A Call to Action

The Mission Details:

Himari's Stats:

It's another cloudy day, with the sea of culumnous nimbus vying to wager a tug-o-war with the afternoon sky as the sun's faint shimmer's of golden brilliance struggle to wax through the the blanket of cool gas. Toward the residential district of Konoha, there resides, once again, a young kunoichi with a lissome physique followed by short, black hair down to her nape with left-side parted fringes, a pair of featureless white eyes, a soft facial expression accompanied by a fair complexion with a small mole at the bottom corner of her left eye. Her attire typically consists of a long open-sleeved, lavender-colored qipao with purple and white accents, fishnet undergarments, mesh legwear, a thin violet choker, shorts, and black open-foot sandals with her other ninja tools holstered at her left-rear hip. An engraving of her clan symbol displays itself on the back of her qipao's torso. Her village forehead protector wraps around her hips.

Nearing the summit, she scratches her head over the inane vandaliems — or more so — graffiti that's tained the many the village leader's stone-sculpted faces. For what it's worth, though, whoever committed this has an extensive creativity in the way they approached. Starting from the left-foremost side of the mountain, the the first handful of sculpted hokage heads were brushed with blue paint spilling from the bottom lids of their eyes down to the point of their chin. With a mixture of red and black, the latter drew a poor rendition of what would otherwise be eyeshadow and the former with large spirals starting from the center of both facial cheeks. Then, their hair's splashed with an uncoordinated arrangement of primary colors with no particular theme in mind.

Himari, using the Jutsu of Surface Walking to steady herself upright, brushes her index finger against one of the red spirals on one of the hokage's faces. Rubbing her thumb against her index, she feels a faint moisture. The vandalism was likely committed some couple of hours ago, meaning the culprit likely has resurfaced to commence their whimsical schemes. After climbing down, the next location she goes to is the village library and, to no one's surprise, resembles another set of graffiti, with a handful of janitors mumbling to themselves in a disgruntled tone as they scrub away the paint that's smothered on the walls and corners. This time, however, the paint used here appears to be a little more fresh.

When she approaches the janitors for any leads or information on the miscreant responsible, they note of a young boy with the vague description of having unkempt brown hair, a fair skin complexion, and sports a blue t-shirt and gray pants. When she subsequently inquires about the direction they last saw him go, they point toward the north-eastern part of the village, toward the village lake. Thanking them for their time, she hurries over to her next destination in earnest and when she arrives, takes to the high-ground by mounting the top-side of the buildings that give her a better vantage point to oversee the lake's layout. Keeping a low profile by kneel with her knees bent forward, she hops and leaps between each building to get a better angle of another view. Not too long after, just when she was about ready to search on the ground, she spies of a clear though blurry figure and what appears to be a limb move to and fro horizontally without a care in the world.

That must be him! She thinks.

The trick now was to approach him within a reasonable distance as to not alert him to her presence. Making a mental note of the distance between herself and the perpetrator, there's about roughly 120 meters that divides them and an elevation difference of 50 meters. She knows she can make half the distance at her current state, but she'd need to add a little more bang to her buck if she wanted to catch him unawares in one-fell swoop. On the other hand, she could simply use her already immense speed to traverse around and close the distance while she makes her way toward a building that's closest to the boy and catch him then and there. Maybe one of her summons, Matsuba, could dip into the lack, submerge himself, and, with the aid of her summoner, execute a pincer maneuver to cut off the boy's means to escape.

But that sounds excessive though, so she opts for the second method.

Retracing her steps back and then veering around until his back faces toward her. After she lowers herself enough that impact from landing wouldn't be detrimental, she proceeds to as aforementioned, rises up to her feet with her arms akimbo and says.

"Stop right there!"

Which gives the boy a scare as his brush jumps from his hands and fumbles to catch it again before he frantically turns himself around and scoots away from the source of the sound.

"It's not nice to give people a hard time for your entertainment," She lectures. "If you come with me, though, I'm sure the adults won't give you as much of a hard time as you did for them."

The boy, after somewhat recovering from the initial shock of being crept behind upon, frowns.

"I'm just having a little fun, it's like I'm harming anyone with what I'm doing."

Himari raises an eyebrow. "I mean, that's fair. But you're giving them more work to deal with than they should. What if that time could've been spent with family and friends?"

Then his facial expression softens and there's a slightly uncomfortable pause before it occurs to Himari an unspoken story. She takes a few steps forward, which startles him from his thoughts as she kneels in front of him.

"I'm not sure if it'll help but, if you need a friend to be with, I can be yours."

There's a brief silence until stands back on his feet and nods. Now with his cooperation, she returns to the village officials and explains the situation to them before he's turned in. She'll have to remember to make room in her schedule to visit some time later during the day. After the processing and everything else is done, she heads toward the gate entrance of the village to complete her final task for the day. Thankfully, the activity itself will be less weighty on the mind, as she'll only need to pick up and deliver a dozen or so items to the same number of customers in need of them.

WC: 1,091
TWC: 1,091

When she arrives near the village gates, she scans the zone for her would be mission giver. Last she recalls, they've recently set up a sizeable shop here to deliver an abundance of soil to the fire nation as part of a large order for several citizens. It wouldn't taken her long to find him — or in this case them — judging by the numerous busy-bodies that tread to, fro, and in-between each other as they place down large, individual sacks that sit on the pavement with an audible thud. She understands that the Leaf Village was founded together by the First Hokage by springing forth life into the terrain and spawning multiple forestries and vegetation. Although, the number of bags she sees makes her wonder what exactly anyone would need such a vast quantity and amount to justify the shipment. Maybe she'll learn that along the way as she delivers each sack to their destinations.

As she approaches one of them, she introduces herself as follows, "Heyya!" She hollers with a wave. "I was assigned to help deliver the soil to the people that need them?"

A man donning a long sleeved, silky jacket covers him to his waist and is almost completely buttoned up at the right side. The sleeves of his jacket are wide and reach down to well above his wrists, they're decorated with several thread linings from top to bottom. The jacket has a narrow, rectangular neckline which reveals part of the relatively simple shirt worn below it and is worn with a small cloth belt, which is held together by a small belt buckle. The cloth belt is solely decorative and a status symbol. His pants are simple and a little narrow and reach down to his leather shoes. The shoes are made from a very uncommon leather, but are otherwise a common design.

He turns to face the youngling and nods in her direction. "That's right, and whom may you be?"

"Himari. Hyūga Himari, at your service!" She bows.

"Mmhm. You can call me Sanjou and let's skip the formalities, it's something I'll never get used to." He mutters the last clause of his sentence before he then sighs. "So, I'm sure you read the details from the mission facility, but allow me to reiterate for the calrity's sake: You're to deliver to sacks of soil to each of these customers I've listened down here." He hands her a handheld sheet of paper with a list of up to 8 persons, their full names, number designations, and their addresses documented beneath them. "I've numbered so you know which soil goes to whom. And it doesn't really matter the order in which you do them in, so long as they get them before the end of the day. Afterward, you can report back to me and I'll have whoever gave you the mission to finish know you've done your part and have your dues delivered. Any questions?"

"Nope!" Himari shakes her head and salutes to Sanjou. "I'll get 'em delivered in a jiffy!"

"Right, well," He gestures to the 12 bags that lay on the ground five meters behind him. "Time's a wastin'."

And she makes the most out of it. Standing in front of one of the bags, she squats down, shuffles her hands beneath it, and — lifting with her the gradual elevation of her legs —

"Ali-Oop!"

And hoists it up and leans it against her chest. Then she shifts the bag to one side to read the note she was given before she takes off toward her intended destination, being careful not to jostle the bag too much to avoid spilling its contents yet with enough speed to maintain a consistent pace that wouldn't hamper her ability to keep in good time. One by one, she delivers each parcel of soil to their respective owners, all the while conversing with the denizens of the village all the while to familiarize herself with the people who reside here. At one point, she eventually asks one of them the purpose of why they need such large amounts of soil, considering how industrialized the village has gotten. She receives a plethora of answers from a couple of the denizens, each listing the following reasons as to why splooge a decent portion of their resources into acquiring soil from distant lands:

Gardening and Planting: One of the primary reasons people buy soil is for gardening and planting purposes. Soil provides the necessary nutrients and support for plants to grow. Depending on the existing soil quality in their backyard, homeowners may need to amend or enrich the soil with organic matter, compost, or other additives to create a favorable environment for their plants. Buying soil allows them to acquire the specific type and quality of soil needed for their gardening projects.

Landscaping and Lawn Care: For homeowners looking to improve the overall aesthetics and functionality of their backyard, buying soil is often part of their landscaping or lawn care plans. It may involve leveling the ground, filling in depressions or uneven areas, or creating raised beds or berms. Quality soil is crucial for establishing healthy grass, supporting various plants, or providing a stable foundation for hardscaping features like pathways, patios, or retaining walls.

One of the first reasons was for soil improvement. In some cases, the existing soil in a backyard may be lacking in certain essential properties. It might be too sandy, clayey, compacted, or lacking in organic matter. From what Himari's gathered, homeowners may choose to buy soil to improve the quality and structure of their soil, enhancing its drainage, moisture retention, fertility, and overall health. Mixing in new soil can help address deficiencies and create a more suitable environment for plant growth.

The second reason was for container gardening and raised beds. Many people opt for container gardening or raised beds, particularly if their backyard has limited space, poor soil quality, or other constraints. It makes sense, considering how little space exists for creating any raised beds or participating in any form of gardening. Nevertheless, these gardening methods allow for more control over the soil composition and drainage, and they can be particularly useful in urban settings. Buying soil enables individuals to fill containers or build raised beds with high-quality, nutrient-rich soil, providing an optimal environment for their plants.

The third reason explains how they're used for construction and renovation. An obvious to most who would ponder the idea, but nonetheless, one of the homeowners — who so happens to be a home renovator themselves — explains to her how she undertakes construction projects such as building structures, installing swimming pools, or adding new features to their backyard, they may need to remove or relocate the existing soil. In such cases, she also buys additional soil to backfill or create new landscape areas as part of the construction or renovation process.

By the time she delivers the last batch, she returns to Sanjou and fills him in on the completion of the assignment. After an exchange of words, he informs the mission headquarters of her deed and is paid her dues for this mission and the one prior. When she returns home, it's already well past midday, and notices her mother's nowhere to be found. Save for a note that's left on the kitchen table, that reads that it's "time" she tapped into her latent clan abilities.

WC: 1,232
TWC: 2,323


[EXIT THREAD]


Rewards claimed upon completion of all missions listed at the beginning of the thread:

Total Ryo Earned: +4,000 Ryo
Total Bonus AP Earned: +20 AP

Investing the 2,323 TWC on the following Jutsus (25% discount applied via Max Stats):

► Training Dominion @ A-Rank (535/2,137) → [2,062/2,062] (796 TWC Left)
► Training Genjutsu Release for Handseal Mastery (187/187; 609 TWC Left)
► Training Acrobatic Recovery @ B-Rank (609/1,125)