Chapter 11: Bounty Hunting
A/N: hey everyone! Guess what? I'm not dead! I'm really sorry I didn't update this story in a while. I've been busy with my other stories and the other chapters to this series. But now that I have time for this story, I can finally post a chapter!
Thank you so much for those of you who still stuck with this story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy 7; I just own my oc's.
Enjoy!
/
"Come on, Pakkun. Quit being a little bitch"
"No!"
"I'm not going to tell you again"
"No!"
"You won't get any treats for a month"
"Fuck you!"
A very irritated scowl was present on Mikomi's face as she looked at her ninja pug. Tifa had commented that Pakkun smelled from being outside all the time and asked if he could be given a bath.
Since Pakkun was her dog and that Tifa was allowing her to stay at the bar, she felt it was her responsibility to give Pakkun a bath. Now while that seemed like an easy job, it was anything but that.
Pakkun was what everyone would call a diva. He wouldn't take a bath unless the water was at the right temperature and if he had his favorite smelling shampoo. Now the fact that a dog wanting a certain smelling shampoo was weird, it paled in comparison to a bitchy one.
Mikomi growled as she glared at the pug, who refused to jump into the baby pool that Cloud provided.
"Get in the tub, Pakkun. I'm not telling you again"
Pakkun blew a raspberry at her.
"No!" he snapped.
"You can't make me"
"Tifa said you can't come into the bar until you've taken a bath" Mikomi explained.
"You're driving away customers with your stench"
"But you're not using my favorite shampoo" the pug whined.
Mikomi held the bridge of her nose and resisted the urge to bang her head against the side of the bar. These were moments when she wished that Kakashi didn't pamper Pakkun to the point where he was so demanding.
"I know, but I found a nice shampoo that smells really good" she tried to reason.
"It even smells like flowers"
Pakkun growled.
"I don't want to smell like flowers!" he barked.
"I always used 'Minty rainforest mist' with extra body. I won't use any other shampoo or else my fur won't be as glossy"
This time Mikomi really did bang her head against the bar and glared at Pakkun.
"You're really pissing me off, dog" she said.
"Get in the tub"
Pakkun sat in front of the tub and pouted.
"No!" he snapped.
That did it for Mikomi. She loved Pakkun really much and thought he was the best ninja dog that Konoha ever had, but there were times when he really pissed her off. Today was no exception.
"That's it!"
Stomping over to him, she picked the pug up and brought him over to the tub.
"You are going to take a bath, even if I have to force you" she said.
Pakkun wiggled in her grip and tried to get away.
"Get away from me, you crazy bitch!" he cried.
Mikomi laughed darkly as she started to lower him into the tub. It was sad that she took pleasure in torturing her dog like this, but he deserved it.
Just as he was about to touch the water, Pakkun wiggled out of Mikomi's grasp and jumped on her head, pushing her forward in the process.
Mikomi screamed when she fell into the tub, causing soap and water to splash everywhere. Pakkun landed on the ground and laughed at the sight of his owner face first into the tub with her legs dangling.
Mikomi pushed herself out of the water and spat out the soapy water. She whipped her head around and gave Pakkun a murderous stare.
"Pakkun" she growled.
The pug gulped and ran into the bar to get away from her. Mikomi shot up to her feet and chases after her four legged companion.
"Get back here, you mangy mutt!" she cried.
"When I get my hands on you, I'm turning you into a bunch of hot dogs!"
Pakkun ran around the bar, diving under tables and jumping over stools to get away from Mikomi. The ninja yelled profanities every time she missed and threatened her pug.
"Get back here!"
Pakkun landed on a pile of papers that were on the bar and jumped behind the island when Mikomi went to wrap her arms around his throat. The papers scattered everywhere and littered the floor.
"Now look what you've done" she snapped.
She bent down and gathered all of the papers before someone stepped on them.
"Stupid dog, with his stupid shampoo and stupid glossy fur" she grumbled.
She stacked the papers nicely and went to place them back on the table until a certain piece caught her attention.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it was this month's bill for the place and saw that the numbers were rather high for such a tiny bar.
"That's a lot of zeroes" she muttered.
She sadly looked at the rest of the bill and saw that it was mostly for water and electricity.
Ever since she came here, she tended to take longer showers after a long day of training and tended to stay up late. Tifa never said anything about her habits so she thought it was ok. But after seeing how much the bill was, she felt horrible.
"I can't believe they never said anything" she whispered.
She didn't know if Cloud and Tifa would be able to cover for this month. Work was kind of slow for Tifa and people weren't asking for a lot of deliveries out of Cloud. If this kept up, they probably wouldn't be able to pay this month's rent.
She bit her lip as she slowly lowered the papers to the table. This was her fault and she had to fix it.
"They kept me under their roof, even though I'm basically a stranger to them" she thought.
"I have to repay them somehow"
When she heard someone coming down the stairs, she quickly fixed the papers so it looked like no one went through them.
She needed to fix this and she needed to fix it fast.
"Hey ,Tifa, I'm going out for a tiny bit!" she called out.
"Ok, but don't stay out for long" the bartender replied.
Nodding to herself, Mikomi quickly left the bar and looked for a way to make some extra cash fast.
Pakkun poked his head out from his hiding spot and watched his master leave the bar.
"Looks like bath time will be put on hold for a while" he muttered.
He quickly ran after his master, knowing she would get herself into trouble if she went out on her own.
/
"Ugh, where can I find a place that will get me some cash fast?" Mikomi wondered to herself.
She walked through the streets of Edge, looking to see if anyone was hiring for anything or looking for help. So far no one seemed to be interested and looked like they didn't really have any money to spare.
Pakkun trotted close to his master and looked at the window's for any clues.
"I don't see why you have to make such a big deal out of this" he said.
"It's not like they asked you to help them out or anything"
Mikomi gave the pug a glare.
"But that's the whole point" she said.
"They're way too nice to ask for anything. They know that I'm trying to find a way back to Konoha and would rather help me with my problems then have me help them with theirs. They've put a roof over our heads and gave us food to eat. This is the least that we can do"
Pakkun just sighed, but agreed to his master's logic.
"Well, it looks like no one is hiring or looking for help" he said.
"Unless you want to steal from someone, I don't think you'll be getting any luck today"
Mikomi stuffed her hands into her pockets and growled.
"There has to be a place where people are looking for help" she said.
She caught the sight of a poster out of the corner of her eye and had to do a double take to see what it said. It showed a picture of a creepy looking monster with a description of what it was and who wanted it dead. That didn't catch Mikomi's eyes. What caught her attention was the big fat reward that was offered if anyone killed the beast and brought it back.
"30,000 gil? That's a lot!" Mikomi exclaimed.
Pakkun read the poster as well and had to agree.
"I'm sure with that amount, that would cover at least half of the bill, maybe a little more than that" he surmised.
Mikomi ripped the poster off of the wall and studied it better.
"It says that the person who wants it dead is in town" she said.
She smiled and shoved the poster into the pug's face.
"Maybe we do have a chance to make some extra cash!" she said.
Pakkun shoved the paper away from his face and gave his master a serious stare.
"In case you haven't notice, it said that this monster was dangerous" he said.
"I doubt that just anybody can take this job"
Mikomi snorted.
"And in case you haven't noticed, we're ninjas and have taken on a couple of A-rank missions and one S-rank. I'd say we're qualified for this"
"Yeah? And what will Tifa and Cloud say about this when you show them your brilliant idea?" Pakkun added.
Mikomi placed a finger over the pug's lips in mocking manner.
"What they don't know won't hurt them" she said.
"We'll just finish this up quickly and rake in the cash before sundown. This will be a piece of cake"
Pakkun rolled his eyes.
"I doubt it" he said.
Mikomi glared at him.
"You keep this up and not only will I give you a bath every day, but I'll refuse to buy your favorite shampoo for the rest of your life"
That changed the pug's mind right away.
"Like I said, what are we waiting for?" he said.
"We have a job to do so let's get moving. That thing won't kill itself, you know"
The pug quickly ran ahead, leaving his master behind. A foxy grin spread across Mikomi's lips when her planed work.
"Dogs will believe anything" she said.
She quickly followed after her pug and went to start her hunting.
/
"Thanks! I'll try to be back soon!"
Leaving the bounty hunting shop, Mikomi pulled out the map that the customer gave her and a paper describing what she was going up against.
"So what did he say about our target?" Pakkun asked.
Mikomi shrugged and looked at the map.
"Not much" she said.
"Only that it's been spotted in these two areas near the outskirt of town and that sometimes it's been seen in those places at the same time. He wants to know why that is and to kill it before it hurts anyone"
Pakkun hummed in thought.
"Sounds a lot like a shadow clone jutsu if you ask me" he said.
Mikomi nodded and looked at the beast description.
"Yeah, but I doubt people use justu around here" she said.
"Maybe they have some sort of magic or something that's similar to it"
"I guess we won't know until we find out" Pakkun said.
Mikomi nodded and pumped her fist.
"You got that right!" she said.
"This is the work for none other than a mighty ninja!"
"Who's a mighty ninja?"
Mikomi yelped when Yuffie jumped off a building and landed in front of her. The fact that she was here of all places was bad news. If Yuffie found out what she was doing, she would most likely tell Cloud and Tifa.
The Wutai ninja could never keep a secret for long.
Yuffie smiled at her ninja buddy.
"Hey, Mikomi!" she cried.
Mikomi laughed nervously and held the paper close to her.
"H-Hi, Yuffie" she said.
"W-what are you doing here?"
Yuffie smiled and held up a Materia.
"I was just getting myself some new Materia" she said.
"What are you doing here? Don't know that this is the outskirt of town? It's dangerous around here"
Mikomi laughed and tried to hide the paper behind her back.
"O-oh, y-yeah, of course I know" she said.
"I-I was just taking Pakkun out for a walk. Nothing more"
Yuffie peered over Mikomi's shoulder where the paper was hidden.
"What do you have there?" she asked.
Mikomi gulped and shook her head.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" she said.
Yuffie stood on her tip toes to get a better look at Mikomi's back.
"No, I saw you hide something behind your back" she said.
"Whattcha got?"
Mikomi stuffed the paper into her back pocket and tired to be discreet as possible.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about" she said.
"You must be losing it"
Yuffie pouted for a second before plastering on a cheeky grin.
"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain this?"
She pounced on Mikomi and snatched the paper from her, dangling it in her face.
"Look what I found!"
Mikomi panicked and tired to get the paper back.
"H-hey! Give that back!" she cried.
Yuffie held it out of her reach and read the paper.
"Oh, relax" she said.
"It can't be that bad"
Her smile feel when she realized that it was a bounty poster for a very dangerous creature. A creature Mikomi didn't know was a Behemoth.
Her face went pale as she looked at her friend. Was she seriously planning on killing a behemoth?
"K-komi-chan" she asked.
"Why do you have a bounty poster?"
Mikomi snatched the poster from Yuffie and held it close.
"I can't tell you" she said.
Yuffie rarely freaked out over anything. She always took everything as a joke and laughed it off. But the fact that her new friend was planning on killing a behemoth did not seem funny to her. It was scary.
"Why in Gaia are you doing this?" she cried.
"Don't you know how dangerous the outskirts are? You could kill yourself!"
Mikomi bit her lip. She felt bad that she was keeping this from Yuffie, but it had to be done. She had to help Cloud and Tifa out.
"I'll be fine, don't worry" she said.
"I'm a ninja after all"
Yuffie put her hands on her hips.
"So am I" she said.
"But you don't see me going out doing crazy stuff"
Mikomi and Pakkun gave her a look.
"Ok, you don't see me doing crazy stuff that will get me killed" she corrected.
"Why are you even doing this?"
Mikomi shuffled her feet.
"For the money" she muttered.
Yuffie went ballistic at that. It was common to see the Wutai ninja go crazy over certain stuff, but when it came to her friend's well being, she went super crazy.
"Are you an idiot?" she screeched.
"You're risking your life just to get a little money? You can just ask Cloud and Tifa! They would be happy to loan you some. Don't risk your life just so you can have a little cash"
Mikomi glared at Yuffie when she heard that. She was making it seem that she was being selfish by wanting money for herself when it was actually for Cloud and Tifa.
"It's not for me!" she finally snapped.
"It's for Cloud and Tifa"
Yuffie blinked for a second. She tried to wrap her mind over what she just heard.
"Huh?"
Mikomi huffed in annoyance.
"It's for Cloud and Tifa" she repeated.
"I accidentally saw their bill for this month, and I wanted to make some extra cash for them to use. They've kept me under their roof when they didn't have to and never asked me to do anything. It's only right that I repay them somehow, so I'm going to give them some extra money"
She looked at the ground sadly.
"I just want to repay the kindness that they've given me since I came here"
Yuffie just stared at her while she told her tale.
Mikomi sighed and tucked the paper into her pocket again.
"I know it's dangerous, but I just can't do anything" she said.
"I'm a ninja, so I've faced danger before. It may seem stupid to you, but it seems right to me"
She walked past Yuffie and headed for the outskirts where here target was.
Yuffie quickly ran up to her and blocked her path again.
"You can't go out there by yourself" she repeated.
Mikomi glared at her.
"And I told that I don't-"
"Unless you have someone who knows this place" Yuffie finished.
Mikomi raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Huh?"
Yuffie smiled and jabbed a thumb at herself.
"I'll go with you" she said.
"If I'm with you, then it won't be so dangerous"
Mikomi just looked at her. Just seconds ago, she was telling her to not go out into the outskirts, but now she was fine with it?
"Why?" she asked.
Yuffie giggled.
"Because I want to help out" she said.
"I live at the bar too most of the time, and I should be pitching in for the bills as well. If you're doing it, then I should too"
Her smile softened a little.
"And I think it's sweet that you want to help Cloud and Tifa out" she said.
"You're a good person"
Mikomi blushed and looked away.
"I-I'm just acting like I usually am" she said.
"That's nothing special"
Yuffie laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Well, it may not seem much to you, but it says a lot to me" she said.
"Now let's go find that Behemoth before it gets dark out. A lot of the dangerous monsters tend to come out at night"
Mikomi nodded.
"Right"
The two kunoichi's ran for the outskirts with Pakkun on their tail.
"We're gonna die" the pug muttered.
/
"I'm back" Cloud said as he entered into the bar.
Tifa came from the back to greet him with a smile.
"How did it go?" she asked.
Cloud ran a hand through his spiky hair.
"Another slow day" he said.
"It seems that no one wants to make any deliveries since the outskirts are so dangerous lately"
Tifa gave him a weak smile.
"I'm sure things will pick up" she said.
"I hope so" Cloud muttered.
He looked around the bar when he noticed that it was unusually quiet.
"Is Mikomi out?"
Tifa nodded.
"She said she was going out for a tiny bit, but she's been gone for a couple of hours"
She placed a hand on her check.
"I hope she gets back soon. It's getting dark out and that's when the monsters usually come out. I don't think she's able to fight off those things all on her own"
Cloud got up from his seat and headed for the door.
"I'll go look for her" he said.
Tifa smiled at that. She was glad that Cloud finally warmed up to Mikomi.
"Please hurry" she said.
"I don't want any of you to get hurt"
Cloud nodded and headed outside to begin his search for the missing Ninja.
/
"Are you sure it's a good idea to be out so far in the open?" Mikomi asked.
They were well away from the town at this point and stood out in the barren wastelands of the outskirts. Yuffie insisted that if they were going to kill a Behemoth, it would have to be out in a very open space. That was fine with Mikomi, but the fact that it was nearly dark out now didn't really settle well with her. She always knew that crazy animals and people struck at night and used the darkness as their cloak. They could attack you and you would never be able to see who it was.
That was bad for a ninja. A blind ninja is a dead Ninja.
Pakkun had his ears back as he studied the area. He couldn't really see either, but his hearing was far better than his human companions.
"I don't like this at all" Pakkun said.
"We're just asking for trouble, being out here"
Yuffie scratched her head nervously.
"Yeah, I agree with you"
"Maybe we should head back and do this tomorrow"
"You don't have to tell me twice" Mikomi said.
They made a 'U' turn and headed back for town.
"I hope Tifa won't be mad that I stayed out for so long" Mikomi said.
"I'm sure she won't" Yuffie said.
"If you explain the situation to her, I'm sure she would understand"
"I can't tell her what I'm doing" Mikomi said.
"It would make her feel bad"
"There's nothing wrong with letting your pride get deflated once in a while" Pakkun said.
"It's one of the many traits of life"
"Oh, shut up" Mikomi said.
As they walked, the heard a low rumble coming from behind them. The sound of it was so odd and so out of place in the quiet outskirts.
The two of them skid to a stop at the sound.
"Yuffie?" Mikomi asked.
"Y-yeah?" Yuffie replied.
"Please tell me that was your stomach"
Yuffie laughed nervously.
"I-I thought that was you" she said.
"Well, it sure as hell wasn't me" Pakkun said.
The rumble came again, only this time it was really close.
"I don't like the sound of that" Yuffie said.
"Me either" Mikomi said.
She quickly fished through her weapon's pouch and pulled out a few emergency flares. Lighting them up, she threw them around the area so they could see what was near them.
The sight before them made her blood run cold.
Growling with hunger was none other than a Behemoth. The Behemoth that they were supposed to find.
"Uh-oh" Yuffie said.
The Behemoth growled deep within its throat before letting out a mighty roar.
Yuffie and Mikomi screamed with fright.
/
"Seriously, where could she be?"
Cloud had searched through a majority of the town in search of Mikomi. So far, either nobody saw her or they didn't know who she was.
The usually, sullen SOLDIER was starting to get nervous when he saw how dark it had gotten. By now, the monsters that roamed the outskirts of town were out looking for prey.
"She better be close" he said to himself.
"Hey Cloud!"
The Chocobo head turned to see the owner of the local Materia store. The old man had a pissed off look on his face as he approached the hero.
"You're Wutai friend is up to no good again" he said.
Cloud sighed. Of course Yuffie would give the Materia owner trouble just so she could add to collection.
"What did she do this time? Steal from you again?"
The owner growled.
"Yes! And she's dragging innocent bystanders into it as well!" he said.
"I saw her drag this cute little brunette off to the outskirts of town!"
Cloud raised an eyebrow at that.
"Cute brunette?" he repeated.
The owner nodded.
"Yeah, she wearing weird clothing and had some sort of fabric wrapped around her neck. I swear, you need to teach that Wutai friend of yours a lesson before she get's someone hurt"
Cloud's blood ran cold. Yuffie and Mikomi went to the outskirts…where the monsters were.
"Oh no"
He quickly ran off for the outskirts. He didn't know what Yuffie was thinking, but someone was going to get into a lot of trouble.
/
"Look out!" Yuffie cried.
Mikomi ducked when the Behemoth swiped its claw at him and threw an exploding Kunai at it. This monster seemed to have a body made of steel because nothing she used had any effect on it.
Yuffie threw her giant Shuriken at the Behemoth and went to Mikomi.
"You had any luck?" she asked.
Mikomi shook her head and threw another Kunai.
"Nothing I throw has any effect on it" she said.
"And I can't sink my teeth into that thick hide" Pakkun said.
"I don't know about you, but I think we're way in over our heads at the moment"
Mikomi gulped and ran out of the way when the Behemoth charged at her.
"God, this is like the Chunin exams all over again" she whined.
She was scared out of her mind at the moment, but she refused to back down. A ninja never walked away from a battle.
Yuffie pulled out a cure Materia and healed themselves up a bit.
"This is nuts!" she cried.
"I can't land a hit"
"Me either and I'm running low on weapons" Mikomi said.
She looked at her remaining weapons to find that all she had left were paper bombs and some wire. That really didn't look promising, but it was better than nothing.
She figured she could use the paper bombs as explosives and place them all over the Behemoth. The only problem was that she needed a fuse to ignite them all at once to let that happen, and she didn't have a lighter on her.
"Wait a minute" she thought.
She looked at Yuffie then at the Materia she was holding.
The light bulb suddenly went off in her head.
"Hey, Yuffie. Do you have any Materia that uses fire?"
Yuffie nodded.
"Yeah, I have lots of them"
Mikomi smiled with relief.
"Good. Get out your strongest fire one and have it ready. I have an idea"
Yuffie nodded and fished out her trusty Materia.
Mikomi looked at the Behemoth and held up the paper bombs.
"It's Yellow Flash time"
She zipped around the Behemoth and planted all of the bombs on its body. All had the wire attached to it and would work as the fuse that would ignite the bomb.
She landed next to Yuffie and held out the wire.
"Now!"
Yuffie cast the fire spell and watched as the flame zipped down the wire and hit the paper bombs.
The Behemoth went up in flames as the bombs went off and singed the poor beast to death.
"We did it!" Yuffie cheered.
Mikomi pumped a fist.
"Hell yeah!"
They both high fived each other on their hard work and looked at the now dead Behemoth.
"30,000 gil, here we come!" Yuffie cried.
Mikomi went over to the carcass and looked at it.
"How are we going to bring it back into town?" she wondered.
Yuffie pondered that as well.
"Maybe we should ask Cloud if we could use his bike?" she suggested.
She suddenly sweat dropped.
"But then again, he would wonder why we needed it in the first place…and he never lets anyone ride his bike"
Mikomi ran a hand through her hair.
"Well, I could always seal it within a scroll and bring it back that way"
"Wouldn't hurt to try" Pakkun said.
Mikomi pulled out a blank scroll.
"It's a good thing Yuri showed me how to seal items up, otherwise we would be screwed"
She placed the scroll on the ground and went to perform the handsigns when a low rubble was heard.
"What was that?" Pakkun said.
The rumble was heard again before something landed in front of them.
Another Behemoth!
"What the hell? I thought there was only one?" Yuffie cried.
"I guess we were right that there were two" Pakkun said.
This didn't work well for Mikomi since she used up all of her paper bombs on the first Behemoth.
They were screwed big time right now.
The Behemoth roared as it dug its claws into the ground.
The girls screamed and held onto each other, knowing that they were in deep shit right about now.
"Help!" Yuffie cried.
"No one is going to hear us out here, you idiot!" Pakkun cried.
The Behemoth charged at them, intending to kill them both. But when it was a foot away, it suddenly collapsed.
"Huh?"
Upon closer inspection, they noticed a rather large sword sticking out of its back.
The Buster Sword!
Cloud appeared from behind the Behemoth with a very ticked off look on his face.
"Cloud!" Yuffie cried.
"You saved us!"
She gulped at the murderous look on the Chocobo head's face and hid behind Mikomi.
They were in trouble now.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hurt you both" he said.
Mikomi gulped nervously. She remembered seeing that look whenever she got in trouble with her parents. Minato and Kushina could be very scary when they were angry.
Cloud tapped his foot in annoyance.
"Well?" he snapped.
Yuffie pointed at Mikomi.
"It was her idea!" she cried.
Mikomi glared at her.
"Yuffie!" she hissed.
"What? You were the one who wanted to come out here and kill that Behemoth for the bounty" Yuffie said.
"Bounty?" Cloud repeated.
Mikomi gulped and wrung her hands nervously. Oh yeah, she was in big trouble now.
Cloud set his firm gaze on the girl who was currently living with him.
"Care to explain to me what Yuffie is talking about?" he asked.
Pakkun looked at his owner and nodded.
"Just tell him" he said.
Mikomi bit her lip as she fiddled with her headband.
"W-well, I was trying to give Pakkun a bath earlier and he hid into the bar" she explained.
"When I saw running after him, I-I kind bumped into a pile of papers that were resting at the island and went to pick them up. When I was picking them up, I accidentally saw that one of them was the bill for this month and I noticed that it was a little high. I felt bad because I've been staying with you a Tifa for a couple of weeks now, so I wanted to help out and pay the rent for you this month"
Cloud crossed his arms.
"So you mean to tell me that you were going to get yourself killed just to pay for something that didn't involve you?" he asked.
Mikomi flinched. He was making it sound that she was an idiot for wanting to help.
Cloud held the bridge of his nose.
"You're such an idiot" he said.
Yuffie glared at him.
"Hey! Don't say that!" she snapped.
"Komi-chan was trying to be nice and repay for you letting her stay at your place! None of the guys pitch in for the bills whenever they stay over. You should be grateful that you met someone who would go out of their way to repay your kindness!"
She didn't like that Cloud was being mean to Mikomi. She could tell that Mikomi was good person and deserved the title of a true friend.
A real friend would go out of their way to help others, even if it meant they got hurt in the process.
Cloud just rubbed his eyes in annoyance.
"I'm not saying that it was stupid of her for wanting to help" he said.
"It's the method that she choose"
He gave Mikomi a serious look.
"I'm very grateful that you want to help out, but your life is far more important that paying a stupid bill"
He went over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Next time you want to pitch in, just let us know and we'll see if we can help you find a job around town. Don't go off doing dangerous stuff like this"
Mikomi bit her lip when she felt a tear threatening to spill over. She was worried that Cloud would be mad that she secretly tried to make some cash to help him out, but he was more concerned about her wellbeing than a silly bill.
He was very kind, despite his appearance.
"Ok" she said.
"I'll let you know next time"
Yuffie stepped away from Mikomi when she realized it was safe and pumped her fist.
"Now that the tension is gone, I say this is a great time to celebrate!" she cheered.
"The fact that there were two Behemoths means double the bounty! So we'll not get 30,000 gill but 60,000! That's enough to buy all of the Materia in town!"
"That's for the rent, you idiot" Pakkun said.
Yuffie pouted.
"Hey! I'm allowed to dream too, ya know!"
Mikomi laughed a little. It seemed that she was able to get enough money to help Cloud and Tifa to pay their bills, but in the end, she would never do something like this again.
"I guess it's always nice to do something at least once" she thought.
/
(Three days later)
After the little bounty hunting incident, Mikomi was forbidden to leave town unless it was with anyone but Yuffie.
Tifa was able to use the money that Mikomi earned to pay for not just this month's bill, but for the next three months.
"Please don't do something like that again" Tifa said.
Mikomi sweat dropped. When Cloud told the martial artist what she had done, she got even a worse lecture from Tifa than she did from Cloud.
"I was just trying to help" she insisted.
"I know" Tifa said.
"But that's something you shouldn't put your life on the line for"
Mikomi rolled her eyes.
"Where I'm from, you have to put your life on the line for everything" she said.
"That's what it means to be a ninja and that's how you make a living"
Tifa patted her head.
"Yeah, well you're not on your world, you're here" she said.
"Those rules don't apply here. You don't need to throw your life away for us"
Mikomi smiled a little.
"Thanks"
The door slammed open as Yuffie ran into the bar.
"Hey, Komi-chan! Guess what?" she cried.
She held up a flier that contained information about a bounty hunting in town.
"This guy is looking for someone to capture a stray dog and he said he's willing to pay 500 gil!"
Mikomi sweat dropped.
"That's great" she said.
Yuffie grabbed her hand and dragged her outside.
"We can totally own this job if we do it together! And we can buy tons of Materia!"
"Cloud said she's forbidden to do bounty hunting" Tifa reminded her.
Yuffie snorted.
"He said for outside of town ; he never said anything if it was in town" she pointed out.
She smiled at her partner in crime.
"Come on! Let's go!"
The Wutai ninja dragged the Konoha ninja through the streets in search of their newest target.
After that day, Mikomi made a living off of hunting wild monsters and any job that people needed her for.
In other words, her new job title was a mercenary.
/
A/N: I found it funny that Mikomi's new job was Cloud's old job from the game.
This was a really long chapter, but I'm sure that makes up for the long wait.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Ja ne!