Upping the Difficulty

The Missions:

With his recent promotion to Genin, Mako was out and about enjoying his freedom to choose more difficult missions to undertake. While he had the choice of being able to even take S-rank missions which were known for their difficulty and potential risk of death, he smartly decided to only go up a rank from what he had already accomplished. Just like while you could certainly try to train at a level and intensity of someone who had mastered the basics if you weren’t use to it it would only serve to harm you instead of improve you, so using that logic he would take his time to get use to the new challenge and make his way slowly up the ranks.
 
Now at the building where they had the mission requests he had his variety of missions to pick from there was plenty of various D-rank missions and they covered all kinds of things from helping people improve their cooking, to stopping science experiments gone wrong. There didn’t seem to be a boring choice among the lot of them so Mako blindly grabbed five of the slips and took them to the counter to get registered. The person working there told him that there was a group that would be working with him on these missions due to the amount and that there was a meeting spot established, after receiving the directions Mako thanked the person and made their way to the location so that he could meet up with his fellow shinobis. He wasn’t sure if they would be fellow Genin like him or if they would be higher up in the ranks like when he was suppose to meet with a Genin while he was still an Academy student and ended up meeting the former Mizukage. Though to be honest he didn’t to many of the highers were particularly free but he certainly could be wrong, at the least he waited at the meeting place which was at one of the many inns of the villages that put them relatively close to the locations of the missions so they would at least be able to get to and from each one without having to spend all day traveling all over the village so that was certainly a plus to the young man.
 
WC: 385

Kouji had quite the task list today. He'd been assigned a variety of missions. At first, he had hoped being given them was a sign that the village was starting to have more faith in him, that his efforts were finally being noticed. Those hopes were dashed when he was informed that he would complete these assignments with a team of ninja. It didn't take him long to recover, he looked forward to meeting more of his fellow ninja. He knew he still had much to learn and if they were anything like Izu-sama he would be utterly thrilled at their acquaintance. He ran over to the meeting spot in front of the mission request building with a pep in his step, optimism fueling him and lighting the way.

Soundtrack:

He quickly saw a sight that made him smile. It was Mako, the Academy Student he had met the other day. And clearly, he had risen in the world with his new headband on display. Kouji zoomed up to him and stopped at such a brisk pace, others may think he was going to fall head over heels. He gave the shark-like shinobi a small bow, indicating his respect for his new rank and his pleasure at meeting him again so soon. "Mako-san, it's a pleasure to see you again so soon. I see you've passed your exams. Congratulations! You must be very proud."

He would pause for a moment, to wait politely for a response, and then continue speaking. "How did your exam go? I know for mine many students were unprepared for it. It was a surprise to me that so few actually graduated."

He would smile and make small talk with Mako from there, his brightness and excitement for the day apparent as he waited for their other team members to arrive.

WC: 305
TWC: 305

Waking up for the day, Heibon'na was excited and thrilled about the new missions that she had been assigned. As a newly graduated Genin, she was excited to go on her first d-rank mission. There’s a few others that graduated shortly around the same time as she did that was going to be on this mission, and she was super excited to formally introduce herself to them.. as much as she knew that the times, and days at the Academy were no more, she was excited to start the new part in journey as a true Shinobi. Although nothing major or dangerous would occur on these missions, likely, the fact that she was able to partake, participate, and provide for the team, was more than enough for the young teenager to be excited and thrilled about the opportunity. Donning her old uniform, she gave us a slight adjustment to put the forehead protector she had earned upon her head. It was what felt comfortable to her, and her comfort meant a lot in the village. Being from a small fishing ham, she wanted as much comfort as she could have within the protection of the village. It was uncertain for her, the origins of her to be teammates, but she was excited to learn more about them and their dreams, aspirations and objectives as Shinobi of the village.

After arriving at the mission board and receiving instructions on the location of the meeting, the generic looking shinobi would bow out of habit and politeness before getting a smack on the head for it. She rubbed the spot where the impact was, and issued an apology. Her old habits as a student was something to get out of as she departed and moved towards the designated meeting location. On the walk to make it to the intended destination, the young shinobi felt like this was a new beginning for her, a new chapter, and a new page to write on. A reintroduction to what was the Genin Heibon’na not the Academy Student Heibon’na. She has grown strong with time and she continued to explore her actions and studies as a genin, and she was excited to showcase that growth. Upon arrival she spotted the two who had arrived already, “Hello cousins!” She said with a level of glee before giving a slight bow in recognition of the two. “I believe we’ve met in the academy in passing but incase I’m mistaken, my name is Heibon’na Ogawa.” She said giving a less than proper introduction. The young Shinobi was ready to go as she pulled the sheets she received detailing the mission information. From students to cooking to more stealth practice, Heibon’na ruffled the pages a bit before folding them and placing them into a pocket on her battle skirt. She was prepared and ready for what was to come but she knew another was supposed to join them. Thus awaiting to hear the other’s responses for now, she waited with them.

WC: 500, TWC: 500 | TMWC 1,190 / 5,000

Nemui prepared himself for a rather busy day, as he'd been assigned to complete five missions with three of his peers. Thinking it could take all day he'd set off early in the morning, acquiring the mission papers and studying them carefully as he travelled to the meeting spot, an inn fairly close by. With his head down the boy would nearly walk past the inn before the smell of food and alcohol alerted him to it. Whipping his head to the side, Nemui would observe the people inside as he sought to identify his fellow Genin. It wouldn't take long, as the telltale Kirigakure headband would give them away. Momentarily looking down at himself and brushing off some dirt that accumulated on the soles of his shoes, he'd brush some hair aside from his face and walk in. Approaching the lot, Nemui would confidently say "Nice to meet you, I'm here to join you for some missions." Only to be greeted by some confused stares.

The group he'd approached would look at each other, mumbling between themselves before one, a fairly large man, looked at Nemui and answered. "We're just here to meet up on our time off, you've got the wrong people." At first questioning this man's intentions, Nemui felt an incredible sense of anxiety overtake him. "Oh.. Hah.. Well um, you have a good day then." Turning red, the boy would lower his gaze to the floor and awkwardly turn around, making his way out of the inn. Stumbling out of the building, the boy would hear people talking very close by, so he'd carefully peek at their direction. Once again he saw a group of what he'd assume to be Genin, two boys and a girl. One had features he'd never seen before while the other two appeared entirely normal. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Nemui would approach this new group and, with far less confidence in his demeanor, begin speaking.

"N-nice to meet you all.. I'm Nemui. You're here to partake in a number of D-Rank missions as well.. right?" The boy's face was still somewhat flushed, implying he was embarrassed for some reason. Now with some hair covering his face on the right side as it felt more comfortable. The boy's hands sat outstretched by his sides, as though he wasn't sure what to do with them while nervously awaiting their response. Nemui had never met any of the three before him, having graduated slightly earlier, although he would make no assumptions of their abilities. While feeling especially curious about the blue-ish man, he didn't have the courage to ask anything, for fear that he may have approached the wrong group once again.


WC: 451
TWC: 451

It seemed that everyone had showed up relatively close in time, that was a positive it meant they weren’t sitting around twiddling their thumbs wondering if someone was coming or not. The participants seemed to be Kouji who Mako had met prior while he was an Academy Student and was tasked with shadowing a Genin for a day which lead to meeting a lot of people in the village surprisingly. The next to show up was a young girl by the name of Heibon’na who apparently had just recently graduated from the Academy as well though Mako couldn’t remember if he had met her prior or not though that was mainly due to the fact he had been rushing to get things done and completed to graduate as soon as possible. The last of the group to arrive was a short guy who seemed like they were on the verge of an anxiety attack by the name of Nemui.

“Thank you Kouji, I’m just glad not to be stuck in that school anymore with so many younger kids.” Mako said to the first part of Kouji’s interaction. “It was fairly simple, nothing to difficult though honestly if someone of my age had struggled with it then that might just be a sign that this isn’t the life meant for me.” He joked talking about the Genin exam he had undergone, which had been as simple as he described it helped that he had also mastered one of the techniques to transform into as perfect of a copy of the original as you could get.

Turning to the young woman that had joined them, “Hello Heibon’na, I’m Mako Hoshigaki, I don’t remember if we have met at the academy but then again I was mainly focused on graduating as quickly as possible.” He said with a smile and kind tone and last but not least he turned to answer the young man that had showed up last and introduced himself with some nervous speech.

“Hello Nemui, we are the ones you are looking for to do the Missions with.” He started with keeping his smile, “Welcome to the team, I’m Mako Hoshigaki, don’t mind the appearance I promise I don’t bite.” He would say as he chomped his very clearly sharp shark like teeth, but how he held himself showed clearly there was no animosity to anyone of the group.

Returning back to everyone now that they had introduced themselves, Mako begun to explain the missions that they would need to complete for the day, “So as we all know we are assigned a batch of five missions to complete as a team, starting off we are being asked to go to the academy and help with some problem students, the next is helping a local food guy help with the creation of some new flavor or at least assistance with it.” He said as he went down the list making sure that everyone was listening, “The third is to help the orphanage with preparing food for the children there, following that is to help one of our fellow shinobis with their decision to either stay on the force or transition into civilian life, and last but not least the final mission is a stealth mission where we will be tailing a certain individual over an extended period of time and gathering information on them. This seems to be a test more of our own ability to tail people and build on that.”

Once he had given that information he was ready to head off to the first mission but was more then willing to listen to the others if they had anything to say or add to what he already said.

WC: 621
TWC: 1006

Kouji was pleased to hear Mako's exam hadn't been too difficult and it seemed he didn't have the same issue he had where most of the other students failed out. But as he went to respond another ninja arrived and then another. He would smile warmly at them and then introduce himself. "Nice to meet you both, I'm Kouji Masaki. I look forward to getting to know you both more."

After introductions were complete Mako briefed them. He nodded thoughtfully as Mako described the missions and then walked with the rest of them toward the academy. What greeted them was chaos. People were crying, the odd minor explosion could be heard in the distance, and clones, so many clones were running about! He turned to his team members and said, "I think we should split up for this one! Let's take care of this and then meet at our next mission location."

With that he was gone, chasing after a pair of clones that had been harassing a younger student. In this case, his Yuki heritage was an asset. His heat detection skills allowed him to quickly see between what was an illusion and who was the perpetrator. He caught a few students this way and hauled them by the scruffs of their necks to their respective teachers. They were all shame and tears when confronted with an authority figure, but he hoped they were sufficiently punished as this was not behavior that made up a proper shinobi. Their one saving grace, is at least they showed talent. The clone portion of their exam should be no challenge to them after today.

After his first few student catches and consoling and helping some of the victims he noticed the chaos had died down. It seemed his team members had also completed their share of the assignment and peace was finally settling back onto the academy. With a small smile, Kouji left towards their next destination. He would wait for his team members to arrive as he was the first on site. When they arrived he would speak. "That was crazy, eh? I'm glad we went to the academy first. The place was in utter chaos. Did anyone deal with anything unusual? I spent most of my time tracking down rogue students."

After he waited for a response he would turn to the task at hand. "I'm not much of a talent in the kitchen, but I'm happy to take orders from someone more capable! Does anyone want to take point for this mission?"

WC: 423
TWC: 728

One more joined their forming squad and Heibon’na waved as Mako was first to welcome them to the group. With the group of them together now, Mako began to inform the group of what they were going to work on for the day. Keeping track of the tasks that were going to be needed to be accomplished, she could tell that Mako paused to see if any of them were in opposition or had anything else to input. With no apparent opposition, the group relocated to their first destination of the academy. Witnessing similar chaos as Kouji, she nodded in agreement, “Splitting up if there’s this many would be a good idea.” She chimed in before heading a different direction.

Chasing after Academy students with their runaway clones was very interesting challenge to consider. She was more than willing to use force to be able to sue the student so they could not maintain the clones themselves, but without certainty of which ones were or were not then the question of identifying first, and then acting. Even if she attacked a clone and made it disappear that was still benefit to consider which point she decided the best course of action was to try to be as quick as possible and swift in her strikes. That she use the first of the gates to give her a small boost in her speed and strength capacities to be able to deal with the situation, swiftly and efficiently. Thankfully for her direction she went only a couple of students had gone, making it where it was really easy and simple for her to be able to complete her portion of mission. The students she went after had wind and water clones available to them. It was quite surprising to actually see the changes and shifts of how many students were Cool of elemental clones already something that she herself is not ready, or had the capacity to do her herself.

Sure turn to the second location to continue the missions that they had set aside to be able to finish and accomplish which point it appeared that Kouji was first to arrive. Giving another smile, Heibon’na waved once more. “ My mother normally does most of the cooking but I help her so I can do more prep work or potential seasoning, depending on if somebody else has an addition in mind. I can fillet fish pretty good if you ask me.” She commented as she awaited to see what the others would press to do in this moment she’s excited to see what dish that the group would possibly prepare with consideration of the fact that there was more cooking involved down the road. She has a strong sense that Mako might also have a knack towards cooking, potentially as well. “ perhaps a first successful here we could use some of the resources to prep some food to take to the orphanage after.” Heibon’na proposed to the group once they were all there. The thought of the orphanage kind of crossed her mind a little rough as she was fully aware that one or two steps wrong, and she might’ve ended up there herself being from a family with only her mother surviving at this point, it was easier to see that the idea of the orphanage gave her pause.

Once they made it there, Heibon’na helped support and move the process along. Her friendly demeanor helping ease some of the children’s attention while the others handled some of the cooking that was planned if they had not done extra previously for the food critic previously helped and sorted through. She was a helping hand for sure but ended up just blending into the background like a generic individual in the crowd. She blended into the orphanage crowd without any distinctive features or marks to identify her. Once the group finished their time at the orphanage it was just a matter of time before the next mission that the group was assigned to would be gathered up and headed towards. Heibon’na simply followed the group as she walked and paid attention to them as they continued through the village proper.

WC: 700, TWC: 1,200 | TMWC: 3,385 / 5,000

Nemui would feel relieved to hear from Mako during his introduction that they were, in fact, the group he'd be doing missions with. He wasn't sure what to make of Mako claiming he didn't bite before gnashing his clearly sharklike teeth, although for some reason he already felt oddly comfortable with the man's presence. Then the other boy introduced himself as Kouji Masaki, to which Nemui would nod in confirmation before looking to the girl, who simply waved. Attempting to be polite, he would wave back. Then almost as soon as he'd met the three, Mako began explaining the missions they were signed up for. Problem students, inventing a new flavor, cooking food for children, helping a fellow shinobi to decide their future and finally, spying on somebody..

It was certainly an interesting mix that would be sure to keep everybody on their toes, Nemui would think. Afterwards they'd make their way to the academy whereupon it was obvious things were definitely getting out of hand. Kouji immediately seemed to have an idea what to do, suggesting they split up to put a stop to the commotion, followed by the girl giving his idea confirmation. Nemui wouldn't feel entirely confident in this idea, since his ability to chase down others was not one of his strengths. Still, there was the possibility some of them were slow. Following suit to not be the odd one out, Nemui would run in a direction separate from the others to see what he could do.

Almost as soon as he left, he'd pass by an open doorway leading into a house where he'd spot a bunch of clones spraying graffiti inside. Seeing this as a golden opportunity as he would not be required to chase the children down, Nemui performed a string of handseals before expelling the Starch Syrup Capturing Field into the building's entrance. Afterwards he would leap inside and begin lightly smacking the clones on the head, one-by-one, until he'd finally smack a boy that didn't vanish afterwards. Then he'd move onto the next child and the one after that, until all the clones were dispersed and he'd captured three kids, one of which tripped in the syrupy substance at the house's entrance.

Grapping them all by the scruff of their necks, Nemui would effortlessly carry them back to their academy teacher and hand them over for punishment. Around this time he'd meet up with the other three and collectively, they'd agree to move onto the next job. When really giving it thought, Nemui realized he didn't have much experience attempting to create new dishes. He mostly ate whatever food shops sold or he'd cook fish and rice in the most basic manner. Helping to create a new flavor really didn't seem like something he could do but nevertheless, it was the mission they'd all signed up for. He would take an octopus and very gently cook it with some soy sauce, adding a side of white rice.

Not sure if this was anything particularly new due to his inexperienced nature, Nemui submitted the dish and hoped for the best. Then, after they'd all provided their dishes it would be time to move on once again. Since the next mission simply involved cooking food for children it could be assumed this would be much easier than the previous one. The options suggested were quite basic and thus even Nemui knew how to make some of them but ultimately he'd cook some omelets. Sneakily, he would allow the children to add whatever toppings they wanted to the omelets, sweet, sour or salty. It was all-around a very fun experience that he would probably remember for some time to come.

However, just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, their time came to an end and the group would have to press onwards once again.


WC: 641
TWC: 1092

Luckily it seemed that everyone was on board for the direction the group was going to be going as he explained it. There was always a chance that someone would want to do things differently and Mako was open for suggestions but these people seemed to go with the motion of the ocean. Mako cringed inwardly at that pun in his own mind, he supposed that was what he got for growing up in the Hoshigaki clan and having a family business of fishing and salvaging. Bringing himself back to the present it was time to help out the Academy which he just recently graduated from, it wasn’t really all that weird to be back in the school if anything it kind of felt a bit more expected than him being out and about doing missions. He wave to those he knew and got the information with the others about the state of things, basically kids were being kids and causing trouble like they always do when they start learning how to use these abilities.

Interestingly enough Mako knew a good portion of the troublemakers, some had even called him boss even though he didn’t do anything with them besides letting them hang around him. Guess that was one of the things someone his size and appearance had to deal with when it came to younger kids. Maybe this is something like fate, taking his chunk of kids to recover the group had split up to make things easier and Mako probably had it the easiest of the group with him knowing these guys and having a connection with them. The group of unruly boys were even excited to see Mako, jumping on his arms having him swing them around before he corralled them back to the school making them promise to stay out of trouble.

With everyone having taken care of their chunk of the mission it was time to head onto the next one which was cooking a new flavor, which it seemed that Heibon’na was the only other one of the group that had any real cooking experience, when she mentioned being able to make a good fish fillet Mako chuckled because his whole life he had been cooking nothing but Fish based dishes to eat. It was both a boon and a curse that came from his family, so making a new flavor shouldn’t be to wild as what he submitted was a family recipe that gave a tangy flavor to the fish dish he made. The client seemed please with what the group had given him to work through so that was a positive and wasn’t really all that time consuming as Mako had expected it to be.

Now it was onto the Orphanage that they needed to cook for, this was another mission that they didn’t really need to be next together for as it was simply preparing meals for the children, which seemed like no one was having difficulty with as Mako checked over his group to help out if he needed too but since they had the it pretty locked down he cooked his simple meals adding some flair when he could to show off to the children that had gathered around him more interested in his looks and size then what was being cooked. After they ate their food Mako played with the children letting them use him as a jungle gym and impromptu monster for their games, but as all things must it was time to move on and end the fun they were having there was only two more missions to complete.

For the second to last mission they needed to help a fellow Shinobi decide on what path to take with their career and while Mako could give plenty of advice on things since he was someone who chose to join the Shinobi force at a later age and went from Civilian to Shinobi. He didn’t want to make it seem like being a Shinobi was the only path forward or the correct one so he would listen as needed offering what he could as he painted both possibilities for the young man in a neutral and factual light so that all aspects could be considered. At the end of the day it would be up to the young man on if they stayed a Shinobi or not but it seemed that after the talk they were at least more sure of what they wanted to do.

The final mission was the stealth mission which funny enough was the type of Mission that Mako enjoyed the most, there was something exciting about hunting a prey that didn’t know you were there. Maybe it was something to do with his bloodline and the shark brain of his, regardless Mako could make himself surprisingly silent and hidden when he so chose too. So this mission was quite easy for him, he took the notes he needed and watched to see how the rest of the group was doing when he could spot them. It seemed that everyone was doing just fine with their own stealth and movements and at the end of the day they had completed the task as needed and it was time to regroup and head out.

“Well that was a fun and exhausting day.” Mako would say to the others as they came back together before heading off to turn in the requests and claim their rewards. “Now that those are done, I’m going to get my rewards and head home and get some sleep. I look forward to seeing everyone again, maybe next time you guys will have ‘grown’ up a little bit.” He teased everyone for their height as he waved to them as he left.

[Exit]

WC: 962
TWC: 1968
Claims:
+10000 Ryo, +50 AP
+1500 WC towards Chakra Infusion (Max Stat Discount) 0/1500 > 1500/1500
+468 Wc towards Flying Swallow (Max Stat Discount) 0/750 > 468/750

It seemed Heibon'na was the first to arrive out of his teammates. Though it wasn't long before the others followed suit.

“My mother normally does most of the cooking but I help her so I can do more prep work or potential seasoning, depending on if somebody else has an addition in mind. I can fillet fish pretty good if you ask me.”

She seemed shy, as she avoided his earlier question, but he was happy to accommodate that. Especially since she seemed to have the cooking skills to make this mission succeed. The task worked out fairly well with him taking cues from Heibon'na and Mako. By cues, it was really, chop this! Stir that! But he felt a bond of camaraderie with everyone as they went about their task. There was just something about cooking with others that was just, joyful. You couldn't not be friends if you share a meal, let alone create one together. He did, however, think ahead and placed some extra food aside for their next assignment.

As they finished up he let the others go ahead of him as he finished cleaning up and preparing his extra food for transport. He arrived at their next location much later than everyone else because of this, but saving himself the time cooking he got to serve the orphans first. It filled his heart with joy. In another life, if he weren't a shinobi, he could see himself dedicating his life to this. There are other paths than being a ninja that are needed to support the village. A mere twist of chance set him here on this side of the table, doling out food, rather than taking it. He got contemplative afterwards, thinking on this, but eventually cracked a smile watching Mako's antics with the children.

It was thanks to this that when he arrived at his next assignment he was much kinder to the shinobi who had lost their way. Before seeing the orphans he would have been much more set on ensuring the man took back up the ninja mantle. But due to his previous contemplation, he gave the man a heartfelt talk on the paths of life and how all can support Kirigakure, so in the end it didn't matter which he chose as long as he was content with his choice. He got emotional during their conversation and had to hide tears a couple of times, as he didn't want his teammates to think he was soft. He just loved his village, and his people, and wanted what was best for all of them. He didn't end up knowing what decision the man would make, but he did know the man felt a lot better about the options that were laid before him.

For their last assignment, Kouji wasn't nervous. He'd practiced his stealth techniques enough he knew he would be fine. He'd already completed a covert mission and knew this wouldn't be any more difficult than that. He was surprised to see Mako do such an excellent job though. Watching an over seven foot giant become practically a shadow was something he would never forget. It was just a reminder to never underestimate anyone. Though there was a hunger in the man's eyes that made him uneasy. While Mako's attention wasn't turned on him, he still felt like a mouse next to a large predator. Perhaps it was that instinct that helped him blend in so well. Beyond that, the mission had no hiccups and Kouji took the notes he needed and before he knew it the end of the day was upon them.

“Well that was a fun and exhausting day. Now that those are done, I’m going to get my rewards and head home and get some sleep. I look forward to seeing everyone again, maybe next time you guys will have ‘grown’ up a little bit.”

Kouji smiled at the sharklike genin and said, "I don't think we'll ever grow up as much as you. You may have us all beat in that department. But I look forward to working with you all again. Have a wonderful night, be safe and grow strong. For Kirigakure."

With those words he was off himself, back to his home and to a well deserved sleep.

WC: 715
TWC: 1,443

Exit:

250 WC Sensory Deprivation
+ 250 WC Mastery (no handseals) Sensory Deprivation
943/3,000 WC Pureblood

1,443 WC used - 0 remaining

Stats:
+ 6 chakra
+ 8 speed

Mission Completion:
+ 10,000 ryo
+ 50 AP (278 total)