[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

The Way To The Heart Is Food

"Mmmm yes teriyaki chicken or maybe some sweet Mongolian beef..." Azarea agreed practically drooling just thinking about it as her own stomach let out a loud rumble. The red head chuckling as she watched Kojirou dancing around on his tippy toes eager as a puppy as she waved for him to follow. Holding out her hand for him to take if he was worried he might get lost as she would have for a younger sibling as the girl lead the two of them through the streets. Winding her way deftly through the crowds with the ease of long practice as she checked the street signs before ducking down an alley. The two smelt the food before they saw it. A heavenly aroma of every kind of meat, vegetable, fruit, and spice one could ask for and the hawking calling voices of various vendors trying to entice customers to come partake of their faire.

"Come on. Let's find you some Shishi," She quips with a broad toothy grin showing off her fangs.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | Honō Kojirou

[Honō Kojirou]

…

S-Should he… should he take her hand? He honestly got a bit startled at the gesture – wasn’t that meant to be a gesture done between family members… or romantic partners? Oh well, it was either that or he’d get lost again, so he gently took her hand and walked her way towards the food place. It felt weirdly comfortable… a sensation of familiarity that he hadn’t felt in a while. It was definitely a strange experience for a 16-year-old, but he had already grabbed her hand. There was no turning back from this, so as a Honō of action, he’d bet he could live with this.

Down the alleyway that they found, Kojirou suddenly smelled strong, spicy meats and spices from all corners of the world. Damn, they had roasted corn! Thank goodness, they had Nohara no Kuni cuisines here too… and fried chicken, too! But where was that shish? Shish was hardly difficult to differentiate from the rest of the dishes – literally just skewered meat on a thin, metal senbon. That was it! It had to be here, in this big city of wonders where the rest of the Ninja World was gathering at the moment.

Letting go of Azarea’s hand, Kojirou quickly scurried around the booth in search of his shish – making sure to pick up a plate and some roasted corn in the meantime. "Hnmmmmnh… no luck here. You found any shish, Azarea?”

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Shish

Azarea watches the younger boy run off. He'd probably be able to find her again. Probably. Maybe... how bad could his sense of direction really be after all? I mean sure she'd offered her hand as much to be helpful as she had meant to do so to tease him, but as she'd lead Kojirou through the streets she began to realize that yeah... with the crowds he probably would have gotten lost. Hopefully with her not exactly running off on her own he'd be able to spot her red hair amidst the crowd. Well that or he'd find Atagi, but being a boy she likes to hope they are easy to differentiate at a glance. Wandering over to her 'usual' teriyaki chicken kebab salesman, the man was starting to recognize her on sight, she got herself four skewers and a cup to tea and settled in to wait as Kojirou ran off in search of 'Shish.'

Truthfully Azarea wasn't really sure what Shish was and at this point was too afraid to ask. So when the boy came barreling back in asking if she'd found any she was forced to put her acting to the test and improvise. "UH... what kind were you looking for specifically?" She inquires. Maybe if she knows what materials it has she can narrow down what food he's looking for. The woman unaware that she's holding the 'shish' in her hands right now as she munches on her kebabs.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | Honō Kojirou

[Honō Kojirou]

Oh wait, he never explained the appearance to Azarea. No wonder that they hadn’t found it yet, Kojirou needed to get better at relaying information too. Running back to Azarea, he’d begin pulling both his hands up in front of his chest and draw them to each side while thinning the distance between his fingers, symbolizing a thin stick.

"It’s a metal stick skewering the most delicious meat you’ve ever gnawn your teeth into,” he informed the Kumo-nin with these gestures, "Very dark meat, too… usually beef or chicken, but flaked on the edges to give a more… h-how do you say it, more crisp to each bite, y’know. Really, really tasty! You should try one, if we find it…!”

There were actually Shishs in the booth – they were lined on top of a dark-wooden plate, making them quite difficult to see from afar. They were freshly cooked as well, so any with strong noses would be able to scent them even from their position.

However, Kojirou had found some other skewered dish – it did require him to pay up front with yen, so he hurried up and gave the salesman some pocket yen that he kept on him. With a crunchy bite, the swordsman came to the conclusion that it was a vegetable that he’d eaten. "Aww… doesn’t have the right bite to it. And the taste’s all dry.”

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Shish-Kebabs

"Ohhh I see..." Azarea murmured and she did as she glances down at her teriyaki chicken kebabs or... shish-kebabs as Kojirou called them before taking one of her four and offering it out to the boy who seemed to have missed what it was the woman was eating... or standing in front of. The check manning the little booth looking rather amused at this whole exchange.

"Is uh... is this it? The skewer is wood instead of metal, but it's spiced chicken meat with dark sauce grilled to perfection." She offers and swears she sees the chef writing what she said down to one side. Apparently the man would have a new slogan up in a day or so she could feel it.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | Honō Kojirou

[Honō Kojirou]

… Oh, by the anvil of war! She was holding one on her plate all along! Kojirou wasted no time in approaching the mighty wooden stick, not even sending any questions regarding why it was skewered by a wooden stick instead of a metal stick. He gently picked it up from her hands and inspected it closely… it had the appearance of shish, alright! But now was the hour of truth… followed by a crunch.

"… Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmh, that’s it! Azarea, try one right now!” Kojirou quickly jubilated in high spirits, his face flaring up with celebration sparkles. The texture was perfect; somehow, the wooden stick caused the taste of the meat to be more authentic, a detail that Kojirou hadn’t thought about before. Metal sticks tended to affect the taste of meat, in one way or another – both when being cooked over open fire, on a grill and when skewered by munchers.

"*crunch* One isn’t enough, really…” he groaned, quickly buying a second one – now dual-equipped with delicious shishs, he cleaned one stick off all of its meat and gobbled the food up ravenously. "Mhmmm! They taste much better here…" Yup, if it was due to wooden sticks, then he’d kindly ‘steal’ that idea and bring it back to Kusagakure.

"They’re even sauced… what kind of sauce is that?”

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Trade & Unintentional Advertising

"Oh yeah I've been getting these every day. I think the cedar wood sticks really add to the smoky flavor." Azarea agrees chuckling at Kojirou's enthusiasm as she takes a bit out of her own kebabs and orders some more knowing full well that the meager amount they have won't be enough for the two of them.

"The sauce is teriyaki sauce! It's sweet and tangy and great on chicken!" Azarea explains between bites with a low happy hum. "You know they have this in beef and pork too! The pork ones are honey and rosemary! And the beef have mongolian sauce on them. There's really no bad option! Thought he chicken is of course my favorite. They even have cripsy mushroom and tofu skewers too!" She exclaimed unaware of the chef's writing behind her intensifying. The woman swiftly becoming one of the man's favorite customers completely unaware.

"Man with the rivers opening up in Kaminari no Kuni to allow faster trade if we could get some kebab carts or shopws like this in Kumo they'd make a killing! It's hard to get local chicken in the winter months, but the meat keeps forever in the cold so if you seasoned and froze it for transport..." She muses looking thoughtful as the sound of scribbling practically becomes nearly audible.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | Honō Kojirou

[Honō Kojirou]

Cedar wood sticks… noted. Kojirou would revolutionize the shish kebab industry back home with that tidbit of information. They had cedar back home too, so requiring the wood was no big deal… but teriyaki sauce! That would be a pleasant page in his memory book.

Looking at his last shish, Kojirou took a slower bite… just to savor the taste of teriyaki sauce on grilled chicken. It was strong, kicky but finely spicy too. It had a meaty taste to itself, but it also had a lighter texture akin to mayonnaise… no, something else. Soy sauce? No, that was too light for him…

Either way, it was awesome. Kojirou’s opinion on his trip to this land had changed – he regretted nothing now!

Honey and rosemary… he didn’t know that rosemary could be used as a spice. Azarea made little extra of it, merely mentioned it on the go as something ordinary, so Kojirou decided to take her word for it. Now, what on earth was mongolian sauce? That was something he’d never heard of… at all.

A lot of info got dumped on him and the poor scribbler nearby. Kojirou’s eyes began spinning, not sure what to do with all of this information now. He didn’t have a notebook on him right now, so he couldn’t note it down for later – poor lad barely had a page on him. "U-Uh, whaaaa…”

His head started releasing steam out of his ears.

"… Weeeeee, w-we should eat more of these back home. Didn’t expect you to be such a cook, Azarea! I’d definitely pick you as a teammate for missions… either you or Shigure-senpai. He makes the best onigiris.”

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Shigure

Azarea chuckled shaking her head, "Believe it or not folks usually like to take missions with me because I'm a mobile camp more then a cook. I'm not a bad chef, but nothing compared to..." She trails off blinking in surprise at Kojirou's word. "Oh you know Shigure? We... work together often." Yes work. Not date. Definitely just work as Azarea's cheeks color with a slight blush.

"Our skill sets are very complimentary so we tend to be assigned a lot of joint missions together. Was he running some jobs in Nohara no Kuni when he met you? I bet if you asked nicely he could tell you how to make the various sauces I described. He's an excellent chef." Azarea suggested as her gaze darts to the steam pouring out of Kojirou's ears. Was that... normal? Was he just from a clan that tended to produce a lot of heat.

"Ah... Kojirou you got a little... something something..." She quips gesturing towards his ears in a hushed whisper, not wanting to embarrass the boy.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | Honō Kojirou