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Hajime shook his head and shrugged. Sai wasn't coming. That existential crisis that he'd spoken of seemed to have overtaken Sai. Hajime's upper lip quivered. His insides sputtered in disgust. Shinobi were so self-centered and insolent, that they didn't even pretend to have humility. Did Sai attend the Fire Temple like Hajime, this sulky attitude would have been worked out of him years ago. The monk closed his eyes and turned away, "We'll split up then. When we meet up next, I implore you to come with evidence that favors of our patron, lest we begin to cultivate a reputation of failure."

Hajime walked off with Kaito, "So, show me to this barbeque."



Hajime wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. Hikari was quite the location, the monk had found. Hot steel benches acted as cooking surfaces. Fire belched out beneath the frames, making the air thick and hot. The restaurant was loud with the hissing of marinaded, fat-marbled meats being pressed to hot iron and the clanging of metal knives and spatulae cutting and tossing hot food. Trained cooks laughed and performed, showing their patrons new, fancy, awe-inspiring ways to braise meat. A few of them had even mastered a ninja-technique or two, and used the jutsu to roast vegetables in a ball of fire. The place reeked of herbs, spices, soy, and char. It was hunger-inducing, chaotic, and utterly and completely unpleasant to the simple monk.

Hajime yelled over the cacophony at the manager of the establishment. He described the man, "Hassahiro Yagami! Age Thirty and Two! About yea' tall!" He held out a hand, sizing up about how high the merchant would have been, "Probably wearing silk?!"

The manager shrugged, and explained, in a much louder register than Hajime could achieve, "I HAVE OVER TWO HUNDRED PATRONS A DAY! A LOT TO KEEP TRACK OF! IF THIS IS OFFICIAL BUSINESS, I'LL ALLOW YOU TO TAKE MY BUSINESS LEDGER FROM YESTERDAY!"

Hajime accepted the offering, and took the ledger-scroll, then lead Kaito outside. Now that they were outside again, in the cool air and quiet sidewalk, Hajime rubbed his ears before replacing his sedge hat. They whistled a bit- that noise was a bit much for him.

"That's one stop. Hopefully this ledger has the information our client needs. Where are we going next, Kaito?" Kaito had the scroll, and new the lay of the land better than Hajime did. The remaining two locations were a Sake Bar and an Apothecary. Hopefully, Kaito knew where to locate both.

Haikyo, unfortunately for his own self, did not recognize the expressions on Juugou's face. He did not realize that his words toward the boy would have been so impactful, but he had merely said them because they were the truth to him. He was a very, almost unintelligibly, blunt person. When Juugou began to laugh when he asked about the men he spoke of, Haikyo was about to get offended, though immediately they boy began to explain and Haikyo realized what had been so entertaining about the question in the first place. He scratched the back of his head and let out a little chuckle, slightly embarrassed at his own stupidity. "I do hope to meet some enemies as skilled as those you speak of. I know my skills are dull now...but already my mind works tirelessly to discover how I might develop my family's blood. How I might use this new ability to greater heights and develop my own soul, as well as those around me." He said with a pensive expression.

At this point, however, Juugou was showing him the mission, and he looked it over, stroking his beard as he did. "Well, it would seem a fitting mission, indeed. It is lowly work, but I must learn my surroundings. If I can not do that, then I will never be able to succeed in my studies here. This is a good opportunity, and I trust your judgement." He said with a curt nod as they moved off into the village. He had listened to what the boy had said about moving on and seeing his family, and he had smiled at him when he nudged him with his elbow, though he hadn't said anything yet. He had merely watched in shock as the boy raised his hands and conjured hundreds of insects forth to fly out and be his eyes. It was remarkable. With an ability like that, how could you possibly escape the boy? "That was remarkable! I can't wait to see what other skills you've got hiding up your sleeves! And, by the way, Juugou...thanks for the little bit of hope. I must look foolish...homesick. But, I suppose it's a normal thing." As they walked into the large residential section of the village, Haikyo looked around, his eyes wandering to and fro, taking in the landscape as much as he could. It was much like the places he had visited when he was young--the places that his parents would allow him to be with the people who were not ninja.

"These places seem so nice...much better kept than the homes I have seen in the Country of Rain. Though, the war-torn state of it doesn't allow for much of a prosperous atmosphere, I guess." He said. He looked around and took a deep breath as he bolted forward all of a sudden, jumping up into the air, springing off of the ground and launching himself skyward. He landed on a lamp post, gripping it tightly and focusing his chakra in his feet as he gripped to post, so that his feet comfortably balanced him on the material. He walked the rest of the way up to the top and then stood at the top of the lamp post, looking out across the residential area, and he smiled as he watched the people come and go. He think he realized why his parents wanted him to come here. This place was warm...the people were warm. It felt good, here. The souls of those around him resonated with him--he felt himself inside of them...he took a deep breath as he stood there and took it all in.

When he hopped down onto the ground, he smiled as he looked at Juugou and he scratched the back of his head, feeling really enlightened for a moment. Everything just felt...right. "Well, you know what Juugou...I think this place is really going to end up suiting me, anyways. It's good here. And...I have an idea on how to find that cat of ours." He stated, snatching the mission poster from Juugou's hand and running over to a house. The family seemed alarmed when he just ran into their front yard, but he nodded to them in a very formal manner and told them that it was important that he speak to their animal. They seemed very confused at first, but when Haikyo explained, very seriously, that he needed to speak to their bloodhound, they shrugged, thinking the ninja mad, before Haikyo sat down, cross-legged in front of the dog and he closed his eyes, focusing for a moment, using his own chakra to resonate the energy of his soul and match the frequency of the dog's in front of him.

'Sorry to bother you, I know this is going to be really sudden to understand what I'm saying to you. Don't fear, you are not mad, nor dying.' The dog's eyes widened in front of Haikyo, and it sat down, staring at him in the face, intently. 'Human? What? You can hear me? You really can!?' 'No time to explain, friend. But, can you tell me, have you seen this cat anywhere? She was lost, and we need to recover her.' 'Oh, HER. Yeah...I saw her in the marketplace with some stray...probably a day or so ago. Near the back entrance to the Fire and Grass Tavern.' Haikyo thanked the animal, and then broke the soul link, slapping his hands down on his lap and standing up. The family looked at him, and then looked back to the dog, and when Haikyo thanked them, they hesitantly accepted, confused as all hell. Haikyo turned back to Juugou and nodded to him, as if what he had done was completely normal. "Alright, so, the dog told me that he saw the cat in some sort of market area...at the back entrance of a 'Fire and Grass Tavern' wherever that is, though who knows if she will still be there."

[ooc: ]

Word Count: 1920
Mission Word Count: 1230/2400

It wasn't long until Sai found himself on the street to the merchant's house, it was a quiet lane lush with trees and foliage, clear of the debris generally left by high traffic areas. Pausing in the middle of the street, just before where the path diverged into a semi-circle of branching one-way paths. "Hm." Turning to the first house to his right he approached it with his head cocked to the side. This was no cheap area; homes like these generally costed a small ransom and the upkeep and taxes imposed on homes like these were another. There was also the consideration of the community fees, the extra patrols, and the like... Quite the feat for a single silk merchant.

Walking up the steps to the home, he rapped his knuckles against the door and waited for a response. After knocking again, he sat down on the top step of the home and crossed his arms over his knees, his head resting on his hands. Quietly he surveyed the each street from his perch. Every lane was similarly quiet and empty. It didn't seem like many of the homes had anyone inside, the owners were off taking care of their various occupations and particular clients. "Hm." A smirk crossed his features and he quickly raised to his feet.

Taking another quick look around to ensure no one was walking by at that very moment, he stepped to the side of the current house he was at, his eyes searching until he spotted what he was looking for. Hustling over to the drainpipe that ran down the side of the house, he yanked at it to check it's strength. Satisfied it wouldn't break immediately, he gently pulled himself up along it's length, pausing for a moment as it moaned at bearing his weight. 'I feel young again..' Dragging himself up further he paused yet again as the pipe groaned louder. '...not a pleasant thing.' Grinning, he resumed climbing faster, ignoring the protests the pipe had at his continued presence.

Once to the roof, he quickly laid himself on his stomach and spread himself thin against the rough surface. He held the position for five hundred seconds, counting each one to himself in his head before slowly pushing himself up a few inches. Just enough to peer around. Generally in locations like this there would be watchmen, usually hired security or genin working for ryo. The security guards were always easiest to spot, they would patrol the ground or stay in booths or very near homes. The genin however were always annoying to spot out as they tend to either take their job to serious or were so bored they'd make a game out of it. Thankfully it was never many genin, usually just one to three of them that would be found in sneaking around on the roof and tree tops.

Sai held his position for ninety minutes, ignoring the cries of protest from his joints and back as he scanned one area of residences to another. Eight guards and one genin. The guards all had small zones, seated or standing at their posts before taking a small round around their area every fifteen to twenty minutes. As expected they would be easy to track and avoid. The genin of course was less predictable as she darted from building to building looking about. Her intensity however wasn't focused on the protection of the homes but instead something else, what it was Sai was unsure but it definitely was something that was drawing her mind away from her current work.

With a sigh of relief, he allowed his body to inch back down and waited as he felt his muscles ease and relax themselves. Waiting until the sharp pain had eased into something more easily ignored, Sai creeped back to the edge of the roof before sliding over the side to allow himself to hang over it by his hands. Taking a breath and gauging the distance he had to drop, he let himself go to fall quietly into a crouch, a wince taking from on his face as he felt his knee protest. He would need to severely increase his training before he really started putting his body through more stress.

Suppressing a groan, Sai snuck around and behind the home and into the backyard. He had mapped the route to the merchant, Hassahiro Yagami's home in his head and with the genin currently patrolling an area to east of where he was he was free to move without worrying about being spotted.

It would take him only twenty minutes of climbing and navigating the backyards of these rich homes before he made it to his destination. Once there he flattened himself just outside of the backdoor and looked around to make sure the genin hadn't arrived just yet. Satisfied that there was no one outside to see him, he waited longer, his eyes closing so he could focus on his hearing. If there was someone inside he wanted to ensure it was them that was surprised by him and not the other way around. Once sure he couldn't hear anyone on the other side of the door, he crouched beside it and peered at the lock for a moment. Taking a look around he spotted a rock a few feet away, quickly grabbing it and returning he looked at the door and then the lock again. Standing up, he pressed the rock on top of the handle and with one quick motion raised himself up and dropped all his weight onto it cause the door handle and wood around it to pop with an audible crunch. Glancing around quickly, Sai tossed the rock aside and pulled the door open gingerly.

The heavy smell of various herbs and drugs attacked his senses, causing him to step back in apprehension. Bring a hand to cover his nose and crouching down, Sai crept into the house, his eyes darting back and forth for any movement or signs of other life in the vicinity. 'Hmm... Lets see. These buildings are two floors plus an attic and a basements, generally three rooms, two baths, living room, kitchen and dining room. And a foray. That gives me eleven locations to search and a large area to cover while doing so, how annoying..

However this Yagami character has his vices. Find the main stash of them and find the evidence I'm looking for.' Sure he was alone in the house, Sai walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch. "Perhaps one of the rooms? The attic or the basement. The most obvious of locations.. so might as well start there and eliminate them as certain possibilities." With a sigh, he looked around the room, his gaze stopping as he peered the entrance to the kitchen. It was a dumb thing to do, unprofessional and disrespectful, especially if he was wrong and the man was innocent of these claims but as the refrigerator door was swung open and Sai peered inside those thoughts all disappeared with a loud groan.

Instead of food of any kind, there sat the parcels of theft the man was being accused of. Stepping back, to leaning against the counters across from the appliance, Sai folded his arms and simply stared blankly. "Hunh." Instinctively he didn't want to trust the information before him, the evidence needed to convict Hassahiro Yagami was right there, seemed to easy. The idea of the man being framed quickly crossed his mind, but just as quickly he waved it away. Why not plant the evidence some where that was less awkward and more likely to be found by someone other then Yagami himself. Was it cleverness, pure idiocy, or - as Sai came to the realization - just none of his concern. This could be the job of someone else, he was looking for evidence and he had found it, whether it was valid or not was not his job to find out and the fate of this man was none of his concern.

Reaching into the fridge, he relieved it of the stolen property and hefted it on his shoulder. With a sigh, Sai made his way to the front door of the house and gave it a good kick to break the frame and send the door skittering across the sidewalk as wood chips sprayed out. A grimace laced his features as the jolt of the impact send waves of pain up his knee and into his lower back. Gritting his teeth and shifting the weight of the stolen property so he could put it back down outside on the pavement, he let himself sit beside it and watched as the genin rushed to the scene. Not long after the sight of the security guards could be seen hustling to them.

"Take this and this." The man placed the scroll stating the mission was on on top of the stolen object as the girl glared at him, obviously ready to attack but startled by his lack of urgency and sudden authoritative tone. "Hassahiro Yagami, indicted for involvement in a burglary, this is the evidence proving his association. Take it back in for me, it is your job to report and situations involved in this neighborhood. Say you worked with me and I wont tell them that I broke into half the neighborhood on your watch because you were distracted about your boyfriend. AH, don't care, it's what I'll say, get going." Grunting, Sai raised from his seat and strolled back down the street not caring to see what the girl's reaction was but certain she would do as he said. For now he needed some rest, it would be dark soon.

A rumble sounded from the man's gut as he walked the streets that led back to the shinobi registry office. It was well passed the time most people had dinner and it certainly had been a long day. For a moment he wondered how the weasel and the rabbit had fared on their end of the mission, surely they would have assumed he had abandoned the mission by now. Running a hand through his hair, he glanced up at the sky and yawned, "Hm." 'Perhaps I'll intercept them, they had left originally for the bar-b-que restaurant and near that is the sake bar. If they're not done collecting their evidence they'll likely be at the apothecary, otherwise they're surely already at the registry.'

A grimace at that thought. If they returned without him, they would exclude him and that would be less money in his pocket. "Tch." Not to mention a mark against him that would prevent him from accessing higher missions. 'How annoyin'.' Grunting, he started into a jog. If he moved fast he'd could probably intercept them and with the evidence he found earlier, it all tied the merchant and the apothecary to the crime.

It wasn't long until he reached the registry, quickly opening the door and peering inside he noted that neither of his team mates were currently there, although he gained a few confused glances from those that were. Smiling sweetly, he excused himself and went back into his jog. 'Not there. The assholes are either finished or finishing then.' Panting he rushed to the final store, stopping only to catch his breath just before it's entrance. Looking around he noted that there was no one on the street as of the moment. Frowning, he continued to double other and pretend he was still catching his breath as he surveyed the area. It was quite odd. Even at this time this are was very busy, and it was just moments before he was rushing past a group of people.

Locking his jaw, he turned to the store and pulled the door open. The scent of heavy incense and fumes attacked his senses, the aroma very similar to what he had found in the merchant's, Hassahiro Yagami's, home. Something was wrong, there was no welcome or sound of life in the shop. Dropping to a crouch, he skulked deeper into the shop. The front counter was empty but the door behind it was slightly ajar. Standing up, he quietly moved to the door, pressing his body against the wall adjacent to it. With a finger he pushed it further open before peering inside. "Tch." He fought against his initial recoil and disgust. The smell of death was never something one truly got over.

The room was the owner's office and sitting at the desk was the dead body of the owner himself, his throat cut clean open and caked blood revealed where it had leaked. Another chair was facing the desk, the back to him. Grunting in disgust he shifted forward, careful to mind his surroundings as well. <********> In the seat was a headless body and on the desk was a deck of cards laid out as if the two had been playing. "This just became very unpleasant."

On their way to Decibel, Hajime explained, "That's correct. I come from the Fire Temple, on the other side of Fire Country. On horseback, it's about a week's ride. On foot, it's considerably longer. As a monk, I could not afford a cart, though a few practicing worshipers did lend me a ride on the way. For the rest of it, I walked. In total, it took me about two weeks to get to this Village."

He nodded, "Yes, I'm interested in becoming a medic-ninja. We ninja-monks are taught to train our bodies, minds, and souls for incredible strength, but are expected not to use them to fight... usually. There are exceptions, of course- like the great ninja monk Chiriku, who could use the Sacred Techniques of the Ninja Monks in battle." He paused for a moment, then clarified, "They're usually used for meditation purposes, you see."

"Those techniques that Chiriku used... they attracted a lot of attention... and not the good kind, either. In those days, the Fire Temple got attacked frequently by people looking to steal our secrets. In response, Chiriku of the Twelve Guardian Ninja created a powerful sealing technique that protected the Fire Temple. He said it was impenetrable. It was believed to be impenetrable, for a time. Unfortunately, when it was broken, it was by a pair of very deadly ninja, using some truly hellish jutsu."

"I'm the kind of person who learns from the mistakes of the past, Kaito. I don't like to ignore it. As such, I see great value in retaining my humility and pacifism, even as I transition from the life of a ninja monk to a ninja proper."

Once they reached the sake bar, Hajime grew quiet. The monk thought over the situation while Kaito spoke with the manager at Decibel. Once they were outside, he said, "This man is certainly suspicious. That's a lot of money to be passing around. I can't help but wonder if he was trying to impress someone, or if he were looking for places that were sure to keep records of their patrons. It's certainly a bit odd for a sake bar, of all places, to keep a tab like the one in your hands. It's also odd to leave a restaurant that surely sells sake, in order to go to another place to drink sake. I don't feel well for doubting an innocent man, but this is all certainly strange." He sighed, and shrugged, "Then again, I am but a simple monk."

Soon, they reached the entrance of the apothecary, and he saw no sign of Sai. Hajime pushed open the door, and looked around inside the dark building. It was quiet, but something was off. Someone was here. The sickly sweet aroma of herbs and fragrances was met with the sickly sweet aroma of death. Hajime quickly stepped through the room, and checked behind the front desk. He continued on down the hall to the owners' office, and stopped short of the door. he held his breath for a moment. He heard someone swear in the other room. Quickly, Hajime came around the corner, ready to dodge an attacker's reaction.

The monk looked over the room, eyeing the dead apothecary and the ninja within. He took a deep breath, then sighed, "..Sai... the mission was to pick the apothecary's brain for clues ... not to disconnect it from his body." Hajime shook his head. As he gazed over the ninja in the room, Hajime raised his brow, and studied the cards on the table, "What are those there?"

Haikyo nodded when he looked at Juugou. "I know it must seem just like second nature to you, but to me, this is something I have never been able to observe close up. These bugs being able to live and coexist inside your body are incredible. So many little souls." He stated with a small smile, ruminating on his situation. The idea of the insects having their own souls--and having so many of them too...it begged the question of whether or not there could be some merit to combining their abilities. With that many different souls, the power he could use by tapping into their energies would be enormous...interesting. Haikyo left that thought for a little later, however, as he went through the motions with Juugou. He was getting a report in from his insects at the same time that Haikyo was returning from speaking with the bloodhound.

When Juugou made the comment to Haikyo about being a dog whisperer, he quirked a brow. Juugou was scaling a building, and Haikyo ran down the street, taking a leap and bounding off of a rickshaw, landing with grace on top of the roof, rolling and running forward, beside Juugou. "I am not a dog whisperer. I communicate with the soul directly. It may circumvent the need for human language, as well as the ability to commune with the lingering dead." He stated sternly. Though he was not angry, his tone always came off a little stern, for the most part. Especially when it came to his family. However, Juugou would get to learn that about the older teen. He certainly wasn't the easiest person to be around all the time, but he was very simple when it came to how to read him, and his own blunt honesty. As they ran, he watched as Juugou created a sort of cloud with his insects. 'He seems to have quite remarkable control over them...I wonder if that is talent, or if this is usual for members of his clan.' He thought as he looked at the boy, and as they neared the tavern, he vaulted from the rooftop, seeing the sign ahead. He caught hold of a sign post and dropped to the ground with another roll, popping right back up into a slow stride, with no hitches. He was a masterful martial artist, when it came down to it, though his innate ability in it had yet to be truly honed.

He looked around, his eyes darting around the area, and when he caught a quick glimpse of movement from behind the bar, he grinned toward Juugou and nodded toward the younger ninja. "I am going to go for it, but if I miss, be ready to make up for my mistake and catch it off guard. I'm sure you can snag it!" He stated with a pat on Juugou's back before he blasted forward. He tried his best to silence his footsteps as he ran, using sheer speed to try to jump around the corner, making no noise on the ground, land against the fence just across from the back bar wall, neutralizing as much of the sound as he could, and then springing off of it toward the cat.

However, as he sprung off of the fence, the wooden plank completely broke, and his foot went shooting through to the other side, causing him to get caught as he sprung, and instead be tugged backwards by his snared ankle and hit his face against the ground. He cursed as he watched the cat make a run for it, and he could only hope that Juugou was close behind to make an attempt on the rascal!

[ooc: Hey Den, isn't a hard mission for D rank, only 2000 words? Just wondered why there were 2400 on our count. xD]

Word Count: 1920
Mission Word Count: 2495/2400

Sai turned to face the entrance of the room when he first heard the front entrance of the shop open, but relaxed when he heard the drunkard's voice. 'They're slow movers.' He thought as he turned to examine the headless body. It was cleanly removed. The scar tissue on the neck was neat, not ragged like it had been sawed off with a blade but surgically remove or perhaps an industrial tool had been used.

Glancing over his shoulder at the two for only a moment, he returned his attention to his examination. "I don't find that funny, monk." He growled, his hand moving to unbutton the neck and chest of the headless body's shirt. The clothing was made of silks and cotton. A quick patting of the body revealed that all personal affects had also been removed. "And I'm doing my job. Someone should be searching the rest of the shop, our suspect might still be here or have left something behind." Standing up straight, he turned to face them both with a cold stare. "And another should be searching the premises. Move fast, collect your info and meet back to make a report at the office."

The man returned to the desk and lifted the first card of the deck, turning it between his fingers he called over his shoulder with a stern authoritative tone, "I mean for you to do that now." Setting the card down, he picked up the deck itself and began shuffling through it to see if there was anything unusual but they were simply a deck of cards. 'Dead men can play no games, hunh.' With a disgusted grunt, he set the cards back down and moved on with his examination of the room and the other dead body. It would be a half hour before he left the room and made his way back to the office to make his report.

Juugou watched Haikyo get up and dust himself off. The older Genin explained his actions as trying to use his agility to get a jump on the cat and catch it by surprise, but ultimately overestimating the strength of the fence board he had tried to kick off of.
"Thanks, you did great too. Finding exactly where this ball of fur was hanging around helped a lot more than what my bugs were able to discern. If you need pain relief let me know." After double-checking the address of the cat's owner Juugou led the Yomi through several neighborhoods in the village, all the time struggling to keep a strong hold on the cat. The animal hissed and spat and scratched at the young Aburame, making him wonder whether it was really a house cat or something possessed by a demon. At long last the duo arrived at the customer's house. Haikyo knocked for him and a few seconds later a fat lady with a string of pearls answered the door. Upon seeing the woman the cat immediately dropped the savagery and adopted a look of utmost innocence, even going as far as mewling cutely. The woman snatched the cat, Muffins, out of his arms and slammed the door in both of their faces before Juugou could even say 'Hello'.

"It's not worth it, Haikyo." said the young Aburame, reaching up and placing his hand on the older teen's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "At our level we are simply seen as errand boys that can be called upon on a whim." he sighed, reigning in his own anger towards the rudeness the woman had exhibited as he replied to Haikyo's question. "Look at it this way. We now know who the b***h is and where she lives so if that demon of a cat ever goes missing it can become someone else's problem. And you don't have to apologize on her behalf." They walked to the mission office in silence and formally logged it as completed.




Once outside Haikyo noted that finding the cat hadn't taken a lot of time and began inquiring about timing of missions, and the possibility of being able to take on harder ones after finishing enough of the ones that were considered easy. Juugou nodded.
"You hit the nail on the head there, Haikyo." he said with a smile, happy to see that his team mate was beginning to catch on with how things worked. "These D-ranked missions are really simple and don't take much time to complete, so knocking out a few in one day is possible. After completing around six or seven of these we become eligible to take on C-rank missions, which are no easy feat and pay a lot more because of it. They can also be dangerous depending on the mission, which is why they're normally assigned to Chuunin and above." Juugou hoped his explanation was simple and concise enough for the Yomi to get a better understanding of how missions tied to the shinobi ranks. Juugou watched as his partner walked to a kiosk and pulled a mission out of it. He watched the older teen approach with a smile as he was handed the paper to look over. It seemed that there were other Genin out there actively defacing public and private property. Juugou sighed. He summoned his insects for the second time that day, splitting them into squads and sending them off to find the vandals. "Well, we don't have the authority to make them clean up the mess, but we can definitely track them down and put a stop to their childish antics. Come on, Dog Whisperer!" he called back, taking off in a hurry. He wanted to stop these kids before they did any more damage.