The Librarian.

[Yox]

SPOILER: Click to show

name; library duties
rank; d
description; There has been a new shipment of books and scroll to the Library. These books and scroll's have come from the far corners of the known world, offering villagers information to a new range things. But, it seems that there are far too many items for the old, library ladies to sort through and organise onto the shelves. Your mission is to help the lovely librarians in sorting the new material and putting them onto the shelves. This excerise is a great way to improve teamwork.
reward; 100 experience, 500 ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable, credit vegapunk

Another day in the clouds, more errands to be run. Today it would be time for me to get in touch with my inner bookworm. I was to head to the library and assist the elder librarians with the organisation of various books and scrolls. It sounded simple enough until I got a look of the library and how many we had to sort through. The satisfied look on the librarians' faces as they watched me stand there in fear was concerning. It seemed they had great pleasure in seeing me taken aback from what task I was set to do today. I rolled my eyes, sighed and moved forward to receive my briefing. They were lucky to have shinobi out there, like me, willing to do this job for them. We were one of a kind.

One of the hunchback little old ladies re-adjusted her spectacles on her nose before introducing herself with her whiney voice. "I am Hisako, head librarian of the Kumogakure Library. You are here today because you have shown your dedication to your village by helping us with this task. We thank you for coming here today to lend your services. Although the task might not seem dangerous, it is still very important nonetheless. I hope you take your time here seriously today and don't slack off, because I'll be here to throttle you if you do," she finished with her eyes squinted and a menacing smile across her face. It was a little spooky.

"First things first," she continued, "we have to sort everything into different sections. Ayame will handle the information on ninja arts, Hitomi can have history of the shinobi villages, Kasumi's got the bijū down, and of course you my young friend can have the easy one: kages. I'll be taking the common foods of each village. Now that we each now what section we're assigned to, it's time to get started! We don't have all day here people. The library is required to be up-to-date at all times. Let's do what we need to do and then get back to our tea break." She clapped her hands one final time, signalling everyone to move out. The shipments lay grouped ahead of us in the middle of the largest room. Each of us went to our designated container.

Mine didn't seem to be so big. That was a good thing. Maybe I'd be able to get this done quicker than I thought. After glancing down to the container and taking note of what books and scrolls I was required to move, I took some time to scout out the library to see where I actually had to put them. Each area of the library was broken down into separate villages. There was information here on practically everywhere in the shinobi world. So much knowledge on our allies and enemies from other countries. It started with information on the ninja arts at the bottom, history at eye level, bijū above my head, food and traditions above that, and of course at the very top: kages. They were joking right? How was I supposed to get up there?

I looked to the side to see various ladders that scaled up the front of the shelves. That would be my only option. These damned women had given me the most difficult task of all. The ladder itself looked barely stable enough to hold me up on it. The wood looked to be worn away on it. It pretty much looked as if it were about to crumble with a simple touch. Sighing and shaking my head, I moved back to the containers to grab information on the lesser villages first. These villages didn't actually have kages, rather head shinobi. As there was less information on them, I decided to get the easy ones out of the way first. And that was it. From then I scaled up each of the designated areas of the library to place the information at the very top of the shelves. I hoped that I didn't suddenly fall and break something. I was not in the mood to sustain an injury in somewhere like the library.

[Yox]

It somewhat seemed forever. An endless supply of books continued to flow through my hands into the shelves above. I wondered whether anyone would actually read any of these. These books were up so high as well. It was such a hassle to even get to them. Descending off the ladder after completing all of the information for the minor villages, I moved over to see some of the ladies seated on a small break. I sat down near them, breathing out an exhausting sigh and listened in on their conversation. The head librarian wasn't with them, so I wondered whether any of them would care that I too had taken a break. They looked at me intently as I sat down near them. I returned their looks with a confused stare. One of them broke the silence. "What's your story?"

I had no idea the context of the question she had just asked, or what her name was. The head librarian, Hisako, had said their names before but had not done it directly. I suppose they didn't know my name either. Now that they had shifted the spotlight on me, I supposed that it was my time to reveal who I was to them. "I'm not from here," I began awkwardly as silence lingered across the floor. "My name is Yūhi Kohaku, and I am originally from the village Konohagakure." It was strange talking about my past. Originally in the ROOT we were told to never do so. I felt different here though, in this environment. Everyone seemed much more warmer and embracing. Even when I had told them that I was not from this village, none of them seemed to judge me. Well, from what I saw anyway.

There was no response from the group of ladies. I decided to continue. "I left my village due to the fact that I was being manipulated by someone else. I was not free, bound to serve the bidding of my previous master. It had only taken me 5 years to realise it, though I was finally able to escape. Long story short I had made my way into Kaminari no Kuni by chance, and was found by the Raikage. The rest is history now," I finished with a sigh of relief. It had been the first time that I had really told my story to anyone. I did not know why I had just opened up to a bunch of complete strangers. Perhaps it was the fact that they were elderly women. I could tell that they had grown passed the phase of judging people, and were simply there to listen. They were easy to talk to, and I found their warm aura's enticing.

One of them clapped her hands together briefly after hearing me speak. "That's quite a story for someone so young!" She was right. Was it strange that I had already gone through so much? I was just a boy after all. I looked down at my right palm, rubbing my left thumb in it as my mind shifted back into the past. I remembered all my experiences in the ROOT organisation. They had all made me the person I was today. What would I be now if things were different? My thoughts were only brief. Soon we were interrupted. The head librarian made her way to the group of us. Tapping her foot impatiently, she folded her arms and glared at each of us. The other librarians giggled and moved off to their tasks. I too made my way back to the crates and grabbed information on the main shinobi nations. After completing these, this mission would be done and dusted.

[Yox]

At last I placed the final book in the remaining slot for Kirigakure. It was the last village that I was required to do. I wondered whether the information I had just placed in the shelves was actually viable. There were plenty of secrets out there not yet revealed to foreign ninja of the shinobi world. No doubt the Raikage would have a few tricks up his sleeve in preparation for an invasion from another village. What was the point in doing all of this then? Information here would change on the daily. Updates would come in that would either support or reject claims that already existed in these scrolls. I wondered whether I had just wasted my time.

Slipping down the ladder, I landed down the bottom where an old lady too was finishing off her shelving. She was reading something in the section of the history of Kirigakure. I assumed that this was the Hitomi woman as her name had been aligned with performing this task during the briefing. Her eyes were fixed intently on the page in front of her. She was definitely interested in what she was reading. It intrigued me to find out more. I was pretty much right next to her but the book in her hands had her complete attention. "What are you reading?" I said to her, eager to find out more.

Her head bopped up suddenly upon hearing my voice. She was definitely engaged to what she was reading. Her face turned to me and words escaped her mouth. "Marvellous artefacts these are," she said whilst opening the book up to me. "Legendary swords of Kirigakure. There is said to be seven of them in total, each with their own unique abilities. I've always been quite the relic hunter myself, so things like this really interest me. It is said that these seven swordsmen are very passionate about their blades and where they belong. When one has been taken from it's home, they will hunt down whoever possesses it in order to retrieve it."

It was interesting what she said. How one nation and group of people were bound together by mere weapons. I inspected the pictures that she showed me from her book. Each sword had it's own different page with little information written on each. Some swords were more known than others. Each of them were spoken of as if they were legends, not yet revealed to the outside world. Of course the ones that carried them, the swordsmen themselves, were too regarded as just myths. One page caught my eye though, more so than the rest. The blade that was described... I had seen and heard of it before. It was the Kabutowari.

It was a blade that had become quite attached to me right before I had left Konohagakure. Though currently hidden, it did make me wonder whether it was true that it was one of these seven blades. If so, were there people out there coming after me? I was concerned that potentially some of the best shinobi hunters in the world would be trying to track me down in order to retrieve this weapon. I tried not to let myself feel uneasy in front of the old lady. I had finished my job and now it was time for me to leave the library. I gave her a simple bow of my head, before moving out of the building. There were much larger concerns at hand currently. Was my life really in danger? Surely no one knew of my connection to the blade. I looked around in the village centre. Was I really safe here?

[Yahiko]

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