When Sunadokei awoke that morning she would never in her wildest dreams have guessed this is where she would end up. Her missions as of late had been... less than interesting. She'd been forced to take a day off for paid leave for a mandatory psychological evaluation, been sent on numerous patrols of the city, most nightly shifts. Worst off all though were the petty tasks that amount to menial labor, like mail courier duty and rescuing lost pets. It was demeaning, low paying, and worst of all, boring work. Sunadokei understood she was still technically a Genin, but she was more than qualified to be a Chūnin. The only thing standing in her way was the formality of the Chūnin Exams, which she had regrettably forgotten to sign up for during their last competition. She silently vowed to rectify this injustice at her earliest convenience.
Sadly though, that day was not today. After a modest breakfast of two dozen pancakes, several pounds of smoked bacon, and a full tray's worth of biscuits the buxom Akimichi beauty was ready to greet the day and claim whatever fate destiny had laid out for her. So wishing her mother goodbye and telling her siblings to do well at school, Sunadokei headed off towards the Administration Building where she was scheduled for new assignment. Rather than walk, or run, Sunadokei preferred to roll when she was in a hurry. One Human Bullet Tank later and the spherical kunoichi was rolling down city streets taking up a full lane of traffic. Nimble enough to make sharp corners, and stop on almost a dime if need be; aside from terrifying people with the sight of a three meter wide rolling purple boulder, Sunadokei moved easily throughout bustling morning traffic.
Bouncing over an ox cart and making a sharp right at an intersection, the rotund woman rolled her way into the Hokage Plaza, already bustling with morning activity. She dispelled her jutsu in a poof of smoke, returning to her normal, albeit absurdly curvaceous figure just in time to not get herself wedged in the revolving doors of the building. Sunadokei had done that been for, and the repair work to the bent door frame had come out of her following mission's payment. Nowadays she was more careful with her capacity for destruction, it was easy to forget her kekkai genkai manipulated both size and weight, the later of which grew exponentially in comparison. Square-cubed law was simultaneously the Akimichi clan's best friend and most annoying nemesis.
Rolling her way to the Administration Building as a three thousand pound wrecking ball moving at a speed faster than a horse in full gallop did wonders for working off breakfast, so naturally Sunadokei simply had a second one. There was a small cafe in the building's lobby, a vital source of coffee for overworked and underslept village administrators arriving to work. Sunadokei ordered herself a dozen muffins of various type, had them placed in a to go back, and happily devoured them on her way up five flights of stairs to the Mission Assignment Desk. She let out a sigh, wishing she'd opted for a baker's dozen instead as she tossed them empty bag in a trash can. The line toward was rather long, and though Sunadokei wasn't presently assigned to a team it didn't make things go any faster when she was finally up to the plate for a mission. Standing in line she waited patiently, listening as the mission proctor for the day spouted off an assignment about escorting some bridge builder to the Land of Water. It sounded infinitely more impressive than what she was likely to get saddled with, which was probably another round of patrol duty.
As the line shrunk and it was almost Sunadokei's turn for assignment, an irritated woman clutching a thick stack of paperwork nearly bust through the door. The petite woman had her hair tied up in a bun, bookish spectacles resting on her nose, and a soft scowl on her face. She stepped into the room in a huff, heels clicking on tile floors immediately commanding the attention of otherwise bored shinobi. The proctor eyed her with some concern, then resumed his explanation on the importance of this bridge for trade and goodwill between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. Meanwhile, the Hokage's Assistant cleared her throat, inspecting the small crowd of shinobi, and began to speak. "If I could have your attention." She said in a sharp, mousy voice trying to sound authoritative. "The Hokage has a special assignment, and has requested I find a suitable volunteer. Someone who can pose as a fashion show contestant, so a young woman, preferably with an hourglass figure and knowing Takao-sama, incredibly large bre-."
The woman trailed off, eyes locked on Sunadokei's titanic bust as the Akimichi woman stared back at her bright eyed and jubilant like a child on Christmas. "You, what is your name miss." The assistant asked, stepping closer to inspect Sunadokei. The curvaceous kunoichi had several inches and if she had to guess, at least eighty pounds on this woman. All of it in her curves if their two figures were the comparison.
"Sunadokei Akimichi!" Sunadokei blurt out her name, almost as soon as the assistant's question left her mouth. "I mean.. Sunadokei Akimichi, ma'am. Eldest daughter of Makaro Akimichi, the twenty third head of the Akimichi clan, and the heiress to his name." She was rocking back and forth on her heels, radiating visible excitement at the prospect of doing some special mission for the Hokage.
The assistant looked her over again more closely, eyes hanging enviously for a second at the vast valley of cleavage exposed at the top of Sunadokei's kimono. "Yes, you're perfect for what Hokage-sama is looking for." The assistant then turn, stepping over to the proctor's desk to speak with the man. "Could you tell me what miss Akimichi's rank and current mission assignment is."
The proctor nodded in agreement. "Yes, of course one moment. Team ten, you are dismissed. Your squad captain can cover any details I might have missed. Seems I have more important matters to attend to." With that the shinobi squad headed out, and the proctor turned to rifle through his own stacks of paperwork. "Let's see, Akimichi...Akimichi... thank god it's always towards the top. Suna-Sunadokei. There it is. Genin, D-Rank, proficient in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, Earth and Fire release proficiency as well. Seems we have her lined up for... A, Sewer Patrol Duty. Must have drawn the short straw on that one."
Sunadokei's hair stood on the back of her neck. There was a sewer patrol? For what? Alligators? Who in their right mind would willingly take up that mission? Maybe an Aburame, they liked bugs and other gross things she reasoned. What cruel god did she anger to get saddled with that mission. The Assistant though, would prove to be her salvation. She unfurled a mission scroll and passed it along to the proctor. "You'll have to reassign that to someone else, I will be taking miss Akimichi for the special assignment on that scroll. Understand?"
The proctor scratched at his chin, nodding in agreement. "Understood, I'll get the records changed at once. Now, if you two could take this Hokage business elsewhere, I have a lot of squads left to assign and you're slowing down the process." With that he drew a brush and dipped it into his ink well, carefully changing the ledgers to reflect the sudden circumstances. "Team fifteen, if you'd step forward. I have a B-Rank Mission for you..."
The Hokage's Assistant nodded in agreement. "Of course, sorry to inconvenience you." She motioned to Sunadokei to follow her, who was still wide eyed and now further excited by the fact her sewer patrol duty had been reassigned. "Miss Sunadokei, if you could please escort me outside." Not waiting for an answer the assistant stomped off, heels clicking once more against hard tiled floor. Sunadokei was naturally compelled to follow her, hurrying outside after her as the two made their way down the hall to a less busy section of the floor. "I'm happy to have your cooperation..." The assistant said, trying very hard to maintain proper eye contact. "I was asked only to find someone who looked like they'd attend a beauty contest, but you more than fit the Hokage's... personal tastes. He has a marked preference for women who are, how do I put this eloquently. Dummy thicc..." The Assistant paused, looking visibly annoyed at the words she'd spoken. "That is his phrase, not mine. Regardless, you fit it to the letter, exceed it really."
Sunadokei just blinked, slightly confused but still incredibly eager. "Well, you're not the only one who's called me dummy thicc lately. The phrase really seems to be taking off. Hmm..." She thought about it to herself for a moment. When had that expression gotten popular? It was always men who used it, she still preferred to refer to herself as curvaceous, or better yet voluptuous. Not that it mattered much, and it brought a smile to her face knowing she fit the Hokage's no doubt high standards in women. "Anyways, what was this special assignment the Hokage had for me?" Sunadokei asked, she was eager to get down to the details of this mission, she'd never done one like it before.
The Assistant adjusted her glasses slightly, trying to avoid blushing at Sunadokei's repeating of that stupid phrase. "The Hokage is... particularly fixated with a certain ongoing case. The Heiwa murders, have you heard of them at all?"
Sunadokei rubbed at her chin, thinking to herself. "I think there was something in the papers on them, but I don't read the newspaper much. Sorry, I'm sure my mother would know. She has all the latest gossip." This was true, and Kikyo Akimichi's web of contacts and gal pals was a veritable Surveillance Ops team in and of itself. No bake sale, potluck, or company picnic escaped the woman's knowledge.
"Well it's quite simple." The Assistant stated, disinterested in learning about how much of a gossip the matriarch of the Akimichi household is. "A number of beauty contest contestants have been gruesomely murdered. The Hokage only asked that I find a woman who looks the contest going type, who will be assisting Kimura-sama on this mission personally." The Hokage's Assistant spoke calmly, as she rummaged through her paperwork for the mission scroll copy for Sunadokei.
The same calmness could not be said for the curvaceous Akimichi woman. Sunadokei looked ready to burst with excitement, her smile was wide enough it could blind someone if it caught the sunlight just right. "REALLY?" Sunadokei said, barely able to contain herself. "I'd be on a special assignment with the Hokage himself? Lord Takao Kimura? The Dragon Sage? OhmygoshIcantbelieveit." When Sunadokei's tenure as a Genin began, Lord Rippa was still acting Hokage, but since his retirement Lord Takao had taken his place. Sunadokei had never met the man personally, but held an intense fan-girling towards him none the less. The Hokage was after all, the acting leader of the Hidden Leaf village, and the earpiece to the orders of the Daimyō of the Land of Fire himself. Sunadokei, having been raised with an intense sense of duty, purpose, and a great reverence for those of authoritative positions was now beside herself with anticipation.
The Assistant seemed taken aback by this display, and scowled a bit. "Yes, you would be working alongside the Hokage in field work. I tried to dissuade him from this, but when his mind is made about these things he refuses to take 'no' for an answer. So you will be working alongside side him personally, and myself and the shinobi council will handle village administration in the meantime. Understood?" Sunadokei didn't respond verbally, too busy biting her lip and nodding her head. The assistant then retrieved the scroll to hand to her. "Here is the actual assignment, drafted by the hand of Kimura-sama himself. It details your rendezvous location, includes a set of round trip train tickets, and has all your relevant mission details. I suggest you pack for urban travel, you'll be gone a few days at a minimum."
Sunadokei took the scroll as if it were the commandments of God itself, unfurling it and reading through its contents ravenously. It even had the Hokage's personal wax seal on the parchment, rather than the generic seal of the Mission Assignment Council staff's. When she finished, Sunadokei rolled the scroll up and carefully tucked it away securely in between her deep valley of cleavage. The Hokage's Assistant seemed mortified by this display.
"Did you really just do that miss Akimichi?" She asked questioningly, pointing to Sunadokei's chest. Even from up close it was impossible to tell she was hiding the scroll between her bosoms.
"Do what?" Sunadokei asked innocently, thinking nothing of it. She'd stuffed dozens of Mission Scrolls in her cleavage over the years. It was the most accessible storage place for her, and was second nature at this point.
"Put that scroll in your... bust. Do you not have a better place to keep it? A pocket maybe?" The Assistant said irritably, now visibly flustered.
"Oh, that. I dunno, it's a force of habit I guess. And nah, I like putting them in here. Makes it easy to hold onto and no one is going to be able to steal it off me." Sunadokei's tone grew slightly annoyed for the first time since they met, she didn't like her cleavage being insulted like that. She assumed the comment was born out of envy.
"Fine, well. Do as you wish then, it's your assignment." The petite woman said with a huff, causing Sunadokei to grin with the satisfaction of victory. "If you have no further questions I must be off. I will be swimming in paperwork by morning with Kimura-sama departing."
"Nope, no further questions. I'll head out too, I have packing to do. I'm super excited, I've never met the Hokage in person before." With that the two women parted ways, one to return to a cluttered office and towering stacks of paperwork. The other to go buy celebratory donuts, stuffing her face at the cafe before heading home a half hour later looking several cup sizes more well endowed than she had prior. Sunadokei informed her mother of the special assignment, and the elder Akimichi hugged her tight into a smothering embrace. Sunadokei made for her bedroom to pack her things, while her mother prepared her a special to-go lunch of her favorite foods. A hour later and the young Genin was heading off towards Shinshigai station, duffel bag at her side and dozen barbecue beef brisket sandwiches neatly wrapped in a large plastic container in her free hand.
Sunadokei arrived at the station, having her ticket stamped at the nearest terminal and making for the nearest platform. She'd never ridden a train before. The steam locomotive was a modern marvel of technology. By burning large amounts of coal in a boiler, the steam produced by super heating water tanks near the wheels propelled the hulking steel vehicle forward. It could easily outpace a horse, and outpaced ox carts and wagons by a factor of twenty. Dozens of cars could be affixed to the engines, allowing for very efficient mass transit of people, goods, and materials over long distances. Kohana had the first, and likely most extensive rail network of the greater nations. But even then, trains were a rarity other than in routes to the major cities and ports.
Sunadokei studied the platform, eagerly wolfing down one of her sandwiches as she looked for the Hokage. One would think he'd stand out more, given he was quite literally the most famous shinobi in the village. After a minute, Sunadokei spotted him, standing there watching the engineers inspect the rail cars in his flak jacket and shinobi attire. Sunadokei felt slightly under dressed, sporting only her trademark purple kimono. The Akimichi kanji for 'food' emblazoned on the back in crimson. She had amended her outfit in the name of modesty, adding a cloth wrap around her bust and midsection, to slim her figure a bit and make her chest seem a bit less expansive. It was failing in its task but at least covered up much of her cleavage. Sunadokei down the last bite of her sandwich, swallowing with it her nerves and taking the plunge as she strode up to the Hokage.
As she approached Sunadokei cleared her throat, so she could formally introduce herself. "Hokage Kimura-sensei." She stated calmly, though the nerves could be heard in her wavering voice. "I am Sunadokei Akimichi, eldest daughter and heiress of Makaro Akimichi, twenty third head of the Akimichi clan. I am humbled to meet you." She added, giving a short but formal bow, which always exposed a very generous view down at her cleavage for those taller than her. She continued speaking as she rose back up. Brilliant verdant eyes locked on the Hokage's gaze. "And I am beyond honored I was selected for this special assignment. I promise to do my village, and you proud, and complete this task as swiftly as I am able." This concluded her normal formalities, and the butterflies in her stomach then growled loudly in demand of more food. "Oh, one second." She said, blushing heavily as she reopened her tupper ware.
Sunadokei withdrew a second sandwich, and began rapidly devouring it in a matter of seconds before licking her fingers clean. When she was nervous, she ate, and Sunadokei Akimichi was currently extremely nervous. She would be working side by side with the leader of her entire village, one of the strongest shinobi in the whole world. It was almost too much to take in, which is why she took in more food instead. Her gaze wandered back up to Takao's, and she smiled as she swallowed. "Would you like a sandwich while we wait for the train to board us Hokage-sensei? My mother packed me lunch. They're smoked beef brisket slathered in Akimichi honey glazed barbecue sauce. It's a family recipe. I promise you'll love it." Makaro Akimichi had always taught his daughter one very important thing, food was the fastest way to friendships. Wars had been fought over food, and every human no matter how mighty or how poor had to eat. Offering another food was a kind of basic, primal kind of generosity that transcended culture or greed. The Akimichi clan were gregarious and generous, in spite of their well deserved reputations as gluttons. And Sunadokei Akimichi was far from the exception. "You can have the biggest one if you like." She added, Lord Kimura-sama was very tall after all... and very handsome.
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