[233Lord-gs] and its Adventure with me

(4)

I breathed in the sweet air of the forest that surrounded me, weaving myself in and out of the large, packed trees as agile as a silver fish in water. Not even a single branch touched my masked face, not even a single twig snapped beneath my feet. I was as quiet and flowing as the wind I was taught to master.

A mission. Kaa-san had sent me on my first mission. What she told me had been simple enough, "Sell these goods in Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. Remember to keep your mask on and that communication should be kept to a minimum - if you really have to, use sign language and subtle gestures. Be strict with yourself."

She had also told me to read the letter concerning the rest of my mission and solutions to any dire issues I may come across. I had a letter for entrance to the village and a letter confirming my chore for the hokage, too, just in case.

The rest of my mission was rather straightforward as well, as I soon found out after opening the letter containing it.

Daimyako, Sukite. She will find you, so do not be alarmed. Brown hair and black eyes.
Password:
How is Hanagawa-chan these days?
Answer: She's long dead; was dying, now dust.
She will explain the rest of the missions when she meets you.
Remember to be careful! Konohagakure is well known for its adept shinobi and kunoichi. Keep yourself on your toes and trust no-one whatsoever. Do not even completely trust Daimyako, in case she is a fake.
Fare well.

...were its exact words. Very helpful. But I have a feeling that kaa-san may or may not have sent me on a rather serious mission as my first... but it doesn't matter. It only shows the full extent of the trust she has in me and my abilities!

I hope.

In any case-- I snapped out of my thoughts as I caught sight of a large set of gates. Well, there it is, though large would be a severe understatement.

I slowed my pace and secured my mask, taking out the letter meant of the guards. However, I found them to be asleep...

Kaa-san practically said no talking, so because I didn't want to die, instead of knocking politely on their heads for their brains to wake up, I went back into the forest and took some suitable blades of grass. I crafted the whistle and carefully placed it at my lips in a way that did not reveal my features, and blew right next to one of the guard's ears.

He jumped awake, and I leapt backwards gracefully just to make sure I wouldn't be killed from a reflex blow.

"Who's there?" I clapped my gloved hands softly so that he could hear the muffled thuds. Once his eyes were on me, I bowed and presented the letter with my arm outstretched, avoiding eye contact.

Kaa-san said that it was seen as impolite to make eye contact with someone when you are a guest, and she said that due to who we are, we are always guests. It's just another interesting thing I found out during my eleven and a half years of life in this world.

It's odd, but fun. Like a strange game.

Cautiously, the man closest to me took the letter while the other stood on guard against me in case I were to suddenly spring up and attack them. I was flattered - I don't know about you, but if two adults are cautious of you, a child, then doesn't that just show how highly they may think of you? So I was flattered.

I withdrew my arm carefully, so as not to startle them, after the letter had been taken from my hand. I remained bowed and with my head facing down.

My neck was starting to become stiff, so I was very tempted to use the technique [Yodominai Mi], but cold water washed over me when I realised that that wouldn't be such a good idea. In the very, very short term, my neck would soften, but in the very, very long term, it was likely I'd suffer or even die by the hands of these hyper alert guards.
As they are guards, they must have some kind of power, right?
I'd rather not experience it.

I heard one of them mumble under his breath as he read the note, cleared his throat and apologised, affirming that I may enter.

I straightened out my posture as soon as he had finished speaking, and held out my hand once more for the letter to be returned to me. He was hesitant, but passed it over after signing it.

...

The gates opened and I entered, barely able to hold in a gasp at what was revealed to me. How could this be classed as a village? At the very least a town, if not a minor city - it looked massive. Then again, if I really expected the name to be accurate after seeing their colorful gates, then I should probably hit the books.

But I didn't have the luxury to admire it quite yet. I had to complete the initial mission handed to me before I could play around, and even then I'd have to restrict myself. If worse comes to worse, I'd rather have more skills unknown and useful than known and countered.

So, I just have to sell my wares, then wait, correct?

Finding the market was fairly easy, and I only had to watch on for a little while to understand more-or-less its workings. It's quite early in the morning, so the stalls were just being set up.

I found a space in between a dango and jewelry stall to lay out my patterned purple blanket and display my goods.

There was a small box of shaded pearls, two small books I had personally written with some fairy tales I had copied from Earth, a book on beginner astronomy, an elaborate calligraphy set and a few costal-styled "lucky charms". I had labelled them with the quotation marks and everything.

I had stumbled across these "lucky charms" two years ago, fashioned from thin and willowy strings with bone beads, delicately engraved on which were tiny kanji symbols that one would only be able to read if you had a magnifier. I hoped to sell them so that animals would stop chasing me - they went crazy for their scents. Some would just cuddle you, while others would downright smother you. It sounds awesome, but it really isn't.

And you know what the worst part about it is? I can never seem to lose them. Each time they're misplaced in a volcano or ravine, or wherever else I lose them, I wake up the next day with the bracelets on my wrists again!

So, if losing them didn't work, I'd just have to try to get rid of them by passing the curse on to someone else. It would be my last attempt at freedom.

The only things the bracelets are good for are for calling animals to me, obviously, but more specifically cats. Cats are as gorgeous and lofty and egotistical as me, and we get along very well indeed.

...

Now that everything was set up, I just had to wait for the rest of the occupants of this massive village to wake up and come to me.

I looked around myself, seeing more people arriving to set up their stalls, and sighed.

It was going to be a long day.