| [Jul. 2nd, 2008|06:54 am] |
This was better than summer fireworks. If he'd been a few years younger, Ryouma would have been wriggling with delight; as it was, he scratched Kuromaru's ears and tried to breathe without chortling. He wasn't making any interruptions just now.
Unfortunately, the fireworks show didn't need his intervention to fizzle out. Fumiko flushed a lovely shade of pink at Tsume's dig, but she managed to hold her tongue as she shuffled her notes. By the time she drew out a sheet of paper and looked back up, her face was intent, on-duty, as shielded as if she wore a Hunter's mask. Ryouma straightened a little in his chair, automatically.
"For the past six months," Fumiko began without preamble, "bandits have plagued the road between Fujioka, a small market and silk-manufacturing town near the north-eastern border, and Hirai, an equally small port along the coast. Trade and travelers have both been strangled, and the city councils of Fujioka and Hirai have ultimately decided to solve the bandit problem terminally. They want the bandits wiped out as noisily and as spectacularly as possible, so that no one troubles them and their trade again."
"Good plan," Ryouma commented. "But kinda expensive. That's a B-rank mission at best. What're they hiring ANBU for?"
Fumiko selected another sheet of paper from her file. "Tousaki-san, you served along that border during the recent war with Cloud. The mayor of Fujioka claims he was among a group of civilians refugees a Konoha team protected. He was...most impressed by a shinobi using a distinctive technique." Her eyes narrowed slightly, scanning down the paper. Ryouma wondered how descriptive the mayor had been, and if this was the first time Fumiko was really reading that description. He shifted, and put his hands in his pockets.
"Hideki-san requested your jutsu specifically, Tousaki-san," the Intel agent said. "When he was informed that his mission would be assigned to ANBU operatives, he promised to pay the difference out of his own pocket. Since the bandits are operating from an unknown base," she added, her dark eyes shifting up to Tsume for a moment, "a volunteer tracker was also requested. You will receive pay commensurate with a B-rank mission, but with an added bonus for successful completion."
"Meaning messy," Ryouma told Kuromaru. They shared a feral grin. |
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