Meditation among the Junk Salesmen (Open)

[Kenchiro]

Kenchiro liked the village bazaar. Stalls, shouting men and useless junk. It was the perfect place to blend in and be nobody. The Genin was a master of being nobody; all he needed to do was put on his drab cloak, find an open spot on a bench, and sit the hottest part of the day away. He did not even need Henge; nobody from the Academy even looked his way half the time, let alone recognized him. What he did in the interim was evenly divided between chats with strangers and people watching, with a bit of window shopping when he felt like stretching his legs.

It was a nice way to make those boring days go away. Sometimes, he got a bit too into being a piece of the scenery, and he wound up missing most of the more important stuff he was supposed to do or, even worse, walking away with something he did not need from one of the stalls. At this moment in time, in fact, he was looking at a collection of statues painstakingly crafted from the local clay with an attention to detail that bordered on super-human. Kenchiro naturally appreciated art, given his rather clandestine appreciation of jewels and other such theft-worthy items. Of course, he would not be caught dead trying to steal one of these terracotta figurines. They were dime a dozen and as common as the clothes on his back. They might fetch a pretty Ryo elsewhere. Like in Konoha, perhaps. Of course, Konoha probably had more than their fair share of treasures too. It made Kenchiro chuckle just thinking about it.

[enzan]

Phew ~ travelling from Kaminari no kuni to Kaze no Kuni was seriously tiring. Now to not take that out of context it took me at least two days to actually reach this place. The sands were beautiful for some reason as if a sense of déjà vu was unfolding upon me, and just as quickly that feeling disappeared. I wondered what to do next, so I gazed at ragna wondering if she would have and insight towards where to go. That was when her nose began to twitch which in turn made me start sniffing in the same direction.

Sometimes having super smelling was a huge plus, and at this moment that heavenly scent of food couldn’t have come at a better time. My stomach began to rumble, and I groaned in anguish from that horrible feeling. I turned my head, it was funny that ragna turned to face me at that exact moment and with and untold connection we both knew we were hungry. I motioned for her to follow me towards the scent which sent us both into an extremely hungry state.

”Let’s go Ragnarok! I bet there’s some awesome food somewhere. . . I just hope I have enough to buy it. He he”

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[Iizuka]

Moved to Kaze no Kuni.

[Kenchiro]

Kenchiro was dimly aware of something behind him that was apparently more interesting than all the people already moving about behind him. He turned around, and his eyes widened. He had, of course, heard of dogs before. Stories of loyal canine companions were main characters in adventure novels the world over, and harrowing obstacles in stories about legendary jewel thieves after whom the Genin modeled himself. However, given his rather strict military upbringing, the rather unfriendly nature of the desert in general and his unwillingness to take responsibility for anything other than himself, the closest he had ever come to seeing a flesh and blood dog was to catch glimpses of some of the strays around the village. Of course, some of those could have just been desert foxes scavenging; he had never cared too much to look closely.

That being said, this was probably the closest he had ever been to a dog that was not mangy and/or actually a fox. And, for some reason he could not quite place, he was immensely curious. He stepped away from the statues and stared at the canine more intently. They were apparently off to go get something to eat. What did domesticated dogs eat? Those strays ate pretty much anything that was not blatantly toxic, but he imagined that it was not the ideal diet for a dog.

Before he was aware what he was doing, he found himself in the crowds, following a good five or six strides behind the other Genin and his dog. As for why, Kenchiro had no earthly idea. He was not developing a soft spot for dogs, was he?

[enzan]

My eyes fell upon nothing of the sort as my sense of smell was seemingly tricked. I was hallucinating from being in the desert for a little too long. I and Ragna howled in agony as we were fiercely hungry and there wasn’t anything around to eat.

That was when a new smell entered my senses it was of someone approaching my current location. The smell was fruity almost soothing it the thickness of it, I felt a little dizzy towards the actual smell as it was within my range of super smell. It had to be some sort of soap or condition for the way it heavily laid upon their body.

I turned my head towards the sweet scent and began to walk towards it. I was moved at a fast pace of three meters per second at the person who was now in my line of sight. I stopped after two seconds of running allowing a four meter distance to fall between us.

I smiled as best as I could because I didn’t smell a threat from the person who was now in front of me; but I still made sure not to completely forget my senses because of the likeable smell. Ragna followed with a pitter pattering behind me in a slow and steady walk she would reach us after I spoke.


” Hi! I’m sorry for just running up to you but you have a great smell! Uhh, damn that’s kinda weird to say out loud now that I think about it. Ha Ha”

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[Kenchiro]

He was spotted. That practically never happened. Well, there was that one time he was following a girl to try and hit on her, and it turned out to be a butt-ugly Jounin trying to flush out some criminal or other. Or that time when he thought somebody had stolen his wallet, so he followed them, only to realize that it was the same butt ugly Jounin (the man apparently made it his life mission to spend every waking moment in some Henge or other), and furthermore that his wallet was in his pocket, precisely where he had left it. Those were not fun times. In any case, he was just about to give the other Genin the standard "no eye contact nod of urban social interaction" and continue walking as though he had always intended to go in the direction he was headed, when they actually started talking to him.

Kenchiro blinked. "Actually, it's more like borderline creepy, but I can tell you didn't mean it like that, so..." He watched the dog walking closer and closer, taking his attention off of the stranger's comment. It's... adorable. Kenchiro could feel his heart melting. He felt like a little kid in a pet store; all he was missing was his parents telling him what a big responsibility adopting a pet was.

With a will, he managed to maintain some level of focus. "You two definitely look like you're not from around here. Come to sample some of the finest junk and miscellany the Land of Wind has to offer? Or did you both just get turned around on your way to somewhere more exciting?" He smiled, which for most people would mean just what it says. But half the time, when Kenchiro was smiling, it was because he was hiding the fact that he was appraising something. There was definitely some military influence in the outfit, and he could have sworn that was a forehead protector under that hood. Another ninja, but from where?

[enzan]

”He He. Sorry about that when my nose smells something wonderful I just can’t so no to it.”

I could sense the change in his smell and that he grew relaxed for almost a moment. That was great since I didn’t want to aggravate or even scare someone I just met in Kaze no Kuni. Meanwhile, Ragna had already made her way towards the both of us. Her stare towards the stranger was a relaxed one and she wolfed a bit in delight of the conversation we were having. I looked at her for a second before looking back at the guy before me.

I wanted to let him pet Ragnarok because of the way he seemed to smell like he wasn’t at ease with the both of us here.

”Yes, I’m adventuring for someone who knows how to summon destructive flame throwing demons. And I have basically nothing to go on in my investigation.”

I really should learn to keep my big yapper shut sometimes since I basically told him everything of what I’m doing. Mother and Father would from on me at failing a simple ninja 101 question such as never give out information willy nilly. I tried to suppress the sense of failure I had from Ragna or else she might become a little scared and then this encounter would go from weird to worse instantly. I smiled a little bit before my stomach and ragnarok’s began to grumble at the same time causing us to show and extremely hungry face while I grabbed at my roaring belly.


"Crap I gotta go! Hopefully we'll meet again one day!"

I ran off in the same direction that I came, there was a huge problem. I had forgotten to check in with the guards before leaving! If I didn't get back in the next few days, I'll be labeled a traitor ninja. I waved as I ran at full speed in the opposite direction.

[EXIT]

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