Scroll Down [M: DONE]

[¤ SFS ¤]

----Deliver the Blank Scrolls

Client's Name: Shodaime Tsuchikage Kaguya Kira
Client's Occupation: Shinobi
Mission Rank: D
Payment for completion: 500 Ryo + 25 EXP
Mission Subject: A batch of blank scrolls has arrived by shipment to the outer edge of Iwagakure, just outside the gates. The shop owner is sick and cannot receive the shipment, therefore, you must go and pick it up for them and bring it to the shop.
Special Requests: This is to be done solo, there is no need for teams for this mission, just to bring back a bunch of scrolls. If you decide to take even one of the scrolls, you will be declared a criminal and tried as such. I cannot tolerate stealing in my village.
Notes: None

With a yawn Sen emerged from the Earth Country item shop a ways away from the village. The world map he'd just purchased was now his most treasured physical possession. If the shit hit the fan and he had to leave Iwagakure behind, this map would ensure anywhere he went from then on would only be hard to find once. With every passing day his Chakra reserves were becoming a little deeper. He hadn't learned any new jutsu in a while but he'd be sure to clear out some time for it soon. In his mind he was formulating plans to make the transition from Stone-nin to wandering Ninja capable of self sufficiency. His aim was to wait as long as possible before he had to leave and if possible he wouldn't leave at all. Although the latter simply wasn't going to happen.

A ninja profession would be the thing that would make or break his ability to survive on his own. The only issue was choosing the right one. For all his thinking there only two that would be of any use to a Nuke-nin. One was being a medic-nin; he could heal himself in and outside of battle. He could even heal others for a fee or in return for a favor of some sort. The knowledge of a medic-nin would boost his fight prowess greatly and ensure a longer lifespan. Not to mention the benefit that would come to his Chakra pools from all the medical training. He would have to rely on his other fighting skills to provide things like food and money but that wouldn't be impossible.

The other option was becoming a craftsman, a builder of remarkable tools and weaponry. It would give him the means to all have a source of income, he could remain in the shadows without having to be seen or heard from by any of the Hidden Villages. His name would spread and those seeking his wares would have to come to him. Any would be attackers would have to best his creations and if they failed to, the goods they had would become his.

A life in self imposed solitude seemed worlds better than the alternatives. He could make Ryo, form his own bonds and alliances and live and die by own standards. His new world map would serve as a map to his livelihood. He would visit all Hidden Villages, rumored exotic locations and even inter-village meeting places for things like future Chuunin Exams and Kage Summits. But all of that was in the future if he made it that far. Today and his next assignment was in the now.

He had order to pick up a shipment of scroll that would be found just outside the main gates and return them back to the scroll shop owner near the city of the village. He hadn't run into any trouble thus far so the moment he made it back into the village the mission was as good as passed. A task never seemed so lax before. With every step he took down the roads he came no closer to his death. No one tried to cut his head off or use A-class Jutsu against him. No one tried to teach him any hard lessons via brute force. It was a nice change of pace.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Walking down the streets towards his home village, no one really even looked at him. They were all too preoccupied. They were like him, victims of their circumstance, fighting for relevance and understanding of the world around them. It was anyone's guess if they'd find it though. Iwagakure was a far cry from it's former glory and all things considered it might have just been the karma that it brought on itself. Kage's coming and going each one more selfish or more insane or more tyrannical than the last. It was their own fault if hey got killed. Who could you blame if you were usurped by someone just like yourself only a tiny bit stronger? But the genin like himself, the villagers, the children. How long would they have to suffer because of the mistakes and faults of the higher ups?

It was all depressing as hell and Sen could clearly see a day coming on the horizon when the last Tsuchikage would fall, and no one would be left to replace him. The village would fall into utter chaos. Shinobi attacking and pillaging their own villagers. Nuke-nin would just stroll right in and post up for as long as they wanted. It would be nothing but a cesspool of blood and carnage and greed. The only real issue was if Sen himself would still be around at that point.

He was fighting to grow stronger so as to defend himself in the world outside his village walls. But did he have enough time? He would either get what he needed and leave before it became hell on earth, or he wouldn't and he would be killed in the descent as the Five Great Shinobi Nations became the Four Great Shinobi Nations.

As he neared the village gates his imagination got the best of him and he could see it. He actually saw ninja from elsewhere passing through the main gate with a gleeful bloodlust at the chance of a good pillage. They came in with their swords and kunai already poised to kill and they cut down the first thing they saw that could break or bleed. It was really bone-chilling stuff and it pained Sen in a different way than his last mission had. He clenched his jaw shut, his fists enclosed with malice.

What the hell am I supposed to do? If I leave now I won't make it out there on my own. There's no one here to grow with. This is just bullshit.

As he began to articulate his feelings to himself he could feel the anger begin to swell inside of him. He was starting to feel like he needed to kill, he needed to destroy. In a twisted state of anger he pondered destroying what he could of the village himself. Iwagakure had made him suffer more than some selfish ass ninja from the ass-crack of the other side of the planet. If anyone got to to destroy this rockhole it should be him.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Approaching the side of the gates Sen could see the shipment of blank scrolls plain as day. It was big a shipment but the scrolls didn't weigh much and they were all tucked neatly into four large beige duffel bags. Before even touching them he scanned the area. It was unlikely anyone had set up a trap or an ambush but he was outside the village territory, it would belittle his shinobi training to simply drop his guard. He didn't take long to scan and with the Chuunin guards watching from their tower it was unlikely anything had been tampered with.

He loaded up the shipment slinging two bags over his back, one over his chest and one in his right hand. Now that he had the scrolls it was paramount to get them back to the shop owner as fast as possible and in one piece. He was responsible for every last one of them. Broke and understaffed of not, Iwagakure would label him a criminal as it were nothing if even one of these scrolls went missing. The moment the gate closed behind him he darted back to the heart of the village.

D-rank missions were apparently good for shinobi in recovery from their last mission. He could have done this mission ten times over in the time he spent lying in a hospital bed. The weigh of the scrolls gave him more momentum but they weren't so heavy that they weighed him down. It was awkward to have to carry around the weight in four large bags but he liked the idea of being able to drop them at any moment get his real speed back. That was the basic design behind the leg weights the main shop sold for Taijutsu users. He'd always wanted a pair and could finally afford them but it was just a matter of planning and patience. Acquiring his world map was just too important, it had to take priority. He probably would have bought the weights anyway to help with his training and bought the map later after making enough doing missions but the problem with that was he was that he he would be leaving for Konoha or Kiri within in the next couple of days it didn't make sense to go and not be able to record the location. Especially since he would be going on official Iwa business, nothing underhanded or sneaky. He would be going to set up a meeting place in which the Hokage/Mizukage and Tsuchikage could discuss the possibility of an alliance.

Still, having the weights on him now would have saved him time on this mission. But it didn't much matter, because he was already there. The old owner, whose name Sen didn't bother to learn was waiting outside for his goods. He was glad a reliable ninja had been assigned the mission. The genin carried the four bags into the shop for the owner and even stayed and helped count them all to ensure he had all four hundred of his blank scrolls. With a nod of approval Sen took off towards the Tsuchikage's office to report and take his next assignment. He would bust ass and push himself as hard as he could over the next few days. He wanted to get as much done as he possibly could, before he left for Konohagakure on his first B-ranked mission.

[END]

[Iizuka]

+23 EXP

[¤ SFS ¤]

----Deliver the Blank Scrolls

Client's Name: Shodaime Tsuchikage Kaguya Kira
Client's Occupation: Shinobi
Mission Rank: D
Payment for completion: 500 Ryo + 25 EXP
Mission Subject: A batch of blank scrolls has arrived by shipment to the outer edge of Iwagakure, just outside the gates. The shop owner is sick and cannot receive the shipment, therefore, you must go and pick it up for them and bring it to the shop.
Special Requests: This is to be done solo, there is no need for teams for this mission, just to bring back a bunch of scrolls. If you decide to take even one of the scrolls, you will be declared a criminal and tried as such. I cannot tolerate stealing in my village.
Notes: None

His back hurt. His feet hurt. His legs hurt. The mission to dash through the village from one end to another had been successful and he’d finished within his time limit. Two hours, twenty minutes and fifty-six seconds. He went through some proper stretches and movements to keep his muscles from locking up later and made his way back towards the gate. A slightly larger order of blank scrolls was waiting for him. He hoisted them all up like before, three on his back and one in each hand, jogging briskly back to the scroll shop, giving his muscles a proper warm down. He wasn’t sure if the old owner was still sick, but he didn’t much care either. That wasn’t to say he didn’t care about the old man’s health it was only to say he would deliver the scrolls regardless of the man’s condition. It was his mission to get them there, so he would in fact get them there.

Every time his feet hit the ground one of his muscles would begin to ache the stress from the heavy bags was making them stretch and in their raw state it was slowly becoming more and more painful. The worst possible thing to happen to him tomorrow would be to roll of out bed with every muscle in his body refusing to work without giving him unbearable pain. That’s what happened you forced yourself too far past your limits. Work too hard to tell your body to outgrow its limitations and it would lock up on you and tell you that you weren’t a god and growth had to be obtained gradually. There was a slight chance he would be okay. He wasn’t at all out of shape and his body was nothing was nothing if not resilient. To occupy his mind he reflected on his upcoming mission to Suna which would be by far the most important thing he’d ever done in his life.

The Hidden Village of the Wind Country most likely wouldn’t have any useful fire or earth jutsu so compared to Konoha that was a loss for him. But what they did have was that rumored smithy in that rumored oasis in that real and hard to navigate massive desert. For a young wannabe craftsman like himself, that was sure as hell better than nothing. The Tsuchikage wanted him gone and back as fast he could muster. Of course that meant that the Suna alliance mission took priority one but he needed to prepare thoroughly before leaving the village and making a trip straight for the home of hundreds of foreign shinobi.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Catching his second wind the genin continued his brisk pace jogging through the village in an attempt to cool down his muscles and calm his beating heart. His mind was far from the blank scrolls he was tasked with transporting. Missions, in general and in total are what had his attention. Two C-ranked missions, three D ranked, one B ranked, that made six in total, making this one lucky number seven and C-ranked mission number three. That is, if he didn’t accept any other missions to do before leaving. He could always use a little more Ryo and know-how before seeking out another Hidden Village. To him the signs to Iwagakure were as clear as day but he recognized that that was probably only because he saw them all the time and he never ventured too far from the village. Finding the entrance to a Hidden Village he’d never been to and also wasn’t a part of would be troublesome no doubt. If he was smart, which he more or less was, he would bolster his strength while he had the chance. Restock his secondary equipment, purchase a set of B-class weights, get his katana fixed at the oasis smithy, learn a new jutsu or two, these were all things he wanted to look into doing before he attempted to enter Sunagakure.

He would need more Ryo than he had time to gather and earn if he wanted to get all of these things done so most likely he would have to continue to wait on the weights. At ten thousand Ryo per weight, twenty thousand per set he wouldn’t be able to get a hold of them until after he’d learned a few things and then created a few things as a Takumi. There was no telling what he would be able to make once he began working on things. He surmised he would find out to some extent once he made it through that desert and found that oasis. There wasn’t little chance the life of craftsman would weigh out his ninja responsibilities and cause to retire but becoming his main form of incoming he would need to spend a feasible amount of time perfecting his craft.

As his muscles became harder to ignore he was forced to slow down from a brisk job to a paced walk. Not trusting his body anymore he put the bag down and began to stretch thoroughly. The scroll shop wasn’t very far from here, one last sprint would get him there in no time but after that he would need a long cold shower. If he did wake up tomorrow with locked up limbs, he would need to push the Suna mission back a couple days.

[¤ SFS ¤]

After his stretches Sen scooped the bags up once more, three over his back by their straps and one in each by their handles. He wasn’t sweating as much as he had been before, the slightly breeze felt good against his bare skin. It was a minor relief against all the other feelings clashing in him. His muscles were sore, the bags where chaffing his skin, he was dead dog tired from his first mission, he was hungry and he was he had a bit of a headache. All of that it wasn’t even noon. He was getting used to doing multiple missions a day but he still needed to eat which was something he seemed to keep forgetting.

The Ryo from all his missions were stacking up and he would be sure to treat himself to a big meal once he finished this mission up. There was that greedy taskmaster in his head demanding he finish the day with one more mission after lunch and a possible nap. He would have been well within his rights to kick that taskmaster in the balls and rest up for a big mission to Sunagakure but the facts were facts; he needed Ryo and to keep working to build his Chakra reserves and each mission big or small, low or high ranked did those two things. The pride he would feel saying he did three missions in one day also added to the likelihood that he would go back to the Tsuchikge’s office and get yet another mission ticket. But he would play it by ear, see how this mission ended. It was too soon to make any promises though, even half-assed ones to himself.

With a deep breath he rotated his wrists and shoulders for only a moment, the bags shuffling along with the motion. With the old man’s shop only a five minute sprint away he took off with the rising sun beating against his back. His body seemed heavier and he was sure it wasn’t because of the five hundred scrolls he was carrying. If he did take one more mission this evening it would have to be one that wasn’t very physically demanding.

[¤ SFS ¤]

Making his way past the Tsuchikage’s office and the hospital he came upon the old man’s scroll shop and said old man was once again waiting for him out front. He seemed to be in better in health that what he’d been a couple days prior. He did keep coughing into a rag something awful but the genin didn’t pay it any mind. The only thing the shop owner cared about was his business and he could respect that. He carefully placed one of the bag on the ground which the owner grabs and in a hurry seemingly anxious to prove that he wasn’t completely weak useless. The elderly were so defensive about being able to do for themselves, even when they couldn’t do themselves.

He offered water to which the he declined, there would be no rewards like food and drinks until he officially off-assignment, which was only a few moment away anyway. As before Sen stayed with the owner to ensure his own competence as they counted the scrolls one by one, bag by bag until they were all tucked away in their respective bins. He was escorted to the door and then bowed to, which he returned. It seemed like the owner was slowly making a comeback to good health but he assured Sen that with all the Ryo he was making by constantly having his shelves stocked with scrolls he wouldn’t be returning back to etching his own shipments anytime soon.

[END]

[Icarus]

+36