The Kidnapping Blues and the Ransom Mamba part 2

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro let out a small groan as he reached up, grabbing Kurea's hand with his own, accepting her help as he pressed his other hand behind him for a moment before pushing off the ground so that he came to stand in front of the girl. He'd turn his gaze to look at the hostage they had just rescued as Kurea asked him if he was in good enough condition to head back to the village. Sanjiro nodded lightly before noticing Kurea moving closer to him, their faces almost touching as she whispered to him that she wanted him to handle the girl. A small frown formed on the boy's face as he continued to look in the hostage's direction. He wasn't very good with people and he knew that if Kurea was already getting sick of her, then it must have meant that their charge's personality was not very pleasant. The genin sighed lightly as he nodded his head, not wanting to argue with Kurea after she had just patched him up.

"Right, let's go."

With that he'd walk toward the girl they had just saved, eying her over with scrutiny. He wondered how unpleasant this female was. Would she be snotty? Would she be stuck up? Would she be whiny?

"Hello miss. Please come with us so we may return you to your father, he is quite worried."

The girl's expression became a scowl as she looked Sanjiro over for a moment. After she had finished eying him over in much of the same manor as he had done with her, her face softened as she gave a light smile, some color filling her cheeks.

"Oh, um yes. Lead the way then...But don't go too far!"

Sanjiro resisted the urge to let his left eyebrow drift upward as he noticed the nervous manor in which the female spoke. This was an awkward moment to be sure. With that thought in mind, he spun around, cringing slightly due to the dull pain that now radiated up his body. He wasn't fully healed. He was patched up enough to keep going but his wound was still there, though Kurea had done an excellent job at halting the bleeding.

"Alright, time to move out."

With that Sanjiro began to walk forward, only stopping briefly as he reached Kurea, giving her a rather odd look as he heard their charge rushing up behind him, almost knocking him over as she grabbed his arm, hugging it to her.

"Gods be damned..."

Sanjiro muttered as he passed Kurea, an agitated expression on his face.

Posts : 68

Kurea watched as Sanjiro walked over to the girl upon her request of dealing with her. She wondered if there would be much of a difference but she could tell that the girl didn’t like her one bit. Well she wasn’t there for the girl to like anyway so it didn’t really matter to her. However knowing that Sanjiro wasn’t very good with social interaction made Kurea look forward to this. And so Kurea watched as the girl looked Sanjiro over with a scowl, seemingly not happy with the boy at first sight. However when the girl’s cheeks turned slightly pink, Kurea chuckled.

The difference in attitude really interested Kurea. Well at least their trip back would be easier than she originally thought. It really helped that the girl liked Sanjiro. She didn’t want to be verbally fighting with the girl just to get her to walk every thirty minutes. As Sanjiro walked past her, Kurea gave him a tired but a smile that indicated she was finding his situation very amusing. Well she wasn’t lying when she indicated that she found it amusing in any case.

The girl was surprised when the young lady they rescued went to cling onto Sanjiro. Kurea was surprised by how open the girl was but it only added to her amusement. She supposed if it would leave the girl in a pleasant mood, Kurea didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. Then again, the one receiving the affection wasn’t her so she couldn’t say the same for Sanjiro. Finally Kurea decided to catch up with the two and walked on the other side of Sanjiro and heard him mutter something. Laughing aloud, Kurea said to the boy, “Well my friend, if the lady likes it, I guess there isn’t much problem with it. Our only problem is how to get her home as quickly as possible.” Her tone at the end of her sentence turned serious but she thought they should plan for that. They now couldn’t afford to get caught up to by the bandits anymore.

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Trudging through the forest with the two girls, one on each side of him, while the more annoying of the two clung to his arm, Sanjiro was quickly losing his patience. The girl continued to grip his arm as though he were her property, a toy she didn't want to let go of; the thought bothered him. He would sigh as he listened to Kurea as she mentioned that if the girl enjoyed clinging to his arm then it would make their journey easier and that there wasn't any sort of problem.

"No problem huh? I get no say?"

Sanjiro grumbled lightly, only for the girl to look at the boy with bright red cheeks, her grip tightening even more. The boy sighed as he tried his best to not look as irritated as he really was. His eyes fell back on Kurea who was on his other side. He began to mull over her words. If he had been in better condition he would have suggested that he carry the girl on his back and that they run back to the village, but the wound in his side made such a thought rather unrealistic. He didn't want to risk reopening the wound that Kurea had just sealed. He needed to take it easy and truth be told he was still feeling a bit shaky.

The group walked for a while, Sanjiro doing his best to move as quickly as his body would let him, without leaving the girl behind. It was obvious she was getting tired but Sanjiro did his best to ignore her, acting as if everything was alright.

"So, what's your name?"

The question was an unexpected one that caused the boy to sigh lightly as he turned to look at the hostage. He didn't want to tell her his name but he supposed that lying or being rude to a rich client's daughter would cause issues for both him and Kurea when they got back.

"Hikari, Sanjiro..."

His response held a slightly exasperated tone as he kept walking. The girl giggled as she mentioned her name, not realizing two things: one, that the team would have already known her name as she was the target of the mission, and two, that Sanjiro really didn't care about what her name was. So it was that the group would keep walking toward the village without any trouble for the rest of the way, eventually reaching the village by sundown where two shinobi guards would meet them at the gates to escort the small group to the administration building where the client was waiting.

Posts : 68

Staring straight ahead of her, Kurea would occasionally turn her head to the side to take note of the girl and Sanjiro. To her, this was the best part of the whole mission. At least it gave her a little bit of humor to see these two’s interaction… Not that there were a whole lot from the boy’s part in any case. “Of course not. Two girls and one boy. The boy never gets a say in things when it’s like that.” Kurea would say with a chuckle. Sensing that the boy was uncomfortable yet knowing there was nothing she could do to help, the girl would give Sanjiro a few words of comfort before falling silent once again.

It amused Kurea for the girl to be such a chatterbox especially towards Sanjiro. She figured that she might as well be air considering how the girl had not once spared Kurea another look ever since she clung onto Sanjiro. Kurea thought about how this girl has it bad for Sanjiro and maybe the hardships the boy would suffer until the girl grows tired of him. Without saying anything, Kurea would wordlessly pat Sanjiro on the back and left it at that. Luckily for them, they reached the village by sundown and no longer had to listen to the girl rant on and on about something that Kurea had not paid attention to since the beginning.

“I guess it went pretty well?” Kurea would say to Sanjiro as they got escorted to the administration building. “All that’s left is wait for this whole thing to end and we can leave.” She said in a light and happy tone. Her ears were going numb from the girl’s chattering after all even if she didn’t pay attention to the words.

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro nodded at Kurea's words as the group walked toward the administration building. It was at this time that Sanjiro felt the girl release his arm, realizing that she'd be seeing her father soon. Sanjiro, whom up until now had thought of this girl as nothing more than an idiot, was impressed by this move. It seemed as though the girl had enough sense to realize that if her father found her hanging all over a shinobi, especially one as unremarkable as Sanjiro, that he'd be furious with her. A small sigh of relief escaped from between his lips as the three passed through the doors into the building.

As the three entered the girl immediately rushed forward, her arms wrapping around the client who had been waiting so anxiously for the team's return. The man squeezed his daughter tight before looking toward the two genin who had managed to pull off this mission. With a few tears in his eyes he mouthed the words "thank you" before returning his gaze to his daughter. Sanjiro now directed his eyes to the ground, giving a polite bow to the man, despite the fact that he was no longer looking in the genins' direction.

"All's well that ends well."

His words were gentle and spoken so lightly that only Kurea would be able to pick up on it. With that he'd turn around to give his teammate a small smile.

"Thanks for having my back out there. I'd be dead if it weren't for your medical skills. Anyway, I'm going to head back home. I'll fill out the report and submit it tomorrow in the morning before I go to the hospital to get this wound checked out."

With that Sanjiro walked past Kurea, stepping outside, letting the door shut behind him, leaving Kurea, the two guard shinobi and the client and his daughter to revel in this emotional scene, one that Sanjiro had no desire to watch...

[Exit]

[Will submit for eval after Kurea exits]

Posts : 68

By the time they reached the building, Kurea felt as if all the tension drain from her and could barely hold herself up. Had the guard shinobi not been in front of them, Kurea would’ve simply flop down on the ground, so to speak. As soon as they passed through the doors, Kurea noted that the girl had already let go of Sanjiro which made her want to chuckle aloud. However she refrained from doing so and looked on when the father and daughter reunited. This time she smiled lightly but not because the man had thanked them but because Sanjiro had spoken to her.

“Of course… Though you did most of the work. Had it not been you, I don’t think we could’ve gotten away as easily.” She said lightly to the boy before watching him turn away from the father and daughter couple to leave. The girl stood there for a few for moments in order to decide what she would do next. Of course they still had things to do but that could wait until a bit later. However she didn’t want to head home just yet considering her father would only nag at her and wonder the most abnormal thing a father would think. Shaking her head and sighing lightly, Kurea turned away from their client and his daughter and exited the building. All she wanted at the moment was to relax somewhere quiet.

[Exit]