Susumu, Ayame, and Jun were called to the Hokage's office. A call this early meant something was probably up.
"I want you three to investigate a recent theft from our archives," Tsunade explained seriously. "Whoever did this was able to bypass the security and infiltrate our records."
"Oof…What was stolen?" Ayame asked first.
"One of our forbidden scrolls, I want it found immediately," Tsunade responded firmly.
"Any ideas who did this?" Susumu asked. "Did the surveillance cameras pick anything up?"
"No, and no," the Hokage sighed, visibly troubled, "They somehow managed to disable the cameras. You have my permission to enter the archives and find any clues you can; the theft happened less than an hour ago, so it's still fresh." Tsunade pursed her lips, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
"This investigation is confidential. Keep it strictly need-to-know. I already sealed the gates, no one leaves the village until that scroll is found." She leaned back in her chair. A document on the table was motioned to and Jun picked it up. "That file contains a list of the archive rooms contents, it might help you with the search. Go on, I've kept you long enough," Once they were dismissed they headed to the crime scene.
The archive rooms housed an array of forbidden scrolls and equipment, capable of significantly augmenting a ninja's strength; anyone could be a suspect. Except for them...and the Hokage...but anyone else could still be the criminal.
"I'm going to scan the perimeter around the room," Jun informed her teammates and broke away.
That left Susumu and Ayame the task of starting the investigation.
"What do you think was in the scroll?" Susumu inquired as he combed the area for anything suspicious.
"Beats me," Ayame happily explored the various 'forbidden' items. He bent over to examine a spherical crystal atop a pillow. "I don't see anything that's been disturbed," he said, tapping the crystal ball. For a moment an image flickered within the crystal, but when the blonde boy looked back it was opaque again.
"Hey…" Susumu bent down in front of a shelf filled with scrolls and spotted a void in the dust. "Something was taken from this section. "
"Ha?" Ayame's head peeked out from behind a suit of armor now. "Well, there's no sign of forced entry, it looks like they knew exactly what they were looking for."
"Ah?" Susumu leaned closer to get a better view of the back of the shelf and spotted a few specs of what he thought to be dust. The fine substance appeared both on the shelf and the floor. "What's this?" He dropped to his knees and inspected the strange powder. "A-Ayame! I think this is a clue!"
"A clue?" His teammate came over but was halted when Susumu held his hand up to stop him.
"Wait, don't come any closer!" he warned the blonde boy. "This…" Susumu ran his finger through the powdery substance and brought it up for a closer look. "Hmm…" He took a whiff and then, much to Ayame's disgust, put his finger in his mouth to taste it.
"Augh?! Eww! That's so gross!" Ayame grimaced and pulled Susumu's hand back.
"Curry powder," Susumu gave a nod, and Ayame raised a brow, releasing him, "I'd recognize that flavor anywhere," He dipped his finger in the powder to show his teammate.
"Yeah, I'll pass,"
"I figured out how the cameras were disabled," Jun spoke up when she entered the room. She paused, however, when she spotted Susumu on the ground with his finger held out to her brother. "…What are you doing?"
Susumu jumped to his feet, "I found a clue! There's a trail of curry powder from the entrance to the scroll that was taken! I…don't know what it means, but…it's something,"
"Ok…" She glanced awkwardly from her teammate to her brother and attempted to segue. "Anyway...The camera outside was tampered with," she held up a piece of paper with an image of the archive room's interior printed on it, "This picture mimics the camera feed," That answered how their perp was able to bypass the security without alerting the camera operator.
"Genius," Ayame remarked.
Susumu was deep in thought, still trying to find meaning behind his clue, "Maybe the person we're looking for is…someone who likes curry!?" Susumu offered. "I know some great curry places. Who knows? Our perp might've eaten there before coming here," Despite the strangeness, that was their only lead.
"I want you both to check out those restaurants; ask the owners about their curry powder," Jun instructed, feeling the urgency to create a suspect pool, "Bring them a sample of what was found, they may recognize the blend,"
"Yeah, sure," Susumu nodded, carefully gathering as much of the powder as he could onto a slip of paper. He folded it up to prevent any spills and tucked it into his vest. "What're you going to do?"
"I'm going to check the gates."
"Sounds good," Ayame gave a nod. The trio split to perform their respective duties.
Once outside, a grin slowly emerged on Ayame's face and he gave a cough to get Susumu's attention. "So…you like curry, huh?"
"Wha—You make it sound weird! I-It's not like that," Susumu protested, suddenly feeling self-conscious, "I just…Well, some people like ramen, and some people like barbecue…I'm more of a curry person."
Jun reached the first gate and approached the two nin guarding it. "Report,"
"Ah?" They were a bit flustered by her bluntness. "No sign of anyone," a nin answered. "None of the gate guards and none of the nin patrolling the gates have seen anything. Whoever took the scroll must still be in the village."
"…Show me your log books,"
"Er..." Another went to retrieve them and placed the pile of books on the desk. "What're we looking for?"
"Anything suspicious within the last day or two." She split the logs between them. Hopefully, the task would not take that long.
"Huh? Well…I only open for lunch, so it couldn't have come from my shop." The restaurant owner told Susumu and Ayame. "In fact, I don't know anyone that serves curry that early in the morning."
"Dang it…" Susumu frowned. "This was our best lead too,"
"What time do you start your prep work?" Ayame began a new line of questioning.
"Ah, well I try to come in early, about three hours before I open shop—"
"Aha!" Susumu raised his voice excitedly, "That means the one responsible could've been exposed to this curry powder during your food prep—"
"I'm sorry, but I don't think my prep cook and I are the ones you're looking for. We've been in the kitchen since 8 am; there's no time to leave and steal—what was it that's been stolen?"
"Ah…" Ayame cut in, not wanting to divulge that a forbidden scroll had been taken. "Hey, we brought a sample of the curry powder, do you think it's the same as yours?" the blonde boy motioned to his teammate and Susumu quickly pulled the folded-up paper out of his vest pocket.
"Oh yeah! Maybe you can help us figure out who made it," he said, handing the unfolded paper to the chef.
"Hmm…just judging from the color I can tell this isn't my recipe. Too much cinnamon." He handed it back to Susumu. "You could try asking around the other shops, we all have our own special blend," The duo thanked the man and headed to the next nearest restaurant.
"How many restaurants are left?" Ayame deferred to Susumu, expecting the other boy to know.
"…A lot, there's gotta be at least seven—Ah?!" Susumu gasped loudly and bolted off.
"H-Hey?! Where are you going?!" Ayame chased after him. Susumu had followed two people down the busy street and past the corner before Ayame caught up to him.
"I've got an emergency, I need your help figuring out which place uses this curry," Susumu urgently explained to Chouji and Shikamaru.
"Huh—"
"Here, you're my only hope!"
"Q-Quit it!" Chouji had to put his hands up to get Susumu to stop. "Ok! Ok! I'll see what I can do!"
"…Why is he doing that?" Shikamaru asked Ayame both observing the scene as Susumu shoved a piece of paper into Chouji's face.
"We're solving a mystery." The blonde boy nonchalantly said as he watched the encounter.
"Tsk…" Shikamaru sighed in response; that sounded troublesome. "So, what's the connection between your mystery and…this?" he motioned to the interaction between their teammates.
"Oh, no," The blonde boy shook his head, "I have no idea what this is,"
"I'd recognize this anywhere! This is the unmistakable blend of the Curry House special!"
"Great!" Susumu stashed away the powder. "You just saved us from having to interview the other restaurant owners!"
"I did?" Chouji blinked proudly, but soon it changed to irritation, "H-Hey wait a second, why'd you think I'd know!? You're not thinking I'm—"
"C'mon, we better leave them to their work. Good luck with your...mystery," Shikamaru cut in and tugged on his friend's jacket.
"Let's head over to Curry House," Susumu did the same, grabbing onto Ayame's collar and yanking him away.