it started with a-- (p/t)

[❥;; bexx]

She now came back to the present time as the boat kept on sailing. For some reason the mere mention of family and happiness had triggered her to think of this particular segment in her life, one of the segments where she would have gladly never remembered. It wasn't that she hated Kai, it was perhaps because she loved him too much that made acknowledging the fact that she had lost him that much harder to accept. Maybe in her mind she had hoped that this amnesia would take the memory of what had been them away completely. But it was only temporary amnesia; and it was such a weak form of amnesia that it could be diminished by just an off-hand remark.

Ren was now once more at the front of the boat, paddling in a rhythmic pattern. The dip of the paddle into the water caused ripples to form and that was what she had been staring at for the time that she had been thinking of this particular part of her past. She was uncertain just how long ago that vision had been but there were a few things she wanted to know. The first was where her brother was. She had a feeling from the sudden jolt in memory that the brother and sister were very close. If she had lost her memory once upon a time, where did her brother go? Did he even make it out Yuki no Kuni alive? The thought that her only relative was now dead too made her shutter. If that was true she would really be an orphan. She was washed once more with a feeling of loneliness.

The second question that it raised was when exactly she lost her memory. She could only remember certain events clearer than others and they came back in clip form with no chronological timeline. So basically she was left to wonder which events had come first and which had come after. She wanted to know when it was she lost her memory because that would complete the picture entirely. Had she lost it before or after the war had happened which destroyed her village? After thinking for a moment, she guessed that it would have have to be after because if not she would be able to remember if not everything but most things about Yuki's demise. So then, how did she lose her memory? She was still thinking long and hard about that question when Ren took a sudden turn of the boat to the right.

She was still not sure where they were going but that was the least of her concerns. She should have asked Tomomi when she still had the chance. Having been so dumbfounded after seeing and hearing that her best friend had allied with another village after the war had caught her off-guard so that she was unable to bring any of the potential questions she had wanted to ask out. She had wanted to ask her friend the details that she had forgotten hoping to piece more pieces of the puzzle together before she left Hi no Kuni. But it was too late now. She was probably not allowed to step on that country's soil for the rest of her life, all because she had been stupid enough to engage a battle that she found out she couldn't win.

She sat back and frowned; forgetting altogether that she was going to read the mission logs. By the time she was called back to reality, she realized that it was going to be nightfall soon. She looked up at the sky and cursed under her breath. So much for wanting to do something more productive. But she knew that there was still one more day and a few hours left to the trip, she was certain that she would be able to spare a few hours of that time tomorrow to do so. She sighed and relaxed her muscles. Her body was tense and her shoulders hurt. She had suffered a lot physically because of the battles she had had to engage in while she was in the forest of Hi no Kuni.

[Messatsu!]

+ 40

[❥;; bexx]

She found that she was about to fall asleep as the sun was starting to set. Usually she would sit on the boat and watch the beautiful colors of pink, blue, orange and yellow mixed together. But she needed a good rest. It seemed that during her stay in Hi no Kuni she had not been able to sleep soundly. That was to be expected though since she was constantly trying to stay as alert as possible whenever she found herself sleeping in that forestland. She had been taught to not be such a sound sleeper because sleep time for a shinobi was often the most volatile time. Many had died during their sleep without even realizing what had hit them. As a child she had learned that she should always be on her guard even if she was deep in slumber.

That wasn't necessarily easy to do though and it was certainly hard for her growing up. She was like every other child, enjoying the necessities in life like eating and sleeping that she never quite understood why she needed to be on her guard. She often was annoyed when the elders of the Yukina Clan had forced to sleep lightly or had deprived her of her much needed sleep in order for her to understand just how important staying alert was. And she hadn't learned of it's true importance until later in her childhood years. There had been one special event which happened that had caused her to understand that there was more to being alert in sleep than she had ever imagined. The event happened at the death of night, when every other mansion's inhabitants would not be alert.

She had fallen asleep not long when she heard a bell, a loud ding ding noise that immediately woke her up. The night sky was still young and she was surprised that someone had sounded the bell. At first she thought that it was one of those useless drills that her elders thought would be fun to play on her just so that they could test if she was a sound sleeper or not. But as she got out of the room, she would realize that that was not the case. There were footsteps running along the hallways and the distinct sounds of people drawing their weapons. Before she opened the sliding door to meet the hallway she could already see silhouettes beyond the door, heading in one direction.

What could have possibly happened? She would put on her cloak and venture out of her room down the hallway to the direction that everyone had been running to. She was one of the last to arrive at the designated room. It was the scroll room; housing all of the Yukina Clan scrolls where they wrote all of the clan jutsus and some of the most prestige information about the clan. She peered into the room still half-asleep as she found her elders all assembled. Their speed must have truly efficient if they had caught on to what had been going on. At first she was quite confused as to what had happened but this confusion would clear as quickly as it had set. She watched in amazement as one of the clan elders came forth to speak to the clan.

During his speech, he had informed everyone present that there had been an attempt to steal one of the most secretive scrolls belonging to the clan. This amazed everyone, including her. She had not thought that there would be thieves who worked so late at night and definitely not ones that would steal scrolls. For the scrolls to be the target, the person must have been a shinobi. But unfortunately this person must have been quite fast as he had escaped before any of the clan members had been able to catch him. Thankfully the scrolls were safe. So she now knew how important it was to be a light sleeper and would always remember to this day.

[❥;; bexx]

And within seconds of closing her eyes, she would fall asleep under the calm rocking of the boat. As like before, she found that she was able to sleep much easier on a moving surface like a boat. Even though the rocking sometimes provided a nuisance, it certainly did not seem to be a nuisance to her where sleep was concerned. Her nights were always better when she was on the boat because the only inhabitants of it were Ren and herself. She was trusting enough of her boatman to know that he would not try to steal anything from him especially because he was not a shinobi. What could he possibly want with a scroll. And so, she relaxed her body's muscles and fell into deep slumber.

And in her dreams, which lasted quite a long time this time, she would dream about her past. But she would not dream about any of the things that she had dreamed of before. She would find herself having a dream about a mission that she was going to partake. That certainly would surprise her when she awoke because she never quite had mission dreams. If anything, she was hoping to read about the missions in her mission logs. It was what the log was there for anyhow. But she guessed that it would be best that way since it would save her from reading. Anything that was more efficient and effective worked for her. The dream would last approximately six hours meaning she would have solid sleep for six hours.

While she closed her eyes, Ren had stopped paddling for a bit. He was now opposite the sleeping figure, not really watching her sleep as it would be creepy but looking out at the sunset. He admired how pretty it was. It would be expected from a boatman to think that no matter how pretty the sunset it would become boring if he'd been staring at the same sort of the thing three hundred sixty-five days of a year for ten years. But for him, he was just happy to be able to view the sunset every day since it meant that he would be alive to have passed another day. Life was precious to him.

And as she slept, he would prepare a light supper for himself with whatever he had on the boat. He felt that he had a lighter load to carry and lighter responsibilities if she was his customer. There was really nothing that he needed to do except paddle occasionally and it was kind of relaxing too. Sure the paddling got really intense on his bicep and tricep muscles in his arms but that wasn't as bad seeing that he had been doing this job for many years. He opened a can of corn, poured out the water from the corn and began to take spoonfuls with the sleeping beauty and the beautiful sunset accompanying him,

As he ate, he glanced at his customer occasionally wondering what sorts of secrets she was holding from him. Everyone had to have some kind of secrets and it seemed that she was keeping way too many for her own health. He wondered whether she was ever going to be able to put anyone into her complete confidence that she held nothing back. He treated her as more than just a regular customer. Because she was young, he treated her like a little sister that he would protect in any way possible even if he wasn't a shinobi. He hoped that one day she would understand that and maybe return that same kind of status to him.

[❥;; bexx]

Mission Name Salting
Mission Rank: D
Mission Description: The first big snowfall is about to come at the village and there is a lot of preparation work to ensure the safety of the citizens. One such measure is to salt the streets so that there are fewer chances of accidents and injuries.
Mission Objective: Meet the crew that's helping with the salting of the sidestreets and help them complete their job as fast as possible.
Reward: 500 Ryo | 25 EXP

Heavy snowfall would once more grace Yuki no Kuni. In fact it was not quite called grace anymore at this point since the snowfall rate and intensity was getting a little preposterous. The village and the city had both gained about five inches of snow over a period of two hours. And the amount of snowfall for the village was just going to keep rising as it reached the dawn hours. It was not a good sign especially for the villagers. It would become close to impossible to even maneuver around the village at this rate. The night was young though so it wasn't that bad. But if nobody cleared the streets at this time of night, with the heavy amount of snowfall that was going to come by morning, Yuki would really live up to its name.

And that was why an emergency mission was called. There was no need to report to the Yukikage Tower to get the mission slip because well--frankly every shinobi of Yuki would be required to shovel snow that night. It was mandatory that the streets be shoveled and salted on a periodic basis. Periodic basis meaning that they had to work in intervals so that once the snow fall reached a certain amount in inches, new snowfall, all shinobi had to be on the streets prepared to shovel and salt. It was going to be a long night for all Yuki nin and it was quite evident that with the amount of snow falling at the early hours of the night that they were not going to get much rest. Those that were responsible for shoveling were responsible for one street or two streets if a small street. The people that were asked to salt were literally responsible for all streets.

And so, she was called to the mission as she was just readying for bed. She had been watching the snowfall for hours beforehand and had wondered when it would fall. When she received word from her brother that the Yukikage had called emergency missions of all Genin and had given her the mission slip, she had her question answered, just not quite in the way she would have liked. She quickly removed her pajamas and threw on her standard shinobi robes. She had chosen to wear long track pants and a sweater as she knew that she would probably in the cold for quite awhile. The snow was just about covering the streets as she stepped outside in her navy blue boots and mittens and prepared herself for the bitter cold. Even as a Yukina she often found herself getting cold quite easily which was weird.

It was only as she was standing there at the front of her mansion that she finally got to take a look at the mission slip that was in her hand. She had been wondering whether she was going to get the shoveling or the salting job. She knew that the shoveling was quite a tough job and required harder labor than salting. Especially if they had to literally clear the streets every few hours due to the intensity of the snowstorm. She was relieved to see that she was assigned the salting job. The Yukikage had probably assessed the situation and realized that male Genins were best for shoveling. After all they did get the job done faster than women did. She had done a mission like that before and that almost took half her life.

And so she made her way down the big street of Yukigakure. She saw that there were already crew out working the shoveling part of the mission. There were men that were not part of the mission that had just been there to help out. She recognized the crew she had worked with before on her shoveling mission as they had been assigned main street duties. They were perfect for the job since the small streets were supposedly easier to shovel. She waved at them and bowed to the coordinator of the crew, the one man who had taken care of her when she was trying to help them out.

[❥;; bexx]

Salting the streets was an easily completed task that required no special skill. There were many salting trucks that were already on the streets of Yuki trying to beat the clock and the snow at the same time. They were busy with clearing the streets as she had just found the coordinator of the mission. A gruff man, but she didn't mind. Seemed like most of the mission coordinator in Yuki were gruffs. She walked over to the man and waited for him to finish what he was doing. He was literally turning into a tomato, either because he was red in the face from standing out in the cold too long or he was raging too hard. 

But what it was probably a bit of both. He looked like he was going to pop a vein or have a heart attack at any given moment. He was yelling at the crew to hurry up and get their stuff together so that they could start the second round of salting and shoveling. He had to be a little edgy if he was responsible for the successful running of both parties. The shoveling crew was assigned to go out and shovel first so that salting could be carried out. Everything had to be timed almost perfectly because the snow wasn't going to let up anytime soon. It was only after yelling at the team did the man turn to her.

"You're a Genin? You're late! Second salting is about to start. Make up for the lateness with your speed! Go go go!" His voice was in her ear and she wondered if he was secretly deaf. She bowed her head and folded the mission slip carefully, putting it into her pocket. Yush, she was ready! She pulled on her gloves and headed to where the rest of the team was. This team was mostly consisting of Genins like her with a Jounin as acting group coordinator. Upon seeing her, he knew that the group was officially assembled. It annoyed her that she was late in joining in on the mission but like the tomato-looking guy had said, she could make up for it.

The rundown of all salting was to be done was then taught to the group of Genins. She was a little disappointed that they were not going to be using the salting trucks. The trucks were for the main streets since they were bigger and needed to be salted at a much greater speed. Since machine was always faster than humans, the Yukikage had authorized the use of them. But the Kage was also trying to cut budget, which was the main reason why the Genins were called so late at night. They were each responsible for the salting of two small streets. And they needed to re-salt everytime a shovel was conducted.

The catch was that the salting must be efficiently timed and the salt evenly distributed. She was going to have to be careful of the amount of salt because a layer too thin would probably be covered within a second and a layer too thick would be wasting precious resources. Because most of the Genins looked confused, her included, the Jounin took them to the main street of Yuki where they would be able to see the workings of a salting truck. Apparently salting trucks and salting people were somehow the same. She would watch closely knowing that she would have to be very efficient if she wanted to complete this mission fast.

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[❥;; bexx]

From what she heard, they were going to be salting for at least six hours, which meant she would have absolutely no rest that night. This was just great. Only an hour ago had she been sitting in the comforts of the Yukina mansion pondering about going to sleep because she was fatigued. Instead of being able to nap by the fireplace and experience the warmth of the burning flames, she was out here experienecing the biting cold! It was very annoying. She hated having to be out in the cold at night especially because nighttime was when temperatures dropped significantly making the place colder than daytime. It was now that she started to long for her big comfy bed and that fireplace. She rubbed her hands together as she listened to the instructions, her mind thinking of nothing but the six hours of torture she had left. Well no, make that five and a half. 

Assuming the group of half-awake Genins understood what was to be done, they were asked to huddle in a group where they would be assigned streets. She guessed it must be punishment for arriving at the mission late because she was assigned the two streets that were the farthest northfrom their current position. As if this night hadn't started out being a drag. She was then led to pick up a pale which was of medium sized and half filled with salt and one of those ladle things that helped scoop up the salt. It was better than using their bare hands. They were then told that throughout the salting process, their progress would be monitored by either a Chuunin or a Jounin. So now they were like slaves or something without the beating.

She went to pick up a pail and realized how heavy it was. She had to almost use both hands to carry it. And she was supposed to carry this pail to the farthest north side?! The worst part was that she would have to come back to this point to refill her salt pail when she ran out during her six hour shift. These were going to be the longest six hours of her life. She tugged the pail and made her way to her destination. "Yukina, get a move on! The snow's not going to wait for you!" she wanted to glare at him but thought it would be rude so she bit back her tongue and just nodded her head. She picked up the pace as best as she could. 

She walked down the streets, the falling snow hitting her face roughly. It made the road hard to see. She trudged her way through the coming blizzard and peeked out of her eyes as she tried walking forward. The good thing was that everybody on the team was having the same difficulty. The others were trying to fend off the snow with one arm while juggling the pail with the other. It would take them forever but it would take her more than forever if she wanted to get to the farthest end of Yukigakure. The snow was definitely not her friend tonight. Cursing under her breath, she would try as she could to walk towards her destination.

The original shoveling crew that was responsible for the main streets were taking a rest. The man she had worked with before was surveying the people around them when he spotted her. Walking towards her, he would take the pail from her hand. "Who assigned you to the farthest streets?" His voice was edgy. She shook her head and told him it was alright. But she could tell that he was far from convinced. But there was no real reasoning to wanting to pick a fight. He wasn't a shinobi and wasn't the mission co-ordinator. What he could do was limited. She was grateful to him nonetheless for looking out for her constantly.

[/blockquote]       

[❥;; bexx]

He would take the pail from her and carry it effortlessly in one hand while telling her to walk behind him so as to block the incoming snow. This made making her way around significantly easier but she didn't really want to have to always rely on the man for help. She would tell him this and only get a heart laugh as a response. "Are all you shinobi so humble?" She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She wasn't being humble at all. She was merely stating an obvious fact. The two of them continued to walk past small streets and then finally make their way to her assigned streets. There was already someone shoveling there who looked just about done. At the sight of them, he would stop, taking a temporary rest. "Glad you made it! I'm Hiro, Genin." She returned the introduction with her name and rank too. So he was her partner for this mission. 

Seeing that she had safely reached the area and that a Chuunin was watching them carefully, the man decided to walk back to where his own crew was. Before parting with him, she would thank him once more for all the help he had been to her. She wouldn't mind meeting people like that more often--nice and caring. As he left them alone, Hiro would turn his attention back to shoveling. "So I've already shoveled this street once and am doing the second. The first time I got it done there was no salter but this time there is. I'm going to take a break for a few and you can start salting." He would put down his shovel and walk to the end of the street, taking his hat and gloves off for a few minutes. He would also watch her work, not exactly in the keen eyed watching way but certainly watching nonetheless. 

She nodded her head. She saw that the main road of the street had been shoveled clean as well as one sidewalk. The other sidewalk was about to be complete and she was certain that by the time she was done salting the road and sidewalk, the other sidewalk would ne cleared too. She hastened hnr steps as she dipped the ladle into the salt pail, bringing a large ladleful of the salt to light. Almost as soon as the she did that, the Chuunin intercepted and asked her if she understood the mechanics behind salting. She shook her head, as this was her first time doing the job. Exasperated, the Chuunin would approach her, take the ladle from her and tell her to watch him. 

Apparently there was a thing about salting that she didn't know about. It was an art in Yuki no Kuni. He dumped about three quarters of the ladleful back into the pail and told her that one third of a ladle was more than enough for one small sidewalk like the one they were facing. He poured the salt over the snowy ground and it was surprisngly even in distribution. He told her that it would take a lot of practice doing something as simple as this. She nodded her head again and waited until the Chuunin would give her back the ladle so she could commence. At least she learned something new through each mission.

She began to pour a small amount of the pure white substance onto the road first. The fact that they had been so vague as too how much was just right, it made the job that much harder. She tried to calculate as best she could thinking that there was room for calculation. She made the task harder on herself than it really was. The first hour would pass by relatively slowly, with her trying to get the hang of the whole salting thing. Whether she was successful at the end of the hour was the biggest issue. She wasn't counting on the fact that learning how to salt would be that hard since she had seen the people driving the trucks do so and it seemed easy. But that was driving trucks after all.

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[❥;; bexx]

While she was still trying to get the hang of accuracy and precision, his partner was already shoveling for the third time that night. The snow surely didn't wait on people and had been falling hard while they were trying desperately to try and beat it. There was no way they could be faster than mother nature; it was already plainly established. And since it was, the only thing left to do would be to make sure that they were at least close. Because they were so busy trying to finish, they hadn't bothered to check the standings of the other teams. They literally needed to move their butt to par with them in speed. As she was still doing her first round of salting, she was hoping to get the hang of it. But it wasn't that easy.

It certainly didn't ease matters that there was a guy screaming at her ear every second about the fact that she needed to pick up the pace. She didn't work well at all under pressure; under pressure that wasn't given to her by herself. As she moved along the street, the Chuunin would bs hollering from the end of the street, an annoying little bee in her ear. "You're not doing this right! And you have to pick up the pace! You team is the slowest! Come on come on come on!!" She wanted to make him shut up but this was essentially a mission and so it wasn't quite that easy. Instead she nodded her head, a look of obvious annoyance on her face. She hated working on missions with other shinobi involved.  

She saw that her partner was actually picking up the pace so she decided it would be best to follow. They were working as a team after all. She sprayed salt on every inch of concrete that made up that little street. For such a small side street, there was definitely a lot of salt that needed to be used. Hiro probably shared the same feeling over the shoveling. It was harder for him because it was backbreaking work and it was constant too. As long as there was snowfall, there was shoveling to be done. But the good part was that he would get a break at some point, an extended break so that the snow could accumulate enough for there to be something to shovel. It was literally how the six hours would pass by faster.

She moved quickly from the road of the street to the sidewalks. There wasn't really any hardwork involved but there were trying moments where she really wishes that she had been put on shoveling duty. The fact that she could sweat and feel the pain in her back over it made her feel a lot more at ease. But she was stuck with salting and she was stuck with it for hours still. She hastened her steps as she moved towards the end of one sidewalk. She was definitely gaining more momentum. So it was true--practice did make perfect. Or well at least enough practice made for semi-perfection. That was all she was looking for in this mission as an outcome. 

She looked up at the sky, her eyes squinting as the snow came crashing down. She didn't understand why the fact that the country was called Yuki no Kuni automatically gave way to a snow storm every other day. She wondered if every other place was like that. It was a depressing thought really as she thought about how much trouble the villagers were going to have the next morning just getting around in the village. Even the shinobi would have a hard time. And chances were that the crew responsible for shoveling and salting the morning shifts would have it much more rough than they did. Snow tended to be unforgiving during the day. Shuddering, she felt bad for the crew as she continued to pour salt onto the ground.

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[❥;; bexx]

The end of the second of the six hour shift was the time it took her to finish two rounds of salting. By now her hands were slowly starting to numb despite having gloves on. She and Hiro decided it was best that they took a break and the Chuunin didn't object. They had been keeping at it for such a long time now that it felt relatively normal and human that they had some rest. Besides, it would take at least ten to fifteen minutesof continuous snowfall to make the streets covered with enough snow for them to shovel and salt again. The two of them sat at the ends of one sidewalk and just sat ghee for a moment in silence. The Chuunin had gone to make a report to the acting coordinator of their progress she assumed. She would try to stretch out her muscles as they started to ache. 

"This is some pretty heavy stuff, huh? said her partner as they sat on the sidewalk. It was indeed. Though she'd become used to seeing so much snow since technically snow fell all year round. It was hard not to get used to it. But as a child she had thought that the white landscape she saw in front and behind the Yukina mansion. She had taken for granted the fact that snow just looked pretty without giving the fact that there were people out there in the bitter cold trying to make the village safer and the snow more enjoyable to look at. But that was in her childhood years and definitely was not now. 

Having gone through the painful duties of both shoveling and salting as missions, she knew just how bad the crewman had been working these many years while children like her were just enjoying the snow as it came. The work now didn't make her hate snow. In fact she still loved it a lot and would probably continue to do so for years to come. But she honestly hoped that it would at least let up a bit; she wasn't asking for much really. She never knew that the skies could make so much snow and it irked her that whoever or whatever was controlling weather didn't even give the country and the village's citizens any thought. Overall she was just grumpy. It was easy to tell. 

She and her partner sat on the sidewalk for a full twenty minutes before getting up rather unwillingly to start their tasks again. She went forth to the bucket of salt and found that she still had about half a pail left and it was the original bucket too. By that time the Chuunin who was responsible for them had returned and brought the news that their shift would be cut short by an hour or so because there were reports that indicated the snowfall would cease early and wouldn't commence again until the afternoon. That was always good to hear. Hiro smiled at her and she returned a half smile, not really thinking of anything at that moment. She only wanted the mission to end. But she still had a daunting three hours or so to go. It was just not a pleasant idea. 

As she was throwing the salt onto the ground she was thinking about her comfortable bedw. She definitely was starting to miss it a lot more as the biting cold seeped through her coat and hit her body. It was harder to keep warm now since her body was used to the coldness but still reacted in a way that indicated otherwise. As the night wore on, she was certain that the bitter chill would just escalate in intensity and was definitely going to continue to heighten the longer she stood there. But there wasn't anything more she could do. Absolutely nothing. Tonight was going to be a night she would remember only because she was asked on a village-wide mission.

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[❥;; bexx]

Another hour would pass as she trudged her way through almost all of the Sal in the pail. The last hour of snowfall had come down hard, almost blinding the two shinobi in hazes of flurries and white. But she was a Yukina, making it a little easier for her. But poor Hiro wasn't as he tried to bite his way through. She didn't quite mind the haze though it made their jobs more difficult to execute. There breaks were much shorter within that hour as the snow came drizzling down. The flurries of snow covered the streets within seconds and it was note demanding of the two man team. 

She followed closely behind her partner as they did another round of shoveling and salting. The job was getting more and more tedious because it was basically just doing the same thing at the same place for hours. What fun could possibly come out of it? The initial excitement now diminished completely about this mission and all she hoped to do was make herself go through the next couple of hours without any complication. She was looking forward to just going home and sleeping. And she was sure Hiro as well as the other Genins felt the same way. 

There were only a couple of hours more. She looked into the salt pail and realized that she had reached the bottom. She trudged along the  the main street of Yuki with the howling snow around her. It was easier to get back to where they had gathered a couple hours ago to get another pail of salt. The snow was coming at her from behind and her trenchcoat was enough to allow her safe passage along the streets. She carried the empty pail in one hand and the ladle thing in another, heading towards where the group coordinator was standing. From the look on his face she guessed that he too was wondering when this snowstorm was going to come to an end. She sincerely hoped the answer was soon. 

She took note of how the others were progressing. The skilled bunch who were responsible for shoveling and salting the main roads were completing their tasks like it was nothing at all while the not-so skilled bunch were having as much if not more difficulty than she was. She heard screaming coming from the Chuunins and Jounins assigned for each team and was at lease relieved that she was alone. She hurried towards where the salt trucks were parked and received another bag of salt that was dumped into her pail. This should be enough to last her until the end of this mission. 

She would try to hurry back to her station to keep working but it was another feeat at trying to get there at a relatively fast pace. She was battling a raging snowstorm to her face again and it was certainly not easy Turing to trudge her way through. Through squinting eyes and deterred movements, she was able to make it down the streets alone, without the help of anyone. This took some time though and as she reached the side street again, she was already required to salt again. It was great knowing that she could keep herself busy. The bitter cold was starting to get to her, freezing her body.

Just as she was wondering if she could make it out alive, she noticed a figure walking towards them. By that time she had managed to salt the road and was now working on the two sidewalks. She couldn't make out the person even as he came near them but he was carrying two giant mugs on a tray in his hands. He was dressed in heavy trenchcoat and boots. Only when he came within a foot of her did she recognize him to be none other than her older brother Satoshi. Her life savior had come, she thought with happiness. She salted the rest of that sidewalk and would stop as soon as she was finished.

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[❥;; bexx]

He gave her a wide grin as he came towards the three of them. He first headed to the Chuunin, not really acknowledging her presence at all as he spoke to him. "Go take a nap, man. I'm here to relieve you for a couple hours. We gotta train early today." His comrade looked grateful to him as he nodded his head and started to walk down the snow covered streets. She could tell that the had been trying so hard to stay awake since all he had to do for this mission was to watch over them. Her brother then set down the tray of mugs and looked at the falling snow with a heavy sigh. He seemed so preoccupied with something but she wasn't one to ask him. If he wanted to tell he would tell. He watched them for a few moments, not saying a word.

"Come on guys, I brought some hot chocolate. You guys look like you're going to pass out in this kind of weather." he said after he saw that she had finished salting the other sidewalk. Hiro was definitely grateful to her brother as he put down his shovel almost immediately and went to get a mug. He bowed and thanked him whilst sitting on the sidewalk again, taking another one of those short breaks. But this time they had hot chocolate; her savior. She too put down her pail and ladle and advanced towards her brother. He looked at her with a concerned look to which she only waved off. There was no communication necessary between them. They knew what was going to be said even before either of them opened their mouths so it was rather pointless.

She nodded her head at him and bowed in appreciation. Taking her own cup of hot chocolate, she would sit by her brother this time, her hands emerging from her gloves for the first time so that the heat from the mug could penetrate her hands directly. They were red and so were her fingers. She watched the smoke coming out of the steaming mug and smiled. She loved hot beverages on a chilling day. She wondered how he had known that she was assigned to this street but she guessed that the Chuunin from before was probably on his team and had seen them together before. That wouldn't be surprising at all.

She took a sip of the hot liquid and let the heat remain in her mouth a little longer before pushing it down her throat. Her mouth was instantly filled with a flourish of chocolate taste. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of utter satisfaction. It always happened when she drank hot chocolate. Her brother and Hiro couldn't help but smile at her. The same thoughts were running through their minds, she thought. But that was okay; she was naturally a lover of chocolate in whatever form it came and so it didn't quite matter that they were staring at her. She took another few sips of the liquid before returning the cap on the mug and then putting it down on the tray again.

There was still one more cycle to go through before the entire mission would be over. She waited for Hiro to finish, which wasn't long. As soon as he had replaced the mug back into the tray he had taken his shovel and was shoveling the new snow that had accumulated while they were taking their break. The speed of replenishment of snow was so fast that it awed both Genins. But the power of hot chocolate was even more awing as she found that they both had renewed energy have the boost from the energy drink, going faster than they had gone since the start of the mission.

[❥;; bexx]

And so the mission was drawing to a close. They hurriedly finished what was left of their shift. As the last ladle of salt was applied to the street, she would sigh in relief. They were finally done! Five gruesome hours of cold and snow and salt and she was finally done! She smiled at Hiro and then at her brother, knowing that they were happy too. Both returned her smile just as quickly. It was just as they were heading out of the side street and onto the main street that they would hear what was a loud voice booming on the streets. Many had already stopped working while others were still trying to busily finish theirs before the end of the mission. "Well that's it folks! Come down here and put back your equipment! Make sure you don't leave any of your equipment behind and if there's still salt in your pails to empty them in one of the salting trucks before you go!" it was the voice of the tomato-faced mission coordinator.

She checked her pail and found that there was only a little salt left. But since there was salt left, she would have to still put it in one of the salting trucks. She hurried forward, past the streams of people that were coming in different directions with their pails. She chose one of the trucks with the most salt and poured what was left of the pail into it while Hiro was busy putting back his shovel. After this she would stack her pail in the stack that was right beside the salting trucks. She guessed that they would be used relatively shortly as another crew of shinobi and non-shinobi would come in to take on these vigorous tasks. She would find her brother once all was done. She had completed her second mission in Yukigakure! "Your reward will be given to you in the Yukikage Tower when you go home and get some rest first! Good job to you all!"

It was only as the word rest was mentioned by the mission coordinator that she realized how much of it she lacked and needed at that point. Her body was sore and her face screamed out fatigue. Satoshi could see that quite evidently too and before she could even start walking back to the Yukina mansion with him, she would find herself losing balance. Her eyes were blurring and her hands and fingers numb. She was certain that she was about to pass out; having passed out many times before due to training. And that was exactly what happened a few seconds later as she reached her brother. Her body would fall forward and her eyes would close. She was definitely in a very weak state at that point. Her brother quickly caught her in his arms, taking the fainted Sayuri back to their home.

His hands were strong as he lifted her in his arms. It was just a relief that the way they were going to return home was not facing the snow storm directly. It was still raging pretty hard on Yukigakure and wouldn't stop for another hour or two. She rested in his arms as he carried her back. Looking at the figure he was holding, Satoshi would feel a little guilty. Even though it was a mission that every Genin had to take, she had gone out of her way to make herself this fatigued and whenever she did something as idiotic as that, he couldn't stand it. The walk from where they were to their house wasn't far, a mere five or so munutes would get them there. He carried her into the house, up the stairs and placed her gently on her bed in her room.

She needed sleep and she definitely got her share of it as she slept like a log that morning. She was so happy that she had completed yet another mission as a Yuki genin that she had totally forgotten what tired was--until she was reminded again of course. She would stay asleep for a total of eight solid hours and would wake up when it was the afternoon and the snow would have ceased. What greeted her eyes that afternoon was a great sight; a landscape of pure whiteness, sparkling under the sun's rays. and the best part was that she had helped out in clearing the now cleared streets just that morning.

[❥;; bexx]

As she opened her eyes to greet the afternoon, she felt revived and content. She had needed that eight hours of rest that she got and was now in much better spirits than she had been during the wee hours of the morning. She walked down the flight of stairs of the Yukina mansion and saw that her brother was also there, sitting in the kitchen with his usual cup of coffee. She greeted him with a warm smile as she entered the kitchen to find herself a cup of cold milk. The house was so warm and cozy, thanks to the servants who had applied more wood to the fireplace and had turned up the heat while she slept. She sat down on a chair next to her brother and sat there drinking her milk quietly.

"You're going to the Yukikage Tower today, right, kiddo?" She nodded her head and smiled. She remembered from last night that her mission coordinator had told her that to collect her reward for the mission she would have to go to the Yukikage Tower. She was secretly excited for receiving the reward and for also looking for some new missions to take. Reading her mind, he gave her rather stern look. "You're not taking any more missions until I say you can. Don't you remember what happened this morning?" She searched her mind but nothing came up. He told her how he had fainted in his arms because she had been so tired. Ah, right, she had been fatigued and her energy had maxed out. It was just something that she hadn't expected was all.

She nodded her head and promised him that when she got to the Yukikage Tower she would not go and look for another mission to do. But she didn't promise that she wouldn't go and take a look at the bulletin board. Besides, she was right there anyway when she would collect the ryo for her work. She quickly retrieved the mission slip from her pocket and headed out to the warm and sunny streets of Yukigakure. It was interesting to use the word warm as the temperature was far from warm but the sun's rays allowed much of its warmth to shine on her as she walked down the now very tidy main street and headed towards the giant tower at the end of it. She again thought how important it was to reward the crew that had helped them out yesterday since they couldn't receive ryo as a shinobi. She would make a suggestion at some point to either the Kage or the Kage Assistant.

The guards standing guard in front of the tower allowed her passage and she went directly to the mission area of the first floor. The reception was already sitting there with a tired look on her face as she approached the desk. She gave her a huge warm smile which was met with just sleepy eyes as she handed her the mission slip in her hand. The receptionist took out a box that she kept safely in a vault under her desk and retrieved five hundred ryo for her. Thank you!: she gave another smile and took the money, tucking it inside her suit pocket. As she turned to leave she would walk up to the mission bulletin. It had been awhile since she had been here and she wondered what new clients had requested missions.

She saw that the little slips were increasing steadily and not enough of it was being completed. Either the Genin were busy training or they were just lazy. She happened to find that the mission she had just completed was the second one on the list. Ah, good, she was still following her original plan of going at it in chronological order. She glanced at what the third mission would be and was just about to take a slip when she remembered what her brother had said. She couldn't take a mission today, that was for sure. But she would wait until her brother left for one of his own missions with his team before she took another one. Satisfied with her plan of action, she hurried out of the tower and made her way back home.

[Sayomi]

Bex: 120 exp

+ 25 exp and 500 ryo