The Huntress

Fate's Jeopardy Pt.1

"There it is,"

Kakashi and Katsume stand at the top of a cliff at the border of the Land of Fire looking out over the ocean. Savage waves crash ruthlessly against the sandstone, spraying its white foam haphazardly into the crisp air. The dreary overcast afternoon dulls Katsume's energy. That...and the toll this long journey has taken.

"The Village is just beyond that fog." Kakashi gestures.

Katsume deadpans, "Wow...You mean to tell me, that the Village Hidden in the Mist...is hidden in the mist?"

Kakashi rolls his eye, "Since it's your mission, how do you want to execute this?"

The ivory-haired woman lets out a yawn as she stretches her arms, then laces her fingers behind her head. "It's a good thing I brought you along Kakashi, I don't know how I'd manage without that visual prowess of yours." She smirks and steps forward as she analyzes the destination beyond.

Kakashi rolls his onyx eye. "You know, you always get sarcastic when you're cranky."

"There's that observancy again..." She scoffs lightly and turns to him. "I hope you brought your friend, we'll need to keep a low profile."

He quirks a silver brow, "Friend? Oh, you mean him ..." He chuckles and scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, I always keep him on me should the situation call for it."

"Kinky. Anyway, get him out. We're going incognito." Katsume teases. She removes her forehead protector and replaces her flak jacket with her trusty leather one she had stashed away in her pack. It's been a while since she's worn it. It felt nostalgic–the supple brown fabric had a soothing sound as she strung her arms through the sleeves and popped them over her shoulders.

Just like old times, she thought.

She turns back to see Kakashi– sorry, Sukea –with his wavy brown hair, and violet facial markings across his grey eyes, down to the middle of his cheeks. Her eyes trail over his comically long dark-sage trenchcoat to the beige scarf he's currently wrapping around his neck.

Sukea stares at her disguise, or lack thereof, incredulously. "That's it? What happened to keeping a low profile?"

"What? If it worked on the Akatsuki, why wouldn't it work here?" Katsume shrugs.

"Were entering a village notorious for its criminal activity...and you're basically a police officer. You might as well paint a target on your back. He gestures to her radiantly white locks, "We need to be invisible. You'll stick out like a sore thumb."

Katsume groans and grabs a fistful of her hair, "And just how do you expect me to hide this? Huh?"

Sukea takes a gander at their surroundings and notices a large muddy puddle, then turns his amused gaze back to Katsume with a sly smile.

Katsume furrows her brows and follows his line of sight to the puddle. "You're fucking joking."

Sukea snorts and covers his mouth with his fist. "I think you'll look nice as a brunette."

"Sukea, you are dead to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kakashi, disguised as his alias, Sukea, smiles cheekily as he tinkers with his camera. Sukea, the journalist, clicks away–taking pictures of anything and everything that catches his eye.

His primary source of interest: Katsume's scowling face–adorning a newly mudded light-brown up-do.

They walk in tandem through the hazy, gray-tainted town, ignoring the glares that outed them as obvious outsiders. Katsume halts her step and turns her scowl to the cause of her irritation after the thirtieth snap of his camera clicked through her ear.