A sneaky Suspicion (Darkmaster please ^^)

Kaiyo had been wandering fairly slowly through Sereitei. The Captain had just been for her regular checkup at the 4th squad, and after being told once again she needed to fight less; the girl had proceeded to finish her patrolling duties. Kaiyo was walking slowly, keeping her walk neutral and looking straight ahead, but the Captain was almost certain she was being followed. Call it paranoia, but it was true, Kaiyo didn't know why, but she knew for whatever reason, someone was following her around her patrol route. It was annoying. The short Captain, granted was not wearing her regulation uniform. Her top was un-tied, revealing a light blue vest top,she had various jingling bracelets along her right arm, and a pale blue watch on her left wrist. That and of course her headband, but she'd at least remembered her Haori this time.

Kaiyo rounded another corner slowly. The patrol route itself was a hassle, without the eagle eye following her. It was basically just a walk around all of the noble house compounds, and for some reason, they didn't trust Kaiyo's squad members to do it, so she had to. That, and the nobles weren't so impressed with her attire, Kaiyo didn't mind, she quite liked it, and for a warmer day like it was, it was a lot more comfortable. The Captain came to a halt outside the Shihouin family grounds. Sighing heavily as she spun around, shouting loudly, 'For Christ sake what do you want?'

Tatsuya had been walking around Seireitei looking for anything to peak his interest when he noticed the 11th Squad Captain walking out of the 4th squad barracks. He thought it would be an accomplishment if he could tail a captain without being noticed. He followed Captain Kaiyo around the noble houses thinking he was doing well, until the captain turned and yelled. Tatsuya let out a sigh and stepped around the corner. "That's an interesting reaction, Captain." Tatsuya spoke up confidently knowing that there was not much she could do in terms of punishment. "Oh, where are my manners? Tatsuya Okibi, at your service." Tatsuya bowed and introduced himself, then returning to a standing position.

Kaiyo glared at the figure that rounded the corner, her expression quickly softening back to it's natural calming demeanour as she shrugged. 'I don't like being followed' she replied quite bluntly, it put her on edge. This guy didn't help such actions, he seemed a bit...Creepy, maybe that was just Kaiyo being weird though, he could be perfectly normal. 'Okibi...2nd squad then i take it?' she asked lightly, taking just a short step closer to the guy. The second squad were an odd bunch, they had a good Captain and were pretty fun to chase around with, but a lot of them had odd attitudes, or were sticklers for silly rules...Like uniform.

A glimmer of undertone sparked in Kaiyo's eyes for a moment. 'So, when did Kuro start giving out orders to stalk Captains?'. The overall tone of her voice was a light, friendly one, though the essence of serious was just about there.

"Right on the first guess. Did my stunt the other day really get that much attention?" Tatsuya stated with a chuckle as the captain stepped closer. "Oh, no worries Captain. Captain Kuro has given no such order. I merely took it upon myself to follow you in order to advance my stealth technique." He stated while closing the distance on Captain Kaiyo, stopping after a few steps. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." Tatsuya stated sincerely. "If you let me, how about I join you? Right now I'm supposed to be doing something, but I forgot what that was. It was so trivial it simply slipped my mind." Tatsuya stated with a smile.

Kaiyo was right, this guy was creepy. It just seemed like he was mocking her with a fake sincerity, which for all she knew could be genuinely sincere. The girl had heard vaguely of someone sneaking into the 2nd squad barracks, though such a feat was an amusing pass-time she had to agree, it seemed an odd way to join a squad. 'Then hide your reiatsu better' she added, unable to even stop the words with any form of censorship. Too late, it was blunt and slightly rude, oh well. Kaiyo smiled, 'Sure, but i'm not sure it's anything more than trivial work...So you might forget about me half way round'. Kaiyo twisted slowly around on her right foot, following the motion with her hips as she began walking again. Keeping to the left of the shihouin compound.

A small smirk ebbed it's way onto the Captain's mouth as she stopped in her step. Glancing sideways to Okibi. 'So...How'd you reckon your sneaky tactics are against a Captain?' she smirked. The sheer thought of sneaking into the compound of the residing 2nd squad nobles was exciting. A thrill seeker she was, but when no combat was so readily available, Kaiyo took what she could get.

"Well that's a bit harsh, but I guess it's to be expected." Tatsuya laughed letting Captain Kaiyo's blunt statement roll right off. Tatsuya caught up to the captain on her right. "Nonsense. Though I forgot what I was supposed to do, the thought of forgetting about a captain seems impossible." Tatsuya stated with a smile. "The way I see it, if you are going to do something trivial try to do it in pairs at least. Makes the time go by quicker." Tatsuya continued while looking at the Shihouin estate.

Tatsuya smiled at Captain Kaiyo's question. "Well normally I would consider myself fairly advance when tailing somebody, but judging by your initial tone when you called me out you knew I was following you for quite sometime. With that I'd give myself a failing grade or I'd probably be preparing my funeral." He laughed. "So is this all you do? Just patrolling around the spoiled nobles? There must be something you do to help pass the time." Tatsuya stated with a smile across hoping she would say something interesting

Kaiyo felt a pang of guilt at Tatsu's easy dismissal of her comment. Her word filtering had never exactly been great, but that was just rude...Moving on! Kaiyo laughed at Tatsu's next comment, 'Normally funeral would probably be right...But i'm sorry, I've been followed by a lot of people too often i think' she smiled with as much sincerity as she could muster. Kaiyo didn't like being rude, and as much as she thought this guy was weird, she figured saying sorry would be the best thing to do. Pride ad never been a real issue to swallow.

The girl shrugged complacently at the next statement, Is this all you do? Okay that sounded a bit rude too, maybe I'm just looking for insults...Just smile and reply, no arguments please.. 'Well, it was meant to be a small group of my squad doing this, but apparently the nobles don't like them very much (insert vaguely evil smirk here) So i got the lucky job...But just for this one' she tilted her head towards the large wall en-circling the compound, 'I tend to break in, because they usually give a good chase...And don't know it's me' she giggled about her own genius. Of course if they ever did realise it was Kaiyo, chance are the secret ops would be after her. But to the bundle of energy known as Kaiyo, that just made things more exciting.

A sly smile made it's way back onto had face, the captain began tapping the hilt of her blade as she continued to walk slowly around the compound. 'We could give it a go if ya like? I'm sure it's gotta be a pretty impressive thing to tell anyone if yo manage it' she smiled. Already excited just at the prospect. Though it was possible this guy would say no, but he did break into the 2nd squad barracks.

"Did she say she breaks in to the Shihouin estate?" Tatsuya thought to himself in surprise. That thought was only confirmed when he heard her giggle. What came next from the captain's mouth practically sent him into complete shock. He looked back and forth between the estate and the captain. "Is she serious?!" He thought as he witnessed the smile creep across her face. He thought back to the night he decided to sneak into 2nd squad. "Sneaking into 2nd squad is one thing, but sneaking into the Shihouin estate. But she was kind enough to let me join her." He shook himself back to reality after coming to a decision. "Well since I asked to join you, I think it would be rude if I left. Would you care to lead the way?"Tatsuya stated showing a small grin.

Kaiyo's eyes sparkled with excitement at Tatsu's response, it was always so much more fun when you had a competitor. 'Sweet!' she cheered, raising her arms in the air happily. It looked a bit too cute though really, considering her smaller stature. Still, Kaiyo spun back around to face Tatsu. 'Okay then, here's the plan, we both enter at opposite sides of the courtyard, and it's a race to the very centre; which if i remember rightly is like the main hall. It's like a maze in there though, and they have continual patrol around the outside, some 12th squad tech in the gardens and secret ops guards 24 hours a day' Kaiyo paused, glancing down to her feet for a moment, 'We'll meet in the middle then get out together, mmkay?' she smiled happily. Already excited about her plan.

Kaiyo had never done such a thing with someone else. Although if they were to get caught, a few issues might arise. Not that Kaiyo considered such things, worst case scenarios she'd say she was chasing someone else in then they vanished. Kaiyo stood back up straight, waiting to answer any questions Tatsu might have.

Tatsuya couldn't help but chuckle when witnessing the captain's reaction. "I like that plan, sounds like a blast." Tatsuya stated with a smile, already feeling his heart pumping fast with excitement while looking towards the estate. "So aside from the exterior patrol and secret ops, what am I looking at in terms of the 12th squad tech. Am I looking at equipment meant for capturing or search & destroy." Tatsuya asked genuinely concerned for his own well being, though he did not intend on getting captured. "Other than those minor details, meeting in the middle sounds like a breeze." He stated while conducting a light stretch to warm up.

Kaiyo tipped her head to one side, tapping her finger on her chin in a clear thinking pose before she answered. 'I dunno really, they shoot stuff i think though' she shrugged it off. Kaiyo had never been caught by the machines before, but know the 12th squad, they were probably the kind of immobilising you for a good few days or losing a limb kind of traps. Oh well. Kaiyo nodded in agreement with Tatsu, though she had been serious about the maze thing, she was fairly certain she'd ended up underground at one point. The captain grinned, 'Okay...from here, i'll go..'Kaiyo spun around so her back was facing Tatsu, 'This way' she added, sliding her right foot back so her heel touched Tatsu's.

'Ready...Set...Go!' she yelled. Pushing off her back foot into an instant shunpo, her own image blurring through the aire as she skidded around the corner. Staring up the large wall with a smirk. Kaiyo dropped her shoulders, allowing her white Haori to fall silently to the ground. Kaiyo only considered at that point that the 12th squad alarm system alerted more 2nd squad members of the invasion. Too late now! Kaiyo's short image blurred for a second, vanishing from sight as she flash stepped over the wall. She couldn't flash step once inside, so she'd need a head start. Using Kidou outside the building was fine, but once you got inside...Well the sneaky buggers at squad 12 had seen to that idea as well. Kaiyo cursed herself inwardly for forgetting to tell Tatsu that point as well, though she was sure he'd figure them out for himself.

The captain's vague comment left Tatsuya with a greater feeling of excitement. "So then I can just assume they're meant for search & destroy." Tatsuya thought to himself before the captain set herself to travel to the other corner. "Hmm, maybe I should have asked for a 'no shunpo allowed' rule. At least that way I would stand a chance." Tatsuya thought to himself as the captain blurred away. As soon as Tatsuya heard the go ahead, he pushed some reiastu through his legs and jumped onto the wall. He took a quick glace of the estate before jumping onto the ground. "Big place." He thought as he quickly began to head towards the center of the courtyard.

Kaiyo's head darted from left to write, the Captain's image blurring further as she landed for a split second in the middle of the garden, her image but a blonde-ey blue-ey blur as she moved again. These weird gun things kept appearing as well, Kaiyo assumed they were the 12th squad's new additions. Whatever they were, they looked ready to shoot. The garden, for her current side at least, seemed pretty empty. Which was rather unusual for such a warm day, so either they were all inside, or around Tatsu's side of the garden. That thought made Kaiyo giggle a bit actually.

Kaiyo landed silently on the wooden decking at the beginning of the garden. Slowly lifting her foot as what seemed like every damn nail in the wood began to squeak very loudly. Kaiyo kept her head down, trying not to be caught on Camera might help. So far, she was pretty safe, the patrol hadn't spotted her yet, but she wasn't actually inside yet, and she had only just stopped using shunpo. In lay-mans terms, things were about to get a lot more difficult. Kaiyo continued creeping along the wooden decking, jumping at the end to the very edge of the screen door as she slowly slid it open. Kaiyo's face dropped when she heard it. Instantly, the alarm clanging through her ears...

'Intruders in the Shihouin estate. Proceed with emergency lock-down'

Kaiyo's hand traced up and down the screen door as she gestured madly at it, 'How the hell did that set off an alarm?!' she screamed in a hushed tone to herself. Whether it had been that door or not, Kaiyo had to get going. The girl slipped inside the room and kept low. Trying to figure out where to move next. Oh how she wished she'd worn a mask.

Tatsuya had taken to a more leisurely pace compared to the captain, but only because of his inability to use shunpo, and the fact that there was a crap load of guards in his area. Tatsuya had taken a second to stop and think about something. Though there were plenty of guards on his end he had yet to see any of the 12th squad tech that Captain Kaiyo had mentioned. He had come to the conclusion that the defenses on this side had been turned off due to all the activity. This however presented a different dilemma. As the Shihouin estate is primarily guarded by 2nd squad and the Onmitsukidō, he had a great chance at being identified by his peers. He quickly thought of a way to at least cover his face. He ripped the sleeves off his uniform and tied one around his head to at least cover his face just below his eyes. Though this did little because of his stature, he could at least deny his involvement due to the lack of facial recognition.

Once Tatsuya had covered his face, he felt secure enough to continue on through the courtyard. Tatsuya slowly peeked around a corner and notice several guards grouped together having a conversation. Though the were not blocking his destination, the next area was wide open space and they would surely notice him trying to sneak across. He ducked back around the corner and thought to himself. "Damn what the hell am I supposed to do now?" He thought for only a second before getting an idea. He looked around the corner once more and searched for the person leading the conversation. Once he spotted that person, who was gesturing with his arms and hands, he waited for just the right moment. That moment came when the person's hands went up in the air. "Hado no. 1: Sho." Tatsuya stated quickly and quietly, pointing his finger at the person's arm, sending it flying into the face of another person standing in front of him.

That action caused quite an argument between the group which incidentally went into one hell of a brawl. Tatsuya couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the outcome. He took the created opportunity to sprint across the open area undetected due to the ruckus. Tatsuya was able to make it to one of the outer buildings overlooking the garden. He thought he was going to be able to make it inside without much problem until he reached the door. A group of three secret ops members had approached from around the corner of the building.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the guards asked as they approached Tatsuya. "I'm a new transfer." Tatsuya stated in a confident and disguised voice. "I wasn't notified of any new transfers. Take off your mask, I wanna see your face." The guard orders after stopping within arms length of Tatusya. Tatsuya reached around his head with his left hand and with his right hand proceeded to punch the guard in his face. This caused one guard to attack Tatsuya while the other guard began to reach for his communicator. Tatsuya quickly dispatched the attacking guard and attempted to stop the other from communicating. "Bakudo no. 1: Sai." Tatsuya shouted but to no avail, his kido was completely ineffective. "What the?!" Tatsuya stated in shock.

"Intruders in the complex. I repeat. We have intruders...." The last guards transmission was cut short by Tatsuya kicking him in the head. Soon after Tatsuya heard the alarm going off. "Crap." He thought to himself before running inside of the building.

Kaiyo edged slowly along the wall. Crouching low as she glanced back to the door. This place would be crawling with secret ops in a matter of seconds, and so far, it would only take a few moments to realise who Kaiyo was. The Captain smirked to herself for a second, rushing to un-tie her red headband as she tied her hair up with it. An act Kaiyo seldom did, and without the headband so clear, guessing who she was would be a bit harder, as long as none of the second squad re-enforcements knew her of course. The girl giggled slightly at the thought, she was technically trespassing...But really, who'd get that mad at a Captain.

The girl tip-toed forwards anyway, sliding open the next door as she peaked her head around the corner. Kaiyo was already lost, it was going well. The Captain spun around her newly opened door, being sure to keep the balance on her feet even. Kaiyo slowly shut the door, whipping around when she heard a cough. 'Shit!' she cursed inwardly, turning around with an instant jumping roundhouse kick. Knocking the unfortunate guy out cold. Kaiyo took another look along the hallway, sighing heavily as she slung the guys body over her right shoulder and chucked his body back into the room she'd just come out from.

Kaiyo sprinted quickly along the hallway, trying to keep light footed at the same time. It wasn't too hard, in fact she was for once glad for her smaller and slighter frame. THe girl's heart was pounding with nerves, her senses working on overtime as she heard the faint sound of voices. Twisting around to find the nearest hiding place. A door! Without hesitation Kaiyo snuck into that room. ently and slowly shutting the door as the voices passed.

The girl dropped her shoulders in a moment of relief. Turning around to inspect her newly found room. Her jaw dropped. 'Oh of course!' she cried inwardly. A younger second squad noble, in academy uniform. At least the poor sap didn't recognise Kaiyo. The well turned out kid growled slightly, taking a combat stance as he spoke. 'For my families honour I shall defeat you where you stand!' he announced. Charging at Kaiyo as he pulled his fist back. 'Oh shut up' Seriously, Kaiyo had never had this much trouble in the past. The Captain grabbed onto the fist with her right hand, spinning it around with the kid as she twisted her arm around his back, turning around with him as she slammed his head onto the wall. Letting go instantly as he blacked out, falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Kaiyo just stared at him for a moment, she knew she couldn't stay in one place for so long, she still had to meet Tatsu in the middle. But seriously?! Knocking out a knoble did not look good!

On this particular day, Kuro had spent the time enjoying himself with a day of relaxation. Different from his normal boring days, he'd actually taken the time to have a walk in the second squad's gardens and settle under a large tree to read a book. The sun's rays seemed to carry a hypnotic effect as they reflected off of a nearby pond and over his eyes, and he was soon in the middle of a light nap underneath the tree. This peace was broken in what seemed like no time at all to Kuro. He could hear the sounds of a distant alarm as he was called back to consciousness by two onmitsukido members kneeling in front of him. He groggly rubbed his eyes as he stood up to see what was going on.

"We're sorry to disturb your alone time captain, but intruders have been detected in the Shihoin estate. We've been ordered to notify you so that you can provide backup."

"Very well." Kuro replied with an obvious annoyed tone in his voice. He was a calm and friendly person on most occasions, but nobles sometimes bugged him for various reasons. Putting such feelings aside, he began to shunpo continuously towards the estate. He reached it with good timing and strode through the front gate which was opened for him as he approached. He took note that it closed behind him immediately as to keep the intruders locked in. A full lockdown?.....seems a bit much for a few intruders.

Kuro was shown into building, believed to be where the intruders were. He walked around its perimeter first, noting that the 12th squad's machines had reacted to an intruder while guards on the opposite side of the estate reported disturbance at about the same time. Kuro ran over this information and figured that they were dealing with at least two separate intruders. The timing of their intrusions however was too well matched for them to be unrelated. This was a joint operation. Kuro kept this information to himself and ordered the squad members and onmitsukido members with him to search other sections of the building. He took his leave of them and began down a different hallway by himself, keeping his presense hidden so he could maybe catch the intruders off guard.

Tatsuya crept slowly through the hall way, hugging the wall to his right as he approached a corner. Tatsuya continued down the hallway after not seeing anyone around. Taking extra care in his steps, he was quite silent as he moved around. Even though Tatsuya had been inside this building for only a little while he hadn't really noticed any activity. Though it was a relatively big building he had really only noticed a few female staff members and he eluded them without much trouble.

As he continued through the well decorated hallways he could here voices from around the corner. He quickly hurried his way to the nearest door and quickly entered into it while making sure he was not seen. He kept the door open ever so slightly so he could look into the hallway. Tatsuya watched as four female guards passed by the door carrying on a conversation on how they would deal with the intruders. Tatsuya waited inside the room, not taking his eyes off the door until he was sure the guards were gone. He was about to reenter the hallway when he heard a blissful sigh behind him. He turned around quickly and found to his surprise a beautiful young female with her eyes covered, in the middle of what seemed to be a deeply relaxing bubble bath. Tatsuya's entire face became beet red with embarrassment.

Tatsuya needed to get out in a hurry. He swiftly turned back to the door and in the process knocked over a small bottle of perfume onto the ground. The female had a great reaction time because before Tatsuya could turn around she was screaming for help.

"GUARDS! GUARDS!" She screamed while trying to cover herself. "Guards?!" Tatsuya thought to himself before quickly realizing she was a noble. "Oh...no...wait...shh shh...calm...down." Tatsuya tried to speak while getting pummeled by whatever the young noble could find to throw at him, all while screaming for her guards. Tatsuya fell through the door just as the four guards from earlier arrived. He quickly got to his feet while the guards stared at him with rage filled eyes.

"How dare you try to have your way with Master." One of the guards accused Tatsuya. "What?!...That's not true." Tatsuya stated honestly with his face still red with embarrassment. All four guards quickly charged at Tatsuya. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Tatsuya shouted as he began fighting with the females. Tatsuya began to at least block the attacks, he was a gentleman after all and didn't want to hurt them. Tatsuya couldn't think of an easy way to stop this fighting so he began fighting back. Tatsuya reached for two of the females and forcefully knocked there heads together letting them fall to the floor. He then reached for another one as the other was throwing a jumping back spin kick. He brought the female in front of him and had her knocked out by her own partners kick.

"You Jerk!" The last guard shouted before Tatsuya's fist met with her gut leaving her breathless. "Sorry about that but you left me no choice." Tatsuya stated before looking up to see the young noble standing in the doorway wearing a robe. "Sorry for the intrusion." Tatsuya quickly stated and bowed before running off leaving the young noble speechless and slightly embarrassed.

Kaiyo's movement froze for a second, she could sense it. She wished she couldn't, but the girl's higher reiatsu amount meant she was more sensitive for spiritual pressure fluctuations; like the appearance of the second squad back up. A small giggle of despair escaped the girl's mouth, turning very quickly into another smirk. The short blonde girl peaked her head around a corner in a hallway, sprinting quickly to the other side as she continued to walk along. Hearing the faint pattering of a silent search party. He girl's eyes flickered around the hallway, no doors were nearby so somewhere to hide would have been ideal.

The assembled group of onmitsukido rounded the corner, silently assessing their surroundings as they continued along on their sweep. Kaiyo let out a small and quiet sigh of relief, waiting until the coast was clear to drop down from the ceiling. In the future, clinging onto a ledge that was only a few inches big wouldn't be her first choice. Sure, Kaiyo could take them all out with a fair amount of ease. But if she started showing off like that, well it wouldn't take too long to realise it would have to be a higher ranking person or renegade invading. The girl bent her knees as she dropped back to the floor, keeping her arms out for balance. Kaiyo twisted around and sprinted down the hallway. Her mind drifting off to how Tatsu was getting along.

The short girl could see the very end of the hallway, moving too fast to stop Kaiyo just jumped, kicking off the wall as she turned to run along the next corridor. Utterly lost. She was quiet enough though, enough to not be caught, and her reiatsu was practically completely hidden. Kaiyo skidded to sudden halt as she turned another corner. Wishing she could shunpo in this place. At least it wasn't the onmitsukido patrol. Only 3 2nd squad guys. Kaiyo kept her head down, standing perfectly still as she noticed her (the loud stopping had been a bit of a give away). 'There's the intruder!' they yelled. Charging at the small girl with the vigour of a true warrior. Kaiyo flipped straight over the first one, avoiding an attempted strike with a blade. The girl grabbed onto another extended wrist, avoiding another katana as she lunged the arm into the back of the first guy. Kaiyo ducked low almost instantly afterwards, the sound of another sword slicing through air ringing above her head. Kaiyo leapt back up as the guy tried to draw back his blade, kicking his wrist as it flew straight up and stuck into the ceiling. A dodged punch to her nose as Kaiyo side stepped around the guy. Punching the middle of his spin as his body arched and flew forwards at the other two.

Three down.

Kaiyo felt a bit guilty for making one guy stab his friend in the back, but in all honesty she just saw a knife and reacted. There was no actual thought process there. Kaiyo's light blue top was a bit of a give away at the moment, at the girl regretted just leaving her uniform top untied for all to see. Oh well. More onmitsukido were headed her way, Kaiyo could sense them. The Captain dived through the nearest door. Glad to finally have an empty room to listen to the onmitsukido report in on the three guys out cold.

While traveling through the halls, Kuro suddenly heard the shouts of a woman for guards. He immediately broke into a sprint and sped through the maze of the estate to reach the area of disturbance. He arrived at a bathing room with four unconscious female guards and an obviously embarrassed female noble.

"Captain! A tall pervert just burst in here while I was taking my bath! Find him and punish him now!"

Kuro scowled as the girl ranted. This was the problem with nobles. Always thinking of themselves and blowing any situation concerning them out of proportion. As a lowly peasant bandit from the Rukongai, Kuro had little patience for their self-centerdness. This girl hadn't even been concerned for the guards that had been knocked out by the intruder. Kuro didn't know them by name, but he recognized them as members of his squad. After looking them over to make sure there were no serious injuries, he stood up and glared at the noble.

"My concerns rest with injured people before pride. Try learning some consideration for others in the future...ojou-sama."

Kuro left the room, leaving the noble girl behind with her face crimson red. Some of it was probably still from embarrassment, but there was most likely some anger mixed in with her feelings now too. Kuro set off at a fast pace down the hall pursuing the one who had fought the guards. It was a faint presence trying to hide itself among the other powers in the estate. What worried Kuro was that it was moving toward a large force of guards a short distance down the halls. Kuro wanted to reach them before they dealt with the intruder too harshly.

Tatsuya ran through the hallways at pace just faster than a jog trying to navigate through the maze. "How the hell does anyone get to where there going?" Tatsuya thought to himself before realizing there was a presence not far behind him. "Boy, that feels familiar. Where...have...I..." His thoughts trailed off as he realized the hallway widen into some type of party waiting area where there was a bunch of guards staring at him.

Tatsuya stopped and in a casual manner, looked down at the floor while shaking his head, and tapped his forehead with his fingers. *sigh* "Why am I always running into large groups of guards." He stated out loud before hearing the unsheathing of dozens of swords. "AW MAN." He whined before hearing the collective war cry of charging guards. Tatsuya quickly looked around for anything blunt to use. He quickly located a big wooden bench and proceeded to pick it up and toss it onto the crowd of guards, only taking out less then half of them in a domino effect.

Tatsuya quickly took the opening left by the downed guards and jumped through the gap provided. He landed right next to one of the dazed members and proceeded to pick him up along with his sword. Tatsuya held him against his body with his own sword against his throat. "DON'T MOVE OR I'LL SLICE HIS THROAT!" Tatsuya yelled at the remaining guards who were moving closer. Normally Tatsuya would refrain from taking hostages but he didn't think he would leave that room in one piece.

Tatsuya slowly backed up towards the nearest door while maintaining visual of the guards. He was so focused on the guards in front that he failed to notice the ones coming from behind. True to the secret ops they were completely silent. The leader of this particular group had a weird device. He crept up behind Tatsuya and activated the device. Next thing Tatsuya realized was that his muscles went limp, but he was still conscious. "Damn I got caught." Tatsuya thought to himself. The sword fell from his captive's throat as Tatsuya fell to the ground. Tatsuya had barely hit the ground when the entire group dog piled on him and proceeded to beat the shit out of him. He felt every blow they landed, but couldn't do a damn thing about it, not even yell out. "What now." He thought as the beat down ended just as fast as it started. He was dragged to his knees by the guards. His vision was blurry and he felt as if every bone in his body were broken. He was sure that his body was bruised and bloody, and if his face wasn't covered, it probably wouldn't matter because it felt numb, broken, and unrecognizable. He was quite surprised he hadn't blacked out yet. He wasn't sure what they had planed next, but he wasn't looking forward to it.

Kuro hurried his way down the hall until he reached the foyer where he saw onmitsukido members and 2nd squad members gathered around a fallen figure. So many things were wrong with this picture. He flinched ever so slightly as he saw many of the guards kicking the prone figure of their captive, not giving a second thought to his wellbeing. Kuro saw the device in the lead onmitsukido member's hand and looked upon him with disbelief. Since when had the proud onmitsukido sunk to the level of abandoning their personal skills to use strange gadgets? Kuro did not like what he was seeing.

"What is going on here!?" he barked out with an air of authority. The guards heard him and their immediate attention was on him. They left the intruder, who Kuro could recongize as the new squad member Tatsuya, and organized themselves in formation in front of Kuro down on one knee.

"Captain, we have caught and dealt with the intruder."

Kuro did his best to hide his enormous disapproval. If he did things just right he could help out his new member, teach these abusive guards a lesson, and not have a single shred of accusation on himself. But such a feat would require patience, tolerance, and above all...subtlety. Kuro stepped forward to have a look at Tatsuya.

"I can see that you've dealt with him, but I must say that I am surprised at the device you used to incapacitate him. While it is not our traditional way of fighting, I must say it got the job done." Kuro took a deep breath. Staying calm with these negative opinions on the matter was harder than he thought. "But seeing as he is captured and beaten, I see no reason to keep him paralyzed. Remove the effects of the device now. We can then place him under the restraint of a bakudo for further security."

Kuro's beginning flattery of the guards' performance worked like a charm and successfully lowered their guard. The onmitsukido leader stepped forward with his gadget and pressed it into Tatsuya's side. He stood back up and rejoined the ranks standing behind Kuro. Step one complete...now I have to buy some time so Tatsuya can recover enough to make a run for it again.

"Exactly what happened here?" Kuro asked innocently as if looking for a verbal mission report. "Who first saw the intruder and what was done when he engaged your force?"

The guards all began to chatter at once, trying to make themselves look good in front of Kuro. A good performance evaluation in the line of duty protecting the noble house of Shihoin was too great of an opportunity to pass up. Kuro had to turn his head to hide a slight smirk that managed to creep out onto the corner of his mouth. While he dealt with the guards' stories of glory and honor, his attention was more focused on Tatsuya and his condition. He was swollen and bruised terribly, but nothing seemed to be actually broken. It probably hurt like hell though. Kuro bought a few minutes before he thought he should play the part of the serious captain again.

"Let's not get too sidetracked. We've got to seal the intruder before he gathers the strength to make a run for it. Rally behind me while I cast the kido."

Kuro's orders were followed swiftly. He stood on one side of the foyer with the mass of guards gathered at his back. In front of them in the middle of the floor, Tatsuya's prone form still was sprawled out on the ground not moving. Kuro surged his power and made his next move.

"Disintegrate...White Crawl."

The first word was spoken loud for all the guards to hear. But the energy was focused on the two latter words muttered softly under Kuro's breath, barely audible. The hado burst out in a radius around Kuro that engulfed the guards and knocked them all out cold. Kuro took this chance and walked over to Tatsuya to help him to his feet.

"I won't ask what you're doing here. But I'll tell you that it is extremely reckless. You're lucky that the squad only saw you in the dark of night. They won't recognize you right away here. I used the hado without its incantation or even its classification and number, so its power was pretty low. They won't be out for long. Use this time to get away. I'll stay behind and act like it was an attack from you that knocked us all out."

Kuro finished his suggestion with a light smile to show Tatsuya that he wasn't upset about his presense there. In fact, he was looking forward to resuming the chase after the guards woke up and finding out who Tatsuya's accomplice was.

Tatsuya laid on the ground as the guards left him to form up in front of the captain. The only reason he knew it was the captain was by his voice. "Heh. And here I thought it couldn't get any worse." Tatsuya thought as he laid on the floor motionless. "DEALT WITH?! Well now that's an understatement if I ever heard one." He thought to himself as the guard told the captain of the situation. Tatsuya was helpless on the ground as Captain Akarui suggested the use of kido over the device. "Well its not like I want to move right now. I think I'll just stay right here on the ground." He thought as the guard pressed the device against him.

"What's taking so long?" Tatsuya wondered as time went by and he had yet to be place under any type of kido restraint. Tatsuya's vision had returned to normal and he felt slightly better as time passed. He would have tried running, but didn't think he could outrun the guards, let alone the captain, who were standing so close to him. Not to mention his injuries would surely slow him down. Tatsuya listened as the captain gave the order to stand behind him so that he could cast the kido. He heard the beginning of a chant and then suddenly heard dozens of thuds as the guards behind him fell on the ground.

Tatsuya grunted painfully as he was helped to his feet by the captain. He was certainly surprised and consequently speechless at the actions taken by his captain. He listened to the captains words and watched as a smile crossed his face. He was exceptionally relieved that the captain was not upset. "I'm glad I chose to join your squad." Tatsuya stated while smiling before hobbling off as fast he could. "Thank you, Captain" He stated, stopping briefly before turning around a corner.

Kaiyo waited until the coast was clear, fairly certain she was nearly at the middle. It was just a little further, and the search teams were closing in ever tighter. The girl slid open her door, peeking her head through the gap as she looked along both ides of the hallway. Stepping off her room as she shut the door behind her, turning right as she began a light jog past another door. In other Noble houses, it was likely the post buggers would be escorted safety off the premises, these folks weren't so considerate. They were linked so closely to squads that practically all their family members were decent fighters. Honestly it just made for more work.

The girl turned around another corner, her eyes growing larger with an immediate panic as she slowly stepped backwards. Un-noticed for the time being as she waited on the corner to listen to the group of squadies. 'Yeah, seriously, the Captain and a whole load of other guys were all knocked out, the guy got away'. Kaiyo turned so her back was against the wall. Feeling a wave of emotion wash over her. There was no way in hell Tatsu managed to knock Kuro out, but if he was already caught, she dreaded to think what condition he was in. Let alone the fact Kuro was here at all: Kaiyo had no issue with Kuro, it was simply that he would probably guess this was her idea. The squad members around the corner continued their chatter. Moving onto the matter of their own safety against an assailant who could out-match their own leader.

Kaiyo rubbed her hand down her face heavily. Trying no to lose focus as she inhaled slowly, gently breathing out in a calm manner. Time to act. Kaiyo sprung around the corner, her head down as she sprinted straight towards the group. There was more of them this time. They'd resorted to moving in packs now. The girl was spotted fairly quickly, though her speed gave her the advantage over the amount of time the group took to register that she was their new opponent. Kaiyo ran straight up to the first one, placing her hands steadily on either side of his shoulders as she flipped over him. Landing with a side step to the right, followed by a right hook to the side of a head. That was one down. The girl spun to the left almost instantly afterwards, bringing her left leg up as she swung it around, knocking her heel against the jaw of another second squad guy.Even at the speed of the fight, Kaiyo could hear the gasps of shock; she just hoped her disguise was enough for them to not realise who she was for a while. Kaiyo twisted her waist to the right as a hand shot straight past her. Latching onto the wrist, the girl twisted her attacker around as slammed his head against another wall. With perhaps a bit too much force this time seeing as she dented the stone wall and the guy's head was bleeding. Not enough time to worry over such matters. A lunge straight at her gut was the final attempt, ducking to the left and low, Kaiyo brought her fist up with her. Punching the masked ninja woman upwards at the bottom of her sternum. It was just enough force to possibly fracture the bone. The woman crumpled forwards in pain, receiving a small fist to the back of her head as she flopped to the ground like a noodle.

Kaiyo took a moment to look at the mess around her, it was a good work-out though.The girl smiled once more, jumping almost silently over a limp body as she continued along her hallway. She'd made a bit too much noise there, and breaking the wall had maybe not been her best move...But neither had the knocking out of the Noble kid. As a matter of fact, none of this plan had been a good idea.

The large red doors! That was where she needed to be. The room had four doors, and was in the very centre of the compound. With a a few grand looking seats at one end, and a generally well decorated interior. Kaiyo slipped in silently, passing right behind another patrol as she shut the latch on the door behind her. Sliding down against it to the floor as she sighed. Blowing a strand of her blonde hair behind her head. It felt odd having it tied back, though it didn't get in her face so much. Kaiyo kept her wits about her, she just needed to wait for Tatsu before she could get back out, and even then. Waiting in one place for such a length of time, well it seemed a lot more likely they'd be found that way. Kaiyo just hoped Tatsu was okay.

Tatsuya moved his battered body through the hallways, trying his best to ignore the pain. He hadn't seen any other guards since the ones that jumped him. He hoped that those guards where all the ones assigned to the area so he wouldn't have to worry about anymore showing up. "If it wasn't for Captain, who knows how I would have ended up." Tatsuya was in a considerable amount of pain as he continued moving through the hall. His frustration was beginning to get the better of him, he wanted out of this estate. He rounded the corner and found something interesting, a pair of big red doors. "Is that the center complex? I wish that Captain Kaiyo had given some details in what I'm supposed to look for." He walked as quickly as he could to the doors.

Tatsuya made it to a few feet of the doors when he heard another door slide silently open behind him. When he turned around he saw three members of the onmitsukido staring right back at him. "I opened that door without a sound. I guess for someone who was able to beat Captain Akarui, noticing something like that is to be expected." The guard in the middle stated. "Something is off with this guy. Saying something like that and not even the slightest of twitches." Tatsuya stared at the guard without moving. "And who might you be?" Tatsuya asked the middle guard. "Ah, forgive my rudeness. I am Raiden, the head guard and protector of the Shihoin Family." He brought his right hand to the lower left half of his body and gave a slight bow. "Head guard?!...That's just great. My day couldn't possibly get any better." Tatsuya thought sarcastically while maintaining a calm exterior.

"And those two?" Tatsuya spoke of the guards behind Raiden. "Them? They are the guards I leave in charge during my absence. Their names are of no concern to you. You only need to concern yourself with me." The two guards remained silent as the head guard spoke. "I can barely move, let alone fight, and this guy shows up. I must be cursed." Tatsuya thought before being brought back to reality. Tatsuya didn't have anytime to react when he was kicked in the gut by Raiden, though the fact was he couldn't have reacted in his current condition. The kick that landed sent Tatsuya into the double doors, and consequently knocked them off the hinges. Tatsuya flew 30 feet through the air before hitting the floor on his back with a painful grunt. Tatsuya turned over on his hands and knees, and coughed up blood when he noticed Captain Kaiyo by another set of doors. "I hope you're having fun." Tatsuya stated weakly, but with a smile before Raiden used shunpo and kneed Tatsuya's head sending him skidding across the floor.

"Captain Akarui has truly fallen if he lost to a mere commoner like you." Raiden began walking towards Tatsuya's limp body when he noticed the second intruder. "What have we here?" An evil smile crept across his masked face.

Raiden's body was suddenly flung backwards as Kuro's palm struck him in this chest. Kuro had worked hard to wake the knocked out guards and send them in the wrong direction, away from the hallway that Tatsuya had headed down. Afterwards, he had tailed Tatsuya again, making sure that he didn't run into much more trouble in his current state. As his new squad member had engaged the head guard, Kuro had spotted Kaiyo on the other side of the center complex. If he could distract the guards, she could get Tatsuya out without them being discovered. The hard part would be Kuro explaining his actions. But that was his decision.

"Good to see you again Raiden. Nice to hear that you still don't know when to show proper respect. I can let the comment about my strength slide, but I will not permit such brutal action against an obviously battered opponent. And watch how you speak about commoners. Don't forget that I'm originally just a lowly thief from the Zaraki district. Blood doesn't decide one's strength."

Raiden picked himself off the ground as his two guards silently hurried to his side. They glanced back and forth between Kuro and their leader, wondering which they should follow, and that was understandable. Kuro's act of striking the head guard as he was apprehending intruders was enough to confuse anyone there. Raiden personally seemed extremely put off.

"Captain...what is it that you think you are doing!?"

Kuro glared back at Raiden, stepping between Tatsuya and him to prevent any attempt at a sneak attack. "I'm teaching a lesson to those that have forgotten their morales. Why don't we see exactly how much I've fallen...the traditional way of the onmitsukido."

Kuro lowered his stance and brought his hands up into a ready position for a hand-to-hand battle. The two guards flinched back, apparently intimidated by the captain's confidence. But Raiden seemed to be blinded by rage and disbelief. Without another word, he charged at Kuro with both fists clenched. Kuro met his first one-two combo with light taps from his palms, offsetting his aim and cleanly dodging the strikes. Kuro followed up with a quick series of mini-punches right in Raiden's stomach. He finished it with another palm thrust in the same spot he'd struck when he first showed himself. The head of the guards was flung back further than before, smashing into the red doors that Tatsuya had come through and skidding to a stop down the hall. His guards, not wanting to be alone with Kuro in this situation, ran out of the complex to check on their boss. Kuro shunpoed to the doors and slammed them shut. He threw a bolt down across them both to hold the guards off for a bit, but he knew that the sounds of that fight would attract the attention of the other guards.

"Kaiyo-san! Get Tatsuya-kun out of here! You must not let them identify you both. If they find out who you are, this will escalate into a major problem that could lead to the termination of our posts, or worse: exile. I'll hold off the guards while you two escape out the way Kaiyo came."

Kuro didn't wait for a response, but instead knelt down in front of the bolted red doors about 20 feet from their threshold. He was prepared to fight his entire squad if he needed to in order to maintain as much peace as necessary.