Mine: your business (M)

[Kinz]

name; clearing mines
rank; c
description; During the war Kumogakure no Sato planted mines around various areas amongst the village so the enemies would be welcomed with a satisfactory treat. With those desolated times over it’s time we clear those mines before they backfire upon us. There are several areas with mines laying dormant waiting to be triggered. Remove them without triggering them, be cautious!
reward; 40 experience, 500 ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable

Asa couldn’t help but sigh and have a smile cross his face. The world was a troubled place, and he just lived there. The wind whipped through his hair as he leaped through the village, feet landing and departing from the slanted roof tops of the village in mere blinks of an eye. His pace was quick, but his mind wondered. ”Was the girl alright?”, he wondered allowed. They said she would be, but he wasn’t sure if he could take the blow to the head she had been delivered and still keep going. For the first time in a long time, the smile was gone from his face and wasn’t being quickly replaced upon realization.

The land which Kumo was built on was a dangerous country. Places like Leaf had forests hiding them, Sand merely was in a desert, and anyone could walk on the water of the Mist village, but Kumo was built in the sky. One false step and it was all over. Even if you never make that false step, the mountain could simply look unfavorably in your direction and you’d be crushed. It was a tumultuous life the ninja and people of this village led.

The thoughts on his village had to end as he reached the edge of the mine zone he had been warned about. Landing on the last roof just outside the zone Asa’s eyes were met with a horrifying site. Gazing out over the zone he was met with the view of a small residential district. Little wooden shops, some moderate houses with oaken shutters, and paper lamps hanging from the porch overhangs. Fences obviously used to pen pets at one time. A school yard with swing sets whose seats rocked in the on coming breeze as if the ghost of a fallen boy had found his way home. The district was evacuated of course, but that did nothing to halt the feeling of unease he felt.

The map told him where the zone was so he didn’t need to rely on the district markers like he thought he would. Chills ran down his spine as he visually scanned the road whenever he saw the flutter of drapes in windows. The emptiness was getting to him. More often then not, this would be when he let his eyes flash crimson, but careful consideration made him hold back. The Sharingan was for analyzing, not searching. If he had been a hyuuga maybe, but the eye of the Uchiha had a different purpose, one that was not evident in this mission.

Slowly lowering himself, he crept across the surface of the wall that supported the roof he had been on. The wood was splintered and pitted from lack of care during the recent troubles. There were no painters or carpenters to fix rotted planks, or to cover up chipping. As he came closer to the ground he began scanning over the earthen surface. Whoever had laid these explosives had done an excellent job of it. The triggers were all but invisible to him. It was at times like this he wished he knew how to make clones.

[Kinz]

Realizing he was burning daylight, Asa decided he had better get to it. Lowering his right leg off the wall he had attached himself to, Asa set his foot on the dirt path that had been worn in after years of villagers trampling over the earth. His heart skipped a beat, waiting for the ominous clicking sound that would signal the triggering of a mine. A flood of relief washed over him. He only then realized just how much sweat was slicking his shirt. Flourishing his robes a moment to allow air flow, he rejoiced in the coolness.

Not wishing to take another step away from the safety of the building he had just vacated, Asa began thinking of a way to find these well hidden traps. His eyes continued hovering over the desolate landscape, hoping to find something he could use. The trick to it was that he couldn’t set off the traps. Coming to a conclusion, Asa would flash some handseals and begin melding into the earth.

The cold ground seemed to rise as he flowed under its surface. The dirt covering his form, as his muscles pulled him through the soil. Closing his eyes, he used the other sense one gained while working with the Earth release. His chakra flowed out feeling for pressure in the ground. Little indentations that weren’t earth, but something man made instead.

SPOILER: Click to show

Underground suicide decap.

[Kinz]

The chakra flowed through the earth feeling out for foreign materials, and upon reaching the surface it came in contact with a metallic sensation. The smooth man made texture was a dead give away. Forcing his body through the soil he would come up under the nearest mine.

Keeping his arm submerged underneath the mine to give him a relatively good idea of where it was, Asa used his free hand to brush some of the dirt covering the trigger away. Gently he swept loose earth away until he revealed the base of the trigger for the mine. Taking the concealment dirt and pushing it underneath the trigger, he would use it as a prop to prevent the pressure activated plunger from moving. The compact soil would act as a cushion giving Asa extra leeway. Then He would pull his submerged arm up underneath the mine, allowing it to gently glide through the remaining soil. No earth shattering kaboom. No blood.

A cool breeze blew signaling the oncoming night once more. As the wind crossed his brow, sweat would be driven in droves down his face. His free hand cleared the moisture from the plane of his face, and dropped to his side. This was the most nerve wracking, non-combat mission he’d ever been involved in.

He spent about an hour harvesting more mines in a similar fashion. At the end of the time he brought his dangerous friend and sheltered inside a nearby house. The time had come to get them together for travel. The most difficult part was about to begin.

[Kinz]

The dust on the hard wooden floor was sent flying with every silent foot step. Asashio walked across the floor of this long abandoned home and placed the still deadly mines on a forgotten table. Some of the hard packed dirt he had used to protect the plungers from detonating scattered over the table, but it was still mostly safe. For the time being. The wind outside began to howl with rage as a storm began to kick up. The thing about cloud village that many would attest to was the furry of its storms, and their longevity. Asa needed to get back to the village sooner rather then later.

Rain began to pelt the house, finding tiny gaps in the unmaintained building. To travel in this storm usually would require great concentration, and Asa was fairly sure he could manage it, but not with the amount of explosives he was currently carrying. That would most certainly be a death sentence. He needed to figure out how to disarm them in a more permanent way. If he could he would simply tag them and then bury them deep in the earth to destroy them, but that was outside his mission parameters. His was not to make rules.

Taking one of the mines and bringing it over to a still dry end table, he pulled up his stool and then set to getting some more light together. There were other furnishings in other rooms. The people wouldn't miss them if they were able to safely return home when he was done. Breaking a few wooden pieces and using some basic academy knowledge, Asa set a small shaved piece of hardwood, against a notched piece of soft wood and began spinning them against each other in his hands. Soon, a spark ignited. The flame was nurtured into life and Asa set it in the fire place and fed it more wood to make it a lasting fire. The light was now enough with his sharingan active. He needed to focus on the mine now.

Using a kunai Asa set to removing one of the cover plates on the underside of the mine, being ever so careful not to let the plunger slip. The screws fell away and the metal was set aside. Now he was confronted with wires upon wires. What was a ninja to do with such a predicament? He wasn't a technology expert. He merely hit things till they died. Why was he allowed on this mission?

Tapping his foot and biting his lip in frustration, Asa began studying the device.

[Kinz]

The sweat beaded and fell from his head as he worked at analyzing the mine. It appeared as if it was a simple grouping of explosives, wired to the plungers pressure sensetive trigger. The trigger was connected to a circuit. If the trigger was activated, or one of the wires in the circuit were broken, the current would hit the explosives causing them to detonate. The only way to deactivate it was to cut the appropriate area of the circuit. But Asa had no idea. The circuit was comprised of red, green, and blue wires. Which was the one he needed to cut?

How was he to know? He wasn't part of a bomb disposal unit before the catastrophe. Panicked minutes ticked by as he lingered on the trouble. Finally, Asa decided to use his birthright. The Sharingan. Using it's analytic abilities he would simply coordinate his knife to cut all the wires at once. Fixing his sweat slicked grip on the kunai, Asa gulped and went forward. His heart skipped a beat as he realized he was still alive. The wires cut, and no boom. No way for the trigger to work. Smiling, Asa set the mine down and let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Reattaching the faceplate, Asa set to work doing the same thing to the other mines. One by one he did the procedure. It never got any less nerve wracking. Finally as he closed the last one up he felt like he had run one hundred miles. His breath was short and he felt exhausted. Going back to the other room once more, Asa laid in the least dirty bed, and though he still had the nagging feeling there were probably bed bugs in it he was embraced with somber sleep.

The dreams he had were all about explosion. The kind that left a man maimed and inferior. The kind caused by mines. More specifically, the kind caused when someone who doesn't know what they're doing tried to deactivate one.

[Kinz]

Asa awoke with the need to itch. Apparently he had been right about the bugs. The storm raged outside, and the fire he had made was getting close to embers. Feeding it enough for his needs Asa striped and went outside in the rain. The pests needed to be washed away, and a good storm was better then any shower. Clean and refreshed Asa used the fire to get warm again and re dawned his clothing. Taking a sheet from the other room, Asa began piling the mines he had deactivated in it. It was a quick process, but no matter how many times he told himself they weren't active he couldn't put his mind at ease.

Tying the bundle, Asa slung it onto his back and headed into the storm. The driving rain pelted his eyes and pinned his robes against his body. The lightning flashed and thunder crashed above as if gods waged war in the heavens. Every once in a while Asa would submerge into the earth to give himself a rest from the antagonistic wind. His body was worn. Eventually he saw the cloud tower in view. Dipping wet he would enter to complete his chore.

[exit]

[DAVID BOWE]

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