In a place that's full of strangers everybody is someone else, someone else's family or lover, someone else's child, someone else's problem. The market was one of the only places we were encouraged to go when training. It is perfect for cataloging people… for getting lost while completely surrounded… for learning to be invisible. Every sort of person could be found, families, civilians, genin to jonin, ANBU perched on corners of roofs in full view, the police roaming around making sure there were no pickpockets or children playing ninja stealing from others.
The smells overwhelmed the place, cooking food, fumes from the blacksmiths forge, wafting sent of flowers and fruits. My gaze flitted from side to side, absorbing what I could… a mother wiping melted ice cream from her child's face… a jonin and a weapon merchant haggling over a set of kunai… a genin team restocking shelves while their sensei watched… the input was overwhelming the first few times I came here.
Danzo-sama taught us how to never forget once we saw something, but in markets it's different. If you try to remember everything you will drown in pointless observations. Focus on one thing at a time and move on, I had gotten good at it.
Except… the tingle of familiar chakra lingered in the back of my mind… calling me to the flower shop… to the boy I once knew.
"Shizu-chan?" Nara-sama was only a few steps away, but he was scanning the crowd in confusion. He had probably lost track of me in the mess.
"Yes." I tapped the back of his shoulder so he knew where I was in relation to him. He gave a start and turned to me with a smile.
"You would think that dour look on your face would make it easier to find you." He scratched the back of his head and laughed.
It wouldn't.
I was exactly average, I could have been any child in the market or none of them. Brown hair and brown eyes, average height and weight. Cute enough for an innocent, but non-descript enough to disappear into any crowd. It was why I was chosen.
A different flash of chakra drew my gaze, which caused Nara-sama to look as well. I knew that other ROOT agents were in the village. I heard Nara-sama and Hokage-sama talking about them… us… 147 of us. Everyone had to have a handler. So of course, there would be agents around. They would all have jobs as well… missions… or something. I knew this… yet… it still felt strange to feel them outside of the ROOT posts.
"Ah someone you know?" Nara-sama was looking at the same roof top I was. Two smaller figures crouched on the edge of a rooftop in ANBU gear.
"Knew… I knew him." The smaller of the two… Kinoe… a favorite of Danzos and of Amaya's. He was older than me, and stronger by far. The only one of Orochimarus experiments that survived. He had been kind to me… what little kindness any of us could spare for each other. The other's chakra was familiar too, but more like I had felt it during a mission than knew from anywhere else.
"Do you want to talk to him?" Nara-sama would no doubt see the confusion on my face when I turned to look at him.
"He's on duty."
"He won't always be." Nara-sama shrugged, one of his distinctive contemplative. "Maa, Inoichi said something about socializing with people that have… had similar experiences." He coughed a little. He was about to say something else then changed his mind… what was it?
"We haven't… he didn't fail Danzo-sama." He had a name… was stronger than almost anyone else in ROOT… he went straight from there to ANBU. We were nothing alike.
"Well then," Nara-sama placed a hand on my shoulder and directed me through the crowd… it was very warm. "First things first, let's get you some more clothes."
I looked down at my genin uniform puzzlement. "This is fine, sir. The clothes you have given me are enough for the duties specified by Hokage-sama." More than enough really. The night gown… would be interesting to try.
Nara-sama nodded, like it was an answer he expected, but continued on regardless. "Those were merely some temporary clothes. They aren't going to fit correctly, so it is better to get some tailored for you. You take care of your tools, uniforms are just the same."
It made sense, but…
"Who will pay, sir?" Nara-sama smiled at the question.
"I am your handler, I take care of all mission fees. This is just one of them." Nara-sama looked smug, like he had won a game. "Here we are. Noriko's Fabrics." The inside of the store was lined with clothing racks, most of the front section were standard sized Konoha Genin and Chunin Corps uniforms. There were a wide range of clothes behind, even civilian clothes and Kimonos lining the back. "Noriko-san!" Nara-sama gave a wave to the lady standing in the back.
Her hair was tied is a neat bun and she wore a simple, but elegant navy dress. Yamanaka Noriko had married Inoichi after she had reached chunin level, Danzo-sama had a file on her. She left active duty when she got pregnant with her only child, Ino. Her marriage to the clan head allowed her to start her own store, nearby to her clan's flower store. She was well known for selling quality clothing, which could be tailored to specific needs including seals sewed into trims, none of it was cheap. Still, the Naras and the Yamanakas were old allies though it might have been an insult for Nara-sama to shop anywhere else.
"Shikaku." Noriko-sama gave a polite smile and nod, but her eyes were cold. "Did the dear eat your vest again? You really shouldn't nap with the herd. Or at least stop leaving treats for them in your pockets."
Nara-sama coughed and looked away, "Maa, not today, though there are some that have been nibbled on they are still in one piece." He patted my shoulder, bringing her attention to me. "This is Shizu-chan. She's been in the hospital for a few months, needs a new wardrobe."
Noriko's eyes warmed when they fell upon me… she had a daughter my age, of course I would remind her of that. She asked no questions of why I was in the hospital or what I was doing with Nara-sama. Her gaze was piercing and professional, it fell on my clothes dissecting them. I distinctly glad for Nara-sama's presence at my side.
"I see… just uniforms then? Or can I interest you in something nicer?" Her gaze fell on a nearby rack of brightly colored floral pattern dresses. I glanced, but looked away quickly… I had worn similar dresses on missions before… of lesser quality but still designed for one purpose, to catch the eye of a target...
Maybe I should get one… but Hokage-sama said I wasn't to use those skills in the village… unnecessary until a change of mission parameters.
"Nothing like that Noriko, just looking for some basics, maybe something nice for special occasions." Nara-sama's voice had gone a little cold, I glanced up at him… he was glaring at the rack for some reason.
"Very well then." Her business tone came back. She flowed through racks of clothing like it was a river, unlike Nara-sama or I who had to push our way through to follow her. The racks she led us to were smaller than the standard size uniforms, more of the type that I was currently wearing, but of a thicker material. "This is our special weave, lighter weight than normal, very breathable fabric, with a special component to make them tougher. It lasts longer than our competitors against wear and tear, except of course if you feed it to dear." She didn't even look Nara-sama's way when she said it, but the embarrassed blush reached his face again. She looked at me once again, and I saw a small pained look cross her face. "However, the black can stand out a little too much, and it absorbs heat. Might I interest you in a different color?"
She turned to the rack on her other side, a similar style of clothes with the same fabric in different colors. All were larger than what would comfortably fit though.
"I…" My refusal didn't even get past my lips before she continued on like she hadn't finished speaking yet.
"The dark read is always a nice choice for intimidation factor on missions, or the dark blue my personal favorite would like very nice against your skin." She held up the two choices with another polite smile. I… she wasn't going to accept a refusal… I would go along then… wear the clothes Nara-sama had given me until I could find something better on my own.
A scrap of fabric caught my eye, a darker green color top with dark brown pants… it would be… it would be better camouflage in the Nara forest… I flinched from the image… Danzo-sama would never allow something like that for guard duty. Noriko-sama's sigh caught me off-guard, she looked cold… steady… and disappointed.
"Maybe next time then." She nodded and grabbed a few black uniforms off the first rack. "All we have to do is take some measurements. Follow me please." She glided back to the fitting rooms in the back of the store.
I stared at her back in confusion then glanced at Nara-sama who was slouched against a nearby wall and unless I was mistaken he was asleep. I debated for a few seconds… I shouldn't leave, but Noriko-sama was insistent… Nara-sama would be fine for a minute and he wanted me to do this… mission.
I followed her into one of the rooms, but kept track of Nara-sama's chakra.
She placed the clothes on the side and motioned at the stand in the middle of the room. "Now just change clothes and I'll place some pins. It will take an hour or two to sew after the pinning, so just come back after your shopping trip and pick them up." I grabbed one of the uniforms from the pile and started to undress. "You don't have to…" Noriko's voice trailed off. I was scarred as much as any agent from training, missions, and fights. From my arms to my back there was evidence of my time in ROOT, but I had bent over to take off my shoes so I could guess which one she was staring at that caused her to go silent.
Everyone in the seduction division had the same scar, a neatly traced mark done with a sharp knife… Amaya had done mine and I hers. It was the marking of a sex slave from one of the largest black market trading houses… easy enough to use as cover or costume. It was easy to cover with makeup or genjutsu if a mission didn't require, but… it had been useful… it worked as a return to owner symbol in a lot of places.
The clean fabric of the new uniform felt smoother than the one I had taken off. Noriko's polite smile returned to her face, cold eyes still piercing, but she asked no questions.
"How does it feel?" Her business tone came back.
"It is loose in the shoulders." I could feel it slipping too far, pants a little long as well. She nodded and pulled out a box of small pins.
She worked efficiently, professionally. She had the touch of experience more so than any other I had gone to, I felt the no pricks and it was finished in half the time.
"All done. Just undress and leave it here, I'll go get Shikaku to pay." She glided from the room before I could make a move or sound… maybe I made her uncomfortable?
It only took a minute before I was standing outside the dressing room. I found Nara-sama talking to Noriko softly, but she did look insistent about something. I didn't want to interrupt… the continued for a few more minutes before the conversation ending… neither looking happy with the other.
I found my way to Nara-sama's side without a word.
"Well, I don't think there is anything else we really need. You won't be going on any long missions yet so no need to go looking for that." We exited the store to the loud noise of the market… you don't really notice how silent it is in there until you leave. "Yoshino can pick up your clothes when she's done with shopping as well. Do you use any special weapons that we need to get?"
"No." I had never been a weapons expert. I better taijutsu or genjutsu more than anything else, when I was on missions there usually wasn't a good place to hide many weapons.
"We have a stock pile of the common weapons in the compound so there is no need for that. What to do with the rest of…"
He might have continued speaking, but I couldn't hear him. The tingle of familiar chakra was an itch, I could feel it close by. I knew him… better than most in ROOT I knew him.
We turned a corner and there we were, standing in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. A few large tables lay in front of the shop covered in pots, flowers of all different shapes and colors, and walking through it all… Kinoto.
Kinoto looked straight at me… and he didn't recognize me… I tried to ignore the sudden sharp pain in my chest. We all knew each other… there weren't that many of us… he had destroyed both Amaya and myself in spars multiple times… he had been a handler on my missions. He had delivered punishments on Danzo-sama's command many times… a bloody and bruised head severed from its body with a cut of a sword.
He was an enforcer… yet… he had given out extra blankets on cold nights and sleep with a pile of younger kids every time we couldn't weren't allowed a fire… we had been together a long time… all of my life I could remember him in some way… always around…
He was smiling at a customer… I had never seen him smile before… there was a hand on my shoulder…
He didn't recognize me… why didn't he recognize me?