Morning events exhausted Sun. She needed to replenish her body with nutrients. She had retrieved her bag from the Sandy Arena and she checked if her wallet was still in it. Yes, it was, so she could allow to treat herself to some kind of meal. She didn't visit bazaar often to have a lunch. She came more often to just run some errands for her parents. But she always gazed her eyes upon some of the delicious food that could be bought. Of course her nose also got the tingly sensation of fresh cooked meat or vegetables with all kinds of extravagant spices. Her mind devoured almost everything that was offered for eating here. She couldn't call herself a gourmet but she always found her mouth watering when she went to the bazaar.

At this time of day bazaar was full of all kinds of people. Traders, merchants and even frauds and con-men. Full of people who wanted to get items for their own household or buy gifts. You could buy everything imaginable here - furniture, clothes, tools, fresh fruit, even flowers and houseplants. Both shinobi and regular citizens visited the bazaar. There weren't any ninja weapons on display, but blacksmiths probably offered those if ninjas were interested in paying more. Between the item stalls there were food stalls that suited different tastes. You could see some animals lingering around the trash bins behind food stalls. It was mostly some desert birds or stray dogs. Government didn't see it was necessary to increase the sanitary inspections and norms around here.

Sun usually wasn't picky about her food, but if she had money - hell yeah she will find a place that makes her mouth water the most. The most important was the dessert. She wanted vanilla ice cream for the dessert. Not many places served ice cream for it was difficult to preserve ice cream in Sunagakure's climate. Food below zero degrees was a rarity here. And she wanted this rarity for dessert! For main course she wanted some pork. Usually girls preferred chicken, but Sun didn't mind pork. It was tastier but had more fat. She was petite and didn't really care all that much of staying the same weight for next 30 years.

This one luxurious looking restaurant fitted the two main criteria. It was called "Eating kings" and for a reason: waiters were pompous looking and chairs and tables were elegant - from golden looking wood and sewn (tables were covered) with red cloth. Also all chairs had red cushions. There were some people dining there and they didn't look recognizable, therefore they were not Suna's elite. Maybe the prices in this restaurant weren't suited only for actual kings. Sun entered the restaurant and took a look at menu. First thing she looked at, of course, was the ice cream. "200 ryo??" she exclaimed in surprise and attracted unpleasant views from staff and people who dined there. Undoubtedly, pork she wished for was even more expensive and she also had wanted to order a side dish. Shen then exited the restaurant but kept looking at it from the street.

"I wonder if all ended well with Futoshi," she asked herself. She was all alone looking over that place. She lacked a good company and she didn't thank Futoshi properly. Instead she just left him to do an errand with no other choice. It was kind of mean. And Futoshi was being just humble after they saved jounin. Of course, Sun knew the skills to actually save him, but there probably was no one else who would came to aid her when she realized that the jounin was too heavy for her to just flip over. It was a good team work and they should share the credit evenly.
642

Futoshi slept soundly each night surrounding the night at the sandy arena. There were a few different ways he could have looked at such a phenomena. Either he was desensized to something horrible, or he was ready to embark on the violent lifestyle of being a shinobi. The night hadn't only just consisted of spectating violent battle, however. The slight, dull muscle strain of having supported the full weight of another muscular man through the streets of the city served as a gentle reminder of the full contents of the night at the Arena. That jounin was grateful through and through, but also had to choke down great amounts of pride while the people in the streets recognized him. Being practically carried to the hospital by a genin who normally works a fruit stand wasn't his idea of a publicity stunt, apparently.

A Jounin wasn't a bad friend or acquaintance to make. The man promised if Futoshi ever needed anything he was in his debt. He also insisted that Futoshi take a free meal for two at a restaurant in the Grand Bazaar called 'Eating Kings'. Futoshi of course tried to argue the point that it wasn't necessary, but off he was sent with a coupon. As Futoshi made his way out of the training area, freshly showered and cleaned of the sweat he had built up during the morning hours of rigorous lifting, he felt his stomach roar. It was in need of nourishment. Futoshi wasn't going to let this free meal ticket go to waste either, and so he made his way with some manner of haste to the grand bazaar.

The temperature on that day wasn't exceptionally hot. No, it was a rather breezy Sunagakure day. Futoshi wore his headband front and center upon his forehead, along with his collared button up shirt actually buttoned appropriately for once, tucked neatly into his khaki pants. He looked at least halfway decent. He made the quick stop by his apartment to pick up the two meal tickets, figuring he might as well be a good person and surprise someone with a free meal while he ate. There was no harm in doing selfless deeds.

As he made his way over to the bazaar from his apartment, he focused his attention on the soft patter of his feet upon the compacted sand which made up of the villages walkways. The only difference between those paths, and the wild, ever-shifting sands of the desert was the fact that these paths were walked often. His mind wandered off of that unconventional thought process as he found himself staring up at the restaurant he was seeking, and just in the nick of time, as his stomach groaned out once again.

As the crowd began to part his eyes fell upon the one and only Sun, standing in front of the same restaurant, seemingly lost in thought. He looked down at his two coupons for free meals and smiled, now knowing the purpose of them.

"Sun!" he cried out with excitement and cheer. "How have you been? Our night of miracle working turned out a success, and I'll tell you all about it over lunch. I'm buying!"

He wasn't taking no for an answer, and quite frankly his roaring stomach wasn't taking anything at all for an answer except food. He made his way into the restaurant, expecting she would follow and sit at the table he chose, by the window. It was a two person, round table. Menus were laid out before them. The atmosphere wasn't really the romantic type, which was good because he didn't want to give her the wrong ideas. He was only meaning it all as a friendly gesture, she was quite young compared to him, after all. He began to allow his eyes to glaze over the menu, determining what exactly he would be having to eat.

His knowledge of the body and nutrition directed him toward healthy items. Maybe a vegetable stir-fry with diced chicken. Something along those lines. However, his less thought out, cheating on his regimen idea was a large steak with a side of spicey veggies and rice. He pondered over that for a short time.

WC: 716

Sun was just flying in her thoughts and not paying attention to any person who hated that Sun was just standing and blocking her way and cursing her, not paying attention to the tempting vendors or endless voices of people who just came here to spend their hard earned money. But she was startled when she heard a masculine voice calling her name that came somewhere further down the street. Futoshi hurried over and greeted her. He looked a bit different than he did previously. He looked less like someone she would rather avoid. His appearance hand changed to better since they met in arena. However, Sun was still wearing the same clothes. She didn't have a big wardrobe after all. Most of clothes her parent's would buy for her would not longer fit her after a season. Sun and Futoshi already were acquaintances, so she responded with a bright smile and happy face. Even her eyes were smiling. She was delighted to meet Futoshi again. He brought good news - 'the miracle', which obviously was just some basic medical ninjutsu, had saved the jounin. And he also offered lunch, no doubt, it was the best news he had brought.

It was a surprise when Futoshi went in 'Eating kings'. It was an expensive restaurant after all. It almost seemed like he was reading her mind, because it was the only place she wanted to eat in. Futoshi seemed excited about getting his meal soon, maybe that's why he wasn't picky about the place they should go to, instead he just hurried in the restaurant without spending much time talking to Sun. Of course, Sun didn't mind, she just followed and was excited as well about how this was going to turn out. Futoshi didn't look like a rich person to offer her a free meal. Yes, she was judging by looks. No idea about his ancestors, no idea what kind of ninja he was, no idea if he had a job. But he was paying for that ice cream! They ended up sitting besides a nice round table with a good view through the window. The chairs were cushioned like all the others and they looked very comfortable. Sun enjoyed finally resting on the chair. It was so soft and fluffy unlike all the other chairs she had at home. This place suited pompous people, but there was no rule for that. In any case, those two could fake being well-mannered and used to luxurious places.

Just to be polite, Sun looked through the menu again. After all, Futoshi didn't know that she had already decided what she wanted before he came here. But that ice cream really was too expensive. She didn't want to make Futoshi broke for the rest of month. Just imagine if a man his age went broke over a 16 year old girl. Since he was very focused on checking out the menu, she first asked about food:"Have you decided what to eat?", but without waiting for an answer she continued, "for main course I would like pork. Minced pork sauce with rice," this was one of the cheapest decisions for pork dishes but she loved minced meat anyway, "and ice cream for dessert.. if you don't mind," she added with a note of shame in her voice. If he declined such flamboyancy, she would probably pay for ice cream herself.

After they had decided on the meal, Sun remembered that Futoshi promised her to tell all about the jounin he carried to the hospital. Of course she was interested to hear how they both dealt with each other. For the jounin it probably was embarassing, but for Futoshi it probably was a new experience, something he had never done before. "So tell me about that jounin!" Sun's eyes were wide and she smiled, eager to get answers to every question, "Did you find out his name? Did you stay with him in hospital?" no, she didn't leave any pause for Futoshi to answer, "Did internal bleeding start? When are the doctors letting him go?"
693

The restaurant was extremely posh. The inside was beyond fancy, cushioned chairs with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The waiters and waitresses were all dressed extremely to the book. Futoshi wondered to himself if this was the way people were able to eat on a jounin salary. He supposed that being the defenders of Sunagakure's sovereignty must have had its perks, for sure. As he sat and looked around in admiration he did say to her what key information she may have been looking for.

"Our jounin friend gave me these two, full-course meal vouchers for this place after I got him to the hospital. He insisted I scurry off, as I'm pretty sure his pride was aching every second that he had to lean against me through town, maybe even moreso than what his body ached. He never gave me his name, and I can only assume he survived, he was picked up and hauled off by medical staff very quickly. Im sure they took good care of him."

He had selected a combination of a healthy item and a chest item, beef steak stir-fry. It sounded absolutely splendid, and combined the healthy factors of stir-fry with the craving he had for a nice steak. After reporting his order to the waitress, who was an extremely kind and considerate woman by the look of her, he let Sun finish her order and met her with his eyes again when she asked for ice cream with shame in her voice. "Make that two ice creams, please." He looked over and laughed quietly after making his order, surely a near 20 year old man getting ice cream wasn't the most ordinary occurrence in Sunagakure.

"I've never eaten in a place like this before in all of my life. My folks weren't poor by any means but this is a little off the charts for what we could afford. And now I'm a genin and a fruit stand worker. So i definitely couldn't afford it now. Do you imagine our jounin friend can afford these sorts of things with his pay-grade as a jounin or is it his arena winnings that enable him?"

He looked around some more, examining some of the other people dining in the restaurant, being careful not to stare. "I'd love to be able to do this more often. Can you even imagine how great that'd be?" He asked that because he honestly couldn't imagine it. He had an okay cash flow from working the fruit stand. Now that he was on leave, he was only receiving his genin alotment which was about half. After rent, he was thrift spending to get by each month on that. It was very key that he rank up more quickly so he could better enjoy the little things in life.

After around fifteen minutes of banter and laughter between the two, the food finally came out and it was even more heavenly than either of them had probably imagined. His stir-fry was still sizzling slightly, fresh off of the skillet. He waited for her plate to be seated in front of her just as his was, and he tipped his head in a little bow before picking up his fork and beginning to eat. He almost hated how absolutely heavenly it all tasted because he knew he wouldn't be able to return to the place any time in the near future. He also was enjoying Sun's company. One doesn't realize often how lonesome they are until they aren't for once.

"Oh my goodness this food is so heavenly, what have I been doing all of my life while this gem has existed here all along. This expensive...inaccessible gem. How is yours?"

Post WC: 640
Total WC: 1356

It was very kind of Futoshi to treat Sun to lunch even if that jounin paid for all this. It was both genin teamwork that had brought them here after all. This jounin should be praised too for being very generous. Maybe they both should visit him in the hospital someday.

She smiled when her friend also ordered ice cream. Vanilla ice cream was the best treat you could get living in Suna. Even if northern breezes spared the citizens from the insane heat today, it usually was hot and dry. People weren't exactly delighted when offered a hot meal in a hot day, even if this same dish would be a delicacy in Konohagakure for example.

A lady dressed accordingly to restaurants theme brought them their food. Futoshi really had improved his manners since they had met in the arena. He didn't dig in his food straight away. Like a gentleman, he waited for Sun's plate to be placed in front of her and bowed before starting to eat. A little confused, Sun followed his example and started eating only after a little bow. The rice on her dish wasn't anything very out of ordinary, however in addition with mincer pork sauce it tasted great. The sauce was a little spicy - just like Sun liked. Just after a few bites Futoshi started discussing the food. Sun almost spit her food out as she started to laugh loudly as Futoshi spoke:"Heavenly? Gem?" she was mocking her friend, but didn't mean it as an insult. She simply didn't like that they've been too serious and friendly:"What are you? A poet?" she kept on laughing and attracting attention from other customers who now started to look dissatisfied with the young girl's attitude in such an expensive place. After she had calmed down, she finally was able to answer his question and describe her food:"Let's see. My food is fine! It's good!" she too wanted to experiment with rarely used adjectives, but sadly she couldn't come up with anything at this very moment.

Soon the same woman brought their second course - vanilla ice cream. Vapor was springing up from the ice. It was freshly out of storage where it was kept cold with bags of ice and low temperature. Quality storing indeed. Even if this place was expensive, they did their best to preserve their food in the best conditions. Ice cream was scooped on dishes that were barely smaller than the ones they ate main course from. But the spoons they were given were smaller than forks from the first meal. Sun immediately dug in and picked a huge piece in her spoon and put it all in her mouth:"Ummmm!" she exclaimed revealing that this ice cream was very good too. Before she was able to swallow it all, she was wiggling it around in her mouth since it was too cold to hold on teeth for too long or on her tongue. With food still in her mouth, she was no executing bad manners and said:"This is almost like a date!" she then laughed, blushed, forced her face down so it couldn't be seen, swallowed it all and faced Futoshi again with a big smile and red cheeks.

Sun really felt that she liked this man. He was strong, he was polite and he wasn't cocky like most people were. What kind of ninja he was though? Sun was eager to find out more, but she felt too embarrassed to keep the conversation alive after she revealed how she felt about this lunch. It was the guy treating her after all, there was no other way to interpret it. Of course, she finished her ice cream but while doing it she didn't answer anything that Futoshi said to her. She just nodded or shook her head or shrugged her shoulders and smiled confusingly. As soon as she finished her ice cream, she stood up and properly thanked for the meal:"Thanks Futoshi! I hope to meet you again, perhaps under more dire circumstances," she didn't even realize it sounded dreadful. All she wanted was to find out more of Futoshi as a ninja. What was he capable of? What clan was he from? What were his specialties? She then left him alone. Just like in the sandy arena.
737
[Exit]
Total: 2072 words
Training:
Strength from E-0 to D-0: 750/750
Perception from E-0 to D-1: 1075/1075 + 25 ryo
Leftovers: 2072-1075-750= 247 words

Sun was the one to finally break the so far very serious, up-tight atmosphere of the perfect meal. Some may have thought this was a negative thing, but Futoshi was pleased with the mocking teases. The atmosphere was far too fancy and fine-dining for him prior to the eruption of laughter from Sun. That being said, the looks that were attracted from around the room brought her to a quick calm as she replied to him about the quality of her food. Futoshi finally lost his composure and laughed along with her as she implanted her own adjectives about the foods quality. "Fine, good! Please Sun, there are children around! You can't just go using such colorful, aristocratic language! Futoshi let out a hearty, choked back laugh, not to offend but to add to the banter in a funny way and show he was capable of letting loose too.

Futoshi was happy to see that his guest for lunch was enjoying herself very much. They bantered and finished the first course, likely now the attraction of much scrutiny from the crowd of well-to-do people seated around them. That was no issue though. Futoshi didn't mind, they were enjoying their time, which was limited in a world like this. Those people would forget this in a matter of days, replaced by visits to more highly expensive restaurants. It always deeply confused Futoshi how higher ranking shinobi were treated so much more amicably in comparison to genin. Genin were graduates of the ninja academy. They were just as much defenders of Suna as the older more skilled shinobi. They just didn't have the time to back it yet.

The desert  was brought in with excellent presentation. It was kept in ice to ensure it lasted long enough for consumption, as the delicately frozen, hand-made dairy product was likely to melt in only seconds out in the dry Sunagakure heat. The ice cream was delicious. Every bite melted in ones mouth and flooded it with sweet, creamy flavor. Vanilla flavor, to be exact. Sun was more than enjoying herself by this point, she couldn't help herself but to smile and say, with her mouth still full of ice cream "This is almost like a date!" Futoshi's eyes widened and he very nearly choked on his own ice cream when she said that, her cheeks flushed red as did Futoshi's, but he regained composure rather quickly and looked her with a gentle kindness in the eyes. "You're a very sweet girl, and if you'd like to think of this as a date, that's perfectly okay! We all deserve a little tender company in a world like this."

Futoshi remained ever so slightly cryptic, but genuine. He didn't know how old the young teen was, only that he was older than her. She was very pretty, and kind. Just his type, but he would never have crossed over into the realm of dating someone below the age of consent. He held himself to very high morals. There was no harm in giving her a kind response and allowing her to call this a date, either way. It was cute.

As they finished up, Sun was more quiet, giving only little nods and gestures as opposed to speaking. When they were finally ready to depart she said to him something he found funny, causing Futoshi to chuckle as he said "If I'm ever in a more dire situation, I'd want to see nobody but you to tend to my wounds!"

And so, after another lovely little adventure with his newly discovered friend and...interest, Futoshi would head sluggishly back to his apartment, his stomach full and slightly disturbed by the mix of ice-cream and Suna heat. He too hoped he would see Sun again sometime in the near future. Maybe in a situation more suited to his handling, after-all, to this point she had been the only one to show off any skills as a shinobi.
[Exit Thread]
Post WC: 679
Total WC: 2039

Strength: E-3 to D-1[625 + 25 ryo]
Endurance: E-3 to D-1 [625 + 25 ryo]
Reaction Time: E-3 to D-1 [625 + 25 ryo]
Total: 1875
Remaining: 164