Dungeon Farming

[Nafan~]

Senji scrambled up the rocky incline, kicking dust and rocks back into the mountain's depths behind him. Short of breath and time both, he hustled the last few meters out into the open chamber just off the main marketplace of Kumogakure. A grin was plastered on his young face as he sped his way through the corridor, apologising hurriedly to the guy he bumped into as he sped past into the busiest place in the whole village. Where are you, Sou-senpai? Senji thought excitedly as he clutched his precious treasure to his chest.

Never before had anyone been such a perfect combination of manically excited, super dirty and weirdly dressed. Everyone who saw him immediately classified him as clinically insane, and hurried out of his way as he ran as quickly as he could through the market place. "Sou-senpaiiiiiiiii~" Was his battle cry as he charged through the crowds of people, intent on finding his clearly reluctant quarry.

The reason for Senji's excitement was what he had so tightly clenched to his little chest. The dirt that covered him was testament to his long voyage into the depths beneath Kumogakure no Sato, into the old parts of the village that remained empty since it's original annexation. Between his little fingers was a hard, cold gem that was considered rare, even here in the bountiful, mineral-rich mountains of the Lightning Country. Senji's eyes sparkled as brightly as the jewel he hid, with equal amounts excitement and anxiety, while he searched for Sou. Stopped dead centre of the entire floor of the mountain, Senji simply turned around on the spot, looking at the people that passed him expectantly. He wanted to show Sou what he had found, and tell him all about the amazing adventure that lay ahead. All he had to do was find him first.

[Sanjuro]

"One house special, hope you enjoy."

The girl let out a giggle, the up and down motion of her chest entrancing Sou's gaze for a moment, before his eyes slowly trailed back up to her face. He gave her a small smile, nodded politely, and had one last quick look before continuing on his way. Walking along the length of the bar, the blond smiled at the amount of customers in the food stand. With this many hungry bellies there would be plenty of money flowing into the owner's purse, which would keep him happy. Finally reaching the end of the bar that his boss was sitting at, he leant his lower back and elbows against it, sliding a drink across to him before he finished asking for it.

"Looks like things are picking up. And you were worried that the war might have people losing their appetites." He chuckled when the boss just grunted and downed half the saucer of sake in one swig. A pre-teen showed up next to the boss, the man's son, and opened his mouth to demand something for free. Sou gave him a look and plonked a glass of water in front of him. "Cheapskates get water. You were supposed to be here half an hour ago to take over." He shook his head when the man downed it without even blinking and then proceeded to make his way around into the kitchen. Sou sighed and shook his head before turning to the boss. "I get why you hired me now." Again the man grunted and took another mouthful of his sake.

A chill ran down his spine when he heard his name echoing on the wind. He quickly ran down the list of people that could be searching for him. His mother was on a mission, he'd made lunch for his old man before leaving this morning, his older siblings were both at work, and his younger siblings should have been in the Academy. … Well at least whoever it was probably wasn't going to try and kill him then. Ducking out from behind the food bar, he poked his head out of the entrance to the gyūdon stand and searched the crowded streets of the Market District.

Oh. It was him.

"Yo boss, now that the brat's here I'm heading out."

"Hng. Let me know when you can work again. You're better in the kitchen than that useless sack of potatoes."

With a chuckle and a wave over his shoulder, he stepped out and started down the street towards the filthy magician. "Hey kid, would you stop shouting? You're gonna weird people out. ... More than you already do."

[GardenSalad]

Although it was common place to have pets around in the Ikimono compound, it was different for other Kumo residents. A glance here. A stare there. A whisper. Not out of spite, but curiosity. It's not everyday you see a 3.5m long, ambered coloured, black striped tiger walking casually along the vast trading district. Its fur glistened when it walked. Its mane on centre stage, present for all to see. It was pulled back but puffed out slightly, enough to know it had been recently brushed. The tiger sniffed the ground ahead, followed by a yawn, his thick pink tongue lashing out from his mouth; his infamous canines on clear display.

A shriek. Then a sigh of relief. The tiger's mouth shut closed and Tango continued to stroll down the stone courtyard, wagging its tail. Not bothered by the weight on top of him. Meanwhile, Leon laid on his back, his hands hung loosely by his sides. Relaxed. Feeling the slight rock of his body as the tiger moved. But his eyes remained closed. A steady breath. Thinking about nothing in particular. Simply at ease with himself.

Suddenly, he jolted. Leon's body fell back, wincing, but he managed to grip hard onto the tiger's fur for support. His eyes shot open. He felt dizzy. The area now filled with copious amounts of civilians, shouting, screaming, drawing others in. He looked out. A bar. Leon recognized where he was now. What he was supposed to get. Groceries. A tedious task, but after not being home in around two days or so, he figured the clan would forgive him once he brought back some staples he promised.

Leon hopped off Tango, landing on one foot then the other, steadying himself before glancing up. People had made room for him on either side. Similar to a parade, only he was the main attraction. He assumed it had something to do with a 300kg tiger, but because the two were inseparable, he brushed off the idea.

People are probably just intimidated.

After all, the two days away hadn't been kind to him. Dark rings formed underneath his eyes. His unkept, locks of jet-black hair, messy with no structure. He was clean but smelled like a strong pine oak. Unsettling and harsh on the nostrils at first, but eventually easing off to the simple smell of nature.

Leon figured that Tango had stopped at the sight of food, but as he turned, all he could see a colourful scrawny looking young magician. Leon was suprised. Tango was intrigued. Without command, Tango sniffed his little hands, looping his tongue around them. It appeared to have loosened the tight grip. A shiny object, now, started to dip from his hands. A glimmer of the gem caught Leon's eye as it fell. He went to speak up, but stopped. Instead, he watched Tango's uninterest in the matter, deciding that now is the perfect time to sniff the kid's clothes.

TangoShow

Ride
D-rank Taijutsu
When Leon gives the command 'ride', Tango will wait for his master to climb on top of him and get into a comfortable position. Once completed, Tango will move in the direction of where Leon points. After three posts Tango needs a rest.

[Nafan~]

A small exclamation of surprise escaped the boy's lips as even the distant crowd of people avoiding him parted to allow another misfit. The only difference was that this one was not human at all. The majestic burnt orange and black stripes were beyond beautiful, and those sand-coloured feline eyes held Senji's gaze transfixed in their alluring grace. Of course, he was far too rapped up in how absolutely divine this creature was to notice that it was now immediately before him, and was sniffing at his hands. When it's coarse tongue rasped its way across his hands, Senji couldn't help but giggle at the strange tickling sensation it caused. In trying to scratch at the affected area, he dropped his precious treasure that he had hoped to show Sou.

Whom had chosen just that moment to show up. With a start he jumped on the spot and swivelled his head immediately to look at the older blond haired boy approach. "Aah! Sou-senpai!" Senji exclaimed, making to bend over to pick up the thing he had just dropped. Unfortunately, the tiger he had just spent so much time admiring was very much in his way as it butted its nose up to him multiple times in an effort to examine the boy's scent thoroughly. "Uh, Hey.. No.. Sto-.. hahaha.. stop it!" Senji couldn't help but stumble and stutter his way through half phrases as the big cat sniffed at him, its wet nose tickling the skin it touched even more than the beast's sandpaper tongue.

Soon Senji was pushed over by the combination between his weak-kneed laughter and the tiger's curious head-butting. He lay on the ground, laughing uncontrollably as he gave up all thought of getting away. He couldn't even form the proper sequence of thoughts in his head to call out to Sou to tell him about the gem, all he could think about was how much it tickled. The boy's limbs flailed around frantically, throwing colourful ends of his clothes flying through the air as he rolled around.

[Sanjuro]

Sou eyed the lumbering beast that was nosing at his young friend for a moment, taking note of the way the crowds parted for the creature, trying to judge whether or not he should try to pull Senji away before he was eaten. When the kid started cracking up and dropped to the ground in peals of laughter, the blond sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head and a small smile breaking out onto his face. "Seriously…" Looking around, he noticed the ridiculous tall man that was watching the scene, more accurately watching the tiger, and made the logical assumption that the tiger belonged to the giant. He quirked an eyebrow at the man, as if questioning why he was letting the tiger run amok, but nodded in silent greeting all the same.

A glint of light caught his eye and made Sou pause mid head shake, his eyebrows furrowing. Crouching down, he picked up the stone that Senji had dropped earlier. Turning it over in his hand, he let out a slow whistle. He recognized this thing from books and stories. Reaching out with his other hand, he grabbed Senji by the collar and pulled the giggling mass away from the apparently inquisitive tiger. "You're making a scene." While he said this he pocketed the gem to make sure no one else caught a glimpse of it. The crowd seemed to be mostly focused on the tiger, thankfully. He trusted the people of Kumo, sure, but a gem like this one was worth a small fortune. Precautions had to be taken.

Leaning in close, he whispered in Senji's ear. "Exactly where did you find that gem? You realize how much that thing is worth, right?" Sou sincerely questioned Senji's sanity sometimes. Standing up, he looked down at the hand he had used to drag Senji away from the tiger and frowned at the dirt and muck that he had gotten on him from the boy's clothes. "Seriously, what have you been doing today?"

[GardenSalad]

Leon tried to fight his heavy eyelids, but it wasn’t long until the weight forced them closed. His mind wondered to the harsh chill of the woods. The stiffness of his limbs. The numbness. The conditions had made it difficult to hunt, where’d he’d been for the previous two days helping gather food. After all, he felt obliged and took it as a personal responsibility to help Tango’s family through tough times.

By the time his eyes shot open, attention pulled away from him. Tango was gone, and so were the two shinobi. He tried to listen in for a sign, but the horde of bodies shoving through the trading district made it impossible to predict. With a sigh, Leon followed the crowd down to the near grocer, knowing that Tango could take care of himself. He was sure they would re-unite soon enough.

--

Sniff, sniff sniff.

Tango was attracted to the scent of the boy. The chakra inside him flaring up, inhaling through the nostrils. To him, it was a combination of somewhere he’d been and something unusual. It was a fascinating new smell that must be identified. After a few seconds of trying to distinguish the difference, he was left with a loud groan. Now he couldn’t find Leon.

Fortunately for Tango, the tiger had just made two new companions. Even though they were now out of view, the intense feeling of chakra wouldn’t go away. He decided the best thing to do was to follow the trail. Soon, he was back, wagging its tail as a visual cue to show he was appreciative that he found them again.

Moving in between the two familiar faces, Tango swung out his tongue in both directions, trying to show he was friendly. Then, he sat down firmly on the ground, waiting for a pat.

Suddenly, his stomach rumbled. Tango was hungry.