The exchange

The door creaked open, light flooding into the interior of the store. Through the now open door in stepped Yamamoto, grey hair catching in the light. Yellow green eyes scanned the interior, running over the goods on display before stepping forth to the counter. As nice as the goods on display were, Yamamoto was not here for them. The swordsman had a much greater design in mind: a custom set of armour, designed and fitted to the exact contours of her form coupled with maybe some other special additions.

"Excuse me?" At first, she saw nobody at the counter and so, after clearing her throat, she called out, wondering if anybody was here before turning her gaze back onto the weapons on display. In truth, the swordsman was nowhere near qualified to tell if any of these products on display were of good quality or not...except for the weapons. Those she could tell were well made. Her years of experience with the blade had given her the insight required to tell from a glance the worth of a weapon.

Kara didn’t much like standing in the building that Damien used to work in. The blonde woman had initially come here to begin drafting up renovations, but she had been less than successful as just entering the space had overwhelmed her with renewed grief. She had instead chosen to sequester herself in the back office, a bottle of Damien’s signature alcohol ‘The Darhk Dragon’ in her one hand. She normally preferred sake, but scotch was equally capable of numbing her pain. A high functioning alcoholic due to her inability to manage her emotional distress, Kara was able to drink nearly all the time without affecting her senses too direly.

So when she heard a voice call out from the front, she placed the bottle down on the desk and stood while smoothing out the wrinkles from her black floor length gown. She had taken off her shoulder wrap and she briefly considered replacing it to obscure her right arm which was missing from three inches below her right elbow, but the alcohol apparently dulled her need to present as ‘perfect’ as well and she strode with authority into the front of the shop without it. Kara’s golden eyes settled on a young woman and she would smile at her in her well practiced manner. Kara had been in the business of soothing the masses since as far back as she could remember, with her wit and experience it was a simple thing really. A smile or honeyed word, all with the intention and subsequent effect of getting exactly what she wanted. There was only one man who had had the mental fortitude to deny her and was now her business partner - Okane Tomi, the Grand Merchant. Even Damien Darhk, a man she admired and loved more than life itself, had been unable to resist her. Her voice smooth as the silk she wore Mistress Kara addressed the shinobi. “How may I be of service?”

“Hello. I trust you are the proprietor?” Yamamoto’s hollow eyes took in the details of the woman before her. Amber eyes, pale hair, a missing arm and the black silk outfit. One may have expected it to draw out appreciation from the swordsman but in truth, she was entirely neutral to it. A face was a face. Clothing was clothing. The swordsman simply tilted her head sideways, pausing to consider things before she was snapped back to earth. She had been here to make an order hadn’t she? Yamamoto fumbled around inside of her clothing, withdrawing a single scroll that she unfurled and placed upon the table.

“I was hoping to order the armour drawn below? I have no knowledge of armour crafting but I do hope this drawing serves to illustrate my request.” The armour was a black colour thing, smooth plates of ebony forming a full set of breastplate, greaves, armoured boots and vambraces. These would be paired with a wide brim hat decorated with tassels. The entire armour was also decorated with some rather attractive flame patterns, the only real source of colours other than black.

“How much would this cost? My neighbour designed this for me visually but neither of us are able to design it from a material perspective. As such I was hoping for your expertise in designing it as well as creating it.” Hopefully that would be enough to establish what had brought Yamamoto here today.

Kara’s practiced smile became genuine as she watched the addled girl with amusement. “Kara Darhk.” She didn’t bother to answer the girl’s question, merely nodding and waiting for what would inevitably be a request for custom work. It was always something custom with these young shinobi, in many ways it was becoming evident that Suna and Kumo were very similar. The grey haired young woman seemed to be struggling with her attention span, and so she would stare down at her with a look of absolute patience, again practiced though the difference between sincerity and ‘customer service’ was usually far above the notice of the common rabble.

Glancing down at the offered drawing she would pick up the paper and study it for a moment, drawing the schematics in her mind as she listened to the young woman’s request. A few seconds later she would return her gaze to the customer and nod again. “Yes this can be done. Simple enough. As for the price I can give you two options, but you must decide now.” Kara enjoyed making money of course, but there were many things much more valuable than money. “I can charge you for materials, which will come to eighty thousand ryo. Or it can cost you nothing and you will owe me a favour to be collected at a time I choose in the future. I have a vested interest in ensuring the strength of Kumogakure and so I am willing to be more. . . generous.” It was not truly generosity, certainly not the type of philanthropic nature that guided every one of her parent’s decisions. She would still make a profit either way though so either answer was acceptable to her. And she was sincerely invested in strengthening Kumogakure, after the fall of Moonspire and death of her love, and then being told that she was most likely the next target. . . It simply wouldn’t do for the military tasked with keeping safe the citizens of her new home to be unarmed and unarmored. She would pull out a blank work requisition sheet and begin filling it out with relevant information, the girl’s design, height and various measurements. After giving her a moment to reply, and assuming she agreed to have Kara create the armor for her, she would ask her name and then order her to turn, making a note of all pertinent measurements for the design. Kara’s memory was perfect and so she didn’t need to write any of it down, but she had found it made her customers less anxious to see it.

“Ah?..I am Yamamoto.” The swordsman returned to her silent vigil, watching and waiting for Kara’s answer. Would she be willing to take on the work? Could she perform the work? Is the design even possible to begin with? And perhaps the most important question, how much would it cost? All of these questions were eventually answered, in almost the same order that Yamamoto had asked the questions of herself.

The swordsman was faced with a choice. Pay up in cash upfront and immediately, for both labour and materials, or to have the fee waived in return for a favour in the future. The grey haired youth brought her right hand up to her chin, grasping it softly as she pondered the options ahead of her. The way Yamamoto saw it, the two choices presented to her were high risk and low financial cost, vs low risk and high financial cost. Hmm...she was also curious what kind of favour Kara would call in.

“I will pay you in full but....hmm… ” Yet more fumbling and out from Yamamoto’s clothing she withdrew a large wad of money and placed it down upon the counter. Upon counting it would be revealed to be eighty four thousand eight hundred Ryo, more than enough to cover the cost of the labour and materials.

“Hmmm….exchanging services and goods in return for a favour seems rather generous, almost suspiciously so. It is none of my business but...I can not deny I am curious as to why you would offer that?” Yamamoto’s head tilted sideways, curiosity gripping her thoughts. Yamamoto would turn around, allow Kara to measure her body and take in the details of her deceptively muscular form.

Kara gave another nod as Yamamoto chose the physical currency option. It was the safer choice, though it told Kara all she needed to know about the girl. With a quick glance she counted out the extra ryo and separated it from the pile clearly indicating that four thousand and eight hundred of it be taken back.

Her question made Kara laugh and she gave the young woman a wink as she answered. “It is not generous my dear. The main currency of the elite is not this. . .” she would gesture with her left hand to the pile of ryo on the counter. “. . .this is merely a shorthand for favours. You earned this through what? Labour? Risk of bodily harm through the military? Those were promises, favours if you will. Someone wished something from you, might or combat I assume, and you gave it for the promise of future currency. It is all very mundane and usual. The money is fine and you owe me no more than this, but as a bit of unasked for advice. Never forget how much value lies in your skills, not just your money, with me or anyone else. Come back to me in a week and a half and I will have your armor made for you. And I assure you, it will be the finest you have ever worn.”

A laugh. A wink. Yamamoto could only tilt her head sideways for the third? The fourth time that evening? Regardless, it was the only response she could mention. Her soft eyes twisted into a confused expression, for she was pondering what had brought forth such a response from Kara. Her curiosity was soon satisfied as the armourer explained how money was simply a shorthand for favours, which logically meant that the opposite was true. Favours were a shorthand for currency.

“I see..hm hm. Yes. That does make sense. In fact, that is a far more reasonable way of looking at things. The value of money is in the favours it had purchased…” She had learned something today but it seemed Bishamonten was conspiring to ensure that she would learn more things today. As Yamamoto reclaimed her change, tucking the far smaller bundle of notes away inside her clothing, she was given an additional lesson. It was one she had already known but the reinforcement of the lesson was appreciated.

“Hmm...thank you Darhk-shi. After all….” A downcast and hollow expression covered Yamamoto’s features, the colour and life draining from her eyes. She looked towards a nearby sword decorating the walls before refocusing her gaze upon her right hand. Then, in a wistful and transitory tone she spoke the following words:

“Yes...that is correct...my skills are all these hands hold...goodbye Darhk-senpai. I will return in exactly eleven days.” She bowed her head ever so slightly before turning away from Kara, making out of the store in a manner so peaceful and relaxed that it was almost as if her body did not exist beyond what could see.

[Thread exit]

Kara nodded as the girl answered her. Her advice had been well received it seemed, and something in the exchange had warmed Kara’s heart just a touch. As Yamamoto left, Kara would sigh deeply once she was out of earshot and take the paperwork into the back with her, picking up with the bottle where she had left off. It was going to be deeply painful working in this shop, at least Damien had been thoughtful enough to leave a lifetime's supply of scotch to ease her broken heart.

[Exit Thread - Claiming 80k ryo from Yamamoto]