"Hey, you there."
Laïs turned her head, taking a look at the guy in front of her. He was young, maybe a couple of years younger than herself, dressed practically and wearing Iwagakure's jacket as a symbol of his status as shinobi. Almond eyes looked him up, the Jugo's nature shimmering through just long enough to make him know he had all of her attention. Though trained to face quite a few dangers, he seemed not to be as well trained to handle the allure of a woman his age and for a brief moment he seemed to be distracted from his actual reason to call her over.
"Yes...?", she asked, eyes not breaking contact.
"You're looking to pick up a couple of missions for Iwagakure, are you not?"
She left the question hanging for a couple of seconds, then smiled wryly.
"Yes, exactly."
"Great, we could use someone like you, an unknown face."
"To do what? You're not thinking about anything dirty, are you?"
"W-wh.. No. We want you to deliver a letter as a so called new member of a bandit crew."
"I was just teasing you. I'm fine being a bandit, less boring anyway. Where should I be?"
"You'll find a small trinket shop selling a little bit of whatever. An old woman keeps shop, but it's Darian, her son, that does all the shady dealings. Just give this letter to her, since she's near blind there's no risk she'll be reading it. If she asks anything, you're a new member of the Hammers."
She gave a short nod, accepted the letter and tucked it away. The shinobi flickered away, and Laïs shrugged her shoulders. The mission was simple enough, and unlike bringing food to the sick, actually appealed a little more to chaotic side than the goodie-two-shoes mission she had undergone before. Just the thought there was some risk involved already made it so much better, no matter if she had a hard time believing the mission on its own would involve any risk. An old woman was not exactly a thrilling opponent.
Strolling through the Bazaar, her eyes darted from one shop to the other. Keeping up the role of a stranger, she window shopped, eyeing fashion and goodies alike and at times. Eventually, she stumbled upon the trinket shop in question and entered it. The small shop was not filled but littered with all kinds of goodies. Key rings, lighters, cigarettes, pocket toys of all sorts and other whatchamacallits.
Behind the counter sat an old lady somewhere in her seventies. Her white hair had lost the shine of her youthful splendour, her face riddled with frowns and wrinkles but giving her an elderly charm in return for the lost perfection that came with youth. She leaned slightly forward, hands resting on a walking stick, but Laïs guessed the woman would easily have been a 10 centimetres taller herself were she still standing tall. Even though the woman was said to be near blind, her gaze gave off the pierce of a hawk, taking notice of all movement happening within her small shop without fault.
"Hey lady."
"Whatcha want?"
"Just a pack of cigarettes and a new lighter, please."
The old woman narrowed her eyes, trying to pierce the blur that was her vision, before she placed the requested goods on the counter. She checked her pockets, as if searching for the ryo to pay, and eventually just slid the letter forward.
"Oh yeah, put the goods on Darian's tab, will you? He owes me one."
"Oh, does he now?"
"Yeah, it's all in the letter here.", Laïs patted the letter, cooing. "Once he reads it, he won't mind paying for me."
"Who are you, his new girlfriend?"
"Hah, no. I'm a new ah... friend."
"You youngsters truly believe I don't understand your slang, do you? Whatever. Take your stuff, I'll give him the letter."
"You're the best."
Picking up the cigarettes and lighter, Laïs walked out the shop. Once outside, she lit a cigarette and continued her stroll through the Bazaar for another hour before the Iwa-nin returned in sight.
"How did it go?"
"It went well. She has the letter, I got cigarettes. A fair trade if anything."
"Good, I'll report your success to the office. You'll be receiving your payment soon after."
"Thanks."
[EXIT]
750 wc