A New Beginning

The time for slacking was over.
Yamato had to get back into it.
Work.

There happened to be some people who had signed up for a number of missions. They had a spot open for Yamato. ‘Why not?’ Yamato thought. He could have used a good job chain to get himself back into shape.

He walked towards the meeting spot.

It seemed a couple of people had already arrived. Not faces Yamato had seen around before. Was he losing touch with the shinobi force of Tanbo? Impossible. Perhaps it was true that he had been inactive though. Whether these people were new or just new to Yamato remained to be seen. They seemed ready for the job, which was all that mattered. He walked towards them.

He was in his usual attire. A white formal casual fit with blue accents. He had his trustable white jacket pulling it all together. The one new thing was his haircut. The long hair had been a part of his look for a long time now, but with the summer coming up it was just far more trouble than it was worth. Oh yeah, and he was just absolutely covered in weapons. He hadn’t been on a mission in a while and he had forgotten what to expect. Anyone who even remotely knew Yamato could have guessed that when the blonde man was not sure what to expect, he prepared for the worst.

He walked up to the two that were waiting by the meeting spot. ”Hi..." he politely (to the best of his ability) invited himself into the conversation. ”Are you two here for the missions as well?" he asked, looking at both to see if there were any reactions if not a direct answer. ”Yamato Tanaka," he finally introduced himself, ”C-Ranked officer of Tanbogakure, at your service.". He reached out and offered a handshake to either of them if they were interested.

He then took out a notepad. ”It seems there’s a fairly long list of missions… Any preferences on where to start? I personally would prefer if we made our way to the academy last, seems like there are a number of these tasks we could accomplish on our way over there, like… The flyers?". Yamato took a deep breath. He was a bit disappointed that some of the missions he had signed up for seemed like chores more than shinobi missions. Still, any place to start was a good place to start. This was still a better help to the community, the village than sitting at home and reading books.

Yamato looked around. ”Do you two know if anybody else is joining us?". He checked his items one last time to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. ”If not, I’m ready to start the jobs whenever you are.". Uh oh. It seemed like he was missing a kunai. Had he used it as a doorstop and forgotten it again? Or wait. Was it a shuriken that was missing? He forgot to check if he had used any as a bookmark. He patted himself, looked into his ninja pouch, and counted again. It was a huge hit, he could hopefully still function during the missions.

He confirmed all of his items were in order, so he went back to reading his notebook. He was going over the missions and all the notes he had taken about them one last time as he was waiting for everyone to get ready, and possibly for more shinobi to arrive.

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Post WC: 585
Total WC: 585

Yamato scratched his head. It seemed to be a ‘rag-tag’ group alright. In fact, this might have been the first time in Yamato’s entire life that the phrase had been used accurately. He politely chuckled. "Nice to meet you all." he said to the entire group before turning his focus entirely to the spiky-red-haired man. "Sakurai, was it? I don’t believe I’ve heard you mention your rank. I do not see a Tanbo headband or badge either. Are you an officer of our town? If not, you could still join us in this mission of course, but I’d prefer to know the details.".

He would wait for an answer. "Otherwise, if I’m the highest-ranking officer, I suppose it would technically fall on me to lead, but I doubt we need to be that formal. I plan to lean on all of you for your strength.". He looked around and noted any visible weapons. "So if you want to share anything about your combat skills, I think this would be a good time to do that. For me, I specialize in seals and sensory, but I can hold my own in a fight from range. Do any of you prefer close combat?". Yamato listened to any answers his colleagues gave him.

Once everyone seemed to finish talking, Yamato addressed the group once again. "I suggest we start patrolling while making our way towards the rice fields. We can plan our route to do the shopping on the way, and we’ll look out for any posters on our way. I believe that’ll be an efficient use of our time. Once we’re done with the field work and gardening, we’ll patrol our way to the academy and handle our mission there. How does that sound?". If the group agreed to Yamato’s plan, he would nod and start leading the group in the route he described. If they had other suggestions, Yamato would hear them out and follow whatever plan the group agreed to.

The entire time, he was also paying attention to the new people he was meeting. "So Kaiya. You’re new in town, are you? Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking? And the other two of you..." he turned to make eye contact with the people he was addressing, "Are you both locals, or are either of you new as well? We’re going to spend some time together, and we’re allies, so we might as well get to know each other a little bit, right?". Yamato listened to any potential answers.

The village seemed silent. Not too much trouble on the horizon. Hopefully the missions were going to go well, without much trouble. Yamato fell into a rabbit hole within his own mind, wondering why he had avoided going on missions like this for such a long time. He was vigilant, constantly checking their surroundings. He knew patrols like this tended to attract the attention of gangs who wanted to let out their anger at the officers of the village.

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Post WC: 502
Total WC: 1087

Yamato noted the answers to his questions, especially the one about the combat capabilities of his colleagues. It sounded like there was little that nobody in the group could accomplish. Yamato smiled, comforted by the knowledge that he was in good company. "That sounds wonderful. Sounds like you are folk I can lean on later, if need arises. It’s my honor to be on this mission with you all.". So Shin was good with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, while Kaiya was proficient in Medical jutsu and weaponry… Yamato’s head started burning up with plans to use if the three needed to fight various sized groups of enemies. The best possibility was of course there being no combat at all, followed by combat that was easy enough to avoid. Yamato still couldn’t help but plan for the worst-case scenario.

Kaiya’s answer to Yamato’s simple question seemed oddly familiar. It sounded like the same kind of dodging Yamato had to do when his own past was brought up, especially his place of origin. Understanding and respecting that feeling, he chose not to push Kaiya further. "Another time it is, then, if you feel like it. I agree, what’s important is, in fact, that you’re here and here to help. Let’s be on our way then.". Yamato walked with the group. They had already started taking off posters not a few steps into their mission. The village seemed to be full of these.

Walking around, Yamato spotted one of the bigger grocery shops around town. "I’ll just be a minute." he proclaimed to the group, and rushed in. Just a few minutes later, he walked out of the store with about ten cloth bags full of groceries. Barely managing to carry all of it, he addressed the group "Okay..." his voice strained, "Let’s be on our way...". He continued to lead the group towards the rice fields where their next mission was to take place.

It only took a few more minutes of walking. They were by the outer rims of the residential zone, and the start of the first few farms closest to the center of the village. Once they reached the farmhouse, Yamato finally dropped the bags in front of the door and took a huge breath. He had tried not to display his shortness of breath, but any longer and he assumed he would die from a lack of oxygen. It was hard to carry this many items after not working out for months, perhaps years.

Once he was done breathing in and out heavily, he spoke to the group again. "Okay..." he barely managed to let out, "I’m taking a backseat on this one.". The old woman already tending the farm waved at the group, then pointed to a few scythes sitting idly by the entrance of the garden full of wonderful, colorful flowers. Their work for the next hour or so seemed clearcut, even if it seemed daunting. "I’ll start with the garden..." he finally said, heading towards the blue flowers that he had never seen before in his life. "Let me know once we’re all finished and then we can finally go back to the academy.".

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Post WC: 528
Total WC: 1615