Some Seriously Hard Work [IO]

Mission Details:

Persona requested a mission, and Risako would deliver to him one day filled with tasks galore, a fun filled time for the boy to learn the basic lesson of hard work.

The sun was trying to take a peek at Konoha over the tops of the trees when Risako strolled onto the lawn of the Hokage Chambers. Her usually unkempt hair was pulled back into a short tight knot behind her head. She wore a dark red haori over her armor, which was layered over her black uniform. Today she carried on her person a leather pouch on her hip, with the strap across her chest and over her shoulder. The contents of said pouch included a pair of scissors, a ruler, one quill, a bottle of ink, and several blank mission scrolls. She took a seat on the stairs of the building.

Seeing no sign of Persona just yet, Risako dug through her pouch to retrieve a scroll, her quill, and a bottle of ink. With a twist she popped the cork out of the ink well, and set it on the stairs beside her. After unravelling the paper, she dipped the feather into the black ink and began to scribe the mission details. After completing such an arduous task, she returned the cork to its bottle and placed her belongings back in the pouch.

For a bit the woman would be content to twiddle her thumbs and stare off into the distance. As of now she still failed to speak with Yensung in regards to their old friend. Maybe that was intended, as the thought of spending a mere moment in his company made her skin crawl for a reason beyond the bugs he housed.

[287 WC]

Mission Specs:

It encroached. Persona came onto the scene whistling away with his hands behind his head as he approached the steps. Koeda couldn't be spotted on his person, so she was to assume he was asleep in the usual resting place that was his hood. After taking notice of how her hair was styled, the lad seemingly proclaimed that she would go bald. Risako was dubious of this, and raised an eyebrow at the thought. A bald head would be a shame indeed, but then that meant she would no longer be dealing with pesky, ever growing hair.

"I think I'll keep it how it is," she said as she looked him in the eye. He went on to ask what they were doing, to which Risako produced the scroll she had just finished writing. While he was looking around, and after he claimed that he'd help her take down the enemies of the esteemed Leaf Village, she chuckled. "Suuuure," she said. "Just as soon as you finish mowing the Hokage's lawn, then we'll get to work on that."

Whether or not the boy detested his task, she began to rummage through the pack to produce a ruler, and a shiny steel pair of scissors. As she handed him the objects, she gave him the mission parameters, "You're to cut every blade of grass in this lawn down to the height of one inch. No more, no less." If he went to work with no further questions or comments, she would say "You're to use the scissors to cut the grass, nothing else."

She didn't tell him that the mission was a test to see how well he followed orders, but that would defeat the purpose of the test if he knew what would let him pass.

[583 TWC]

The boys protesting failed to produce even a flinch from Risako, shouting was much less scary than a few of the horrors she witnessed. As such, she reassured the boy that his task for the day was to cut the lawn down to an inch with a pair of scissors. Chop chop, errand boy.

While he went about this glorious task for the pride of the village, she began to work on the scroll for their next assignment. The script would contain the order to go back to the orphanage and give it a good dose of spring cleaning. Coincidentally this was the same orphanage she was raised in, and allowed her to say hello to some of the old caretakers if they were still around. Long after she finished her half of the work, Persona came back to report that the lawn was taken care of.

Her silvery orbs scanned the lawn with an eagle's precision, or at least as precise as a cursory glance can be. Her shoulders raised as she said, "Good enough, our next task is to take care of cleaning duty for the orphanage." An eyebrow was raised when her student had no qualms about her lazing about on the steps or the fact that his next task was also menial labor. Oh well, the less resistance the better.

Upon arrival she would give Persona a push on the back towards the children's as she went into the office to catch up with some old acquaintances. "Good luck," Risako said with a wave as she stepped into the building.

Entering the building gave her a bit of nostalgia, as the office still smelled of the same incense that old lady Miko used to burn. Not to be confused with her secretary, Old Lady Miko was a different beast altogether. She had never seen the original white of the walls, as by the time she lived here they had already been long since stained a sickly yellow due to the amount of smoke that permeated the atmosphere. The room was mostly bare, save for a low table in the center with padded cushions placed around it on the floor. Smack dab in the middle of the table sat a tray with a burnt out incense, and beyond that she could see the shadowy visage of her "mother."

Mother appeared to be resting her head. "Fair," Risako thought to herself. After all, the woman was a good seventy or so years old now. The Young/Old Hokage crept through the room to the table and took a seat across from her. Removing her writing utensils and a new blank scroll from her pack, she began to scribe the details of their next mission. Upon completion she removed another blank scroll and began to pen a letter to her former care taker. The note was short, and it more or less read as a thank you for your service kind of deal. She quietly slid message to rest beside the sleeping woman, before sneaking back out and into the open where she would wait for her student to finish up.

Once Persona found her he proceeded to shout something about her hair. If she was to be bald, so be it. She watched the boy point at the ground, indicating that her hair started to fall out. Calmly, slowly, she looked at the floor, and upon finding no hair she handed the boy the scroll with his next mission on it. "After you're finished, come meet me in the hospital for your final task." After issuing the command she made off for the hospital.

Mission Details:

[1189 TWC]

Mission specs:

The hospital was hustling and bustling with nurses and doctors running about to treat their patients. Risako sat at a table in the lobby with her head resting on crossed arms. A glistening stream of drool travelled down her cheek, leaving a pool soaked into her sleeve. A nurse came by and nudged the previous Hokage to ensure that she was indeed still amongst the living.

Risako woke with a start and thanked her savior, just as Persona came into view. With her dry sleeve she wiped the slobber away from her chin, before addressing her student. "G'mornin," she mumbled. Reaching into her pack she retrieved the final mission scroll, which detailed how they were supposed to aid some of the hospital staff.

This was likely the most advanced task they'd take on for today which was why she needed the rest, obviously. A hand extended to present the scroll to him, before she said "We're helping with some genin who returned from a mission not five minutes ago. None of their wounds are particularly severe, at most they'll need first aid."

For the first time today she'd actually be helping him with his task. "Follow me," Risako said. She stood and began to walk down a corridor to the left of the entrance, until she reached a room labeled 2B. She didn't feel the need to announce that this would be the room they sought, so she opened the door and gestured for him to enter. Inside were three genin, all of which sat relatively stone faced in their chairs. The occasional quivering lip or grumble was about all they produced, until their aid arrive to which they responded with shy greetings.

If he would, she followed him in and introduce them to the genin, "My name is Risako, and in lieu of proper medical staff, my student and I have been assigned to aid you." She drifted towards the youngest looking of the three. A cursory glance was all it took to determine that he had a, relatively speaking, minor cut from a weapon of some kind on his left forearm. Luckily for her she had the magic hands when it came to first aid, and so she performed the necessary hand signs to activate the only chakra based healing method she knew. A gentle glow was emanating from her hand, and she held it over the crying boy's cut. The glow would cause the boys wounds to practically disappear with nothing more than a clean, faint scar. The other two she would leave to Persona, to see if he could handle the situation.

[1,622 TWC]

With a job well done, Risako would see the genin on their way out of the room. Persona mentioned something about being tired of doing all the menial labor, but how are ya gonna get to the top if you can't handle what's on the bottom? "Maybe tomorrow," she said, turning to him. "Maybe next week, depends on when I think you've had enough." Of course the boy could always go pick something else up of his own accord, it helped to have a more experienced hand to guide you.

"I think we've done all that we need to do for today," Risako said. "Unless there's anything else you wish to do, head on home and get some rest." While she would keep the thought of him doing a higher ranked mission close to her, she wasn't sure it was time. She had her own business to tend to tomorrow, come to think of it. Her job in finding the ANBU whereabouts wasn't going over too smoothly, and required her attention.

[1799 WC]

     Persona looked down at his feet, disappointed. He wanted to continue doing missions, but he realized quite a bit of time had passed since they begun to do their tasks. He suppose Risako was right and assumed she had other business of her own to attend to. Even if Persona didn't know her rank, she was a person and at that she had the authority to promote him to Genin. Training him could never had been apart of her original plans of whatever she was doing. He decided it was best to let Risako depart to wherever she thought her presence was needed.

     Persona nodded at Risako in understanding. Koeda nodded alongside, mimicking Persona. "Alright, Sensei. I suppose you can't be here always to hold my hand. I'll handle things from here and get stronger with Koeda. We'll see each other again anyway,  right?", asked Persona. No matter how Risako answered, he was sure he would cross paths with her again. It was one of those things that Persona felt it was going to happen from the bottom of his heart. If anything Persona could go on the lookout for Risako if she didn't go out of her way to find him. Between Persona and Koeda, their tracking skills are top notch.

     Persona turned his back and took his leave. He left the hospital to go back home to sleep for the day. Tomorrow he would go to work on higher ranked missions of that he promised himself. 'The E-Ranks were way too easy. I can handle some higher Ranking missions than these for sure.', he thought. Persona was eager to prove his worth and show face to the Hokage. Even though Persona knew that Genin were just as essential in the Hidden Leaf's army, he wanted to be more than a common foot soldier. He believed that he had to be the one to stand out, that he had to prove himself.

     By the time Persona reached his home it was dark outside. He entered his house and went straight to his bedroom. He looked at a picture of him and Risako on his dresser and smiled. Koeda was in the picture too of course, hanging off of Persona like always. "Oh, shoot. Where are the mission papers? Ah, I must have left them with Risako. I'm sure she will turn them in. I can pick up new missions to do tomorrow.", muttered Persona as he was patting himself down to find the papers. He decided it was a lost cause and went to bed, tucking himself and Koeda in. "Until tomorrow", he whispered. Persona would place a pillow over his head to muffle the white noise and drifted into deep slumber.

[Exit]

(WC: 453 | TWC: 3008 )

Claiming:
15 stats
Tenketsu Needle D + C rank (WC 500 + 500 rq)
Eight Trigrams: 32 Palms D rank (WC 500 req)
Gentle Step: Front Kick D Rank (WC 500 req)
Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms C Rank (WC 1k req)

The completion of 4 E-Rank Missions

E-Rank Missions: