The market. A boring chore that Kashizudoto really didn't want to do. Then again, he wouldn't ever want his parents to go do the shopping in public. He didn't want them to do anything, especially not in public. Who knows what those maniacs could do in a social setting? His mom was obsessed, to the point of serious addiction, with a headless stuffed animal. She would take it everywhere she went, including a marketplace. If she ever misplaced it, she would go mad like any addict - screaming, crying, and thrashing. Not to mention her horrible paranoia that caused her to start blaming random people for her mistakes as if they all wanted her to fail (ex. she blamed the Hokage for her status as a genin of 52 years old when she could never manage to pass the Chuunin Exams every time). How insane she could potentially drive the vendors was a frightening thought. His father was rude, stubborn, temperamental, and - like his wife - was horribly antisocial and obsessive (of course, he was also a perennial genin like his wife). Their similarities didn't make the two get along, however. Instead, the two mentally insane people were terrible enemies who had even resorted to violence against each other in domestic conflicts. Really, it seemed that they were trying to mess up Kashizudoto's life at every turn. However, he was particularly known for his strong will, so - like everything they did - they failed at putting him down as well. If anything, those experiences made him stronger, as he continued on his path to chuunin. He'd show them, at the age of 12, that he could achieve what they couldn't do their whole lives.

Whatever. Let's see... He needed about, perhaps, half a bushel of strawberries. Those were really tasty. One of the few fruits that made his mouth water. Then some kyoho... maybe about 1/4 of a bushel? Then he'd definitely buy some mikan along the way... At least a dozen. Definitely a dozen Fuji apples as well. YUM! While some ninja could conveniently seal away all their groceries with Fuinjutsu, Kashizudoto unfortunately did not have that luxury, so he brought along a large wooden basket to carry all the foodstuffs that he was gonna buy.

His appearance, besides the large basket he was holding, consisted of a green jacket with a white undershirt, average shinobi pants with a pouch on the left holding one kunai and three shuriken, and - of course - his Konohagakure hitae-ate to show that he was a proud shinobi of the village. It seemed Sarutobi were always especially proud of Konoha, but that couldn't be helped. Anyway, wearing his forehead protector would probably get him a discount from some of the less grubby vendors.

Anyhow, off to the market. Who could ever guess the kinds of people that he could meet there? A new friend? Perhaps a rival? Truth be told, Kashizudoto had already found himself a rival - although perhaps the feeling wasn't mutual. That person was Tre Natake, the Konoha shinobi that he had sparred and lost to. Anyway, it was impossible the guess who he could meet at such a diverse area.

WC: 539

It was a joy to visit marketplace for Takashi. He always wanted to go and buy everything he liked, like most people do when they judge an item by it's appearance. Well Takashi couldn't rely on that. Just strolling by the stalls first he would hear mongers announce what they were stalling. But even if salesmen were busy, Takashi could easily determine what was sold by hearing the potential customers describing the novelties among themselves. You might think it's hard, but all you have to listen for are the signal words. For example, sweet and bees would mean honey. Or tasty and tender would mean meat (actually Takashi thinks that no one has the guts to tell the local butcher that his prepared meat is bad.) But his most praised sense was smell, of course. It perhaps could also be considered a strength, since he wouldn't get his mouth watery when staring and something delicious looking. But he still was a victim to good smells.
Young genin always dresses like he has no missions to accomplish and no danger waits for him. Today again he was wearing the colorful robe. The sun was shining so bright that you could easily mistaken the orange on his robe for a yellow color. It looked like he just had had his time with a geisha - just happily and slowly strolling among the stalls and avoiding getting crowded by people. Some would even say he was a spoiled brat, since he paid no attention to the cheaper stalls with his eyes. Although that was not true - he could identify items on his both sides if their aroma was strong enough.
What Takashi was looking for today in particular was citrus fruit tea leaves. He had had a rough morning - he couldn't find the kettle for almost half an hour. And his citrus fruit tea supplements were depleted. And before leaving his household a Ninneko had asked Takashi to bring some catnip as well. However the boy didn't plan on bringing that stuff for the clan members. It wasn't prohibited, but once you carry even a little bit of catnip, Ninnekos will overcrowd you and won't leave you unless you share that catnip. However, when they get the first share of this drug, they will ask for more regardless of what they said previously. Sometimes even a Bakeneko joins the catnip party.
And then he heard some people talking:''Pour hot water over..'' and also he felt a slight scent of fresh berries. He faced towards the stall he had heard this come from. He was certain that he could buy some tea ingredients here. But right next to him he also felt a trace of kyoho. Takashi extended his hand to grab some but accidentally hit someone. Judging by the touch that lasted no longer than a second, Takashi could guess that he had struck a boy about his age, of approximately same height. An instant apology followed:''Oh, excuse me!'' After a few seconds of pause, Takashi continued talking, without using his hand this time:''Are those kyohos? Do they look good? Would they make a fine decoction?'' Takashi's stare was focused on the berries. One could not tell if these questions were aimed at the stall keeper or the person he had bumped in. But the boy was obviously waiting an answer from the person he had just met.
576 words

Ah, that kyoho stand over there looked like a good place to buy from. Kashizudoto knew the vendor: he was a reliable, hardworking man, and the fruits themselves looked nice and juicy. As he walked over to the stand, he could hear all the commotion - which was discernible with his perceptive skills that were known to be better than most others his age - and smell all the food - he could pick out every individual foodstuff from kyohos to Fuji apples. Just as he was about to go up and pick out some kyohos, another boy - seemingly a little distracted - bumped into him.

"Oh, excuse me!" the boy instantly apologized. Well he sure seemed like a bit of a nice guy to Kashizudoto so far. Substantiating those claims was not only the seemingly apologetic nature but also the bright orange - or maybe yellow - robe that he was wearing. Interesting sense of fashion, Kashizudoto supposed.

"Are those kyohos? Do they look good?" started blabbing the boy, "Would they make a fine decoction?'" Ok, so this guy wasn't just showing to be a classic nice guy, he was also seemingly very talkative. He also seemed to have an interesting sense of semantics, using a word like "decoction" rather than "meal", "snack", or even "concoction". However, this rather frail kid looked like he was around Kashizudoto's age (at least in maturity, if not chronologically). Perhaps he'd make a new friend.

On further inspection, it seemed that there were no blood vessels in this guy's sclera. Wait... was this guy... blind? Perhaps he was. It wouldn't be surprising, considering how the guy bumped in to him. And that would also explain why the guy was inquiring about whether the fruits were kyohos, since he could only smell them - not see them. So Kashizudoto then had some new sympathy for him.

"Yes, those are kyohos," said Kashizudoto, "They look really tasty and would make for a fine meal."

"So," he continued as he put some kyohos in his basket and exchanged some ryo with the vendor of the stand, "I realize that your blindness is giving you some trouble. Want me to help you out with your grocery shopping?"

"By the way," he said, "I'm Kashizudoto Sarutobi, a genin of Konohagakure."

WC: 920

A seemingly long pause followed after Takashi had asked about kyohos. There wasn't much Takashi could do but put on a noticeable smile and wait for an answer. And then came a soothing voice that dismissed Takashi's doubts. The voice was dependable. It was right next to him, right where he had hit someone. So it was certain that it wasn't just the salesman speaking who would want to trick Takashi into buying his goods. Nevertheless, the boy still grabbed some kyohos in his hand and tried to determine if they were smooth and not rotten by touch. As expected, the person next to him was no liar. This person even bought some kyohos himself.
Soon after the trade between vendor and the other boy ended, a note concerning Takashi's apparent blindness followed. But the catchphrase that was not expected was "a genin of Konohagakure."
"Oh! So that's why he noticed my inability so soon" Takashi was impressed and thought to himself. The boy probably even had a forehead protector. "Hey, Kashizudoto", replied Takashi starting to move away from the kyoho stall with his right hand extended and grasping it in all directions in order to not hit anyone.  "My name is Takashi Nekomata and I will gladly take on your offer!" he said while already facing the road ahead. Then Takashi instinctively opened his palm and turned it upwards. This was practiced when someone of Nekomata clan would take the young genin out for walks. They would grab his hand and not let go. That way the boy could feel safe. Again, instinctively, Takashi turned his head towards where he had last heard Kashizudoto and opened a smile again, thus trying to encourage him to grab the hand.
Only then it struck Takashi - not everyone is familiar with his habits of taking walks. He knew just the way how to correct this awkward situation. He used his left hand to fetch something in his robe. It wasn't deep and the genin soon pulled out his trademark - a forehead protector. Just like the one Kashizudoto ought to have. "I'm a genin as well!" Takashi announced like he was something special being a blind genin. His genin's trademark traveled form left hand to right hand and stayed in each hand for about 5 seconds. That's because Takashi was very eager about meeting with another genin. At this moment he paid almost no attention to his surroundings. An eagle could screech on a roof of nearby building - Takashi would not notice that.
After the protector was again safely tucked in his robe's secret pocket, a topic was revealed "I'd be most grateful, if you showed me where I could buy best and freshest citrus fruits."
1040 words in total.

"Hey, Kashizudoto," said the blind boy after a momentary pause, "My name is Takashi Nekomata and I will gladly take on your offer!" After revealing his name and accepting Kashizudoto's offer to help, he held out his left hand and turned it so that the palm was facing up. Did this boy want Kashizudoto to hold his hand or something? Ya, he wasn't going to go along with that. After a bit of an awkward pause, the boy instead reached into his pocket. Good, so he wasn't expecting Kashizudoto to hold hands with him.

"I'm a genin as well!" announced the boy - apparently a ninja - excitedly. A blind shinobi, huh? So this kid was obviously resourceful. Not to mention that his four normal senses - smell, touch, taste, and hearing - must have been amplified due to his loss of sight.

"I'd be most grateful," said the genin after tossing about his forehead protector in excitement for a few seconds, "If you showed me where I could buy best and freshest citrus fruits." Ah, yes. There was a reliable vendor, from Kashizudoto's dealings with him at least, who sold fresh, tasty citrus fruits nearby. In fact, the stand was right next to the one that the two were in front of.

"This way," said Kashizudoto as he stomped on the ground to alert the genin on what "this way" meant and then proceeded to walk over to the citrus fruit stand.

"Wait a second," said Kashizudoto. The stand, normally filled with oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits, was completely empty. Just some bare wooden boxes in their place.

"Sorry," said the vendor, "I don't have any for you right now." What? This was outrageous!

"What happened?" Kashizudoto inquired.

"Well," said the vendor a little doubtfully as he raised his shoulders, "I don't really know. The shipment from Kodachi Town, my stand's supplier, hasn't arrived on time. Not much I can do." Interesting development. It could have been anything from missing-nin or other criminals hijacking the route to lazy people not getting the job done on time.

"I'll go over there and fix the situation," said Kashizudoto, tapping on his forehead protector, "I'm here to help the village after all. And this other shinobi here, Takashi, will assist me." Sure, Kashizudoto was seemingly forcing the blind boy to go out into the wilderness, but he was a ninja after all. There was no way he was too weak to go out into the wilderness, especially when he had a buddy to help him.

"That would be wonderful!" said the vendor, "The town is in the Dense Forest. You'll have no trouble finding it if you turn dead right from the village gate and continue on that path." Wait. This town was located in the Dense Forest - the same thing that kept the village safe from invasions? It was filled with a whole lot of dangerous things - scary animals, toxins, bandits, and even missing ninja. Would a blind boy be ok there? Kashizudoto was starting to have second thoughts at first, but then he became more confident about letting Takashi tag along.

"Alright," he said as he turned to the boy, "You're coming, right?" After hearing the response, Kashizudoto started making his way to the village gate to head for Kodachi Town - with or without the other genin tagging along. This was going to be an interesting adventure for sure.

WC: 1501

[Exit]

Stength: D-2 -> D-3: 450/450 + 75 ryo
Speed: D-2 -> D-3: 450/450 + 75 ryo
Endurance: D-2 -> D-3: 450/450 + 75 ryo
Leftover WC: 151

Hearing the other boy say "This way" was enough for Takashi to determine which direction was the sound coming from. He had calmed down after putting his metal plaything away. His hearing was focused again, therefore there was no need to stomp on the ground. Hearing sounds was way easier than feeling sound waves travel through the ground. However Takashi's senses were trained well and he could feel it just fine. But maybe the caring boy had already gotten impatient. Takashi didn't want to annoy anyone. He started following straight in the boy's footsteps. Once you focus on someone's footsteps, it's easy to distinct the rhythm and sound from all the other ruckus around.
Marketplace wasn't very crowded today. Takashi liked it that way because it reduced his chances for bumping into someone again. And they faster reached the destination, because they didn't have to squeeze past customers with huge sacks or baskets. However, Takashi couldn't find the citrus fruit smell. And he was right for the helpful boy also noticed something was wrong and inquired about it to the vendor. Apparently the supplement hasn't arrived today. That was a bummer. How was Takashi then supposed to stock up on some citrus tea?
It was certain that Takashi wouldn't return to his apartment without citrus tea. Almost like reading his mind, Kashizudoto asked if Takashi was coming. Of course Takashi was going, and so he replied:"Yes, I'm coming" but instead of a comforting smile, the young genin was looking very serious now. Almost like he was about to go on his first important mission. And perhaps so it was. While Takashi was not allowed to leave clan's territory, he still managed to sneak out a few times. But a Ninneko was always looking over the boy, never allowing him to get in any trouble. Maybe Takashi hoped that something similar was happening right now. But it was just a faint hope, he was sure that he was dependent on a fellow genin now.
1386 words in total.
[Exit]
Training:
Perception from E-0 to D-0: 750/750
Speed from E-1 to E-3: 375/375
Endurance from E-0 to E-2: 225/225
Remaining WC: 1386-750-375-225=36