[Mayonaka Homare]

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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
MISSION RANK: C
NPC REQUIREMENT: N/A
PARTICIPANTS: Futago Raimaa Mayonaka Homare
DESCRIPTION:
Sail north of Whirlpool Country. Help our builders set up a naval base for us to trade out on one of the smallest uncharted islands there. Yukigakure and Kirigakure must have a strong foothold goods wise in the region to avoid competition. Do not give Kaminari no Kuni reason to think we are there for anything other than to do business. Remain neutral.

Homare is more than a little uncomfortable, to say the least. Not that she was feeling ill from the movements of the ship; she suffered no seasickness. She was just having to deal with strangers in an unfamiliar setting, particularly when one of them was not just a ninja from another village, but a legendary ninja at that. A previous Lady of Kusagakure... The Mayonaka girl had to shake her head. Just what would the Pink Ghost want with such a low-ranking ninja as her, working on such a mission that could potentially have diplomatic consequences? It was harrowing, and greatly affecting her ability to think about the mission at hand. Technically, the mission was not expected to result in any amount of combat, naval or otherwise, and was simply a trade mission with Yukigakure. It just so happened to be taking place in Kumogakure waters, a land not particularly known for its pleasant dealings with Yukigakure. More than likely, since Kirigakure was on far better terms with Kumogakure, Homare would end up being the official "face" of the mission, even if the two major villages were more or less neutral with one another.

It's not like this isn't just the kind of thing Homare needs to practice at. After all, in order to bring together all the Mayonaka clan members, she'd need to delicately traverse many village ties and intervillage drama. The thought of the diplomacy required for that kind of job was already making her spin Mayonaka thread in a show of nerves. Gradually, the blue-haired Genin stops spinning that thread together, taking a deep breath to calm herself and placing her lower hands at her waist, one hand at the sheathe of her blade and the other lower hand resting on top of the axe head looped through her corset. The white kimono was kept spotlessly clean, with its only major flair being the purple floral pattern over her right shoulder. The interplay of the crimson and white is offset by the dark blue tight-fitting clothing underneath, with the Kirigakure headband displayed across her forehead. Her blue flat-bottomed heels clap against the wood of the ship as it sails further northward than she'd ever been, and she walks out of her cabin to see the same ocean she'd actually seen an hour ago. She wonders for a moment where Raimaa is, since having her out and about might be a bad idea as the ship approaches Kaminari no Kuni; there was no reason to make the village nervous. Maybe if anyone saw her, they'd recognize her as the Kusagakure Lady, and not as the new ninja in Yukigakure's ranks.

Homare's middle arms cross over her chest, while the upper two hands move behind her own head, taking on a feigned relaxed stance. A girl could hope.

[Futago Raimaa]

A mission with Kirigakure again. This was getting to be a running theme. She wondered if Sora would be there, but given the level it was unlikely. The only reason Raimaa was here was because she had been here before and had a personal good opinion of Kirigakure. And was super chill enough to not rise to any provocation Kumogakure might give them. It was, after all, a possibility that they would try but in like that.

Lazing on the crow's nest of a small paddle boat, the grizzled old fisherman she was paying to give her a ride would row with the tenacity of a man who had been on the sea most of his life, and the delight of a man who was about to earn an entire day's worth of work for two hours. Eventually, she would spot the boat she was meant to be meeting up with, and dramatically leap off the Crow's nest, sprinting towards them with a startling swiftness, and then leaping into the air in a show of physical capabilities that would leave some stunned and others awed.

The landing on the deck was quiet, almost drowned out by the gentle pitter-patter of water on wood. And then Raimaa would give the woman a grin.

"Cool arms!"

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare was a bit worried to see a fishing vessel off in the distance. At least, a few of the deckhands call it a fishing vessel. In actuality, it could have been any kind of vessel, and ninja were not opposed to sneak attacks done from what might only seem to be civilian ships. When she sees that someone has leapt from the top of the smaller vessel to start sprinting across the water, the Mayonaka begins to draw her katana, but then she can see the long pink hair flying out behind her, an identifying feature of the ninja they call the Pink Ghost. Homare brings the katana back down into its sheathe and she relaxes a little once more, now somewhat prepared when the woman leaps from the sea to land on the deck of the somewhat larger Kirigakure cruiser.

Homare is a bit more astounded that the older kunoichi would comment on her arms in such an informal manner, but she recovers rapidly enough that it doesn't show on her face. She's not offended, only surprised.

"Thank you, Miss Raimaa. Your hair looks nice today."

Not that it's easy for Homare to keep her eyes on the hair and not on the clothing she's wearing. The Genin wonders for a moment if she's too old for her own assets to grow in order to match that size, then decides that it's likely such things would only end up getting in the way of her weapons or her hands for performing seals for jutsu. She responds to the grin with a much more polite smile, then gestures towards her own cabin, where there's a table set up for two to share a ewer of tea.

"It's not much, but it's surely more comfortable than the ship you came here on."

Homare glances out at sea, knowing that they'll be reaching the island in question in only an hour or so.

"In the meantime, we can discuss plans for watching out for trouble. While I assume Kumogakure to be our greatest threat, pirates are not unknown, even this close to Kumogakure waters."

[Futago Raimaa]

"Thanks. Used to be a real mess, way back when I leg it get ratty. But it's nice now. Yuki has this great ice-melt water and it's great for your hair" Raimaa would reply. The sexy walk, the big boobs, long hair, luscious skin, seductive - if still somewhat practical for the environment - dress. It made her look like a bimbo. It was not out of the picture that she was just stealing the name off someone else, or the rumors were spread as a joke, or she was paying to get them spread. This bouncing bimbo of a woman was not able to sustain or create those kind of things.

Still, Raimaa would follow her new friend into her cabin, because tea was always great.

"Kumo's no threat. Ya hardly a priority target, an' ya ain't carrying anything more than your beautiful body. While I would totally take you home, they aren't risking anything like that. They've got, like, village stuff to think about, ya?" Raimaa would comment, her voice somewhere between a bubbly ditz and a sensual bimbo who only knew one way to get ahead in life. "But don' worry. We'll keep ya save from the bad people"

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare blinks her eyes a few times when Raimaa's speech and how she carried herself was nothing like what the Genin thought such a legendary shinobi would be like. As it is, she pours two steaming glasses of tea, heated by this very recent invention of a "hot plate"; with no flame involved, it's far less likely to cause a fire aboard the ship, which is likely one of the most dangerous things that could happen. She can't help the color that rises to her cheeks when the other woman remarks on her beautiful body, and her various hands momentarily lose their grace for a second, hesitating on what they're doing, but then returning to the task of making a tea tray for both of them and then carrying the silver platter to the table before she takes a seat as well, where she tries to hide more blushing from the comment about "taking her home" by sipping on her tea.

"Ah. Kumogakure might be very busy with their Chuunin Exams, that's true. I'd heard of that, and there's even one Yukigakure ninja participating that seems like she'd be one of the favorites for victory."

Homare couldn't help but feel she was missing out on such an event; just the other week, she'd gone to visit Akazaya, but had then returned to Kirigakure in order to take part in another mission, as she felt she needed a lot more experience before she starts thinking about participating in such an event. It was at least quite clear to her that she needed to more carefully consider her combat options.

"Yes, well, I feel much safer now that the legendary Pink Ghost is here, and I'm sure the craftsmen on this ship feel much safer as well."

The Genin wonders again about the strange personality, now thinking that perhaps this way of speaking was a way of hiding who she really was. Or perhaps it was a front to hide some of what she experienced; she'd heard vaguely that there was some trouble with her and Kusagakure, though she couldn't for the life of her figure out what exactly happened. Her reverie is interrupted by the call that they've reached the island, but she doesn't get up from her seat just yet. The crew would likely be very busy with readying the ship for its approach to land, and with her not being trained in naval work, she'd end up likely only getting in the way.

[Futago Raimaa]

Gods, she had such a cute blush. She'd make a good partner for someone in the future. Hopefully, the world was not so cruel as to take away that innocence before it's due time. Raimaa would be sure to pat her head and tell her she was doing a good job. People needed to hear that sometimes, and not just more and more words about the work they needed to do and all that bollocks. She wished she had someone who would pat her head when she was a child. Prodigies needed the most love, because they got the most done, but had the same mental strength as everyone else...

"Don't believe everything you hear about everyone. Half of it is outright false and the other quarter is exaggerated for effect. All there is in life is what you see, so treat every stranger equally. But wear your flak jacket because people are historically prone to being an asshole"

Raimaa's tone would slip some into a less ditzy bimbo, and more of a supportive motherly tone as she drunk her tea. Though there was definitely something about Raimaa. On closer inspection, her eyes weren't just a bright pink, they were actively glowing, shedding a light luminescence from inside the eye.

[Mayonaka Homare]

If Homare could read Raimaa's mind about her cute blush, she might have ended up with her entire face looking sunburnt. Thankfully, Homare was blissfully unaware of the other woman's thoughts, although she would probably have felt more than a little gratitude for Raimaa's thoughts towards her, even if they were a little infantilizing; these thoughts were also probably meant to be benevolent, not malicious. But for now at least, Homare listens intently to the woman she had been confused intensely by only a few sentences before. She pauses with the cup of tea halfway to her mouth as she listens, and wonders if what she's heard about Raimaa was false or exaggerated. But it would be rude of her to ask, and Homare is nothing if not polite, which is certainly in line with the legendary kunoichi's egalitarianism. So she drinks from her cup before placing it back in its saucer.

She raises her head to see that Raimaa's eyes aren't just bright, but truly glowing, and she worries for a moment if the Pink Ghost had some kind of secret doujutsu that she wasn't aware of. It was a chilling effect, and Homare feels the need to look elsewhere, if only because looking at those glowing irises made her a little less comfortable than it normally would.

"I suppose I shouldn't believe it all, but hopefully Kumogakure will. The last thing we need is any group of Kumo ninja catching sight of us and deciding they'd like a brawl, and perhaps the sight of you will give them pause for long enough that we can complete the job."

Just as she's finishing this statement and she's considering pouring more tea for Raimaa, there's a knock on the cabin door, and Homare moves to answer the door to see one of the many sailors, explaining that the coast is clear for now and the supplies are offloaded. Homare quickly leaves through the door in order to make sure that the opening was free for Raimaa to use as she pleases.

"I see, thank you. We'll work to keep you safe."

[Futago Raimaa]

Heh. Fell into that trap, just like everyone else. While her glowing eyes were just an accident of her hijutsu overuse, she liked how they could make people assume she had a cool trick up her sleeve, and not look directly at her. It was so much easier to pull tricks when you weren't being directly observed.

"Na, a brawl's great. It'll help ya solidify a very important skill; how to beat someone's ass without killing them. Less than half the people you meet deserve to be taken out forever. I even dragged a few p...eeps in off the streets" she stuttered for a second near the end, and then when the knock came she stood up and sashayed out of the cabin, giving the sailor a sultry grin.

"It is good to get hurt. Fear of the unknown is a thing in every ape brain, and the more you turn it into the known, the less you hesitate about it. Anatomy is another good study, so you know where you can hit and be hit. Knowing that an inch to the left is the different between some stitches and that scratchy feeling, or death by blood poisoning, really helps your confidence in both attack and defence"

Raimaa would then take a side-trip for a second to check the temperature of the water, and return to her friend after that was accomplished.

"So! Got anyone you like? Romance is the spice of life! You should not let it simply slip by and hope on fate"

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare seems a bit surprised that Raimaa seems to consider a brawl a good thing, but she's really not so sure. While it might be good experience to know how to fight a ninja from Kumogakure, just in case their village diplomacy breaks down and their neutrality turns hostile, she's certain that if this mission turns into a brawl, that it would cement such a hostility between the two villages, whether those Kumogakure ninja were simply beaten back or killed. It takes a lot of self-control to not raise an eyebrow when Raimaa seems to falter in what she wants to say for a moment in their conversation, but she decides it would be rude to point it out or bring it up. She's not truly certain if she wants to know too much of the details, in any case.

The statement about learning anatomy interests her a little, but then again, medical training is certainly not part of her skillset. It would likely be something she could learn over time, but it might not be much use for her even if she spent years learning about the human anatomy in detail.

"Ah, but one need not know the anatomical details to know that when a hand is cut off, it leaves behind a very specific kind of message. But I will take this sage advice to heart."

She watches as Raimaa tests the temperature of the water for herself, and the Mayonaka shinobi wonders for a moment what she's checking for, but is too focused on carefully watching the work of constructing the docks and the dockmaster's office first. This makes the most sense, as it provides ease of getting further resources in; it's meant to be a trade hub, after all. She becomes a bit distracted again as the legendary ninja asks her about romance, causing her cheeks to burn again, although she doesn't actually have romantic feelings for anyone just yet. The topic is simply one she's definitely not accustomed to.

"No. I've been too focused on training and my other goals to focus on finding anyone to spend my nights with, much less to go on the pursuit of the heart. Not that many people would really be interested in a woman with six arms; I'm told it's 'freaky', and being freaky is not really especially exciting for me or for others. To be truthful, if I'm to find anyone, fate will put them in front of me or not at all."

[Futago Raimaa]

Standing up from the water, she'd look to her friend. She felt like a tirade on the difference between severing a hand and severing a the thigh artery, both from a difficulty standpoint and the effect it has on the body, but eventually, when she heard that Homare's romance was going nowhere, decided on that instead.

"Then let's date" Raimaa would exclaim, reaching out to wrap her arm around Homare's waist with a big grin. Water wasn't too cold, so didn't need to go into her safety talk about what happens when you fall into icy cold water. Instead, she'd just have to deal with this woman's feelings on her arm. "Looks like Fate has put them in front of you after all!" Raimaa's laugh would echo loudly through the area, and then she would turn back to her little friend.

"Six arms is amazing. I can think of so many cool things you can do with that many arms and the manual dexterity and bilateral cooprocessing to actually do anything with them. Puppetry and Medical Ninjas have tried the whole multi-limb stuff, but it is really hard to keep track of all of them when you aren't born with them.

The swordsmanship and bedroom arts you can pull off when you've got six hands. And the children! You know how mothers are always commenting they need a spare set of hands to deal with a toddler? Well you've got two! Truly, the fates are working in perfect sync today to put us together!"

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare is far more surprised by Raimaa suddenly suggesting a date with her, of all people, and if she had been simply blushing before, now she wonders if she might pass out from the heat rising to her face. She's almost not sure if the other woman is joking or not, and then decides that she must be just teasing her about it. It would be far less awkward to go along with it, then, rather than to harshly shoot down the offer. If it is a joke, Homare is no stranger to the game of chicken, and she's no coward in the face of a game. Despite how red she was, she bumps her hip into Raimaa's own, though she finds that the other woman's stance is sturdy enough that it has little effect.

"I'm sure I could do far worse than a legendary swordswoman like you, Miss Raima."

The statements about puppetry and medical ninjas having a hard time with the bilateral co-processing is a bit over her head as far as terms go, but she thinks she can understand what Raimaa is getting at through context clues easily enough - both the physical and the mental difficulty in using more than one set of arms was probably outside of what most could do. Homare was born with those arms, and so her brain had learned to process the information as soon as she was born. The mention of "bedroom arts" certainly made her even more embarrassed, but she does her best to hide it as she does her best to respond to these kinds of comments.

"Yes, well, if we're dating, Miss Raimaa, then I should think that fostering a toddler won't be a problem for our relationship; after all, having a child would be quite difficult for the equipment we have, wouldn't you say? Perhaps the fates are confused, or perhaps I am."

Homare looks down at the freezing water, not quite happy with it; she wasn't all that skillful at walking atop the water with only chakra, thanks to her body's apparent preference for quantity over quality, but thanks to that Momochi woman, she'd learned to do it all the same. She's actually a bit surprised at how quickly the dock gets built, and their own ship is quickly brought to the newly created dock so that the unloading of more materials can be done much more swiftly. Homare wonders if they'll even need the escort of the two shinobi, and she's a bit relieved that they haven't been accosted by Kumo ninja... yet.

[Futago Raimaa]

"Far better as well, but such is life" Raimaa would reply, keeping Homare close as she radiated her cuteness to the world. Raimaa would totally be down to actually take her home and do all the things to her, now and forever. Though, the problem with that would be that Mei would be not so very happy, given the whole Sora thing, but Homare needed a homie-re to support her in life. And thus Raimaa was indeed that. There was, after all, limits to this sort of shenanigans when it came to her wife.

"Though, you are thinking very narrowly. We can always adopt, or get one of the Medical Nin to do their flashy medical nin stuff and put a baby inside you to grow. It can't be inside me, I've got too many terrible chemicals in my bloodstream these days, anything not a Futago would shrivel up and die in a week"

Raimaa would then shift in and whisper into Homare's ear. A sultry voice, of great experience and implication that made even the jaded have a shiver run up their spine.

"Not, for a lack of trying, however" she'd blow a gentle bit into Homare's ear, and have her lips brush against the woman's neck before looking back to the dock. Standard people here, really. Just dock workers and some more dock workers. At this point, Kumo would not be able to outright officially attack it, or even unoffically attack it. Anyone sculking around would not be believed if they tried to refuse affiliation, after all.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare is at least a bit relieved when the conversation comes to adoption rather than the very act of reproduction, although she hadn't really considered the other option of having medical nin insert a growing baby inside of her. She supposes that would certainly allow her to experience childbirth, although it's doubtful if that would also allow her clan's bloodline to be carried on. That much is unclear, but this is a field of study that Homare knows absolutely nothing about. She does feel a bit sad for Raimaa, who apparently cannot bear children due to some form of chemicals in her bloodstream, though apparently any baby she has would need to be a Futago. She blinks in outright surprise when Raimaa moves in closer in order to whisper directly into her ear, and the suggestion of her words and her tone definitely sends a shiver up her spine, along with the brush of lips on her neck.

Homare is a bit too affected by such a thing, and is in fact too stunned to answer or even respond for a good couple of seconds until she clears her throat and tries to disguise the fact that her body itself already had a response. All six of her arms were fidgeting now, despite her attempts to appear totally calm and coolly in control.

"I see, yes, well, ahem... As it is, I..."

Homare stops talking, taking another moment to be able to gather herself and then letting out a low, slow breath as her arms visibly stop in their heated fidgeting as she finally regains some modicum of control over her speaking voice as well.

"While I do appreciate the offer, Miss Raimaa, I'm afraid that being with you in... such a way might potentially get in the way of my own goals. It is with a very heavy heart... and great regret that I'd have to refuse the very... generous offer."

She shakes her head a little, like she's trying to clear the thoughts that come unbidden to her mind, and she focuses her attention on the construction work. The team was working quickly, even if it was unlikely for Kumogakure to attack. Pirates were still a concern, even if the Land of Lightning themselves would still team up with Yukigakure and Kirigakure, if only temporarily and with great consternation, to fight back against pirates in their waters. Piracy and banditry were problems in every nation, after all.

[Futago Raimaa]

"A very heavy heart, I am sure. You can't imagine what I can do with these fingers" Raimaa would spin off Homare, to walk backwards while looking directly at her. The fidgeting, the blushing, the stammering. It was all perfect. This was what she lived for, who cared about actually getting anything out of it? What Homare was showing her here and now was fun enough.

"But don't let it be all you are. Waking up thirty and alone is a terrible thing to do, and only the greatest run of luck will ever save you from that afterwards. Lay foundations, gain those you want to stand behind, do not-" she'd take a breath and seem to lose her rhythm for a second, before speaking the next bit in a flow "-Consistently lose all your friends and fall into a depressive spiral"

Raimaa would give a shrug, and then spin back around, hair splaying out as she did so.

"So where's the peeps? I was told there would be people to bully here. I'd take fuckin' Zaizen right now, just so I could kick his incorporeal ass. Probably" Raimaa added that last bit on the end, casually shrugging at the possibility. "Just something to pass the time. Homare doesn't wanna see how far her toes can curl behind the sheds, so I gotta burn off this energy somehow" she'd continue, talking to apparently nobody as she flowed on the spot. A constant shift of unbridled momentum and movement, seemingly unable to stand still a moment.

[Mayonaka Homare]

Homare's eyes go wide and her eyebrows rise as Raimaa suggests what she can do with her fingers, getting spun away like a dancer being danced away, but then the mood seems to shift a bit as the legendary kunoichi gives her some advice as well, about not focusing so much on her goals that she ends up becoming too focused on her goals and becomes less of a human (such as she is), losing out on having friends as well. It sounds a lot like Raimaa has perhaps experienced that same situation, and she wonders at that for a moment as well. What has this ninja lost on her path to fame and infamy?

The spin away from her is a bit overwhelming, especially with all the talk of so much more suggestive things, that she almost misses the mention of Zaizen. Perhaps Zaizen Sourei, the Ghost of the Mist?! The fact that she knows that powerful Hunter-Nin is actually wild in Homare's mind. The idea of watching Raimaa and Zaizen in combat is exciting in ways that almost overpower the mention of having her toes curled behind the sheds. She wonders if Raimaa is more serious in her teasing than she had thought.

"W-well... I'll be sure to gain friends and followers as well, Miss Raimaa..."

She's unsure of how to proceed, wondering if she's meant to offer herself to the other woman, then deciding that such a move would be far too forward, even after all their teasing, and she sees that the trading center is being built rapidly, and she wonders at using it for some fun herself. Placing a hand on the taffrail, she vaults over the railing and uses some sticky spider thread she'd left behind on the wooden railing to control her descent to the docks. Once she reaches the wooden deck, she's able to swiftly dash between the workers without getting in their way or bumping into any of them, then slipping into the unfinished building, slipping around and up to the top of it to rest on the roof, giving Raimaa a cheeky wave from her new perch.