A Matter Of Persistence

Mission:

Ishii sat in the middle of a nearby gazebo, slowly tapping away at his bicep through crossed arms with mild disinterest. He looked about the garden that he found himself in, eyes passing over the various shrubs and flowers in hopes of spying the ones he sought. No sign of them. The young man gave a mighty sigh when he saw that they weren't yet here, and got back to tapping nonchalantly. He wasn't sure what he had expected. He was an hour early after all. How Ishii kept winding up in these situations, he had no idea. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he kept showing up to missions unreasonably early? The man paused, thinking on that for a moment.

"No, that can't be it."

He went back to tapping. In a way, Ishii was almost grateful that the shinobi he would be working with weren't here yet. Today wasn't just one mission. Or two, or three. It was eight. Eight whole missions that Ishii and a team of three of shinobi had to work through. It was a headache to say the least, one which the young man wasn't enthusiastic about engaging with.

"You'd think that they would divide the work more effectively. There are four shinobi and eight tasks. Dividing them up into two missions per shinobi would be far more effective than their current solution."

The voice spoke once more in Ishii's head, sounding as ancient and worn as it ever did.

"Perhaps so. Yet I would not take this mission so lightly as you seem to be doing. Even should the work prove monumentous and unjust, it is an opportunity to engage with your community, and forge the bonds of comrades. Take solace in the knowledge that your efforts will bear fruit."

Ishii didn't seem amused. He sighed as he continued looking over the garden, patiently waiting for another one of the squad to arrive.

"Maybe so. That doesn't make the waiting any better though."

Word Count - 334

It was early in the morning, and the young Shinkou was excited to start the day. He was going to be on a team completing a whole eight missions and they were going to try and clear it all in one day. He didn't spend too much time getting himself ready, as he was just too excited. He swung his feet over the side of the bed, launched himself onto his feet and jaunted over into the bathroom. He turned on the shower, as cold as it could go and he felt it rush over his head and through his hair. 

He shut the water off and he grabbed the towel hanging off the curtain rod, dangling directly to the side of his head. When he was done drying his face, neck, and hair, he hung the towel back up on the curtain rod and he brushed his hair thoroughly to make sure there wasn't any tangles in it. He took care of the rest of his personal hygiene and left the bathroom and went back into the bedroom to grab some clothes that he was going to wear underneath his armor, making sure that it was fairly light so he wouldn't burn himself up from within the armor itself.

After he had his clothes on, he went into the kitchen and he made himself some breakfast, fairly quickly and not even bothering to transfer the eggs onto a plate or bowl, deciding to instead just eat it out of the pan to try and save himself some time. He had plenty of time until he was going to need to be at the gazebo that the team was meeting at, so he wasn't rushing because he was late, he was simply rushing because he was more excited than he normally was.

When he was done eating his breakfast, he ran over to the front door and he began placing the pieces of armor onto his body before turning his attention to his weaponry. He wasn't too sure if he was going to be dealing with any combat, but he always wanted to make sure that he made it a point to always be prepared for it, no matter what he was planning for or expecting. He grabbed the sword first, and he lashed it onto the right side of his waist. He did the same with his quiver, but he placed it on the left side of his waist. After he was done grabbing the bow and throwing it over his shoulder he opened his front door and took his first step out the door before shutting it behind him.

He ran down the stairs toward the main road of the village and he ran straight for the gazebo that they were supposed to be meeting at. When he got there he saw that there was already one individual standing in the gazebo waiting for the rest of the team, or at least that is what he assumed. When he was within ear shot he yelled out to the man saying, "Hello! My name is Kurayami! I look forward to clearing out the day with you."

WC: 527

Other Missions:

Stein had sent Kana to collect up some mission scrolls to help earn some money in her own way, little did she know it was his own sneaky way, of getting her to observe more humans and become more like them slowly but surely. Let alone to get her involved with the village to help her get pulled into the village as a member of theirs. Kana would be informed of where to go to meet up with the rest of the members of the Mission team. they are all going to go through this as a team exercise.

Kana did not see the reason behind this, made more sense to divide the missions evenly, however the mission assigners seem to know best, and decided that a team based style of exercise would be best. Kana did think back to maybe she should have dragged Kobiyashi with her, but shook her head, no need for him to become bored with such a menial task as tagging along with three other shinobi. Just because Stein had said they needed to.

Kana would show up to the group, the black haired girl had forgone her black cloak she liked to wear, in favor for something a tad more, Appropiete for completing Tasks of any sort in, something dressed down from her usual get up. She hated the fact that she could not do such a thing, however it was needed . She was commanded and had to obey. Kana would approach the two males. The red haired one had just spoken his name.

Kana would nod to them and pipe in herself "My name is Kana, Seems I have been assaigned to help you all today. I guess my...Dad wished me to bring in some money and tricked me into picking up the mission scrolls today, I am so having him pick them up from now on" Kana would scoff a little as she spoke and than also added into her words, "Nice to meet you both, Seems we are still waiting on One?" Kana would than begin to look around the surrounding area to see if she could see the final person involved. At which time, she would than open the first scroll and read the mission details and would let out a soft sigh.

"lets get this done shall we?" She would question the others as she put the scroll away in her left pocket.

TWC 400

He sat in his room and stared at the bulky armor he had obtained a few days prior, his lips pursed with disdain on how someone could wear something so...big. Scattered around the armor were numerous leaflets of paper with various designs. He wasn't going to besmirch Mercurio's creation but he was definitely going to make some much needed changes so that it fit the current styling of himself. He hadn't heard the voice since his talk with Vaenar and that was probably for the best as he looked over toward the hulking sword and sighed," Knights always want to overcompensate for something with such bulky armor and big swords...I didn't ask for these but i will make them work with whatever means I have," getting up from his desk he would grab his jacket and throw it on slowly, zipping it up before attaching the sheathe of the rather large blade onto his back and heading out. Apparently he was to do a couple of missions with a few other shinobi in this village, the thought of having to socialize with people he didn't know particularly bothered him, but he would be making some money toward a future endeavor and he needed that.

As he walked toward the destination he would pull his hair from out of his jacket to let the long cerulean blue hair flow in the wind. He knew the destination he was supposed to be heading to and when he had arrived, he could see that a few people had already arrived there ahead of him. Walking over toward the group he would offer a small wave and stand a little distance away but not far enough to where he couldn't hear them," Guessing you're all the group for the missions. So what are we doing first?," once the mission debrief was done, he would follow behind the group to begin the mission, staying silent unless someone spoke to him.

Wc:325

One by one, the shinobi slowly made their way into the meeting place. The first to arrive was a red haired individual by the name of Kurayami, who called out from a good distance away. Ishii raised his hand high in greeting to show that he had heard the man, and began to walk over towards the man in question. When he came to be within reasonable distance, Ishii raised his hand once more for a friendly handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ishii Kamigawa. I'm looking forward to our partnership. Though I do hope that our fellow squadmates arrive soon..."

Speak of the devil. Almost immediately after the words had fallen from Ishii's mouth, a kunoichi by the name of Kana arrived. Seems she had followed in her father's footsteps by becoming a shinobi. A slight smile crept into Ishii's face upon the realization, something likely strange and odd to those not privvy to Ishii's thoughts. In truth, Ishii could relate. It was his own mother who had encouraged him to become a shinobi after all.

"A pleasure to meet you as well Kana. Yes, as of this moment, we're currently waiting on one more arrival."

Ishii would pause as she took out the mission scroll. He was content to let her explain the mission, though he had a sneaking suspicion that he had done that one in particular before. Ishii saw the last member of their squad arrive out of the corner of his eye, listening to Kana's briefing as he came to greet the group. Ishii waited respectfully until Kana was finished to address the new member.

"Hello. Yes, we're the group here for the missions. It's good to meet you. My name is Ishii Kamigawa."

Ishii went ahead and rubbed the back of his neck. How would they divvy this up?

"I suppose that the bread delivery mission would be the best place to start. It's a simple one, and one that can be completed quickly. Looks like we're supposed to pick up the product from a bakery nearby. If I'm understanding correctly, we can divide the bread given to us into four pieces, and assign a piece to each member of our squad. After that, we can probably meet up back here for the next mission on our list."

Ishii would wait to see if the group had any better ideas first before heading off. If not however, it would likely be best to get started on the mission at hand.

Word Count - 420

Total Word Count - 754

This B-rank not the other:

Kana Would nod to the final member "Welcome to the party, we have a long day ahead of us, the quicker we get it all done, the sooner we can all be on our own seperate ways" And with that Kana would give a short debrief of each mission, and the likely order to complete them in, first the lower ranked missions should be completed first, they are essentially quick ones that really anyone could complete solo without the help of others. However this first one said in fours, so this was rather Adventagous, they could each just carry a small share of the bread.

Kurayami told everyone to hold tight as he shot off for the bread, this would be quick indeed, so she would move on to the next mission on the list reading it to herself. She would sigh and look to the others "I am not very familiar with this village yet myself, is there a people person amongst us who would like to Do this Trafficking job, directing lost souls to desired destinations?" Kana would need to explore the village later at some point to learn it herself, but today was not that kind of day, not for her, today she would move onto the next mission listed in the debriefing scroll of Missions.

What a drag. This mission is tailing one of the local cops, the Hoshigakure Queensmen. Kana would stretch it out for a moment and nod. "I suppose I could do this one, following him around I could get to know the village a bit better , and get to know the customs of the village as well." At this time Kurayami returned with the bread and Kana would take her share of the bread and would head off, certain the others would follow with their own part of the delievry, Upon reaching the Destination Kana would drop the bread off and give a two finger saulte off of her forehead to give them the sign for goodbye that she knew and was off.

She would meet up with the Queensman for the guided tour, it was rather boring, and after a while of walking his path and it looped back and she got to see a good majority of the town, and noticed there was not much crime so nothing fun happened to watch the queensman in action. But she did get to see him interact with the fellow people, this mission took several hours to complete, but she would meet back up with the others. Assuming they each had went off to do one of the other missions themselves, if none of them followed her to the queensman.

And to be honest, two of the missions could be completed at once, the Meet and Greet and the Trafficking. This means that was one person taking care of two of those missions, with hers, those two and the bread done that was four of the missions already compelted. Which means Hopefully one of them took on the job of teaching the children cause Kana did not know much of anything that could be helpful to the kids , she thought. And they would be in better hands of one more caring than herself.

Right about than, a fire would break out, one of their duties for the day was to be first Responders. Now this was something Kana could Shine in. She would Race over to the fire, rather the others would follow or not. And once she got there she would begin to form the hand signs for Rain tiger at will, the rain that would form would help to slow the fire down as it soaked the surrounding area to prevent spread. Next she would use the hand signs for another Water jutsu. Snakes Mouth. And with the water forming from her mouth, it would bash straight into the fire, Kana pouring more water into the technique to combat the fire evaporating the water as it eliminated the fire. Thats When she heard the Screams and Using the Serpent from her mouth, Would seek out the lost soul within, and Used the snake to pull them outside into safety, with the fire abated, Kana would walked up to the man and speak in a claming and soothing voice. telling him to calm down as she would begin to perform a technique her father taught her. The Mystical Palm technique and would begin to heal the man . And once healed she would stand up and disperse her Rain tiger technique, Since it was no longer needed. That would be a mission success.

This was all if she was to handle the fire situation alone. If she had anyone else help her out, than she would alter her actions accordingly. However she did hope the others would try to complete the other mission along the way, and than they could all gather to give each other a short debreifing of each others mission reports. This would be when Kana would go down through the list of Missions giving each a check mark that had been completed.

If everything was completed, She would head out of the group and make her way to the mission center to return the scroll with the list of completed missions. And short explanation behind each of the completed actions. Minor details being left out like how each of them completed certain ones seperately if that was indeed the case, just so they could all gain credit for every mission that was assaigned and done in a rather timely manner considering. Once turned in, Kana would collect her rewards and head back out to the cave where her father was in the Tachibana wildlife reserve.

However, if not everything was completed, they would look at what was left to do and decide if they should all go about doing them all, or if they would split up into seperate groups to complete what was left over. Should this be the case Kana would offer to go with whoever on the mission for the Ghost Rose. Seems it has some medicinal purposes, and being a Medical ninja as her father before her, this was the one that she would have the most intrest in, leaving the other mission for the other two to do.

With this In mind, Kana would tell them that this would be the meeting spot once done to debreif everyone else on the situation of the mission and the overall success of them, so that way they could have matching stories to report and all gain credit for the missions at hand.

PWC- 1100
TWC-  1500

"A slew of missions done by four people to get it done faster...can't say that this village isn't against efficiency.. Alright so we have to deliver bread first.," as he begun to finish his sentence one of the group members, Kurayami if he remembered the name right ran off to get the bread. A smart idea as it cut the time it would have taken for all of them to go and get the bread as a whole. As he waited he looked around the gazebo just to take in the area that he was in. He didn't really explore Hoshi due to his apprenticeship at Mercurio's and that in itself kept him busy enough to not even want to entertain the idea of walking around the village, but he had to admit that some of it was rather nice. Upon Kurayami's return however he would take his portion of the bread and walk off into a random direction that one of the four did not take. He wasn't going to necessarily rush his task, but he wasn't going to meander about it either. He counted enough bread to give to a few homes and upon that he would pick up his pace a bit until he had gotten to the first house. Knocking on the door he would wait for a moment, a small gust of wind picking up his cerulean hair as he waited. After a few moments a couple would come to the door, each to be in their later years. They both smiled at the young Hoshimura before asking what it was he was there for.

Showing them the bread he would hand it over to the woman, not saying much to them \," This is yours. Have a good day," before walking off. He could hear their thanks as he walked off down the street to drop off the rest of the bread. On the second house a kid answered which caused the young male off guard, but in his forgetfulness he chuckled," Here you go kid. For you and your family," the boy looked up to the older male for a moment before just nodding and closing the door. Just behind it he could hear the boy exclaiming that they have more bread and he wanted soup to which a few laughters could be heard among those inside. With a small shrug he began to finish off the other deliveries before heading back to the gazebo to meet with the others. If he was not the last to get back then he would lean agains the fountain in the area and wait for the others, but in the odd event that he would be last in getting back he would simply ask,"So what mission are we doing next?," at his own behest he would remember a few of the missions laid out and shrugged. He had a better idea to waste more of the day and get some steam let out in the process," Walking toward the gates he would wave back toward the others," I'll go look for those royals or whatever. You guys can deal with the in house stuff, shouldn't take me that long to find them and bring them back and if i run into any trouble i'll find a way to let you all know. I assume we'll meet back here to find that rose or whatever right?," he wouldn't really wait on an answer or even a volunteer to come with him, he wanted to do this one alone at least.

As he walked away and eventually toward the gates to go out and find the royal and bring them back. Something like this was more suited for him since the outer laying areas outside of village. Since he wasn't Hoshi raised he did spend most of his time out on the borders and traveling. Once he was about 15 meters out of the village he would begin to pick up speed toward what would have been their best location to get to the village. Looking out onto the outer roads he could see the back-end of a carriage. He'd quickly speed up to get to the right of it before waving them down," Are you with the royal escort bound for Hoshigakure? If so i'm here to explicitly take you back to the village," of course the royal nut was unsure of a...kid of all things escorting him back. With a click of his tongue he would urge the horse to follow him. Keeping a keen eye out for any shadows on the horizon he could spot a fair few, more than what would be normal for a shinobi cell or a group coming to check in on him. Gauging the distance between them, the group and the village Morio would weigh the consequences and sigh," My luck. Alright here's what's going to happen...you are going to stay on this path and keep going, stopping only when you reach the gates further north...to our west is a group that isn't probably going to be friendly...i can handle this, but i need for you to do your part," of course the royal would protest to which Morio would only look at the carriage driver," Go!," and while Morio stayed with the carriage up to a certain point, once it seemed like the group was getting closer, he would split and stand in the way.

The carriage would continue onward toward the village while Morio stood in the way. The group looked ragged, its clothing and weapons looking like they have seen better days but he could tell that they were picked up as spoils...none of these owned these weapons. With a soft sigh he would bring his hands together to form a string of hand seals and upon completion he simply waited," A good way to relieve some stress that isn't smithing...These must be the Jaws of Grima that i've heard about...let's take some teeth then," Morio wasted no time in reaching backwards to grab the hilt of his blade with his right hand. When the group came into 7 meters of the male blades of chakra would form to his left and right aimed at the group. No mercy for those that tried to take from people...No mercy to those that kill indiscriminately. Before they knew it a slew of swords would cut and tear through them before Morio drew his blade and swung. At the apex of the swing, the blade would glow with chakra before releasing a wave of energy that would claim the lives of any still standing. With them still coming forward blood began to spill and splatter everywhere, getting on bits of his jacket and littering his blade but only a little. The sight and smell of blood caused a small smile on his face, for what reason he did not know but making sure each was dead before leaving was his last task before heading back to the village. It took him a minute since he took in some of the fresh air and when he arrived to the gates, he checked to make sure the caravan for the royal was back. After hearing that they were checked in and escorted further, Morio nodded and walked back toward the Gazebo where hopefully the others were waiting. If they were not back yet he would sit down and wait for the others to return, not bothering to clean off the stray streaks of blood on his clothing.

As he waited for the others he could smell flame and smoke in the air. Things he wasn't a stranger to but this wasn't the forge. Looking from left to right he would look for the signs of a fire. Once he had found it he would dose himself with water and begin to make sure he was properly wet before moving toward the area. By the time he had got there it was raging but seemingly contained to a smaller area which was great for him, meant less of the structures would be affected by the after effect. Looking for a way in he would unsheathe his blade and cut into the side of the building with the least structural damage to prevent it from further destroying itself or falling. Once inside he would begin to search for people stuck or unable to get out. One by one he would begin to escort those he could find and hear away from the flames and outside where the medics could look over them. He could feel his own air supply thinning so he would quickly retreat out while doing a last quick, but thorough search to make sure he got out all of the stragglers where he was located. Once outside he would look around and if he had seen any of the others he would walk over to them," Got a few stragglers out of the building and out of harms way." He'd wait for things to die down before helping with a secondary search of the area. After giving a little bit of time to make sure things were okay and there were no risks of another fire spawning, he'd join the others for the last few missions.

WC: 1545
TWC: 1870/2500

The one called Kurayami gave a deep bow to their newest arrival, causing Ishii's brow to raise slightly on his face. Even one lacking proficiency in the arts of social skills such as Ishii could tell that such a reaction was out of place amongst allied shinobi of similar rank.

"There isn't a particular need to bow Kurayami. There are no superiors here... Though I suppose it isn't my place to judge the interactions between individuals who know each other."

The same member was the one who volunteered to gather the bread. No oppositions from Ishii. Ishii wasn't a particularly fast shinobi, so allowing someone else to take the lead on the seizure of bread was the best decision for the time being. Kana responded in kind with a sigh and a question, whether someone would be willing to take the mission in question of directing traffic. Ishii gave a slow nod in response.

"I can handle directions within our village. I know it well enough to handle tourists and visitors."

It wasn't long after that before Kurayami returned. Ishii gave his thanks to the man for retrieving the bread, before seizing a portion for himself, and heading off in his own direction. Ishii wandered through the streets at a quick pace, dodging and weaving through incoming crowds of people trying to make their way through the village, scurrying about like ants in an anthill. This simply wouldn't do. The young man picked up speed, and changed course to approach the nearest building, a small religious temple with marbled columns and a flat roof. He quickly poured chakra into the soles of his feet before setting foot on one of the supporting pillars, utilizing his climbing technique to quickly scurry up to the top of the building. Ishii couldn't help but smirk, even as a stray priest from below shouted at the man to show respect for the divine. Walking across the rooftops would be far easier than ducking through crowds.

"It feels strange, does it not? There's a palpable sense of Deja Vu that tinges the air surrounding your mission, is there not?"

Ishii sniffled once before initiating a series of small stretches, flexing his legs and core. Best to limber up before traveling along the rooftops. It usually involves quite a bit of jumping.

"That's likely due to the fact that we've done a similar mission before."

Ishii took off, racing to the edge of the building before leaping high into the air. His target was yet another building, too far in distance for a non-shinobi to cross. Yet Ishii made it without issue, without effort, closing the distance without so much as a single pained joint. He began leaping and jumping across various buildings and shops, looking down at the crowded streets below, full to bursting with pedestrians and passeby.

"I faintly recall. Would you like me to lecture you once again on the nature of morality, and the futility of enlightenment as a shinobi? Or do you yet grow weary of such conversations?"

It wasn't long before Ishii reached his chosen location. An old apartment complex. Below, Ishii could see what he assumed to be the landlady milling about, working in a small garden with plants and the like. She would do. Ishii took careful aim with the basket, throwing it with the precision only a shinobi could muster to land perfectly on a nearby windowsill. A feat impossible for normal individuals, but a rudimentary one for even the youngest shinobi. It was quite literally child's play.

"Not particularly. I don't feel particularly inclined to listen to one of your numerous lectures. Though maybe another time, should I grow bored, or need any particular encouragement to rend my ears from my head."

The voice seemed to chuckle at that. It had some small sense of humor it seemed. Ishii made his way slowly over to his required position, where he was to guide the populace to where they needed to go. It seemed so meaningless, so trivial for a shinobi to be a simple tour guide. Yet who was Ishii to turn down a mission that provided such easy money? There wasn't any associated risk with his mission either, meaning that his life wouldn't be at stake. Not that his missions were dangerous. Heck, if Ishii was being honest, most of his missions were pathetically easy. It seemed as though today was no different in that matter.

With a great sigh, Ishii finally found his way over to the Palace Gates, great marble structures coated in ornate symbols and figures of gold, forming a tapestry that Ishii didn't have an interest in deciphering. The location he was supposed to wait at however, was far less glamourous. It was a rickety old thing, clearly a relic of a bygone era, forged by carpenters who barely cared if it survived the age it was built, much less whether it could weather the years to come. It was barely more than a wooden stand, with a painted sign announcing that this was an 'information center' to all to see. The wooden panels that composed the structure were rotted and discolored, making the structure appear uninviting and crass.

"Something tells me that THIS is not exactly the picture of luxury that most people picture when they think of Hoshigakure."

The voice said little, very more than a singular snort in Ishii's mind.

"No, no it is not."

Yet Ishii supposed that he had little choice in the matter. He situated himself inside the booth, and waited calmly. Individuals made their way up to him, usually groups of families who needed direction to some facet of the village that they had heard whispers of through word of mouth, yet some were religious individuals on pious pilgrimages and some were youth who had taken a fascination with seeing the world. Ishii cared little, and directed them where they needed to go. It was boring to say the least, and left Ishii a long time to ponder on his career. To be honest, he grew VERY weary of his confounding lack of significant missions. He had only one in recent memory. And yet for the most part, he was saddled with positions and jobs that nobody wished to do. It hardly seemed fair to the young man in question, much less a desirable situation. Nothing to do but hope for the best Ishii supposed. Besides, it wasn't all bad. At least he wasn't risking his life.

Yet the mission's time limit eventually ran out, and Ishii was free to go. With a grateful stride, he began wandering towards the Academy. As he recalled, there was one particular mission that the group had to undertake that Ishii took particular interest in.

"Ishii... what are you doing? Your group is in the opposite direction, why do you wander closer to this institution of learning?"

"Simple," Ishii huffed. "I want to try my hand at being an educator. It seemed like a fun position to test out."

If the voice could smile, Ishii felt as though that is what it'd be doing.

"A noble goal. Instructing the youth of a nation is an effective way to amass ideological sycophants and supporters of your goals. Their minds are easily molded."

Ishii scowled as he passed through the doors to the building, slowly making his way over to the classroom designated as his for the day. It was a short period, being only an hour on the premise of elemental chakra natures. Thankfully, it was more of an informational class period than an instructional one, which meant that Ishii wouldn't have to worry about the ramifications of 20 students with elemental abilities that he knew little to nothing about.

"Don't be absurd. I'm no dictator, nor is my position a long term one. My goals are purely in the interest of performing a public service. Besides, even if my intentions were impure, I have no cause to twist them to."

"Not yet."

The voice elaborated no more on its comment, leaving Ishii free to run the class as he wished. In all honesty, it went well. The children were a delight, though to Ishii's disappointment, and not his surprise, there were no Kamigawa in the class. That was honestly what Ishii expected however. From what he could garner, they're a scattered clan. The chances of seeing another of his kin were slim to none. A bit dejected on that dark thought, Ishii made his way back to the group, attempting to determine if there were any missions left to tackle as a unit.

Word Count - 1435

Total Word Count - 2189

The young Shinkou had completed the last of the his deliveries, when he had noticed that there was nobody back at the gazebo where they had originally met. The day was still quite young and it seemed as though that his entire team had already left to go out and complete the other missions that they were tasked with beginning. He went through the list of missions in his mind and he began to contemplate which of the missions that he was wanting to do. He took the moment that he had to think, until he saw smoke begin to bellow above and over the skyline of the village.

Quickly, the young Shinkou sprinted towards the direction of the fire, and when he arrived at the source of the smoke, he saw Kana had already began the process of dealing with that situation. Kurayami knew that he wouldn't be much help with the fire when it came to trying to put it out, as someone with the natural chakra release of water would be far more helpful than he would, so he figured that he would instead enter the burning building and he would help evacuate the people from the fire and help in that way.

When he got to the building, he saw that there was a break in the structure of the building. The opening of the building had collapsed and there was no real easy way of getting in, or getting people out. He figured he finally had a good use for his brute strength and he began to rip through the rubble that was blocking the entryway, luckily for him there was a shinobi with water release already on the scene and was putting out the rubble so he could grab it and throw it out of the way.

Once the opening was cleared, the young Shinkou ran into the building and he could hear the screaming of citizens on the second floor, not ideal, but it was something he was going to have to deal with. He ran to the stairs, and he saw that they were still clear, at least for now. He ran up the stairs, checking for any type of structural weakness so he could make a mental note of anything that he would need to be aware of when he began escorting the people out of the building when he got to the phase of his plan.

The stairs all seemed to be fairly strong still, so he had nothing to notate as being structurally unsound as of yet. When he reached the top of the steps he ran down the hall and tried to call out to the source of the screaming. When he heard no response he knew that there was two possible reasons as to why that may be, they were either rescued through the windows of the room they were trapped in, or the smoke was already enough to have them pass out and would now be far more difficult to rescue. 

He assumed it was the latter and he began checking each and every room that he came across, luckily there was only a handful of rooms, and finally on the last door he had to check, there was two individuals lying on the floor unconscious. He recognized the options that he had to save the individuals before him, and he decided that he was going to try and see just what there was on the outside of the window. He made this decision as when he glanced behind him in the direction that he had come from, he saw that the roof had collapsed down onto the steps and they were no long a viable option for a way out. 

He ran over to the window and he saw that there was a fire escape, but it was in poor repair, he figured that was still going to be better then burning them alive so he weighed his options and grabbed the two on the floor. After he had one individual on both of his shoulders, he leaped out of the open window and immediately the fire escape began to creak and whine with the weight that he had put onto it. 

He was sure the structure was not going to be strong enough to hold them for long, so he was going to have to act fairly quickly. He analyzed the area around him and realized that there was only one place that he could go and that was up and over. The building next to them seemed to be fine and the fire was beginning to get controlled by the other shinobi on the ground, so he had a plan in mind and he was just going to have to execute it and see what happened.

He sprinted up the side of the building, feeling the wall begin to give way. Each step was a tricky one, but it was that he was going to have to take at the moment. He was holding both of the individuals on his shoulders as he climbed up until one of the steps fell through as the wall began to collapse. He acted fast and he planted his other foot backwards where the wall was holding his weight before and pushed off as hard as he could, launching him backwards and into the direction of the building beside the one on fire. He flipped around in the air, which was a little harder to do with the two individuals in his arms. 

Landing on the wall of the building beside them, he activated his chakra in his feet to cling onto the surface of the vertical wall and began to run down the wall, heading for the ground where the medical team would be able to help them from there. As he was running down the wall, one of the individuals began to cough, which he was hoping was a good sign. When he finally dropped down to the ground, he placed  them both before some members of the medical team and was asked if there was anybody else in the building. 

He told them that he did not believe so and they nodded their heads with relief in their eyes. He thanked them both for their help, and they thanked him for his help and they parted ways. When he looked he didn't see Kana, so he figured that she was either somewhere else trying to help with the fire, or she had moved on to the next mission on their agenda for the day.

He went back to the gazebo and he didn't see anyone returned, so he was going to assume again that they had all left and were currently in other places doing the missions that they had for the day. He remembered that there was one mission that he was especially interested in, and that mission was to find a special pale white rose that grew out in the deserts that surrounded both the land of Wind and the land of Haven. The mission was quite simple in understanding, but quite difficult in execution as the rose that they were supposed to be finding was quite rare.

He decided to run towards the village gates and he exited the village so he could begin this mission. He had a picture of the rose that they were trying to find, and he had a little bit of information about the rose's special properties and its use for creating antidotes for many common poisons. He was intrigued that the village had run out of this rose, wondering just how many experiences this village was experiencing when it came to poisons, but he figured that it must be quite a bit if this mission granted such a high reward. 

This reward was certainly something he was going to need as his obsession with weaponry was not cheap, and there was still quite a lot of hardware that he was needing if he was going to consider his arsenal complete. Especially with his new armor having so much in the means of compartments for his weaponry, he was going to need to buy so much weaponry that it was kind of absurd, but he wouldn't think it would be too absurd when he was in combat and actually needed it, but the thought of carrying dozens of kunai and shuriken was incredible to him.

He reached the village gates, and he stopped at the gate so he could tell the guards exactly what it was that he was doing and what his plans were for when he was going to be leaving the village's walls. He explained that he was going to go on the search for the special rose that had been used to create so many antidotes, and he showed the guards his mission slip as proof of his intentions. The guard didn't spend any time obstructing the child's ability to leave, so he waved him on through and let him out of the village.

His first few steps out of the village were slow, as he wasn't entirely sure where he was even going to begin to look for these flowers, so he began to think about what he knew about roses and plants in general. This was in fact a desert, so plants were quite scarce in their population, so he was going to need to be creative in his thoughts to find usable plants in general, let alone this one specific plant that he was tasked with finding. 

He did know that plants enjoyed water, so his first thought was to go by any natural water sources that may be near the village and check them first. It was a thought that was quite obvious, but with one glaring problem, there wasn't very many water sources out in the desert that wasn't all dried up, but there were some springs that he had learned about in his years of living in the village. He thought that maybe if there were some underground springs with some holes letting light in, that may be the perfect place for plants like this to grow. 

His steps began to hasten as he had just the place that he had thought of checking first. It was an underground spring that his mother used to take him when she wasn't out on missions. She always called it her "closest place to Yuumei". So they would go there and pray for hours on end. He couldn't quite remember if there were roses that grew in there or not, but he figured that it would be worth a try. He searched in his memory to find the way that he needed to go to get to that spring, and after a few moments of thought, he remembered.

His walking turned to running as he rushed through the mountains and hills of sand, weaving through the dunes until he finally came upon the place that he was searching for. There were two rather large boulders leaned against each other, with a small gap at their base, which acted as an entryway to getting to the spring. He squeezed through the gap and when he entered into the clearing in the rock, he did in fact see the water, and quite a bit of light that was allowed in by the gap between the rocks. 

He walked down in to the area surrounding the springs, and there he found himself a rather large gathering of a pale white rose, the rose that looked exactly like the one in the picture. He decided to write his findings on the back of the mission scroll. He wrote down where they were located, and some notes on the habitat that they were growing within. He figured that this information would be helpful to the village in the long term, ensuring a population of roses that they could cultivate and try to grow their stores for the future. 

When he was done writing down his findings, he stood up and he grabbed himself a small bushel of the roses as proof of what he had found. With the roses in hand, he left the spring through the same gap in the rocks and began to sprint through the sands once more to get back to the village. Upon his arrival in the village he went to the Botanical Society and he gave them his reports, so they would be able to analyze his findings and come up with a plan for cultivation of that plant. He then received his award and he left, heading back to the gazebo to see if there was any members of his team returning back there to meet back up. 

If there was anyone at the gazebo, then he would begin to tell them about what missions he had gotten done for the day, and he would be more than excited to see just what his group had accomplished for the day, hoping that they had as rewarding and fulfilling of a day as he had. If there was nobody at the gazebo, then he would simply wait for his teammates to return so they could go over their days.

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