Excuse me, please! (OPEN)

Mission:

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The average citizen imagines a shinobi's tool pouch to be filled with shuriken and kunai. The reality is that shinobi have a broad variety of weapons to be put to use. In addition to the two most recognizable shinobi weapons, there exists the powerful explosive tag. Less popular, but still widely used, are senbon and wire. This only scratches the surface of the variety, variations and permutations of weapons that a shinobi can store en masse within the trusty tool pouch. Some shinobi even carry more exotic tools on their person.

Daiki himself was carrying deep fried sweet buns in his pouch alongside the staples, as he often did. He had bought some in the market districts this time though he really should have done it himself. He didn't have a deep fryer, but he was sure that he could make sweet buns better than the ones he had with him. One word: cinnamon. Maybe even a maple syrup glaze or a touch of salt or ground chili pepper for a subtle contrasting flavor. Chili pepper is healthy too. Oh, the experiments he could conduct. That said, the recipe that little pastry shop used was undeniably divine. However, he always hated how crowded the market district was. He felt crowded enough just by being forced to cover his skin whenever he left the house and he certainly didn't need strangers sharing their body heat with him. It is said that being cold is better than being hot because you can just put on more clothes while there was a limit to how much you could take off in the heat. This was especially true for Daiki.

He was also carrying a miniature notebook and a pencil. A rare tool, but fortunately common enough to be manufactured to fit in a shinobi's pouch. It wasn't even a hard find. It was just as simple as buying a normal sized notebook. It was a shame he had to buy it himself. It was common for shinobi to have to obtain their own tools, but they could have provided him with some forms or scrolls. At least the mission was simple enough. He just had to find some other ninja and jot down some basic information. Ninja were fairly easy to recognize when off duty. All of them wore headbands, the higher ranked shinobi wore uniforms and those who didn't fall in either of these categories often dressed rather flamboyantly. He supposed he fit in the latter category.

A lone shinobi walked down the street in a bright red, hooded cloak. With his head bowed as he walked, his face was obscured. That said, this shinobi's garb was just as recognizable as his face. As he spotted a comrade ahead, he ran up to the person and blocked their path. His arms flailed out in front of him as he attempted to stop them. "Wait right there! I need a moment of your time! Just give me a moment." He reached behind him to pull his small notebook and pencil out of his pouch. With his writing hand at the ready, the shinobi looked up at his new target. As he did so, Daiki's pale face was revealed from under the scarlet hood. His red eyes looked into the eyes of the other shinobi.

"Alright, give me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. This will be quick, I don't need your whole life's story, just some basic information... actually, I do need your life's story. This will take a while."

With that thought, he leaned against a nearby building. Might as well get comfortable while he's here.

She looked at the boy asking for her information, he was an obvious genin to say the least but she wasn't one to judge that on him just something she noticed from his demeanor and child-like wonder in some sorts. Her younger days would have her run off as she would have been too shy to give any information, let alone even chat to him. However her personality now was a bit easier and calmer, if anything she was a happier type of shinobi.

With that she wasn't overly unbearable to be happy just a smile as she nodded to him. "Sure, but let's take a seat. I'd rather not hold up the crowds with our chatter." She mentioned seating herself on a bench and looking around before following her eyes to him once more. "Well then, I am Hitomi Shiruku...how about your name please?" She asked being polite to him as she took a moment to think. "Likes? I love calm breezes, spicy foods , and birds." She took a moment as she folded her arms over in a bit of a serious tone. "I don't enjoy Storms, betrayal, and sour things."

She tapped her chin for a while and went on. "Hobbies? Well I don't really have one...I just study ijutsu or fuuton which with both being very complicated, it takes up most of my time so I never took up anything. I guess I could since it would be nice to find out some more skills to work on." She shrugged as she sat back and looked at him. "So then, I've told you a few things on me. What about yourself? Unless of course you're in a hurry."

WC: 280

He had caught the first one hook line and sinker. If he could apply this skill to fishing, he'd never have to buy fish again. The woman had made the decision to take a seat on a nearby bench before continuing with this interview. Just when he had finally become comfortable against the hard wall, too. Well, as comfortable as he could possibly be against the facade of a building. He didn't really mind sitting down with the young lady. In all honesty, he should have been the one to suggest sitting down, and it hurt his ego to think that he hadn't thought of it first. As he took a seat next to the kunoichi, he pulled down his hood a bit. For some reason, he felt a bit exposed. With the notebook set down on his lap, he leaned over it with his writing utensil at the ready and initially paying more attention to the book than the ninja sitting right besides him.

As soon as she began speaking again, he began scribbling. Many thought that the scratch of a pencil against paper was bothersome but he didn't mind it much. When he was done, he stared down at what he had written so far as if he could tell if it was misspelled if he looked hard enough before being knocked out of his trance with a question. He his sprung up from his lap to look over to Hitomi briefly. "Daiki Akimichi." When she began speaking again, he bowed his head and continued writing. Cool breezes. Yawn. Spicy food. Without even looking up, he responded, "Good taste." It was his personal opinion that what separated good food from great food was a little bite. Actually, could he call it his opinion if it was fact? Who could argue against such a statement. Birds? Depends on what type and how you cooked it. He chuckled a bit to himself. As Hitome briefly paused in her speech, he was impressed that she had not asked him to repeat any of the questions he had asked. A dislike of storms was somewhat interesting. A dislike of betrayal was obvious. A dislike of sour things seemed like an unnecessary limitation to her palate, but to each their own... he guessed. He had his own reservations in the case of eating meat though he was sure he had much better reasons than her. Next, he received a bit of insight on her fighting style. Wind and Ijutsu both suggested a long ranged fighting style. Her lack of hobbies didn't really surprise them. Many shinobi didn't seem to do much other than train.

When she asked if he would reciprocate the favor she had payed him, he sighed. He really didn't have anywhere to go. After this, he would be hunting down someone else to interview, but he had no pressing matters. Daiki looked back up towards Hitomi again. Not the quick glances he had thrown before. He kept eye contact as he spoke. "I'm Daiki Akimichi. My likes are the Iino shop's pastry's, I go to Ichiraku sometimes and there's a sushi shop just down to the street from there that's to die for." He put emphasis on the last two words of that sentence. "I don't like meat, or stupid people or hot weather. My hobby is cooking." It was more than a hobby, to be perfectly honest, but most shinobi couldn't understand that. He briefly looked over what he had written so far? "Do you have a clan?" He didn't recognize her surname, but it was harmless to ask he supposed. Right now, the information he had to work with didn't really create a person, but learning a bit about her family could fill in the gaps. Family was very important, especially for a ninja.

"So Daiki, and better yet an Akimichi, how cool. No really I'm sure my father would be happy to have me meet another from the village. He himself found very few on his missions but they seemed very loyal to their village, an amazing attribute for such a family line." She pointed out before laying back on the bench. "Cooking? Wow really you can cook foods? That's useful for so many things...it makes you really unique in that as well! What kinds can you make?" She smiled chuckling a bit before sitting up straight in a fast motion. "Oh now I remember, my hobby...okay sorry but it took me a moment, I'm a bird caller. I can make nearly all kinds of bird sounds, from eagles to budgies!"

She said before taking a moment to herself to whistle out, it was uncanny how on spot she was to sounding like a bird just passing by. "I learned it so I could imitate birds when I need to go on stealth missions. But it's also nice to call over such beautiful creatures." She called birds beautiful, even down to the oddest ones. But just as she said a small pigeon had landed on her head and she grinned up to it. She began to pet the creature as if it were a tamed pet before hearing his question. "Clan? No, my mother does but hers is a dying clan and my father is a mixture, he never really kept any clan traits because he had small amounts of multiple clan lines."

She shrugged going on to thinking. "Now my little brother is part of my mother's clan, but with the clan lineage dying out he can't learn everything he could need from them so for the time being he's just taking the academy written down as a clan less kid." She picked the bird up before sitting it on her lap and petting it. "Do you want to pet her?" She asked looking to the boy.

WC: 330

Had his ears forsaken him in the same way other parts of his body had? Did the pale boy hear Hitome say that her father was an Akimichi? Well, that certainly wasn't the impression he had of her upon first seeing her. Though it seemed the man was a rogue. Daiki wasn't sure how to feel about that. Of course, there was no time to think about that when cooking was the subject of the conversation. He had never received such a warm opinion of his talents. Just as he was about to give a long speech about cooking, she began to give more information about herself and he began writing once again. Birds, bird calls, wind; motion of the air seemed to be a motif with the girl. Most ninja had a motif of some kind. Some unifying description. Ninja and all facets of their world. She began to talk more about her family. Her father seemed to be a mutt, for lack of better words and it didn't sound like she had inherited either of her parents' unique traits. He had a lot to work with and with that thought he closed the book. "I think that's all I need!" He said with a smile. When Hitome offered to let him pet the pigeon, he had to decline. Daiki held his hands up chest level against his chest "I would really prefer not to." It wasn't like he disliked animals. He just wasn't an animal person. He also wasn't a meat eater, but that's a entirely different issue.

((Psst, she didn't say her dad was/went rogue, one can travel and not be rogue and even if her father is unable to be a shinobi due to the fact that he is physically and mentally incapable due to an accident that left him in shambles to where even med-nins couldn't fix him entirely

But sure I guess he can be Akimichi, I never really had a clan in mind for her father's side anyhow so why not? I'd love for her to have distant family around!

BUT that's just my note!~))

She nodded still petting the small bird in her palms before reaching her hands out to let it fly off. She sighed happily to it before looking to him and shrugging. "Well, since you mentioned you were a cook how about I try something of yours out? I'm sure it'll taste great if you've really been going at it." She pointed out looking at him in a friendly motion as she looked on.

"Do you think you could make something really spicy? Like challenging spicy? Because I've tried all kinds of bets and challenges on hot foods and all of them just let me down and never quite give the kick I really like!" She grinned going on to her chatting and hoping for a good answer.

WC: 127

((also sorry for short post, just wasn't sure what to put here other than food :3))

(He's just a presumptuous kid. No worries.)

A smile grew across his face as the conversation returned to his field of expertise... well, in the same way that ninjutsu was his field of expertise. He tugged on his hood a bit, a habit of his. "Yeah, well, my kitchen doesn't have all of the tools I need to make anything impressive, but-- well I do my best," the boy said with a chuckle while twisting the fabric of the garment he was wearing around his finger in the way that one might do with their hair. He was clearly enjoying this, in a braggadocios or flirty way, though neither appropriately described his words. It was a sarcastic humility, a literal love for his work, that sat behind his words. She asked him about spice. "I feel the same way. I haven't been able to find anything with enough kick for me either. That said, I don't really have any of the good stuff... yet! I need to save up some money. That's why I'm doing a lot more missions." He tapped the book in his lap twice with his left hand with a solid thump. "I can still make something though, if you want." Had he found a kindred spirit? Why couldn't his father be like this?

She noticed him perk up from her question upon himself and nodded to him. "I'm sure you can work with what you have, that's no different than from a med kit, you can't carry a hospital in it but you can try to carry what you need and what you have." She went on to scratching her head for a moment and fixed her hair back before standing up. "Well if it gives me a chance to taste a really good meal then I'll chip in to your work! Really I wouldn't mind, come on let's get to that then. You seem excited enough to do something about it anyhow and it is the afternoon, so lunch is soon." She chuckled out as she begun to walk on.

WC: 120

He got up as well and pulled down on his hood a bit. Sometimes, it never felt like he was covered enough and he considered wrapping his face in addition to his hands and feet like the invisible man. That said, Hitomi seemed to think he had it covered. She had a lot of faith in his cooking and now he had answer that faith. He continued to walk alongside her in his gaudy red cloak. He briefly rubbed his eyes, pushing aside his sunglasses momentarily. "Alright. Do you know where the Akimichi clan compound is?" At the moment, he was considering whether to take the scenic route. By scenic, he meant through the market districts. On one hand, it would only delay their trip, forcing them to weave through crowds and it would be a major annoyance. On the other hand, he could use a snack. Then, he remembered that he had prepared for a situation just like this. A situation where he wanted to go somewhere to eat, but needed to walk to get there. From out of his tool pouch, he pulled a deep fried sweet bun. As he took a bite out of it, he looked over to Hitome. "You want one?" Normally, he would never share food, but he was feeling generous for some reason. Plus, he liked to introduce people to recipes they might not have tasted before and he didn't feel like going back down to that little pastry stand.

She listened to his question for a while shaking her head. "Unfortunately no, I know the general direction but most of the clan compounds or homes I don't get to visit all to often." She mentioned shrugging slightly and she walked on, seeing as he hid his face as best he could, however not commenting on it since it seemed like a topic not suited for her.  With that she noticed him taking a bite out of a snack in a hungrily fashion and then offer one to her, she shook her head for a moment sighing out. "Sorry, I want to save some room for the meal you're to make, it would be rude of me to eat barely half of it anyhow." She explained and walked on for a while. "Don't get me wrong I do like those, I just don't have a large appetite."

WC: 148

{exit}

"Suit yourself." Daiki continued to walk on while snacking on his sweet treat. More for him he figured. It wasn't going to be a long trip to his humble home but it wouldn't be a short one either. He often walked around with a irritated look on his face or one of indifference but he had a genuine smile. Today was a pretty great day. It still was a pretty great day. When he had first started this string of missions, it was a great chore. If all of his future missions were like this one, he'd become Hokage. He chuckled a bit aloud. Hopefully, his next shinobi encounter would be this fun. In order to complete this mission. He needed to interview one more person. Daiki decided not to think about that now: he had a recipe to mentally prepare.

(I think this is a good place to leave off for this thread unless you really want to continue. Otherwise, thread exit.)