Stitched || Kakuzu

Ch. 2 - Meeting The Hunter

Nozomi had been on a ship for the longest time as she looked out at the endless sea, wondering if she was even going to see land ever again. The captain had promised her that the journey wouldn't take that long to go on. She was pretty sure Kumogakure was not that far from Kirigakure. Just across the water, right?

After a while, Nozomi finally believed that they were getting somewhere as she saw land in the distance. Grinning, she sighed with relief, finding that the captain was right and she was just getting a little impatient. A small tug on the end of her black cloak ripped her from her thoughts as she turned her head to look down at a small boy who pouted, clutching a small blanket to his chest.

Nozomi smiled and crouched down, pulling her hood off her head. She'd always been a sucker for children. Unlucky for her, the kids in Kirigakure figured that out and had seemed to have her wrapped around their little chubby fingers.

"Onee-chan... Can you help me?"

Aw, she cooed inside her head. This boy was just too adorable with his bottom lip all stuck out and his big brown eyes. If looks could kill, she'd be a goner. Nodding, Nozomi smiled at the small child.

"Of course. You can call me Mimi. What do you need help with?"

"Can you play hide-and-go-seek with us, Mimi-chan?" He grinned, looking over at a group of other children around his age. How old were they? About four or five?

Nozomi glanced back at where the land was and figured it would be about thirty to forty minutes until they'd actually arrive at the dock, so she smiled and nodded, telling the children she would count. In the back of her head, she couldn't help but wonder why they asked her of all people and how she didn't notice them up here before. The crew seemed to be meeting with the captain, so Nozomi took it upon herself to keep the children occupied.

The children giggled and spread out as she counted softly to herself. When she turned back around and opened her eyes, they were all no where to be seen. Nozomi sighed and started to search for them. Most of them were fairly easy to find, considering that they would be in the easiest places like behind boxes and under blankets that covered the hay when there was high wind. However, the small boy was no where to be found.

"Do you know where he went?"

The other children shook their heads and ran away, going to find him. Nozomi continued to search, checking the lower decks for any sightings. A chill ran up her spine as she looked around barrels of food and gun powder. Passengers weren't allowed down here but the woman took the risk just in case.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and touched the woman, causing her to jump and nearly scream. When she turned around though, no one was there. She frowned and pulled her hood back on. As she headed up to the top deck again, she saw a glimpse of someone in a cloak walk off.

Nozomi ran up the stairs and looked around, trying to see who exactly had touched her. The person in the cloak however was no where to be found. As soon as Nozomi had given up hope on finding the mystery person, she spotted the edge of a black cloth. Deeming it the black cloak, she raced around the corner to see two men.

"A-ah..."

The cloak was not all black. It had white outlined red clouds all over it. As she looked up, she couldn't really see their faces due to the straw hats on their heads, but she noticed one of their skin colors was blue.

"Are you lost?" One of them spoke. Nozomi turned her attention to the male - the one with the normal skin color. She could barely see his eyes, but two diagonal lines streamed down the inside of his cheeks, from what she could tell. Realizing she had been staring for a little bit, she blushed with embarassment and stepped back from them.

"I, uh.. Did you see someone with a black cloak run past here? Just plain black?" She asked. The two shook their heads. Frowning in disappointment, she sighed.

"Well, who are you?"

Before the blue skinned male could reply, his partner answered first. "Why must you know who we may be?"

"I should be able to thank you properly, even though you weren't of help."

"That's not necessary. You should leave now."

Before Nozomi could respond, the captain announced that they had reached land and would be unboarding soon. Nozomi had turned her attention away from the males for too long, so when she had turned around again, they had vanished.

Once she had gotten off the boat, Nozomi looked around for the two males once more, only to find nothing come up. She sighed with defeat until she noticed all the people walk off - but there were no children.

But... She was just playing hide-and-go-seek with them not too long ago. What was going on?

Shaking her head, Nozomi decided not to investigate it and leave the docking area. Kumogakure was way bigger than Kirigakure and what she had imaged. The great stone buildings that looked like they were reaching into the clouds looked marvelous. But Nozomi wasn't here to sight see, she was on a self-appointed mission.

Deep into the forest by the huge village was that of a market place. Tiny shops were set up that held fruits, food in general, maps... Anything travelers would need on their voyage. But there were no little children to run around and play here. That was because, this was the Black Market.

Men and women alike stood with Bingo books glued to their faces. They would ask shopkeepers to name their price on any information they could receive, then bargain it later.

Nozomi looked around, wondering which bounty hunter she could confide in for her conquest. Finally, after walking around a bit, one caught her eye.

"Eh? Another high-paying what? You cleaned them all out, you savage!" A shopkeeper grumbled. "I don't have anymore information for you. Unless you're willing to pay more money."

There was a man that stood by him who was talking to him. He had a mask covering most of his face and his eyes were very odd. Nozomi was pretty sure she had never seen someone with red eyes and green, pupil-less irides. They looked so peculiar, yet interesting.

At that moment, Nozomi decided she found her man. The male who would be able to perform her task for her. She took a chance and ran up to him. He disregarded her until she jumped in his field of vision.

"Excuse me sir. I need your help to do something."

The tanned male merely brushed her off without a thought before hearing her last sentence.

"I'll pay you."