Prose of Construction [P]

[¤ SFS ¤]

"What in the world..."

An unpleasant and seemingly unsatisfied voice shot through the relative darkness of the setting sun expressing it's distaste with what had to be it's surroundings. Their current location wasn't one of particular unpleasantness it was more likely that the old drunk's distaste was with the fact that he woke up in a specifically different place than where he went to sleep. Although he didn't feel like it and his crafting was actually getting interesting as he went through his first pill craft he would pause from his work long enough to fill the old man in. His voice was relaxed and a bit uncaring, not cold or rude simply uninterested. "Good evening Drunky. Don't worry about anything you were sleeping under the-"

"HEY YOU LITTLE BASTARD! WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"

His tone was loud and threatening and the genin was sure he wasn't about to stand for being threatened by a man who couldn't back up those said threats. So with no little reaction time he fired back verbally on the old jackass, his baritone and youthful scowl took the fight right out of the older gentleman.
"SHUT THE HELL UP I WAS TELLING YOU WHERE YOU WERE YA JACKASS!" Clearing his throat he went back to his crafting and speaking to the man without looking at him. "You fell asleep under the Tsuchikage's Tower. That's both illegal and stupid you're lucky I stuck around to protect you're worthless ass until you awoke." He opened a container, pouring out the insects inside and letting them go about their lives. He didn't have a need for them now that they had provided the enzyme they needed for his pill. It was much simpler to let them return to the wild and capture more later if he needed to than to keep them until the next time he needed them. He felt very much the same way about the old man. Them being from the same village didn't make the genin anymore willing to deal with him, which sucked for him.

His mission was complete so he didn't need the old fuck anymore, it was better to just let him go. If he slept under the Tsuchikage tower again and had to be removed then Sen would take that action and handle the situation when the time came. "Now that you're awake you can be on your way. If I have to come get you from the Tsuchikage Tower again though I'll carry you away to place like this again and punch you the adam's apple had enough to shatter it. The little wildlife we have will descend on your body fast enough that no one will ever know it was me that did you in." Of course the genin was bluffing but he doubted the old man knew that much. If he ever had to get the old man again he probably would leave him in the middle of nowhere but he surely wouldn't punch in his adam's apple first.

The old man took his leave with grumbles and mumbles in between words that Sen couldn't make out. Whatever it was he said as he made his exit, the genin wasn't able to maneuver himself into giving a good god damn. The reliable little insects scurried away to find a new place to settle in and call home and he had only a couple more things to tend to before he could move on to his next mission. The root in the soft boiling water had begun to expand, which meant it was slowly absorbing the water it was sitting in. Once all the water was taken in he could start the final steps to creating the soldier pill. In the meantime he removed the container with the root from the heating pad and began to pack up his things so as to ensure he left nothing behind. Empty containers were put inside of other empty containers to save room and the once that contained the root, which was hot to the touch, was put in a safe spot at the bottom. It was time to move onto his next mission but precautions had to be taken to ensure that his crafting keep moving along smoothly. A small jar containing various seeds poured into a bowl and soon the genin stood back on his feet and began to walk back to the center of the village and to his next mission, anxious to see the fruits of his labors he began to thoroughly grind up the seeds curious as to whether or not he'd have time to finish the pill during the next mission.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Suicidal Thoughts
Rank: D
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: There has been reports of a man attempting to jump off of a building in the heart of the city. Hurry and get there as soon as possible in order to persuade him otherwise.
Special Info: May be repeated indefinitely.

Being calm, collected and careful was part of Sen's everyday M.O. he couldn't live his life properly if he were always upset and off balance about something. Things happened and in the larger scope of things he was just a human being. The shinobi arts were capable of some crazy and mind blowing things. The most powerful of men with the proper training could actually bring even nature to it's knees. Still, not including the six path sage whom was more legend that real flesh and blood, all men were mortal and no matter the power they achieved in life. Every second their clock ticked away and they moved forward through age into the eternally open arms and cold embrace of death. The philosophy of life, the everyday struggle, immortality and death raged on in his mind as he neared the building in which his next mission occurred. There was a hint of familiarity in what was expected of him to complete the mission as he'd just had a similar one weeks back. He had been in a much more foul mood then and he realized now that he impatience and fatigue from other missions that occurred earlier in that day had caused him to react unfavorably to the civilian that actually needed his help. It was sad thing when death made one cold and unwilling to take pity on those who were ready to end their own lives.

"What more can I do? There's nothing left for me on this side anymore."

Running up the side of the building was done quickly enough and it was second nature to use his chakra control to stick to applicable surfaces. The man in question at the very least seemed poetic in his lack of wanting to live. He seemed to have weighed all his options and just wanted a way out, he wasn't looking for pity, just lamenting his lack of strength of resolve. He approached from the rear, unafraid to startle the man and confidant his soft steps wouldn't even give away his location. At a moment when the man stood on the ledge with only one foot on the the roof and the other peering out over the streets of the village, the genin made his move locking the man in a headlock and dragging him away from the edge of the building. He wouldn't just assume the mission was done just because the man was in his custody. He had to go deeper into the situation and resolve the real problem, but that would take time and effort, so he began to unpack his backpack, spreading around the contents and finishing what he started on his almost done pill. At first the man was clammy, not interested in sharing his embarrassment and despair wafted off of him like a bad odor. "Go ahead... say it. I won't say that I'm not going to let you leave until you tell me what's going on but I will say that I can help you. I really can." As the genin went about rummaging through his containers and vials the man spoke his voice high pitched and filled with loss and stress, anguish never seemed to have such a prominent vocal incarnate.

"I thought it was just a phase you know? I thought I was just a little depressed and after some time the feelings would just go away, evaporate. Sitting with these thoughts and feelings have only made them worse. I can't stop thinking about it now. I don't want it end this way but everyday it seems more and more clear that it's the only thing that will bring me peace."

As the man, whom was no more than fifteen years older than Sen himself, bore his soul the genin's hands moved on their own, mixing this and string that. His movements were thorough and paced and his body language suggested calmness and stability. He also made deathly sure to maintain serious eye contact with the man it was important for him to feel that someone was taking him and his situation seriously because it really was dead serious situation. The genin listened on allowing the man to open up and prepping the last parts of his pill.

[¤ SFS ¤]

The root in it's container at this point had long since absorbed all the water in it's vicinity and reached an extremely swollen point. It looked as if it were about to burst. Taking it from the container the Genin held it over another container filled with a brown powder and began squeezing the life out of the root. The liquid inside poured from pressure fast as first each grip Sen took on it forced out more of the liquid gold inside of it. He strained it again and again until there was no moisture left in the root and when that happened he sat the root down in a container that seemed to be for the garbage leftover after creating a pill. The liquid sat on the powder barely mixing at all until the aspiring the craftsman went about mixing them manually. He was still locked at the eyes with the man who he was trying to convince not to jump and he had to admit so far both the crafting and the mission was going well. The older man seemed open to the thought of being able to find some hope to keep going. He'd run out of reasons to live so he wanted to die but if he found new reasons, his life could go on with meaning again. Sen believed together they could find that meaning.

"What would you have me do? What would you do?"

"I would endure." His hands stopped moving from the crafting for a moment and he rummaged through his packs fishing out a kunai that seemed and smelled brand new, it's dark steel glistening in the night sky. In his other hand he picked up the small white ceramics bowl he'd had been using to mix powders and leaves. In each of his hands he held a part of himself and the two just as often clashed as much they went hand in hand. "I am shinobi by necessity but takumi by trade. In one hand my job calls for me to destroy, in my other hand another job calls for me to create. Which of those two do you think is the hardest? Which of those two do you think is the most rewarding?" He put the kunai in the hands of the older man and went back to mixing the root juice and powder, by now it was taking on a thick paste-like viscosity. Mixing in the remaining powders and ground up seeds he eventually got to a point where the mixture was so thick he could pick it up and knead it thoroughly slowly rolling it into a ball. "No one's life is perfect right now, not in Iwa, probably not anywhere in Earth Country. Our new Kage is young and our village is still in attempts to make a comeback. Life here can and will be stressful, but don't let that be the reason you can't take anymore. We may be down now, but it won't last forever. Even as we struggle we can find reasons to go on. We can find reasons to keep fighting, one day at a time. It'll always be easier to destroy that to create. To take life than give it. If Iwagakure tries to go about doing everything the easy way we won't be strong enough to stand on our own feet for or against those who have done it the hard way. The same thing applies to you."

Packing up his containers save for the one that held the doughy ball of fused powders, herbs, enzymes and vitamins he tossed them all into his back pack and removed several new objects. The first was the heating pad he used to boil the root in water. He also took out a small container filled with a blue gel like substance that looked like something melted, like chocolate. Although for the life of him he couldn't remember when the last time passed in which he saw blue chocolate. It smelled nice though and it even tasted a bit sweet which was good enough for him to stop wondering exactly what it was. Once the ball of dough was properly rolled and into a nearly perfect sphere he dropped it in the blue substance and began to shake it vigorously after tightly reapply the top of the container. Using a small pair of chopsticks he removed the now blue dough ball and placed it inside on a cooking tray which he in turn sat on top of the heating pad. Over the cooking tray and the heating pad he sat the bowl in which he used to hold his melted steel when crafting katana and kunai. It would essentially cause the pill to be baked due to the fire and heat having no means to escape the area. Once baked properly and the blue coating hardened the pill would be complete.

[¤ SFS ¤]

The pill baked on as the two men talked under the stars in the night. The older gentleman had calmed down and he seemed even more so defeated by life. He'd taken it's shit for so long and finally gotten the balls to spit back in life's face and end his own and then life sends some shinobi young man to talk him out of it. He probably just felt tired, like he couldn't win no matter what, in life or death.

"I-I... I don't know if I can."

"You having doubts is natural, if you weren't the kind of man to doubt yourself you'd have never came up here to end your life and I wouldn't have had to come to try and stop you." Occassionally checking the status of the pill he continued to pep talk the man careful that the words he chose were truthful, even if they were a little pessimistic. "It's not over for you yet. Don't get me wrong, you will die. In time we'll all die but thinking that throwing your life away is a better alternative than just waiting on the inevitable is wrong. Because even when death is approaching there's something useful you can do to help yourself before that death arrives." Uncovering the pill he examined it as best he could in an attempt to check and see if it was finished and the blue sweet coating had been properly hardened. "Even if it's too late to help yourself. In your last moments..." He flicked the blue coating and was surprised at how much it hurt his finger to do so. "you can still do something for the next man before your story comes to an end." He fought off a massive grin for now and simply picked up the finished product and put it in a small spherical casing, stashing the casing in one of his packs. Crafting it hadn't been as complicated as he thought and the best part was that he was one step closer to his goal. Almost as good, he was one step closer to perfecting his ability to craft soldier pills which would only help him reach his other goals even faster.

Putting an arm around the shoulder of the older man the genin lead him to the access door that lead back down to ground level. There was no way to be so sure this early on but Sen was confidant that his words had gotten to the other man and he was genuinely glad he'd taken his time and attempted to make a real difference. "Come on, you've got some thinking to do about how you're going to make the best of the life you still have. Iwagakure no Sato could always use another craftsman."

SPOILER: Click to show

Hyourougan (Soldier Provision Pills)
Rank: B
Type: Medical Item / Self
Special: Only one pill may be used per thread or else the user will die. Provides the user with an amount of chakra and stamina equal to their DOUBLE their natural maximum, allowing it to stack on top of whatever remaining amounts their Stamina and Chakra Pools possess.
Description: Military Rations Pills (兵糧丸, Hyōrōgan) are special pills that replenish one's stamina and chakra and nourish the body. It's made up of powerful stimulants and nutrients, said to allow the user to keep fighting for three days and three nights without rest. Although the former is a slighy exaggeration, the pill nonetheless provides extreme stimulative boosts. however, abuse of the pill, especially to an unprepared chakra system, can lead to death.
Cost: 20,000 Ryo per Pill
Hyourougan Crafting Mastery: 1 of 10

B-rank crafting jobs require 60 exp worth of posts. Crafting this pill will use up 10,000 Ryo worth of crafting material I have in my profile. Please approve or deny crafting job based on grade for posts.

// EXIT

[~Kohana <3]

+68

[¤ SFS ¤]

// ENTER

Wake Up !
Rank: D
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: There’s an old drunkard sleeping on the front doorstep of the tsuchikage’s tower. Someone, anyone, wake him up and move him along !
Special Info: Can be repeated indefinitely.

There was something to be said about repetition. If one repeated the same process over and over again for days, months, or even years on end, one day they would come to find that their repetitive process had become second nature. If one had to clean up dog poop from their yard the first thing in the morning, eventually they would get to a point where cleaning up that dog poop would be second nature; something they could do half-asleep. This afternoon, although he was not half asleep, Sen followed the actions of his last day of missions step by step until he came across what it was he was looking for. He wasn't extremely shocked that it looked the exact same way it looked the last time he'd seen it. That god damn old man who just couldn't get the hint about not sleeping under the Tsuchikage's Tower. It almost made the genin want to grind his teeth hard enough that he cracked a set of them. It then dawned on him that this was another one of those missions that was often posted on the wall for a willing genin to take. It seemed who ever this man was, despite his repetitive nature to break the rules, had someone of great wealth looking after him to have him constantly escorted off the premisses of the Tsuchikage's Tower.

"I guess I should thank you... because of you I get a mission where the only thing I have to do is carry an unconscious elderly man to a safe place in the vicinity." Kneeling down the genin went into his backpack and removed lids from two of the larger containers and two of the smaller ones. The small containers housed a root and leaves of a plant and the other housed small fuzzy, bee like insects. Dumping the two small containers into one larger one and then pouring half of that larger one into the other large containers he packed them all up and carefully put the things he would no longer need at the bottom of his backpack.

He went about having a quick stretch before confidently chucking the drunken senior of his shoulder and casually going west. He also thought it was uncomfortable to be carried in such a manner but he supposed if one drank until they were on their ass and passed out in place they were literately told hundreds of time not to go to, how they were carried away for the hundred and something^th time probably wouldn't matter to them. If repetition meant anything it meant dependance on thing staying the same enough for you repeat it all, and luckily for Sen the closed off area where he worked on his pills and let the only man sober up was still in the same place it always was in.

[¤ SFS ¤]

The old man hit the ground like a splash of old and drunk water. He'd yawn and scratch himself in places Sen couldn't stand to watch. Then he'd make a whimpering noise roll around his tongue in his mouth and then go into a deeper sleep. There was something to be said about the ability to fall asleep so easily in fluxing surroundings. It became clear once and for all that the old dude wasn't once a shinobi. It was sometimes hard for Sen to get the sleep he needed because of all the sounds he heard at night. He would be sometime before some was to sneak up on him in his sleep, let alone pick him up and carry him off to god knows where. The old man was just lucky that someone with less honest intentions hadn't been removing him from the Tsuchikage's Tower instead.

There was nothing particularly difficult that he needed to do further process the the pills at this point. Right now while he sat and waited for the old man to wake up, which was beyond the parameters of his mission, the insects were making quick work of the leaves and fruit and root housed in the container with them. The pollen and ezymes they provided would be key later in getting the pill to be the catalyst for the massive amounts of chakra the body would release in response it's presence in the body. With all the materials he'd gathered during his last visit to the Earth Country's item shop he had enough of everything to craft two Soldier Provision Pills and still have more than half of what he needed to make the third. Selling the first two in stores wouldn't earn him the same amount of Ryo that would come from selling them directly to shinobi himself. But, the trade off was worth it, in selling them to the shops he never had to worry about his customer trying to rob him or kill him for product. It was a little more on the safe side to sell to shops that and the money was guaranteed day or night. If the genin ever found a customer willing to pay close to store prices for pills he could simply craft one on the spot and sell it. One made two, two made four, four made eight and so on. The more he made the better he would become at making them and he would eventually hit a point where he could make them half-asleep.

For now he would be happy with what he was capable of. He couldn't rush the learning curve since there had been a time when the best thing he could manage to craft was kunai. Although cheap to make and not unique from the store versions in any way, crafting those kunai helped lead him down an efficient path of the fundamentals of crafting. Setting up materials learning the ins and outs of his tools and even learning what order to go through the crafting process to as to lead to better finished crafts.

[¤ SFS ¤]

As dusk settled into the sky for the next hour or two the genin passed the time by throwing tiny pebbles at the face of the man whom slept on the grounds of the Tsuchikage's tower again after being told countless times not to. If he had been less of a righteous man he would have killed the old man just to keep him from ever sleeping there again. However, in his right mind it was easy for the genin to realize that this man was basically a free meal. For 250 Ryo and another D-rank mission successfully completed and then added to his records all he had to do was pick up the old nobody, take him somewhere safe and wake him up. Technically, he didn't even have to do that last part. As the pebbles pelted the man on his forehead he slowly showed more and more movement each time he was hit until he finally woke, quickly taking in his surroundings and expressing distaste in them.

"I remember you. You're the little prick who brought me here the other day! Goddammit I hate waking up in this place!!"

"Then stop going to sleep under our Kage's tower."

[/b] As it had been the last day he took on this mission, he'd carried the old man here and allowed him to wake up. This time the inappropriate sleeper was belligerent and hard-headed and cared even less about being told not to sleep under the Tsuchikage's Tower. What's more was that 'rum breath' remembered the genin from the last time they'd met and he complained thoroughly about not being able to find a bar after he woke up and wandered off. Though most of what he said went in one of Sen's ears and out the other, the nameless annoying old man being able to get his fix when he wanted it was of no concern to the genin. With the disinterest the younger man showed towards him as well as his knowledge of where the hell the bar was now and so he bid the genin good day and was off to repeat the process. As a ninja the younger male had to respect his elder's drive and determination. Doing once what that man did everyday took some incredible willpower. And so, on went another day for the old alcoholic, a master of repetition.
"You are going to die alone and angry and miss out on everything worthwhile you still have in your life."

Going through his tickets he began to mark down brief notes on his encounter with the old man citing the time he took him into his custody, where he took the gent and when said gent woke up and wandered off again. Usually there was no call for detailed reports on D-rank missions. Since they usually happened inside the village eye witnesses and village contacts could corroborate any action that needed questioning. Still, it was nice to make sure everything was solid on his end. It made him have little to no liability should anything go wrong in an instance where one of his missions was involved. It was likely that this would never come up whether he took down the extra notes or not but being a ninja in all forms meant displaying caution and Sen firmly believed in being safe over being sorry.

[/size][/blockquote]

[¤ SFS ¤]

Big Bad Wolf
Rank: D
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: Across the mountains of iwa a giant grey wolf lurks on bypassers but there have no been no problems with it. . until recently. A few children have become missing from the playground. Investigate the mountainous plains in search for the missing kids.
Special Info: Can be repeated five times.

That dust trail that swung behind a man while moving at full speed was back in full effect as the genin shuffled through his mission tickets only to discover that there was yet another a batch of children who disappeared from their non-academy playground. Also yet another time the said disappearance was claimed to be due to a large grey wolf which was by now a bit infamous in this area of Iwa. The last time he'd had a mission concerning this wolf and a bunch of missing kids he wasn't too sure what to expect. He'd searched their playground where they were last seen and he found no signs of foul play. Luckily for him he'd been able to use his 'Kagura Shingan' to put a location on them. As it would turn out, the wolf was pregnant and the kids all banned together to protect it from poachers in the area. The kids were successful in protecting the mother wolf and what's more was that they used shinobi tactics and teamwork to do so. He lead the kids home one by one, took the poachers to the Kage's tower for questioning, which may have meant forceful interrogation. Finally, he left medics to make it back to the wolf and help with the birthing process or whatever it was the midwife of a wolf did.

Since it was less likely now that wolf did something horrible to kids he resolved the mission would be taken care of the fastest is he could do directly to the source. The place he found the kids last time couldn't have just been a random spot. The bound poachers had been dragged back there after all. It was either a place the kids picked to defend the wolf, or it was the wolf's cave, den, home. He hoped it was the latter or else he would have to dispense some effort in order to find the little repeat offenders.

"Shit." As yet another use of Kagura Shingan would tell him the kids weren't at the place he'd found them in before. He could detect no chakra from the area nor could he see any. His sprinting wasn't dramatically faster than that of the next genin but knowing the kids might actually be in danger this time put a spring in his step and he was in no rush to shrug off this mission prematurely. He would turn over every rock, look behind every boulder. If there a clue as to where the children were he wouldn't miss it by being impatient. In the back of his mind he understood the urgency of the situation but there would be nothing to be gained by panicking and missing a valuable clue.

In his backpack the war waged on between bug and plant. Until they were done eating and attempting to digest the root there was nothing the genin could do to move on in the crafting process. There was still the matter of boiling the root, the grinding up the seeds, mixing the stimulants and a number of other things. All of which didn't absolutely need to be done right now so the genin would bear with the mission and wait. Nothing else, not even his other missions could start until he was done with this one and that wouldn't be happening until he found those kids.

[¤ SFS ¤]

As it was bad enough to have to find clues on the whereabouts of the children again the genin then had to deal with the possibility that the poachers were responsible for the disappearance of the children. If the poachers were citizens they could have been sent away with as little as a slap on the wrist and a warning about harming children and wildlife. Warnings such men surely have received at other times in their lives that they calmly decided to ignore. If there were sentient beings responsible for the children going missing that meant the clock was ticking before one of them was harmed or even killed if the wrong set of circumstances unfolded. He had no qualms in killing a civilian of Iwagakure if it meant saving a child of Iwagakure. So long as it was that same civilian endangering the life of that child. He tried to wrap his mind on the possible places to check for next in the search for clues on the children but then just as swiftly as he'd arrived, the children returned. All but a couple of them went on the defensive the moment they saw him.

"It's the genin who saved us and took us home!"

Although it was nice to recognized as a hero and adored for it by the youth Sen did feel a little uncomfortable as they swarmed him all began asking a million questions at once. With the specific nature and topic of all their questions he was hard pressed to believe to that himself and to a larger extent, the life of a shinobi was the only thing that they had been talking about recently. He remembered that most of these kids had relatives of their immediate family who were ninja and after using what they new to defeat two grown-ups and then getting saved by a young ninja afterwards, it made sense for them to be so fixated on the notion of being shinobi.

"How did you find us so fast?"
"Was it hard graduating the academy?"
"Do genin make a lot of money?"
"What kind of jutsu can you use?"
"You're kind of old, why are you still genin?"

Most of the questions were innocent enough, but Sen was no academy teacher so his patience with children was only a tad bit stronger than his patience with anybody else. He didn't mind sitting for a moment and answering their questions but first things had to be first, he needed to know that they were safe and why they were out here in the first place. "All of you... can it!" They responded quite well and took no offense to being told to shut their yaps. While they were silent he removed those same container from his back pack and arranged them carefully around him. The kids interest had peaked and while he finished his crafting he would get them to spill their guts on whatever was happening here.

[¤ SFS ¤]

It went on now as it always did towards the end of the crafting sessions. Of course in this one he was still a little behind in his process. As he went about putting the unfinished pill through it's paces he allowed the children to watch and catch him up on the events of what transpired.

"We came here to play with the wolf puppies."
"You're not supposed to lie to grownups, Hise."
"Shut up! We did come here to play with the wolf puppies."
"No we came here to find poachers to fight and then when we couldn't find any we tried to find the wolf puppies to play with and when we couldn't find them we just wandered around playing ninja."

"Did any of you even bother to tell your parents where you were going?"

"If we told them they would have never let us come here."
"Giridoki-chan's parents let her enroll at the Iwagakure academy so we don't get to play with her anymore."
"So if we got good enough and learned to use jutsu too maybe our mommies and daddies would let us go to the academy too..."

At first the genin was a bit upset that the kids would have risked their own lives so carelessly by coming here but now he felt a little sad for them. They stood up for themselves and fought back and one of them did it so well her parents let her sign up at the academy. The doton user who did the most work to capture the poachers. Sen wasn't sure if he was right one to put into context the rights and wrongs the children were doing in order to get their way. But he would most definitely try to put it in perspective for them. It was more than okay for them to want to have their friend back but none of them were cut out to be ninja. At least, not until they heard all that it takes to be a ninja. "All of us should both very proud and very ashamed of yourselves. Your parents are somewhere worried sick about you. If you want to go down the path of a ninja at the very least you'll have to learn what it means to convey important information. Your parent will never allow you become ninja if you act like children. I'd be willing to bet at least one of your parents would consider letting you sign up at the academy if you simply asked. Sneaking away and putting yourselves in danger will only cause them to treat you like children even more." His voice was deep and forceful and laced with truth. He wasn't out to make the kids feel bad but they needed to know their situation from someone who was willing to hurt their feelings if it meant them seeing the truth of their actions.

Making them all spread out and have a seat in a circle around him he said that he would give them an hour to ask whatever questions they had about a ninja's life but after that they had to go home and fess up to where they were and what they done with their day to their parents. Some of them would be punished some of them wouldn't be, they all however, would know a tiny bit better if being a ninja was something they really wanted to do. "Ok, so... who wants to go first?"

[¤ SFS ¤]

Help me!
Rank: D
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: An elderly woman by the name of Gertrude needs help cleaning her gutters. She has promised a small reward for any of those who are willing to help.
Special Info: Can be repeated indefinitely.

Giving children an entire hour of your time in which to ask as many questions about being a ninja as they wanted turned out to be huge mistake. Well it was a good thing for them of course but for Sen it was like a gauntlet of information was being ripped from his skull by their smiling faces and wide eyes. Later than sooner though, that hour came to an end and the children were escorted to their playground before being ordered to return home and face the consequences of their actions. Most of them were reluctant but he using clever wording to get them to follow through with doing what was right. He had a little speech about how in a way they were already ninja and their mission was to go to school, learn, and return home without getting in any trouble. He informed them that they had failed their mission for the day and ninja didn't run from punishment for not getting the job done. Although he was just pulling it all from his ass that didn't change the fact that it was true, nor did it change the fact that the kids understood and agreed with him to the point where each of them ran home at a full sprint to confess their actions. In the moment where he watched their backs racing into the night, he realized if he lived long enough he would make a damn good academy instructor.

When it was all done and over with with the kids he moved on to the next mission on his list. The old woman himself and Hyoka cleaned the gutters of needed help with those gutters again, though this time it was at a different house. It turned out the seemingly lonely old woman was rich and apparently a landlord who very cleverly hired ninja to do the maintenance on her homes and gutter cleaning was the cheapest thing to hire for. He wasn't extremely interesting in holding up an entire conversation with her however so he settled on making the most of his shinobi training. "Good evening, ma'am. It's very nice to see you again. If you don't mind I know you're a busy woman I'll just head on up and I should be done within two hours." Truthfully he would be done in less than a half hour but he figured securing extra time on top of her roof would give him a perfect place to go about continuing the crafting process of his pills, but she didn't need to know that. No one did, in fact. It could have been frowned up that a ninja of Iwa was using his on duty time for missions to instead craft pills for personal gain. Though to be fair any gains he had on a personal level would go on to benefit Iwa anyway.

In example, his crafting skills took time to improve, time he could have spent doing missions or improving his combat jutsu. But, now Iwagakure no Sato had a genin that could create weapons better than what was available to be purchased in bulk from shops. Even if Sen never used his crafting to benefit Iwagakure directly there was still the undeniable fact that he was a ninja of Iwa thus anything he had that benefited him, allowed him to keep being a benefit to his village.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Carefully examining his surroundings he made mental notes of the state of the gutters and with a flurry of headseals there were not two but four Tokomaru Sen's taking care of the gutters. It was mindless work really so the genin found it fitting that the work go to piles of chakra that bore his face with no minds of their own. From the center of the roof he could work on his crafting and also direct his doppelgangers on how to clean the gutters. It was a fool proof plan and so long as nothing unexpected happened to disperse his clone, sending a pile of melted rocky death to the ground below, everyone would be fine. The clones worked diligently pulling leaves and crud and insects and debris from deep inside the abysmal pipes that was the gutters of one of Gertrude's buildings. It was insane how much junk her industry strength gutters could catch but he knew that first hand and he didn't look forward to the job being finished and then his clones dispersing only to further tell him what her gutters look like while cleaning them. It had taken him days to get over all the bird shit he found in the last set of gutters. Since she had to pay a flat rate to have ninja come out and clean the gutters he wagered it would probably be cheaper to simply get the gutters replaced if she could find someone cheap to do the labor as having ninja do that might cost a prettier penny than the 250 Ryo he was paid plus the 250+ Ryo the village was allowed to keep.

Either way, now that the clones were doing the grunt work he had all the time in the world he needed to keep working on the thing that was most important to him today. His favorite little bugs were done doing their business on his leaves and roots. He doubted he'd ever once been happy to see vomit until he started crafting these pills. The container's breathing holes weren't enough to give the bugs room to escape the container, not that they would even try until after the root had been digested, sadly they wouldn't be allowed to go that far. The lid would be removed from their container exposing them to the world once more and one by one they would fly elsewhere in search of food or insect poon. In the mean while though the root and left over leaves they tried to make a meal of would be dumped into a pot of water to hard boil atop his heating coil. Since the last time he'd had to pull this crafting-pills-on-the-go business he'd learned that the root boiled faster if it was left on the coil for twenty minutes and then allowed to sit for ten minutes. As compared to it boiling for ten minutes and then sitting for two hours. It seemed every time he made of these little circular marvels he got a little more efficient at making them. "Showtime."

The next parts came naturally as they were most fun and reminded him of cooking. The root had been given it's twenty minus to boil and ten minutes to soak and just as his research had proven it absorbed the same amount water in less than one-fourth the time. Powers and dusts were mixed into a bowl and that bowl would also be the place where he would squeeze all the gathered liquids from the root. The smell became less "nature-stuff" and more refined with every step he took towards the end. The powers from the bowl and liquid from the room mingled as they always did and came together in a gelatinous form. Still too much of a liquid and not enough of a solid to knead and roll into a ball but that's were the stimulants and vitamins came into play. A kunai would be the easiest way to cut open the pills that contained the stimulants and vitamins the soldier pill needed and once open the new materials would be mixed in with the gel, making it more like a dough of some kind. Picking up the dough he began to kneed and roll it around very thoroughly, slowly setting up the baking sheet, the heating pad and the stone bowl he used as a cover for it all to keep the heat from escaping. Gertrude didn't seem upset that he was taking so long, just a bit curious since no one was down there to keep her company, unlike last time.

[¤ SFS ¤]

"Is everything okay up there young man?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll be all done in about another hour at the most, these gutters are a bit tougher than the last group I cleaned but don't you worry I'll make em clean enough to eat off of." Knowing what he knew about Gertrude's gutters though, the thought of having to eat of them almost made him vomit, leaving more for his clones to pick up.

The dough ball found it's way to where it was supposed to go; sitting on a baking sheet, which sat on heating coil, all of which was covered by a stone bowl which kept the heat inside/around the ball growing. The elevation from cooking on a roof meant less oxygen though the genin was unsure if that would help or harm his crafting process, of if it would accept anything at all. Gertrude would be better distracted if she could see someone actually doing some work so occasionally a bag full of her gutter's garbage was tossed down, hitting the ground with a large 'THUD'. One of the clones was tasked with carrying the junk to a rocky area most Iwa-nin didn't make use of. There it would disperse and it's melting body would destroy the junk in the bag leaving it as nothing but ash for the winds to wash away.

Meanwhile back on the roof, the dough ball was beginning to peak with a delicious smell of being done. Most of pill crafting involved waiting the closer you got to the end of crafting one more waiting you had to do. You had to wait for the insects to pollinate the roots and leave behind their enzymes, you had to wait for the root to boil and absorb as much water as possible. Then you had to wait for the dough ball made from the root juices and stimulant powders to bake and then came the final part of dunking the ball in that blue coating that would make it sweet to the taste. That of course would be followed by more waiting. At this point in the crafting he was done letting the ball bake, it was time to drop it in the blue sugar solution stuff and then let it bake again to allow said blue solution stuff to harden and complete the crafting job. The blue sugary solution came in the smallest container of all, it was just barely enough room to submerge the dough ball and still be able to close the top. He mused that whatever this stuff was it was probably the most important part. The taste contributed a lot to the pills since if their taste was as bad as the power it gave being great, there was a chance less people would eat them, let alone buy for twenty thousand ryo each. A better taste meant that the only thing that stood out about the pills were the benefits it gave in battle. Making use of the chopsticks in his backpack he carefully fished the ball from the container and placed it back on the backing sheet. It wouldn't take long for the blue solution to infuse itself into the nooks and crannies of the pill and then harden it's outside.

While he waited however he would make good on time management and begin to clean up his containers and backpack placing the former into the latter in a neat and careful manner. Sooner than later the genin would take a stand from the roof of Gertrude's building seal away the newly finished pill and put away the remainder of his belongings before bidding the landlady a good day and taking off once again on to his next task.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Baby Please !
Rank: D
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: Recently a heartbroken man by the name of Edgar Ellen was distraught after his girlfriend broke up with him. He doesn’t know what else to do other than keep trying to win her back. Edgar has requested the help of a shinobi in his time of need for whatever reason. Help tie back the knot!
Special Info: Can be repeated up to five times.

If there had ever been a moment when catching bugs wasn't prudent to the situation...

"Liza... please just talk to me!"
"No Ed! I've said everything that needs to be said."

..this was it.

Edgar Ellen was a man on the edge about to throw away everything he had. He wasn't about to kill himself or anything, just about to literally throw away everything he had. His material possessions seemed like foolish things that no longer mattered in the grand scheme of it all. Even his favorite objects and hobbies had grown dull and failed to create a fill for the newfound emptiness he felt. His job was a place where he wasted his time scurrying about a predesignated path and earn worthless pieces of paper that he would exchange for the aforementioned material possessions. His family, though he loved them and knew they loved him could not make him feel any less alone. Though he didn't want to be alone, being alone meant he could keep holding on to something that had long since let go of him. Since moving on and accepting loss was too hard Ed, he just dug in deeper and kept going subjecting himself to agony, pain and tortures of a mental and emotional nature. His affliction was not one that was rare it was bound to occur in all males at some point in life, some males even having to face it more than once. Ed's heart had recently been broken and in order to win back the 'love of his existence' as he put it, he called upon the help of a shinobi.

"You won't get her to respond by being dramatic. If being honest and open leads to some dramatics fine, but you have to find a way to finesse it in there naturally or else it looks forced and she'll think you're not even trying." His baritone stopped momentarily to lock eyes with the man red on hazel. "They can tell when you're not trying... and they don't like it." For all his flare of trying to reunite a fallen couple he did good not to let on to Ed that he wasn't giving this mission one hundred percent of his time. He was already to proceed with the crafting process again and whip up yet another pill but first he had to find those night-flying bees to get them to go about eating the root in his container. It was a new root with leaves and fruits it bore along with the root used on the last pill. The genin figured it wouldn't hurt to toss it back in the mix as well. He collected the bees in groups of five since he was in a bit of a rush to finish the crafting job by the end of his next and fifth mission today. There was no way to be sure but while he was still so new crafting pills it was worth a test run. His thought was that more bees would speed up the pollination process and it would be risky if he went too long without checking it he would only discover that the bee's had finished it all off. He would have to check it more frequently but he was sure it would be worth it for the speed it would give the crafting process. The bees were easy to catch and in fives he moved them from the small jar in which he caught them, to the big container that had in it the roots he needed them to pollinate for their enzymes.

"Sen-san... what the hell do I do to be able to be honest and open with her!? She won't even hear me out..."

Ed looked like he was about to burst into tears. So, with the last of the bugs in the container with air holes he closed it off and sat it down. There wouldn't be a need to put it back in the backpack since his mission called for him to still be here if Ed needed him and he doubted they'd be done anytime soon.