Spoiler:

Yamazu had heard the general call out for shinobi for this particular mission. It was available to anyone, which meant that the authority was eager to find this Arcadia Kinzoku or that they had no real hope of finding her. Either way, it was a call that the Monkey Sage could not refuse. This was his home, and these were his people. If even one of them needed his help then he would be there to lend a hand. Of course, there was no guarantee that this Arcadia would want his assistance. He knew that she was a jounin like himself and so could take care of herself. Most likely, the drop in ANBU was the reason that they were not looking for her. Her disappearance was not the only one however. The Hokage himself had gone missing! That thought alone cause Yamazu great worry and made him wonder why both of them had gone missing almost at the same time.

Shihouin-san had stepped in to take charge after that, although why he was picked and the other reasons surrounding his promotion where unknown to him. It was unsurprising that Yamazu was out of the loop once again. He had a habit of wandering off and missing the important announcements. But why not make this wide call out for help in aid of the Hokage? Why so desperate to look for this one jounin when the leader of Konoha was gone? Perhaps this Arcadia was important to Shihouin-san? Yamazu did not know. There were so many things in the world that the Monkey Sage simply did not know.

Yamazu thought back to that day when he was paired up with Shihouin Uchiha to retrieve those documents. Despite the mission being successfully and flawlessly completed, he could not shake the feeling that something, somewhere, had gone horribly wrong while he was on it and that it was his own fault. No matter how hard Yamazu thought on it however, the feeling would not form into a coherent idea. But it niggled at him and that worried the Monkey Sage. He might have to talk to Shihouin-san after his mission.

Reaching the market area where Arcadia-san was last thought to be seen, Yamazu cast the dark cloud from his mind. Now was not the time for this. He had a fellow shinobi to find who may be in trouble! Fixing his big smile back in place, he started asking nearby stall and store owners if they had seen anyone bearing the description that ANBU had given him.

As it was, he struck luck after only ten to fifteen minutes of asking. A nice man selling fish recalled the young lady's face and features. He seemed to remember some features more than others and it took Yamazu some time before he could make the merchant reveal that she had made her way to a ramen shop not far from his stall. Thanking the man, Yamazu dashed off to the ramen store to get some more info on his search.

And maybe some ramen too. He was working quite hard, after all.

Yamazu managed to find his way to the ramen shop without much bother. The directions from the pervy fish merchant had been very accurate and he was able to get there in minutes. Looking around the store for a moment for anything unusual or out of place and finding nothing, the Monkey Sage entered the food store. Even if he hit a dead end here, at least he would be able to get something tasty to eat!

As Yamazu pushed aside the dangling trailers that hung from the store's doorway and walked into the shop, he noticed the funny looks the patrons were giving him. He was more than used to this kind of treatment now and knew that his bizarre appearance and attitude where the focus of more than a few jokes around the Village. But he did not mind. In fact, some of the jokes he heard where actually quite funny! He did not fool himself into thinking that everyone in Konoha was his friend. Indeed, he doubted he had a single real friend in the entire village now that his master, his sensei and both of his old team-mates where gone. But the Monkey Sage knew that, no matter what these people thought of him, no matter how much they joked at his expense, he would die for every single one of them without hesitation. This place had taken him in with open arms and he would repay that generosity with his undying loyalty.

Making his way to the counter of the store, Yamazu gave the server a big friendly smile. The young woman did not seem put at ease however, and look somewhat creeped out by it. The warm smile never leaving his face, the Monkey Sage began to ask his questions.

"I'm looking for a girl", he began. This drew a disgusted look from the young woman serving him and, realising the mistake in the way he had worded it, hastened to explain further.

"No! No! No, not like that, no! She's a shinobi, like me. She's missing and I'm on a mission to find her". The young lady raised her eyebrow in disbelief as Yamazu's face went red and he continued his questioning. "I need to know if you may have seen her here recently, I heard she came in to eat. She's about five foot eight, black hair, green goldy eyes, pale and answers to the name Arcadia Kinzoku?"

For a moment the girl just looked at him blankly then said, "Are you going to order anything?"

Confused, Yamazu scratched his head and asked, "What has that got to do with it?"

"Look, I only help paying customers. You want to something to eat? Buy something. You want to use our restroom? But something. You want to know if I saw your friend? Then buy something", the lady replied, putting heavy emphasis on the last three words. Realisation dawned on Yamazu's face and he smiled again, pulling out some notes from his pocket and placing them on the table.

"I'll have a cup of plain ramen with nothing on them, and the information I'm looking for. To go, please", he chirped happily. Rolling her eyes, the lady snatched the money off the counter and got to work on the simple meal, speaking over her shoulder while she did so.

"Yeah, I saw someone like that in here not too long ago when I was serving some other customers. Kept to herself, bought some food and left. Looked like she was headed over towards the fields".

"Wait, if you were serving other patrons, then how did you know which direction she went?" Yamazu asked.

"I didn't", she replied, glaring at a man who had just entered the shop with some bags before returning to the ramen. "My husband and several of the other gentlemen hung their heads out of the door to watch her leave".

Even more confused, Yamazu turned to ask the man a question. "Excuse me sir, but I believe you saw a young woman I am looking for. About five eight, black hair, a shinobi-

"Ah yes, I remember her", the man said, cutting Yamazu off. He sighed, a dreamy look passing across his face. "She was the only shinobi we had in that day".

"So... why did you watch her leave?" Yamazu queried, a look of comical confusion on his face. The man's face split into a lecherous grin as he replied.

"Well you see, she had the greatest pair of t-", he began, but when he saw his wife behind the counter (trembling head to toe for some reason) something seemed to catch in his throat and he gave a hacking cough before fleeing through the employee's door. There was a slam behind Yamazu and he nearly fell out his seat, only to find the young woman had roughly placed his meal onto the counter with a murderous look on her face.

"Here's your food", she said, fairly spitting the words out before following her husband through the door he retreated into. Moments later, loud shouting came bellowing from the same direction and the Monkey Sage decided that it was time to make a tactical withdrawal from the ramen shop.

It was time to check out the area around the training grounds. Although if he was called back to investigate a domestic disturbance gone bad, Yamazu would not be overly surprised.

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