We're Too Young; I Hate To Love You.

[Rhapsody]

It was hard living life on such stubby legs, he'd have you know. It wasn't so much natural predators anymore. Nah, he wasn't so weak as his brethren. If a hawk were to dive out of the skies now and try to gulp him down, Gohachiro could easily slice his way out of the unfortunate beast's belly and make a few pennies down at the market with the carcass. The vast, flat expanse of this land was more of a concern. The country of grass was fairly minuscule compared to most other countries, but still much larger than a tiny mouse.

The creature paused to clean his face and huffed quietly. He could feel his fur becoming sticky with sweat under the village amulet he wore around his neck - a symbol of stubborn pride, for no other mouse of his kind had the gall to order such a tiny thing to be made. (Even Nagataka, for whom anyone might have set themselves to a microscope and carved Kusagakure's emblem into a scrap of metal smaller than a fingernail.)

"Gohachiro-san?" came a tiny call. It was sweet - like a perfect bell tone, and the mouse felt a smile carve into his tiny face. He paused once, to test and sniff the air, and altered his course slightly, bounding as fast as he could. The grass around these parts was not so long, but it was the tawny color of gold and Gohachiro's coffee-colored fur didn't exactly stand out like a beacon. He'd have to climb up on his student's sandal before being noticed, and a gleeful expression appeared to greet him.

"Oi! Oi!" He objected the charm, glaring as the girl lifted him up to eye level. "You're late! Is that so acceptable? When I took you as my student, I outlined specific guidelines! I-" He was scolding a young Chuunin girl, perhaps no older than 15, and with a cherub face framed by chocolate locks. In truth, she had long since outgrown Gohachiro's teachings, what with her nearing Jounin Rank and all, but he still wasted no opportunity to assert his mousie authority.

Of course, being that Kisake Kohaku - that was the girl's name, you know - has been dealing with her small friend for quite some time now, she knew exactly how to defuse his rage. A cracker was produced, and shoved between his paws. Gohachiro's voice was easy to drown out with her own prattling, but Kohaku wished for his attention, too. When she spoke, the mouse's ears twitched in recognition.

"We've been assigned an important mission! Well, at least, I was... But I want you to come along, Gohachiro-san. It's a mission to recover some sort of intelligence from Takigakure no Sato. I think you'd be perfect for the job. And I've heard rumours that our partner... Or partners are from another village. They haven't told me much, you know! I don't even know how many Shinobi are on the team! Harakage-sama said to keep this thing under wraps, but was okay with me brining you. Please won't you come?"

She had a way with words, as most girls seemed to, and it wasn't long before she was skipping off to her leader's tree. It was a bright and clear day in the Country of Grass, too. And with the NCIA's control over the world having come to an end a good number of years ago, the pleasant feeling in the air was hard to miss. It was the feeling of freedom, and it brought smiles to everything.

After a few minutes of wandering, and even once stopping to eye up a stall in the marketplace plying gorgeous silk scarves, (much to Gohachiro's disdain) Kohaku would arrive outside the Haragake's office, and waited patiently to be admitted, confusion on her face when she saw the rest of her team.

ooc-

Kusagakure no sato. No NCIA control. I'm thinking like... 2, maybe 3 other rpers? [GOOD ONES T_T] :3 Ninja from any country are welcome to join. Gohachiro is a mouse summon, in case you were wondering. Oh, and Kohaku is a medic. /boredboredbored