Mission: The Twisted Tale of the Troubling Troika

Missions Specs:

It had been ten days since Akihana's arrival in the small village surrounded by rivers. A week since she had woken up atop a wooden bench feeling as if something had fundamentally changed and five days since she had decided to do something about it. After her ill advised stroll in the moonlight in search of something that didn't exist in the first place, the kunoichi had returned to get breakfast as the note had instructed her to. The happy little skunk had been at the restaurant along with the rest of the staff, the only person missing the owner and head chef. The blonde had been served breakfast as promised and not one to have things done for her, Akihana had offered to help in the kitchen in exchange. Sarah - the assistant chef from Akihana's understanding - had been busy and not minded a pair of extra hands and by the time Akihana finally felt she had repaid her debt, a few of the kitchen regulars were staring open mouthed at a the row of a dozen perfect apple pies resting on the cooling trays to one side. Apparently no one had been aware of the former kunoichi's baking prowess. Not that she blamed them of course, they had no reason to guess at such things.

Uncomfortable at the attention and compliments of her desserts, the young woman had escaped to the apartment above, attacking it with new vigor and a host of cleaning products. Den's coat she had replaced where she had found it the night before in the hopes that he would not miss it. Wishful thinking on her part but at least she knew that even if he did, he wouldn't bring it up. Though she was at a loss to explain even to herself how she had fallen asleep, Akihana knew it wouldn't happen again and so she instead busied herself the only way she knew how. By the time Den returned from a day of making house calls (the woman was given to understand he didn't work from the haphazard clinic all the time), a warm dinner awaited him and Maku who joined the other two some time later. Talk of her baking adventures had reached him and in his own way, the former blond pointed out she could bake for the eatery downstairs if she so wished.

Once again, Akihana retreated to her borrowed room for the night without an answer, still unsure if she was imposing or if her help was actually needed. The next day as she was serving breakfast, Den too offered to give her something to do if she was so inclined. The kunoichi was made welcome to his practice at any capacity she felt comfortable with and the gladness that washed over her was one she had to take a moment to recognize. Still vastly uncomfortable utilizing her chakra in any way, she accepted the offer of administrating Den's work while also baking from home to provide more dessert options for the restaurant downstairs. Though formally invited to work in the kitchen downstairs, Akihana chose to bake from the privacy of their kitchen, not wanting to make a show of her work.

And so, amidst the awkwardness and uncertainty, a routine emerged, calming and grounding, giving the golden haired medic a form of purpose she had not experienced in a long time. Every morning she pretended to wake up after a night of staying curled up in Maku's bed, made breakfast and then either accompanied Den to his practice and helped there or stayed at home and made specially ordered desserts for special clients of the establishment downstairs. One day, she did both and ended up almost exhausted enough to sleep that night.

Almost.

Despite keeping busy, the kunoichi hadn't considered her work to be amounting to anything until, during her last delivery of lemon cakes, Akihana had been left with more than just a repeat order of last week's cake pops. Sarah had also handed her an envelope that looked to be significantly full of cash. When the blonde had raised an eyebrow at the money, Sarah had merely shrugged. "Your hot cakes sell like, well hot cakes. You make a lot of tips even if you aren't downstairs." Thanking the chef, Akihana had accepted the money only to bring it over to Denkiteki that night. More than the understanding that she owed the brothers far more than she could repay, Akihana knew she had no right to any earnings made through this channel. She had simply left the envelope with a total of 4, 700 ryo on Den's desk in the hopes that he would accept it as a form of contribution from her towards their living situation.

The next day over breakfast, Maku brought up the mission he had mentioned on that very first day, inviting her and Den to come along. Apparently there were some special ingredients outside the village that needed tending to and both Den and Akihana agreed. Den could probably use a day off and Akihana, well she needed to keep doing something lest she blurt out what she was doing here. The brief spell of calm was slowly getting addictive, making her wish this was the only thing they had to worry about. Running a clinic and a restaurant in a little known village with no ninja around was as close to perfect as perfect could ever be.

But things were never perfect, and pretending they were had always bordered too close to a lie Akihana refused to tell herself.

So on the day of the mission, the kunoichi left her bed early after another sleepless night, examined her face in the mirror for fatigues and dark eyes that would never show and donned some of her newly purchased clothes. Her slowly expanding wardrobe was designed to blend in, comprising of the average villager's style of skirts, blouses and simple, comfortable shoes. More out of habit than anything else, the kunoichi gathered her golden hair into a high ponytail as she used to do on missions before the world had changed. The final accessory to her ensemble, as always, was her picnic basket. Not only did it make the blonde feel more like herself, it would be of practical use in gathering the ingredients they needed.

Fully dressed, she emerged from her room to see to breakfast before both brothers joined her in the small kitchen.


(1077 words)

(Giving Den 4.700 ryo)

(Accepting 4,700 ryo from Aki. hat's my new total ryo because I was broke before)

Den rolled over in his bed as he awoke, taking a deep breath as he focused on his surroundings. Maku was easiest to notice, with his overbearing chakra and loud snoring. He'd been gone the past two days, but apparently had returned during the night while Den was asleep. He briefly wondered what the strange trophy was about as he sensed it, I guess Maku went off to a fishing tournament.

While Maku was certainly using his chakra a lot more than his two roommates, at least he was keeping his activities to the mundane. He'd seemed to keep to himself more since Aki's arrival though. Perhaps now that Aki was here Maku didn't feel as much of a need to keep an eye on his blind brother. Or maybe her showing up had unsettled him? Den wasn't sure.

Aki's presence was never as overbearing as Maku's, but Denkiteki could still hear her making breakfast in the kitchen. It seemed she was always up before him, perhaps she didn't need to sleep to much after those years with the slugs.

Getting out of bed, Den would quickly get ready for the mission. He dressed himself in a simple pair of pants and a clean white shirt, followed by a nice coat. It was nice not having to strap on a kunai holster or weapon pouch, though the former shinobi realized he'd likely need a bag of some sort to help carry ingredients. Unfortunately he didn't have one just.

Stepping out of his room, Den was greeted by the wonderful smell of Aki's cooking. Before Maku and her had shown up Den had been eating whatever the people he healed offered him, now every meal was amazing. The only downside of being the roommates of two amazing cooks was he found it hard to enjoy normal meals now. The other day he'd gone out to get a bowl of ramen from a small little shop, like he used to when he was younger, and it just didn't taste as good.

The former kiri nin would silently walk past Maku and into the kitchen, not wanting to disturb his brother's rest.

"Do you think he'll still want to go searching for those ingredients today?"

Den started to prepare the table as he asked the question. He was no good at cooking, but he could at least do something as simple as place plates and utensils.

Den froze as Maku awoke and rolled off of the couch. His brother seemed panicked, but Den couldn't tell why. The blind man simply waited as Maku took in his surroundings and seemed to calm down. But rather than explain the outburst, Maku simply excused himself.

WC:450

+1 Nature Energy Stack due to Natural Berserker

Resting his head under the water, he slowly washed away the feelings within the dream. His heart settled, and so did his nerves as he watched the water move on. Drying himself off, and making his way back to the living room he found his seat at the table, and partook in one of the waffles. His hair still wet, and just a pair of loose shorts and a tank top.

Akihana asked the first question, and he considered it. There had been rumors of several different ingredients he wanted to go after. A farmer who stated he sold the best beef, a gardener that had grown a new type of herb, and then some rumors of the best seafood around right off the bay.

“Well......what are you guys up for? Livestock, greenery, or a little surf and sea?” He’d ask back to his jovial self. The shower and waffles had already done wonders for his mood. “Couple places we could try I’ve been wanting to go, and the restaurant will be fine for the day. Weathers nice, I think all three are perfectly fine ideas.”

He’d wait and allow the two to discuss. He didn’t have a presence, really he just liked to get out and go places. He felt like Den was spending to much time holed up with sick people, and Aki was looking to pale, so it had been natural he’d invite them to get them out of their every day routine.

Finishing his waffle, he’d lean back with a big yawn. “So where do you guys want to go, let me know.” He’d stand up and leave the room again, promptly getting dressed for the mission.

TWC - 833

Den grabbed the two bottles and set them on the table. He then quickly went about arranging his plate. He stacked his plate high with waffles when he noticed Maku only take one, and took quite a few strawberries as well. He of course made sure that there'd be enough left for Aki as well.

As the blind man began to hastily eat his filled plate he'd listen as Aki and Maku spoke. So there was a couple of different ingredients, but they only had to go after one? Were this a real mission Den would have likely asked which location was closer, but instead he actually pondered on which ingredient he thought he'd enjoy. He imagined Maku wasn't actually inviting them along because he needed their help in retrieving the ingredients, especially Den seeing as he was blind.

'I'd rather see the greenery, myself." Den didn't elaborate, but he had his reasons for his choice.  He'd noticed that Maku had recently discovered that one could grow herbs and such using Wood Release, something that Den himself hadn't noticed before. The Senju descendant wanted to examine a few herbs to see if he could figure out the technique as well.

It took Den a bit longer to finish his meal than Maku, though thankfully the younger brother still had to get dressed. As Maku excused himself Den picked up the pace of his eating slightly, he didn't want the others to end up waiting on him.

"That was delicious Aki, as usual." He'd say after he finally finished the meal. He wiped a bit of syrup off of his lips with a napkin and casually tossed it into the trash can behind him, then set about cleaning the table. He grabbed his plate, Maku's, as well as their used silverware and set about hand washing it at max speed, though unfortunately he wasn't as fast as he once was. If Aki was finished with her meal he'd do the same with her plate and such.

The former shinobi had to admit he was somewhat anxious to leave the confines of the small port town they were currently staying in, but he doubted they would find any real trouble within the larger part of Fang Country. Den had chosen to hide here for a reason after all, and that was completely lacking in shinobi. Still, it didn't hurt to be cautious. Den planned to employ a sensory technique once they set off, either via his mastery of the Sage Arts or the Minds Eye technique.  

WC:424
TWC:874

2 Nature Energy Stacks Stored

While the males indulged in waffles, Akihana pushed a few slices of her strawberries around on her plate. Cooking for the Hayato brothers was one of the few activities that made her feel she was still of some kind of use but eating her own creations was still not something as natural as it used to be. These days, the blonde tasted her coking and baking more than she actually ate, her appetite just one more thing that had vanished along with her sleep.

And her conscience.

Instead, the kuniochi sipped on her juice, watching Den indulge with a proud gleam in her warm butterscotch eyes. By the time the group had decided to go in search of the leafy greens first, Akihana had finished one third of her juice and eaten half a strawberry, obediently handing her plate to Den to wash. The blind doctor's hands were almost a blur on the dishes but the very fact that she could see them at all meant both his ninja skills and hers had deteriorated over the years. They were in the same boat that way. "And we can go look for the livestock after, I want to try making some lasagna at home before offering it on the menu at the restaurant" she offered as they set about ready to leave. The kitchen was clean, they were all dressed and kitted up and the apartment door was soon locked and secured.

Flowing Maku's lead, the other two exited the building and then the street, Akihana carrying her basket visibly and giving the impression the three were off on a picnic. Perhaps this would be a picnic anyway, she reasoned as they cleared the village entrance and started eastwards where the farms were according to Maku.

Two blondes and a blind doctor walk into a bar...

No, there was no bar this time. Just a simple farm. On a clear, peaceful day. Nothing could go wrong now.