[Kayahara Urikohime]

The sun was shining brightly on the small village, as its denizens went about their daily activities. Everything seemed so idyllic and peaceful, a far cry from the possibility that had brought Urikohime from her home in Konohagakure to an insignificant border town at the edge of the Hi no Kuni. For even though the town was little more than a village, it was very much likely supposed to be less, if it had not been situated along an important trade route that traversed three countries: Kawa no Kuni, Kaze no Kuni and, of course, Hi no Kuni.

The problem was bandits. Of recent, a group seemed to have started attacking the caravans that plied this important trade route, making not only the traders, but all the communities situated along this road, unsafe. It was necessary to bring peace to the roads again, and as such, Konoha had sent a ninja to make sure that the bandits were a past tense by the end of the day. The bandits weren't expected to be much; just a bunch of toughs with crude weapons. But even a Genin could have problems taking on a large group, and so Uriko had been assigned this mission with another person, called Narahashi Koume.

The fact that this person was named after a fruit, like she was, made Uriko already favorably disposed to this Koume. She was hopeful that they would enjoy each other's company, and kick required butt. Uriko did not like violence, but this had to be done. Seated under the shade of a dango kiosk, she waited for her partner to arrive, while sampling one of the vendor's dango spits. Another untouched spit lay on a plate, an offering of goodwill waiting for the advent of Narahashi Koume.

---

@yamo

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[attr="class","ig"]

[attr="class","ninety"]

[attr="class","joker"]

[attr="class","game"]

for @tagsomeonehere
notes here

[attr="class","kikan"]

Deep breath in. Slow exhale.

The smells of Hi no Kuni were always very pleasant, the weather was nice, and the people for the most part were fine individuals. Most. It was always lively in the land of fire, a country Koume truly once enjoyed, a country that was the home of one of her favorite hidden villages despite never setting foot inside the actual village itself. Nowadays, Koume could only associate it all with one person. The pink haired teen sighed. She wouldn’t let that get her down now, not aftering having such a pleasant experience working alongside Azarae. She could only hope that her new partner could offer a similar experience, though by the looks of her name, Koume was sure the two would get along just fine.

As for the mission, well it seems simple enough. At this point, Koume was fairly confident that she was capable of handling it on her own, but she wasn’t the average genin, so she understood why they sent her to assist. Besides, doing everything alone was boring plus there was always safety in numbers!

She made her way down the dirt path, looking at villagers as they passed her by. "Hmm.” The girl hummed, retrieving the map from her pouch and giving it a quick glance over. Stapled to the map was a picture of her partner as well as basic information needed to identify one another. Lowering the map just below her eyes, Koume’s emerald hues canned the area. Not before long, she would see a mane of luscious melon green hair sitting at a kiosk and the girl immediately knew.

"Urikohime-chan!” She announced herself as she began jogging towards the odango vendor waving her hand high in the air as she did so. "Narahashi Koume.” She introduced herself. "I’ll be assisting you today to make sure everything goes a-okay! Also, I love your hair!” She admitted. It was so big and fluffy and green! But that wasn’t why they were gathering.

"Well we should probably get a move on shall we. I’ll let you lead the way, and I’ll be the eyes on the back of your head.” Koume. "If that works with you of course.”

ℳ𝒾𝓏𝑜.☽[newclass=.joker]width: 360px; height: 140px; padding: 20px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -moz-transition: 3s all; -webkit-transition: 3s all; -o-transition: 3s all; transition: 1s all;[/newclass][newclass=.ig:hover .joker]background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); -moz-transition: 3s all; -webkit-transition: 3s all; -o-transition: 3s all; transition: 1s all;[/newclass][newclass=.game]letter-spacing: 2px; text-align:center; line-height: 9px; margin-top:10px;opacity:0;font:bold 10px muli; color: #ffffff; text-transform: uppercase; -webkit-transition-duration:.3s;transition-delay: .3s;transition-duration:.3s;-moz-transition-duration:.5s;[/newclass][newclass=.game a]letter-spacing: 2px; font:bold 10px muli; font-style: italic; color: #ffffff;[/newclass][newclass=.ig:hover .game]margin-top:0px;opacity:1;transition-delay: .3s; -webkit-transition-duration:.3s;transition-duration:.3s;-moz-transition-duration:.5s;[/newclass][newclass=.ninety]width:400px;height:180px;background-image:url(https://i.imgur.com/9d8i188.jpg);[/newclass]

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[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko was slowly nibbling at her dango, when a voice called her name. She rose, automatically grabbing the untouched dango spit as she turned, and saw a girl of a similar age to hers, jogging towards her and waving. That was definitely Narahashi Koume, and even though the newcomer promptly identified herself, Uriko did not particularly need it. She spoke about assisting on the mission, and also added a compliment concerning Uriko's hair. But Uriko was only half-listening.

"Wow!" the Konoha ninja simply said.

While Urikohime was actually wired to be attracted to boys, this girl was stunning. Firstly, her hair was what Uriko would term perfection (never mind that she had just complimented Uriko's own hair). Her bubbly mood made her even more impressive. And those deep mysterious green eyes.... The green-haired Genin suddenly realized that she had been staring at Koume, mouth slightly ajar. She felt her cheeks inflame as she apologized hurriedly. "I'm very sorry, Koume-chan, but I didn't mean to embarrass you. It's a pleasure to meet you." She held out the untouched dango spit towards her partner. "If I'm not asking for too much, before we settle on a plan--" it was then that her brain seemed to recalibrate itself, and Uriko realized that it seemed Koume had actually praised her hair, which was a very rare thing. Due to its strange color and unruliness, it mostly earned her pointed looks, and kids made fun of it.

"Wait, did you just say you love my hair?"

---

@yamo

[Deleted]

[attr="class","ig"]

[attr="class","ninety"]

[attr="class","joker"]

[attr="class","game"]

for @tagsomeonehere
notes here

[attr="class","kikan"]

After introducing herself, Koume stopped talking for a moment, slightly tilting her head as the woman in front of her stared at her for a few seconds. The woman was in awe apparently and Koume would have loved to be in awe herself. "Hmm?” She hummed gently, hoping to get an understanding of what it was that Uriko was so intrigued by. Most of her attention of this caliber usually came from boys, girls never looked at Koume in such a way at least that she knew of. However, it didn’t take long for the pinkette to figure it out. She was far too embarrassed to make a legitimate reply.

Her cheeks turned a vibrant rosy color as her emerald eyes averted to something else other than Uriko. "Oh um.” Uriko apologized but there was need to, it was a big pick-me-up for the young teen. She even offered Koume a dango, which she gladly accepted with a big smile. "Hm, thank you!” She voiced before taking a bite.

Uriko seemed to be a bit surprised that Koume had actually shown praise and admiration towards her hair. But rest assured, the pinkette meant it entirely with her whole heart. Nodding excitedly when asked if she complimented the woman’s hair. "Yeah of course, your hair is so unique and it’s my favorite color! Why wouldn’t I love it?” Koume asked with her persistent smile on display, taking another nibble at the dango.

"We can talk about it on the road! We have some bad guys to take care of!” The young kunoichi voiced excitedly.

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[Kayahara Urikohime]

Whoever Narahasi Koume was, the girl was definitely scoring high in Urikohime's evaluation. It was clear that she hadn't just been flattering; she did really seem to like the Konoha Genin's hair. It was Uriko's turn to smile happily. "Well, you might think I'm exaggerating, but it means a lot hearing that come from a rather fashionable person as yourself," she stated. There was something uplifting about hearing honest commendations about oneself, and while Uriko would have loved to stay and chat with this likable Kusa ninja, as the latter had said, there were bad guys to be taken care of. "I sincerely wish they would be open to discussions," the green-haired girl said, her voice carrying a hint of sadness, "but it seems that is unlikely."

So saying, Uriko set off down the road, expecting that Koume would follow her. "Sorry I have to come back to my hair," she explained as she walked, "but it was a great source of grief for me as a child. It even earned me the nickname 'Kijo' in the Shinobi Academy. And it also is so difficult to control. I'm sure you'd have an idea why I'd be surprised anyone finds my hair impressive. Pink is such a cute color, and your hair appears very compliant to styling. And the color incredibly goes well with your eyes! I'd probably have attempted to move to Kusagakure because of you, if I was a boy," she concluded with a laugh.

---

@yamo

[Deleted]

[attr="class","ig"]

[attr="class","ninety"]

[attr="class","joker"]

[attr="class","game"]

for @tagsomeonehere
notes here

[attr="class","kikan"]

Koume chuckled slightly at the mention of her being fashionable, and honestly the compliment meant alot to her as she often tried to be as fashionable as possible. "Why thank you” She voiced, skipping happily up the road a bit to toss away her rubbish. Promptly however the girl would return to her new friend. It seemed the two were about ready to be on their way, so before setting off Koume double checked to make sure she had everything. "Well you know how it goes, criminals always want to be macho, so a little boop over the ol' noggin should fix that for them.” The pinkette joked before following shortly behind her friend.

Humming gently, Koume would take in her surroundings, getting a good feel for it as this was her first time venturing so deep into Hi no Kuni. She had to admit that it was quite the view, and with the weather a bit more brisk than normal, it made for a lovely experience. All of this ran through the girl’s mind in an instant, but attention was drawn back to Uriko as she spoke.


"Hmm?” Koume hummed. "Well that’s not very nice. When I was younger I was taught that being different was a good thing, even though it would come with a lot of backlash. The norm is what everyone is used to, especially when it comes to kids. Just know that you rock your look, and no one else can pull it off. heh.”

Running her hand gently atop her hair, Koume shrugged her shoulders. Though she loved her hair and its color, it wasn’t anything to write home about. There were plenty of pink haired women in Kusagakure alone, and many of them resembled Koume a bit, but it was safe to say that the pinkette had never seen anyone like Uriko before. She laughed a bit at the woman’s words, finding amusement in the choice of topic.

"You’re much too kind, Uriko. Hey why don’t we grab some food together sometime after this? What do you say?” She offered with a big smile, still following alongside Uriko.

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[Kayahara Urikohime]

The statement about Uriko rocking her look was really music to the green-haired shinobi's ears. It was quite nice to hear that Koume had been taught to see differences as cool, although the Kusa ninja was right; there was an awful lot of backlash. Although Uriko hardly heard that annoying nickname anymore, that was more or less because she was no longer in touch with the people with whom she had been in the Shinobi Academy. Everyone had moved on, or so she hoped. There were times, though, that she saw people staring weirdly at her, and she knew it was because of her hair and eyes. She had learned to ignore them for the most part, but it still did feel a bit annoying to see people looking at her like some sort of freak.

Koume's offer to hang out after the mission was happily accepted by Uriko. Even though Uriko had been noted by many to be rather congenial, people like Koume were very easy to get along with. "That would be just amazing!" Uriko replied happily. "I could show you a thing or two about Hi no Kuni cuisine while we're at it." A squirrel, disturbed by the girls' advance, bounded for the undergrowth, but suddenly changed direction as it was about plunging into the thickets on the sides of the path. Someone was very likely hidden in the bushes. Uriko turned to Koume such that her back was to the bush the squirrel had avoided, and she signed and pointed at the bush as she spoke, her body preventing whoever was in the bushes from seeing that she was giving signals. If there was someone there, the person was quite aware of their presence. It would be best to leave the hidden person unaware that they knew of this person's existence, until it was time to strike.

---

@yamo

[Deleted]

[attr="class","ig"]

[attr="class","ninety"]

[attr="class","joker"]

[attr="class","game"]

for @tagsomeonehere
notes here

[attr="class","kikan"]

Koume laughed, pumping her fist in excitement as Uriko accepted her request of hanging out, even going as far as promising that she would teach her a thing or two about the various types of dishes that were common amongst those who lived in the Land of Fire. "Awesome! I can’t wait!” The girl chuckled before turning her attention to the map in her grasp. There wasn’t any doubt that Uriko knew where she was going, the pinkette just liked to follow along on the map so that she could familiarize herself with the area in case she ever wanted to return by chance.

As Uriko came to a stop, Koume nearly bumped into her but ultimately looked up just in time. Her emerald eyes traced Uriko’s gaze, watching as a squirrel scurried across the ground and toward the bushes before switching its path. Koume didn’t think much of it naturally, but she turned to face her comrade, nonetheless. Uriko gave her a signal that someone was hidden in the bush most likely, naturally Koume’s eyes cut towards the bush but quickly averted away. With a nod she would acknowledge the woman’s words. "Right.” She voiced. Chances were since they were hidden so well the bandits were possibly looking to ambush anyone who came down the path - in this case their prey were the two kunoichi.

As they continued forward more and more bushes rustled with no passing breeze to blame, Koume counted at least 4 instances where that happened but expected many more bandits. She wasn’t sure how many. The area was practically deprived of any sort of wildlife and game.

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[Kayahara Urikohime]

One thing about alertness was that when someone did not suspect anything, it would be quite easy to get things past their senses. When one was alert, however, such things would easily become obvious. For someone like Uriko, who was rather observant, she could tell that Koume, after being made savvy of the fact that they were not alone, was taking note of the suspiciously rustling foliage which did not seem to be quite in step with the wind, although such things would probably not have been noticed by less wary people. The fact that here were no sounds of birds in the bushes around was extra proof that things were in the brush that weren't supposed to be there.

The green haired girl turned to look at Koume. "I know this isn't standard practice, but I must admit that I find it distasteful killing people, so I prefer to attempt to solve matters as amicably as I can. I'm afraid it doesn't usually work, but I guess I have to try." And then raising her voice, Uriko announced, "I know where you all are, bandits in the bush, and I'd like to suggest that you listen to what I have to say before you make a mistake that will cost you your lives." For a moment, there was silence, but then the bushes began rustling more visibly, and the bandits showed themselves.

There were nine of them, and they had the two girls surrounded. Uriko looked unfazed, although deep down, her heart was beating. "I'm surprised you were able to take note of us, but it won't do you any good. You're just two pretty little girls, and you're outnumbered. If you surrender all your valuables, we will try to be gentle with you," a one-eyed fellow, who looked like he had the authority there, said, to the snickering of the others.

"Ridiculous," Uriko replied. "Why do you think two great ninja villages would send 'two pretty little girls' out here where you big bad boys are prowling, unless they wanted you to make the mistake of attacking us? I'll be honest, while the orders were to get rid of you all by any means necessary, I just recently did my nails, and I'm so impressed with the job that I don't want to have them scuffed. So, if you all surrender, I promise I will put in a good word for you to the higher ups. Tell me, have you heard of 'Kijo', the Demon woman from the Leaf?" There was no answer. Uriko sighed and shook her head. "Thought as much; you'd all have been running otherwise. But as I said before, I'm in a good mood, and I'm glad to not leave you all as a bloody mess on the forest floor, if you'd cooperate. What say you?"

There was a momentary silence, then the boss began to laugh. One by one, his men joined him, but it was clear that Uriko had somehow rattled them. She was really getting good at the whole acting thing.

---

@yamo