How Not To Be A Supermodel {C- Mission}

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Kimiko:

The Butler:

Yuuki:

The Good Left Undone: Eternal Ice:

Travelling for so long had made Kimiko’s mind wander quite far. She was thinking about what she would be doing back at home right now, probably eating lunch if it was a day off, taking Aya to the park, or paying a visit to the Hinamori residence to see Toshiro. Instead she had just entered the Tea Country, and she was heading up to some gates that provided a means of getting into the village up ahead. She wasn’t sure what village it was, per say, it didn’t look like a major one. There were still guards stood at the gate on high alert, two big burly men with their hands clasped in front of them having spotted a visitor. When she drew level with the two guards, she smiled at them both politely and fished in the weapon bag on her left to bring out the mission scroll, holding up and unrolling it for them to see. “I’m here on a mission to take a… Sesuima Yuuki to the Snow Country.” She stated, and after the guards scanned the document to make sure it was official, they allowed Kimiko into the village. She looked at the mission scroll for herself now, looking for any directions that would be needed to find the model’s home. At the bottom it stated to look for the biggest residence in the village, and just before Kimiko was about to groan about that being no hope, she put the mission scroll away and spotted a huge building straight in front of her. She blinked and fixed her eyes on the structure, having no doubt in her mind that this was the place the mission scroll had told her about. She whistled softly under her breath, wondering how some people had the money to build such places, and walked up the steps to stand at the large door. She found a doorbell and pressed it, hearing a soft chiming of bells inside the residence in front of her, and it wasn’t very long at all until the door was opened inwards for her.

A man was stood there, wearing a tailored white suit with a purple shirt underneath his jacket, completed with a black tie. He had long silver hair and piercing pale blue eyes, and his face showed an amount of concealed annoyance that made him look almost ready to explode. “Good afternoon, miss.” He said slowly in a deep tone of voice, looking at Kimiko closer with a scrutinising gaze, finally raising his eyebrows when he was satisfied (or dissatisfied) with the look of her. “Hi there, I’m here for the mission requested to take Sesuima-san to Yukigakure?” She inquired, and the door was opened more for her to step inside. The man nodded in understanding and waved a hand towards the door almost directly opposite them, a traditional white screen with wood panelling. “She is preparing in there.” He told her, backing away respectfully and bowing low before disappearing in a doorway to the right. Kimiko nodded slowly and moved towards the door that had been indicated to her, pausing to knock on the panelling before going inside.

The room was… huge. It must have been the size of the whole of her apartment, and probably bigger. It was painted completely in a gentle shade of baby pink, with an elegant white border. Although not to Kimiko’s tastes, perhaps, it was undoubtedly a beautiful room. “Yuuki-san?” She ventured politely to the figure with its back to her across the room, sitting on a chaise lounge overlooking a large window with the views of the house’s gardens. There was no reply from the figure, she simply turned around slowly and stared straight at the Chuunin across the room. The model was indeed very beautiful, and it was obvious why she had started work in a modelling career. She had deep pink hair and emerald green eyes, teamed with a slender yet very curvaceous figure. She would be an absolute knock out to anybody who saw her, and Kimiko was no exception. “You look appalling.” The woman suddenly snapped, rising from the chaise lounge and strutting towards Kimiko. She stopped at a fair distance, leaning weight on her right leg and snapping her hands to her hips, tilting her head while she looked at the girl in front of her. “I can’t have my guard looking so… drab.” She turned once again, with the precision that would be needed to walk down a catwalk. She made her way to a large screen, over which a red dress was hung, and she snatched it up in her long, slender fingers before throwing it in Kimiko’s face. “You can get changed behind that screen there, but be quick about it. We need to leave ASAP.” Her voice was harsh, callous, and almost quite scary. Kimiko pulled the red material out of her eyes and scuttled to the screen that was being pointed at with a long, manicured set of fingernails and hastily started to change. Upon changing into the mass of red material, she realised that it consisted of a loose silken cropped shirt and a long billowing skirt. It looked deceptive, however, and could easily be mistaken as a dress. There was a yellow bow tied on the front of the shirt at the neckline, and the arm holes were very large, making her crop-top of bandages partially visible. The sleeves had white ruffles on them to match the white sleeves which had also been thrown with the outfit. They tied with thin red ribbon, and were stitched with red thread to match. The skirt clinched snugly around Kimiko’s waist with a gold tassel, and there were wavy gold patterns around the hem in the same colour. As for footwear, a delicate pair of red slipper-type flat shoes, velvety to the touch.

When she was dressed, she surfaced from behind the screen and suddenly had Yuuki upon her, fiddling with her long black locks and frowning to herself. She harshly tugged at the bangs near Kimiko’s face and wrapped red pieces of material fringed with white to each, and roughly turned the girl round to tie a large red and white bow at the back of her hair. “There. Now you don’t look like an eyesore.” Yuuki stated in a clipped voice, turning once more and heading this time for the door, obviously expecting Kimiko to follow. The latter was hastily attaching her hip bags and fan strap, as well as shrugging on her rucksack again. She cleared her throat when they left the room as an indication that she was about to speak, but was cut off sharply by a thin hand being raised by the model in front of her. “No time for talking. Just hurry.” The order came keen to Kimiko who realised she was being ordered around by no more than a civilian. A civilian with money, way too much money, but a civilian nonetheless. She frowned, and sighed quietly to herself. If she upset the client then things would not go well with her mission debrief later. Better just stay quiet and allow Yuuki to do as she pleased, to a point of course. The man from before opened the front door for the pair of them, and then followed down the steps towards an awaiting carriage. Just the sight of it made Kimiko groan; this would slow them down tremendously. But again, she held her tongue and just scowled at the model’s back as discretely as she could manage.

Yuuki snapped her fingers and the man hurried in front of her to open the carriage door, helping her with the skirts of her kimono as she got inside. Before Kimiko could get inside with the model, the door was slammed on her, and no more was said. She was obviously expected to stay outside and guard from there, in this ridiculously unpractical outfit. The man looked apologetically at her before moving to the front of the carriage and seating himself up on the seat provided to man the two horses pulling it. He cracked the reins and with that they were off… for a week of untold horrors and absolute hell.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Late-Night Confiding:

It was late, how late Kimiko didn’t know. But they were still moving, at a walking pace of course, but even that in itself was enough for the kunoichi having to stay alert on the outside of the carriage. This outfit that she was wearing wasn’t practical whatsoever, the slipper-type shoes she had been given to wear kept coming off her feet and the sleeves kept slipping down her arms. Her hair kept getting tangled around the bow whenever even a gentle breeze blew, and she was borderline fed up. The only thing keeping her from throwing a tantrum of sorts was the fact that she had to remain on high alert for anybody who attempted to ambush them, and that she had to complete this mission perfectly. Inside the carriage her ladyship Yuuki was asleep, she had been for the past four hours, and Kimiko wished so badly that she could join her. She had stayed awake for over four days before, but it had required the surplus of a gallon of caffeine and so many sweets containing sugar galore. Without coffee or a caffeine-injected equivalent and no sugary treats in sight, she was stuck in a rut, constantly falling over her feet and walking like someone risen from the dead, with about the grace of one too. She saw a flash of silver in front, and spotted the butler’s head looking in her direction. He gestured for her to catch up and join him, looking almost sympathetic about the girl’s condition. She did so, hurrying her pace and moving to the front of the carriage to see what the man wanted.

He patted the seat beside him up front, and she blinked at first in surprise before moving to sit up with him. “How are you holding up?” He asked her quietly, loosely taking the reins in his hands and looking at Kimiko. She sighed and smiled weakly at him, managing to restrain the need to rub her eyes. “I’m doing fine. Whatever made you think otherwise?” She said as chirpily but also as quietly as she could. Despite being a good actor, the man saw through it and shook his head at her. “You don’t have to pretend, you know. Of course you’ll be tired, you’ve had to travel here from Konoha and we’ve just crossed half a country. Even for a shinobi that’s tough.” He pulled out a flask from underneath the seat and popped it open for her. “Drink this. It’s a special concoction I made for me to stand staying up all night for her ladyship.” He offered it to her, and she gingerly took it. She discretely smelt the liquid, but after not detecting any form of poison that she could remember had a smell to them, she took a swig. It tasted quite nice, almost like peppermint but with a twang that came with coffee, but it wasn’t. “What is it?” She asked, taking another swig with the man’s permission. “Ground coffee beans, mint, a touch of whiskey and sake. The coffee counteracts the alcohol and leaves you awake, with a nicer feeling rather than just being dragged up from the grave, and the mint made it taste better.” He smirked a little and took the flask back, putting it under his seat again. Weirdly enough, just a few minutes after drinking the liquid Kimiko felt much better. “Thank you.” She said sincerely to the man beside her. “What’s your name by the way? It was such a rush back there that I didn’t have chance to ask.” She ventured curiously, keeping an eye and ear out for any sounds that might give away a sign of somebody out there waiting for an ambush. “Don’t mention it. I can’t stand a pretty thing like you looking like some zombie out of a horror movie. And the name’s Zanji. That’s all I’ve ever been known as, no surname. Yuuki’s family picked me up as a kid after they found me scrounging for food in their bins.” This man was becoming more and more interesting the more Kimiko learnt about him, and couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for him in regards to his upbringing, or lack of one. “Her father taught me how to be a butler, and that was what I trained to be. Although it wasn’t really a ‘home’ so to speak, it was a godsend, and for that I’m eternally grateful. Yuuki-san might appear crisp and harsh on the surface, but she’s only adopted that manner since her parents died. That was about five years ago, it’s just been me and her since.” He explained, and slowly but surely, Kimiko found as though she felt like she was forgiving Yuuki for being the way she had been earlier.

“I see…” She mused aloud, looking forwards at the road ahead. Zanji patted the hind quarters of the horse he was leading in front of him, urging it on with a quiet whisper of encouragement. Kimiko smiled at him slightly, respecting him more and more. “The reason we’re headed to Yukigakure really is because Yuuki can no longer stand being in the Tea Country because of what happened. It just so happens that we found a model agency to take her over there, giving an ideal cover up for her.” He elaborated, and Kimiko was surprised, that much was obvious in her facial expression which made her companion chuckle. “Why are you telling me all this?” She asked quietly, looking at the horse in front of her, admiring its silky black coat in the moonlight. “So that you won’t resent her for the duration of your mission. I could see that you were getting that way before, and thought it was only right to tell you the truth. However, you can’t breathe a word of it to Yuuki-san.” He pointed out, and she nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” She reassured him. Just then, she felt a small jolt through the carriage behind them, and her whole body tensed up. Zanji didn’t appear to notice, but that didn’t surprise her. “Zanji, stop the carriage. Now.” She said urgently, barely above a whisper, however, listening and slowly rising in her seat as she prepared to pounce. The man did so, bringing the carriage to a halt as quickly and quietly as possible. Without a word, Kimiko hoisted herself up onto the roof with the use of one hand only, using only a fraction of her strength to lift her body weight up.

Whoever had decided to try and get to Yuuki, they had made a very grave mistake indeed.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Get That Model Out:

Although it was very dark and an almost starless night, Kimiko had no trouble spotting the lone figure swathed in black atop the carriage. They were facing away from her, kneeling on the top of the carriage and drawing a katana, which they spun round quickly in their hand before going to plunge it down into the roof of the carriage, their intentions obviously to drop in and harm Yuuki from above. Kimiko reached into one of the weapon bags at her hips and groped around until she felt the familiar cold feel of wire, attached to a kunai. She pulled the length of wire out and swung it quickly, focusing on the katana and throwing the kunai straight for it, yanking back on the wire as it passed its target to bring the wire back on itself. The force meant that the katana was pulled back and out of the mystery figure’s hands, sending it skidding across the roof of the carriage until it bounced off the side, away from the reach of the individual attempting to harm the model inside.

When the figure turned, Kimiko could see that it was a young woman, probably in her early twenties or a bit older. Her hair was midnight blue and kept back in a bun away from her face, large green eyes were the most startling feature about her but it was obvious to see that she was very pretty indeed. “What do you think you’re doing?” The woman hissed, getting to her feet and glaring at Kimiko opposite her. “I could ask you the same thing.” She raised an eyebrow and swung the kunai on a wire over her shoulder, untying the kunai with a swift hand movement and holding it in that hand. She shoved the wire back in her weapons back and zipped it shut, holding the kunai as a weapon. “This… Yuuki bitch… has been taking all of my work!” The strange woman hissed, slowly advancing on the Chuunin like a cat waiting to pounce. “So if she tragically ‘dies’ in an accident on the road, I’ll be top dog again!” She chuckled softly, her eyes never leaving the motionless figure opposite her. Kimiko scowled and twirled the kunai in her hand around her index finger, steadily increasing its speed the closer this strange woman got. “You’ve got to get through me before you even lay a hand on my client.” She said menacingly, her voice dropping to just above a whisper, and her eyes darkening to appear almost black in the dimming light. Just like that, she snapped into action.

She covered the distance between them both with just one graceful leap, landing softly on the balls of her feet in front of her opponent and thrusting her kunai forwards in the same motion, making contact with soft flesh. A gasp was heard from the mystery model woman, and a soft thud soon afterwards as she collapse. Kimiko hadn’t stabbed her in a fatal place, just below the right side of her ribcage. It wasn’t even possible to die through blood loss from a stab wound there. But just as she had suspected, the sight of blood and the sheer shock from being stabbed made the model faint outright. She stooped down and picked up the model, hopping off the carriage to place the woman down on the grass and then getting back up beside Zanji, nodding at him to carry on. He blinked in surprise and it seemed to take a long time for it to register what had just happened. Somebody so sweet and appearingly innocent had just nearly killed a woman? It just went to show not to judge a book by its cover… this sweet and innocent girl had proved her worth as a Chuunin-ranked kunoichi, and Zanji was very impressed indeed. “Are you alright?” He asked after he got the horses to move once more, briefly glancing back at the carriage to make sure that Yuuki hadn’t woken. When there wasn’t a high pitched shriek about what all the noise was, they both visibly relaxed. “Yes, I’m fine.” Kimiko reassured the butler, giving him a wide and very happy smile. ‘Shinobi… they always confuse the hell out of me…’ Zanji thought with an outward sigh, softly patting the horse’s hindquarters to comfort them both.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Mistake Numero Uno...:

The next day, Zanji told Kimiko that they were over half way to Yukigakure. Travelling through the night had made sure that they hadn’t slacked in progress, and even that minor setback hadn’t done much. It was the afternoon, and they had stopped beside a fast-running lake to give the horses a well-deserved rest. Sitting out in the sun and biting cold gave Kimiko time to think, very much needed time indeed. What scared her was the lengths to which people would go for money alone. Like the model back there that was trying to kill Yuuki because the latter was more successful. The way this world was heading… it made her grimace just thinking about it. And the people who were driven by money were getting ever stronger, driven by that greedy desire which had been very similar no matter how far you ventured back in time. Money and power, directly linked through greed. It was getting worse and worse, which meant Kimiko had to keep up with its progression in order to one day stamp it out when she made her world. She was sat beside the lake with the horses, the grey was called Jingo and the auburn was called Casey. They were very pretty beings, not the type of horses that one would expect to be lugging a carriage around and being treated like pack mules. Zanji looked after them very well, however, stroking their coats and manes, feeding them good quality oats and special mixtures that he gave them in their feed, and making sure they had plenty of water to drink even if that meant he went without. Kimiko had left her slipper-type shoes behind her while she sat on a rock, dangling her feet into the rushing cold water below. Her ladyship, Yuuki, was sat inside her carriage that she seldom left, shivering in mountains of furs and scowling almost to the point where she was made ugly. “How much longer must we stay here?” She demanded, leaning out of the window which had been rolled down for the sunlight to touch her pale skin. Her butler, the ever-patient Zanji who had been washing Jingo down calmly replied, “As long as is necessary, Yuuki-sama.”

With that, the model was silenced, and instead found yet another fur from inside her carriage and draped herself in it, looking off in the distance. Judging by the happy whinny heard from the male horse, Zanji had finished washing him and was now showing his usual affections in appreciation. Kimiko smiled to hersef, seeing individuals like Zanji restored her faith in humanity when it was at an all time low, which it had been after last night. Being driven to kill somebody… for their fame and money… sickened her even more than what Aya’s parents had threatened to do to their own daughter. She thoughtfully ran her fingers through her hair, and stooped down to cup a hand in the water, bringing the cool liquid to her face and splashing it on herself to wake up. Feeling fresher and more invigorated, she inhaled and exhaled deeply with a smile on her face, wiping the beads of water off her face with a towel she had taken from her rucksack beside her. Now that she felt much happier and fresher, she pulled her feet out of the lake and put the slipper-type shoes back on without drying her feet first, she didn’t see the need to. She clipped her weapons bags back around her waist and strapped her fan strap around her lower back before shrugging her rucksack back over her shoulders, moving over to Zanji’s side. He had changed out of his posh white tuxedo into much more sensible clothes, a simple black t-shirt and slightly fitted grey slacks, his silvery hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He turned, his insightful grey eyes locking onto Kimiko’s slight figure beside him, giving her a smile and patting Casey’s side robustly, but with all the gentleness required to handle horses. “Looks like you’re ready to go again, Kimi-chan. It’s a good thing I’m ready also, otherwise you’d have been disappointed.” He smirked slightly and led the two horses back to the front of the carriage slowly, focusing his gaze on the girl walking beside him. “Hai, Zanji-kun. I’m not particularly good at waiting around, but I did so today just for the horses.” She joked, reaching a hand up to stroke Jingo’s fetlocks, smiling at the horse as he looked at her with those wide, caring and accepting brown eyes that looked very similar to her own. She noticed that Zanji’s gaze was still on her, and she gave him a confused glance, tilting her head to the side and moving her hand to Jingo’s nose when he gently head butted her shoulder for more attention. “Zanji-kun? What’s wrong?” She asked softly, and he just gave her what might be described a sad smile before looking the other way. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” He muttered in return, suddenly finding Casey’s halter very fascinating indeed.

Kimiko was about to question again what was wrong, but before doing so her train of thought was cut off by a loud, high-pitched scream coming from the carriage. Her face fell into a serious frown, eyes darkening and eyebrows furrowing slightly. “Yuuki-san.” She said, letting go of Jingo and dashing off, reaching the carriage and throwing the door open, met with nothing but the overwhelming smell of expensive perfume and empty furs. “Yuuki-san!” She cried out, leaping atop the carriage and scanning the area from a better height, her chest rapidly rising and falling not with panic, but with anger. Who had managed to retrieve the model right from under her nose? These people weren’t amateurs with weapons this time, she knew that much. They must be trained in stealth to be able to get past Kimiko’s keen senses. Her ears pricked to attention when she heard a loud scream once again, coming from the direction they had been headed in. A deep, inhuman growl rumbled in her chest while she leapt off the carriage with such force that the ornate wood buckled underneath where she had taken off. Any cries from Zanji were lost in the wind while she dashed as fast as she could, using her ears and slightly enhanced sense of smell from the training she did with her transformation jutsu to pin-point Yuuki and her captors. While she moved, she looked briefly at the ground, spotting footprints. Quite a lot of them at that. At least five different pairs of footprints were the ones she identified, there could be more or less people involved in the capture of her client. ‘I swear to god… when I find these… these… idiots… there’ll be a heavy price to pay indeed.’ She thought, seething inwardly with rage. Her stone-set face on the outside spoke measures as well as to what her mood was. So far… she was furious.

She was annoyed at herself for being so careless and allowing Yuuki to be taken, she was angered at the people who had done it, and she was increasingly surprised at the measures people would go to for something that didn’t really matter. She knew that after the first incident with the strange rival model that this would be an issue about fame or money, or other selfish reasons. “Hold on, Yuuki-san… I’m coming to find you!” She shouted as loud as her lungs would allow, hoping that wherever her client was that she would hear, and wherever the captors were, fear would be rife in their hearts. If it wasn’t… it would be soon enough.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

The Damsel in Distress:

Kimiko had to keep her pace up in order to stay close enough to hear screams, muffled by now, and running footsteps so that she could track where they were headed. Thankfully Yuuki’s captors weren’t that skilled to cover their footprints, because they were proving to be very useful indeed. Their direction suddenly changed, veering off to the right of the road, and into the undergrowth. The Chuunin followed in hot pursuit, weaving in and out of trees and jumping over shrubs, ignoring her fine clothes being torn at by branches. After a few minutes of running through the woodland, they emerged onto a small beaten track, leading up to the left and climbing a small slope. The area around here was much colder than it had been back where they had set up camp, so Kimiko assumed that they had managed to get closer to the Snow Country which would explain the sudden temperature drop. She followed the group up the path, noticing now that there was a group of five, not including Yuuki who had a sack over her head and was being carried by two of them. They headed into a building at the top of the hill which may at one point been a palace of sorts, but that had been many years previous. It was dark, oppressive and falling apart, vines growing across every visible piece of what would have been fine grey stone. The turrets on the east and west side had long ago crumbled, leaving two forlorn half towers sticking out from the barely tiled roof. Overall, it was a typical enemy hiding place. She ran inside, keeping the large oak door open as to avoid suspicion. Despite the long journey here, the group hadn’t once looked back, or if they had Kimiko hadn’t seen them do so. It had only been when they had emerged onto the path leading to this ruined palace that she had been able to see them, however, and they most certainly hadn’t checked over their shoulders then.

She followed the sounds of deep, grumbling voices that she assumed belonged to the group of typical cronies with shinobi skills, enough to kidnap the model without being detected by her good self. The rooms inside the building very much resembled the appearance on the outside. They were all dark, the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, floorboards were worn almost to the point of breaking, and the ceiling was starting to cave in. The further she went inside the ‘palace’, the worse things became. The ceiling had actually given out in one room, leaving chunks of tile and brick in a heap in the centre that Kimiko had to manoeuvre around expertly to avoid making any noise. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she reached what must have been the last room. The voices stopped moving inside here, and they were clustered together in the centre muttering amongst themselves. Kimiko positioned herself at the left of the doorframe so that she could peer inside without revealing herself, and watched the proceedings that took place. All at once, the men grew silent, the only noises being Yuuki’s persistent complaining and writhing around in the restraints that the Chuunin could now only just see. The heavy sounds of deliberate footfall filled the empty room, and from the back of the room which was engulfed in shadows, came a small man. He must have stood at no more than five feet tall, had a thinning hair of grey wiry hair, and well-kept grey stubble. His eyes were small and narrow, piercing blue in colour. He was quite fat, but that could just be his lack in height working against him. Despite being so small, he struck obvious fear into the five men stood before him. The man raised a hand, each finger with a different gold ring, and pointed almost lazily at the squirming young woman. “So you didn’t have any trouble?” He asked, his voice resembling that of a snake. It was smooth, almost silky, but still had a venomous bite. The men shook their heads, and all at the same time said, “No, Yazuo-sama!” Their leader smirked and moved forward once more, getting ever closer to the woman he had ordered to be kidnapped. “Any threats at all? Anyone we should be waiting for?” He asked yet again, as if wanting to be sure, or to terrify his subjects even more, Kimiko wasn’t quite sure at this point. Once again, all of the men shook their heads and chorused, “No, Yazuo-sama!”

With that final assurance made, the man named Yazuo smirked oh-so slowly and deliberately, raising his other hand which too was laced with gold rings. “Good…” He made a signal with both his hands to his henchmen who hastily did as they were ordered, putting Yuuki down and taking the sack off her head. The model gasped and almost bit the last man’s retreating hand as he sharply pulled it away, scowling her famous scowl. “Who are you? Where am I? Why have you done this? When my agent finds out, you’re all dead meat!” Her voice started off quite steady and deep, almost threatening, but by the time she had finished it had risen to a pitch that only dogs could hear. “Hush now, you sweet thing. Even prettier than I remember you…” Yazuo raised his hand upwards slowly, deliberately, towards Yuuki’s face, and in the attempt to not being touched by this despicable man, she jerked her head backwards and the sudden imbalance threw her to the floor, landing with a loud thud and an even louder groan of pain. She laid there, immobile on the floor with gritted teeth and a look that screamed death while she glared up at the man who was behind her capture. “Careful now. Don’t want a scratch on that flawless skin of yours.” He said smoothly, going to touch her face again. Not having anywhere to escape or any way to stop him now, Yuuki could only grimace and flinch at his touch while her chin was forced up to look at him. “You’ll pay soon enough, sweet Yuuki. In so many more ways than one…” Yazuo’s eyes darkened and he made a point of licking his lips slowly, as if making it painfully obvious what he planned to do with the model he had before him.

Having chosen her moment carefully, it was only now that Kimiko came out of hiding, sensing danger to her client’s life. She soundlessly slipped into the room from the doorframe she had been hiding behind and made her presence very known indeed. She stalked up to the backs of the henchmen and punched the first one she came to square in the back of the head, using her full force which resulted in the man’s head jerking forwards so harshly that a sickening snapping sound was heard to signify that he was either paralysed or dead when he fell to the floor. She stood there holding her fist up and glaring at Yazuo with a look that spelt out murder, with a capital M. “If you lay one more filthy hand on Yuuki-san I’ll cut it off and give it back to you.” She hissed, ignoring the men around her who moved away from their master to encircle her in a threatening manner. Yazuo smiled, amused at the girl’s sudden and dramatic entrance, plus the threat she had issued. The model laid on the floor, however, looked utterly and completely shocked. “Y-You… you came for me…” She whispered, barely audible if not for the large room amplifying the sound. Kimiko smiled at Yuuki and nodded her head. “Of course I did, Yuuki-san. Your life is more important than a mission pay check. I will track you to the edges of this world and save you, no matter what the odds.” She said, her voice seeping truth and gentleness, but it soon changed into a harsher and deeper tone, “even if I die protecting you. But believe me, these people aren’t worth me dying over.” She glared at Yazuo while she was saying this, keeping half an eye on the men surrounding her to make sure they didn’t make any sudden moves. “How heroic of you. And what might your name be?” He asked, curiosity overwhelming his demeanour and not affected whatsoever by the threats Kimiko had been throwing at him. “Katsumi Kimiko. And you’ll remember that name even in death.” She replied coldly, at which point she sprung into action with no warning. She reached a hand down to the kunai pouch attached to her leg and took one out, immediately front-flipping over the men in front of her to get to where Yuuki and Yazuo were. Instead of going for the latter, she dashed to the model’s body, kunai raised and ready.

When she reached Yuuki, she stooped down and sliced the ropes binding the young woman, staying in her crouched position while the model got to her knees also. “Stay behind me. They won’t put a scratch on you as long as I’m breathing.” Kimiko said solemnly, getting up and immediately being rushed at by the four men who had encircled her before. She swung the kunai she had been holding at the front-most man, landing a hit in his lower gut, probably the most painful place to be hit. The man would live, but do so in pain, as was quite obvious by his cries of agony as he hit the floor. She sprinted forwards, kicking her slippers off into the face of the next man, distracting him long enough for her to perform a sweeping kick to his kneecaps, making him stoop and almost fall, at which point she brought her left knee smashing into his face. Another one down, she ploughed onwards yet again, this time making a few hand seals and opening her mouth wide, spitting forth a large lions’ head that she aimed at her opponent. The jutsu made full contact with the man, burning him to the point where his clothes vanished and his skin blackened while he collapsed to the ground, writhing and screaming, trying to put himself out. And the last man was treated to Kimiko’s new Fuuinjutsu. She briefly closed her eyes to draw the small black seal onto her middle finger, and opened her eyes once more to her target running closer to her. She held her palm outwards in front of her, and activated the seal when she had clear aim. A pure blue beam of chakra shot forth from her middle finger, piercing straight through the man’s stomach due to the jutsu being unobstructed. Having knocked down all of Yazuo’s men, he didn’t seem so tough by himself. He could only stare in horror while Kimiko approached him, eyes glaring and mouth set in a deep frown of anger. When she reached him, his lack of speed when moving away meant that she could grab hold of him using the scruff of his neck, and lifted him up easily to her level.

She stared silently at her new target, and only opened her mouth when Yazuo whimpered. “I will keep you alive on one condition… you leave Yuuki-san alone and spread the news to your seedy little friends that I’ll kill anyone who doesn’t. Am I quite clear?” She posed the question in a sickly sweet manner, at which the little man nodded desperately, appearing to start relaxing. “Good.” With that she let go of the man’s collar, but instantly started making hand seals, pushing her palm outwards towards him while he fell. “But you said you wouldn’t kill me!” He cried, at which she smirked and slowly nodded her head. “I won’t kill you… simply maim you.” She replied innocently, and performed her Gale Wind Palm technique to send the little man flying across the room. Using her free hand she reached inside the weapon bag on her left hip, picking out six shuriken that she threw into the path of wind. She timed it just right so that the projectile weapons hit their designated targets just as Yazuo was thrown against the far wall, pinning him in place rather nicely. Having completely overcome the odds, Kimiko was left standing almost unhurt and not out of breath whatsoever. She had only acquired a few scratches from her own doing, and she was stood barefoot completely unperturbed. Yuuki could only stand with her mouth open, not quite believing what she had seen here today. Her guard turned round and smiled politely at her, bowing her head and waving a hand towards where the exit to this place was. “Shall we go, Yuuki-san?” She asked sweetly, and in return Yuuki simply burst into tears. Loud, shaky sobs that showed her true weakness behind the apparent cold exterior she showed so readily. Kimiko moved towards the model, placing a hand on her shoulder and tightening her grip only a little bit to take the young woman and swing her into the bridal carrying position, holding on tight while she walked out of the room. Yuuki kept sobbing, burying her head in her saviour’s chest and never before had she been so grateful for anybody, any one person.

Jutsu Used:

Chakra Count:

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

And so it ends...:

Funnily enough, for the rest of the time that they travelled to Yukigakure, their little convoy wasn’t disturbed whatsoever. Kimiko was always vigilant, only catching an hour of sleep per night. That wasn’t too bad, however, because they only needed to stay one more night. And after that, they entered the Snow Country. The first signs were the perfect white flakes of snow falling from the sky, and as they progressed onwards the snow thickened in a wonderful layer beneath them. Despite the freezing cold, the Chuunin still walked barefoot after losing the slippers that complimented her new dress and didn’t put on anything but a scarf that she was forced to wear by the very worried Zanji. And whenever he touched her upper arm to check her temperature, and felt her forehead, every time she felt perfectly warm, quite toasty in fact. Since her capture, Yuuki had been very quiet indeed, staying inside her carriage with the tinted windows all the way up. She didn’t surface apart from once to give a scarf to her saviour who walked outside in the snow, and even then didn’t show her face. Whether she was ashamed or overcome was shock was unknown, but Kimiko didn’t mind. This was her job, so nothing surprised her anymore. At the end of the day, Yuuki was only a civilian who had at worst seen a bar fight or something of the like. After a lot of protesting from the Katsumi, Zanji finally told her what had been wrong before when they were about to set off again if not for Yuuki’s kidnap. “Well you see… goodness, this is embarrassing… you look so much like a lost love of mine, and…” He had choked off there, going silent once more. Words were no longer needed as the sorrowful tears slipped down his cheeks, and Kimiko sat with a comforting hand on his shoulder, moving closer to comfort him better. What he couldn’t say was that he felt an attraction to the girl sat beside him, despite knowing that it was wrong because she reminded him so much of a girlfriend he had once been involved with who was no longer in this world. And she had told him of her undying love for one Hinamori Toshiro while they had been on the road a while back, after the initial friendship they formed outside of the Tea Country.

Naturally, the rest of the journey from there was a little awkward between the two, until just before they entered the village Yukigakure itself when Zanji turned and apologised, at which Kimiko assured him there was no need to apologise and they continued as they had been before the whole situation. The Village Hidden in the Snow was almost like a picturesque scene you’d see in stunning photographs. It had stopped snowing by this point, however, and just remained very cold indeed. They rode up to the gates where Zanji showed the needed paperwork to the guards and were promptly allowed in with directions to boot. They were headed for a small chalet on the outskirts of the Housing District, which was nowhere near as big as the one in Konohagakure. The chalet would be completely by itself apparently, made out of dark red panels with a sloping black roof, making it quite distinctive in comparison to the other houses around it. Soon enough, they found the place they were looking for. It would be the house given to Yuuki to live in while she modelled here, and they were to be met by her new manager, a man named Horoshu. Zanji entered the little gates to the property, stopping outside the chalet and hopping off his seat to knock on the carriage door and announce to his ladyship that they had arrived. Shortly afterwards, stirring could be heard inside as Yuuki gathered herself and opened the carriage door, looking about in bewilderment as if she had woken from a deep sleep and didn’t know where she was. She had dressed herself in a thermal long-sleeved shirt that was worn as a tunic, with thermal leggings complete with knee-high white fluffy snow boots. Over her outfit she had shrugged on a mass of furs from numerous animals to help fight the cold, and a stylish fluffy auburn hat had been pulled down over her bubblegum pink locks. “It’s very pretty.” She remarked, looking at the snow and walking almost awkwardly, not knowing quite what to do. While she was peering down at the fluffy white drifts, she spotted Kimiko’s bare feet and seemed to have a seizure of sorts. “Kimiko-san! You aren’t wearing any shoes!” Yuuki claimed, barrelling back into her carriage and surfacing with a pair of sturdy-looking black closed in sandals, handing them to her guard with a small smile. “Your poor feet will freeze off.” She warned softly, and made sure that Kimiko actually put the shoes on. The Katsumi thanked her, and the three of them made their way to the door.

Zanji knocked once, twice, three times on the door and stepped back to wait, hands behind his back politely with his shoulders pushed back in a formal manner to make himself stand taller than usual. After only a couple of seconds waiting, a middle-aged man of about medium height answered the door. His hair was mousy brown and chopped short, thinning in places. His eyes were dark blue, sapphire in colour. They were the main feature about him that made Kimiko think that he was young in his obvious many years of living. The fine wrinkles around his mouth and eyes gave that away, but overall for a man of around forty years old, he looked very good indeed. In his youth, he was the type to have probably been a womaniser for the girls would have been ‘all over him’. He beamed upon setting eyes upon his guests and threw his arms out warmly in welcome. “Ah, Yuuki-san! You have come to me at last!” He said happily, and acknowledging the other two with just as much vigour after learning their names. They were ushered inside and sat down in a cosy little lounge area, each holding a hot chocolate to fight off the cold. “So how was the journey here?” The man had introduced himself to be Horoshu, Yuuki’s new manager. All three of them smiled and shook their heads at different intervals, and Kimiko replied, “No problems whatsoever. It was quite the pleasant mission indeed.” She said with a genuine smile which made the pink-haired model beside her smile a little more. They stayed to talk a little more in the lounge like this, warming up and getting acquainted with Horoshu. He told of how he became involved in the modelling business, that he was actually a ‘failed’ shinobi of Chuunin rank that decided in a career change after his father died. His shinobi work was too dangerous for his liking, especially since he was conscious of his mother now that she was alone, and he decided to play to his strengths which had been his good looks as well. After a good number of years as a male model, he moved up and made his own business that became more well known, and eventually, ended up where he was today in the stunning Snow Country able to buy accommodation for his star models. He explained that modelling was so good here because of the great range of seasons, and with all the snow it made for magical photo shoots. But in the summer the snow melted and the heat could sometimes put Sunagakure to shame. He was quite the interesting man, and very animated in the way he spoke, as well as a genuine kind and forgiving soul. Kimiko liked him quite a lot indeed.

After staying for over an hour, she did have to say her farewells. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Horoshu-san.” She bowed her head politely to the man she had recently met, and he took her hand before bowing as a sign of the utmost respect. “The pleasure is all mine, Kimi-chan.” He winked at her when he remembered to call her by her preferred name, and she smiled at him in return. She turned to Zanji next who smiled sheepishly and held out his hand, which she graciously took, but instead of shaking it she pulled herself into the male for a friendly hug. It took him by surprise, of course, because his body froze slightly before he moved to hug her back, but he smiled oh-so happily from that sign of friendship. And last but not least, Yuuki, the appearingly ice cold model who actually had a heart of pure gold, was next to say goodbye to. The older female smiled sadly and chewed on the inside of her lip while she faced Kimiko. “So this really is goodbye…” She murmured and took a deep breath, composing herself for the could-be tearful farewell. “I’m afraid so… Yuuki-chan.” The Chuunin said regretfully, a sad smile tugging on her lips while she embraced the model. Yuuki had brightened and obviously been touched by the more familiar, friendly honorific and hugged the girl back tightly. “Thank you so much for everything. For saving me, and for teaching me who to be… I owe you my life.” She said quietly, but still with tonnes of emotion pouring from her words. Kimiko smiled and pulled back from the hug slightly to gently wipe the single tear sliding down Yuuki’s face, tilting her head to the side. “At first I set out to do a job, but ended up forming a bond with my client that won’t ever fade. You’re worth so much more to me, dear Yuuki, than the money. So it is I that should be thanking you.” Her voice was soft, gentle, and soothing, and touching all the same.

And with that, Katsumi Kimiko left the chalet, walking off in her less-than-suitable outfit after refusing the pay for the mission she had completed, but unknown to her, the money had been stashed in the pockets in her skirt that she thought were just for show. It had been there all along… Completing their parting with a glance back over her shoulder and her signature grin, Kimiko shouted, “Get busy, Yuuki-chan! If I don’t see your pictures back in Konoha then you haven’t been working hard enough!” In reply, the model laughed while tears of sorrow and joy slid down her cheeks, cupping her hands around her mouth for her voice to travel further, “I’ll do my best! And if by the time my pictures reach Konoha you’re not Hokage, you’ve not worked hard enough either!” Playful joking aside from the two females’ aspirations, they had forged a friendship that wouldn’t fade over time, but instead grow stronger with the time they spent apart. If only all friendships were like this… the world would certainly be a better place.

{Mission Complete}