Chiaki clambered out of bed, sniffling and opening one eye, the other cemented shut by sleep. Wow, that was a great look, she thought as she looked at the mirror next to the bed. Not! Growling she pushed herself off of the floor, her blankets lying in a lump as she stretched and rubbed her eye, trying to get rid of the sleep there. She walked to the bathroom and turned on the hot water, getting undressed she looked at herself. Nope, no changes. She would have to train more to see any change worth a notable look. Shrugging to herself she washed up, ate some breakfast consistent of cereal and some leftover Soba, and got dressed. Today she wore a tight fitting black shirt, almost like under-armor underneath a tight fitting blouse. The blouse was tucked into a skirt and black tights, which were in turn tucked into her brown shoes she normally wore. She looked outside and sighed, grabbing a coat and putting her fists through it. It was black and nondescript, she had stolen it from her father when she had moved out. Later he said he didn't mind. She kinda knew better than that, as she smirked she picked up her keys and locked the door, opening the pouch on her side she tossed the keys up and ran down the stairs, waiting as they fell into the pouch like always.

Her hair streamed behind her like two ribbons, and she thought better of it as she jogged past the first couple of doors and rounded a corner. She tied it back into a bun and nodded to test that it wasn't going to fall out. A bright smile eked its way across her face as she started to pick up the pace.

She sprinted across the hall, down the next set of stairs and burst out into the morning air. A shudder as the cool morning air greeted her and she was off. Chiaki climbed the first building that she was next to, the grocers with a smile and took off across the rooftops. There were couriers, ninjas, and other people running the same way she was, and it was an expedient, if not totally original mode of travel now. A jump, aerial pirouette and a soft landing later she rolled to the ground outside of the Administration Office. There was a bustle about the place, even this early in the morning.

Chiaki couldn't help a grin from creeping across her face as she pushed the doors open to, "Oh, right on time!"

"I ah- ahm. I am not late am I?" She straightened her skirt and jacket, looking at the man from head to toe, measuring him not only in prowess but also in style. She had an eye for people who dressed frumpily, even on missions, and she really hoped that she wasn't going to be paired with someone sloppy. She looked around him with a raised brow at the woman who had said, "Right on time" with a quizzical look. She knew she had to be here, but she was hoping she wasn't late for her first ever mission.

After all, she couldn't help not knowing what time the missions were normally handed out.

Word Count:

Chiaki scooted up to the desk, placing her hands on the table and scanning the documents. She nodded when she had been addressed by her name. “Unless there is another chiaki around here, I am Guanyin, Chiaki.” She would nod once again and turn to look at Takao once more. He seemed cool and collected and would be the leader of the mission?

She seized him up once more. He seemed to be a bit older than her, but not by much, she guessed only a few years, and was handsome, but he had scars on his arms which could only mean that he was either foolish, arrogant, or not careful when he was out on missions. The scars were what put her off, not because they were anything unattractive, but because they meant that he had been foolish before. A small sigh escaped her as she weighed her options. She really needed the ryo for the rent that was due in thirty days and she hadn't had a job in a good long while. Alright, she made up her mind, better a reckless leader than a failed mission. And besides, perhaps he was not that reckless after all? These thoughts floated across her face as she listened to the woman.

She adjusted her own forehead protector which was guarding the base of feet neck and brain stem accordingly. It was the quickest way to kill a person and was the only protective gear she had received thus far. A silent gulp escaped her tiny lips as the woman described them. They wore masks like the ANBU, like that man, the one from her graduating class. Takao looked about her age, and she didn't know too much about him. She didn’t know what Takao was like, what his function within the group was, or how much he would be helping. Would she be taking the front seat to the mission or be the backup while he did most of the work. All questions that were on the tip of her tongue, and the edge of her lips before the woman stopped and they all sank back, deep in her stomach and started to ball up there. Her confidence was fading before the woman had even finished her speech and when she was done. What if they failed?

“I -ah… I guess not, but who else is going on this mission with us? “ she asked politely and gave him an ingratiating smile. She didn't really know if the two of them were up up to the task, especially in a village of shinobi. After all, what would they do if they were high ranking? The last thief that she had tried to catch had mangled the hand of the man who had helped her and, much as this Jonin was handsome, she didn't want to add any more scars to his tapestry. Better to play it on the safe side. Maybe he had a friend that would be coming along, or there were others that might help with the mission. She didn’t know exactly what rank this was, as it was her first, ever, mission.

Total word count::

Chiaki noticed, for the first time, that Takao had not spoken since her arrival, and if the scars didn’t make her nervous his silence certainly did. She saw his gaze shift between Tomita and her, then settling, finally with a bit of a sigh of relief, on Tomita. She couldn’t help but keep the lump out of her throat with a, she hoped, inaudible gulp. Though if his ears worked well enough, he probably heard it.

“Just the two of us, yeah?” His directness startled her. Her mind started to backpedal, perhaps he wasn’t as careless as she had assumed, perhaps he wasn’t as weak either. Maybe he didn’t need protecting. Her eyes flitted between Tomita and Takao before resting on him once more.

As soon as he said that it was a C-ranked mission again, she felt her face grow hot as she flushed a bright red. Oh, yeah, this was supposed to be a cake walk for a Jounin. Perhaps she should have thought of that earlier. It wasn’t like the higher ups promoted someone for nothing, no matter how many scars they had. Her stomach settled in her shoes again, shame washing over her in cold waves of sweat, one after another. First towards his declaration, and then towards the question. She should have caught onto that. Darnit, so much for showing off her first mission. A small sigh and a shrug to herself. Well, this wasn’t going as well as she had hoped, but it wasn’t like she was going to be thrown out for not asking a simple question.

Chiaki snapped back into the moment as soon as she mentioned the “Litterbug Gang” It was actually quite on the nose, and people who were messy irritated her already. She nodded along with the woman and when Tomita chuckled, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of the pressure alleviate itself. Also Takao might be a bit careless when it came to fighting, but she pegged him as a thinker. He seemed to analyze the situation, much as she did before jumping in. She had to admire that. She was a woman of few words, unless she was nervous, as well, and it was refreshing to see someone, roughly her age, that was like her. She put a hand up to check her bun as she thought of something, an epiphany coming to mind in a sudden rush.

“So, uhm… why is this a C-ranked mission then?” She asked Tomita, a little bit for herself and a little bit for Takao, “I mean, usually apprehending kids is left to D-ranked missions, if I am not mistaken? It is taught in the academy, or I think so… It’s been about 9 years since my academy days, so I am a bit rusty on the ranking system.” She offered an apologetic smile to Takao as he asked his question.

“Oh Y-yeah, It’s my first mission. I appreciate you being willing to take the lead as I don’t have my… er… sea-legs as per the saying. I wish that I would have better prepared, but I suppose you’re stuck with me.” Her self-worth showing a bit in the last sentence, “Please take care of me.” She offered the self-same saying that she would to a class of new classmates. Perhaps this could be the bourgeoning of a new friendship? Well, it probably would be decided on by the mission, whether it went well or poorly.”I actually live in the Hashi district, so we should try there. I might be able to get some people that I know to talk about the incidents. I am actually rather surprised that I don’t know about it. I have been training a lot on my own I suppose so there is that.” The last couple of sentences meant more for herself than him, she let her mind wander to the past couple of days, the thief on the rooftops, and the gentleman in the suit. Her attention snapped back as she gave another sheepish smile.

Total word count: 1773

“I like the low risk thing, that makes me a tad more comfortable, as it is my first mission.” She reiterated, visibly relaxing in front of them both, no longer fighting the urge to fidget. “As for contracting the military police, do you think that we are up to the task? I mean, I have seen some of those people on the military police, and they’re nothing to scoff at.” She smiled at Takao in the most ingratiating way that she could.

She nodded as he said to keep her guard up and her head cool. She usually did both of those things, but as she nodded he patted her head. She shook it slightly, not sure what had happened and then gave an outraged opening of her mouth before the woman chimed in. Swallowing her words and the broken pieces of her pride she settled on a disgruntled stare at Takao. She wouldn’t disgrace herself in front of this woman, but as soon as they stepped outside he would get the sharper part of her tongue. She was not a girl, she was a full grown woman, and she would make that perfectly clear to him. Tomita started to ramble about their mission being a low risk venture, and then she said something that reverberated throughout the room, or it seemed to.

“Hokage… sama?” She mouthed the words and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Then, speaking up, she reiterated her mouthing, “Hokage Sama? I had heard that we had a new Hokage, but-” She trailed off and bit her tongue, she had no idea what to say in this situation. She had just judged the Hokage himself harshly, and not only that, but she also was going on a mission with the head of her whole damned village! She better do damage control and shut her mouth. She couldn’t believe that this man, who was probably barely older than her had the responsibility of running a village.

What a turn around! She slunk through the doors like a cat that had been recently tossed outside. She had no idea how to approach the situation at hand. It was awkward enough as it was, and as she stepped out into the cool air she noticed something that she hadn’t before, she was so embarrassed that her face felt fevered and she had started to sweat a cold sweat. Great. Now he would probably think she was nervous. Know what? Screw it, she was nervous. The happy Hokage of the hidden leaf village was going on her first mission with her. If she screwed up, she probably would have her academy diploma taken from her, and wouldn’t be able to do any more missions.

Swallowing audibly, she looked at him and then back at the ground beneath her feet. Don’t panic, this wasn’t the time to panic. He was more handsome now that they were in natural light rather than the artificial illumination of the administration building, and she tried to keep her mind from wandering there. A sigh as she scratched the back of her neck, or tried to, the forehead protector rested there, protecting her most vital and unguarded area apparently the sweat had gotten trapped there. She kept an eye out, and her guard up, as he had asked, but she couldn’t help let her mind wander from their task to the fact that the Hokage himself was helping on this mission.

She gave him a quick glance, and as she did so, he split the silence with a question. A rather embarrassing one at that. Should she tell him? Well, why not, she thought, she was in the class after his own. A great sigh came from her small frame, no less woman than that of her peers, but packed into a tiny body. She looked up at him and shrugged in answer before chewing on the question for a good long two seconds. It seemed like years. How much would she reveal to him? He had to have records somewhere, and if he didn’t he could surely get access to them. He was like the general of the village hidden in the leaves, and the council had political power, but he was the might of the village. Anything that he wanted to know would be at his fingertips. She swallowed a lump down and nodded, “It has been nine years because I didn’t know if I wanted to take up a profession killing and harming people. But recent events have necessitated a change in lifestyle.” She gave an apologetic smile, “I only moved a little over a month ago, and I don’t have enough for next month’s rent. So I was hoping to make some money doing missions for the village, and perhaps get a little exercise while I was at it. Actually my mother is a chuunin and a guard for the hospital, and she made me think of the work as a kunoichi. I am a guanyin, so I…” She blushed and turned her head, not looking at him as she soldiered on through the rest of her speech.

“I wanted to maybe advance my medical technique, go back to school and become a doctor. Or perhaps enhance my skills in the advanced stem cell chakra enough to become a field doctor in my own right. If I get good enough at healing people, perhaps I can even open my own business, and protect those that are close to me.” She turned a bright red, her footfalls on the ground louder than she remembered.

“I want to be the best medical ninja the world has ever seen, that’s my new goal. It was… it was actually my boss’... my Late boss’ dream for me. But I wanted to follow in her footsteps. That door is closed, so I must open a new one. I thought I would honor her dreams for me, or at least give it my all in a try.” She hoped that this would help explain her situation, and add her context to the mountain of paperwork she knew she would have on her. After all, all shinobi, no matter the rank, were to be used in case of war. Enlisted with or without consent. Perhaps this would be a good change for her.

“And there is someone who I need to protect others from.” She murmured to herself, though it would be audible for him should he choose to listen or pay attention.


WC: 2869

Chiaki listened to his explanation and it made sense to her. Nodding along with his words she found herself more relaxed thinking about the possibility of protecting those you loved rather than harming enemies of the hidden leaf. She nodded when he asked, but didnt say anything, of course she knew what the will of fire was. After all, the fourth hostage had made it very well known in his lifetime and she knew that the hokage since had carried that torch. It would make sense that this man, the scarred hokage of the hidden leaf would be on the same track as the rest.

As takao talked about his will of fire interpretation, she thought of her own, "It's different for me I suppose, but it is similar. I would do anything for those who are kind, protect, and love. There are those in the village that I do not trust, but that has to do with my past. I am now more reserved than I used to be, but I still help out the leaf. There is a new mission posted on the board that I was going to take after this one. I know the mission's benefactor, doctor hui. Ah, but I'm rambling. The will of fire means to me, to protect the poor, sickly, innocent, and wounded."

When he said he believed in her it floored her, she didn't think that she could, well, not really. What kind of thing did people see in her that made her seem like she had any sort of potential? She shrugged a bit, some color coming into her cheeks again as she pensively nodded.

"The only way to never achieve your dreams is to give up." The wistfulness in his tone wasn't lost on her. Chiaki looked over and blinked, a questioning brow quirked, but stayed another question. They walked past her apartment and into a nicer part of the district. She looked at the larger apartment complexes, hers was smaller and had less space. Someday she might be able to afford something like these, but not until she started to help around the village more, do more missions. Perhaps this was a good start to that.

She nodded to the questioning, “Sounds like a sound plan to me.” A grin bloomed on her face, her eyes squinting for the barest moment. The tension of finding out that he was a kage, or a previous one in fact, was jarring but the shock was over.

Takao called out to an old man, saying that he knew him and when he introduced her she smiled and gave a little curtsey out of respect. She nodded in agreement to her name and to what Takao said, but didn’t want to interrupt. As soon as he started saying that it was more serious than he thought, she chuckled silently beside Takao. At least she wasn’t the only one that thought that the previous Kage wasn’t needed for litter bugs. Oh well, a bit of laughter was a good medicine, especially since she hadn’t laughed in a good long minute.

When he said that they had cheap animal masks, she nodded, well at least they weren’t ANBU. She would have dreaded it if they had been. The man that she was supposed to defend others from was ANBU, and had the whole of his co-workers behind him. He was charismatic, charming, and it was easy for her to fall for him, and fall prey to him. These hooligans, however, seemed to be more to her task. She loosened her shoulders by rolling them and giving the old man a smile.
Real whort eh? She nodded, well, she was real short as well. Perhaps she would actually have a shot at apprehending these individuals without the use of Jutsu. It almost sounded like a caricature of the ANBU the way he was talking about them. Perhaps they were in protest to the man that she had been molested by? She shook her head at his words, but more to shake the thought she had back and put to the forefront of her mind the facts. One decent sized man with a limp, a gentleman that was extremely short, and a fellow who was a bit shorter than Takao. Interesting.

The rest was Takao extending his helping hand towards the man, the man refusing politely and then a bushin popping up and offering to help. He must know a more sturdy version of the Kage bushin no jutsu, as the shadow clones couldn’t really hold anything substantial and turned to mist if anyone so much as breathed on them.

The woman clearly had money, and she recognized the name, sort of, as a woman who had been fed with a silver spoon so to speak since birth. Her father had treated her for the last five years, and she refused to see anyone but Chiaki’s father, Cado, since. Chiaki, however, had not had the pleasure of meeting this woman and so was at a loss for what to say besides that she had received the mission from the administration office and was looking into it.

Her legs felt heavier and heavier as she walked up and knocked on the door with her fist, her small knuckles tapping reverberating throughout what sounded to be a mostly empty home. Then again, her father had said, Big doors, big problems. She hadn’t been in any particularly big homes before, but the one two-story house she had been in was not cramped for space, and had echoed far more than her mother and father’s flat. She straightened her clothing and made sure her hair was perfect before the door opened.

Before even locking eyes with the woman she bowed her head and offered her name, “Guanyin Chiaki at your service. The village of the hidden leaf has me investigating The Litter Bug Gang on the town’s behest with my partner Takao.” She proffered an open-palmed sweep towards Takao and only then did she look at the woman.

WC: 3895

As soon as the woman opened her mouth, Chiaki had to fight the urge not to roll her eyes. She was hurried inside like it was her grandmother’s house and Takao tried to protest. Chiaki knew better than to either anger, or disappoint the old woman and didn’t need much encouraging to go into the house. Obviously this woman was used to getting her way, and having dealt with people like her in the hospital and in the herbalist shoppe (or rather tea shoppe if she was ever called out on being a hedge witch) she scurried inside and the door closed behind her. The place was expansive, barely an inch without a bit of trim, barely a stitch of cloth without any embroidery, and barely a tile that wasn’t worth almost as much as her flat alone. She tread carefully on the floors and skirted past the rugs. She didn’t want to get any smudges in places where the village, and ultimately she would be held responsible.

"Alright dears, now listen to this," the woman started, and Chiaki brought out a pen and bit of scratch paper. Her eyes moved to the paper, rather than to the things around the woman’s property. Better to not be seen as covetous, rather than attentive to the woman’s story.

She scribbled down that there was red lettering, perhaps paint was bought from one of the stores around here, and they could tell her who the culprit was, rather than having to make inferences from this irritating woman, try as she might, her attentiveness faded as Takao leaned in and conspiratorially whispered in her ear. She couldn’t help but chuckle silently to herself as she scribbled down that she needed to go to the store and see if anyone had seen someone buy or steal, perhaps, paint like this. It wasn’t a great shade of red, and surely someone had to have a clue as to who bought or stole this paint.

She winced as she remembered the adjacent districts were actually worse off than her own district. She actually helped out with the free clinics there from time to time, less prestigious than the konoha general hospital to be sure, but at least she felt like she was doing some good. She actually felt bad because she might be seen as looking down on them by her mindset. Swallowing past a lump in her throat she nodded as the woman called out Kunisada in the Ichi district. She knew of Kusinada, actually, as her parents had bought some of his paint and hired their own flat painted for a fee that was less than the competitors at the time.

He was having a hard time, as she knew, about two years ago, and if this woman’s accusations got around, nothing could keep his business from floundering. Best to handle this with a quick smile. She looked up from her paper and her eyebrows raised. She had extensive experience with dealing with those suffering from dementia, and she would have to use the same skills that she had to help this poor woman, as she was deluded as well. Though, making false accusations and living in one’s own world, far in the clouds and above those of blue-collar work, as much a statue as the inanimate objects that polluted the room. She looked around once more and nodded her head.

“It is a pity that someone like Kusinada-sama would hire people to defile such a lovely place Miss.” She bowed her head to the woman and paused, “I need to follow up with him and apprehend him it seems, as you have done your work for us. Now, these hooligans are considered dangerous, so you should probably stay away from Kusinada-sama’s place for a while at least, lest there be backlash. Also keeping this between yourself and the authorities-” She motioned to Takao and herself before she continued, “would be in your best interest. I don’t mean to silence you in the least, but I want to keep you safe. It is for the best that the Military Police came to us, as they might have had a bit of a hard time on their hands apprehending this criminal band.”

She waved to Takao, “Takao-sama here, is quite experienced, and should be able to take care of these people for you, no problem, but we want to make sure that we ensure your safety above all else, and that of your property.”

She looked between Takao and the woman, “Takao here is a high-ranking jonin within the village, which speaks to the severity that this village takes your request.” She smiled softly to the woman. “I, personally, will return to make sure that you know when the vandals have been apprehended. That way you can rest with the peace of mind that you have been craving.”

A nod to the woman and she would wait to see if there was anything that she required further, other than that before she started to walk slowly towards the door, giving an admiring look to the expansive home, “You and your lovely home have nothing to fear, the whole of Konoha is behind you.”

WC: 4780

Chiaki watched as the woman swayed and steadied herself on the wall, nodding somberly, her face a mask of empathy. She wanted to make sure that the woman was going to be on her side until she at least left the residence. Chiaki was a kind soul, and thought that the woman, probably, had a reason for being so dramatic. Usually people would keep the company that they would because of their upbringing, but more often than not people would actually adapt to their environment. She wondered if this woman was the same, the person who would change her behaviour to mimic those of the people around her. She couldn’t believe that people would actually act like this, but then again she wasn’t part of high society.

The woman gave Takao a predatory look and Chiaki gulped audibly as her eyes took him in like a piece of meat. She instantly regretted saying that bit of information, but she didn’t know how much the woman would stare. Obviously she was a widow, and obviously she was lonely. Perhaps, Chiaki looked at Takao a bit, really looking at him, perhaps she was thinking that she could ensnare him and bring him in as a new husband. The thought brought a bit of color to her cheeks and she couldn’t help but fight a smile. She started to open her mouth as Takao spoke.

She could sense that he was a bit put off, but that he was attempting to be polite. Chiaki had wanted to move on, and so she did. Moving with Uyehara-san behind them, she nodded to the woman’s pleas to catch the culprit.

The pride seeped through the door as she closed it, and Chiaki wondered how much sadness the door held as well, pride and sorrow seemed to go hand in hand with this woman. She felt like she had played the woman, but a lashing out because of sorrow and emotional attachment was not only dangerous to the hidden leaf as a community, but to the justice system as well. She sighed as the door closed, and Takao mimicked her own sigh with a lengthy exhale. She grinned at him and raised her eyebrows to mimic his own.

“Alright then.” She nodded in response to his own Alright then. Sharing a moment with the previous hokage. It was strange, but as much as his title afforded him, he was still just a man. Just another person. She had grown relaxed. Shaking her head she laughed at the name of Detective Guanyin.

“If I’m a detective then you are a kunoichi princess.” She teased. She noticed that there was a new bustle to the town as the day wore on. She hadn’t meant to spend that much time at the woman’s house, but it was seemingly unavoidable. She went over her notes on her notepad in her chicken scratch kanji. She had written, “Kusinada, garish red paint, sold out, perhaps stolen from? Need more information. Ran through two districts to get here. Point of two districts?” She shook her head and scratched the pen’s bottom to her forehead, grumbling something as they walked on.

“Maybe, but I don’t think so.” She frowned, “To be honest, I think that Kusinada isn’t the culprit, but I need to find out first. After all, if it were that simple, she would have been able to take it straight to the courts. Not that I think they would listen to her because of her melodramatic personality.”

The same vibrant colors that she had seen two years ago met her eyes, but something else that she hadn’t noticed then caught them as well. His roof was in need of repair, as some of the shingles had been cracked or completely shattered. His eaves were warping, and it seemed like his windows were getting grimy. She didn’t know why these things weren’t kept up on, and as they entered the store, she smiled to Kusinada. The words “this is still your show” led her to believe that she was on the right path. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been allowed to take the lead.

Kusinada stood behind the counter, seemingly no business in his store, and seemed a bit greyer than usual. His vim and fervour from only two years ago seemed to be leached from him. She noted the dust on some of the less used paint cans. It was interesting that there was a place, she noted in the corner, where that same garish red was missing. There was dust on that shelf as well, seemingly untouched since the paint was taken off of the shelf. Surely there wouldn’t be something there that they could use, but perhaps...

"Welcome!" Kusinada said, interrupting her racing mind. She smiled and dipped her head to the shop keeper.

"How can I-.. Ahh, Miss Guanyin!" He brightened as he recognized her. She couldn’t help but grin back. She didn’t know how to really respond to him before he started again.

"It's been quite a while, Miss! What can I do for you two?" Kusinada asked, and Takao seemed to defer the question to her.

Clearing her throat, she nodded to give herself a bit of a morale boost, here we go.

“Well, Kusinada-san, we are here on shinobi business. This is Kimura Takao. He is a jonin with the hidden leaf that is actually helping me on my first mission.” She felt like she could be a bit more open with the man, as he was a friend of the family’s. She would make sure that she caught the culprits and make sure that they payed for dragging his name through the mud.

“We are here because we heard that there has been some painting on one of the walls of a prominent member of the hidden leaf. Err… our research led us here because the hue of the paint was the same as some cans that were missing from your shelf.” She nodded towards the missing paint from his store. “And I was wondering if you had any idea where the paint could have gone.” She smiled to him, and hoped that her probing would launch him into a story. Perhaps enough of one where she didn’t have to pry any more than she had to.

After all, she didn’t think that Kusinada was the culprit, but rather another victim in the line of the litterbugs.

WC: 5851

She smirked at his smart remark of that he might be a kunoichi princess. It was something of a hobby of his to twist words around eh? She would have to remember that. Chiaki didn’t really know how to do it with the best of them, but she could learn.

Chiaki questioned Kusinada and her brow raised slightly when he said that he had no red paint, nor had any in quite some time. She looked at the shelf again, and noticed that there was an equally thick layer of dust on the shelf as there was on the merchandise. She nodded along with his sentiments, and made sure that he was not lying, more for show than anything else because she believed him. Or she wanted to believe him. He wasn’t the type, surely, to do this heinous an act. She needed to be diligent though, and make sure she wasn’t affording him any special treatment just because she knew him. Especially with a Jounin around.

“I can see how if you are out of red paint that people would come in and blame you and your son, and I am sorry to hear that. If we get enough evidence to exonerate you, we’ll figure out how to get you and your son back on your feet. I’ll make that a side-mission of mine.” A small smile crept up onto her face, it was warm as sunlight, and sweet as molasses. She had used it before to calm dementia patients, or to stop rioting coma wakers.

She nodded as he looked frustrated and managed to get a sneak peek into Takao’s jutsu library. He had closed his eyes and then opened them. It was some sort of Dojutsu, but she didn’t know of what ilk. Perhaps she could have him teach her someday, as it would be helpful, she thought, to be able to do sleuthing with some sort of detective-eye.

Kusinada broke her quick glance with an uncomfortable glance of his own, and Chiaki didn’t want to put him off, so she remained calm, and serene. She knew how to deal with people who were frustrated, even if they themselves didn’t know what their frustration was for.

“Just by saying that it was your shipments that have been robbed, and not you that has been robbed speaks volumes. Thank you. They should at least be able to tell us when and where their shipments were waylaid.” She took out her notebook again and scribbled ‘shipments, where, when, how much, how frequent.’

“Well, We will clear your name, and the one of your shop, rest easy.” So the Doujutsu was a lie detector hmm? Useful indeed. On more than just this mission. She bowed her head and then continued with another question or two, “So who is your supplier, then might I ask, and also where can we contact him or her.” She added on the ‘or her’ because she didn’t quite know who would be behind this, but she only imagined that the head of a large paint distribution company would be a man, and not a woman. Kunoichi, and women besides were making strides in the land hidden in the leaves, but they also had duties at home to fulfill, and their culture dictated that they be more caretakers than much else.

The only profession that one could have that was not a ‘traditionally girly’ profession was a kunoichi’s one. Even then, they had to go to class to learn all of the different women’s cultural nuances, and practice them for subterfuge. It might have been a mistake, but her hunch was that it was a man behind this, and that man would be at the head of the paint distribution company. She wondered what would happen next, it was almost like a crime novel.

WC: 6503

|EXIT THREAD|

TO BE CONTINUED! :)

USING WORD COUNT TO GET SENJUTSU UP TO B RANK

Word count reduction uses from Takao: S ranked Sensei: 20%, from his items: 30% on specs and elements. 50% total word count reduction.

Senjutsu B rank from D rank costs 13,000 words, reduced by half is 6500

Using 6500 to train Senjutsu to B rank.