt like just walking around without a destination for a few hours was a bit too mind numbing for even a D-Rank mission. Chigetsu wanted to do something and feel valuable to the Hidden Mist Village, not just do some boring nonsense that was completely irrelevant to everything and everyone. He knew that it was probably good to have activate genin on the streets in case of crimes and also that letting them patrol the streets like this allowed them to get well associated with the layout of the greater village, but at the same time Chigetsu had a burning need in his soul to feel valuable to the cause. This certainty didn't seem like it was very valuable.  

Maybe though... Maybe he could do something useful to the village and help get Akari off his tail at the same time. Or at least force her to learn some basic stealth techniques in a sort of trial by fire. Yes, that was an excellent idea... "What are you thinking of?" The kunai would question, seeming to sense the look on his face. It was a bit strange how the weapons apparently could sense his emotions and facial expressions, and be somewhat aware of their surroundings, but couldn't read his more complicated thoughts. It was definitely curious to Chigetsu. Something he would have to think about another time though. The idea that had occurred to him was more important. He could do something useful, patrol the villages, and get rid of this academy student problem all in one fell swoop. Chigetsu diverted from the path he had been taking, instead turning to head towards the Siren's Den.  

[WC: 994]

The Siren's Den. The Siren's Den was... Well. It felt like somewhere he shouldn't be going. The mission had been to patrol the streets of Kirigakure though, hadn't it? The Siren's Den was definitely on the streets. So technically there was nothing wrong with Chigetsu being here. If anything, Chigetsu could justify this to himself by the sort of crime that would occasionally happen there. The most obvious place for a ninja to patrol would be those dens of villainy where crime happened most often. It was an obvious choice in retrospect. He would be able to do the most good there. Chigetsu would be able to use this mission as a chance to be useful. It was beginning to sound like an excellent idea.

"This is a terrible idea." Chigetsu froze in place, stumbling somewhat as his body came to a hard stop from the sudden words of his kunai. "I feel like it should be unnecessary to explain to you why." The tone his kunai was taking with him wasn't pleasant. It was really bringing Chigetsu out of this high he worked himself up into. It was pretty difficult to work himself up into a happy mood like this with just his thoughts, so being snapped out of it really sucked. "Explain why anyway?" He would huff at the kunai. Even though he was in public he wasn't being too shy about speaking aloud to respond. It was only in a hushed whisper, but still. Here he could hide his voice among the chatter of the crowds, as long as he kept moving. "You're consciously convincing yourself to walk into the Siren's Den. If I need to remind you, the Siren's Den is what could called a 'strip club'." Chigetsu frowned. The words made him stumble a little bit. It was the uncomfortable truth he had been avoiding. "What even really is a strip cl-" "You know what a strip club is, Chigetsu. Be careful before you throw words around like that in public as well." A slight flush would cross his cheeks as the idea of being caught mumbling about strip clubs in public. Anyone catching him talking like that would be sure to label him a perverted child or something. "You do realize that walking into this club will be even more embarrassing than being caught talking about it, don't you?" This was something that he realized but hadn't wanted to think about. It became more and more relevant as he got closer to the Siren's Den as well. The area of Kirigakure that the Siren's Den was located in wasn't exactly the most... Pleasant? There were probably less kind ways to describe the quality of the area that the Siren's Den was located in, but Chigetsu liked to think of himself as kind. The normally clean streets of Kirigakure were beginning to decay into tougher and more poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Chigetsu was a member of one of the more aristocratic families within Kirigakure, but it wasn't as if he were completely unused to the seedier places within the village. They were a welcome change from the oppressive feeling he normally experienced within the core of the village, but there was an extent to how shady he was comfortable with. The robbing and violence was fine of course. He was a ninja, even if only a genin. People like him were mostly fine no matter where they went, especially as they were almost always armed. No, it was definitely not the threat of violence. It was the face of poverty that Chigetsu found it hard to look into. Just seeing the poor children running around the streets when let loose from their orphanages- "You're uncomfortable seeing the strippers, Chigetsu. Don't lie to yourself."

He would choke. Apparently the kunai had been able to guess what he had been thinking and how he was justifying this all to himself. What he began to imagine quickly put a light flush over his face, and Chigetsu slowly slowed to a stop. Was he walking directly into a den of lewdness? He didn't want to think about it... "Not just you. The girl too. Akari. Do you want to bring her there? She's only eight years old." Chigetsu felt a shiver go up his spine at the thought of it. His original intention was to go there to get her to get off his tail, but what if she entered with him? What if she followed him anyway and went in? Technically all ninja were allowed entry.... That was how Chigetsu planned to get in despite being only fourteen. Would they let academy students in? "They wouldn't let her in, right? There's no way they would let her inside if I went..." "Why would they let you inside if they wouldn't let her?" "She's still in the academy...!" "You're not too far removed from being in the academy. Even if they don't let her in, there's the chance that they use this as an opportunity to-" "Don't say it..." Chigetsu hissed, turning off from where he had been going earlier to take a detour into an empty alley. Quickly he would bring his head to rest against the closest wall, groaning to himself as he continued his conversation of mumbles and whispers. The urge to just begin banging his head against it for even having this idea was starting to grow. "Maybe this is a bad idea..." Slowly he would turn from his position, staring over his shoulder. His internal monologue had distracted him from where she had been trailing him, but he was nearly sure that she still was.

Chigetsu would groan. "You're right... I'm just going to go home." He would take this moment to punctuate what he said by pulling his head back and then smashing his forehead into the brick wall he was up against. A slight splatter came as the liquid that made up his forehead collided against the wall, leaving some stray liquid to drip down the dirty walls. There was sure to be some wet dirt coating his forehead in return. Slowly Chigetsu would peel himself away from the wall and out of the alleyway, and then return on the path he had taken.

[WC 1072/2068]
[Mission 2068/750]
[Extra Ryo 1318/600] [Claiming it six times for 150 ryo bonus]
[Reaction Time E-2 -> E-3 718/225]
[Reaction Time E-3 -> D-0 493/300]
[193 Words Wasted]