Spring Cleaning [private]

A Cleaning Service

Somewhere in Konoha a noble Hyuuga would sit quietly on his living room floo as he tried to make sense of the disturbance happening outside his house. Behind the Shoji paper of his sliding door he could make out the silhouette of an adult man pulling an unruly child towards his home. As the figures grew closer they would stop at his door, and the adult man would knock politely.

The Hyuuga smiled to himself as he remained seated, motioning for his servant to let them in. “Greetings” He’d say to an adult and child, as the sliding door would open revealing the hyuugas luxurious manor. “I take it this is one of the Genin I’d requested to help cle-” He’d stop his sentence short upon getting a glance of Natsuki Sarutobi. The boy was a mess, covered in dirt and grime, and actively picking at his ear for wax as the Hyuuga spoke. “-an” he’d finish after pausing.

The boy looked clueless, as if he couldn’t understand what was being said. But the jounin would interject on his behalf. “Yes sir, I am professor Miyomoto with the academy and this is Natsuki Sarutobi, one of the three genin assigned to your cleaning detail” Miyomoto would say whilst bowing in respect, not that the Sarutobi boy would follow suit. He was clueless to such mannerisms and traditions. “I felt the need to escort this one myself, but the other two should be here shortly” He’d say confidently.

WC: 247

Soft footsteps betrayed the otherwise blissful silence that permeated around the compound. The child had been exploring the vast space for quite some time already. They had found themselves stood outside the area early in the morning grasping another sheet of paper. Their reasoning for being here was unknown to them; however they had never arrived at a place without a reason before. So they had decided to find the answers they sought within the building structures. It was during this exploration that they came across the scene that was laid out before them. The three strangers conversing, well two strangers and one feral looking beast, was enough of a reason for the child to walk on over. Their eyes scanned the three individuals carefully for a moment. The older one whom was seated turned his attention toward the child, silently appraising him for a moment, before turning back toward the professor and continuing whatever conversation they had been having.

The child continued their approach, silently pulling out the sheet of paper from under their cloak and handing it over to the standing adult. The professor seemed confused for a moment before scanning the sheet. "Ah, here's another one of your helpers it seems." He said with a smile, giving the child a pat on the shoulder and gently turning him to face the Hyuuga. The elderly man kept a composed look about him, though the child could tell there seemed to be some irritation. "I assure you they're more than up to the task." The professor assured him quickly, seeming to also catch how the Hyuuga must be feeling in this moment.

While this happened the child just stood there, staring passed the Hyuuga and into the inside of the building. Their eyes darted left and right as they quickly examined the room, wondering what lay even further inside with a curious sense of curiosity. Why were they so curious? Was the curious curiosity of the child that curious? Was this just a way to pad out words because the writer is unimaginative and lazy? A solid maybe.

Still, the job had yet to officially begin before the other child showed up, if they did at all.

[368]

Breath…in….out…..in…..out……..Xuexing had in fact been the first to arrive at the Hyuuga estate to begin their mission.   Having been so excited to have an official job, he had shown up four hours early just to make sure he wasn’t late.  His mom always said if you were on time you were actually late, and sure the place had only been a 20 minute walk from his own home….but what if there had been….traffic…foot traffic, or a village assault.  What if someone attacked while he was on his way?  You just didn’t know so it made sense to get there early right? 
 
Still the downside was he had gotten there so early, that it was embarrassing to say he was there in the first place.  All this to say, Xuexing Yuki listened to the others talk from a nearby broom closet, a place he had been in for the last several hours hiding until the appointed time of their arrival.  Now he was nervous about being late seeing as the others on his squad where already there, and even more they were discussing the job with the client.  Did that go on his record?  Did his mission log hold all these details….were the ANBU watching him as he thought this taking notes to report back to the Hokage about the ineptitude of his own abilities in even the most simple tasks of punctuality.  A familiar cold sweat had broke out over his back and head as all these thoughts wrestled for control of his attention. 
 
Feeling himself swoon and nearly pass out, he would fall forward hands reaching out to save himself.  Instead he would fall through the door, make three rolls and somehow manage to land on his feet.  In the fall he had reached out and grabbed a mop and a dustpan.  Coughing as he had sent whatever remnants of dirt that had been in the pan flying he would announce his arrival…”S-s-sir I’m r-reporting for d-d-duty.”  He would give an awkward salute nearly hitting the white haired lad with the mop handle and stay at attention as he waited for further orders.


TWC 354

The unkempt boy wasn't entirely sure why he was here. He was not a child of many words seeing as he'd only ever known a few dozen. Although he couldn't make anything out of the conversation, he was decent at understanding intent. The adult who'd drug him here had done so with a purpose, and the adult in front of him clearly expected something of him.

Natsuki scratched his head, as he thought the situation over. As he did so two other boys would reveal themselves. One fumbled out of a door and rolled to his feet through a cloud of dust. did he live in there? what a small home Natsuki thought confused. The other boys entry was less grand, and more silent.

He was still looking the white haired boy over when the Hyuuga spoke. "That child is a mess." The Hyuuga would say whilst snapping a finger. At the sound a hyuuga servant came into the room. "Miro, rinse him off before you let him in my home" He'd request.

The young servant simply nodded before running off out of view. Natsuki tried to repeat some of the words in an attempt to give them meaning. "roonse?" He'd say half wittedly "cleenun?". He'd failed to notice the servant had returned with a bucket of water, a bucket which had just been emptied over Natsukis head. The water stripped the dirt off of him and onto the hyuugas front porch.

The young Sarutobis face turned to a scowl, He didn't understand the concept of cleanliness and was upset about his percieved assault. He turned to the servant and wound back his arm. If neither of the boys intervened he'd strike the servant across the face. The blow would send the servant to the ground, and Natsuki would pounce on top of him in pursuit of more punches.


WC: 309
TWC: 556

All manner of oddities were occurring before the child. First it seemed some boy had been in the closest. As they fell out and made the immediate vicinity even more dirty than before the child simply stared at the boy. It was a good thing as well, considering the boy then attempted to decapitate them with a swing of the mop. For once being able to see the impending doom they side stepped and made their way over toward the closest. Grabbing the nearest broom they would simply walk away from the other two without much in the way of acknowledgement. There was little reason to stick around, the job seemed clear enough and it would be best to just get on with it.

Why were they doing this? Didn't know, never did. Answers never came easy to them. The child would round a corner just as the sound of a large volume of water splashing over something was heard. It caused them to hesitate for a moment, just in time for them to be grabbed by the back of the cloak and dragged back around. "Oh no, you're not going around dressed like that." One of the workers they were supposed to be following said. "Come with me and we'll get you a uniform." The child stared at the worker while a fight seemed to be in the midst of beginning behind them. There was a moment of silence before the man shook his head and dragged him once more. "Hiring new Genin was a terrible idea." He muttered to himself.

A few minutes later the child found themselves outfitted in an ill-fitting uniform that designated them as a worker of the compound. Naturally they had kept the bandages wrapped around them, and the cloak as well. The worker had given up halfway through and just thrust a large sized uniform over their head. The result was the child looking like some strange misshapen mutant. "..It'll do." The worker said with a sigh. "Grab the broom, let's get this over with." While the worker escorted the child they began to question their abilities. "Do you know wind or water jutsu?" He asked, looking back at the mutant child who naturally didn't reply.

Several frustratingly one-sided questions later the worker stopped in one of the yards. "Alright, well I guess you can just do it the old fashioned way." He said, tapping his fingers on his chin as he thought. "Usually we do jutsu and stuff for this...but I suppose you can just like...do something else." The worker lazily waved his hand and took a seat on a step. He seemed to be enjoying himself despite the awkward nature of essentially talking to himself. Perhaps he was treating this as paid time off, having to not actually do the work and instead taking advantage of the youth.

"The leaves have gotten out of hand a bit, get 'em in a pile." He motioned out toward the yard. The child's vision followed the hand movement. They examined the yard slowly and blinked in surprise at the sheer volume that were littering the floor. "It got a bit out of hand." The worker said lightly, amusement twinkling in his eyes. He was definitely enjoying this far too much. "Use whatever means to get them gathered together. And don't make a mess...or break anything." With that he stood up and turned to get back to his duties. "I'll be back in half an hour to see how you've done."

The child stood there for a moment, the broom feeling heavy in their hands. They glanced around at the yard, the ground covered in a virtual carpet of leaves. A soft sigh left their lips before they set to work. First they made a singular sweeping motion with the broom, noting with some annoyance how bad it actually was for the task at hand. The child looked at the broom before tossing it aside with a slight shrug. Their eyes scanned the area before settling on a rake that had been set up on a wall on the opposite side of the yard. The child found it curious that it was placed in that particular location. Had it been on purpose? They were not sure, but trudged on over to it regardless.

Picking it up in their hands it certainly felt a lot lighter. They performed the same sweeping motion, noting how much more easily it caught and dragged the leaves along the ground. The child had learned something new today, though they were unsure on how useful it would be going forward. Regardless the child set about their task. They sped through the process, using their athleticism and dexterity to guide the rake along the ground as quickly and efficiently as possible. Even with that it took around fifteen or so minutes to gather the leaves into one neat pile.

The worker returned the moment the child finished, a wry smile on their face. "You figured it out rather quickly." He said with a hint of surprise as he entered the yard. "Most of the new kids spend at least ten minutes trying with the broom before noticing the rake." He would explain, taking the rake from the child's hands. "You've done your bit anyway, you're free to head home now kid." The worker gave the child a pat on the head before making their way back into the compound. "Drop the uniform off where ya got it, and good job." He called back once more before rounding the corner and heading back to work. The child was left alone with an odd feeling coming over them. Their mouth had twisted upward into a smile before they had even noticed. It was strange, they thought as they headed out of the district.

What would they do for the rest of the day? It was unknown, and likely they wouldn't remember it anyway.


[Exit]
[1358]
13 Speed
5000 Ryo
25 AP
1358/2500 Sacred Spear