Mission Arc Lessgoo

Mission Arc Lessgooo:

With a hood wrapped loosely around her shoulders, Meika ventured her way towards Kumogakure’s local butcher. She had high hopes of purchasing some high-quality trout from the butcher so that Meika and her beloved feline could enjoy a lovely dish for the week. The very thought of the grilled trout with some rice and egg sounded promising.

The view of the butcher’s building came within sight, and Meika almost quickened her step in excitement, but fortunately, the kunoichi was able to maintain herself and continue being patient with her travels.  At last, she entered the market, her eyes scanning over the different items on display. There were many different types of venison and fish that the place had to offer, the hunter was quite a salesman when it came to what he had to offer.

Her eyes finally found the trout that the lass was in search of. She approached the person who stood by the display, the coin pouch in her pocket feeling quite heavy. Ready to be spent on the goods that attracted her attention, and eager appetite. “I’d like a pound of your trout over there in the case.” She announced, giving a respectable bow of the head towards the man. The lass wasn’t really the type to display much gratitude, but this once she’ll make an exception.

The man nodded his head back as a response, before moving to collect the trout she had asked for and packaging it accordingly. “Ah~ you are one of the shinobi I see. .” The man pointed out the headband she wore around her waist. “I could give you a discount if you were to help me out a bit. Well, you’d be doing more of a favor for the humble hunter that works with me. I’m sure he’d even give a hefty payment as well.”

Meika raised her eyebrow, pronouncing her slight raise of interest. “I’m intrigued. What’s the favor?” The butcher continued to explain the situation, not leaving much out as he went into detail about what was needed, where it was located, and why it was so urgent.

“You should be able to find everything within the woods if you follow along up the mountains a bit. The berries and herbal roots like to flourish in the harsh cold climates.”

{382}

Today was a day like most others, where Zansu woke up soon to go train at the training field, pumping iron, hitting targets and practiciting her ninjutsu techniques as usual, taking her new life as a shinobi really serious, and her devotion to the village hidden in the clouds serious too. As it was also her routine to do after a big training, the white haired muscular lady went to the market to eat a large protein meal. Arriving in the food markets around the hour of noon, Zansu was walking with assurance, wearing proudly her headband of kumogakure as a armband instead, tying it around her muscular arm in a loop to show the metla plaque, but barely being big enough to stretch and loop around her big arm.


 The market was one of her favorite places: it reminded her of her past as a fishwoman in the country side of the land of lightning, living in a hamlet almost always unders the weather of heavy rain and oceanic winds, with the sound of waves crashing violently on the tall stony cliffs on the seaside. Indeed, the market embodied chaos and mayhem in a civilized way, with people wandering and haggling in each corners, merchants selling their products and meats while yelling, and apprentices chopping off food on large wooden blocks. She felt right at home in this environment, being a person of active life and highly energetic. As she sat down in a stall, Zansu mouth was begining to salivate, activating her large appetite for food while seeing the tons of meats and fishes out for display to choose and peruse what she would devour. After a few minutes of eyeing the merchandise, Zansu decided what she would order to eat right then an there.

''Oy mister! Can ya cook me some stuff right here so I can eat?'' Asked the backyard woman, her tone being one of some rascal.

''Eh, sure ma'am, sure! What do you want to eat?'' replied the tall man, butchering away at a large pork shoulder with a huge and heavy iron cleaver covered in blood and meat bits, a sign of a good man working hard in this line of work.

''I'll take a big flank steak, juicy and grilled, but bloody. Then I'll take a whole grilled swordfish ahaha!'' Exclamed the woman, licking her own lips in a sign of a large appetite.

''By the clouds! You will eat all of this?!?'' said the butcher, supprised of her strong appetite, and mentions of only protein and meat, with nothing else to acompagny the meal.

''Of course I fucking will! Gotta feed the beast to keep it running and strong.'' Said a now smilling Zansu, revealing her sharp pointy teeths to the man, a sign of her great capabilities to bite down and munch some food. 

As she waited a bit for the man to cook and prepare it all, she finally received her meal, dropped in a large platter of wood before her, taking almost a 2-3 feets of length with the whole swordfish dropped on the plate, with visible grill marks on its scaly skin, and a sweet and sea infused aroma of barbecue into the air. The steak too was visibly juicy, caramelized and browned to perfection, but when cut into red and oozy with juices running down the place but soon grasped back by a chunk of meat that Zansu dipped into the juices, before throwing it down her mouth that teared and chewed so fast trough the food that it looked like a gaping abyss, endlessly devouring everything that come in its path. After a while of eating, Zansu saw someone else arrive at the place, a slim an dark haired lady, who like her too, wore a headband of the Kumogakure village. As she spoke too to the butcher ordering some fish, Zansu kept looking at her while eating, and decided to hail for  her attention.

''HEY!'' yelled Zansu, waving slightly at the lady, her hands dirty with blood, meat juices, fat and grease.

''You here too for a mission? Maybe we could do it together. My name is Zansu Rayu. How about you?'' said the short white haired lady. Her appearance was a very particular one, and she was usually standing out from crowds because of it.

Indeed, Zansu was a tall woman, and very muscular, built on the more masculine side, but with still very feminine features, both bodily and face-wise. Her skin was very pale, almost porcelain like, but covered in scars, proofs of her hardcore life and seeking of combat, as well as her courage when facing hardships. She wore a pair of stripped high waisted shorts, with a bandage tank tops or should we say strappless bra, covering only her chest. On top of that, she wore a large and ample kimono like coat of dar teal and grey color, tied loosely at her waist and worn over only one of both her arms, the other side and sleeve hanging behind her. On her legs, she wore long thigh high socks with wooden sandals, showing her traditionnal and rural origins. What distinguished her the most tho was her face and head. Her hair were of a silver white, short and pointy, showing her Hatake heritage, with her eyes of a almost sky blue, pale and shining. Her features were delicate and feminine, with a small and pointy nose, but her mouth was savage, a large grin filled with sharpened and pointy teeths, showing her most barbaric side. Large scars spanned across her face, making one of her eyes checkered with two crossing scars, a star like patern on her cheek. She also always wore her headband as an armband, not restraining her head to anything, but still showing her patriotic values, and two fan like earrings, the only object showing her limited refinery and woman-like attributes. 

To anyone not knowing her, she could deffinitely appear scary and intimidating.

Meika would easily recognize the distinctive smell of the grilled swordfish as it wavered through the butcher’s hut. The Kumo lass had been acquainted with swordfish steaks coated with a savoring butter glaze, more times than she could count, and each time had been greatly enjoyable. Meika’a train of thought was interrupted by the sudden outburst of a greeting, causing the woman to extend her gaze to the other woman, who was seated at the table. The swordfish that Meika had noticed was massive as it adorned the tabletop surface.

“Ah~ we were just discussing the details. Having an extra body wouldn't be an objection on my part.” Meika admitted that having an additional person could be beneficial, especially since the motivation of other shinobi participating in the missions would of course have a positive impact on both that shinobi and the village itself. “Zansu is it? I go by Meika Kamigawa, one of the Chunin within the village.”

The raven-haired woman took note of the other Kunoichi, easily noticing the great difference in the other woman’s physic compared to her own. While the Chunin had a slender, yet toned build, the other lass had one that resembled a warrior that looked to fight the front lines. The scars that adorned her form were only more evidence of that. Her opponents would surely want to avoid close quarters with anyone matching that brutality. Zansu almost reminded the lass of Kaito and Ichigo in a way.  

Meika wondered to herself in silence, whether the lass would end up as a shinobi that followed the more physical path with that sort of physic. “We’ll need to head up towards the mountains a bit, and be on the look out for anyone that may want to get in our way. But I highly doubt that will be an issue.”

Meika glanced back at the butcher, “If you don’t mind, I’ll come back around after we gather those ingredients to take home the trout.”

---

Zansu followed the woman to the outskirts of the village, where the large forrest spanned and where the plants they were hired to find where growing. The difference between them was day and night! Zansu was a mountain of muscle, the opposite of delicate and a fighter with her fist, while the other seemed way more slender and focused on another way of fighting. But nonetheless, Zansu liked the other lady, because she seemed straight to the point. As the walk would be long, the white haired woman would make conversation with Meika, getting to know her, as she was new herself to the village and didnt know a whole lot of people. She would stay on the lookout still, watching behind a few times and left and right into the thick vegetation of the forest, watching for potential bandits and criminals who would want to acquire the rare plants for themselves to sell on the black market. 

''So Meika! A chuunin uh? So you are a veteran of the hidden clouds. Thats sick. I'm pretty new myself here. Im guessing you dont fight the same way I do? What is your thing if i may ask?'' said Zansu in a confidant tone, walking loud and proud with her katana in hands, resting on her shoulder like a long stick with both her arms extanding to hold it and rest on it, in the same manner as a carrier of rice buckets. The white haired woman was curious, and forward, wanting to know who she could learn from, and team up well with different capacities, and as they would do this mission together, she might as well get to know her! 



As she waited on the answer from Meika, Zansu picked up a noise over a small hill in the woods, and started to sneak, approaching the noise source with care, taking her time to not walk on a branch or anything else that would make noice and reveal their position. Should Meika follow in the same maner, Zansu would signal to her with her hands to approach, to get a good look on the origin of the noise. On the other side of the small land bump was a bandit, dressed in rags and dirty deserter clothes picking herbs and looking all around to see if someone was observing him. With a faint smile, Zansu forgot all sneak and silent approach ideas, and decided to jump head on toward the man. As she waited for him to be turning his back to the two woman, the white haired shinobi got out of the bush dashing and sprinting toward the bandit, screaming and unsheating her katana, throwing litteraly the scabard onto the ground in the bushes, and sprinting with sword in hand to empale the bandit. 

''Arrgghhh!! Time to diiiiiiieeee!'' screamed Zansu, charging directly toward the suprised man.

Taking him by suprise, Zansu squewered the man, leaving him standing in pain with the sword sticking out of his chest, trough and trough, impaling him, Zansu herself not even holding the blade anymore as he stood there gasping and shocked by what just happened. As she turned toward Meika and only smiled again, she turned back toward the pierced bandit before he would fall and with her muscular hand snapped his neck to end his life. Right afterwards, she would grab the handle of the sword still stuck into the man while he was falling, and kicked him out of the sword to retrieve it, flicking it to clean it from the blood. 

''Urgh. I stained my sandals I think! Dammit...'' Said the white haired woman, kicking the corpse out of frustration, before starting to collect herself the sought after plants and flowers that they were sent to pick.

Lass's question about her fighting style. It was true that they were quite different when it came to battling, but that's what made it interesting! Meika was more into fighting from a distance, using her water and genjutsu skills to her advantage.

As she pondered on how to best explain her unique approach to combat, the two continued on their way to sought out the materials that the butcher had asked for. “I can use the element of water as a way to compliment my main specialty, with a bit if am advantage from other means I have avaliable.”

Meika felt like that was a good way of describing it. She didn't feel the need to dive too deeply, not being the type that talked very much about herself, let along her capabilities and weaknesses. She also didn't feel the need to mention the ghosts and spirits and wavered around like unwanted, but expected company.

“What of yourself?” The Kunoichi dared to ask the white haired woman. Who very soon seemed to get distracted by a sudden noise within the woods that surrounded them. Meika slowed her pace, watching as the other lass moved into a more stealth approach. The noise itself didn't sound as if anything was approaching them, more as if something was just scurrying around in a distance not far off. She didn't feel the need to be as alarmed, but still allowed herself to maintain a ready stance just in case the situation called for her to react quickly.

Meika continued to witness as Zansu caught sight of what seemed to be a lowly bandit, one who's attention seemed to be more focused on the ground and completely unaware of the two Kunoichi that stalked near by.

A few moments and Zansu's stance changed from stealth to one that resembled more of a boar. Watching as she charged forward like an animal that screamed with a fit of violent wrath, empaling the very oblivious bandit.

It was obvious that Zansu had it under control, as she snapped the bandit's neck to finish him off before turning her attention to the crimson that painted her sandals. With that, Meika glanced around to see if any of the ruckus might have attracted any unwanted attention. But besides the bandit that was already dealt with, the place seemed to be clear. Of course her sense still stayed on guard as she joined Zansu in scavenging the earth for the herbs in which they came for.

With swift and silent footsteps, Meika navigated through the trees, her senses keenly attuned to her surroundings. The stillness of the forest enveloped her like a comforting blanket, the only sound being the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze.

As she moved deeper into the woods, sunlight filtered through the thick canopy above, creating a dappled pattern on the forest floor. Meika's eyes scanned the undergrowth, searching for the telltale signs of the herbs she sought. She bent down to pluck a sprig of mint, its refreshing scent mingling with the earthy aroma of the forest.

Meika's hands moved deftly as she gathered each herb and flower on her list, her fingers brushing against delicate petals and velvety leaves. Wondering to herself how the hunter would use all of this,  and just how damn good it would compliment his desired feast. “Since you are someone I've yet met, do you come with a story? Have you always been here in Kumogakure?” Meika questioned Zansu, a little curious of the woman's upbringing.  Though also aware of the fact that not many may be comfortable with sharing. She continued with their assignment as she waited for Zansu's response.

A part of Meika enjoyed the time she spent picking through the herbs, wandering through the woods but not trailing too far from her companion. The scent of pine and earth filled her senses, grounding her in the present moment. Her senses heightened in anticipation of the possible danger that may lurk around every corner. She longed for the rush of adrenaline that came with facing something unexpected, but as the minutes passed by, she realized that any other danger may not follow for the remaining of their time within the woods.  


The absence of the thrill left her feeling slightly disappointed, but she couldn't deny the peacefulness that surrounded her in the quiet of the forest. “Are you about ready to head back?” Meika would once again question Zansu, wondering if the both if them had been successful in the exploration and gathering of the wanted materials. The herbs that the raven haired lass had gathered was stored safely away. Perhaps she would be able to convey the hunter to share a morsel of the feast with them? It wouldn't hurt to share just a tad. The gathering of the herbs and the visual that the lass had if the feast, slightly enticed her appetite.

She waited for Zansu to give her the signal that it was time to return, as long as nothing came within their way of doing so. And when Zansu was ready, Meika would begin the venture back down towards the butcher's hut to hand over what she has gathered, making sure to stay nearby the other lass. A bit of herself wondered if the blood on Zansu's sandals woukd really end up staining.

For how brutal the lass was during that attack during the beginning of their search, she was amazed that Zansu complained about the blood at all. But that was the interesting part of meeting someone for the first time. Not everyone is able to go based on visual perceptions alone, or first impressions, to determine the type of person they are.

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{953/1,665}

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