Chapter 74
Her name is Matsuri, a genin of Sunagakure. Both her parents were killed in front of her by a foreign shinobi. With a big, fearsome weapon the killer had cut open her parents' guts and sprayed their blood all over the walls. Ever since then, she has wanted revenge. But with her small body, soft voice and shy persona coupled with her resulting fear of weapons all have made her appear weak in front of the others. Even after putting effort on her training by learning the basics of the wind release techniques nobody is willing to look at her or better yet to take her on as their student.
With her nondescript brown hair, dark eyes and fair skin and her clothes that typically consists of a blouse hanging off on one thin shoulder, a scarf tied around her neck and a black skirt she just can't seem to stand out. People easily overlook her, the unfortunate orphan, and her presence has become so unobtrusive to everyone that someone—one of the Kazekage's three sons— has come to notice it.
It is because of that that she was approached by the middle child and was offered a lot of money in exchange for doing a secret mission. With the payment she can train under anyone she chooses. And the job that was offered to her was simple enough. All she needs to do is tail someone.
Someone. Just one person. One of the Kazekage's trusted men, Baki.
Baki is a Suna jounin and a part of the advisory council. For a while he even taught the Kazekage's offsprings. So she doesn't know if that somehow ties to her mission. The mid-son had not explained and she was toooverwhelmed that time by his and his brother's trust to ask.
Her target is easy to spot even at quite a distance. Him being taller than most and he has two distinctive, red markings on the right side of his face while the left half is covered by a sheet hanging from his turban-like headgear; although similar to the other Suna-nins he wears the standard attire complete with the beige flak jacket and forehead protector.
So here she is now; her target unwittingly leading her to a tiny restaurant on the edge of their town known for its sweet bread and large servings of drinks.
Matsuri inwardly gives a sigh of relief. She's new to this business of snooping. She wonders what she will do if Baki has lead her outside the busy town and into the open desert. But then what was her instruction again? Ah to take note if Baki will meet the Kazekage secretly and the frequency of such meetings. So her mission doesn't include her gallivanting into the open, treacherous dessert following a dangerous man that can easily snap her body like a dry wooden twig.
So she wonders what she's doing here…
About half an hour ago, hiding in plain sight amongst the people that flock the alleyway in front of the Kazekage's office building she had seen from the corner of her eyes Baki entering the Kazekage's office and when he left it, he carried a scroll. Even from the distance, she recognizes that the scroll appears unlike any of the Kazekage's official scrolls. It must be unofficial then.
With her orders being to follow Baki, here she is, shyly overtaking the older shinobi and giving him a wide berth as she rushes inside the restaurant and immediately asks the waitress that greeted her for a glass of water, fanning herself as she sits down. The weather is so hot as usual and she's thirsty.
Baki then sits in front and slightly to her left, with his back towards her when suddenly another Suna shinobi approaches his table and takes the chair in front of him.
Matsuri brings her eyes down on the menu placed on the centre of her table, not wanting to accidentally catch Baki's companion's eyes.
When the metallic glass with water arrives, Matsuri gulps half of it before she gently puts the container down on the table. She then watches the reflection on the glass while appearing meekly contemplating the menu beside it to anyone that could possibly be watching her.
Baki says something unintelligible and the other jounin, the one she knows to be called Kouzan, nods and reaches for the scroll.
While Kouzan pockets the missive, the older jounin with half his face hidden stands up and leaves. It isn't long after that the remaining jounin stands up himself but this time he exits via the backdoor which will lead him to a different path from Baki's.
Knowing that with the exchange, the mission has changed drastically, Matsuri feels a moment of indecision but she has no time to report it to her boss as her instinct tells her that she should follow Kouzan immediately and forget about Baki for the time being.
She will prove to everyone that she has the ability and she will not do it by rushing. She will bid her time. She will first order a sweet then she will leave with it from the main door, circle the restaurant then follow Kouzan.
The jounin has a deeply engraved scar running from his left ear to his chin. He could have copied Baki's sense of fashion and cover half his face with a piece of cloth to effectively hide that atrocious looking mark but no, he wears his scar proudly. Matsuri gives an inward cringe at the thought of the gaping wound that produced that kind of evil-looking scar.
Kouzan younger by several years compared to Baki but nonetheless just as ruthless in a battle. Maybe even more if half the stories she heard about him is true. He's brutal and has no conscience.
Matsuri gulps what's left of her water but it doesn't remove the dryness in her mouth. This is it; the time to prove herself and that of the Kazekage's son's theory. That people see her so weak that nobody expects her to do this…to be a spy.
But she is now.
The fear is somewhat exceeded by the excitement to prove her worth. She is afterall a Suna shinobi and she is trained to be equally fierce and fearless.
With the adrenaline pumping in her veins, she has forgotten that the middle son had also ordered her not to be stupid.
TBC
~5 17,28 13 AF U6 13 13~