[Mission .04 Fishermens Friends!

The Mission

Mission 04. Fishermans Friends

“MUST NOT BE AFRAID OF WATER OR BOATS” was exactly what caught Cho’s eye. The list of chores seemed endless, but right there, the fourth one down was that line attached as a verbatim note for the mission, circled in red ink to ensure its clear and uninterrupted ‘must haves’. He admitted, if anyone was afraid of water then perhaps a career in the Ninja Arts was something they would do best to avoid. Cho was here to a mission however, not to judge those who he would have to consider, comrades.

Either way, the mission seemed like it could be fairly interesting. Cho pulled the tab from the side, a small paperly thing that he could take to claim the mission for himself, this was in place of whatever system was normal. Some issue with equipment, or was it staffing? He paid it no mind, it mattered to him not. The younger lady at the front desk bowed her head as he passed over the tab, the number was reconciled against the central records and the mission was struck off as, accepted - active. She wished him good luck and then turned her attention to the tidal wave of others trying to claim these lower ranked missions.

The distance to this mission was fairly large. It was still within travelling distance, and well within the scope of Konoha, but it was not within the city. So Cho had to hitch a ride on the back of a wagon heading out to one of the nearby villages. The journey was boring, albeit peaceful and gave him time to think, to close his eyes and rest after his usual morning work out, this was another of a number of missions he attended as a student, though he was more excited to move onto bigger and better things.

As the trial began to reach midday, Cho thanked the trader and jumped off, rolling across the dirt and coming to a stop just before the small cliff-face that he was due to scale came, thankfully he was told that there was this steep incline before he headed directly there. The wagon continued, clearly happy to just help a Student to complete a mission. Cho on the other hand, took his time to scale down the small cliff. A rope was tied around his waist, acting as a make shift anchor if he needed it. There were far more easier ways to get down than this, but why waste chakra if you didn’t need to.

At the bottom of the cliff face was a cottage, modest in all ways though perhaps a little worse for wear. The gentlemen, old enough to be his grandfather sat on the porch, looking out to the small boat, a fishing rod, and a collection of bait. Regardless of his readiness, he seemed less than excited about having to spend the time with an Academy Student rather than his own son. Commendable really that he had even agreed to it, as Cho walked towards the cottage he pondered the kind of lady his wife must be - to have such power over him.

”Hi Sir, I’m here from the Academy.” Cho was relatively awkward, talking essentially to the back of this poor man’s head. The old man grumbled under his breath, stood and looked back to Cho. He rolled his stoney eyes, the saggy skin reminding Cho of the appearance of one of those dogs who could hardly see, he smiled to himself at the thought, as that was exactly how he was going to get through days like this. Already the mission seemed interesting, though only because it was better than being stuck in the classroom taking notes on subjects he truly believed he would never need the knowledge for, no amount of book study could prepare a soldier for battle. Though he supposed helping an old man do some fishing had the exact same bearing, though perhaps he could learn some patience.

The old man spoke vaguely, keeping himself to himself even when Cho tried to probe, the yes and no answers to his not-exactly-clear-cut questions frustrated him, but Cho didn’t show this. It was a job, and truly he could do with the money. Cho decided instead to grab the gear and head towards the boat, by time he had got there and turned back for the rest of the equipment the old man was up, fishing rod in one hand and the bait box in the other. ”I’m just here to take this man out to sea and back, how pointless” he thought to himself, annoyed at the thought.

The two of them would get onto the boat and head out, Cho kept his eyes focused on the mission, assisting the man catch fish. They spent the majority of the time not saying  a word, every change that Cho used to talk, the old man would humble annoyed. Instead he just sat there fishing, he stifled a yawn - though agreed that it was nice to simply relax here. The water was gentle, small bubbles of air popped to the surface and occasionally another person would float on by, waving to them both. Still the old man stayed without talking.

Hours passed, catching a few fish only to throw them back into the river. The sun would begin to set, letting the pair of them know to return back. The old man got off first, nodded and headed back into the cottage. The door slammed in his face, making him wonder if he had somehow messed up. He tried to talk, he tried to help? Cho scratched his head, he knew that was odd. There was a grumble inside as he left the cottage grounds. That evening he returned home, unsure as to how the mission went. It was quiet a surprise then on his doorstep the morning after there was a basket, some hot buns and a thank you letter, clearly dropped off by the wife. “He had a lovely time!” it said. Odd.

WC: 1010

Mission Complete
+1000 Ryo
+5AP
+ 1010 WC


[Slot] Healing Hands [169/500] - > 500/500 (331WC) Previous Training
[Genjutsu Release] [Mastery - Hand Seals [250/250]
[Nature Chakra Proficiency] [429/2000]

+5 Speed
+5 Vigor