liar, liar. (mission)

[eile noki.]

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Name: So you wanna be a ninja?
Rank: D
Repeatable: Yes
Description: The Chuunin teachers at the academy are nearing the final stretch. The young trainees are soon to be shinobi. Come to the academy and share your stories on being a shinobi and see if the young ones are cut out for their future destiny.
Obective: Speak about the world of the shinobi in the academy.
Reward: 100 EXP and 500 Ryo

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children, eile sighed as she walked along the familiar path she used to take to the academy. it was precisely twenty nine minutes past seven in the morning, she knew because she had calculated. ever punctual and uniform she took moderate steps, but with each one she felt a kind of daunting feeling weigh down on her. she didn't like the academy. she didn't like children. but this is a mission, she would think, over and over again. a mission that would, in the long run, benefit her. she needed to complete this. she was already nearly sixteen and still a genin; needless to say, it was getting a little ridiculous. much too ridiculous. the laughter of children interrupted her thoughts. early attendees, weren't they? she frowned at them as she got closer, then let her expression soften. children like nice people, she told herself, nee-sans who they can look up to.

"good morning," she chimed, cheerily enough with a friendly, warm smile as a couple of the students watched her approach the entrance of the academy. they gave her different looks, each of them. one had a snotty nose, another tried to stare her down, and a couple of the girls gave her bashful sort of shy smiles. not a bad start, right? the mission description required her to share her stories of being a shinobi today. truth be told, she didn't have many. but hell, that wasn't going to stop her. this was the first mission on the list of d-ranks she qualified for, and damn if she wasn't going to be OCD about doing them in order. she'd just have to wing it, and hope no one picked her up on it later. the mission said stories, right? that didn't necessarily mean they had to all be true? she shrugged, making her way through the academy to find the chuunin she was to report to.

"nai lee-san?" she tapped on the door frame of classroom E-F. the door was open - missing, in fact - and inside she could see a tall, brawny sort of fellow sitting at his desk, reading through some papers. assignments, she would wager. he looked over to her, gave her a nod, a rough kind of "come in" and went back to reading. lovely start, right? she held her tongue and stepped through the entrance, taking in her surroundings. it was a general kind of classroom, quite like the one she was in, years ago. only.. this classroom was a little brighter. there was, oddly enough, drawings on the back wall; no doubt done by the students. there were also charts, posters and general shinobi 101's littering the surrounding walls. it seemed odd to her. maybe his teaching methods were a little different? she eyed him over as she came to a stand in front of his desk. he didn't seem like the teacher type at all. more so, he looked like he belonged at the front lines of a battle field. she stood there thinking of that, hands clasped gently in front of her, as she waited for him to pay attention to her.

[eile noki.]

"another one," he muttered, flicking through pages. eile made a kind of hmm? sound, leaning forward. he looked up, his expression tired. "you genin always get sent over here, sometime or another, to spew stories at the kids and get them hyped up," despite his words, there was a gentle kind of smile hinting at the corner of his mouth. eile had read him well enough already. he was the tough act on the outside, teddy bear inside kind of man. easy enough to handle, eile decided. "you're early, too," he frowned. "kids are never early."

i'm not a kid, she would have growled. but that wasn't appropriate, polite behaviour, was it?

"this is a mission; i like to be punctual," she commented, offhandedly. she was looking outside through the window, where more and more students were starting to filter in and play a little before class started.

"hn," nai lee grunted. "what was your name?"

"ah, forgive me. i'm eile noki," she bowed her head. formal but to a point. it seemed to unnerve him. but playing games could wait for later. "shall i start when class starts, or do you have a routine to follow? i won't take up too much time. i was hoping to have a quick talk, then maybe talk to them individually throughout morning tea. your class isn't that large, from the roster i picked up." she had done her quick, efficient little preparations the day before, after picking up and reviewing the mission. if she was going to do this, she was going to do it properly.

"that.. would still take some time," nai lee commented. "most of you just come in for about half an hour."

"the mission asks me to share my stories and evaluate if they're suited towards their future career," eile said smoothly.

"you're thorough."

"very thorough, sir," she smiled. would her patience last for that, though? eile wasn't quite sure yet.

"right-e-o then. i have papers to grade, so just take control once they get their asses in here i guess," nai lee waved her off. and like that, his attention switched off of her completely and back onto his work. eile blinked, surprised. she had no complaints, however, and simply walked over to the window to stand by and watch as she waited for the day to begin.

[eile noki.]

slowly, the children started to filter their way into class. unenthusiastic, chattering, a couple yawning. eile moved into the corner near the window. she looked at each of them, picked out the good from the bad, made her assumptions. no of them really stood out to her. there were a couple of boys who looked like they would have good form in a fight, a few girls that might have that determination to them. but there were also the quiet, timid ones who looked like a fly could send them running. she narrowed her eyes, judging each one as she waited for them to take their seats. a couple of them were aware enough to notice her presence in the little corner of the room. they looked her over up and down, but it wasn't so much a "who's this bitch" kind of look but an assessing, take note of your surroundings kind of look. that was good. that showed promise. eile took note of the two who had done that, a boy and a girl. she would probably focus her attention on them at morning tea.

"alright kids," nai lee spoke up from his desk, glancing over the class. "take your seats, hurry up, you all know the drill. oi! sheera, you know you're not allowed to sit next to mitsuri, you chatterboxes. go sit next to ranton." eile hid an amused smile. he had a way with them, didn't he? she noted that the girl, and the rest of the class, were quick to follow his orders. but it didn't seem that they did it out of fear, more so respect. that was good. she folded her arms under her chest, leaning against the wall. she waited for nai lee to call out the roster and tick off the names of who were present. when he was finished, he looked over to where she was.

"we've got a treat today kids," he told them, already going back to grading papers. "this girl here is gonna talk to you a bit about being a shinobi. sit up and pay attention or she'll bit yer heads off, i'm sure." he gave a joking sort of wink and gestured his hand at her, waving eile over in a way that told her to take over. she sighed, stepping out from the corner and walking over to the center of the room. she felt small. she wasn't much taller than some of the kids here, but she had the sense of confidence about her to command their attention. she smoothed her hands over the black, high necked, long sleeve dress she was wearing and cleared her throat.

[eile noki.]

"good morning," she chimed, much like before. the kids seemed to narrow their eyes. "i'm eile noki, graduate of this very academy, and a ninja of konoha. a genin, to be precise." she looked around her audience. "today i've been sent here to, as nai lee-san said, tell you all a bit about what it's like to be a shinobi."

she folded her hands behind her back, walking around the classroom as she spoke. she wasn't entirely sure if she was on track. the mission hadn't stated any criteria as to how she was supposed to talk to them, but she supposed it was to be something like a speech, right? she clicked her tongue when she saw a couple of girls leaning in to whisper and chatter. they heard it, looked up at her, startled and shy. she was going to have her work cut out for her this morning. like hell she was going to put up with them talking when she was. she narrowed her eyes at the girls, then moved on with a cheery smile, reminding herself that they would respond better to a calm person.

"i've been a genin for a couple of years now," she went on. it might seem like a while, but eile had been late entering the academy. besides, they didn't know her actual age, right? she could look thirteen to them for all they knew. she didn't necessarily want them to know she was sixteen and still a genin. it wouldn't really help her get any respect, she figured. "i haven't done as many missions as some, but i've done quite a few." and by quite a few i mean none. she couldn't help it if she had to look after her sick mother, right? "it's a tough job, is all i can say. you have to be very dedicated. when you become a ninja you eat, live, love and play as a ninja. the world gets a lot more real..." she paused, mostly for effect, but to also judge how they were reacting to what she was saying. a few kids seemed a little put out of place, some were entertained. she decided to tone it down, either way. no reason to scare them, right?

"but it's also very exciting! you get to go on missions with your teams, to far off places, doing all sorts of things. you make comrades with a lot of wonderful people, and you form strong bonds." she was grasping a little at straws now for positives, but she was doing well enough with keeping herself at a steady pace, flowing through a speech she had prepared but was mostly winging. things sounded better, more real when it was on the spot, she thought. "as a ninja you're always actively working to protect and better your village, and to me, that's a wonderful feeling," she lied flawlessly. she didn't care much about her village at all but it was always nice to show a little patriotism. "it's a lot of responsibility but i think it's worth it, and you will too."

[eile noki.]

she went on a little more like that for ten minutes, engaging the children and occasionally asking questions. behind her, nai lee had stopped his work to pay attention as well. he put in his own input here and there, admiring her effort. she took it as a good sign and continued until she felt it was time to hand the class back over to him. she did so with relief, feeling the harder part of the task was over. next would just be picking out kids to have one on ones with and tell her stories. lying was easy enough for her. in fact, she thrived in that area of expertise.

"well then, i'll be seeing you lot at morning tea," she told them as she stepped away. "be good for your sensei!"

the students gave her bright smiles and she left the room feeling somewhat accomplished. the teachers staff room was her next area to target. walking down the hall, she found it with ease, remembering it from the times she had sneaked in to get some coffee. she had around an hour and a half before morning tea, where the kids would have a snack and a bit of a play outside. that was more than enough time to write up her report so far. the mission hadn't exactly asked for a written report, but eile was obsessively thorough enough to write one. so, finding some paper and a pen from the stash in one of the staff room's cupboard, eile found herself a seat at a table in the center of the room and laid out the items in front of her.

she folded her arms on the table as she stared down the piece of paper. reaching out she picked up the pen to title and date the paper. but what the fuck else was she supposed to write? she sighed, ran a hand through her hair. she had it down in two lazy plaits, dangling over each of her shoulders. she hadn't dyed the salmon strands, since it wasn't an outside mission. maybe she would have had a more serious air about her if she had dyed it brown, though? a lot of them seemed fanciful about her, in the way that they thought she was nice, innocent, friendly. she was obviously far from it, though. she sighed, wondering how the one-on-ones would go.

eventually, eile found her way with the report writing. she detailed how the first part had gone, and made notes of the few students she had singled out as having potential. she also made a note to mention the positive effects nai lee's teaching seemed to have. unnecessary? perhaps. but she felt it was worth a mention. this was an evaluation, right? still, she was just a genin. maybe she was getting to ahead of herself. stop second doubting yourself, she told herself, exasperated. snapping out of it, she stopped writing once she hit half way on her second page. that would do for now. she would finish the rest after morning tea. while she waited for that, she got up to make herself a coffee. she had a habit of making herself at home.

[eile noki.]

the sound of kids chattering grew louder and louder, echoing down the hall way. they had been let out for morning tea, it seemed. she sighed and stood up, walking over to the sink to rinse and wash her cup out. the coffee in this place was terrible as ever. eile didn't want to be revisiting anytime soon. after she finished, she found her way outside and into the courtyard area. it was littered with kids, some from the class eile had been assigned to, some not. there were various ages, various faces, but she picked out her targets easily enough. only four in total, because she decided that it wasn't necessary to speak to all seventeen of the kids she had addressed this morning. just the ones she had noticed, specially. easy enough, right? she walked down the steps, working on blending into the crowd. it was a bit difficult with her hair, but she was short enough that most of the kids weren't bothered by her. she had a few kids shout "hey, are you new?" at her but she waved them off.

her first target, a boy who looked a lot smaller than the other kids, was quietly reading under a tree. the quiet ones always had something about them, eile believed. either they were going to end up being a prodigy or a psychopath. that was her experience, at least. she grinned as she came to a stand in front of him, crouching down so that she was eye level. he gave her a lazy yet curious kind of look. he probably wasn't used to attention she noticed he was reading an novel about herbs, from the title down the spine. he immediately snapped the book shut and slipped it back inside his bag next to him. ah, so he's shy, too? she mused, tilting her head to the side.

[eile noki.]

"you like that sort of stuff, do you?" she asked, positioning herself so she was sitting in front of him, working at having a relaxed kind of air about her. the boy nodded his head, looking at the ground. "let me guess, you want to be a medic nin?" another nod. good, she thought. the world needed more male medics. "that's lovely," she said, surprisingly genuine. "what's your name?"

he was silent for a moment longer than necessary but he eventually answered with, "enko."

"hmm, well enko-kun, have i got a story to tell you!" and so the lies began. "this one time, back when i had first graduated and gotten my headband, i was sent on a mission with a team. i don't have a proper team yet, you see, so i act as a kind of.. replacement, here and there sometimes. well, this mission was one of my very first, and to be honest, i was really worried. the others were a lot more experienced than i was, and the leader? oof! she was a tough one," she smiled, pretending to be reminiscing but really she was wondering what the fuck to say next. "you see, this mission was an tricky one. we were escorting a group of merchants to a town off the borders of fire country, near suna. turned out they were carrying some pretty valuable merchandise, and someone found out about it. and you know what happened then, don't you? a d-rank mission turned into a b-rank, of course! boy was i scared, but i did my best, like anyone can. my teammates were amazing. but you know who really stood out?"

"who, who?" the boy was showing a lot more enthusiasm now, drawn into her little story.

"our leader," eile smiled. "she was a medic nin, and a damn good one at that. not only did she keep everyone safe and well, but she also used her knowledge to almost single-handedly fend off all of the attackers - and let me tell you, there was a lot!" she took a pause, amused by how easily the boy was believing it all. although she wasn't that hard to believe. eile was a good liar, after all, and she was careful not to make it too embellished. "she was so strong and confident," she continued, almost whimsical. "i really admired her. being a medic nin, while i'm sure it's a lot of hard work and tough to go through, is such an admirable profession. i think you should definitely go for it. you won't regret it!"

until there's blood staining your hands that you can't scrub off because you couldn't save that one person.

she smiled and stood up. her work was done with this one, and it had only taken ten minutes. she could see the story replaying in the boys eyes, he seemed excited, motivated. brushing off her hands, eile waved him goodbye, but he didn't seem to notice as he busily went back to his book. she sighed and went in search of her next target.

[eile noki.]

inspiring children through lies probably wasn't going to earn her much karma, eile thought dully as she strolled through the grounds, eyes set on a tall, awkward looking girl playing kick ball with a few friends. but the result she got from lying was a lot better than not lying at all, right? she grinned. as she had hoped for, the ball the children were playing with was accidentally kicked in her path. she stopped the ball easily with her foot, and kicked it up to balance it on top of it. she hovered there, watching the players who were now waiting for her reaction. she singled out her target and effortlessly kicked the ball back to her without too much aggression so the girl could catch it in her hands. eile crossed her arms and waited. the girl conferred with her friends, two girls and three boys, and then shouted out,

"would you like to play?"

no, eile thought to herself, this is a boring, useless waste of my time and i would rather be far away on a mission with blood spill. she couldn't exactly shout that out in answer, though, she she nodded her head and joined in the game for a while. after five minutes, they got bored. eile was an actual ninja, they said, she had unfair advantages. little did they know, she had been going easy on them, playing lazily without so much as a serious thought to it. people didn't like losing, especially kids. she sighed, and shrugged her shoulders in an apology of sorts. they frowned at her and went off to play something else. eile's target, reika she had learned her name during the short game, had stayed behind, her large, boring brown eyes were boring into her. reika was an odd looking girl, very awkward. she would grow into herself though, in time. eile gave her a soft look.

"i saw you talking to enko," reika said, puffing. she was still out of breath, but she was in better condition than the others had been. her reflexes were top notch and she had good instinct. eile had been making these notes for the last six minutes and even now. she was surprised by the girls observation, but nodded her head. "are you going to talk to all of us now? you said you had been sent here to tell us stories.. but you didn't really tell many."

"well," eile cleared her throat, "i won't be talking to all of you. just a couple of you who i picked out." reika wiped her nose, looking at her wide-eyed. she seemed confused, but flattered that she had been singled out. "you move well," eile told her, "what do you hope to specialise in, when you graduate?"

"taijutsu," reika answered instantly. "i-i ain't really too skilled with jutsu so.. so taijutsu." her grammar could use some work, eile nit-picked, but she decided she rather liked her.

"taijutsu, hmm? i haven't met many kunoichi who specialise in that area," she told her, truthfully enough. "it would be a nice change." what story could she tell this girl, though? reika didn't seem like the type who would enjoy a long tale, like enko had. she was very plain, very to the point. eile had already judged that of her character in the ten minutes she had met her. maybe she didn't need to tell her a story? eile could already see she would be cut out for her future, at least enough to graduate. so, she decided that their interaction before would be enough.

"i think you'll do well," was all eile said, with a nod, as she walked off; leaving reika blushing red.

[eile noki.]

two down, two to go. easy enough, she told herself, over and over again. her patience was wearing thin but damn if she wasn't going to see this through and do it properly. eile found the other girl she had picked out from the classroom within minutes. she had twenty left, at the very most, to deal with the last two kids before they had to get back to class. she needed to make this quick enough without rushing it along. she had more missions to get stuck into, anyway. it'll be over soon, she told herself. either way it was a fairly easy way to make five hundred ryo, so why was she complaining? a mission was a mission, even if she had to deal with kids. she rubbed her forehead, just in the center of her brow to relieve the headache that was starting to burn to life.

she found target number three down the side of the academy, away from prying eyes. she was looming over a girl from the same class, hands on either side, trapping her in. there were a lot of insults spewed, all from the girl she was hoping to talk to. this was one of the cocky ones she had noticed earlier. eile had recognised a sort of spark in her, one that hinted towards either aggression or determination. it seemed that aggression had one over in this case. eile sighed. she was six meters away from them, leaning against the same wall, unnoticed. she watched the little exchange with boredom. the girl could use some work with her bullying. her insults were lacking. the only thing she seemed to hold over the girl she was standing over was her build. eile's target was big, especially for a kid. she was tall, stocky and intimidating. unpleasantly so, though.

[eile noki.]

"ahh, excuse me," eile finally called out. her target was caught off guard, and the victim pushed her way out and ran away back to a group not too far away. the big girl gave a kind of annoyed, frustrated look that had a tinge of embarrassment. eile rolled her eyes and closed the distance so that she was standing just in front of her. in comparison, eile wasn't much bigger than the girl even with the years she had on her, but that didn't matter too much for her target seemed to shrink in on herself. don't be too harsh, she's just a kid, eile reminded herself. so, rethinking her idea, eile folded her arms and leaned against the wall again.

"you're not much of a bully," she told her. "what are you playing at?"

"i-i.. well!" the poor thing wasn't too good at talking, was she? "i-i'm s-sick of being.. l-looked down on!" where the hell had that stutter come from? when eile had picked her out, the kid had been all cocky, grinning away and boastful. but now she seemed to have crumbled. ah, the barrier type, she thought, narrowing her eyes.

"what's your name?" she asked.

"bunko."

"bunko?" fuck kind of name is that? poor bitch. eile managed a friendly enough smile. "well, bunko, lemme tell you something about bullies."

"i- i d-don't-"

"just shut up and listen, alright? jeeze," eile's patience was wearing very thin now, but she managed to keep it just barely under control. "you're either good at bullying, or you don't bully at all. if you don't want to be looked down on, you damn well fix what needs fixing. lose weight, work on your speech, get better then you are. because trust me, you haven't got what it takes to be a bully." bunko looked like she was going to cry. "proper bullies thrive, and you're doing a piss poor job of that. ever heard of uchiha kouketsu?" bunko shook her head. good. "well, he was the biggest bully out." or something like that, eile didn't really care, but she knew he had torn up the shinobi world something fierce, so she may as well play on it, right? "he knew what he was doing; he tore shit up, wrecked villages, killed.. probably thousands. he knew how to bully. you clearly don't, so i suggest you stop trying."

bunko was biting back tears, but she was doing a good enough job of keeping in control of herself. she still had potential. eile sighed, giving her a wry kind of smile. the girl seemed to be taking the "advice" to heart, in a good way though. pleased with that, she reached out to pat her on the head, rather awkwardly. she wasn't too sure what to do now.

"so just give it up, okay? make friends. work on yourself," cause damn do you need it, "and for kami's sake go and fix yourself up." eile waved her off, harshly. bunko nodded, mumbled a kind of thank you, and ran along to the toilets. she felt like she had wasted her time, but she recalled that kind of spark that hinted towards more; determination. maybe that would be the drive bunko needed? shrugging, eile went on her way. yet again, she hadn't told one of her stories, but she had given her some kind of advice. either way, her assessment on the second last kid she had picked out was finished, and she only had on more to go. hopefully the last one would tick all the criteria.

[eile noki.]

here we go, eile, this is the last one, she coached herself as she found target four within minutes of her encounter with bunko. her last and final kid of the day was a boy. he had that dark, mysterious kind of look about him that probably had all the girls grovelling at his feet. but watching him from afar, she could see now that he was rather cheerful and quite friendly, though reserved, as he talked amongst his small group of friends. nearby, she spotted a few girls who were obviously having a fun time ogling him from afar. typical future sluts, eile thought coldly. she smoothed her hair over and walked her way right up the boy and promptly sat down next to him. that earned her a few gasps and yelps. the group was made up of her target, four more boys and a very small girl.

"hello!" she said a little too cheery that it came out forced. she winced. great start. the kids didn't seem to mind though, as they warmed up the idea of her sitting amongst them. now that she was paying attention to the rest of them, eile recognized them all from the class she had addressed only hours ago. perfect, they should be comfortable enough then. and this way she would get to assess the kid next to her, and tell the rest of them a story. "i trust you all remember me from before?"

"yeah, can't ferget yer hair aye," one of the boys spoke up. odd choice of words, but eile was more concerned about his lack of proper speech. what was it with kids these days? reika had trouble, too. unimpressed, eile turned her attention to the boy next to her, who had gone very quiet.

"what was your name again?" she asked him.

"why do you need to know?" he replied straightaway. the cheek on him! she would have scoffed. however, as she read more into it, she realised he didn't mean it in a cheeky way at all. he was simply questioning her motives. and that, she decided, was a very, very good start. shinobi needed to know when to question something.

"i was just being friendly," eile lied smoothly, smiling down at him. he seemed to warm to her then.

"i'm saito."

she nodded her head, then turned to answer a question of the girl's. before long, she was answering a lot of questions. she didn't seem to mind too much, though. they still had some time before their classes resumed, so she answered their questions, told them what they wanted to hear and lied her heart out. it was amusing how easily they ate it all up. her attention was mainly focused on saito, however. out of all the four she had singled out, he was the one student who was really shining. he had every quality a graduate would need and all the potential in the world to become a great genin. she wasn't sure how his physical prowess was, but she was sure he was up to standard. by the time the students had to get back to their classes, eile was satisfied. the kids waved goodbye to her as they went back inside, she waved back to be polite, left alone in the courtyard.

[eile noki.]

she was finished with the bulk of it, eile realised as she watched the last kid scamper inside. she had a report to finish but that was easily done. and then what? there was a whole, long list of missions on her to do list. she supposed she had better get going. something caught her eye, though. a familiar, old swing hanging from the tree, over by the corner of the courtyard. that used to be her swing, she smiled, walking over to it. every day when she had first been accepted into the academy she would sit on it for lunch and after school. she would fight for it, too, until everyone came to realise that they were better off staying away from it. funny, how attached she could get, while at the same time being so emotionally distant from living things. sighing, eile sat down on it, hands grasping the ropes, and slowly swung back and forth.

"having fun?" a gruff voice called out, a couple of meters away. she looked over to see nai lee strolling towards her. "you did a good job on that. i was watching. you even pulled that bloody bunko into line."

"oh?" eile breathed, continuing to swing.

"mm," he grunted. she liked him. he was very to the point, wasn't he? "i just wanted to say, you could do well with teaching, when you make it to chuunin."

eile almost laughed. how well did she perform in there? nearly everything she had spewed out lie. her behaviour was entirely forced as well. she didn't like children, she didn't like crowds. she hated having to skirt around things, censor herself. there was no way in hell that she would be wasting her time teaching when she finally reached chuunin status. to be honest, she was hoping for a stint in ANBU eventually, or at least the chance to get amongst some truly entertaining, fight-for-you-life kind of missions; undercover shit.

"i don't think so," she finally answered him. she had stopped swinging. "i see where you're coming from, but i think i need to get out there a little more. maybe when i'm older i'll think about it." she told him this only to not offend. she stood up from the swing and clasped her hands in front of her, bowing her head once more. "thank you for this morning, it was nice to meet you." and with that, she was off, leaving him behind as she made her way home to finish writing her report.



- completed.

[King]

+86