Spoiler:

OOC: To anyone who needs a C-Rank mission, feel free to join! It's a very easy mission, probably not much fighting. Looking forward to people participating~

---

“This mission should be fun.” Stuffing the mission debriefing into one of her short trousers’ pockets, Suzuna weaved her way through the crowd in order to get to the meeting place stated in the description. All she would have to do was escort a band of merchants to Konoha’s main gates. It sounded almost too easy for a C-Rank mission, especially given the fact that the route was well policed, so she didn’t even have to expect any trouble.
When she reached the wilderness outside the village, Suzuna briefly checked which exact direction she had to take and then ran off eagerly. On such a beautiful, sunny day one had to be full of energy.
She let her fingers linger on the straps of her small backpack, wide grin across her face, as she spontaneously focused chakra into her feet and climbed the nearest tree. That type of movement was not only much faster, but also more fun even though it sometimes made her feel like a monkey.
Giggling to herself about her own silent joke, Suzuna jumped from tree to tree until she could see the group of merchants in the distance.
“Hello~~!” she shouted before hopping off the last branch and dashing over to them.
There were six men in total and two carts pulled by donkeys.

The fattest person among the merchants approached Suzuna with a big grin of his own.
“Hello back, little one!” he laughed, taking her hand and shaking it violently. Needless to say, he stood taller than her – though not as much as she would expect from a man - and Suzuna imagined that his huge flabby stomach could easily body check others into walls.
“You are the ninja who has to escort us?” he continued. “You look pretty anorexic. I’m sure there are other shinobi assisting you?”
Suzuna was rather surprised about his blunt comment, but didn’t take any offense. “Hmm… I don’t know,” she mused aloud. “I’m quite early, so maybe there are really others coming, too.”
That made the man laugh again and his whole face wobbled. “Ahahahaha I sure hope so! You’re so tiny, even I could step on you! My name is Tanama Housuki by the way!”
She wasn’t fully oblivious to his insults, but being used to those sorts of remarks, she didn’t care and joined his laughter. “You can call me Suzuna! Nice to meet you. Okay, let’s wait a little while and see if more of my kind show up.”
“More of your kind? Hahahahaha!” Tanama roared. “Well said! You shinobi are odd folks!”

---

439

“What a boring assignment,” Sayomi lamented as she finished outfitting herself for the mission given to her, “How did I end up getting stuck babysitting some random merchants? They aren’t even carrying anything important, just metal wares. How droll.” She stood in front of the full body-length mirror in her bedroom and zipped up her black bodysuit, looking herself up and down and making sure that all of her equipment was in place. She reached down to the equipment compartments on her belt, taking inventory of the various shinobi equipment she kept on her person during assignments. Shuriken, kunai, and ninja wire each sat in their own little compartments easily within her reach while she had two collapsed fuma shuriken tucked into holsters on the outer side of each thigh. Pulling her long black hair back and into the bun in which she typically wore her hair, placing several hair sticks into place to hold the shape she wanted.

~~

Sayomi travelled to the designated meeting point at the border of the Fire and Grass countries to meet the caravan at a leisurely pace, having left more than ample time to relax on her trip that morning. She knew that the mission itself was going to be tedious and uninteresting, so she was in no rush to get there, knowing her arrival likely wouldn’t speed the merchants up any faster. Besides, she had dealt with the trader types before: scum, the lot of them. The only thing that kept her from promptly turning most she encountered into smoldering corpses was the silly stipulation of needing your clients alive to pay the mission fee. It really was an unfortunate circumstance, which she wished could be remedied. Perhaps the village should start requiring complete payment of the mission fee and rewards upfront, so that if any… unfortunate accidents were to occur during the mission, everyone would still get paid. That would likely force clients to watch their mouths at the very least.

Once she did arrive at the location however, she found herself less than enthused about what she saw. A group of men, most of them dressed sloppily and one of them incredibly overweight, standing beside carts. This is just about exactly how she pictured they would look like and as usual, coming as absolutely no surprise to her, she was right. What did catch her eye however, was a young girl standing there along with the men? That was new for a trading caravan. Wasting no more time she would approach the group, speaking rather militantly and wanting to get this done as soon as possible, “You’re waiting on the shinobi from Konohagakure to escort you to the village gates, correct? I am she. Get your carts ready for travel, we’ll depart at once.”

---

468~

It wasn't what she had expected, but getting a mission's document pushed into her hands by her Uncle right after waking up wasn't something she'd expect at any other given time as well. Just the fact that he had managed to get into her appartment again without asking or without her having ever given him a key for that matter was...unpleasant to say the least.

"Get out of bed, lazy little rascal," Her uncle would say, pulling away the sheets with that godawfully irritating smile of his, revealing Risu laying in her bed wearing only a black tanktop and a black, laced slip, which she herself realized just as quick as he did, resulting in her springing up from the bed, paper still in hand and putting on her bathrobe. "I know it.s not much, but the person you need to escort is someone we know and he has a delivery to do for me, you do remember Tanama-san, dont you?"

As if Risu could ever forget the corpulent, kindhearted merchant who visited the Ouroboros compound at least once a year, always bringing costly and rare metals with him and when needed also iron or steel on request.

If thise mission ment he would be the one in need of an escort, she would gladly accept, after all, her magatama earing made from jade and silver were a gift he gave her for her sixteenth birthday, she wore them almost everyday.

Not much later, with Enaka gone back to wherever he had to be, Risu rushed over the villages rooftops and passing the main gates of the village to go and meet the merchant at the disclosed location. Upon arriving, she noticed the group of merchants, but most notably the one central figure, a mass of muscles and bodyfat, but especially fat.

Making a shreeky sound, Risu rushed through the carts, practically ignoring everyone around except for the big man, jumping at him and hugging him lovingly. "Tanama-san!!"

Replying her hug with a hug of his own, the corpulent man looked at Risu, then at Sayomi and Suzuna again.

"Well eh...Suzuna-chan, you were correct to say there would be more of your kind...at least one of them. Risu...how come you still haven't develloped nicely, like for instant that woman?

With a confused expression on her face, the young girl noticed the two other kunoichi for the first time. A girl who seemed to be around her own age and...Sayomi. The fact that she noticed the latter, made her lips curl into a grin at first, but the halfbaked attempt to refrain herself from doing so, made her grin look rather crooked, as if it were plastered on her pale white face. "Eh...hi Sayomi."

468/1500

Only minutes later, Tanama’s wish would be granted: Another kunoichi showed up, jumping down from the nearest tree and wasting no time in approaching them.
Suzuna’s face lit up while she patted the man’s flabby arm. “Oh, look! I just got a partner!”
And at first glance, the mission seemed way too easy for the tall, raven haired woman who had just arrived. There was an almost sinister, but definitely powerful aura radiating off her, which suggested that this person couldn’t be a Genin anymore. With the experience Suzuna had gained over the years, she believed that her estimating skills were above average… at least one positive thing she’d learned in the rebel organization.
Not bothering to wipe the big smile off her face, Suzuna greeted the newcomer heartily, “Hey there! That’s nice of you to help me out on this mission. I’m Suzuna! I’ve passed the Genin exam only recently!” Okay, she wasn’t sure why she told that last bit basically everyone she met. Maybe she would start to believe it herself after a thousand times of providing a half-truth. Anyway.
“And you are-”
Her words were cut off by the same woman she had just spoken to. “You’re waiting on the shinobi from Konohagakure to escort you to the village gates, correct? I am she. Get your carts ready for travel, we’ll depart at once.”
“Oh,” Suzuna muttered, cheeks painted red, but nothing could spoil her mood easily today. “Don’t worry! I’m a kunoichi, too. We’ll do this together!”

The black-haired woman didn’t get the chance to reply anything – and most probably, it was better that way – as another girl appeared on the scene, running past them at high speed and … wrapping her arms around the fat man (alright, let’s stick to the facts – she couldn’t possibly wrap her arms around him… she just gave him a hug).
“Tanama-san!”
So they knew each other? Surprised, Suzuna examined the other girl more closely: quite tall, black hair and for some reason, her eyes resembled those of a snake. Plus, she seemed to be of a higher rank. “Oh well, I’m the only Genin here,” Suzuna thought to herself, faint insecurity building up inside her although she showed none of that on the outside.
“So you’re Risu? It’s really nice to meet you!” After listening to the snake girl’s next words, she flashed the ‘nicely developed’ woman another innocent smile. “And you’re Sayomi. Great, now we’re all here and know each other and can start the mission!”
She pumped a fist in the air – a common way to express her excitement – and told Tanama to get the carts ready.
He laughed once again and then called out to his comrades, “Three young ladies escorting us. Isn’t that nice? Hahahaha!”

As soon as they were moving forward, Suzuna felt the urge to strike up a conversation if only to avoid an awkward silence.
“Eh… how do you two know each other?” She rubbed the back of her head with a chuckle. “Quite the lame question, sorry.”

---

971/1500

[Sooo sorry for the delay, I'll reply much faster next time! Promise >__<]

Sayomi would raise an eyebrow suspiciously at this… overly enthusiastic brunette standing in front of her. Sayomi wasn’t a particularly large fan of working with others, much less being burdened with unnecessary baggage on such a simple task. “We’ll do this together!” were not exactly the words she wanted to hear. She would much rather have heard something like “I’ll be out of your way immediately!” Her musings however, would be interrupted by a shrill cry as another person came running through the forested area in the direction of the village, making a beeline straight for the absurdly rotund man in the center.

Much to Sayomi’s surprise, the newest member of the group appeared to be Orochi Risu, the kunoichi she had completed a mission with not two weeks earlier. Strangely enough, she seemed to know this man that was leading the caravan she was sent to protect. Not only that, but judging by her highly out of character, jovial greeting to him, they seemed to be on quite good terms. If nothing else, that would make it relatively simple for Sayomi to avoid having to deal with the merchants altogether, and simply let Risu or their resident brunette cheerleader do all of the talking until they reached their destination. This would only become more important as Sayomi heard the walking tub of lard make a comment about her. “Nicely developed?” Sayomi thought to herself, folding her arms and rolling her eyes openly at the remark, “Tch, Pig."

Once she was done with her hug, Risu would turn to Sayomi with a grin on her face, saying only a simple “hi” in the process. “Hello, hime-chan,” Sayomi would reply alongside a slight nod of her head as if to simply acknowledge Risu’s presence, arms still folded from before. The brunette from before would interrupt any further conversation (thank god), proposing getting the mission underway. The raised fist was amusing, but hardly inspired any enthusiasm in the Uchiha woman. Before the caravan was fully prepared to depart however, the fat pig from earlier would take the opportunity to make another comment about being escorted by three young women. She would turn around to glare at him harshly, the cold and penetrating look in her eyes telling the whole story about what she thought about his comments. Fortunately for him there were explicit instructions to get these men to the village safely. Otherwise she didn’t know if she would be able to avoid any “accidents” that might have occurred had he continued to run his mouth.

Eventually, they would get the caravan moving, and Sayomi would take a lead position out in front of the carts, hopefully out of earshot of any more of the merchants. From behind her she could hear Suzuna’s voice come up once again, this time inquiring, “How do you two know each other?” Given the display Risu had put on when greeting the man before, Sayomi simply assumed that the question was directed at those two, so she simply kept her gaze set straight forward and continued walking.

---

987/1500

The greeting made by the brunette almost threw her off her feet, but witha sly smile on her face, Risu gave a nod to Suzuna, acknowledging the other girl's pumped up, almost borderlining crazy enthusiasm, almost chuckling when the girl raised her fist and shouted out her excitement. That was such a typical reaction by those who had just managed to do their first C rank mission, making it obvious that both Risu and Sayomi were above her in rank.

When The caravan started moving, Tanama had taken a position further ahead, making sure his so-called lousy assistants wouldn't ruin his merchandise, while at the same time, the genin asked the snakegirl a question regarding to her relation to the corpulent merchant.

"Tanama-san has started out as a small merchant a few decades ago," Risu started her explanation, knowing that probably only the entire story would satisfy the young genin. "Back in the day, my grandfather Orochi Masato was a loyal customer, buying jewelry for his wife and even helping Tanama enlarge his bussiness by buying substantial amounts of high graded steel and iron for construction purposes. My parents continued that contract and as Tanama-san's bussiness grew, he always remained the ouroboros clan's main deliverant of metals and jewelry. Even now he still does errants for my uncle."

For a moment, the chuunin fell silent, when the merchants loud, deep voice could be heard, scoffing at one of his assistants who had apparently not done his job very well.

"When I was still a small kid, Tanama-san had a present for me," The snakegirl laughed, while pointing at her jade magatama earrings, obviously treasuring those jewels of hers. "He's a friend of the family and the clan, not to mention the fact that he has never forgotten those who helped him along the way. My uncle treated his back for several years now and Tanama-san frequently pays a visit, always bearing gifts. So that's about why I know him and act so friendly with him, simply because he IS a friend."

With that said, Risu dropped her pace a bit, trying to get closer to Sayomi, but not doing it in a way that would make Suzuna suspicious of Risu trying to get rid of her or anything, she simply needed to ask the Uchiha woman something.

"There's something I need to ask you when we've done this mission," The chuunin suddenly said with a quite stern and cold expression on her face, her voice fitting perfectly with that very expression. "It's important for me."

917/1500

“Oh, I see,” Suzuna muttered whilst listening to Risu’s explanation and nodded eagerly. “The earrings look really fine!”
Truth be told, she herself wasn’t too fond of jewelry – for usual, earrings and stuff only got in the way during a fight and other than looking pretty, they were completely worthless. Casually, Suzuna threw a glance back at Sayomi, noticing the various necklaces, which gave her an idea of what the black-haired woman thought on that subject.
“Meh, I’d rather stay a tomboy,” Suzuna told herself in silence before shifting her attention back to Risu, who had just ended her story and directed her next words at her friend – in case they were friends. “There’s something I need to ask you when we’ve done this mission. It’s important for me.”
Ookay… A curious expression settling on her face, Suzuna raised an eyebrow, but made sure to keep her mouth shut this time. She had no intentions to pry into things that didn’t concern her.
Sure, she was guilty of being a bit of a chatterbox and claiming an almost exaggerated enthusiasm her own. And yet, she did know when it meant to stay quiet.
The signs may have been subtle, but she could still see them; observation skills she actually took pride in... if only she knew how to use them in combat.
As a matter of fact, Risu hadn’t asked another question or made any effort to keep their conversation going; instead, she had turned to Sayomi… perhaps to seek shelter there from Suzuna’s bubbly attitude? The casual way in which Risu had dropped her pace suggested otherwise whereas the words she spoke were obviously secret and only meant for the two of them.

Suzuna kept her gaze straight-ahead, hands behind her back, a smile across her lips, as she watched Tanama boss his employees around. For a moment, she considered leaving Risu and Sayomi alone so they could talk, but then they might believe she was mad at them. And that wasn’t the case. Surely not. The young Genin had experienced it a lot of times before that some people just got annoyed at her cheerful attitude – which was perfectly fine. She didn’t want to force anyone to like her.
In all honesty, sometimes she even felt disgusted with herself. How could she still greet others with a smile on her face after the horrible things she had done not too long ago? She prayed that no-one would ever find out.

At that moment, Tanama seemed to be finished giving orders and approached them with his deep laughter. “So Risu-chan, how is your uncle?” He panted a bit and then cursed the weak donkeys that couldn’t carry him.

---

1436/1500

Sayomi listened semi-attentively to Risu as she told her story about how she had come to know this Tanama person, remaining face forward with her sights focused on the road ahead as the two girls behind her made small talk. Aside from the history between Risu’s family and this merchant, none of the information was particularly new. Sayomi had already known what manner of goods this Tanama person was in the market of selling. It was a bit strange to see Risu act so friendly though. Well, perhaps not as strange as it would have been had Sayomi not seen her behavior at the end of their last mission, but having long, outstanding relationships didn’t really seem like the snake girl’s “thing”.

“Hmph,” Sayomi let out an amused huff as she listened to Risu speak, “One pair of earrings and you are her best friend forever. I guess hime-chan is more of a girly-girl than I give her credit for.” At first glance Sayomi would have thought that this Suzuna girl would have been the more prissy of the two. Between her carefree attitude and rather effeminate appearance, it was Suzuna that Sayomi would have expected to place more emphasis on jewelry and the like, but it appeared that was not the case.

Regardless, the tone in Risu’s voice would change immediately as she changed the subject from her clan’s relationship with the merchant to requesting a word with Sayomi after the mission had been completed. The request caught Sayomi’s attention, compelling her to wonder what exactly it was that she and Risu had to talk about and why it was so important to her. Obviously Sayomi would comply to the request, her curiosity having been piqued by the line of questioning, responding to Risu’s request with an affirming nod of her head.

Wondering if perhaps Suzuna was feeling excluded as she had fell silent when Risu began speaking to Sayomi, she considered engaging in conversation with the girl herself. She would drift over, closer to the rest of the caravan where she and Risu had been standing rather than off to the side in order to be more accessible, but immediately walked back away when the group was once again spoken to by Tanama. Considering that these other girls seemed to be so fond of him, it would probably reflect poorly on her if she decided to turn him into a roast pig if he made another comment about her.

---

1000/1000~

408~

If there was one thing obvious about Risu, it were her apparent moodswings, her quick changing attitude and ability to switch from one subject to another without even making it ever catching any attention, in a way, she could be called a hypocrite as well, since she hated the masks of people around her, yet maintained her own multiple masks to hide the lonely, affraid girl that dwelled inside her.

Glad that Sayomi had nodded, her own way to affirm that she would abide by her request, the young chuunin quickly looked into the direction of the corpulent merchant, who had lowered his pace as well, asking about her uncle's wellbeing, not an extraordinary question from Tanama, since Tanama knew her uncle when he was still a wee student at the academy.

"Still his obnoxiously irritating self, I'd say," The snakegirl answered without flinching, her words almost sour in tone, as if she spat them out like a bad tasting acid. "He's still busy with restructuring our clan, guiding our newly appointed hokage and other stuff, not to mention he's still controlling my life, no matter how far away I get from the Ouroboros compound."

That summed it all up, making it quite apparent that the relation between Orochi Enaka and Risu was at best called a cold family-relationship, with the young Orochi lady constantly trying to break free from her uncle's manipulating and restraining shackles.

For a moment, her eyes had grown dull, a misty haze pulling over them for just a short instant, but just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, with Risu's eyes turning towards Suzuna with a completely different kind of intensity.

"So...eh, Suzuna-san," Risu said on a warmer and smoother tone, getting a bit closer to the genin, but still remaining out of her comfort zone. "Since I know that our dear Uchiha Madame over there is a bit introvert and shielded from any social interaction, I'd like to know...well, a bit more about you. Like, what's your favorite color, favorite food, stuff like that. It's a good way to kill time on this quite dull mission, wont you say?"

1000/1000 mission complete
286~

The way Risu spoke about her uncle made it more than apparent that they didn’t get on too well, at least they didn't seem to have the kind of relationship you would expect between family members. A flicker of empathy passed through Suzuna. Even though her own family situation was completely fine to the point of being perfect – she loved them and was loved just the same - , she could imagine how disappointing the opposite must be. Surprisingly enough, Risu’s dark expression turned into a curious look in the blink of an eye as she directed her next words at Suzuna, her tone almost shy.
For a single moment, even Suzuna, who always knew what to say for usual, was left speechless since she had by no means expected that sudden mood swing. Both the fickle snake girl and the silent Uchiha sparked her interest.

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” she replied after the short period of hesitation, her loud, enthusiastic voice swallowing Tanama’s quiet curses (he was still grumbling to himself about why he hadn’t brought a horse instead of donkeys). The mere fact that someone wanted to know more about her delighted the young Genin. “Okay, here’s a proper introduction! My name is Mikami Suzuna and I’m 15 years old. My favourite colour is orange like the orange spark!” Pure admiration radiated off her as she continued, “I’m sure you know our most famous former Hokage? Uzumaki Naruto? He was the hero of the Hidden Leaf, no – the hero of the whole shinobi world!”
Trying to put emphasis on the last part, Suzuna’s arms flailed in extravagant gesticulations before she returned to the original subject. “And my favourite food? I love dumplings and oh, of course ramen! I love, love, love ramen!” Actually, she only did so because her big role model Naruto was known for having eaten tons of noodle soups.
Then Suzuna got an idea and attempted to draw Sayomi into their conversation by referring to the woman’s Uchiha heritage. “I wish I had as many famous ancestors as you, Sayomi. What do you think of Uchiha Obito, Madara and Sasuke? I personally like Sasuke best, he was like a brother to Naruto and fought by his side in the Great Shinobi War!”
Looking back at Risu, she asked for the Orochi girl’s opinion, “What do you say, Risu? Do you have an idol among the legendary Konoha shinobi? And one of your ancestors is Orochimaru, isn't it?”  

---

1500/1500 (Mission complete)
356

Sayomi raised an eyebrow at Risu’s suggestion, not expecting the girl to actively seek out conversation. She didn’t really seem like the social type back on their first mission together, but it seemed more and more that this was not the case ever since the incident back in the detention facility. Between her overly affectionate display when greeting the pig-merchant they were escorting and now her sudden surge of politeness and curiosity as to the other girl that accompanied them, she seemed nothing like the girl that she met back then. And even then she still kept some things to herself, like the nature of the discussion she had requested of Sayomi after this mission was complete.

Sayomi would cock her head back suspiciously, surprised by the sudden burst of energy that seemed to have surged through Suzuna when Risu initiated the conversation with her. In hindsight given how she had behaved up to this point Sayomi should have expected her to be a talker. In fact, she did expect just that, but this girl’s reaction was amongst the bubbliest she had ever encountered in another shinobi. At the very least, the girl seemed to be an enormous Naruto Uzumaki fan and made no qualms about sharing it with the world. Her flailing and enthused arm gestures only served to enhance her already energetic response. In all honesty it was almost too bubbly to be the response of a normal person. She seemed more like a cartoon character than a shinobi.

Sayomi would let out an amused huff as Suzuna began speaking of the Legendary Uchiha warriors, claiming she wish she had as many famous ancestors as she did. “It’s really not as glamorous as you make it out to be,” she mused, brushing aside the bangs that fell over her left eye, “At this point we are so far removed from those people that the blood connection is almost non-existent. All I really share in common with those Uchiha that you mentioned are the name and our eyes.” A part of Sayomi wanted to come out and tell the girl that she idoloized none of the past Uchiha, and that nobody should. Their actions were foolish and their work was left unfinished. Furthermore, considering under what circumstances an Uchiha can rise to power with, it was nothing to aspire to for anyone who valued something other than hate and misery. That was the price of the sharingan after all. If one wanted to harness the true power of the Uchiha they had to experience suffering. She would however, refrain from saying something so doom and gloom around the bubbly Suzuna. No need to ruin her mood with the insignificant complications of the Uchiha clan.

---

1000/1000

869~

Ok, Risu had not expected such a waterfall of words coming her way, Suzuna was a lot more energetic than she had possibly been able to imagine, though she kept silent, smiled softly and tried to follow what the girl was summing up, that was until she reached a point where she finally expected someone else to say something, but what she was about to hear was probably not what she expected, as it was Sayomi, the ever cold and unsocial Uchiha who managed to squeeze in a reply first and not just any reply, she simply stated that apart from the eyes and name they had nothing in common except for the name and eyes.

It was something the Orochi girl had expected the Uchiha woman to answer on such a question and in a sense it was a complete truth. After so many years, there might be a little connection in blood, but the idea to still look at it as a connection after three centuries is less likely.

"Simply put in my case, I dont idolize dead people," The chuunin suddenly said calmly, her expression still friendly, but in a way, with her squinting eyes, she knew she looked like her uncle at that point. "And given the fact that it was three centuries ago, not to mention Orochimaru never had any children I'm aware of, I dont call him an ancestor either. Sure, his ideas, research and experiments have been useful, terrible, but useful. Though, I dont think I have an idol or I look up to, why would I? Mirroring yourself to some dead person or even someone alive wouldn't make you into a better shinobi. To be a good shinobi, you need to stand out with your own skills, your own image and make your own legacy...or something like that."

Maybe she went to far, Risu didn't really know, but she suddenly fell silent, deciding it was perhaps better to refrain herself from saying anything further. She simply smiled again, scratched her left earlobe for a moment and dashed forward to the head of the caravan, trying to see if it was still far they had to go.

1000/1000 mission complete
654~

ooc:

Suzuna listened to both of their responses, especially focusing on Risu’s opinion of what makes a good shinobi.
“I see…” she muttered under her breath thoughtfully before flashing one of her signature smiles. “This sounds so wise! I’ll keep it in mind, thank you!”
Shortly afterwards, they reached Konoha’s gates, which meant that their mission was over. Waving (and shouting) goodbye to her new acquaintances, Suzuna jumped up the nearest roof and made her way back home.
There may not have been any enemies on that mission, but she wouldn’t call it so tedious, either. At least, she’d met people to talk to. People from whom she might learn one thing or another.

And for some reason, long after she had left, Risu’s words would still keep replaying in her mind.
Mirroring yourself to some dead person or even someone alive wouldn't make you a better shinobi.
I could never be like Naruto anyway. He never sided with the bad guys, did he? And even if he had done, he wouldn't have enjoyed it, huh?

---

Mission Complete 1000/1000
Training 1039

Exit Thread

By the time Suzuna’s excitement had time to simmer down, the group had already led the caravan to the village’s main gate. It was almost comical how simple a task this really was. Hardly one that required shinobi of her skill level. It wasn’t even as though they had to escort this caravan through the Forest of Death, which would have at least made the job a bit more interesting. They were travelling along normal trade routes which themselves were generally secure, being the most direct route to the village. High visibility, close proximity to the village, all things that would scare away would be highwaymen and thugs.

She simple shrugged her shoulders at the thought. At the very least she would be getting paid for the mission, so she couldn’t complain. Suzuna was the first to take her leave once their mission had been completing, showing no signs of faltering morale as she shouted her goodbyes for the whole village to hear. “Well, she’s a lively one,” Sayomi said, turning her attention now to Risu and the conversation the girl had wanted to have with her after the mission’s completion before, “So what is it that you needed to talk to me about? You said it was important.”

---

1000/1000

1071~

It had been way to easy and exceptionally quiet on the mission, disregarding the pumped up demeanor of the Genin called Suzuna. As they had reached the Konoha gates, Risu looked at the hyperactive girl with a feint smile, hesitantly waving back as the girl ran away, probably to get her clearance for the Ryo as fast as she could. Tanama; the merchant, said his goodbyes as well, though he did say he would pay Enaka, Risu's uncle a visit later that day, to deliver what her uncle had asked him to bring.

"Hmm, lively," The snakegirl sighed softly, while turning towards Sayomi, hearing her ask what it was she had to ask. Just when those words had been uttered, the pale girl's facial expression turned from relatively blissfull to a much gloomier, almost depressing expression. It was Obvious that she had a lot on her mind and as she did not have many friends or at least friends that in a way had a similar mind as hers, she hoped Sayomi could be the person to do the job. "Somrthing is happening Sayomi, something big and I have no idea against who I can tell what has been on my mind for these past few months. I want to obtain a position among the ANBU as fast as I can, to start investigating this matter more thouroughly."

For a moment, Risu stopped talking, looked around her, before taking a step closer to the Uchiha woman, practically right next to her, almost whispering in the woman's ear.

"What concerns me lately, is the fact that I have noticed some strange behavior from my uncle," As she said that, telling Sayomi what was on her mind, she desperately hoped the Uchiha woman wouldn't look at it as some typical cry for attention from a spoiled child. "I have been snooping in his office at the Ouroboros compound and I've found some strange things. Like reports on the murder of those three hyuga a few years ago and some papers containing quite some...delicate information on certain people in town that had to do with the trial of that crime. What I wanted to ask was...can you help me figure out what's going on? I think you're the only one I could trust with this."

1000/1000 mission complete
1049 unused

Sayomi listened attentively to Risu as she spoke in a rather ominous manner, alluding to “something big” happening, although leaving out any auxiliary details that might better allow her to assess the problem. The Uchiha woman assumed that this was merely an exaggeration on the part of her acquaintance, but her ears would perk up at the mention of the village’s ANBU division. More important however, was Risu’s mention of needing to join the ranks of the ANBU in order to investigate whatever this “big thing” she was referring to was. The ANBU black ups are by default a covert organization. Anything involving them or their inner workings is strictly classified, making it clear to Sayomi that whatever Risu was referring to, should it turn out to be a factual lead, was important enough in the eyes of someone in the village’s leadership to take the time to bury away from prying eyes. Risu however, seemed to be attempting to pry into those prohibited banks of knowledge.

Sayomi raised an eyebrow and peered skeptically at Risu as she closed the gap between the two of them, getting in close before she spoke as if she was worried someone else might be listening. Sayomi began to get a picture in her mind about what Risu was insinuating from the small scraps of cryptic information she divulged. It was clear that Risu believed her uncle to be involved in the murder of the three Hyuga shinobi. Sayomi remembered that case well enough. A good section of the village was in an uproar over it, but nothing ever became of it. A few men were convicted of the murder and locked away, pacifying the masses. What Risu was suggesting was something completely different. At this point Sayomi was definitely intrigued, but there was still something that she had to ask about before the conversation went any further than the sensitive information that was already shared. “And what exactly makes you think I’ trustworthy?” Sayomi inquired, stern and serious as ever, “If you’re implying what I think you’re implying this information could be dangerous. Now not only are you putting yourself in danger, but you are exposing me to it as well even though I had no involvement to begin with. I could have just as easily walked away the moment you started talking. I could have tried to kill you to keep me out of your business. We barely know each other beyond the two missions we’ve embarked on together. Why me?”

---

1496~

Risu's gloomy expression only seemed to get worse when hearing the Uchiha woman's reply. Sure it was all in all a long shot to say Sayomi was a thrustworthy person, but her attitude and her demeanor did give the Orochi girl that idea about her. She was smart, unencumbered by petty politics and therefore in a way a virgin in the world of schemes and plots. Her distance towards others made her the perfect person to convey such a heavy secret in Risu's eyes.

"It's a good question to ask why you, Sayomi," The snake girl sighed, taking a step back again. "Let's just say that I based that presumption on your behavior, your stance towards power and tradition and in that way your distance towards everything that's going on behind the curtains of the village."

She made an elegant quarter turn, went through her hair with her left hand, combing it backwards roughly, with a sour smile on her face. Obviously she had not thought a few things through, like the fact that she had, in this way also made Sayomi part of something she wasn't meant to be part of.

"I...I understand that you are reluctant to help me, but...I have something you might want to see," When saying that, the girl opened her medical pouch, taking out a black envellope with an unknown seal resembling that of the ANBU in a way. "I managed to snatch this from within one of the drawers of my uncle's desk, I dont know the seal or who it was that had send this letter to him, but the contents of the letter are mindbogling and even rather terrifying. It's also partially the reason why I wanted to tell you this."

letter:

"Can you see now, why I wanted you to know this?" The snakeprincess would ask after Sayomi has read the letter. "I know there's still the possibility, the slim chance of this letter not being directed to my uncle. It could be my uncle intercepted the letter...but if he did only intercepted this letter, why hasn't there been made any action to guard the people on the list or rather, why hasn't he simply given this letter to the Hokage or the ANBU?"

1000/1000 mission complete
1630 unused

Sayomi stern and cold expression did not falter as she took the letter Risu offered her in hand, unfolding the sheet and locking gazed with Risu one last time before turning her attention to the message’s contents. The jet black envelope and the amount of care exhibited when Risu handed the letter to Sayomi were ominous to begin with, but Risu’s demeanor about the whole situation, especially after seeing her so cheerful just a short while before when interacting with that pig merchant and Suzuna, was what got Sayomi’s attention. This was a prideful and careful girl, one might even venture to say a bit more so than a normal amount. To behave in such a fearful and submissive manner and come to Sayomi of all people for help seemed to be distinctly out of character from the girl she protected from the Hoshigake missing nin in the immediate past.

The Uchiha would raise an eyebrow as her eyes perused the message sealed in the foreboding black envelope that Risu had come across. Well, this was interesting information after all. The letter was addressed to a “Lord Snake”. Given the situation and the rather unsavory reputation of Enaka amongst the more skeptical members of the village, it wasn’t particularly different to surmise that the message was addressed to him. The fact that Risu was still looking for a way to possibly absolve her uncle of his involvement in this ordeal was cute, but nobody was buying it, not even Risu herself. Her actions and behavior belied her hopeful wish that her uncle was not doing what this letter accused him of. If the information that was contained in this letter turned out to be true, it would have grave implications. Unlawful detention of Konohagakure shinobi, kidnapping, murder, human experimentation; this letter had it all.

She couldn’t help but smirk however, as she read her own name on the list of potential test subjects. Now THIS was interesting. On one hand, Sayomi had to give it to Enaka’s henchmen and scientists, they certainly knew how to ascertain quality, but if they thought that they were going to get her eyes they were crazy. She’d destroy them herself before she allowed them to be stolen from her to be experimented on.  It wasn’t like this was the first potential threat on her life, only the latest in the never ending drama that was her life.  “How amusing,” Sayomi spoke in a monotone voice, “And how are we to be sure of this letter’s authenticity? More importantly, what did you want to do about it even if you were to find out it were true?”

---

1947~

I dont see how a fake letter would end up in the private study of one of Konoha's most powerful members, not to mention I dont see my uncle capable of pulling off some kind of elaborate, sick prank on people," Risu would answer, when she had carefully observed Sayomi's reaction to the letter and listened to her thoughts. It seemed that the Uchiha woman was far more sceptical than she thought or simply didn't bother to imagine the consequences of such information. Sure, her final question was a straight hit, as the question was indeed: what could Risu even do on her own while having such information.

She thought about it for a moment. She could try to hand this letter to the Hokage, but in a way that was dangerous, as it was well known that Enaka handled a lot of the Hokage's paperworks and could easily discover that letter. Bringing it to the ANBU was an option as well, yet Risu knew not a single person that was part of the ANBU black ops and as such did not know if they could be trusted. This all made it hard to work with a possible solution, as she had not yet thought that far ahead, only thinking about informing Sayomi of the danger that was closing in on her.

"Who besides ourselves can we trust with this?" The girl suddenly said, answering the Uchiha woman's question with one of her own. "I know only a few other shinobi who could assist us and are trustworthy, but to carry the burden of such knowledge could turn their loyalty and friendship into inherent distrust and betrayal. So I ask you, Sayomi. Do you know what it means if this letter's contents are true?"

1000/1000 mission complete
1940 unused

Kyohei closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh as he began to process everything that Risu was telling him in his mind. “Do I know what it means if the letter’s contents are true?” he mused to himself silently as he began folding the letter and sliding it back into the black envelope. What was that even supposed to mean? Wasn’t it obvious? Either way it wouldn’t make a particularly large impact on how he lived on a daily basis. Still, he wondered why Risu had even endangered herself by telling him this. She had no obligation to do anything of the sort. In fact, it would likely have been a wiser and more convenient decision for her in every way to keep this information to herself. For that, at least, it appeared that Kyohei owed Risu a debt now.

“I know what it means,” he replied , closing the envelope and extending his hand outward to return it to her, “I think we both are more than aware of what this potentially might entail. I think we both also know that this isn’t the most secure location to be discussing something as delicate as this. We should have this discussion elsewhere, somewhere secure, although I would imagine anywhere in the Orochi compound would be strictly off limits given the situation.” He would pause for a moment to retrieve a pen from his pocket as well as a folded up receipt from a restaurant he had visited the night before from his wallet. Turning the receipt over to the blank side, Kyohei would write a line of script on the slip of paper and hand it to Risu just as he had done with the envelope.

“My address,” he stated plainly, “It’s the top floor of the building in the warehouse district, come by tonight. The location should be secure enough and with any luck that will allow us a bit more time to wait for any new information or think up some solutions. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss with me before we go our separate ways until tonight?”

---

Trained Sōfūshasan no Tachi: 1000/1000
Trained Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni: 1000/1000

306~

What would one do when they found someone's name in a letter of grave importance, they would ofcourse tell the person. What would one do if there would be a certain large amount of danger bound to that letter, they would keep their mouths shut. That is how the world ordinarily seemed to work. Sure, Risu had the idea that she was putting herself at risk to pass the information on the letter to the young Uchiha man. Not only risking her status, but also her future, yet it was something she believed to be a just action.

"I can remain in my appartment at the central district," The snake girl almost laughed, tapping Kyohei on his shoulder while he gave her the paper with his address. "I'll first try to check a few things regarding the information on the letter. Even despite my uncle's murky reputation, I'd rather have solid proof before condemning him. After all, I wouldn't mind the experiments, but murder and abduction are perhaps a bit over the top."

Taking the paper and reading the adress for just a minute, the Orochi girl gave a soft chuckle, given the fact she almost expected him to say that she HAD to go to his place for safety. However, she agreed in thought with his statement, his place would indeed be more secure, unless if someone followed her, then she would simply be leading the people behind this letter to the man's doorstep.

"For now, let's keep quiet," The girl said calmly, taking a few steps away and into the direction of the central district. "We'll deal with this tonight. There's a place we need to go to first after I arrive at youre place."


1000/1000 mission completed
400/400 D-1->D-2 Speed complete
450/450 D-2->D-3 Speed complete
525/525 D-3->C-0 Speed Complete
325/325 D-0->D-1 Strength complete
400/400 D-1->D-2 Strength complete
136 unused


[exit thread]