Catching A Prankster (Mission)

Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:04 pm

Of all the missions he could be doing right now, Lan was doing the one where he had to capture a prankster. Lovely. As easy as this mission would likely be, it would still be time consuming and eat up the amount of time he had for training today. He had vowed to get stronger, so he supposed missions were a part of it, but he still disliked doing them, and preferred his fire jutsu training. His blue eyes narrowed as he took in the graffiti on the side of the building where the prankster had last been spotted. It was decent art, but still, this kid needed to be taught a lesson about respect. With a sigh, Lan guessed he would be the one to teach him that lesson. Why do I have to be the one to catch this kid? He's only a couple years younger than me, jeez. Ah well. Who am I to complain when I'm getting paid for this? Lan’s thoughts were soon cut off by the sound of a can of paint being used nearby, however. So the brat had decided to show himself, thought Lan as he looked around. It took a minute to spot the kid, but his eyes eventually managed to focus on the kid standing in an alleyway, using paint on a nearby wall to make some kind of image. He couldn't tell what it was, but he could tell that the kid was greatly enjoying this mischief. An eye roll later, Lan was stepping up to the kid. “You're going to stop that, and you're going to come with me so you can receive your punishment for this graffiti,” he said, “and I suggest not resisting.”

The kid wasn't stupid, clearly, because for every step Lan took the kid took two steps back. “No way! This is too much fun!” exclaimed the kid, and the chase was on as he ran for it and attempted to get onto the nearest roof. Lan followed after him, though by the time he had reached the building the kid had climbed, the kid was already running along the rooftops. With a growl escaping his mouth, the short genin gave chase and climbed onto the roof to chase after the prankster boy. The prankster was already several buildings away and still running, however. “Get back here! You can't escape me, kid!” he called, running along the rooftops after the kid. Kid. It felt funny to call him that considering he was only 13 himself. That, and the other boy was taller than him.

Lan’s momentary distracting thoughts were enough for him to lose the prankster among the buildings. A curse slipped from his mouth as he looked around once more, raven ponytail whipping behind him. “Damn! Focus, Lan!” he snarled at himself, starting to run in the direction he had last seen the kid heading in. Hopefully, he would be hiding out somewhere nearby. If not, Lan would scour the village until he found this prankster and dragged him in for punishment. Lan wanted the money from this to stock up on some basic supplies, so he could perhaps work on learning how to use a katana. Or really just any blade larger than a kunai would do. As he ran, Lan did his best to keep an eye out for signs of the prankster. Graffiti, abandoned paint cans, anything like that was a sure sign the prankster had been there.

It took a few minutes before he saw anything that pointed to the whereabouts of said prankster. An empty can of red pain in an alleyway and some graphic images on the side of a building provided a large clue. Seeing as the paint was still wet, the prankster had to be nearby, he reasoned internally. His second clue was a blur as the kid ran out of the alleyway and climbed onto yet another roof. “Stop right there! It's kids like you who always take forever to graduate the academy you know!” he shouted, taking off running after the prankster. The only response he got was the kid looking over his shoulder and sticking out his tongue. Lan gave another growl as a response and ran faster, now having been provoked into wanting to grab the kid as soon as he got in range. The kid, of course, only grinned and kept running. This entire mission was really starting to get on Lan’s nerves, but he held himself back and decided maybe a change in tactics would be a good idea. “Come on, kid. I promise you won't get in any real trouble if you come with me! You might have to clean up the paint, but that isn't all that bad. I did it a couple times while I was in the academy myself!” he finally said, a drastic change from what he had been saying less than a minute ago. “Plus, I bet if you apologize and clean up your mess, I could show you a few cool jutsu that academy students don't know!” He was grasping at straws with that one, but he had to try, otherwise he'd never catch the kid and get that reward.

This time he got an actual verbal response from the prankster kid. “Nope! I like causing trouble. Plus, I bet you just want to get paid!” he called back as he did his nest to try and shake Lan’s pursuit. But anybody could tell, the academy student was starting to tire, and Lan still had energy to spare. Lan was running at the same speed, but the prankster had slowed down a tad, and was breathing heavily. Lan too was tiring a bit, but not quite as much as the boy he was pursuing at current. No academy student could outlast a genin for stamina, or so Lan believed to be the case. And in this case, Lan was right, because the younger boy was starting to falter in his movements. Each jump between rooftops was getting slower, and his face was slightly red from the exertion. Both Lan and the prankster were sweating from the effort, however.

“Yes, getting paid would be nice. But honestly, I'd rather be training, or maybe going for some ramen! I don't like doing this any more than you, kid” he panted, putting on another burst of speed. He was catching up slowly but surely, he noted as he ran. If he could last a little bit longer, surely he could catch this kid, right? After all, he was a genin and this kid was still in the academy. “Seriously? Why the heck are you chasing me if you'd rather be doing something else?” asked the kid, not bothering to look over his shoulder at the genin who was chasing him. Lan took a minute to respond, breathing a bit more heavily as he kept up the chase. “Well, I need the money to get some new equipment, y’know? Plus, doing missions are as much a part of being a ninja as training is, right? So I might as well do these D ranked missions and get some experience” was his response, puffed about between large gasps of air. All this running, he was pretty much training by even doing this mission! He was certain after this he would probably be able to run for at least a little longer than before, because he never ran this much when he was training. “Please, just come with me. We'll both wear ourselves out like this you know.”

“But I'll get in trouble!” whined the kid, jumping to the next rooftop about 5 meters ahead of Lan. Lan didn't say anything to that, but he wanted to just grab the kid by the arm and haul him to receive his punishment so he could get paid and buy himself some form of weapon to practice with. Since he really did want that money, he ran faster, even though he could feel his lungs constricting. It burned to run like this, and to do it while jumping between roofs certainly wasn't helping. Regardless of the mission, Lan couldn't keep running much longer. He was starting to slow down even more at this point. He needed some kind of way to trap the kid. A plan, he needed some kind of plan.

Lan knew when to call his losses and call it quits. He also knew when trickery was needed to win. This was one of those times. So when he stopped, the kid looked pretty damn surprised at the fact that he was no longer being chased. “You… win…” he puffed. He bent over, catching his breath. This kid sure could run when he wanted to. The prankster stopped, looking surprised. “Really? You're giving up?” he asked. Lan sighed, straightening up as he did so. “Yeah. You're fast, and I can't keep running all day, or I'll not be able to train today, y’know?” he answered, turning away from the younger boy and taking a step. Perhaps if the prankster thought he had given up, he would be able to catch him off guard. And catching the kid would result in him being able to go back to training. A win for Lan, at least. But then, with the kid confused, Lan whipped around and lunged. In a few long strides he was upon the kid, grabbing his arm in a vice grip. “Never let your guard down! A ninja must always be aware!” he exclaimed even as the kid tried to escape his grip. “Now, you're coming with me and this little escapade is coming to an end. Come willingly, please, and they may just go easy on you.”

The kid pouted, but nodded, and Lan led the way with one hand firmly gripping the prankster by the arm. He didn't take his eyes off the younger boy, sure he would try to escape if he did. The kid was taller, but Lan was definitely stronger. As they set off, Lan gave yet another sigh, happy to finally be done with this. And so, they soon found themselves in front of the academy, the younger boy with eyes wide as an instructor went on a rant about respect and how the boy needed to stop being disrespectful to the village. Lan winced, having gotten that exact same speech a few times himself. He could sympathize with the kid, but he had still done something wrong and was getting punished for it. That was just the way it worked. At least he wasn't in the kid’s shoes like he probably would have been just one year ago. Finally, the kid was told he had to clean up all his graffiti by himself, no jutsu. By the time the rant was done, Lan was nearly zoned out, and had to be called a few times before he finally realized it was over and time for him to be paid.

“Thanks for catching him. He's a handful, always causing problems like this. You were a big help today.” Lan beamed at this. Yes, he had done something that somebody else considered helpful! He never considered what he did to be anything special, but praise was a surefire way to make Lan stop worrying himself. “No problem! I ran a fair bit more than I'm used to, but all that exercise is good training for a genin like me. Gotta build up my endurance after all!” A bright grin followed this, though on the inside Lan really just wanted to get paid so he could go get some food, buy the equipment he wanted, and get to training. “Well, you're right about that! Here, you earned the reward.” Finally, Lan was handed what he had been after the whole time, the small reward of 1000 ryo. Lan took it gratefully, smiling up at the one who had given the mission. “Thank you! I should be able to start stocking up on some ninja supplies with this!” Having taken the money, he nodded at the man one last time, before he started walking away.

WC: 2,021
Claiming:
-1000 ryo reward
-500/500 Words to claim Fire release Fire Stream
-1100/1100 words to claim Fire Release: Exploding Flame shot
-421/500 words towards Rope Escape Technique
-3 Bonus AP rewarded for every D ranj mission.

Mission Info: Link

Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:10 pm

Could you do me a big favor? Add the WC at the end of your post.

Also, you can claim jutsu with this WC, if you like.

Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:50 pm

Bit of a question on the AP thing, but since me and the only other mod on right now agrees that you should get it, I will allow it.

Approved.

Catching A Prankster (Mission)

Catching A Prankster (Mission)

Re: Catching A Prankster (Mission)

Re: Catching A Prankster (Mission)