Day in the Life of a Genin

Sneaky Cat :

Photo Op Protege:

Food Shopping:

Life as a ninja had a lot more of an allure in his mind than it did in practice. To be honest he did not see himself being basically a glorified babysitter for the village as a whole. He was doing things like carrying around groceries, helping people shoot photos for some reason, and looking for an ever illusive cat. At least on the last one he would be able to track something, if you could even call it that. Tanbo was a neutral and peaceful village so he guessed beggars could not be choosers. It was better than constant death and living in fear every day he guessed. 

Kato knocked on the door of the photographer and after a few minutes of standing a younger man with a smile opened the door for him. Kato pointed up at his headband and said "Your laborer for the day." He said with an obvious sigh and disappointment in his voice. 

"Oh do try and perk up young Shinobi," The man said, undeterred by his obvious disappointment in Kato's voice. He kept the smile on his face and ushered Kato into his house. "All Ninja your age have to start somewhere and what better way to begin than with helping a small business take off!" He laughed and then began walking towards a back room and Kato followed behind him, not joining in on the cheer he had. 

He opened a door and on the inside was a much larger room than Kato had expected. It was covered with a bunch of equipment that Kato did not recognize. The man shuffled inside and then pointed at a few tall standing light fixtures. "Move those around the middle area here. I am going to get the area set up for pictures." Kato nodded his head and held back a sigh before he began moving them. They were not particularly heavy but he also wanted to be gentle with the items because he was not sure how expensive they were and the last thing he wanted to do was lose Ryo. 

"So, what made you want to become a Shinobi?" The man said curiously as he bent over a stool and was setting up a Kunai onto an apple like it had been thrown into it. It was extremely pretentious. 

"I dunno," Kato said as he set one of the lights down and adjusted it so it was lighting the stool. "My father was one and most of my clan is as well so it seemed like the normal thing to do." Kato shrugged his shoulders and moved over to the next light. 

"Oh you are from a clan?" He said inquisitively as he turned his head to look at Kato. "Which one, maybe I have heard of them?" 

Kato paused for a moment before he answered. "Uh, yeah maybe. The Uchiha clan." 

The man seemed to pause before he spoke next. Kato could see that he was thrown off guard about an Uchiha in his house. They were one of, if not the most, known of all the ninja clans and had quite the reputation across the land. "Do you have the... you know... cool eyes?" He said excitedly as he pointed to his own eyes. 

Kato sighed and set the light fixture down. "No, I don't." Kato said, a little aggressively, as he had not yet awoken any of the tomoes. It was a point of contention for him as he had, of course, tried. It just had not taken. The man must have taken the hint because he did not speak much for the rest of the working day. The revelation that he was an Uchiha had definitely silenced him a bit. After a few more hours of adjusting the lights, denying being a model, and trivial jokes his time was up. 

"You have been a great help Kato Uchiha!" The man said as Kato trudged out the door and offered a slight handwave back to the man. 

The next mission was across town and Kato used it as an opportunity to get in some cardio. He had not had time to train that morning so he took the long route and also did it at a full sprint taking opportunities to leap from buildings until finally he arrived at the market. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of an elderly man who he was supposed to be meeting and after scanning for a few moments he finally spotted him. 

"Oh, you must be the helpful young Shinobi here to assist me!" He was definitely on his way out in terms of age but it was surprising how spry he was for his assumed age. Kato nodded his head and the man smirked and then motioned for him to follow. "You know back in my day I was a ninja for the village. Never made it past the Genin rank, of course, and never was much of a fighter but little tasks like this were my forte. You know there is wisdom to be had in these lower ranked missions. Getting to know the people in the village you are protecting is crucial to you wanting to actually protect it." 

Long winded rants was the cliff notes version of how the day went with the man. He would rant about damn near everything. "Apples just aren't what they used to be. This new generation of farmers just doesn't know how to grow them the right way. I tell you our Kage surely has lost his way!" And on and on he went. It was almost comical how much he would thrust onto Kato who was having to carry more and more items with each passing second. The old man must have prepared for months at a time as no human needed this much on a daily basis. 

"Have you been able to do any training with the Kage? I remember when I was taught directly by the leader of the village. One of the best days of my life I tell you."

Kato was never sure if he actually wanted him to speak so he interjected. "No, I actually just... moved... here from Konoha. My father and I fled." Kato spoke matter of factly for some reason needing this man to understand that he was not some rice boy who had grown up here. 

"Ah, a refugee I see, well at least you are making yourself useful!" He chuckled and continued on as if he did not just try and insult Kato. But, then again, he was an older man and maybe he did not mean anything by it. None the less the statement "Making himself useful" seemed to rub him the wrong way. He could not explain why but it just seemed like such an odd mindset to have towards people. He was more than refugee. 

After a few more shops, and when it was obvious that Kato could carry no more, the two made their way back to his house. Kato made pretend as if the groceries were too heavy for him to keep up with the oddly speedy man so that he could hang back and not listen to his rants over and over again. After what seemed like an eternity they arrived at his little cottage and Kato quickly put away all of his groceries. 

"Here, have an apple for your hard work!" The man said and tossed one over to Kato who caught it. Though it was a lot less a reward than he deserved, he did not complain, as he was extremely hungry. 

The day was growing shorter and Kato did not waste any time as he ate his apple and made his way to the next mission. Some cat was lost and some noble was paying money for a Ninja to find it. It was all so trivial and the day was slowly wearing away at him and making him feel disillusioned with the whole Ninja thing. Is this what his life was going to be? Doing tasks for lazy villagers and nobles? He shook his head and approached the estate while reading his mission card. There was no need for him to interact with anyone, all the mission said was that he had to find the cat and return it, so he was going to do just that. 

He casually walked around the estate at first, checking in all the areas that a cat may hide. Down alleys, under boxes, etc. No luck and he was not even able to really even track the cat. He had no clue how long it had been lost and for all Kato knew it was not even in this area. He sighed and guessed it was time to get up a little bit higher and see if maybe it had somehow gotten onto the top of a rooftop. 

On the way up he reflected on his day and what he was feeling. In the past he would have just shoved those negative thoughts down but he had been working on trying to figure his way through his emotional baggage. Why was he feeling so negative towards the people of this village? All of them he had met, no matter how annoying, had been kind to him. He thought back to his time in Konoha and tried to compare the villagers there to the villagers here in Tanbo. There was definitely an air of arrogance to the people of Konoha. Despite the fact that they had been subjugated for so long they held themselves in very high esteem. Kato had always chalked it up to them being part of a major nation. 

But then, when the chips were down, they all turned on each other or fled. Fled like cowards. Fled like Kato and his father had. How much had this place meant to the two of them? The place where the rest of their clan had all resided or come from. How many of his cousins had he sat around and made fun of because they had left Konoha. Cowards Kato had called them. Too weak to die for their village. Too weak to stand up for themselves. Of course it had been all talk. He knew it was talk because here he stood, in the Rice Country, doing leg work for villagers who referred to him as a refugee. 

Movement to his right made him stop dwelling on thoughts he could not control and he spotted something dart from behind a chimney on a roof one house over. That must be the cat! Kato jumped into action and leapt from the rooftop to the other and landed gently as he kept his eye on the cat. It was quick but Kato was, surely, quicker. Or so he thought as he lunged out to grab it and it basically dodged out of reach. Kato cursed and continued tracking it as the cat sprinted into a corner. For a few minutes Kato and the cat played a game of chase atop the roof before he finally cornered it. Kato tried a different approach instead of trying to brute force his way into the cats zone. 

He remembered that cats did not like eye contact and he also had heard that displaying the back of his hand was a sign of submission so Kato gently bent down and showed the back of his hand. He made sure not to make eye contact and he kept himself crouched until finally the cat decided to come forward. After a few moments it rubbed up against his hand and purred softly. Kato could not help but smile as the cats purring made him feel some bit of warmth. After letting the cat get his scent Kato scooped the cat up and then crawled back down from the rooftops. 

After returning the cat to a very thankful owner Kato wandered the streets of Tanbo. Though he was still not completely sold on the whole village he thought back to the words of the elderly man and how getting to know the people was crucial to successfully defending it. There was some wisdom there as he had to admit he felt a bit more willing to help the people out after he had walked among them. However, he did hope that he could one day stop being a refugee and one day become a full fledged member of the village. 

WC: 2,083

+10 to Chakra
+10 to Speed

2k all towards Sharingan 1 Tomoe

+3k Ryo for 3 E Rank Missions
+300 Ryo for Genin Wages
+500 Ryo for Milestone Complete Any Mission
+15 AP

Approved besides milestone.