Odd Jobs for Odd Guy

Mission Details:

Isamu awoke with a start, his breath heavy and his brow heavy with sweat. It took him a moment to catch his bearings as he looked around in the darkness of his room. He slowly realized he was in the same building he’d been staying in the past few nights, the house behind the adoption center that the owners had offered to let him stay in for the time being. As his slowly processed his surroundings he realized that there were no immediate danger, and that whatever had alarmed him had been in his dreams. Isamu slowed his breath as he tried to recall what nightmare had caused him to awake with such alarm, but whatever phantom had startled him within his dreams had fled upon his awakening. The artificial man had thought dreams to be some kind of defect when he was first made, as they hadn’t made much sense to him. Even now that he was aware that they were a rather common phenomenon he still struggled to understand them and their purpose.

Realizing that it was close to morning, Isamu decided to get up and get ready a bit earlier than usual rather than try and sleep for another hour or so. It didn’t take him long to bathe and get dressed, making sure his body was properly groomed and free of blemishes. He found that he had to be quite thorough or he felt disgusting for the rest of the day. It seemed this trait was somehow inherited from his creator, as Isamu and Hasumi both seemed to share the man’s obsession with cleanliness. Though the three of them could put up with getting dirty while at work it seemed they all struggled to remain focused when covered in dirt.

Stepping out onto dew covered field that surrounded the house and adoption center Isamu took a deep breath and sighed. Despite having woken up with a start he felt surprisingly calm and at peace, almost as if whatever anxiety he had been feeling had been expended and lost during the nightmare. The tall man’s piercing blue eyes looked towards one of the nearby hills, the edges of it just barely lit up by the sun that was rising on the other side of it. Isamu waited for the golden sphere of flame to rise above the hills and greet him as he relaxed on the lawn and porch.

To help pass the time Isamu helped himself to some smoking paraphernalia that the adoption center owner kept in a drawer on the porch, rolling some of the man’s herbs into a cylindrical shape. Isamu took care to prepare things the way the owner had showed him, and before he knew it he had a joint lit and pressed between his lips. The artificial man took a couple of puffs as he sat in a rocking chair facing the hill that barely hid the rising sun. As he closed his eyes Isamu felt at peace with the world around him, that the moment he was in was perfect.

As he relaxed the aged man felt himself enter an almost meditative state, the power of nature itself swelling into his body and invigorating him as he enjoyed his joint and the feeling of the sun on his skin. The artificial man didn’t know how to combine the natural energy that was beginning to pool within him with his chakra, so he allowed the energy to simply sit within his body and exist as a calming force within him. Isamu took a long drag and let it sit in his lungs a moment, opening his eyes as he exhaled and watching the smoke spread through the front yard.

Isamu chuckled to himself as he watched sunbeams shoot through the cloud of smoke as it moved through the air, finding himself easily amused by the phenomenon. The wannabe samurai looked at the joint with a hearty laugh, it seemed this herb was stronger than the last stuff he had tried.

Eventually the man was joined by his creator’s dog, the small blue merle dog named Lady. The sweet little animal wagged her tail as she approached the artificial man, excited to have found him. Isamu smiled as he looked down at her, sharing the adorable dog’s enthusiasm for their meeting. He reached out with his left hand and Lady happily walked up to it, pressing her head against it and walking past so that Isamu’s hand scratched along her entire length. She was somewhat like a cat in that way, wanting Isamu to pet her from her head to hear tail rather than fixate on a single spot. Every once in awhile she did turn so that Isamu could focus on scratching the top of her tail but for the most part she wanted full coverage.

Isamu found himself laughing even more as he put the joint off to the side and ended up petting the animal with both hands, him and the dog having a sweet moment. By the end of it the man was laying in the grass, the dog playfully biting his sleeves as they fake wrestled on the ground.

Eventually Isamu finished his antics with the dog as well as his joint, and realized he should probably get ready for the day. He didn’t have to much planned but wanted to try and finish up work early for once. Isamu went back inside and decided to take a second bath, cleaning himself a second time after having rolled in the grass with Lady.

As he finished drying himself from the second bath he opted to grab his new equipment and put it on. The lightweight body suit hugged his slender figure quite close as he put it on, contouring to fit around all of his lean muscles as he put it on. Overtop of the that he put o the plates of his armor, a set of plate that hailed from the Land of Iron. Isamu made sure that all of the armor was put on properly, he didn’t want to worry about his greaves falling off or his helmet obscuring his vision as he went about his business.

Once the man was satisfied that his armor was on snug and tight the man grabbed his two swords and tied them to a belt around his waist. He through about using the holsters on the side of his plate but opted against it, finding the location of the holsters to be awkward. Perhaps his tanto might be functional if he kept it in that location but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to draw his katana if he kept it as low as the holsters were.

As Isamu went to leave he noticed that the woman of the household was awake and making breakfast for herself and her husband. He tried to be quiet as to not startle her, but it was nearly impossible in the plate armor he know wore. The woman was a bit startled when she turned and saw an armored samurai walking through her house, but when she heard Isamu’s voice apologizing her expression changed from one of fear and confusion to simply one of confusion. she asked her guest why he was dressed like he was ready for war, to which Isamu responded they might as well be with all of the mole men and bandits about. This led to a bit of banter between the two, as the woman didn't entirely believe in the molemen and thought Isamu was somewhat exaggerating the danger they were in.

As the two finished jokingly prodding at each other the woman told Isamu to get out of that armor and get ready for breakfast. The artificial man laughed and said it would take him awhile, but the woman told him he'd better be quick if he wanted a hot meal from her. Isamu declined atr first, stating he had to head into town and find some odd jobs but Sato's wife told him not to worry about that, they had a few tasks for him today. Finally relenting, Isamu returned to his room and removed his armor. He got dressed in more causal attire and returned to join Sato and his wife as they began to eat the meal she had prepared.

It seemed the woman that Isamu had helped a bit over a month ago had another reunion with her family, and had asked for him through Sota. As Isamu ate breakfast with the elderly man and his wife he informed the owner of the adoption center that he'd be more than willing to help the woman again, as dangerous as the roads could be it made sense that the woman wanted an armed escort. Seto and his wife agreed, thanking their luck that the adoption center hadn't been targeted yet. While the couple hoped that they'd remain safe while the wannabe samurai helped the elderly woman, they would just have to hope their fortune help out and that the bandits wouldn't come their way.

Isamu apologized for his temporary absence, but couple insisted that he help the elderly woman. She was going to travel whether he came along or not, and they were worried what would happen to the poor woman on her own. Thanking the couple for being so helpful and understanding, Isamu cleaned his dishes and then departed back to his room to get properly dressed. He took off his simple robes and put on his newly acquired Lightweight Bodysuit. The outfit covered everything except his head, the material stopping at the top of his neck. After getting the first layer of armor properly fitted the wannabe samurai put his samurai robes back on. After he put his clothes back on over the body suit he put on his plate next, making sure all of the pieces of his Land of Iron Armor were properly put on. The artificial man felt felt surprisingly comfortable in the outfit, his armor fitting over the clothes well and making him look like a real samurai. Almost, he felt he didn't carry himself like one. The artificial man wasn't sure where he was getting these notions from, he'd never even see a samurai before, but he felt he wasn't dignified enough in his stance or bearing to say he looked like one, even while dressed in all of this armor. Sighing, Isamu strapped his swords to his hip and made his way toward the door.

Leaving the house behind the adoption center Isamu quickly headed off the the town the old woman lived in, followed by his master's small dog. Lady seemed to like Isamu as much as she did The Masked Man at this point, having spent so much time with him at the adoption center as they waited for the command to make their next move.

It didn't take long for Isamu to find the woman and greet her, asking her how she'd been since the last visit and if she needed help getting to the next town over again. The woman was a bit unnerved at the sight of Isamu in his armor, but once he realized she didn't like the look he took off the helmet and she warmed up upon recognizing him. His hair came out of his bun slightly as he removed the helmet but he decided he would fix it later, carrying the helmet under his right arm as he followed the woman into her home.

She offered him food and drink if he wished, but the middle-aged man declined. As the man sat and talked with the woman while she  explained that while she wished to be escorted again, she had another favor she wished to ask. There was apparently a festival coming up soon, and people from other villages would be traveling by on their way to the newly built Tsukigakure to celebrate. The woman didn't want her home to look dreary when people passed by it so she asked if Isamu would be willing to help decorate the woman's house. Her and her husband would do it but they had gotten to sickly as of late, her husband couldn't even leave the bed much anymore. Feeling pity for the old couple Isamu decided to assist them. The woman was gracious and offered him money, to which the wannabe samurai happily accepted. He was rather broke so he could use all of the help he could get honestly.

Isamu shed his Land of Iron Armor and neatly arranged it in a corner of the woman's home before setting to work. He tied his katana's sheath to the belt of his clothes, wanting to remain armed in case he was randomly attacked. The middle aged man quickly set to work on grabbing decorations and placing them in locations designated by the elderly woman. While she wasn't able to pick things up she was currently able to walk around and point where they needed to go. Isamu was impressed by the sheer amount of things the woman had, it seemed like she had an infinite number of things for him to arrange for the festival coming up. By the end of it he had hung a giant moon ornament from a tree and arranged a number of figures to recreate a scene from the native lore of the area. Isamu didn't entirely understand what was supposed to be going on in the scene but he didn't bother to ask, instead just listening as the woman bossed him around.

Finally done with that task he asked the woman if she was ready to head off and meet her family again. The woman had thankfully prepared herself as Isamu was finishing up. It didn't take Isamu long to put his armor back on and then he and the woman departed down the road, accompanied by Lady as she playfully circled the two. The old woman seemed happy to have the dog companion on the journey, constantly commenting on how adorable the dog looked as the trio made their way through the tropical landscape of Moon. Isamu wasn't to talkative, but he was happy that the woman and the dog were getting along. He knew he wasn't the best company, finding himself often lost in thought rather than being engaging, so he appreciated Lady being the sociable one of the two of them.

It wasn't to far down the road that Isamu noticed something that caused him concern, it seemed like there had been some sort of scuffle on the road ahead. While there wasn't a destroyed wagon to mark the site of the attack Isamu noticed some sudden irregular movements in tracks along the road, as well as the strange footsteps of chimerafolk that seemed to have tried to chase the vehicle as it escaped. Cursing quietly, Isamu told the woman they would have to be careful if she wanted to proceed. He had hoped that the woman would have wanted to turn back at the sign of danger but she instead grew worried that the monstrous people might continue down the road and find the village her family resided in. The woman begged Isamu to hurry forward and see if the chimerafolk hadn't gotten far, saying that she would be alright. Not wanting to leave the woman alone Isamu told her that he'd only stay but so far ahead, and quickly did the hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique.

He had one of his clones stay with the woman while he and the other proceeded onward, employing a similar strategy to one his creator had used not long ago without knowing. As Isamu and the other clone continued forward, Isamu noticed that the tracks started to seem quite fresh. Unfortunately even with his great speed he wasn't able to make up the distance between him and the monsters in the 500 meters he traveled from the first clone and the old woman, and he was forced to stay behind in order to maintain that clone. The second shadow clone continued onward, able to continue at Isamu's max speed as the original was forced to return to the walking gate of the woman.

The second shadow clone found the chimerafolk lumbering down the road about 700 meters from the woman, their gate slow as it seemed they had tired themselves out chasing the wagon. This turned them into easy foes, the armor clad man quickly descending upon the mutated humans as they slowly reacted. He had expected them to turn and face him but instead they all scattered as he drew his sword and sliced off a crabman's arm, his giant pincer flying through the air as the rest of the group dispersed. The clone contemplated chasing down those fleeing, but found it hard to continue fighting now that it was obvious these chimerafolk didn't wish to fight. He briefly was concerned that he might have just attacked innocent chimerafolk that were being persecuted, like that woman Sakura, but as the pincer landed on the ground Isamu saw that it had dried blood on it from some recent battle.

The crabman fell to his knees as he gripped his stump, looking up at the clone with a twisted face that made the artificial man want to vomit. The wannabe samurai looked down at the man and wondered what his expression was, fear, rage, simply shock? Isamu's own expression would be hidden beneath the shadow clone's helmet as he looked down upon the quickly defeated foe, his breath slow and measured coming through the rebreather. The wannabe samurai wondered if he should kill the crabman or try and take him in for questioning. He found himself unable to do the former, even with his unhuman face Isamu found it hard to look at the man as something he could simply kill without a second thought. He even regretted slicing off the man's arm, wishing he'd maintained some level of restraint and assessed the situation before jumping in and permanently harming someone.

The original arrived at the scene as the clone contemplated his decision, the crabman and him looking at each other the entire time as the second armor clad figure joined them. Now having support, the clone and original found the concept of capturing and turning the crabman in as a possibility now. The shadow clone sheathed his sword, not bothering to clean it as it was just a chakra construct anyway, and grabbed the crabman by his good arm and hoisted him up., The crabman made a strange whimpering noise, but  otherwise complied as he was led to the village by the clone and the real Isamu.

The clone and original arrived at the village a bit before the clone that was guarding the woman, Lady running away from the toward toward the other two Isamu when she noticed them. The group reconvened just outside of the village and then approached, the two shadow clones going to find somewhere to turn the crabman in while Isamu finished escorting the elderly woman.

The woman asked about the crabman and other chimerafolk as they approached the home of her family, though Isamu assured her that they didn't seem to be particularly dangerous from how his clone had described the encounter. Despite that the woman asked that he hunt down these dangerous mutants and keep them away from her family and the other people of the island, he seemed an able fighter and she hoped he was up to the task. Isamu told the woman he'd do his best to help those around him, but that he wasn't sure if he was able to tackle the entire threat of the chimerafolk alone. As he left the woman as the doorstep, she asked him to go to the new village and join them, to gather with the other warriors and cleanse the land of those who would hurt its people. Isamu said that he may yet join the village, but he wasn't entirely sure if that was his fate as of yet.

Lady and Isamu left the woman and began to walk through the village looking for his clones. Before he found them however he was sudden;ly gifted with their memories, it seems the crabman had been locked up and would be dealt with by the local council of the village. The clone had also found the wagon the chimerafolk had attacked, and had confirmed they were indeed an aggressive group and not a group of refuges. Isamu hadn't been aware of the guilt his clone that had fought the crabman had felt, but it seemed the news of the wagon attack had assuaged it.

With his business done Isamu and Lady carefully made their way back to the Adoption Center, the armored man on a lookout for any chimerafolk or regular bandits as he moved at a pace comfortable for his creator's dog. Fortunately the duo wasn't accosted, and they arrived at the center without issue. Upon arriving they were greeted by Sota and his wife, who asked how the journey went. Isamu told him of the nearby chimerafolk he had dispersed, which caused the couple to become slightly fearful and concerned. Isamu assured them that they should be safe for now, while the group was aggressive they didn't seem to be particularly powerful when compared to some of the other beings Isamu had faced. They shouldn't be much of a threat, and Isamu speculated they'd like be captured or killed by some of the other locals in short time if they didn't join up with a larger group.

Sota and his wife both mentioned that they hoped Tsukigakure would dispatch people to deal with the threat soon, while they were both excited to have the allied shinobi within the village finally band together officially it seemed that the period of organization had left the rest of the country without much protection. The couple worried that the chimerafolk were only going to get bolder, and urged Isamu to tackle the threat or join the village and join some sort of squad or army being formed to deal with the threat. The middle aged looking man gave them a similar answer to the one he'd given the elderly woman, mentioning that he'd likely be working with the village soon but he wasn't sure how closely. For the time being he was at least able to help fend off threats occasionally while outside the walls, even if he wasn't strong enough to fully tackle the threat on his own.

The couple weren't fully satisfied with the answer but ended up relenting on the request, instead shifting focus and asking Isamu if he'd help work on the Adoption Center for awhile before dinner. The artificial man granted that request easily, more than willing to do some manual labor for the couple. Isamu and Sota went inside the center and the artificial man found himself wrangling a few pups and other animals into pens, some of which he had to repair. The middle aged man was finding himself starting to become a bit more hand y as he worked a t this place, between this and working with the blacksmith he had started to become quite an able man compared to how useless he had been only a couple of months ago. As he helped repair the interior of the center Isamu found himself somewhat grossed out by the smell of the some of the dogs, it seemed like after the pens had started to fall apart that the animals had gotten into quite a bit of a mess. The artificial man sighed, realizing he'd likely had to give the animals baths as well once he was done with repairs.

As he finished mending the pens Isamu found himself heading to the roof and trying to repair bits of that, wanting to make sure there were no leaks getting into the building. He'd seen a few spots that had troubled him while working on the pens and he soon found himself replacing a number of shingles on the roof of the structure. Thankfully Sota had quite a bit of the martials needed, it was just that without his son around he hadn't been able to get the repairs done himself. Lady barked up at Isamu as he worked, the man dressed in his normal robes and with his Tanto tied to his hip as he worked on the roof. His armor and katana rested within eyesight not far away on the ground, in case some chimerafolk approached and Isamu found himself needing to use the weapon.

As Isamu finished up the repairs to a satisfactory point he hopped off the roof of the building, slowly gliding to the round using the Lightness Skill he had recently become proficient with. Sota gave Isamu a confused look as he witnessed the event, surprised at the sudden ability. The elderly man made a remark that he thought Isamu was just a swordsmen, to which Isamu said that was he had been focusing his studies in. The artificial man wasn't actually that skilled or talented if he was being honest, but he was starting to gain knowledge with the blade and had picked up a bit of ninjutsu as well. The old man didn't understand much of it but said he was glad Isamu was helping them out then, as shinobi could be quite terrifying when they brought their powers to bear against civilians like him.

Isamu understood the mans concern, especially after witnessing what the Kurogane man had done to the people he experimented on. Without any sort of regulations it seemed that chakra based abilities could be developed to do all sorts of terrifying and disturbing things, so Isamu understood why Sota was so wary of it. Assuring the man that his abilities were meant to protect people, Isamu went back inside the center and began to get to work washing some of the dogs that he thought had smelled disgusting.

He started with a dog that looked similar to Lady, a possible litter mate that wasn't as cleanly as the dog that followed the wannabe samurai around. The artificial man found himself feeling dry as he went about lathering up the dog within a bath tub, his lightweight bodysuit keeping him from feeling the water iof soap on his skin as he worked on the small animal. It didn't take Isamu to long to bathe the dog, scrubbing the animals fur and doing his best to get the animal as clean as possible. Drying it off proved difficult though, as he found he had to make sure moisture didn't get caught in the dog's undercoat. Thankfully Sota was around to advise him as he worked on the animal, the man beside him as he also cleaned up one of the animals himself. While Isamu was faster he wasn't near as experienced as the man, and often had found himself asking the man for advise as he was working.

After finishing that dog he put the small animal into a clean pen and then found another to start bathing. This one was larger, and a bit unruly, but Isamu felt he was up to the challenge. Sato helped him keep the dog restrained without harming or stressing it out to much as they cleaned it, taking their time to make sure the dog was properly cleaned. Once they were done they put the dog in the same pen, Sato assuring Isamu that the dogs acted well together.

As Isamu and Sato worked Lady would walk about outside the pens, looking inside some and occasionally barking at the dogs inside. Overall she was well behaved, but Isamu had to call for her occasionally. After he finished the second dog he called for her and pet her for a moment, thanking her for not being as filthy as the other dogs and jumping into any messes they had passed by in their travels. Scratching the dogs neck as she wagged her tail, Isamu smiled and enjoyed the brief break. After few moments he stood back up and got back to work, there were still a bunch of dogs that needed to be cleaned before the job was considered done. Isamu and Sato soon found themselves in a rhythm as they continued to work, Isamu doing most of the heavy lifting and Sato ensuring that the grooming was of a decent quality and wouldn't lead to hotspots or anything like that.

Halfway though the work Isamu felt his creator open up their telepathic link, The Masked Man informing Isamu that it was nearly time for the next step in the man's plan. The artificial man was surprised as he was informed that he was apparently proving to be more capable than his creator had originally thought, and that he was going to be tasked with learning another field of jutsu in order to provide the Leader of Tsukigakure with a potent tool. Isamu didn't exactly like what he was informed, that he would be learning how to perform Fuinjutsu so that he could learn some form of Curse Mark Technique. It seemed that a previous creation of The Masked Man had employed the technique in the past, and while it carried some level of risk the man had never seen anyone actually die while it was performed. Unfortunately the creator wasn't to knowledgeable about fuinjutsu, and while he possessed  memories involving the technique and its use Isamu found that he had to figure out the application of the technique for himself.  

Isamu managed to keep working even as his brain was forced to download and process a number of his creators memories, some of which confused him. It seemed his creator wasn't showing him everything, purposefully only showing him memories involving a library and book that contained all of the findings The Masked Man and the previous clone had found. Isamu wasn't even able to gleam his elder brother's name or appearance, only knowing that he had existed and acquired this knowledge that was now passed to him.

Isamu felt like he was starting to get an understanding of Fuinjutsu as he finished the job, though it would take him more time to understand this powerful technique he was supposed to be offering the Leader Junko and the shinobi within her village. As he went inside to eat dinner with Sato and his wife he got even darker news from The Masked Man, that Hasumi was going to be the first to have this technique utilized upon. Isamu grew fearful at this, but The Mask Man assured him that the girl's body was as compatible with the seal as it could possibly be. Her odds of death would be quite slim, The Masked Man didn't seem to think it likely at all that she would perish. Isamu tried to offer himself as an option, even requested that he do it on The Masked Man first, but apparently neither of them were an option. The Curse Mark couldn't be applied on oneself, and The Masked Man simply stated that he already had a Curse Mark applied to himself. Isamu wondered if he could try the technique out on someone else first, to which The Masked Man told him that he could only apply the technique to volunteers after he'd successfully applied the Mark onto his sister.  

Isamu retorted back, asking if that meant he wouldn't apply it if Hasumi died. He felt a chill creep through him as his creator responded in his mind, informing him that if she perished he would make another Living Clone. When Isamu asked if they were just expendable to him, The Masked Man responded that Isamu and Hasumi were precious to him but that he couldn't coddle them as he had his other creations. If they wanted to be able to survive in this world then they had to accept risks, even ones that could kill them. If they survived the ordeals that The Masked Man allowed them to go through then they would be stronger for it, and have a better shot at flourishing in this dark world that they resided in.      

Isamu wasn't sure how much he believed of what The Masked Man was telling him within their telepathic link, but unfortunately he had no way of gaining insight into the man's mind. Still trying to process all of the information and the dark task that was laid before him, Isamu ate his meal with Sato and his wife and tried his best to make polite conversation.

[EXIT]

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