A bustling town

The market place of Sunagakure was usually a hotspot for townsfolk but it seemed that today was busier than normal as the market place hummed with furious activity. Market stalls littered the area as citizens squeezed past each other in order to reach their destinations, merchants screeched above the noise in attempts to persuade customers to look over their wares, and the sound of childish giggling as groups of children chased each other through the bustling streets. In the center stood a large fountain, an oasis in the midst of a sandy marketplace. With a large needle like pillar shooting up from the center, streams of water poured out from the top, encasing the pillar in an aura of water. It wasn't long before the group of children charged towards the water fountain, jumping in, and splashing each other. To the dismay of the citizens walking by who proceeded to scold the children for their actions, albeit with a smile on their face, children would be children and it was almost amusing to those strolling past.

Kaito sat on the edge of the fountain, his back to the gushing water and water-based warfare behind him. Rogue drops of water frequently hit his back, it would have almost been annoying if not for the water hitting the nape of his neck every so often and refreshing him. He had just visited his parents just before they were about to leave for another expedition to Kumogakure, as traveling merchants it wasn't uncommon for them to be out of the village for months at a time. In his hands was a bright cyan armband, a gift from his parents long ago, it was almost an object of comfort that reminded him of his parents when they were gone. In his traditional genin attire, Kaito pulled down the cloth straps covering his mouth and removed his headgear. Sure this style of gear was handy during a sandstorm that usually occurred in the village but on clear days like this, Kaito wished for the village's uniform to at least include a pair of shorts and maybe some sunglasses. Wiping the sweat from his brow, long black hair draped down across his shoulders, the heat was almost unbearable and he almost started to envy the children behind him.

With a heavy sigh, a tidal wave of water towered over Kaito before crashing down upon him, soaking him to the core. A full grown adult, presumably one of the children's father, had joined the kids in the fountain. Instantly standing up and turning round, he expected a barrage of apologies but he was simply met by laughter. Kaito looked down to hide his own smirk, the liveliness and free spirit was one of the many reasons he loved this village. Wiping the water from his face, Kaito sighed even heavier than before.

The boy moved through the crowd with relative ease despite the fact that an overwhelming amount of people decided to temporary inhabit the district. This was his first day as a genin and in his right hand, a piece of paper that had utmost importance found its place.

The sound of water splashing around was becoming more intense, which was a good indicator that the main square is close. The sound of water only awoke despair in the young genin because of the unbereable heat. Heat was, of course, a regular guest within the village walls but today it came alone, without the wind by its side to make the situation at least a bit more comfortable.

He tilted near the fountain only to stop a few meters ahead like he was struck by lightning. Kaizu unfolded the piece of paper looking at two unfamiliar faces. He turned around on his toes and approached the boy, not much older than him that was sitting near the fountain. Without giving a hint to the victim that he is aware of his existence, Kaizu moved the piece of paper and alligned it with Kaito's face. Only when he made sure that the man sitting in front of him was the man that resided on the paper Kaizu shared words with his future teammate.

''Nice to meet you Kaito. My name is Kaizu. Our team wasn't supposed to assemble until tomorrow but since you caught my eye I couldn't help myself.''

Kaizu pointed at the piece of paper reffering to its content. It was Team 4 member list. Afterwards the boy just quietly sat near his new aquintance and eagerly awaited for those little doses of happiness the splashing water had to offer.

Taking a seat back on the fountain and observed his clothes, he was drenched from the waist up and the refreshing nature of the water was quickly replaced with irritation as his clothes rubbed against his skin. He was about to consider heading home to get a fresh set of clothes when a boy approached him. The boy's outfit radiated in comparison to the beige and brown colour of clothing that the townsfolk wore and it was clear that he was younger than Kaito, although not by much. Looking at the piece of paper presented to him, Kaito smiled. That's right, he was assigned to Team 4 recently. Kaito turned to the boy who had taken a seat beside him.

"Considering my appearance at the moment, I'm not surprised I caught your eye. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kaizu."

Kaito held out his hand to the young ninja in greeting. He had seen that the paper had two faces printed onto it, once of them being his own while the other was a stranger to him. With a face that looked older than either of them, Kaito wondered what type of person the third member of their team would be and what they would offer to the group.

"Say, who's the other guy on that piece of paper. The third member of Team 4 I suppose?"

Kaizu looked at the hand that was offered to him. He completely forgot about such mannerism. The young boy blushed with shame while avoiding eye contact with a comrade in front of him. Afterwards he carefully expanded his arm to respond the same way Kaito did. ''I'm sorry, the place I come from it's... Here, Kaizu would stop rememberin all the things that happened in the past. He did not want them awakened. ...it's a long story. Sorry.''

After finishing their friendly gesture Kaizu's focus would return to the sheet of paper. It took him a little more time than required to give an answer to Kaito. ''Yeah the third member. But he seems kinda old doesn't he? I just hope he isn't some failure that will just drag us down.'' To be honest, Kaizu was wondering about that ever since he got the memo. Boone seemed to have at least 20 years, so he wasn't really close to the 'prodigy' sector.

''What is this?''

A thing fell out behind the sheet of paper that Kaizu was holding. It looked like an envelope. The young genin glanced over Kaito like he wanted his approval for opening it. Seconds later the boy would rip apart the envelope in order to explore what secret resided within.

Quote :

Name: The Road Runner
Rank:C
Participants/Requirements: Anyone/None
Type: NPC
Description: Take the role as the coyote, do whatever it takes to catch the bastard. Careful its rumored that the bird runs at tier one speeds. Fast little shit,do whatever you feel with it after capturing it.
Reward: 60 Np 75,000 Ryo

The genin held the letter in such a manner Kaito could see the content. After finished reading it Kaizu looked at Kaito. ''What do you say? Up for it?'' Kaizu asked that just because, he knew what he will do. The boy stood up after hearing Kaito's aanswer and took off towards the outskirts of Sunagakure.

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It wasn't his intention to make Kaizu uncomfortable but Kaito smiled at the young genin's response to a handshake; maybe a different type of greeting was preferred in the culture that he hailed from. Kaito nodded at his response, choosing not to pry into his private life considering he had just met him.

Kaito looked at the picture of Boone once more, it was true that he looked older but it did not necessarily mean that he was incompetent. It is not an uncommon occurrence for older people to choose the life of a ninja, circumstances unknown to the pair may have caused Boone to do the same. Kaito himself was slightly older than the average genin and he had even heard about people his age reaching the level of jounin, a slight sense of shame washed over Kaito as he realised how far behind he was. He planned to remedy that by breezing past the chuunin and jounin exams in the future.

"We shouldn't judge him by what we see in the picture, who knows, maybe he'll be better than both of us!"

Noticing the piece of paper that had fallen from the note Kaizu had presented to him, Kaito read the mission description. A C rank mission to catch a roadrunner? It seemed pretty simple enough, maybe Kaito would be able to try out some jutsus in a real life scenario for once! He would also be able to observe the abilities of his young teammate.

"Sure thing, I have nothing else planned for today"

Kaito worried slightly about the absence of the third member of their group but assured himself that it was just a small mission. The two of them could handle it and he was sure they would become acquainted with Boone some time in the future. He quickly followed Kaizu to the outskirts of Sunagakure.

Exit