Teacher for a Day [Solo, P, NK, D-Rank Mission]

Mission Link

Tapping her nails against her desk, Mayuri Otonari grinned, her excitement growing with every little student that filed into the room. Her room. Oh, yes... The woman was simply ecstatic! She twirled a wispy lock of brunette fringe around her a finger on her idle hand. 7:56. It was about to begin.

Today, Mayuri had forgone her usual attire. She dressed instead in a denim pencil skirt and patterned maroon button-down, her shirt tucked into her bottoms, her feed clad in heels. Mayuri's long hair was worn in a sleek, high bun, tendrils falling down to frame her face, while lens-less glasses sat atop her nose. For all intents and purposes, Mayuri looked the perfect part of a dedicated substitute teacher - in muggle school, anyway.

Apparently, the higher-ups had forgotten to pass the memo that, in ninja academies, teachers didn't dress like teachers. They dressed like shinobi. How could they just assume that Mayuri attended a school like this? Sure, 99.9% of all other village nin attended the academy, but that wasn't her fault!

Whatever. She felt sexy in this skirt.

IT WAS 8 AM!

Mayuri slammed her empty coffee cup against her desk, startling the seven-year-olds that had dared to doze off in her class. "HELLO CLASS," Mayuri cried. Several children winced. "MY NAME IS MAYURI OTONARI. YOUR TEACHER IS OUT UNTIL NOON... SOMETHING ABOUT A-"

The front door of her classroom slammed open. In th threshold stood the shinobi teacher from the room next to hers. Boy, did he look pissed!

"Otonari-san... I understand that you learned under, ehm, different circumstances," he began, squinting with poorly-masked rage, "but in the Academy, we like to use inside. Voices. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am-- I mean. Sorry. Yessir. You know, with your hair styled like that, sometimes it's hard to te-"

The door slammed shut again and Mayuri smiled, clasping her hands together with a loud CLAP! She spoke with her "inside voice" this time around, but all the same emotion was definitely there. "Anyway," she continued, "Kobayashi-sensei is out today because her husband is a lying cheater who cheats and lies. She's hungover - or, at least, that's what I heard, before the other teachers shushed themselves..."

At the imploring looks from the children, Mayuri scratched her chin. "Was I not supposed to tell you that? Sorry. But it's really some great gossip. ANYWA- Sorry. Anyway! I'm going to teach you 'til Kobayashi-sensei comes back. Now, can anyone tell me what area of the neck is most vulnerable to puncture by senbon?"

The class was wide-eyed and silent.

Mayuri tapped her foot, giving them a moment to answer, but none did. Well, this was annoying. Did the kids learn anything? She perked up, though, when a shaky hand rose in the back of the room. Nearly bouncing in her heels, Mayuri pointed to the scrawny boy, tossing him her sweetest smile. "Your name...?"

"E...Ebiki..."

"Ebiki-chan! How cute. Alright, go on then; tell us the answer."

"Uh... I... I don't know, Otonari-sensei... But-"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Mayuri snapped, portraying confusion to mask her internal frustration. "You raised your hand, Ebiki-chan!"

"Yes but..." Ebiki trailed off, looking unsure. He just barely opened his mouth to continue when another child did it for him.

This new child was a petite girl with long golden-blond hair done into an immaculate french braid. Her little pink dressed screamed "I am wealthy and just that cute!" while her expression conveyed only snootiness. Mayuri decided she had kind of a big mouth.

"What Ebiki-kun was trying to say, Otonari....sensei," the girl began, her nose raised, "is that Kobayashi-sensei hasn't gotten to that material yet. We're only first-year students, so we learn it later. My mommy says we're too young to know that stuff."

Mayuri listened patiently until the little girl was done speaking. She nodded, considering her words, and nodded to show she understood. "That's all very valid. What's your name?"

The girl's chest puffed out. "Haname Yukiya! Yes, that's the same Yukiya clan you're thinking of -- the one that donated lots of money to pay for parts of the school, the libraries, the stores... All sorts of things! I'm going to be the first kunochi in our entire family, and one day, I'll probably be the Hogokage. My mother always says that she's donated enough money to this damned city to ensure I get the position."

When the girl was done with her little tirade, Mayuri nodded once again. "How cute, Haname-chan, and how generous of your parents to help out the less fortunate. Can I tell you a secret?"

"Uhm, YES."

"Your parents are also lying cheaters that cheat and lie. And they're pansies."

Haname just stared, gaping at the insult, and Mayuri decided to continue on before the little twerp could recover. Most of her class was now either uncomfortable, astonished or afraid of their wacky new teacher, but... Whatever. Mayuri was just supposed to teach the material and make sure they weren't hurt. They never said she couldn't tell the truth, right?

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, a two of the little ones really stood out of the pack. Instead of being disgusted, these two were just impressed, and Mayuri decided she liked them. But... she still needed to see how they would do with the rest of her lesson, before she could really call them rad dudes.

"Hmm... I know what we're going to do! We're going to have an easy science lesson, if your parents don't want you playing with knives yet." The two in the back looked disappointed... but they wouldn't be for long. "How many of you like science?"

A few pockets of kids raised their hands, with one little nerd in glasses absolutely flailing his.

"Hmm... Fewer than I hoped. Okay. What about cute, fluffy bunnies?"

Every single hand shot into the air.

Mayuri clapped her hands, grinning widely. "GREAT! Okay, how about we go take a trip to the forest? We're going to go get a cute little bunny rabbit."

Everyone was cheering, Mayuri included. She proceeded to lead her little troopers out of the classroom and towards the nearby woods, their innocent hearts set on a bunny to call their own.

---2 Hours Later---

Mayuri led her band of followers back into their classroom, each child talking avidly amongst each other. They were very excited and very, very happy, and all were begging to pet their brand new bunny. They hadn't been able to catch one, so Mayuri ended up just getting one from the pet store. It was pretty cheap anyway - damn near free.

"What'll we name it?"

"How about Fluffy!"

"I like Snowball!"

"I VOTE POTATO." This one, surprisingly, was the snooty little bitch. Hanuki? Hayami? Heck if she knew.

Mayuri laughed alongside her children, setting their bunny and its cage on her desk. "Now, now, kiddies," she began once they all were settled into their desks, "we can't give him a name."

Immediate groaning from all corners of the room. The geeky one, Tanuki or something, raised his hand hiiiigh above his head.

"Otonaaaaariiii-senpaaaaai," he whined, "why nooooot?"

"Because, Ta.... little one, naming things makes them much harder to kill!"

The horrified looks from all the children made Mayuri feel weird for being so happy. One fragile-looking pinkette in the back actually started sobbing. The only two kids that looked even remotely interested were the two in the corner from before, and those two were like... bouncing or something. Totally excited. Ah... two little future psychopaths. Yes, Mayuri definitely liked those two.

Inside, Mayuri groaned. "Kids... what did you think was going to happen? I said we were going to have a science lesson!"

The sobbing prevailed, with a few more kids joining in the nonsense.

"Ahmigahd," Mayuri muttered, "FINE! Fine. No dissection. New science lesson: discovering the value of life."

None of the crying ceased, but Pinky started blubbering. Mayuri rubbed her forehead.

"Guys... Guys. Seriously, guys, shut up for a second! That means we're keeping Potato, okay? And not as a taxidermy doll."

The entire class was in sudden uproar, every tear forgotten as the kids all screamed with joy. Mayuri was quick to quiet them, not wanting to be reprimanded by the ladyman again, but she couldn't really do anything about Hachibi-the-bitchy-chick. This one was just... full-on freaking... Mayuri didn't even know what. Did kids always roar when they were happy? The others weren't doing it... Hachibi sounded like some kind of lion-frog-penguin-thing, and... were those tears? Good god, Mayuri had underestimated this one. She wasn't just a snob -- she was fuckin' insane.

"POTATOOOO," the little brat screamed, "MY NAME WON. I'M SO COOL GUYS. IM THE BEST NAME PICKER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD EVER. EVER! POOOOOOTATOOOOOOOOOOO."

Mayuri couldn't hold back her laughter. God, what a hot mess this kid was already. Mayuri couldn't wait to see what this Hanabe chick turned into when she got older. Hell, maybe Mayuri would get to be her Jounin sensei?!

...

Yeah no. Not that one.

Those two in the corner were pretty lit, though.

For the remaining two hours of Mayuri's time, she let all the kids play with their new bunny, careful to keep their fingers away from its mouth. Poor thing. It was probably absolutely terrified... Not her problem though, really. That's what it got for letting itself be chosen. Whatever.

As the kids played, Mayuri took the time to actually do her job. She taught them all about caring for bunnies - and, in turn, other animals. Where did animals live? How could you use their behavior to know what's going on in the forest? Did they know that, by watching birds, they could figure out edible plants to eat as well? All of her notes, Mayuri wrote across the board, each letter diligently copied by a class of very satisfied children. The homework she assigned was very simple -- sit outside for 30 minutes , in the woods or in the swamps, and watch the animals. Write down what they do, and give some ideas how it could be useful in a survival situation.

Finally, it was nearing noon. Mayuri helped clean up the bunny and his cage while the kids washed their hands and ate their lunches. She then began packing away her own belongings, almost... regretful that her time with the kids was coming to an end. She'd grown to somewhat like them all, even that brat Hikari, or whatever her name actually was. Mayuri shook her head, smiling to herself, before finding her face to face with the two corner kids.

Ah, finally. She hoped she'd get a chance to talk to the little freaks.

"I'm Dayuki," the boy said, puffing his chest out, "and this is my friend, Akemi. We really... liked your teaching stuff today, Otonari-sensei."

Mayuri smiled. "I'm glad. You two had fun today? Even without our experiment? I could see you were excited for science."

Akemi smiled sheepishly. "Yah... Well, Potato is kinda cute... But, maybe sometime, you can give us more science lessons?"

"Yeah!" Dayuki added, "We really wanna learn about animals and stuff -- like, the scientific way and stuff. And weapons, and fighting, and like-- real ninja stuff. 'Cause our parents aren't pansies like Haname's are!"

Haname. Right. Mayuri chuckled, ruffling both their heads. "You mean like a little genin squad? I'll be the jounin sensei?"

Both nodded vigorously. "YEAH," they said, "be our sensei!"

Mayuri pretended to consider their request, pondering for only a moment before nodding with a smile. "Alright, kiddos, I'll do it! Prepair yourselves... FOR SCIENCE!"

"SCIENCE!" they both screamed.

Mayuri couldn't help herself; she laughed in a way she hadn't in years. Eyeing her temporary class, as well as her two new apprentices, Mayuri vowed to be a damn good sensei. She'd treat these kids well... better than she'd been treated by her own. She shook her head. None of those thoughts.

Soon enough, noon arrived, and the kids' rightful teacher returned to class. At first, she was quiet confused by the new addition to their curriculum (Potato), but at the joy expressed by each and every child, she let it slide. Instead, the teacher handed Mayuri her a slip for the Hogokage affirming her satisfaction with the mission and sent the kunochi on her way.

Mayuri waved once more to her sparkling little students and headed through the door, shutting it behind her and leaving them behind. From within, she heard the cries of happy children, praising Mayuri and, thankfully, leaving out their past fears of dissection. Loudest of all were Dayuki and Akemi, followed by - shockingly enough - Haname the brat. Huh. Kids were fuckin' weird.

Mayuri smiled.

Mission success... both for the kids, and for herself.

[WC 2156. Claiming 1,000 ryo and 3 AP.]

please link mission

Done

Approved