Starring:
Eiko, Tsun, Yuuka
Date: July 7, 2010
Summary:
Yuuka goes shopping in the marketplace.
"Crowds and Ice Balls"
Marketplace [Kirigakure]
Marketplace [Kirigakure]
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Ah, the bustle of the heart of the village; It's wallet. This is the village's main marketplace, where a variety of wares, goods, and services are traded and bartered. A number of stalls here are rented out and occupied by food vendors, most of which offer cuisine with distinct foreign influences and variety as they are manned by people who have brought their goods from outlying islands and distant nations alike to sell, and are attempting to earn a bit of extra cash for their time here.
Of the more local, permanent stalls, there are many. Their wares ranging from kaguya-done scrimshaw carved out of fish skulls and bone, to vegetables grown by other villagers and sold here, to a bit of fresh fish brought further inland than the ain market, if it is to be found in anywhere in the Land of Water, it is likely to appear here, in the massive marketplace within the land's shinobi village.
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The marketplace is more crowded than usual as people push and move, swarming as if the current of townspeople were a school of fish through the narrow streets. A lone woman in pale robes holds a woven knapsack against her chest as she struggles against the current, taking quicker breaths than usual as her bright blue eyes dart from side to side around her. The edges of fear begin to creep up against Yuuka as she backs away, willing herself towards one side of a stone building that the numerous stalls have been built up against. Pressing her lips together, she clenches her eyes closed as she lowers her chin, looking more like a lost child at the moment than a young woman in her early twenties.
With the gorgeousness of the weather this fine day, Eiko wanders into the marketplace with a bright smile on her face. Of course, as she has ever since leaving the hospital, she has one eye on what she's doing and the other constantly searching for glimpses of that foul Death Hand that had been stalking her. At least he hadn't tried to revoke her traveling rights yet. So there she is, the little blonde girl amidst the sea of humanity. As she tries to maneuver around the people she delights in being back outside where she can breath fresh air. So far she hasn't spotted anything out of the unusual, neither Yuurei nor the hiding woman.
Yuuka waits until the flow of people slows and dwindles, allowing her anxiety to fade as her slender hands clutch tightly to the bundle in her arms. Her bright blue eyes glance around apprehensively, a small frown etched in her brow as she steps forward once, then again, silent while otherwise sounds and conversations whirl around her. The Kaguya woman gently bites at her bottom lip before stepping out into the thinning crowd itself, nervous but certainly better than she was moments ago. She takes deeper breaths to calm herself, focusing her thoughts as she glances around at the stalls for something in particular.
Eiko approaches a stall selling various kinds of food, and makes ready to order. At the last instant though she spots Yuuka, who looks rather spooked about something. Cancelling her order, the Shirayuki girl walks away from the stall and approaches the Kaguya. As she nears, Eiko asks her, "Ma'am, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." The little girl tilts her head to one side, trying to work out what it is the other woman is searching for.
"Nah. I'll catch up with you later, just make sure you don't you know… get fish blood all over the kitchen. I've got a nice kitchen set, so don't use dull kunai to cut them with… seriously. I hate telling the maids to clean it up. I mean, do they think it's for style or something?" Tsun would then casually look over and realize she's talking to nothing but, the air, her teammate already halfway home with two sacks, one containing fish the other containing rice, bread, other foodstuffs..
An unamused look would be shot the fleeing girl's way before Tsun shrugs and sighs. "Aaaand, all of it is gonna be eaten by the time I get home. Whatever!" Tsun tosses her hands up in the air, walking away from the baker's stall. The girl casually tossing a ball of ice from hand to hand, her eyes shifting left to right rapidly, 'No cool stuff get's sold here, huh?'
Still holding the woven knapsack against her chest, Yuuka blinks her bright blue eyes with evident surprise as Eiko approaches her. A very young and very small shinobi. A moment or so passes before the Kaguya woman's expression softens just slightly, shifting her weight to kneel in front of Eiko in order to talk to her at eye level. Offering a light smile, Yuuka gently shakes her snow white head softly, "I am fine, thank you. I just… do not do well in large crowds…" she admits just as quietly, almost to the point where she's barely heard over the background noise. "Or people in general…" Sighing lightly, she shakes her head once more at herself.
Frowning a little, Eiko bites her lip then replies, "Oh, that doesn't sound good. Is there anything I can do to help?" Of course, the Shirayuki feels a little patronised having the older shinobi kneel down to speak to her, but for the strange woman with a fear of crowds, she's willing to put up with it for a while. Looking around the area, Eiko notes, "Well, you seem to have picked a bad day to come to the markets then. I suppose its like this a lot of the time though." She puts her hands on her hips and makes a 'hmm' noise. "So, what's in the backpack?" she tries to ask casually, hoping she doesn't panic the strange woman.
"Uh…no." Tsun would say, this time intending to talk to herself. "I know exactly what you're up to." A frown would show for a moment as she starts tossing the ball back and forth even faster than before, ignoring the painfully cold condition her palms were reaching as best as she could. Ignoring it until her fingers manage to slip up, moving too slow thanks to the chilly state they were in. The ice ball flying in Eiko's direction, aiming to smack right into the side of her head.
Tsun's reaction time was a tad bit slow. Not too concerned initially about losing the ice ball, her mind slowly re-registering that she was indeed in a crowd of people. Her eyes flick to the zooming ball and she quickly raises her hand into the air, reaching out to the ball to no avail… except. The ball just stops and unless Eiko or someone else did something to stop it before hand, it'd stop dangerously close to the little girl's head. "Eh…heh, whoops!"
Yuuka blinks once as she listens to Eiko before the warm smile grows on her full lips, a soft chuckle escaping them as she loosens her hold on the bag, the open top of it loose as she holds it out for Eiko to inspect. "Its empty. I brought it with me for shopping because I wanted to get some clothing for someone special." Holding the bag against her again, as if the action itself was a comforting gesture, Yuuka glances up to blink her bright aquamarine eyes over the thinning crowd, frowning gently again. "I suppose I did… but, its either try to do it, or not at all. And it would be selfish of me to never try in the first place." Breathing a bit slower, she looks back to the young shinobi and offers her a light smile, "Would you happen to know where I could find men's clothing?" she asks softly. The moment was but an instant as Yuuka snaps her arm out behind Eiko, her hand snapping at the ball of ice aimed at the girl's back to catch it midair. The Kaguya woman blinks her bright blue eyes with innocently surprised eyes as she pulls back her hand, relaxing her fingers enough to reveal the ice shaped into a frozen ball. Frowning some, Yuuka glances up at the crowd, seeming confused as to where it came from.
Eiko is just as surprised about Yuuka catching a ball of ice as the other Genin is. However since its ice, Eiko quickly assumes that it was an attack made by a member of her clan. "Was that aimed at me or you?" Eiko asks, quickly turning around and positioning her arms as if to defend herself against any further attacks. The girl looks thoroughly frightened. 'What is going on with my clan? First they send a Death Hand to spy on me, and now attacks in public places? There's something seriously fishy going on here,' the girl thinks as she shields her eyes against the sun and attempts to pick out her attacker. Of course, Yuuka's question about where to find men's clothing had been lost in the surprise of the attack.
With a little sigh of relief, she would be glad to see the girl wasn't knocked out or something. Though with how weak Tsun was, getting smacked by the ball would simply just hurt a bit. It seemed they didn't really know where the ball came from thankfully! So she'll come to clarify that she was innocent, or well tarnish the idea that she was innocent and she slips through the crowd. "Oh good you're alright! Saw some crazy guy throw that thing at you then run away. Running around in a cloak and stuff so didn't really get to see who it was." Tsun frowns, looking about the area as if trying to find the culprit. "People are always trying to start a fight, figured you'd be safe in the Marketplace at least…" The girl would shift the weight of the container on her back, the liquid within sloshing around.
Once again she'd make a scan of the crowd before firing a wide smile at the two, "Er..Tsun by the way. Though you already probably knew that. Who's you, and the pretty lady?" Tsun would question her eyes shifting between the two other genin. More people that she probably lived around these last couple of years though simply haven't seen at all.
Yuuka blinks as after a moment, another little girl emerges through the crowd and painted with a wide range of colors it seems. Nearly impossible for the woman to recognize that Tsun herself is Kaguya as well. Frowning softly still, she glances between her and Eiko for a moment before setting down the ball of ice on the ground. Regardless of Tsun's claims or explainations, Yuuka straightens her back as she rises to her feet, still holding the weaved bag against her chest. Smiling softly, she murmurs, "I am Kaguya Yuuka." she replies, giving the girl a slight nod in greeting. With a slow exhale she looks around them again, frowning softly as she tries to look over the sea of heads moving around them. "I think I should hurry, before lunchtime comes around and the market is even busier…"
"Oh yes, that's right," Eiko adds in quickly before Yuuka rushes off, "Menswear. There are a few good places here. That one, aaaand there, and that one over there as well." The little Genin points out three different stores that each have a good supply of menswear and are known for having stylish and trendy clothes. Then she turns to Tsun and says, "Well yes, I've seen you around but I don't think we've actually met before. Shirayuki Eiko." The introduction comes a little formally for a family member, but that's the kind of girl Eiko is. For a moment she tries to find something about Tsun's dress that she can compliment, quickly giving up and choosing to appreciate something else entirely. "Oh, and uhh, I like your hair." Of course, she's actually thinking, 'What is that girl wearing?'
Despite Tsun's out of control appearance(What she calls fashion for some reason), if everything was washed away, the only physical link she would have to the Kaguya would be her black hair as she was simply adopted. "Cool cool. People from the Kaguya clan and Shirayuki clan. I see Okumo and Kaguya all the time but, you're new~" Tsun would loom over the girl, one of the few people she could look down to. "Ah yeah, my hair is great. But, you're just adorable for some reason." Tsun had an odd urge to just comb the girl's hair and feed her treats, the image running through her mind for a moment. The shorter girl may realize a look of bliss in Tsun's eyes.
The bliss…slowly fading to something somewhat mischevious as Tsun's imagery slowly shifting to dressing Eiko up. The artwork in mind involving wings, cat ears a ridiculous amount of face paint and well… let's just hope Eiko couldn't read minds.
Yuuka blinks once at Eiko's directions before a gentle and apprehiative smile grows on the young woman's lips, offering a soft nod before she looks to both girls. It seems that Tsun had already taken Eiko's attention, but that is alright. The Kaguya woman steps back before she attempts to slip back into the thin crowd, her shoulders tensing once more as she glances around, both at the thong of people and at the stalls and shops that had managed to press against one another through time and simple need for space. When she breaks away again, she sighs some to herself with relief, knowing that the sooner she completes her errand the sooner she can return home again, with perchases in hand.
Although Eiko can't read minds, she can often pick up on peoples' expressions and what she's seeing here has her even more weirded out. "Uhh yeah, uh huh," she says, taking a step away from the taller girl. But she settles down again after a moment, and actually manages to work up the willpower to ask the girl, "Uhh, you seem a little caught up there. What are you thinking about?" Little does Tsun know that Eiko is very much a fan of fashion and dressing up.
Tsun wouldn't seem to be listening, she'd already be giggling softly as Eiko begins to question Tsun's looks. "Alright, my house. Tomorrow, same time as right now." Tsun claps her hands together, looking excited before scurrrying off. Well, that's one way to weird someone out enough to avoid your invitation. Though her mind was not on topics like that, she had some preparing to do!
