The Beginning

The Missions:

To get stronger you need to show you are competent in your ability to complete all kind of missions without issue or deviation.
 
This had been told to Rezyx by his higher ups when he asked for more guidance on what he needed to do to continue on his path. It seemed like a waste of time to the shinobi but he hadn’t made it this far not listening to those stronger than himself on how to improve himself. So he made his way to the mission center in the Kirigakure village, it had a large board that had various missions separated by rank. He was almost as low as you could get in the rankings for Shinobi’s a Genin even with his older age but he had been slacking on his desire to progress through the ranks to focus on honing his ability with his weapons and still trying to understand on how to properly use Chakra threads.
 
He heard that he needed to complete a handful of E-rank missions to satisfy one of the conditions for a “rank-up” as people called it so he decided he would grab five of them. It took a minute to figure out which ones would allow him a quick and easy path through them but he finally decided on these five missions.

Painter Guild’s Plus One, Apparently the local painter’s guild needed help with something and he needed to go to their building to get more details.

The Adoption Center, why was it all the centers in the village seemed to need help with something but that was another for him to find out about. He didn’t mind working with animals he kind of hoped they had some reptiles there as he always enjoyed being around them for some reason.

Bank maintenance, seemed the Kirigakure bank needed hands to help with clean up or something, a pretty simple task to deal with.

Pet Food Delivery, oh this will be a blast the Shinobi thought to himself, it was a mission concerning bringing food to the first Mizukage’s pack of wolves that have been kept around. This might be the most “dangerous” one if he really thought about it.

And his final mission for the day was Monument Mopping, looked like the statue of the first Mizukage needed cleaning.
“Alright these will be the ones I will complete and then I can focus on moving onto the next rank of missions.” Rezyx thought to himself as he got the directions needed from the counter and headed off to the painter’s guild first.

WC: 429

The village was empty, or it always felt like there just wasn’t enough people in it even though Rezyx knew there was plenty of people just far enough into the mist that they couldn’t be seen with normal vision, but that didn’t stop it from feeling like hardly anyone was here. It was one of the things that always stuck out to the young shinobi as he made his way through the area to the bank so that he can start doing his mission.
 
This was another place that was busy but just seemed vacant, Rezyx approached the front counter to talk to the worker there, “I’m here as request by this mission slip.” He said plainly and produced the mission slip to the worker. They looked at it nodded their head, produced another slip with directions on it and went back to their work. Rezyx took the slip read it and went ahead to the security office once there he knocked on the door and was told to enter.
 
The man sitting at the desk was old and grizzly, a scar cut through his left eye deep enough that it made the eye milky in color a contrast to the working one a bright green. An unusual color to see in the village, the man gestured to the seat across from him Rezyx took his seat and waited. “You will be working as a janitor of sorts till we close then you will switch to security with the others here, Go down the hall and find the janitors office and they will get you going.” The man said with hardly a look back up at the young man in front of him. “Sounds good.” Rezyx said as he got up from his seat and made his way to the office as directed.
 
Talking to the people inside was a stark difference as this group of cleaners were more approachable and welcomed the young man in and helped Rezyx get settled into his short job. They guided him to where to get the cleaning supplies and what got cleaned with what in a broad sense, luckily there wasn’t really anything that needed any major processes or special kind of cleaning liquid. The day didn’t feel like it had been going fast but his tenure as a janitor came to an end quicker then Rezyx had realized. It was already time for him to go back to the security office and get his assignment for the night shift.
 
Rezyx didn’t have to wait long for his assignment and once more he was ran through the typical spiel of what his routes would be who he would be partnered with and what the various callsigns and codewords meant for his short shift. He wasn’t being put in a position that only he would be the one to protect this bank but as an extra hand in case of any emergency so he didn’t need to know the super detailed in depth training or stuff for this job. Like his quick tenure with the janitors this night passed quickly and without any issues. Rezyx got his mission slip approved and began to make his way to the next mission on his list.
 
WC: 539

What stops someone from becoming stronger? Simple, a lack of will power of course, if you didn’t have the will to get stronger, there simply was no way for you to grow. Shiro knew this, it was one of the things he constantly told others who were unconfident, that their drives or passion for something simply either wasn’t strong enough, or they lacked the will to truly appreciate the arts or gifts they were given. That’s why, his eyes shining blue turning back into the blank whiteness of the Byakugan as he was too busy traveling around Kirigakure in search of something fun. He wanted to do something, either that or it was back to using calligraphy to clear his own boredom. White hair softly flowing in the misty winds of Kirigakure, finding himself near a bank, the massive building was almost like that of a beacon, something he could use in order to note where he was going. Yet his Byakugan allowed him to see, see further, see into the bank. Curious as if anything was in there in the first place before heading inside. He had taken up a few missions, however the mission boards might not have been the best when it came to assigning him with any type of partner. That was alright for him, he tended to like working solo anyways.

Rushing up the stained marble steps of the bank, arriving a bit earlier then what he was supposed to. Hand nonchalantly placed in his pockets on arrival, he had an attitude with him, one that screamed he was someone who thought of himself as hot shit. Especially inside of a place like this. He was ready to get a basic rundown of what he was supposed to do within the bank, finding the same scarred man heading the desk, the eye milky from the damage left from the scar plastered from the top of his head all the way down to his chin. White eyes milk the milky gaze, this time Shiro standing instead of sitting down, wanting to get to work as quickly as possible. However instead of being placed on Janitorial duty, he was instead placed upon tidying up the grounds on the outside and making sure that nobody was able to run in and do something incredibly stupid. An easy job, one that was below Shiro’s own skill set, he let out a small chuckle, to which the bank manager leaned forwards.

“Is there something funny sir?” He asked, his gravelly voice filled with a commanding tone, to which the Hyuga could only shrug.

“Apologies sir, I just found it funny thinking how fast it'd take me to clean up outside, probably not too long. Don’tcha think?” His eyes focused for a moment, staring back at the Bank Manager’s one working eye. It was kinda funny to see just how some people take their own jobs seriously. Made Shiro curious about how everyone else thought about them as Shinobi, they were kinda taking jobs, yet it was mostly helping out with the people. Something that everyone Shinobi was capable of doing, whether it wasted their time was another thing altogether. Shiro continued to inspect the place, finding the architecture rather interesting, small bits of blue lining artistically woven into the stoney marble surface of the walls. It definitely was something that Kiri would be interested in for their own sake. He kinda liked it, reminded him of the flowing waves that he’d visit with his own mother growing up.

Snatching one of the security outfits to head outside and start picking up pieces of trash, mainly snatching them quickly off of the ground, tossing them into the Garbage bag that he had grabbed on his way out. The small patter of rain hitting the concrete told him another downpour was going to be upon Kirigakure once again, yet everyone was already used to it, Shiro basking in the water hitting the top of his head, not flinching or taking in much notice to his surroundings. Quickly, his hands snatched the last piece of trash that his eyes could see, before rushing back inside after tossing the garbage into the dumpster they had out the back of the Bank, hidden from sight as to not taint the place's reputation.

WC:717

It was around when his first mission had been completed, helping with janitorial and security detail for the bank that Rezyx had noticed another young Shinobi there. A boy with white hair and piercing blue eyes, he had that air around him that spoke of confidence mixed with arrogance. Rezyx felt that he had seen the boy somewhere before but he didn’t bother to pursue that train of thought only because it didn’t involve him getting stronger, though just as he was getting ready to head on to his next mission he remember something about the boy. He was someone that visited the training grounds quite often, so the white haired boy at least was somewhat similar to himself, Rezyx decided that anyone that visited the training grounds enough to be remembered for it would be someone that could help himself grow stronger in some way.
 
Approaching the White haired boy Rezyx looked down at him not because of any kind of over confidence but because he was simply taller then the guy. “You want to get stronger too right? I got four more missions to complete if you wish to join me.” Rezyx said with a plain and neutral tone. Personally the towering blue haired giant didn’t care if the younger shinobi joined him but out of a sense of kindred he offered the chance. No reason to not include someone he was sure shared at least some similar viewpoints.
 
Whether or not the White-haired boy agreed or not, Rezyx would at least introduce himself after so that he could remember the guy’s name the next time he saw him at the training grounds. “By the way I’m Rezyx and all I care about is getting stronger.” He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the existence of the world. If the shorter shinobi agreed to join him Rezyx would show them the list of missions that needed to be completed and where they were going next, which at this time was heading to pick up the meat needing delivered to the First Kage’s wolves.

WC: 349
TWC: 1317

Shiro had just gotten done with the first mission on his roster by himself. He held onto his own confident tone as the rain slowly began to trickle down, before suddenly coming to a stop. The light pattering of the rain against the floor continued onwards with Shiro’s attention aimed primarily at taking his small reward with the Bank Manager before leaving the establishment entirely. His eyes showed the same self assurance, his hand shooting out, requesting for the money that was owed him for doing his own job for the bank instead of hiring some actual workers to do so. It was easier to pay shinobi a slightly lower salary than to pay for constant workers it seemed. He knew that this was kinda what Kiri was about, it was mainly to do with the state of the village, which wasn’t too bad, yet the people within said village could have been better mannered, and also had some better choices of who’d they mouth off towards. His confident aura seemingly having attracted the attention of someone who he remembered only due to the size of which he exhibited in pure height. Rezyx had approached the Hyuga from out of the corner of his vision. A few simple steps and Rezyx was now right in front of the shorter boy. Shiro cocked his head upwards, staring with those light cyan eyes of his that he inherited from his own mother.

“Of course I wanna get stronger. What else is there to do in this village besides help the people and get stronger? I’ll take up your offer, what else are we as Shinobi good for without helping each other ya?” His tone showing that he still held his confidence against the much taller boy, he took a few moments to think, hands sliding into his own pockets. Rezyx felt like an individual who wanted to get to know him, which wasn’t surprising given who Shiro was. The Hyuga would grow stronger, he needed to, the slight feeling of kindred spirit with the taller man had Shiro following him out of the Bank without a second thought. His laxed expression continued to permeate throughout the steps he took down the stone steps of the bank which they both simultaneously worked at.

“Ah, a simple goal, one that I can agree on, now come now Rezyx, show us what we have to do in order to satisfy these simple little requests of the villagers,” His voice was bathed in the tone of confidence. He felt no threat or rather no sense of threat from the man next to him, they both were working towards a common goal, one that both intended to see through if they wished to achieve their goals. Yet Shiro knew that his goals would eventually shift, knowing that his true destiny was something a bit more… Positive in the future.

“Just note, I’ll carry the heavier load if that’s alright?” One last final remark before following where the missions were with his fellow Kirigakure ninja.

WC:507
TWC:1224

The White haired boy agreed to come along with Rezyx to finish off the list of missions he had taken from the Mission building though he wanted it to be known that if there was a heavier load that he would be taking it and failed to offer his name in return though Rezyx simply let that pass he didn’t need to know the person’s name to work with him and he knew he was a shinobi of the village and that was all he needed to know at the end of the day. So Rezyx nodded his head and lead the way to the next destination.
 
The place was just a few streets over from the bank on where they held the First Mizukage’s wolves and their families, it was a large plot of land that had various kennels and facilities attached to it that focused on the health and livelihood of the wolves kept in this enclosure. At one point these beasts were fed with the meat of humans though that practice has since been stopped with the meat now from the cows and pigs from the nearby farmers though the wolves still get the best of the best standard of meat. Rezyx entered the building and approached the desk handing the person there the slip, “We are here to help with the delivery of the meat for the First Mizukage’s Wolves as requested.” The man behind the desk looked at the two of the shinobi and nodded his head he handed them some badges that showed what they were here to do and would allow them access to the needed facilities.
 
“You simply need to go down this hallway take a left at the first intersection and knock on the third door on your right. There you will talk with the Caretaker of the Wolves who will then give you further instructions on how to go about receiving the food and how to feed the Wolves.” The man behind the desk explained in simplest form. It was a simple thing to do and Rezyx simply nodded his head in understanding and made his way as directed, he assumed his fellow Shinobi would follow along or maybe they would race ahead to get the larger load of duty. Regardless Rezyx made his way to door as needed.
 
WC: 389
TWC: 1706

His own attitude made him believe he wouldn’t need to spout out his name towards any simple shinobi, even though him and Rezyx seemed to have similar motives in mind for doing all of these basic missions. Shiro didn’t mind that his name wasn’t known, at least for right now. Rezyx could also always check the ninja registration inside of Kirigakure, or end up finding Shiro in the bingo book in the following months to come. That’s what Shiro wanted, to at least be known, and he had the confidence to back it up in this instance. Smirking as Rezyx leads the way towards their next destination within the village, small amounts of people gather around the rain soaked grounds, almost like flies clinging onto shit. It was impressive to see that even after everything, Kirigakure still held strong, it made the white haired Hyuga give a joyous smile at the sights before him. Of those simply talking and bustling around the streets looking for their own types of conversations, or breathing life into new ones. He wished to see the people somewhat grow, it was what he held deep inside of him, that the people would grow through his own flames. That under his own banner they’d all be safe under.

As that’s what his mother would have wanted for him, that’s what his people would get from him. His thoughts had given him and Rezyx time to walk towards their next destination. His black jacket flowed in the small winds brushing past them. The small chitters of the birds around the two shinobi. Their mission had involved the delivery of meat towards the once man-eating wolves of the first Mizukage; he wondered how many had died from the first Mizukage’s hands, enough for the wolves to get a taste for the flesh of man. Perhaps that was one of the first mizukage’s hobbies, feeding people towards the wolves he held so dear to him. Perhaps that’s why when both of them had entered the building, decked out with polished wood and neatly placed furniture around the halls, it slightly sickened him that a place like this looked so nice. Of course to show off is expected, yet when there were others out there that needed food, that way they could have a much more efficient military force, it hurt him to see that this was what the funds were used for. Not on the shinobi, but on the “weaklings” who stayed behind and did nothing.

It’s when they were given the instruction to head down the hallway that Shiro made his way down a bit slower than beforehand. Wanting to see just how much the place was given funds for simply giving out fresh meat. The butchers and tanners all had placed their hearts in mind for the village. Yet this was all for two dogs that weren’t even a help within the village. He had no respect for how Kirigakure seemed to be run, the Kage barely even showed his face, where was he? Where were they?

When the two had made their way inside, a big burly tanned man with a scar running directly along both of his cheeks, giving him an appearance of a hardened warrior while he explained that the two of them would need to carry the two big shipments of meat towards where the dogs would be held, which was a few blocks away, Shiro let a small grin appear on his face, a job like this couldn’t be too hard? Especially given it was just some amount of meat?

He never knew that raw animal carcuses freshly sliced up would be as heavy as it was, but it was way tougher then what he was actually expecting from delivery meats of all things. The smell wasn’t too bad, lucky for both of them the dogs weren’t being served rotten meat. Shiro holding the massive box in his hands while carrying the contents of it eventually towards where the drop off point was. Hopefully the delivery of meat would help with the dog's own stomachs, as even though he didn’t have much respect for them. They were just animals from what he could understand, very powerful animals, but still simply an animal nonetheless.

“Well Rezyx, where are the great duo of me and you going next?”

WC:724
TWC:1948

The job was simple, they picked up the meat as needed and put it in the feeding place for the wolves. It wasn’t a hard job or one that took any skill, it simply took a willingness to deal with fresh cut meat and physical labor which Rezyx had no issue with. They got what they needed and completed the task quickly it was over before they had even broken a sweat, the smell of the meat hardly bother Rezyx and it didn’t seem to phase his companion who after they were done with that job was already asking where they were going next.

“We are heading to the Mizukage Monument of the First Mizukage to apparently help with maintenance of it.” He spoke plainly, they still had two more jobs to do after this one and he was starting to get bored of having to do such simple “clean up after everyone else” tasks. “Lets make this one quick.” Rezyx said with a hint of annoyance.
 
Leading the way they arrived at the needed place and once they were given the tools they needed to help with the cleaning Rezyx went to work using his nimbleness to climb the monument as needed to clean the higher spots. He shooed away the birds and cleaned out what he needed and washed what else was left. It wasn’t a long job to do but it was one that everyone would see since it was such a public place, which meant he had to at least give it a bit more then the others. Once he was sure of the completion of his side of things he went back over just to be thorough and would help his white haired comrade if needed though he doubted that they would need it at all.
 
Once both had completed the task to completion Rezyx would lead the way onto the next job, “For this one we need to help the Adoption Center and then we will head to the Painter’s Guild to help there finishing up the missions as needed.” Rezyx explained as he looked over the mission slips he had taken from the board, “I wish to be done with these type of missions quickly I would rather spend my time sparring or training my skills then all this cleaning.” He would voice with a more annoyed tone then previous, while Rezyx understood that every started at the bottom it didn’t make him anymore happy to have to do basic tasks like cleaning and animal care. He was a shinobi of the mist not a butler or janitor.
 
WC: 435
TWC: 2141

Their E-Rank missions were practical chores for the two ninja, Shiro’s face grimacing at the mention of them going to clean the Kage’s own monument or check for some kind of maintenance. The wolves at least could help the locals with food and money, yet the cleaning of the monument was something that had Shiro only groan in annoyance. Couldn’t people just keep things clean normally? It wasn’t that hard to hire people to clean a statue instead of needing to commission shinobi for it. Yet he couldn’t complain, money was something that he’d need, and whatever amount he could get, Shiro would take for right now. His small frown showed itself for the first time when they arrived upon the Kage’s own monument, a reminder of their own legacy and how they were able to make this village whole. The massive statue was covered in dirt and mud from the rain beforehand, even more so from the amount of cracks and fissures held up in the base of the massive monument to the Mizuages own legacy. His face is still clearly carved into the green stone. Shiro canned the small area, gazing through his own vision to notice just how much was needed to be done. The cold winds lashing through his skin, he felt the cold, as it guided him, molded him into wanting to help, as the people glorified him, their first Mizukage. They had already gone through so many Kage’s, what was one more added to the pile? Stein, their newest was barely around… There needed to be a change in the system… Especially after everything that had happened to his own mother.

“Hey Rezyx? What’s your opinion on the Kage at the moment?” Shiro asked while his feet lit up with chakra, rather easily gluing himself to the statue in order to move around it without actually getting much more stains on it. Shiro was thinking… What has their kage done as of recently… If he wasn’t already dead from some kind of attempt on their own life.

The actual scrubbing process throughout the statue wasn’t the worst part about it, sure some of the stains were quite a pain to deal with regularly, yet with their quick and efficient coordination and teamwork. The two genin were able to succeed in their first task of washing the monument, next was the task that required much more… delicate approach to it. As the next stage was actually polishing the damn statue. The big spray bottle would be enough for them to cover the statue with the polish, yet rubbing to make sure that everything was practically reflecting his own face off of the surface was an absolute chore. If it wasn’t for his own practice with calligraphy, his hand would have fallen off from his own wrist. He held his similar grumpy look after they were all finished up with their monument maintenance assignment. This time at least Shiro could tell they did a fantastic job with actually doing this quickly, he didn’t even have to use his Byakugan much when it came to getting all of the cracks.

“Alright… All done with the clean up process! Let’s get the rest of these done soonish so that way I can actually go and purchase what I want. There’s no reason for us to waste anymore time with these chores. We both got better things to do besides fuck around with some kind of chores.”

Of course, the one thing he was actually interested in was the painters guild, something that he was already a part of, making it quite easy for the both of them to gain access to their tools in order to pick and clean them out. Water release would be perfect for this… If he actually knew how to manipulate it properly. His fingers combed through the bristles lining the paint brushes as they all were neatly tucked back into place, allowing the two genin to head off to their final destination. Shiro allowed that same smile to return as they had to fix up this pet adoption center… Kiri certainly was a mess, just how could anyone survive in these types of conditions? The house he lived in was already paid for, kept clean by himself as it was rather small… Yet had felt so empty as a result of him being alone for so long.

Nailing down the floor boards, bringing in some types of wood to fix up the building and patch up any holes. Rezyx hopefully focused on the animals, more specifically the dogs, allowing for Shiro to primarily work on the construction and fixing of the building itself. The floorboards were absolutely awful, rotting, decaying flesh of a once great tree. Shiro ended up simply tearing through the entire floor boards and any surrounding that could be seen as way too flimsy. Reapplying the new wooden boards that was given to him to install back into said flooring.

Just what was the Kage doing with the civilians? He seemed to be completely missing? Why didn’t he do anything? That question kept on soaring in his head while the two of them were busy with fixing the boards of the animal adoption center. Shiro’s fingers holding the nails in place while hammering away with the other hand.

“No need to thank us… we're just doing our jobs.”

Shiro’s smile widened as the owner was grateful for the both of them, handing them the money and allowing both of the Genin to leave the place entirely.

“Well then, I’ll be seeing you at the sparring grounds soon Rezyx, Just, make sure you remember the name of Shiro Hyuga, and I look forward to seeing us work together again.”

He left with the same cocky smile, dashing off towards the weapon shop, wanting to make a purchase of a certain sword he had been eyeing for a while. One that certainly would be interesting for him to use later when he does end up going to find Rezyx inside of the training grounds. A spar was certainly in line for the two up and coming Shinobi, especially with how much potentially both of them exuded as a result, Shiro wanted to become strong, it was either that or die.

WC:1052
TWC:3000

Topic Exit and Claims

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