Easy Money

Missions:

Having picked up two missions for the first time in a few days, Koutaku really wasn’t looking forward to the tasks assigned to him. Nonetheless, he’d complete them with diligence and swiftness. Reading over the two, Koutaku would occasionally whip a wire out at a poster near him, and use the Sticky Paper Adhesive Technique to rip it from the wall with his wire. It appeared that the other problem was a missing cat? How droll, he thought, but considered that at least tracking a cat down would utilize some of his skills, especially given that it would surely flee from him.

Considering that, Koutaku reflected on his various techniques as he casually ripped posters off of walls with hands and wire both. It was kind of crazy to think of just how much he’d learned in the space of a week or two, the experience he’d gained from the arena, the expertise he’d picked up from Keita and Travin, and the mastery he’d gained not only of several techniques but also of particular areas of focus. It was satisfying—not to mention gratifying—to think about, not to mention his mother’s reception of him a few days ago. That sense of familial acceptance and pride had really helped if he was being entirely honest.

Yet, he was still reduced to such menial labor. Oh well, things would be different soon enough. Moving on, Koutaku picked up the pace, dodging through the crowd at speed as he circumvented civilians and the occasional shinobi in the interest of speedily performing his duties. Once he’d reached the center of the square, Koutaku leapt into the air and cast out several shuriken, whipping them at walls and various posters on different walls across the area. Each hit its mark and in a spinning maneuver, Koutaku pulled them away from the walls. Then, using Wind Release: Jump Technique to rocket further upwards at an angle and onto the roof, the young man landed in a tucked roll before drawing each of his wire-bound weapons back to his person.

Running along the rooftop, Koutaku mapped out in his head various areas that he’d seen lots of the offending posters. Once he’d figured out his route, he changed tacts subtly and rocketed between alleys, occasionally throwing weapons down into alleys and pulling posters back up to his person via wire and the Adhesive Technique. Casually he’d store the bunches of posters in his extradimensional storage. It was just more convenient that way and so long as he bundled them up properly they’d functionally be considered a single item.

Moving to a new neighborhood, Koutaku took a huge running leap from a building and into another square where he repeated his earlier maneuver, removing a large series of posters in one fell swoop. Yes, it did alarm some civilians, but most were used to seeing shinobi taking part in their daily duties. The only strange thing would be the truly incredible amount of wires that Koutaku could simultaneously maneuver. He’d been practicing.

Leaping once more with the Jump Technique, Koutaku headed off into other neighborhoods, only stopping when he felt he’d done a sufficiently good job according to the requirements of the mission. Taking a break and hopping down from a rooftop, Koutaku slowed his fall with Wind Release: Step on High Ladder and then headed on his way towards a nearby restaurant, where he spent a minuscule amount of ryo for a cheap—but frankly delicious—meal. With the food being in a disposable bowl, Koutaku was free to walk and eat at once as he considered how he might tackle his next mission.

Notably, he’d been paying close attention to his surroundings and had noted several small animals, but none of the description in his mission. Drumming his fingers on the bowl of his noodle soup, Koutaku picked at his food and eventually used a film of chakra to make sure he didn’t loose his food upon the world when he leapt upwards and to the rooftops. From there Koutaku walked casually as he ate, heading for the wealthy patron’s estate. He wasn’t much looking forwards to this one, not after he’d re-read it. He’d had far more fun running about the neighborhood snatching up posters than he was likely to have tracking down a cat in some spoiled rich civilian’s estate.

Nonetheless, he’d do what had been assigned to him, no matter how frustrating he found it. That said, he spent his sweet time getting there, passing through a few more neighborhoods and snatching up any posters he saw that were sufficiently old. They were spread out and far more sparse the closer he got to the more affluent neighborhoods in Kirigakure. Similarly, he was swiftly forced to use the road rather than the roofs as buildings grew larger and far more spaced out from one another. He didn’t mind terribly as these areas saw far less foot traffic so it was still a fairly solitary affair.

Eventually, Koutaku reached his destination, and—recalling his experience with Travin’s manor—politely located the doorbell at the closed gate and rang it. A few moments passed and then a voice came through what Koutaku assumed was some variety of intercom system.

“Who’s there?”

Koutaku sighed too quietly for the microphone to pick him up and then replied, with a more professional tone than he felt. Speaking even and clear so the sensors could transfer the sounds effectively.

“I’m Iouchiryo, Koutaku, the shinobi assigned to help find a cat owned by the master or mistress of this residence. I’ve been informed that—”

“Yes yes, come in then,” the voice interrupted rudely, before the intercom promptly cut off and the gate began to swing open on its own. Deadpanning for a moment, Koutaku rubbed the bridge of his nose, before shaking his head and entering. He met with the client, confirmed the name, typical haunts, and exact appearance of the beloved pet before being told he was free to explore the entire grounds and that any guards or servants had been informed to be as helpful as possible.

Glad of this, Koutaku moved through the halls with deliberation, asking targeted questions of the servants and staff as he did so. Eventually he caught the sense of a non-human chakra signature and from then on things were a breeze. While it took a fair amount of additional time to finally find the damned sneaky cat, Koutaku eventually did so after circumnavigating the majority of the grounds and halls of the estate after which he finally located the temerarious feline. It had dragged its bed outside, found an alcove inside a storage shed, out of sight, and was sleeping soundly. While it clearly knew that Koutaku was present, it didn’t bother to move or even open its eyes to regard him. Shaking his head, Koutaku sent a shadow clone off to fetch the mistress of the manor.

After a brief conversation, the cat was retrieved, and Koutaku was sent off with the necessary paperwork to claim his reward, which he’d be doing immediately.

Heading off to take care of some other business for the day, the young shinobi would claim his ryo and depart the mission center without a second glance, glad to be done with the menial tasks.

Spoiler:

Approved