[Miyamoto Ikana]

What are ya buyin'? What are ya sellin'?

Ikana was a ninja yes, but in order to make money on the side, and a fairly wide profit margin, she also ran a shop, as a number of ninja and their clans did in order to turn a profit. In Ikana's case, she ran a shop that sold ninja tools. She purchased a variety of equipment from the local smiths of Kiri, and she produced her own explosive tags, storage scrolls, and if custom ordered, lightning flash creation seals. With that, Ikana decided that there was no harm in setting up shop at her local Chunin Exam. Setting up a table, a chair, and a sashimono banner, Ikana rested there, it was shown that she was selling her wares. 2000 Ryo for a storage scroll of medium size, 1500 for a small scroll, 3000 for a large scroll. Varying prices for different qualities of explosive tags.

Might as well get some hustle and take some money from her fellow competitors and or other passerbys in the village while they were here. Ikana wouldn't mind some extra money in her pocket, and it was a bonus if it ws money from other people's villages. There were other smaller pockets of gear like Kunai, or Shuriken, or a couple of weapons she had a clone bring from her store during this period of break, and with it, she begins to call out. "Come get your ninja tools! Explosive tags for demolition and battle! Are you tired of carrying heavy loads? Come and get storage scrolls from yours truly! Fit for every occasion!"

"Are you looking to unseal your tools and weapons in the blink of an eye? Come and ask about my Lightning Flash Creation seals! All village made! Come and get them while they're cheap and in stock! Price is negotiable!" 

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi was going through scrolls like wildfire lately, given how hard Isamu had him working on his calligraphy of all things. He understood the importance of writing his seals right, but his handwriting was fine! It was aggressively fine! He didn’t need to burn through fifty scrolls inside of a week writing seal after seal after seal, giving himself carpal tunnel all the while— He sighed, and stretched his wrist. It was fine. It would help. But he needed more scrolls. He had a usual shop he went to, and was en route when he heard a small, childish voice hawking wares—ninja tools, exploding notes, storage scrolls. Hey, if it saved him a longer trip, then why not, right? It wouldn’t hurt to at least check it out. Daichi followed the voice, loud and clear above the din of the festive market that was bustling along with the excited soon-to-be spectators of the exam’s third round. It took a moment to find the source, however, because it was smaller than he was expecting—roughly the size of a ten-year-old, actually, because that was exactly who he was looking at. Miyamoto Ikana, one of Kirigakure’s exam participants, the youngest of the lot. Running a stall during her own exams. Daichi was impressed, but also concerned. "Hi!” he said, waving to the girl as he approached. "I need some small and medium scrolls, if you don’t mind.” He paused a moment, tilted his head. "You’re Miyamoto Ikana, right? Aren’t you in the exams—shouldn’t you be resting?” He’d read her file, of course, he’d read everything he had access to on the exam’s participants this year. But the name was familiar for another reason—he just couldn’t quite place why.

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[Miyamoto Ikana]

"Shouldn't you be resting?" That was the question he asked her, and in turn, she responded, "I'm too poor to afford to rest." She responds, honestly and wholeheartedly. "Just because I'm in the exams doesn't mean there isn't rent to pay. You know. Besides. This is about as much rest as I'm going to get anyways." She responds matter of factly, as if to chastise the mist ninja in front of him. "Anyways...How many are you buying?" She responds, looking towards the lines of scrolls of various colors and sizes. "I have decent deals on bundle purchases." She responds, hopeful that he'd purchase a good amount from her.  She waves her hand dismissively.

"Also, yes. I'm Ikana." She responds deadpan. "I didn't think that anyone would really care to pay attention to who I am." She responds, thinking a little deeper on the fact he knew her name. "I haven't exactly scored the best, but not the worst, so, I guess I never really stuck out that much beyond, "Oh, wow, a little girl's taking the Chunin Exams." I swear. It's not like there's much options for me anyways." She grumbles a little sourly, as the proposition seemed way better than being in the morgue. Unknowingly, she had entered a cute little pout, her arms crossed over her chest as she kicks her feet back and forth. "I sell lots of things here. So...yeah. Take your time." 

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi was taken aback by the girl’s blunt statement. Too poor really threw him for a loop—she was a genin, right? Were her wages not enough to cover her expenses? Daichi himself had never had an issue when he was a genin, but then, he’d still been living with his mom; it wasn’t like he’d had to worry about rent or food or anything the way he did now. And she was still so young—why wasn’t she living in the orphanage, if she didn’t have parents to support her? He had so many questions, all layered with the immediate visceral instinct of concern, but—he didn’t know this girl. It didn’t feel right to pry. He could ask Toru about wage disparity later. "Um, right,” he said, after a long, awkward pause. "I do need a lot, actually, I’m stocking up for training purposes, so—how many do you usually sell in a bundle?” If it was more than what he usually paid, he didn’t necessarily mind; he liked his usual supplier, but Ikana was a sister-in-arms, and if she was struggling then she deserved the support of her comrades, full stop. He made a sympathetic noise when she mentioned her scores. It was an odd tableau that she struck; pouting the way that she was, she looked every inch the adorable child, but the way she spoke made her sound like someone ten years her senior. It was incredibly jarring, and Daichi found himself scrambling as to how to speak to her. Tota was her age, or just about, but he was far more childish than the child in front of him. "The exams are rough,” he said sympathetically. "This is your first attempt, right? Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not scoring as well as you’d hoped.” Where on earth did he know her name from? It was still wiggling at the back of his mind… "I read your file, though,” he said helpfully. "I’m assisting with the exams, so I’ve been really interested in the Kiri participants especially. You’re a generalist, right? And you know some fairly advanced techniques, if you can make Lightning Flash creation seals. I’m sure you’ll do great in the third round.”

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Miyamoto Ikana]

"Buy in bundle of three and I'd be pretty happy." She responds, though when he talked about the examinations, she proceeded to give a soft sigh, shrugging her shoulders. "It doesn't matter how rough it is, it's just something I have to do and go through. No use whining, or complaining about something that isn't going to change." She proceeds to nod her head at his acknowledgement however, though she had a hint of surprise in her eyes when he mentioned that he was assisting in running the actual examination. She figured he meant that he was a proctor, or a supervisor at most, but still, it was something good to know.

"I didn't know that Kiri had that much information about me on file." She mumbles, proceeding to pout again, her cheeks even more puffed this time, wondering what else they knew about her daily life. She gives a sigh of resignation. "Hrm. I guess. It was pretty tough to learn a lot of these techniques, especially seeing I had to teach myself or learn from watching people from afar but...I think it's worth it. I almost have a new high ranking jutsu down too. A little bit down I wasn't able to get it down in time for the exams though." Ikana's honeysuckle eyes look down to the table with her various goods, and she clenches her left fist, tensing it through her bandaged arms.

"I guess it could be worse. I'm not maimed. Or crippled. Or humiliated. I've gotten this far, and the only thing I have to lose is my life. You know?" She sounded relatively nonchalant, maybe a little dejected. "Anyways...Scrolls. Are you looking for anything else? Explosive tags? Maybe you might be looking for some things I buy in from other suppliers? Every little bit helps Nii-San."

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Bundle of three—that might work for medium scrolls, but he’d probably need more small scrolls. Isamu wouldn’t be satisfied until he could write a seal perfectly blindfolded and backwards. "I’ll do six medium scrolls and twenty-one small scrolls,” he said decisively. Multiples of three—that worked out, yeah. Better to stock up, he figured. He was distracted, however, by Ikana’s description of her training experience. I had to teach myself or learn from watching people from afar, she said. He knew she wasn’t on a genin team proper, one hadn’t been listed in her file, but… did she not have any mentors? How had her training and education and quality of life fallen so egregiously through the cracks? Was no one looking out for her at all? The only thing I have to lose is my life. Spoken like someone who had experienced a great loss before, even at her young age. The gears began to turn in Daichi’s head, and he suddenly remembered why her name sounded so familiar. His security clearance hadn’t been high enough at the time, but he’d been filled in on most relevant details after becoming Toru’s bodyguard—and this girl, this child, had been one of those ‘relevant details’. Important for context for his duties, but not someone he had to keep an eye on, he’d been told, and the overwhelm of adjusting to his new position had quickly pushed the thought of the former jinchuuriki out of his mind. There had been so much else to learn at the time, but—he wished he’d done more. Or anything, really. "Ikana-san,” he said thoughtfully as he counted out the money he owed her for the scrolls, "something very important was taken from you some time ago, wasn’t there?” And there was no one to help you through the aftermath?

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Miyamoto Ikana]

Ikana had come to grow into quite possibly the most cynical ten year old in Kirigakure. Then again, she'd lived a relatively depressing and menial existence overall in her short life. She began packing the man his items, sorting them out for him, and she had come to stop when he asked if she'd lost something important. Something that mattered a lot to her before. She stopped there for a moment, her arm unmoving despite the weight of the many scrolls that weighed her arm down. Her fingers remained tensed, as she slowly sets the bag upon her table. "I did." She responded bluntly, and honestly. There was little filter there. Though it surprised her that he seemed to have an idea of what she lost. It made her conflicted in feeling to know that there were others that knew. That she was suffering.

"Something that was a part of me. Something that gave my life some meaning. But it's gone now." She responded, and proceeded to say it rather calmly. There was no shaking in her voice. There was no sign of whiney child like retaliation. She said it as if it was but a common fact, which it was. "There's nothing I can do about it now. There's no use complaining about it. I can only hope that when it was taken from me, it was for the village. That the months I spent in the hospital alone was worth it." She seemed to dance in her mind with the wording of it for a little.

"I tell myself it was. It keeps me going." She responds, waiting for the money, and with it, she lightly rocks her legs back and forth, her eyes avoiding contact with his own. "But you know. Sometimes, it hurts. Sometimes, I wished...Never mind." Closing her eyes shut, she curled her lips upwards into a smile. Not a toothy and energy filled one, but a small curl upwards of the lips, if just for appearances. "Thank you for the business." 

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi listened quietly as she spoke; he was right on the money, it seemed. Losing the bijuu had affected her immensely, and whatever had happened after its extraction, it seemed little care at all had been given to the girl who was left behind. He was a loyal boy who cared fiercely for this village, for his Mizukage, for everything that they fought for and believed in as shinobi of the mist; but Daichi would be lying if he said that the thought of the Nanadaime Mizukage didn’t make his chest swell with anger. How many people had she hurt during her reign? It didn’t matter now, he supposed; she was gone, and Ikana was right here in front of him. There was nothing he could do now about Kaguya Minako’s actions or inactions, but he could try to help patch up the damage she left behind. Whatever thought Ikana had interrupted, it didn’t seem to be one she wanted to complete, and Daichi could put a couple of puzzle pieces together if they were handed to him. He just nodded, bowing slightly, before handing over what he owed her for the scrolls. He was tempted to give her more, but for some reason he got the impression that she wouldn’t take kindly to any displays of pity. "I’m sorry that happened to you,” he said. His tone was sincere, there was no doubt about that, but he was careful to keep his tone even and neutral. "It sounds like it was very difficult. If…” Daichi paused, considering his next words, but then he carried along anyway. "I don’t know you very well, Ikana-san, but you don’t have to work alone if you don’t want to. Once the exams are over, you can look me up in Kirigakure. If you’d ever like help with anything, just let me know, okay?”

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Miyamoto Ikana]

"I'm sorry too." Though, she remained silent for a few moments. Surprisingly, when he mentioned it was difficult, she couldn't help but break out into laughter. Almost delusional laughter for a moment, as if he'd told her the funniest joke he'd said in a long time. Though that laughter almost ended as soon as it came. Though...The laughter wasn't bright and vibrant of any seeming joy, but instead perhaps transcending the understatement of his words so that it didn't weigh as much as it did. She looked at Daichi then with a tilted head and a look of confusion in her eyes. Not the words he said. More so...?

"What's the catch?" She adds in. "What do you get out of it?" Showing off her cynical nature, she proceeded to look at him with a gaze of skepticism. It showed that Ikana felt as if there had to be some ulterior motive, some reason for something to be done instead of genuine care and compassion. She shook her head. She thought in her head the worst reasons he might have to make her the offer, and considering he knew quite a bit about her from the seem of it, more than a simple proctor observer might have, she could feel her heart rate tense for a moment.

As he handed her his money, she held onto it tightly, as if it were a lifeline, and she swiftly tucked it into her person. Not into a bag, but quite literally into a seal. "..."  She looked up at the man, and then back to her table, before slightly shifting, so that her hands rest atop them, leaning more into it. "Better question. Why would you want me to seek you out? Why would you want to interact with someone like..." She gestures to herself with both hands, sweeping down her lithe frame. "Me?" 

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi was baffled. At first by the laughter, sure, but he could make sense of that after a moment; it was just strange, hearing something so…existentially weighted, coming from a kid. Moreso his confusion came from her questions. What’s the catch? What do you get out of it? She took his money, sealed it away as if it were a precious treasure that would be taken away from her if she held it out in the open too long. He gathered up his newly-bought scrolls, sealing them away into the lone medium scroll that he still had on his person that wasn’t completely covered in meticulously written practice seals. "Because you’re one of us,” he said. He held eye contact with her, the look in his lone exposed green eye suddenly intense. "You’re a young shinobi of no small talent and that’s an incredible feat in its own right, but also… you’re a citizen of Mizu no Kuni, Ikana-san. You’re a shinobi of Kirigakure. Being a shinobi is dangerous work, but no matter what, you deserve to be able to feel safe and supported when you’re at home. If I can help make that happen, I want to. That’s all.” He paused. A wave of clear self-consciousness suddenly flickered across his face, and he shrugged. "If you want, I mean. It’s a standing offer, okay? I won’t change my mind.”

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Miyamoto Ikana]

Ikana listened to Daichi speak for just a moment. She digested his words for a moment. She for that moment wanted to believe everything he told her. She wanted it more than anything else in the whole world. Though. She wondered now how many times she had been promised something good, only for it to be fake, false, a lie? The little girl was promised potential and value of worth that would make her beyond value. That was a lie. She was promised a family. That was as far as Ikana was concerned a half truth at best. She found herself focusing on what was real.

The money. That was real. Her hard efforts and incredible struggle to get to her skill level. That was real. He said she was one of them. He said that he wanted her to feel safe and comfortable when she was at home. She smiled then. Not a cold and fake one, but one that showed a glimmer of understanding, perhaps of sad gratitude as she said something that might break his heart. "What should I do then? What should I do if I never felt that way before?" She did feel it. Once. So very briefly. She could never forget that moment.

When she met her adoptive mother. So anxious. So scared of what they would think of her. When she was scooped up like the little girl she was, and hugged? She melted. Even if that was fake. She would gladly die for another moment like that. Which made her hurt even more, if she came to wonder if that love was fake. Orphan. Nuisance. Worthless. All were things she was called before. Failure. The last part, she wasn't. After all she had been through, she would be damned before she let someone call her that. Though eventually. Another title would come to be added to her. Traitor. Ikana frowned, and she felt her heart grow heavy. 

"I.want to know. Why after everything that happened. Why I feel like that I'm just going to be...abandoned again? Or what's worse. That I always was alone. Maybe Kami is punishing me because I've been a bad girl. Heh..." 

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

What she said did, in fact, break his heart. It was a struggle for Daichi to keep himself composed—it didn’t feel appropriate, somehow, to unload this sudden wave of pity and deep sympathy on her. She didn’t need any more weight on her shoulders. "I… don’t know,” he said. Honesty had ever been Daichi’s shining virtue—and his fatal flaw. And he wasn’t going to lie to her; even for someone so young, she was too world-weary to buy into a half-hearted platitude or any of the earnest but flat motivational things he might’ve said to a more naive kid her age. "I wish I had a better answer, but…” He paused, taking a moment to carefully choose his words. "I think it’s hard to trust anyone when you’ve been let down so much. And I think, when people keep letting you down over and over again, it’s normal to think that maybe it’s your fault. I don’t really know the details, Ikana-san, but I don’t think it’s your fault—I think a lot of grownups failed you. I think the village failed you.” There was that brutal honesty. Loyal a dog as he was, Daichi couldn’t deny the evidence in front of him. "It must be hard to trust me, but I meant what I said. If you need anything, I’m usually at the Administrative tower, and if you can’t find me or I’m away, you can send me a letter. Here—” He fumbled in his bags for something to write on, not the scrolls he had just purchased from Ikana, but a scrap of parchment that had clearly been torn off from something else at some point. On it, he scribbled his address—an apartment in the northern lower-class residential district in Kirigakure. His handwriting was decent despite his haste, the manifestation of brutal calligraphy practice. "Anything. If you want help, company, a place to sleep, dogs to pet, anything—I’ll do my best to help. So you always have an option, okay?” He offered up a wan smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes; the pity in his chest had swollen too much for him to muscle through. He patted his newly-purchased scrolls. "If absolutely nothing else, trust that you have a new loyal customer.”

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Miyamoto Ikana]

She listened to the man speak with a small amount of apprehension, and when he said he didn't know, she nodded her head, expecting that answer. "Which is why I've stopped trusting people." When he said that it was when the grown ups, that the village failed her, she corrected him. "I failed myself. I was never wanted, never needed by anyone or anything. So it was always me. I let me down. Me relying on anyone or anything was a mistake." She closed her eyes again, her lips curled upwards in that calm, regal smile that she seemed to wear every day. It felt good to have gotten that conclusion from someone else.

"...Thank you." She heard the man speak his vow, his promise, offering her help, and company, a place to sleep, dogs to pet. He offered her many things, and an option, but it was there that she spoke. "Thank you for the business sir." She took the slip of paper in her hand, and she clenched onto it, grateful for the time he had spared on her, for the fact that he listened to her plight and felt something. "I'll think about it. Sincerely." She said to the man. Though in reality, she didn't know if she would ever act on it. Mainly because...

She realized she didn't love herself. She was addicted seemingly to this state of misery. Or perhaps she was so accustomed to misery that she didn't know what it felt like to be happy anymore, genuinely, and truly happy. It was because she had a taste of that former happiness that she fell into that state of perpetual misery. Brief moments of it only to be drowned and surrounded by this dark pool that would consume her. The pain was seemingly the realest thing of it all. As he might turn to leave her, having presented his offer, she finally sat down at her stand, and she sighed deeply. She felt much older.

Older in that conversation than coming out of it. Her heart felt heavy, and burdened, and with it, she knew there was only one true escape. One escape that might finally put that heavy feeling in her heart at ease. Though it might sound awfully melodramatic or childish. A very permanent and easy solution.

Death.

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

At this point, there wasn’t much left to say. Daichi could hang back and argue the point—that she wasn’t a failure, clearly, that relying on people wasn’t a mistake but necessary, even if it went wrong sometimes—until Ikana had to leave for the next stage of the exams, but… he got the feeling that he’d done what he could. Her small, polite thank you for the business sir was a clear enough indication that she was done with the conversation. At least she took the paper. He could only hope that she would hold onto it, and follow up when he could. "Thank you for your time, Ikana-san,” he said, bowing to the young girl. "Good luck in the next round—and I’ll catch up with you after the exams, okay?” Daichi took his leave, but not without casting one more glance over his shoulder. She sat down, sighing heavily, and looked markedly more miserable now than when he’d first approached her. Good intentions and all, but he couldn’t help the sinking suspicion that he’d just made her day exponentially worse. He could only hope that it would be a net positive for her in the long run. [EXIT LEFT, PURSUED BY BEARS]

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LAIKA OF THQ