Food Shopping - Curse My Luck! (Mission)

Mission:

Kouji felt like he was getting the hang of things. He'd now been on a handful of missions and they were starting to blur together. E rank missions certainly weren't glamorous. But none had been as bad as his first. He'd also learned some jutsu along the way and felt he was getting closer to his goal, the Genin exam! His father would be proud. One of Yuki blood finally making up for their terrible history.

He switched gears and started to focus on the task at hand. He walked towards the door of a house where his assignment lay. He knocked and waited patiently. Today shouldn't be that difficult. He was supposed to help an elderly villager with their groceries. Kouji liked elderly people, he respected their wisdom. There was only one old woman who he-

WHAP!

Kouji was reeling. He spun in the air, trying to right himself from the sudden assault. His head hurt, something had hit his forehead hard. He righted himself a few feet back from the door, in a fighting stance. He shook his head a few times to right his glasses, but as they settled he thought something about this felt awfully familiar... No, it couldn't be!

The old woman glared at him over the top of her cane. "You're all the academy could come up with? I outta send you back, you lazy, worthless, guttersnipe of a..." She quickly fell into her standard murmuring, while glaring at him, nothing but death and loathing in her eyes.

He couldn't believe it. He got assigned to her again!?! The gods certainly were cruel, but not without a sense of humour. Or at least the mission desk was. He couldn't help it, the words just fell out of his mouth.

"Son of a bit-"

WHAP!

And he was reeling again. He didn't know how. He was ready for her this time. He knew not to let his guard down around this old crone. But somehow his youth, his skills, his readiness, didn't matter. The hag was up, two points to his none.

"Language! If you're the best the academy has to offer you may as well learn to speak like a proper ninja. It's not all kunai and shuriken you know. Diplomacy is important, you never know who you might run into."

It was then he knew he had hit his head too hard. The elderly witch had actually made a good point. Was she actually... smart? He didn't know if he could believe it. Someone this awful couldn't possibly be someone he could learn from.

"Hurry up! What's the point of you if you can't keep up with an old woman like me? Some ninja he is..." and she was muttering again. But somehow she had gotten ahead of him and was turning off the property and onto the street. Startled, Kouji ran to catch up.

He had to give it to her, the lady could move. So well in fact he wondered why he had been assigned this mission at all. From store to store they went. Each visit lasted no longer than a few minutes. But each one was an intense affair. Her furiously muttering to herself while rummaging through produce. Or complaining to anyone who could hear. Anyone that is, aside from him. Oddly, once they got started she barely acknowledged he existed, instead using him as a living prop to hold her things. Even more odd was the way people treated her. She treated them no better than him, but they treated her with respect, even the occasional smile. Perhaps being a regular came with such benefits. But he doubted that was the whole story...

Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to figure it out. As they whipped out of yet another store he realized they were done. Her house was already looming in front of them, the store seeming to be at the end of a circuit they did, just a block away from her home. Dazed, and slightly out of breath he went to carry her things into the house. Once everything was settled and accounted for, and she spent her fair share of time ensuring that, he went to leave. But before he could she pushed her cane out forcefully against his chest.

"You're not ready for Genin, boy. Not even close. You're barely ready to even be out of the academy. You're just a milksop. Remember that." Her last words were layered with a meaning he didn't grasp.

Oddly enough he wasn't insulted. It was like her words came from memory and were almost more important for her to say than they were for him to hear. He nodded slowly and then left. Mission accomplished, but he was starting to wonder if there was more to this woman than met the eye.

WC: 806
TWC 806

Exit

800 WC - 8 stat points in chakra

250 WC towards Mind Read
500 WC towards Water Release Snakes Mouth C rank (D rank already attained in previous thread) - Clean Up That Damn Sand
56 WC towards Water Replacement 56/500
Total: 806 WC - 0 Remaining

Mission Completed

+ 1,000 Ryo
+ 5 AP