Eight Days a Week

From beneath the comfort of her covers, Nastumi silenced the alarm clock with a blind slap each time it went off until, somehow, it was nearly half an hour after she planned to be up by. When she finally mustered up the requisite will to break away from her bed’s warm embrace, her morning became a blur. She rushed through her typical routine with the frantic energy of one who needed more time in the day; she splashed water on her face, dragged a brush through her hair, and was out the door with breakfast in hand.

Given the early hour, the streets of Konohagkure were still relatively empty. A few merchants set up their stalls for the day, several ambitious shinobi were out on a morning run, and a kindly old couple walked their two petite dogs.  Normally, the Nara girl would have stopped for the dogs, however, today she was already running behind and couldn’t afford to be any later, petting cute dogs could wait.

Today, unfortunately, was another day on the job, something she had come to dread. The assignments came down the day before in a file folder as thick as a book and hung over her head throughout the previous evening. Most of the so-called “missions” seemed to be more chore than mission, but that was the lot of a genin. At least this time she would have help—she wouldn’t have to suffer in solitude.

By some miracle and her abbreviated morning routine, she arrived on time at the agreed-upon meeting place, a public park in need of a cleanup. Wearing a yellow sweatshirt layered over a black shirt, Natsumi would be hard to miss. Glancing around the park, however, she didn’t see her supposed partner for the day’s missions, was he running late?
- - -
WC: 304
TWC: 304

Mission Docket:

“Hey!”

Natsumi’s greeting cut through the morning air upon the arrival of a shorter figure. Wrapped in cold weather wear and obscuring their face, the figure appeared an enigma on a hot day when even Natsumi’s light sweatshirt felt a bit much. Moreover, the Nara girl couldn’t quite place whether this was, in fact, the person she was meant to partner with on the day’s mission. They reminded her of the strange white-haired boy she’d meant roughly a week ago.

“You must be Xuexing,” she hazarded a guess as she approached the figure and extended a hand in a less-than-traditional greeting. “You can call me Natsumi, it’s great to meet you. I guess we’re working together today?”

Clearly, Konoha’s administration had little interest in safeguarding its genin’s free time. By Natsumi’s estimation, the docket of missions the pair was to complete would take much of the day. First, they needed to clean up the park, then run a few errands for a couple of Konoha’s more established clans, and, on the way back into town, address some disorder in the market district. Unfortunately, when missions came down, one couldn’t simply say no—all the Nara teen could hope for was good company and time for lunch.

“Should we get started?”

She jerked her head in a half nod towards one of the park’s larger trees. The groundkeepers had left out large paper bags for the pair, all that remained was to gather up the leaves. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad?
- - -
WC: 250
TWC: 554