Looking around me, I smiled when I felt the light breeze in my hair, the scent of earth and sap lingering in the air.
I was currently alone, Anko and Kurenai going off on their own down the river we followed to reach here.
As for me, I was staying at the top of the river, my bow already in my hands as I stood in a tree, waiting for something to come my way.
It didn't take long, as a large deer walked into the area, looking around wearily before picking at the berry bush below me.
As it ate, I grinned as I nocked an arrow, taking aim at the large neck of the deer.
Drawing the arrow back I took a breath before...
Letting the arrow fly, I watched as it easily pierced the thick neck, making the deer stumble forwards.
Taking a few steps, it eventually collapsed with a thud, blood slowly leaking from the wound.
Observing the area around me, I made sure nothing was near before dropping from the tree, drawing a kunai as I approached the sputtering deer.
It turned its eyes towards me, fear and anger mixing in its gaze.
I smiled down at it, before raising the kunai and slashing its throat, watching as more blood gushed from the wounds.
As the life left its eyes I cleaned my kunai and retrieved the arrow, clicking my tongue at the blunted arrowhead.
Placing them back in their respective holsters, I waited for the deer to full die out before unfurling a storage scroll, placing the corpse into the scroll before jumping back into the tree, hoping that some predator would be interested in the scent of blood.
After all, I had noticed briefly that the more prominent pelts and skulls on the warriors were predatory, with any other pelts being used for auxiliary clothing of items like pouches or decorations.
That meant that while the meat and bones were still valuable, the pelt, which back in the Land of Fire would be worth a good bit, was viewed as an almost undesirable material.
Leaning against the tree again, I waited and waited for a predator, the sun slowly cresting the sky.
~~~
Kurenai PoV
After hearing the Chief Priestess Hailyte's request, we had sat down at the table, discussing the pros and cons of staying, as well as whether or not to accept the request to hunt this 'Basan' she told us about.
I could tell that both Anko and Kokoro had found that idea enjoyable, Anko because she wished to hone her skill as a warrior while Kokoro wanted to feel the thrill of the hunt.
Sighing, I continued traveling down the river, shaking my head as I realized the two women I had tied myself to were quite... bloodthirsty.
Anko reveled in peoples pain, both on the battlefield and in the bedroom. She was an excellent assassin, infiltrator, and most importantly, a torturer. Her skill with a kunai and poisons were above even some of the Aburame and Nara clans. Anko was one of the more deadly Chunin, and now Special Jonin, in our village.
As for Kokoro, her logical approach to her engagements, her skill with the longbow and with a sword, as well as her versatile wind jutsu, made her a skilled assassin. In fact, she may have more assassinations under her belt than Anko and I. Besides that, she was alive during the climax of the Third Shinobi war, with who knows what experiences during that time. After all, even though she is only two or three years older than me, those two or three years gave her more experience than I could ever imagine. After all, being alive during the climax of a Shinobi War would mold a person more than participating when there were few skirmishes happening.
I sighed again, wondering just what the woman I fell in love with experienced in her life.
Those years separating us were... larger than the two years separating Anko and I. The weight she must have bared as a Genin, maybe Chunin during that time was something we could never imagine.
Hearing the growl of an animal below me, I looked down to see a bear wearily watching a wolf circle around it.
Dropping between them, I quickly activated a basic genjutsu, muddling the senses of the beasts before palming a kunai, using Body Flicker to hasten my speed and slash the kunai across their throats, moving away as they started swiping their paws towards random areas to 'ward' me off.
Waiting, I pulled out my storage scroll and prepared to collect them.
Seeing the large bodies of both animals, their brown pelts lush and shiny.
Collecting their corpses, I smiled before making my way back towards the village, chuckling as I imagined Kokoro's surprise as she saw my haul.
The journey back was quick, no beasts sensing me as I jumped from tree to tree.
Seeing the familiar lake and walled village, I made my way to the gate, looking at the two tall women standing on the wall, their green eyes narrowing as they saw me.
Raising the medallion that the Chieftess had given us, they nodded before opening the gates.
I entered the village, making my way quickly towards our temporary lodging.
Setting foot into the house, I was instantly met with the sight of Anko lounging on a chair, her eyes fixed on the table as she mumbled something to herself.
"Anko?"
Turning towards me, she smiled before getting up, instantly giving me a kiss before leading me back to the table.
Pulling me onto her lap, I gave her a look, sighing as I felt her familiar stiffness.
Burying her face into my neck, I shivered as I felt the warmth of her breath ruffle my hair.
"Anko, what's wrong?"
She groaned, burying herself deeper before muttering "There's... something wrong with me..."
My heart clenched, and I quickly turned in her lap, looking down at her with worry.
"What? Tell me Anko! Kokoro will be here soon, so we'll have her-"
Looking up at me with a pout, Anko's brown eyes were glistening as she whined "I didn't manage to catch anything! What'll Kokoro think of me after returning home with nothing to show for a days work..."
Letting out a low growl, I grabbed her two cheeks and started pulling, making her wince.
"Damnit Anko, don't scare me like that!"
Letting her cheeks go, I leaned my head on her shoulder, taking a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
"Never do that again, Anko... seriously, that's not funny..."
She chuckled slightly, running her hands gently through my hair.
"Sorry, sorry... I didn't think you'd take it that bad..."
Hearing the door opening, I turned to see the familiar figure of Kokoro entering the house.
~~~
Kokoro PoV
Raising a brow, I looked at the scene of Kurenai sitting in Anko's lap, leaning her head on her shoulder as Anko gently pat the pouting woman.
Covering my mouth, I said "Oh my~, should I leave? Give you girls some privacy?"
Seeing the dry look Kurenai gave me, I chuckled before closing the door behind me, sitting down besides them.
Anko refused to meet my gaze, making me raise a brow again.
"Anko almost gave me a heart attack a few moments ago..."
Kurenai's voice was tired, and I narrowed my eyes at the fidgeting Anko.
"Why? What'd she do?"
Sighing, Kurenai removed her head from Anko, glaring down at the woman as she said "She said 'There's something wrong with me...' before telling me she was worried about what you'd think when you found out she didn't catch anything."
I glared at Anko, making her shiver, before getting up.
Standing behind her, I wrapped my arms around her throat, leaning down towards her ear as I whispered "Well, she would certainly not think well of you teasing Kurenai like that~"
Glancing at Kurenai, I smirked as I continued "In fact, she would think you'd need to be punished~"
Anko shivered as Kurenai grinned at her, getting my message.
Gulping, Anko gave us a wry smile as she said "N-Now hold up, I-I never meant to worry her! I sw-swear! Wait! WAIT!"
~~~
I got up with a smirk, looking down at the fatigued figure of Anko.
Standing beside me was Kurenai, also smirking down at Anko.
We turned our gazes towards one another, nodding before entering the bath to clean up.
Finishing another quick session, we dressed ourselves and grabbed the scrolls, Anko still twitching slightly on the floor.
"Anko dear, we'll be back soon~"
She shivered again at my voice, and I grinned as she looked up at me with slight fear.
"Come on Nai~"
Grabbing my raven-haired wife's hand, I led her out towards the yard, where we quickly strung up our prey.
Looking over the corpses of a deer, bear, and wolf, I nodded in appreciation at the sizes and pelt quality.
Replacing the bear and wolf into the scroll, I made my way towards the market, Kurenai behind me.
"What are we looking to get? Weapons? Metals?"
I chuckled, looking back at Kurenai before saying "Spices and other foodstuffs, soaps, utilities. I hate to break it to you, but we are likely to be here for awhile. I don't want to be eating bland foods if I can help it, and I want to actually wash myself off, not just rinse."
I chuckled harder at the disbelief in Kurenai's crimson eyes as she stared at me, before taking us to the market.
Under two dozen stalls were set up, the owners peddling various goods to the passing women.
I looked around, nodding when I saw the familiar figure of Yunache sitting beside a stall, yawning as looked around with a bored gaze.
Seeing us, she smiled before saying "What brings the Outsiders here?"
"I have two corpses with me; a bear and a wolf. They seem to have a little amount of earth chakra in them, but not enough to really matter. I wanted to turn them in for other items. Is there a currency here, like coins, or do you just barter?"
"Both. We use little coins made from the weak metals in the area, like copper and silver. They have no use besides decoration. However, many will prefer to just barter with parts of the animal, like bones, teeth, meat, or even the whole pelt."
Nodding, I asked "Well, would you like to buy the animals from us? I would feel more comfortable bartering with coin rather than goods."
Yunache nodded, gesturing to the space beside her.
Understanding her meaning, I placed the corpses beside her, watching as she walked around them, inspecting them by gently lifting their lips, looking at the claws, and feeling their pelts.
"Hmm... I'll give you 23 silvers for the bear, and 14 silvers and 50 coppers for the wolf."
Listening in on the crowd, I heard that the price for some spices had been just a silver, making me nod.
"Oh, is the conversion rate 1:100?"
Yunache pulled out her purse, nodding at me, before counting out the coins.
Handing me 37 silvers and 50 coppers, I looked at the mountain of coins in my hand, pursing my lips.
Chuckling, Yunache handed me a small pouch as well, before shooing us away.
I chuckled as well, leading Kurenai around the market as I purchased what we needed. Since we had decided to stay, I wanted to absolutely fill each scroll we owned with valuable materials, as well as get ourselves some good weapons, even if we needed thousands of silvers to do so.
We reentered our temporary home, Anko shuddering when she saw us, immediately scurrying to the bedroom and locking the door.
Exchanging amused looks, we set about storing everything we bought away, before I moved outside and started skinning and butchering the deer.
The day passed quickly, and as night fell we broke back into the bedroom, meting out another punishment to our mischievous wife.