A Busy Day

The empty streets of Konohagakure blurred together around Ichika Zukumiki. Each hurried step echoed down shadowed alleyways, and every block brought the young genin closer to her destination, Memorial Park. Mornings always had a strange way of sneaking up on her—today was no exception, especially with her mother out of town on business in the north.

"Sorry I'm late!" she huffed, taking a moment to catch her breath before hefting the rake from her shoulder and joining her fellow genin. "I'll get started over here."

Keeping to the far side of the park from her fair-haired counterpart, the teen worked in contented silence. For a relatively menial task, picking up leaves had a certain hypnotic charm to it. The simple act of raking them up into a pile, shoveling them into a bag, and doing it all over again scratched a certain itch. Perhaps, Ichika thought to herself as she moved from pile to pile, it had to do with the certainty of the work, something typically lacking in the lives of even younger shinobi and kunoichi.  

In what felt like mere minutes an hour passed, and the task was done.

"That wasn't too bad," rolling up the sleeves of her hoodie, she approached the other genin. "My name's Ichika, by the way, Ichika Zukumiki—it's nice to meet ya!"

Her mother would have chided her for the informality, not to mention the off-gray leggings she wore, but what the matriarch of the Zukumiki household didn't know wouldn't hurt her. After all, one couldn't very well be expected to wear a kimono everywhere, it simply wasn't practical. Plus, coming off as a snob to someone she would be spending much of the day with didn't seem like the best of ideas.

WC: 292

Ichika's Stats:

"Yeah, it could definitely be worse," she agreed with a shrug and matched her companion's chuckle with a wry grin. A previous mission had her rooting around in the trash for a bride-to-be's lost ring. This job certainly smelled much better and, it would seem so far, included much better company than the flea-ridden alley cats she'd teamed up with on her ring hunt. "Plus, we're getting paid, can't complain too much—"

Somewhere in the village, a clock struck ten sending muted gongs throughout the park and scaring a small flock of birds from a nearby tree.

"Speaking of getting paid," she slung her bag of leaves over her shoulder and turned back towards the village proper with a few strides. "We should get a move on or we'll be late for the next job."

One mission down, and three left to go—the two genin had a busy day ahead of them, and it was only just getting started. Late the previous day, the assignments came down from the kage's office and, while she had hoped for more impactful set of tasks, Ichika was happy to pitch in where she could. To get to the top one had to pay their dues or risk falling into a deadbeat obscurity.  

"Follow me," she called out without looking back. "I know a shortcut!"

If Vaera chose to follow Ichika, their path would wind past Ichiraku Ramen before taking a sharp turn through the Uchiha district. From there the teen dipped, ducked, and ran through a few alleyways until they ended up mere steps from the composting station. Fortunately, all the pair had to do was leave the full bags out front for the staff to deal with, nothing too tricky.

"Alright, what's next?"

---
WC: 292
TWC: 584

Moving through the streets at a much more leisurely pace than before, the two teens fell into a conversation on the topic of food. At first, it revolved around Ichiraku's cuisine, most of which Ichika found to be a bit too spicy for her liking. Though, soon the focus shifted to deserts where Ichika and Vaera discovered a shared passion for the sweeter things in life. In her younger years, Rui, Ichika's mother, brought her daughter small sweets back from her frequent business trips, and now the treats reminded the raven-haired genin of a simpler time.

The next job, though it took a bit longer than the first, flew right by with Vaera as company. Not typically the biggest talker, Ichika ceded much of the conversation to her fair-haired companion. It drifted from inane topics, like the weather, to the more political ones, with the recent freeing of Konoha from the yoke of the Mist Village. This, along with the more informal chats with the homeless of Konohagakure, extended the mission beyond the time it should have taken. However, Ichika didn't mind in the slightest, even if she did have to almost drag Vaera away from the last couple of conversations—having someone to chat with made the whole experience a bit more enjoyable.

That said, the one topic Ichika avoided was that of the background of the mission itself. The Leaf Village, while not the economic powerhouse it once was, had wealth to spare. And yet, all it could do for its homeless population was to feed them. Perhaps it was the naivety of youth, but there had to be something more that could be done.

"Much better," she affirmed Vaera's assessment of the job with a nod. "We even have two left over for us."

Whether it was an administrative oversight or a thoughtful handout for a job well done, two meals remained in Ichika's box.

"Here," she passed one of the carefully wrapped bento boxes to Vaera. "We can eat on the way to the butchers, gotta keep our energy up somehow."

Truth be told, the idea of eating and walking while still holding onto the box from the previous mission worked out better in the Uchiha's head than actuality. Nonetheless, she suffered through the less-than-graceful juggling act and managed to scarf down the contents of her lunch before the pair arrived at the butcher shop.

Fortunately, the empty boxes came in handy at the butchers because the large man behind the counter was out of packaging materials. He also seemed less-than-enthused about helping pack up the bones and left the task to the two genin. Ichika, for her part, tried her best to keep her eyes from wandering too far afield while in the refrigerated backroom—the sight of dismembered animals and their innards did not sit well with her stomach. Meat was fine, tasty even, but she didn't much like the idea of attaching a face to her food.

"Um, stupid question," she tossed the last bone into her box, sealed the top with a few strips of tape, and glanced over to Vaera. "Do you know the way to the Inuzuka compound?"

Suffice to say Ichika didn't get out much.
---
WC: 537
TWC: 1121

Thanks to Vaera's more extroverted tendencies, the butcher sent the two girls off in the direction of the Inuzuka compound. On the way, the conversation, fittingly, shifted to cats, dogs, and other such cuddly creatures. Ichika, for her part, much preferred the company of cats to dogs—or any other animal for that matter. Something about whiling away the days in the quiet company of an animal that didn't need constant attention appealed to the genin.

That said, after delivering the bones to the Inuzuka, she couldn't help but join her companion in appreciating the clan's canine claim to fame. 'Just one more minute' turned into two minutes, then five, ten, fifteen, and, finally, twenty minutes passed before the pair reluctantly left the compound. Ok, so maybe dogs weren't all that bad either. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't hurt to spend one's days with both a cat and a dog, the best of both worlds as it were.

"This last one might be tricky," Ichika's gaze wandered over the various storefronts as the duo walked by them. "But I think there might be an easy way to get that merchant to give the money back without too much of a fuss, follow me?"

Ducking into a nearby alley, Ichika hid in the shadow of the far building and clapped her hands together into the dog seal. Momentarily obscured in a cloud of smoke, the genin's body grew a few centimeters upward and, in certain places, outwards. Replacing her more casual attire with the armor of Konoha's special forces and manifesting a porcelain wolf mask over her face, she looked every inch to be one of the Leaf's shadowy protectors. The only flaw: the eyes of her mask appeared to be a bit crooked if one looked at them too closely.

"Well, what do you think?" she spun around to model the full transformation for her fair-haired companion. "Will it be good enough to fool that fraudster?"

Surely impersonating an ANBU operative wouldn't have consequences, right?
----
WC: 334
TWC: 1455
- 5 ap for using Transformation Technique

Cat and dog, Konohagakure's newest ANBU operatives, emerged from the shadow of the alleyway to a new world. Unlike the forgettable figures of two genin, the two masked women drew attention. Countless pairs of eyes followed their progress towards the village gates, and a few smaller groups scattered at their mere presence. To some, the Leaf's shadowy protectors were heroes, to others villains. How strange, Ichika thought, the difference a simple change in wardrobe made.

Soon the pair arrived at the charlatan's shop or, more appropriately, their cart. Loaded with crystals, talismans, and bottles of varying colors, the cart seemed to be something an old hag might peddle their wares from in one of her mother's bedtime stories. The charlatan himself, however, appeared to be as far from a hag as one could be; dark hair, well-dressed, and piercing blue eyes—Ichika could definitely see why people may have fallen for his honeyed words.

"Hello there," she called out to the man, her tone more even than the steady staccato threatening to beat through her chest. "My friend and I heard you might be around here."

Mentioning her friend, she gestured to the transformed Vaera by her side.

"Oh, um, hi," the man stammered. "What can I do for two of Konoha's finest?"

"Well, I suppose you can start by refunding those you ripped off and...," she paused and glanced over at her companion as if searching for inspiration. "And, then you can clear out of our village for good."

"I don't know what—"

"Of course you don't, but you'll do it all the same," she now tried her best to match the tone her mother used to scold her with. "Or we could try alternative means of coming to an agreement."

"Right, right, right, I'll do just that," the dark-haired man scrambled about pushing his wares back into drawers. "No need for anything so drastic. No, no, not for little old me."

"And your previous customers?"

"Oh, that goes without saying; they will get their money back. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some packing to do."

Without another word, Operative Wolf left the man in peace, returning to the same alley as before. Breaking her transformation, Ichika nearly collapsed; her legs shook, sweat dripped from her brow, and her heart continued its tap-dance against her chest. How did ANBU do it day in and day out? Lie, deceive, and trick; it seemed underhanded, and the Uchiha's body and mind rebelled against it—it all ran counter to the way she grew up.

"I can't believe that worked," she flashed a nervous smile seemingly at the blank wall across from her. "Vaera, let's never do that again. I don't think I'm cut out for undercover work."

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she wiped the sweat from her brow and exited the alley as a raven-haired genin once more. The walk back to the kage building, for Ichika's part, was made in silence. With the sun falling in the sky and lanterns starting to flicker on across the village, she wanted nothing more than to go home to hot cup of tea and a warm meal. Today, for all its twists and turns, ended up being far better than the Uchiha could have dreamed.
---
Exit.
WC: 546
TWC: 2001

2000/2000 for Clan Pureblood
+ 1 word to the void, never to be seen again
+ 20 vigor
+ 4000 ryo for completing the 4 E-Rank missions referenced at the beginning of the thread
+ 20 AP for completing the 4 E-Rank missions referenced at the beginning of the thread