Starring:
Date: August 19, 2011
Summary:
Habadashers, ribbons, and rabbits! Oh, my!
"Happy Daze"
Market Row - Konohagakure
It's the middle of the afternoon in Konohagakure, one of those peaceful blue skied days where everything seems like it might just work out alright. Clouds movingly idly across the landscape, painting small patches of shadow here and there in the forest. Just a couple dozen yards inside the city gates, Kinjo Katashi is in the midst of shopping for a new hat of all things. His bandana up over his forehead and his conical hat pulled low, he quietly walks along, looking here and there as he crosses from shop to shop. Pausing in front of a new conical hat, he lifts it up and admires the craftsmanship, comparing the smooth way the construction has been woven.
The matting is mostly painted gray with a thin stripe of black all the way around giving it a sense of color and style. Undoing his own chinstrap, he holds his own hat between his legs and dons the other one. "Oh yeah, that looks good," he guesses aloud and turns slightly side to side as he stares at his reflection on the wall.
Shopping is also something that Yamanaka Junko is doing. Sadly, the shopping is not for herself. She is doing grocery shopping for someone recovering from knee surgery who can not do the shopping on his own. She is not complaining, since the money given to her is also not HER money, but the blonde-haired teenager would like to do some IMPORTANT missions for once. With a weary sigh induced by the same chores and errands day in and day out, the Genin trudges along towards the next shop. She pauses, however, upon spotting a habadashery (that is a hat store, in layman's terms). She does not wear hats, generally, because her hair is gorgeous and she likes to keep it not-mussed up. However, there is a display for a variety of bows, ribbons, barettes, scrunchies and similar.
Smiling and letting out a breathy noise, Junko skips forward to the display board and looks over the items. "That bow is so cute~, ne!" she says aloud to no one in particular. She clasps her hands together just below her chin and wiggles back and forth all -^o^- and squealing at the 'kawaii' head-decoration. "It would make me look even cuter! I should TOTALLY buy it!" Having decided this she checks her coin purse, which is shaped like a bunny. It is so empty is sucks in air when it is opened, like a vaccuum. "H-ho… This is no good," she mutters disappointedly. She looks over at the OTHER coin purse, the one for buying groceries and sees how big and full it is. "Mnnn…" she lets out in consternation.
"…Maybe I can just have it taken out of my mission reward after I finish?" she muses. Hmmmm. The blonde girl finally decides it can't hurt to at LEAST look around, right? "So desu ne!" she decides. She then hurries over to find whomever owns this shop.
The first person she sees is Katashi. Stopping next to him, she waves one hand wildly back and forth as though trying to greet someone from a distance, though she is only a few feet away. "Ohayoo, Habadasher-san! How much for the cute bow?" she asks once she is noticed, and points towards the display board and its 50 or so bows in a rather vague manner.
Turning in place, the young boy lifts the front of the hat and looks towards Junko, their eyes about equal, fixing her with those bright blue eyes of his, he seems to be turning over her question in his mind, looking from her, to the forehead protector she has wrapped around her arm and then back again. Offering a small bow of the head, he looks towards the bows, his eyes rapidly searching until he spots a tag and leans over slightly to look, "They look like they're 100 ryo."
Even as Katashi suggests the price and then reaches down, scratching behind the ears of a rabbit whose head is sticking out of his satchel, his long ears hanging down to either side, a pair of spectacles perched on his nose and a vest clearly stationed on his back.
"A hundred ryo look right to you Mr. Usagisan?" he asks of the rabit at his side and the rabbit's nose merely wiggles its nose in seeming disdain for such a mundane detail. "I think he agrees, but really, I don't know, you should ask the shop owner." Reaching up then, Katashi flicks a finger across the silk chinstrap, unveiling his own forehead for a protector before he slides on a second hat.
"My name is Katashi, by the way, Kinjo Katashi."
Junko hears the number given, and her eyes and mouth widen in dismay. Holding her hands up in reversed fists so that her palms are facing herself rather than outwards, she makes a high-pitched noise. "Waaaah!" It sounds like that, only shriller. "Iie, iie! I did not say the EXPENSIVE bow! I said the CUTE bow!" Her hand bounces around, flailing and waving in a manner no more specific than her original pointing attempt. Infact, this is even MORE vague. "Can you not see the kawaii of the bow!?" she demands as she steps forward a couple times and leans in close to Katashi, eyes nearly seeming to shimmer and water like an adorable kitten or something.
Suddenly she reaches out with both hands and tries to grab Katashi's head firmly on either side so that can look at him directly. Clearly whatever movement he was making was too much for her to focus on him… From less than a foot away. Or something. Loudly and agitatedly, the Yamanaka girl yells out, "ARE THESE EYES THAT SEE!?" If successful in her grabbing attempt, she even pinches and pulls on Katashi's cheeks in her attempt to emphasize how his eyes are completely missing the obvious adorableness of the bow that Junko desires so very, VERY much!
Either way, she pauses with an, "…Oh?" of surprise. If she was holding on, she has let go. Regardless, she steps back and blushes deeply as she bows several times in apology. "Gomen nasai, Kinjo-san! I thought that you were the shop's owner! Pllleaaase forgive my clumsy mistake!" she straightens up, looking as though she might be about to cry from all the watering about her black-rimmed and aqua-pupilled eyes. But then the tears are discarded as quickly as the other displays the Genin has made so far.
"H-Ho…?" she looks at 'Usagi-san'. There is a brief pause as her brain shifts gears. Then she clasps her hands together next to her head, her estrogen levels going utterly through the roof to faciliate the release of a loud squeal that scales upwards in pitch until it is no longer even audible to normal human beings. It is likely making both the ninja dogs of the Inuzuka Clan and the Inuzuka Clan members themselves bleed out of their ears all over the Village.
"She is soooo kawaii~~~!" Junko cries out. She nearly has the image of little hearts and bells and confetti and other 'cutesy' things floating about her. Then the blonde-haired girl rushes forwards to try to pet the potentially traumatized rabbit. "How old is she?" she asks with a ^_^ expression. Apparently she missed the part where Katashi called the rabbit MISTER Usagi-san.
The younger boy's cheeks are pulled and pinched and he ends up rosy faced as she stares into his eyes and he seems to be trying to answer from between his squished cheeks but all that comes out is a mumbled, "I'm rooking," and then he sways on the one foot and catches himself as she swivels him around this way and that. Finally, Katashi nods faintly and gives her a light smile. "It's okay, it is a very nice bow," he compliments her, trying to steer her away from the awkwardness of her inability to recognize the difference between a twelve year old Shinobi and a shop owner.
"I can see!" he tells her and then she finally seems to notice the forehead protector, or maybe she recognizes something. Maybe even its his name, a boy can hope for some small sense of recognition, right? "Yes, you are forgiven, no problem, what is your.."
He is in the middle of asking her name when she seems to realize exactly who he was talking to, the rabbit in spectacles and a vest in the satchel at his side. Both boy, and rabbit, simultaneously reach their hands up to their ears and leans back slightly, going wide eyed at the screeching. "It's not a she," he corrects immediately and again a few seconds later. "Mr. Usagisan is ageless, right Mr. Usagisan?" he asks.
The rabbit still seems to be eyeing Junko tilts its head and then answers, "I'm older than either of you, that is," he sneezes, "For certain."
Junko pauses in her petting of the bespectacled rabbit when the lagomorph speaks to her. She gets a mildly confused expression on her face. :o Then a blueish tint to her face is obtained as she gradually becomes scared. Then she shrieks! DX After backpedalling so quickly she leaves a dust trail in her wake, the blonde Genin stammers out, "A t-t-talking bunny!?" Pointing with a shaking finger at 'Mr. Usagi-san', Junko chatters her teeth for a bit and then seems to steel herself to deal with this… This… Talking… Rabbit… With glasses…
In an eye-blink she is back in front of Usagi-san, bent over in front of him, hands balled up under her chin, rear wiggling, and making <3 <3 <3s at the adorable creature. "Your sneeze is one that would make any girl's heart melt, Usagi-san~!" Finally remembering Katashi standing, there, the Yamanaka straightens up and tries to regain some semblance of dignity. "Oi, oi! If you do not mind me saying so, your voice sounds very youthful, Kinjo-san!" She takes a moment to consider that fact, scratching her cheek idly with one finger. "…You must take good care of yourself!" she concludes.
…What?
Junko takes a moment to rifle through a pouch at her waist, until she withdraws a small pair of dark-red eyeglasses. These she perches upon the bridge of her nose and adjusts until she can see through them. When this is done, she looks at Katashi. She then looks at him some more. Then she looks to Usagi-san. Then back to Katashi. Then back to the rabbit. Out of the corner of her mouth, she asks, "Oi, Usagi-san, where did Kinjo-san go? …And who is this boy?"
"I do take good care of myself!" Katashi proclaims with a broad sparkling smile and extends a hand with a thumb up towards Junko. Hearing her ongoing commentary both Mr. Usagi-san and Katashi's heads tilt to the side as they watch Junko bounce about and try to understand what is happening. When all is said and done, and her question has been posed, the boy raises a finger to scratch at the side of his nose and answers, "I am Kinjo-san!" he tells her and then laughs lightly, not quite sure what she is talking about, but staring at her glasses all the same, he does have to ask, "Do I look different with your glasses?" he asks. Swinging the rabbit around, he looks down at the rabbit in his satchel and then says, "I think you're going to give her a fit Mr. Usagisan."
With a sneeze, the bunny vanishes in a puff and a pop.
"There!" Katashi declares and smiles, thinking that he has probably eased some unease for Junko.
Taji is out on this nice afternoon, blue sky over head, and he's mostly looking up at the clouds. Hands are in his pockets as he strolls along one side of the street so as not to be in the path of any major traffic, or so goes the plan. His forehead protector looks recently polished, almost a chrome like effect as it shines in the sunlight. For those who might have seen Taji around before, there is a new series of scroll tubes across his outfit, for easy access that weren't there a few days ago. He's just sort of moseying along the road. The various loud sounds of 'cuteness' catch his ear and he pauses looking for the source.
Spying the pair near the vendor, Taji tilts his head and heads in that direction, looking more curious than worried. He approaches slowly, not rushing nor making any attempt to sneak up. "Hey there, what's going on?" He asks plainly, looking over Katashi and Junko both with some interest, "Hope I'm not interupting anything?"
Junko lets out an, "Ee~!? <Huh!?>" in amazement as Katashi identifies himself as the same person she had been speaking to a moment before. When Usagi vanishes, she just rubs a hand on her forehead and then sighs. "So much excitement and confusion for a simple shopping trip," she mutters. Then she shrugs and reaches out to accept Katashi's hand as she bows to him. "I am Yamanaka Junko, Kinjo-san." When she straightens up, she nods briefly. "I can see you much more clearly with these 'supekutakuru'. I do not like wearing them, though. They make me look like… Like… Anoo…" She thinks about what the glasses make her look like, then points at the newly-arrived ninja a few feet away.
"They make me look like him!" A second passes before Junko's brain catches up and she blushes and bows repeatedly to Taji. "Gomen nasai! I-I do not mean to say that looking like you is BAD! You look very studious!" She straightens up and waves her hands a bit in an attempt to placate the potentially offended Taji. "Studious looks are simply not for me, however!" She switches quickly from apologizing to placing her fingertips of her right hand to her collarbone and looking up at the sky smugly, all ^___^ "As a kunoichi, I am a graceful flower in the bloom of youth! I can not afford to appear as a librarian! That is for old maids!" Then she cups her chin, arching her left eyebrow and lowering her right as she thinks aloud. "Then again, there is the 'sexy teacher' look… There are some who may like that! However…"
The blonde teenager then turns her attention back on her (likely highly unwilling at this point) audience, and drops one fist into the palm of her other hand with a *paf* as she proclaims, "For now, however, the 'school girl' look is one I am far better suited to!"
She then rests her hands on her hips and opens her squinted eyes slightly and asks in a dangerous tone, "…Don't you two agree?"
"Of course we agree Junko-san, though you look very nice even with them on!" Katashi exclaims and his hands raise up past his shoulders in a show of unconditional surrender. Backing a few steps away, he smiles broadly, his face coloring slightly red as his hand slips back past his shoulder, drawing his conical hat up and across his face. Settling it there, his face becomes nothing more than a faint chin and a voice, tipping his head towards Taji, he bows from his shoulders and then adds, "It is very nice to meet you Junko, is this your friend?" he asks, looking then towards the new entrant into the conversation.
Reaching up with one hand, he pulls the top of the hat firmly downwards while the other secures the silk strand beneath his chin. "I don't really have a look," he decides as his blush clears and he tilts his head back slightly so that he can look towards Junko again.
"I guess I look like a farmer, maybe?" he asks, thinking mostly of his hat, and less of how he himself looks.
Taking a breath, he moves over towards the board behind Junko and then asks her, "So, which ribbon did you want to get?" and points towards the board with a finger. Perhaps wanting to get her back on task. He doesn't know her from anyone else, but he has a tendency to want to get along with people.
Taji frowns slight at the little ramble of Junko. His brow furrows a tad and he tugs his hands out of his pockets and crosses his arms, "Really?" This is all he manages for a moment as he glances over to the boy, letting him stick /his/ foot into his mouth if he so desires but it appears Taji has decided to be a bit more quiet on the topic, not really appearing to want to get too drawn into a discussion on Junko's appearance, or how Taji himself might appear like an old maid? He gives his head a little shake as he tries to process all he's witnessing. Truly some combats have been less complex than Junko's thought process it seems from the look on Taji's face as he tries to decipher exactly what the situation is here for the moment.
"Ah, I'm Taji, a Genin on team 5. I'm afraid I don't know… ah, Junko was it? I'm afraid I haven't met her or you. But then I've been away on a lot of missions lately." He gives a small shrug, and tries to change the topci from Junko's appearance, "Doing a bit of shopping then?" He glances around, "No trouble around here or anything? No trick invasion from Kiri today?" He ventures, sounding like it could be a possiblity, considering how often they seem to try to invade others.
Taji tilts his head and inspects Katashi, "A farmer? I… don't think so. I think you look better armed than most farmers… but then, maybe farmer on a very dangerous farm?" He suggests with a little grin.
Junko relaxes, the faint glint of menace vanishing from her expression like the sun coming out from behind some storm clouds. Her smile is bright and cheerful. Feigning modesty, she waves semi-dismissively with one hand at Katashi's compliment. Then she 'ahem's! And focuses on the new arrival more fully.
"Iie," she answers simply. "I have not had the pleasure of meeting Taji-san before now. So you are on a team already? Sugoi~! <Incredible!>" She wiggles a bit in excitement. "You must be quite a skilled Genin to have been chosen! Sadly, there are simply not enough teams to go around, and so I have been left to do D-Rank missions until the end of time!" She sighs dramatically, suddenly seeming quite depressed.
"I do not remember the leader of Team 5… I simply do not have the time to inspect the rosters! There are so many important tasks to attend to around the Leaf Village that examining the list for available positions is a frivolous… Uhh… Anoo…"
Once again lost in thought, Junko misses the rest of the conversation (if she was paying attention at all) and digs through her vocabulary. Eventually, she jumps back in very suddenly with an, "Ah-hah!" as she leans close to Taji, right after the mention of dangerous farms. "It is a frivolous frivolity!" she finishes with her index finger raised to wag at the other Genin. Also, this is a lie. She looks at the rosters every day, hoping to see an open spot she can try to squeeze into. But admitting that would make her seem desperate! And desperation is NOT COOL!
"Oh, if ONLY there had been an invasion…" she sighs unhappily. "But no, I am performing the shopping for a man who has undergone knee surgery and can not do it himself—" then she pauses to see which bow Katashi is pointing at. "Aa! The blue bow with the bunny rabbit clasp!" she points at the bow in question. To her, at least, it seems to have pink sparkles floating around it. This sets off a whole new 'cuteness freak-out', complete with wiggling, squealing, blushing, etc.
"I like it," Katashi intones towards Junko at her selection. "You should buy it Junko-san."
With a glance towards the sky, the young man spots something on the horizon. "I need to be along now, thank you both for visiting with me, I look forward to meeting you both again in the future," he tells them. Raising his hands up infront of him, Katashi bows to each in turn and then backs away a few steps and does that whole ninja-vanish thing where he sort of makes that whisking noise then jumps off and is gone.
For Taji, Junko seems almost a bit too much of a handful to process properly at times, the slack almost confused look on his face but, maybe that's just his natural look? In any case he nods and waves to Katashi then looks back to Junko, "Fuyu-sama is the leader of team 5, she's the clan elder for the Uchiha." Taji explains. "But you can make danger anywhere you want. I started with some simple Rank D missions myself, but after a while I did well enough when situations came up where I could be useful that others let me join in and I was able to prove myself enough to get a good team." He explains.
At the mention of invasion Taji gets a bit less 'excited'. "Ah, you know… we were invaded not long ago, and… I fought on some of the front lines. It really wasn't very nice at all. While I really do understand your desire for excitement, I personally would trade any invasion for a simple shopping mission. It… was rather horrid. A lot of people got hurt very badly." He shakes his head, "A lot of normal people had to flee the invasion too. Far better to have good missions like fighting bandits and the like than fighting for your life to protect your home. You do it if you have to but I don't really look forward to it I suppose." He shrugs, trying hard not to sound too condescending or anything, "But I'm sure you'll get better missions soon. A good genin like you? I'm sure if you do a good job at every mission they'll quickly notice and you'll get better and better missions!" He tries to be encouraging.
He gives a bit of a grin, "Anyway, perhaps you would do well in a shinobi fashion show?" He says with a bit of a tease, "As you pointed out, I doubt I'd win any such contest." He admits, then shrugs again, "Anyway, I'm off. I need to go train and you have a mission to do! Make sure you do your very best!" He says with a grin as he tries to change Junko's focus from ribbon shopping to her mission.
Junko's enthusiasm is dampened immediately at the mention of who Taji's team leader is. She tries not to let it show, but becomes much more subdued and quiet. "Aa, yes. That invasion is what has motivated me to expand my skills… I just wish that I had a chance to stop people from being hurt or killed. Instead I have been stuck here and there has been no way for me to show that I too can be a protector!" She sighs morosely, but nods in agreement. "Hai, hai. 'Successful missions make successful ninja'," she says as though reciting something someone had told her. Then her eyes widen and she claps her hands to her cheeks and lets out a shrill cry of dismay!
"The mission! I was supposed to be back by now!" She takes off running to complete the shopping, letting out a hurried, "Sosorryhavetogothankyoufortheadvicenicemeetingyougooddaaaaaay!" until she is out of sight, with only a dust cloud to mark where she once was.
