Sharp Eyes

Mission: Patrol Training

After many years of practice and training at the academy, Isuru thought that he had learned enough. He wanted to apply his skills, but it seemed that life had other plans for the time being. With a deep breath, he focused back in on the instructor as he explained the tasks in which he would engage. "In short, you will need to run the obstacle course, manage the civilian, and then deliver the package they give you to the final standing post. You will each be expected to do this in the shortest time which you are capable of. While there is no need to compete for the best time, healthy competition is never frowned on."

Isuru sat with a half dozen other recruits who had accepted the mission. With the goal of expanding his skills to handle whatever was needed of him, both inside the village and outside, he decided that having patrol training would be a benefit. As he saw that they were simply running basic maneuvers, he realized that he might have been wrong. He and Morei would launch themselves around the village all the time, seeing how far they could push themselves. Compared to that, this obstacle course sounded like a playground with extra steps.

One of the girls sitting a row ahead of him caught his eye. She kind of reminded him of Silvia in how she was so intent on learning everything the instructor said. She would also flip her hair in a cute way every now and then...

He shook his head and focused back on the board. The instructor had written their names on the board in the order in which they would be running the exercise. It seemed that he was fourth, right after someone named Jessica. They all stood up and got into a single-file line before walking out the backdoor of the building. Isuru felt the boredom seeping in as this brought back memories of the academy whenever they would go out to recess. It felt like they were just kids again being shown how to tie their shoes.

As quickly as the boredom set in, the instructor sent the first trainee onto the course. The course was laid out into seven sections. You first ran through several tires, trying to keep your feet up and avoid tripping over the rims. From there, you climbed a tall wall using a rope and then jumped down or rappelled down the other side. From there, you ran between a dozen meters of cones and then crossed hanging bars to reach another instructor. They were expected to convince this instructor that they were a ninja from Suna and to entrust them with the mission material. Immediately after, you had to cross a hanging rope, either by balancing or hanging and going hand over hand to get across. The finish line was a table at the other end which a third instructor sat at to receive the material.

The first two boys ran the course with a few slip-ups. One underestimated his steps through the tires and slipped while the other almost slipped off the hanging rope and nearly dropped the small bag he had been given as a mission material. The girl in front of him, Jessica, was the one he had been looking at in class. He quietly rooted her on and felt bad when she almost tripped over one of the cones. As his turn came up, he took a deep breath and crouched down.

The instructor blew his whistle and Isuru took off. He pressed quickly through the tires, keeping his knees high to avoid the rims. He leaped up, reaching halfway up the wall before grabbing the rope and yanking himself over the top. Once he cleared the wall, he slid down the other side and launched forward, dancing between the cones as he had practiced with his kusarigama. He kept his hands as light as his feet as he quickly swung himself along the hanging bars and dropped off beside the instructor. While Isuru came across as a bit cocky to the instructor at first, he gave a bow and gave a sincere apology, and stated that he was simply dedicated to his cause to complete the mission.

The instructor gave a stern nod and handed him a bag that was much larger than the earlier three had received. He strapped it to his back and sprinted to the hanging rope. With a few careful steps, he was able to balance himself and find a rhythm that allowed him to cross within only a few moments. Upon delivering the package to the table, the final instructor gave him a silent nod and a thumbs up. Isuru shrugged, looking for Jessica in the hopes she had been watching. She looked at him, gave a small smile, then went back to watching the rest of the trainees.

While it may have been a small gesture, Isuru at least felt like he was making progress somewhere.

{Exit}
Rewards: 1000 Ryo + 5 AP
TWC = 836
Stats: +8 Speed
Jutsu Learned:
1750/1750 - B Rank - Temple Style: Bark (425 added to the 1325/1750 from Busy Hands Help Neighbors)
C Rank - Quickdraw - 400/1000

Isuru wrote:
{Exit}
Rewards: 1000 Ryo + 5 AP
TWC = 836
Stats: +8 Speed
Jutsu Learned:
1750/1750 - B Rank - Temple Style: Bark (425 added to the 1325/1750 from Busy Hands Help Neighbors)
C Rank - Quickdraw - 400/1000

Approved