Cleanup the Workshop [Private, Solo]

Asahi yawned as he turned a corner down the streets of Sunagakure. The sun was setting and soon the village would be shrouded in darkness. It had been a long day for Genin, a day filled with tedious work and heavy labor. Such are the joys of being a Genin, he supposed. One day he would be free of such menial tasks, but for now he had to pay his dues. I must suffer for a time before I can become a Chuunin, he thought to himself. All those who came before me had to go through the same thing, it's only right that I follow in the same path. It was tough work sometimes, but with it he knew he was becoming stronger and more disciplined, and that was what mattered the most.

His apartment came into view and he yawned again as he yearned to go to bed and call it a day. He would have a quick meal, water his plants and take out the garbage, and then that would be it. He had the next few days off and wanted to be done with this day as soon as possible to enjoy his break to his fullest. Asahi started to make a mental note of things he wanted to accomplish on those days off. Perhaps he would go grocery shopping so he was prepared for the week, or maybe he would try to get in a training session at the Academy with some higher up shinobi. He was getting stronger and wanted to test his abilities. Whatever he would do though was secondary to getting some sleep as soon as possible.

He climbed the steps to his small apartment building. A few flights of stairs brought him to his hallway. Now just to unlock the door and finish the day up. He came face to face with his door and was about to put his key into the lock when he noticed a wrapped piece of parchment tucked in between the door knob and door frame. It was sealed with a red and green bow. Oh no, no no no, not this again. Asahi grabbed the paper and turned it over in his hands. He knew it was a message from the Hollykage, and he knew it would be some new mad task for him to accomplish. Not today, he thought, I'm exhausted.

"Find some other fool to do your work." he said aloud, hoping the Hollykage could hear him.

Asahi tore the parchment in half and tossed it down the hallway. That's the end of that. He entered his home and locked the door behind him. Asahi took a huge breath of relief. He was home, the mission was denied, nothing could ruin his day. The Genin went to put his keys down on the counter when the same piece of parchment was already waiting for him on a table. It was back in one piece and the bow nicely rearranged. He stomped over to it, crumpled it up in his hands, and tossed it in a garbage bin.

"Enough! I'm done with your games!" his shout echoed along the walls but no answer came. "Just let me rest, I want no part in whatever Christmas event you have for me this time."

He didn't even feel like eating anymore. All he wanted was to sleep and be rid of the Hollykage. He hoped that when he closed his eyes he would be rid of the man in his dreams. Asahi strolled over to his bed, threw back the sheets, and was about to get in when he spotted the same piece of parchment under the blanket, brand new and waiting for him to open it. He took a long sigh and stood with his hands on his hips for a few moments. He's not going to give me any peace, is he? Asahi knew that he could try to avoid the Hollykage forever but the man would never give up until he did what was required of him. Best to just get this over with, then. He was angry but at least there would be a reward at the end and he would be rid of Christmas for the time being. Until the next task.

---

Asahi 705 WC
Asahi 705 Total WC

"Fine. You win, you bastard. What do you have for me?" Asahi picked up the parchment, tore off the bow and unfurled the letter. It read as follows:

Asahi Igarashi of Sunagakure,

Ho ho ho! It is I, the Hollykage. Thank you for taking the time to read my missive! It is a pleasure to know that some take Christmas so seriously and are always so eager to help out!

I have a very serious problem that I need your help to fix. My workshop has been swamped this year. We are so busy and the elves can barely keep up. At my workshop we produce many ninja tools that you shinobi use and it is our job to have them all ready to be made and delivered by the 25th of December. The shop is a mess right now, so busy we are that my elves cannot find the time to organize and fix it up while also producing the necessary tools needed for this Christmas.

That's where you come in. I need you to travel to my workshop in the Land of Iron. Help organize the tools first, and then help my workers with whatever needs doing around the shop. I believe they mentioned to me that it was sorely in need of a new fresh coat of red paint. There will be a few assistants around the shop to help you in your duties, but I need you to lead them to victory. I've seen your work first hand at the other tasks I've put you to these holidays and I know you are the right man for the job.

Organize the tools, fix the workshop and give it a new paint job. I will reward you handsomely for a job well done.

Thanks again! I knew you would jump at the chance to help me. Place your hand on the parchment and utter the words: "Merry Christmas!" to begin your mission.

Ho ho ho!

Signed, the Hollykage

Asahi couldn't help but roll his eyes at some of the things the Hollykage wrote, especially the bit about him being eager to help. But regardless, he was this deep in it and he might as well just do the job. It's the only way I'm ever going to get any peace around here. He held his hand over the parchment, took a deep breath, and then said the words the Hollykage bid him to:

"Merry Christmas!"

A white light erupted in the center of the room, temporarily blinding him. When it was gone he found his apartment replaced with an old, but large, wooden workshop a few meters away. It looked to be in a poor state of repair and most of the paint had faded. You could just barely tell that it had once been dressed in red. There was a giant set of two wooden doors on the front of it, but they were hanging at an angle and were in sore need of fixing up. From beyond the doors Asahi could see light and from the top of the workshop there was smoke rising from a chimney. He could tell that there were people at work inside, all through the night, kept warm from the cold by a fire.

The doors suddenly creaked up with a loud screeching sound of metal hinges grating on each other. The noise sent shivers up Asahi's back. Light poured out from the opening and from beyond the doors Asahi could see dozens and dozens of elves milling about. They hurried from one end of the workshop to the other, some carrying crates while others had clipboards to record the inventory. The place was a mess. There was a faint sound of Christmas music coming from inside as well, which Asahi dreaded. That is the worst part about this whole thing, the music. From behind the doors popped out a small elf, perhaps only two feet tall. He was dressed in greens and reds and his pointy ears protruded from underneath his Christmas cap.

"Ho ho ho!" the elf said, mimicking the Hollykage's manner of speech. "I am Garland Gingersnaps and I am the manager of the workshop here when the Hollykage is out. He told me that you were be coming to help with the inventory and fixing the place up." Garland looked back towards the interior. "As you can see, it's a bit of a mess right now. We've been pushing things hard to meet our deadline this year and we've fallen behind on a few things. Your help will be greatly appreciated."

"Well, happy to help," Asahi lied. Not like the Hollykage gave me much of a choice. Best to just get this over with fast. "Where should I begin?"

"This way, please," Garland replied.

The elf lead the Genin inside the workshop. They passed workers so busy that they paid them no mind, except when they got in the way of their duty. Beyond the workers was another set of doors, these older than the ones on the front of the workshop. Garland stepped forward to open them. They creaked and dust kicked up as they swung open. There was no light inside so the elf moved around to light a few torches before inviting Asahi in. Boxes and crates were strewn about the room haphazardly. Some of the containers had split open and the items inside long since spilled their contents onto the floor.

"In here we have an old surplus from many, many years ago," the elf explained. "There was one year where we made much more ninja tools than was necessary and so we stored them away for a rainy day. A rainy day where we were short and could dip into this supply to help fill our quota. That such day is today. We need you to organize these items by type so that we can easily fill our orders with them to distribute to all the young ninjas out there on Christmas day. Can you do that for us?"

Not like I have a choice. "Of course I can," he gave a weak smile. "Happy to help."

---

1008 Asahi WC
1713 Asahi Total WC

Garland left him to his work with the doors thumping closed, locking him inside. Asahi sighed and got to work. The faster he could complete his task the sooner he could go back to his life and his bed in Sunagakure. He started first by picking up each of the fallen ninja tools scattered all over the floor. He pulled out an empty table from the back and started one by one placing them atop it. The Genin made sure to organize them by specific type. There were all sorts of things that this elves were making. They had Kunais and Shuriken, Senbons and even the larger Fuma Shuriken. When he had them all off of the floor he gave them all a quick wipe down to remove the dust that had built up over them from years of neglect. Finally he stood back to admire his work. There must have been hundreds of individual items scattered among the floor and now they were neatly organized in rows upon the table.

Next came the boxes themselves. There were huge shelves that lined the room all the way around which were also filled with ninja tools. Unfortunately for Asahi, while each box was only filled with one type of item, the boxes were all out of order on the shelves, so it was impossible to tell what was in each box without looking inside first. Just great. The elves that year didn't take a lot of care with where they put things, he thought. Now I'm paying the price. Regardless, he set to work to make things right. He started at the far left end where the shelves began and started to peak through the boxes. Most of the ones at this end were filled with Kunai, but there were about a dozen boxes that had Shuriken in them. Those that had the throwing stars he set down on the floor off to the side for later.

Then he moved on to the next shelf near the Kunai one. This shelf was a disaster. Each box contained something different from the next. There was no semblance of order at all. One was Shuriken while the next could be Senbons. Well, he sighed, taking a step back to figure out how to strategize this one. I'll make this the Shuriken shelf then. He pulled every single box off the shelf save for the ones that contained Shuriken. The boxes that contained Kunai he placed on the first shelf. Those that remained, the Senbon boxes, he placed on the other side of the room to keep them seperate. It was tough work moving things around and trying to find a place for them all to fit. He took a short break on the table, laying down and thinking over how he ended up in such a position before getting back to the task at hand.

With his break finished he stood up and went to the remaining shelves to finish his work. Thankfully these boxes were mostly Senbon related tools, and significantly lighter than the Kunai and Shuriken ones. He moved the other boxes to their proper shelves until only the Senbon filled ones remained. Then he brought the other Senbon boxes from the floor up to the final shelf. He stepped back to admire his work. All the boxes on the shelves were neatly organized by type and all the miscellaneous tools were neatly arranged on the table in easy to see rows. Perfect. Asahi noted the that shelves still could use a quick dusting so he did that before telling the elves that this task was complete. He pushed open the heavy wooden doors and found himself back in the main section of the workshop. Garland turned around to see him when he was finished.

"All the tools are neatly organized, as you can see," Asahi held out a hand to the back of the workshop.

Garland Gingersnaps popped his head in, then entered and strolled around, casually checking a few boxes here or there to confirm that the work was complete. "Very good, Asahi! The Hollykage was right about you, you are quite good at this sort of thing."

"What's next, then?"

"Well, we'd just need you to put a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of the workshop. I'm sure you noticed but it's sorely in need of one. But first, before you can do that, there's something we could use your help with. The elves this year are a little down on their spirits because of how much work there is to do. Would you say a few words to lift them up?"

"I... are you sure I'm the right one for that job?" The Genin didn't think of himself as a motivational speaker.

"You are. If the Hollykage believes in you then so do I." Garland clapped his hands together to get the attention of all the workers. "Listen up everyone! Asahi Igarashi of Sunagakure has something to say to you all!" The elves stopped what they were doing and all stared at the ninja. There were dozens of sets of eyes on him.

"Thank you all for letting me speak for a moment," Asahi was unsure how to start his motivational speech. "I know that this year has been hard. I know that there are still many more presents that need to be made and that you've never seen a Christmas this busy before. But there are people counting on you. The Hollykage is counting on you. Little shinobi and kunoichi everywhere are waiting to open their gifts and get a new Kunai or a Shuriken. These people need you, and without you there will be no Christmas! So keep going, you're almost there!"

There were some claps and cheers amidst the workers but most of them seemed disinterested in what Asahi had to say. Oh well, worth I try. Hope I helped even one or two with that. I'm not the one for speeches. Garland seemed to think that his pep talk was acceptable and with that finished he lead him outside to do the final part of his task. Another elf brought out large buckets of red paint and a huge brush for which to paint with. It was still cold outside but all the work inside had Asahi's blood flowing and he hardly felt it. The finish line was so near and he wouldn't let anything stop him now.

Asahi gripped the paint brush, dipped it into a bucket of red paint and started on the workshop. Red flew off the brush in all directions, coating the snow and making it look like a murder scene. Wherever there was faded paint on the workshop's wooden exterior he covered it with a fresh new coat. From side to side and top to bottom did he paint, and it took him near three hours to finish the whole building. His arms and calves burned from the effort. Asahi must have went through a dozen buckets of paint but finally it was done. The workshop shined like a beacon in the snow, a giant red spot surrounding by a vast and bleak landscape.

"There," he told Garland as he stepped off the ladder. "The tools have been sorted. Your elves have been given a peptalk. And finally," he pointed up to the building behind him, "your workshop has a fresh coat of paint."

"Very good, very good!" Garland Gingersnap clapped his hands.

"Now, Hollykage!" he yelled up to the sky. "The task is done, bring me home to Sunagakure, I'm exhausted."

With a flash of light Asahi found himself back in his apartment in Sunagakure. He changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed, utterly beat from the day's events. To his annoyance his dreams were filled with Christmas carols and dancing elves. Even in his sleep he could not escape them.

---

1301 Asahi WC
3014 Asahi Total WC

---

B-Ranked Mission Complete, 3014 WC + 40 AP and C Rank Jutsu Ticket

Spending C Rank Jutsu Ticket to learn Block (C Rank)
Spending 500 WC to learn Block (B Rank) (only need the difference in WC since I now know C Rank)
Spending 250 WC to learn Fire Stream
Spending 500 WC to learn Fire Lash
Spending 261 WC to finishing learning Blistering Web (C Rank) was at 731/1000 as noted here
Spending 1500 WC to learn Taijutsu Puncture

+10 Speed and +20 Strength

Approved