To the Beat...

What a drag. Of all the days for nature to chose to be dull and lame it had to be the day of his first mission. Though the overcast was heavy, there wasn't any signs that would suggest it would rain. No, it just sort of gave everything a gray appearance. For someone as bright and exuberant as Satomi, this made the world appear very monochromatic as he stepped out the door and towards adventure. Everything about him seemed to stand out in stark contrast to his surroundings. From his blonde hair to the deep maroon of his shirt, even the lavender color of his shinobi headband seemed to stand out as it played double-duty in holding his hair back. He hadn't noticed how much it had grown since he had been in the academy, just another change as he paved his path to to this point. He also felt stronger and more at tune with himself, even his father would comment on how much quicker he was around the restaurant.

Satomi would have to put those thoughts aside today as he approached the men headquarters. The men acted as Hoshigakure's police force, a more civilian focused duty compared to that of other shinobi in the village, but no less of an important one. Today Satomi would be tasked with following around one of these peace officers through the city and if nothing else would improve his knowledge of the city layout. Provided it didn't look completely different when the weather isn't sucking the color from the village.

“Hello!” A voice called out. It was deep and felt a bit weathered as well, but somehow had a friendly vibe that didn't startle the new genin. Satomi's wandered up the stairs to the men building to find a tall, silver-haired gentleman standing at the top with a warm smile that could have rivaled Satomi's own. The man's age and experience was chiseled into his stubble-dusted features as he stood solidly at attention with his arm only raised to greet the young boy with a wave, proudly representing the star village with his uniform. Everything from head to toe appeared have but a hint of a wrinkle and then only those caused by the man's own movement, his gig line flawless from neck down. Even the zipper on his flak jacket was impressively straight. Satomi was thoroughly impressed, he could barely manage to keep his clothes neat longer than it took to leave the house.

Challenging the man's own smile with one of his own, Satomi's face just beamed as he returned the gesture as he climbed the stares to meet the man he was to accompany for a shift. “Oh! You know my name?”

“I'm good at doing my homework.” The guardsman let out a hard laugh as he extended his right hand out to Satomi whom in turn reached out with his own to complete the handshake. “And from what I've read, ya're not to shabby either. Just one question: Are ya a boy or girl?” Satomi's face grew flush in an instant. Was it just his name this time? Was he betrayed by his soft features and small frame again, or maybe it was his big blue eyes and lengthy golden locks this time. Certainly his exaggerated reaction as he spun away to look off in the distance didn't help clear anything up. “HAHAHA! No-no, don't worry, champ. I just wanted to see if I could get a rise out of ya.” Following the his big guffaw at Satomi's expense, the guardsman tugged his jacket over that pudgy belly all men seemed to get as they reached middle age.

It took the shinobi youth a few more moments to calm down before he could face the man again, a broad grin suddenly taking over his face. “Hah... hah. You know me, but I don't know anything about you.” Satomi quipped. “Do I just call you Chubs?” The guardsman erupted into another roar of laughter following the boy's attempt to get back at him.

“Ho-ho! The chops on ya, sonny.” The man seemed almost proud of the Hoshi youth before him. “I guess I deserved that one. I'm Guardsman Naoto Tannai and ya'll be my partner for the day!”

The weather hardly changed as the day gave way for the afternoon, still dull and gray, even the villagers seemed to just blend in. The only thing that seemed to bring any brightness to the Hoshigakure was Naoto, every time he stopped to speak with someone he somehow seemed to always improve their mood. A compliment, a bit of small talk, each interaction seemed to chase away the gray. Satomi was honestly impressed, Guardsman Tannai seemed so much like him. From the way he seemed to have a bounce in his step, to his big cheesy smile. Satomi began to wonder if he had a similar effect on others too? While he was expecting to be stopping thieves and chasing the odd vandal, it seemed his idea of what the day to day lives of the Queensmen entailed  and yet it seemed just as every bit as important in making the people of the village feel safe.

The afternoon continued to grow as the pair patrolled their beat, Satomi however had split his attention in an attempt at multitasking. Having picked up a rock during one of their stops, he decided to practice manipulating it with his chakra. Miyamoto had taught him the rock cane technique to ward off potential bullies at the academy, but having graduated to being a genin he no longer needed it for that. Even so he practiced every day, his chakra almost seemed to be tailor made for it as stretching and altering the stone's came natural. Surely there was more with the earth using his chakra than just creating a walking aid and improvised bludgeoning device.

He would have the opportunity to do just that the next time the queensman stopped. It was the usual meet and greet where he would introduce Satomi as his new partner and Satomi would be his usual cheery and jubilant self as they introduced themselves to him and return. Then there would be so much small talk and idle chit-chat between Naoto and those who he stopped to see. That was usually when Satomi had a chance to do a little exploring on his own, getting additional layout of the village he might not otherwise have gotten to experience. This time however, rather than just standing around with his hands in his pocket after he finished his mental cartography, he placed his rock down in front of him as he crouched to the ground. If he could manipulate a stone, why shouldn't he be able to do the same to the ground. It was just all one big piece of earth right?

Rubbing his hands together, Satomi channeled his earth tuned chakra into his hand before placing them on the ground. The using the same basic principles Miyamoto taught him to use for the rock cane jutsu, he let his chakra flow into the ground beneath him as he imagined the what he wanted the intended outcome to be.  It took a moment before the road under his rock began to show signs of life before suddenly launching the small stone a solid few inches into the air as a small one-by-one inch segment of the ground jutted up a few inches from the ground itself. The young shinobi couldn't have been more proud in himself; if he could do that with just a tiny bit of chakra, the possibilities of what he could do with more were enough to make him giddy.

"MY CABBAGES!!" The cry was carried perfectly down the village street, bouncing off of every building as it was funneled right into the ears of the queensman and Satomi. The latter of the two hopping up to his feet on full alert status, Naoto's hand resting upon his shoulder as if to tell him to wait as his well-trained eyes quickly spotted a suspicious figure sprinting away from an overturned cart of cabbages.

“Stay close, Satomi! A Queensman's other duty calls, upholding the law!”

“O-Okay!” Satomi's was quick to follow the queensman as he began pursuit, he was surprised at just how spirited Naoto appeared to be for a man of his age. If it wasn't for his ninja training, he wasn't sure he would have been able to keep up with him as the pair chased after the shadowy suspect, passing by the poor cabbage merchant gathering his scattered produce.

Darting and darting through side streets and alleyways, Satomi began to pull ahead of the queensman as his face reddened and breathing grew labored. The pair were closing in on their suspect, but even with all the spirit in the world an old body had its limits and Naoto's was steadily reaching his as he fought to replace the oxygen in his body as fast as his muscles were exhausting it.

“S-Satomi... let 'em... let 'em go.” Naoto panted, his face looking a lot like the red cabbage from the vendor's cart as his pace began to slow to little more than a brisk walk. A frown creased the edges of Satomi's mouth as he watched the culprit gain an increasing advantage on them. It wasn't pity he had for the old man, but a harbored sadness as he looked back at the queensman over his shoulder. He could see the look of disappointment mixed with diminishing determination in Queensman Naoto's eyes as his body tried its damnedest to push on. The man not really wanting to adhere to his own words. Satomi had to do something, Naoto would get his man!

Satomi wanted to practice his new found ability to manipulate earth a bit more before he devised any practical use out of it, but time was of the essence. A thunderous clap exploded down the alley loud as he collected chakra into his hands before he dropped to his knees and planted them palm first to the ground. The whole passage coming to life with the sounds of refuse containers clinking and clanging together, rattling violently. The spectacle was enough to gain the attention of their suspect, the shadowy figure peering back to glimpse at the cause of the ruckus. It would be their undoing as with their attention behind them they were unaware of risen plot of the path before them, the result which would trip them up and lead to their downfall. Literally as they flailed wildly through the air before meeting the ground face first before sliding to a stop a short distance later.

For all the commotion Satomi caused, he only managed to lift the land a mere foot. But every jutsu starts somewhere and he still managed to buy both him and Naoto enough time to catch up to the suspect as they attempted to recover from their spill. On their approach it became clear that the suspect was a male teenager, clothed head to toe in black. His choice of attire seemed to be more of a fashion choice than attempt at a disguise.

Naoto's had recovered well enough as they approached, his expression however was one of disappointment than of accomplishment as his old eyes recognized the individual they had been chasing. “Again, Jiro?”

“Queensman Tannai! Don't t-tell my parents, pleeeeease?” The teen spoke up as he collected himself and sat in the dirt.

“Why'd ya do it, Jiro?”

“The guys put me up to it, it was a dare.”

Naoto snorted and scoffed, his disappointment only seemed to be reaffirmed as he listened to the boy's tale. “Ya don't need to be hanging out with those other boys. Their a bad influence, my boy.”

“Yes Mr. Tannai.”

“Tell ya what, sonny.” Naoto reached down to help Jiro to his feet and brushed him off, Satomi watched closely as the pair chatted some more about the potential consequences of Jiro's actions. It looked more like a parent scolding a child than a peace officer coming down on a culprit, Satomi actually found it rather sweet. “Now that you understand, you're going to go back and apologize to that man for tipping his cart.”

“Yes. Mr. Tannai.” Jiro sulked, his head hung low and shameful. The embarrassment wasn't enough to stop the teen from giving the young Shinobi a dirty glare as he passed him. Satomi suppressing the urge to snicker as his hair was ruffled every which way by a chortling queensman.

“Ah-ha-ha! That's sure some ability ya got there, kiddo!” Naoto beamed, the appropriate color seemingly have returned to his face. “But sometimes ya have to know when to let 'em go. Jiro's a good kid, he just gets caught up trying to impress his peers sometimes.”

Satomi nodded quietly, it was something that he thought about as the pair continued back on their patrol as the afternoon called it a day. It was time for evening to take its shift and for Queensman Naoto's and partner Satomi's shift to end as they returned to the station before they would part ways. The queensman had a report to file and the genin had a completed mission to report.

Approved for everything except the stat points. You can not claim stat points from C rank and below missions and even then you can only claim up to 10 stat points on b rank and above missions

Kobayashi Senshi <3 wrote:Approved for everything except the stat points. You can not claim stat points from C rank and below missions and even then you can only claim up to 10 stat points on b rank and above missions

My bad, sorry!

Hey no worries honest mistake now you know for the future this was your first mission it was to be expected