Holding the Line

As per usual with every Shinobi's career, one is not a real Shinobi until they've experienced a guarding type of mission. While Jounin and Anbu protected more valuable persons such as Daiyamo, Kage, and royal members of a family, Chuunin got to experience the thrill of protecting an objective in their early days. Chuunin get the opportunity to protect a lightly targeted objective— Namakemono's case, the village.

A long yawn and a stretch of both arms gave a representation of Nama's attitude towards the task he was given as he was exiting the office building.  After dropping his morning warm-up off at the hospital, the Chuunin still had a long day ahead of him before he could retire for the day. Surprisingly, one of his favorite quest happened to be at his go today. Chuunin regularly take on "real" ninja duties such as stealing, assassinating, and patrols. A very low-level and basic type of guarding mission is outpost duty. Nothing spelled a good day for Nama than sitting back in a house for twelve hours until his shift was over. It was when he was given the mission, Namakemono's day was already made. His daydreaming entertained himself as he began his travels to the gates of the village. Ahhh! Couldn't have been a better day to be chosen as a guardsman! What could be better than hanging out in the forest with some good friends in my class and a well stocked food source! Namakemono have a slight grin trying to hide the pleasures ahead of his day while unaware of his current position. Ohh if I'm lucky, Maybe Ayumi is on the same duty as I am! Awesome! His grin became wider as one side of his teeth were exposed. Nama's cheeks blushed and fist clenched at the glorious thoughts processing through his head, confident in his luck.

Suddenly, a loud clunk could be heard to anyone within the gate's vicinity. A sharp pain pulsed on Nama's forehead as he naturally pressed his hand against the damaged area to help prevent swelling. Large gales of laughter irritated Namakemono as he gave an expression of pain on his face while looking up from the ground.

"What happened?"

Nama slowly opened his eyes to see himself on his bottom against the dirt road just before the gates. Sitting directly in front of one of the gate's outpost boxes, he saw two of his classmates: Kitsune and Natsu.

"Yo Nama, that's why you wear the forehead protector AROUND the forehead!"

"Idiot."

They both resumed their laughter as Namakemono looked at both his upper arms where he usually kept his forehead protector. Shit...did I forget my headband? Rubbing his palm against his forehead where he was clubbed, the laughter died down as Natsu spoke given slight hints of his uncontrollable chuckling.

"You need some help there?"

"I'm fine."

Forcing himself off the ground he patted his palms against his pants to brush off some dirt. Rubbing his fingertips on his forehead he felt no sign of broken skin or blood. He relaxed.

"Hey, I was stationed in one of the outpost for guard duty. Find my name on the list, will ya?"

Kitsune traced his finger down a sheet of paper until he stopped at a name and followed it to the side with numbers written in a slot.

"Outpost number one-hundred."

"Thanks. Catch you guys later!"

Namakemono continued his journey as he waved back at the two, catching a few sounds of snickering after turning his back on them. Those guys... Scoffing as he made a sharp turn into the wilderness, the Chuunin found his designated outpost a couple kilometers off from the village. He fixed his hair to cover the small bruise obtained from his clumsy daydreaming, however the length of his short hair didn't fall into his favor. Through the shady forest Nama spotted the outpost in the sunlight. It was surrounded by a clearing in the forest making it ideal to spot for lets say a lost villager. Two men leaned against the house outside the door, one unknown to Namakemono but the other was a classmate. He exchanged smiles and waves at the man he knew and stepped inside the house. Sink, fridge, pantry, table w/chairs, television, and a couch against the wall. Three windows let in natural light with an unlit oil lantern at the center of the table for night duty. Nama was stationed from nine to nine, a twelve hour shift.

Out of the six people in usual outpost, there were only half present including Nama. He shrugged at this and fixed himself a glass of water and pulled a large bag of chips from the pantry. Placing the cup on a nightstand next to the couch, Nama opened the snack bag and pulled a remote and entertained himself with the channels on the T.V. set.

Eventually the other three of the squad returned to the outpost an hour or two later. It appeared the three went on a patrol around the forest to slaughter an threats which could be located within the area. No signs of enemies spotted within the diameter of the house, which was of course a good thing. Namakemono finished his bag of chips, in which he tossed on the ground, and drifted off into a long nap. Several hours later he awoken to four of the members inside the house; the last Shinobi Nama presumed was outside. The Chuunin woke from the laughter of his comrades. Damn...guess she wasn't here... Sitting up to only notice he was parched, Nama rubbed his eyes and turned around to grab his water cup. Half full. Chugging down the rest of the water he placed the cup on the nightstand before asking still in a daze.

"What time is it?"

"About eight thirty-nine."

An anonymous member would speak from the ground huddled at the table. Looking down at the group he noticed a card game going on between the four. The loser probably gets to take watch which explains the missing member from the group of six. Adreniline surged through his body as his eyes opened widely in astonishment before he spoke.

"Eight thirty-nine! I should have left almost half an hour ago!"

Tossing his legs over to the side of the couch he sprung up with great speed and charged out the door not bothering the close it. Passing through the boarders of the outpost Namakemono dashed through the dark and dangerous wilderness. Nama ran at his top speed as his eyes focused ahead. He relied more on his chakra sensing ability rather than actual vision due to the dense forest providing very little visibility, especially at night. Nama passed the night watch group making their way towards the outpost which further inspired the Chuunin to pick up his own pace. I should be half way by now! Gotta go fast! Leaning forwards he let his arms dangle back as he ran in a full sprint to his destination. The forest began to illuminate slightly as he approached the village limits. Making a hard turn, Namakemono faced the entrance of the gates.

His legs bent from the squatting position, he leaped high into the air, crossing the gates and back into the village. Nama slowed his pace once he was within the gates. I'm ahead of the gang...I will be the first to claim the reward! Nama snickered to himself while passing crowds and approached the massive building which housed the Hokage's office and more importantly, the mission board.

Successfully reporting the zero crimes or threats in the vicinity, Namakemono was let off for the night with twelve-hundred more Ryo to his bank account. All he did was smile and wave back at the banker knowing he had the whole night to himself, with a larger wallet.

[Exit]