Bits and Bobs [Multi.M]

[Lang]

SPOILER: Click to show

Graffiti Town
Rank: D
Minimum Participants: 1
Details: Gosh darn kids and their painting tools. Apparently a bunch of them went around the city putting their “tag” all over the place. We can’t have that in our city, not for one second. It’s up to you to hit the streets and clean up as much of this garbage as possible.
Rewards: 100 EXP & 500 ryō

So they want me to play clean up duty, do they? **ck that.

Despite having such negative thoughts concerning the issued task, in the end, a mission was still a mission; he just wished it wouldn't be such a pain. Liquid aerosols, paints and oil were often used in creating graffiti, which is why there were notoriously difficult to remove in an instant. Rael had no intention of doing any of the work himself and wasting half of his day; he'd find the little brats and get them to clean up after themselves. Honestly, who takes a shit and expects someone else to wipe their ass. That was just being lazy, disrespectful, and downright rude.

If they're too much trouble, I'm going to take the empty core of a toilet paper roll and shove it up their a**.

The budding iryou-nin didn't think he would have any problems actually 'convincing' the unruly kids to wipe up their mess, so to speak; it was finding them in the first place that was going to be a chore. Rael already had the chance to catch a glimpse of their artwork around Kirigakure, and frankly, was rather appalled that no one passing by managed to catch the pranksters in the act. Plus, it wasn't as if their 'art' was some sort of masterpiece; he could barely comprehend just what they were trying to paint on the bottom half. Coming across one of their supposed latest ones, he scrutinized it with a critical eye, snorting in thinly-veiled contempt.

Some sort of dust monster? I guess it looks...cute...yeah, no.

Starting out from the village's north district, it soon became more and more apparent that tracking down the troublemakers wouldn't be such an easy task. From what the villagers told him, after countless days perfecting their wayward skill, the kids had perfected their skills to be able to finish one of their little projects in under half an hours; time-wise it really was quite impressive. However, thirty minutes of them remaining stationary was not really all that long, not when he had to scour the entirety of the village looking for them. There was no real trail to follow, especially since simply because they already left their graffiti on a specific mural, that did not mean they couldn't come back at a later date to throw in some extra features.

Nothing else for it, then. He would have to work through Kirigakure in a clockwise pattern, combing each and every street for the damn troublemakers in hopes of spotting them at work. For a minute, Rael wished he had either an Inuzuka at his side, who'd easily be able to sniff out fresh paint and oils. If that wasn't an option, then Kagirinai's snake summons would even be invaluable in cutting time. He was tempted to go and find his fellow Genin, but thought better against it; 'D' ranks like this probably weren't his cup of tea.

Guess I'm on my own for this one.

[Lang]

"Pardon me, sir, but have you seen a group of kids spraying graffiti on the walls anywhere in village today?"

"Sorry kiddo, 'fraid not. Want to come in and grab some cookies with milk?"

"No...thank you for your help."

Roughly an hour was spent in this fashion, with the white-haired youth patrolling the streets on the lookout for his subjects, questioning all those he came across whether or not they'd encountered the troublesome brats. So far, nothing. Whether it was due to him being in the wrong district, or the group of miscreants were inactive at this hour, there was neither hide nor hair to be seen of them. It was during moments like this where Rael wished he knew the 'Kage Bunshin' technique used by Yokumaru-sensei; an extra pair of eyes and feet would be dead useful right about now. Too bad the Jounin was forbidden from imparting that skill onto anyone not of similar rank.

I bet he's just stingy.

Twenty minutes later, north district was determined to be a bust; onto the village's east side. As he made the seamless transition between areas, Rael paid attention to the plethora of images done to mark the passage. Here, a picture depicting a woman with giant mammary glands, dressed in provocative clothing. Several meters further down the wall, a crude imitation of Kirigakure's insignia was made, each of the four squiggly lines depicted via differently-colored earthworms, with a mouthful of teeth no less.

Well, it's certainly nowhere close to anything Hokusai ever painted.

There was a sudden chorus of what sounded like hastily-muffled snickers, pricking the Genin's ears as he instantly went on the alert. A new haste was added to his footsteps as he rounded the nearest corner, treading carefully on the cobblestone path before carefully peeking around the bend. Less than twenty meters away, a trio of kids were in the middle of a new 'masterpiece', defacing the mural before them with their latest work. Two of them held buckets filled with different colors, which Rael presumed was paint. The remaining one brandished a paintbrush like an amateur playing professional; too bad no one was going to pay for his work today.

What the heck is that even supposed to be?

"Stop right there, you brats!"

Their reaction was immediate, and precisely as expected. One of the punks holding a bucket squawked in surprise, spinning around in a blur and doing the first thing that came to mind. Rael watched the tin container as it flew towards him, contents spilling in his general direction as though in slow motion. Rather than ducking his head back around the corner, the Genin gathered chakra around his feet and made a furious leap towards the opposite wall, crushing a section of the brick-laden mural as he landed in a sideways crouch ten meters closer to his quarries, glaring at the troublemakers who'd managed to recollect themselves.

[Lang]

Either they knew he was a shinobi and wanted no part in fighting one, or they were just more inclined towards running away. Whatever the case, none of them even deigned to throw a punch before tossing aside their remaining tools and attempting to scamper away. Rael wasn't having any of that, and made it clear by making another chakra-enhanced jump, twisting his body midair to land feet first, right into the back of one of the fleeing kids. Purposely distributing his energy around the boy's entire frame, rather than just the point of impact, the Genin managed to avoid blasting his feet and legs clean through the civilian. However, the victim was going to have a nice plethora of black and blue bruises come morning.

"All of you, get your asses back here, or I swear you'll only live just long enough to fully regret not listening."

He would have lived up to his promise as well, but luckily, Rael seemed to sound convincing enough that he didn't need to ask twice. Turning back around, the two others slunk back to where he stood, heads presumably drooped in shame, and obviously worried for what lay in store for them. The Genin's gaze was stern as he ordered them to form a line before him, ignoring their shaky postures and trembling forms. Everything went silent as the Kiri nin prepared his decree, but first, a small lecture seemed appropriate. Rael normally wasn't the wordy type, but given the circumstances, a few choices phrases seemed in order.

"I'm not going to waste anymore time on you all than necessary, so let's just cut straight to the chase. This graffiti work you've been doing all over town is nothing short of vandalism, and honestly, enough to warrant severe punishment by the village council." Raising a hand to forestall the protests he could already see coming, the white-haired medic continued on. Honestly, if they knew they'd get caught sooner or later, why even bother in the first place.? "I'm not interested in whatever reasons you may have had for doing so in the first place. Frankly, I have ample reason to bring you all in for judgment.

However, I'm willing to cut a deal with you; no alternate offers. First, clean up all the mess you three of you made, all of it. Secondly, I'm going to give you a list of all the civilians that were inadvertently injured while you were pulling your shenanigans. You're going to visit every single one of their households, and help them with any and all chores or odd jobs they might need for two weeks, without pay. If you can manage that, I'll waive the disciplinary measures to be taken against you. Do you accept?"

There was a furious nodding of heads, and Rael managed a wry grin. "Good. NOW GET TO IT!" Following closely as the trio set off to procure all the cleaning equipment they'd need, as well as racking their brains to remember every single graffiti sprayed or painted across Kirigakure, Rael mentally groaned after realizing that, regardless of the mission's success, he'd still need to spend the entire day supervising the little punks.

Maybe I should have them collect pay after all, and split it 80/20...

[Exit]