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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 22, 2013 22:47:07 GMT -5
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The hour was early. The sun was due to rise in approximately half an hour. Other than the near-lethargic gate guards, she seemed to be the only one up and moving, and for good reason, too. It was simply too early; the vast majority of the citizens of Iwagakure, civilian and shinobi alike, were still in the process of getting their eight hours of rest before properly starting the day. Not Masumi, however. A chronic insomniac didn't ever really get an adequate amount of rest; she could lay in her bed and stare at the ceiling for one hour or six hours and still come out of it with the same end result: irritation at the wasted time, and little else.
It was with that in mind that she had come to the decision to get an early start on her latest mission. The village whose problem she was getting paid to attend to wasn't all that far away, thus avoiding the necessity of starting early to arrive at her destination at a reasonable time. No, she had chosen to leave her house at this predawn hour so that, once she had completed this mission, she could request another, and thus double her profit for the day in a satisfiable way. Perhaps, she mused, she could afford to purchase some fresh fruits and vegetables afterward; without a substantial boost in income, she was incredibly reluctant to purchase any perishable grocery items because they simply weren't cost-effective. But a job done well enough should be rewarded, even if that meant dipping into her bank account and splurging once every year or so. Of recent, it had become even more important to her to have as vast a sum stored away as possible to allow her to get the proper tools for studying fuuinjutsu, an art she thought she'd rather like to learn.
She approached a guard, gave him the proper identification, and exited the village with haste. These wild dogs would provide no trouble, and soon enough she would be back, thousands of ryo richer.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 22, 2013 23:11:40 GMT -5
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The walk passed quickly despite her slow pace; there was no reason to run and potentially tire herself out enough that she was unable to, say, avoid taking hits during her extermination of the mangy predators that haunted the out-of-the-way village. It simply would not do to get injured in anyway; that reduced her efficiency, and thus limited the tasks she was able to carry out, which would in turn reduce her profits. Her expression soured just thinking about the possibility. It was bad enough that she wasn't currently allowed to take on B-Rank missions without at least one partner; if a severe enough injury occurred, she could be stuck doing D-Ranks within the village!
Of course, she was even more determined now to carry out the mission perfectly, which most certainly would not be difficult. One look at her completed mission record would show that. Out of every mission she had taken, there were only two failures, and both could be attributed to something out of her control - a teammate, in both cases, that hadn't been intelligent enough to follow orders, which had nearly cost him his life. If the chunin had been any less inclined to let him live - which she did simply because it would be a black mark on her if she killed a "comrade" - he would have had a very unfortunate accident in which his head had ended up separated from his body.
Her thoughts had occupied her attention for long enough that her destination was in sight. Putting a slight smile on her face, she waved at the parents watching their children play in the dirt. Inwardly she sneered; no wonder this village was having problems. If you couldn't put a fence around your yard, perhaps you shouldn't let your children play in it. After all, there were many dangerous creatures out there, wild dogs being the least of them. Not that she was at all concerned for the welfare of the people - at least, not outside of the realm that was her paycheck.
Masumi approached the family, dipping her head in greeting. "Could you point me to whoever is in charge here?" she asked. "I was hired to take care of your unfortunate problem."
"Of course." the woman, who looked to be in her mid-thirties and clearly strained from the burden of raising multiple children, answered. She pointed at the largest house on the main street, something that was clearly considered opulent by their standards, but not by anyone else's. "You'll find Gorou there. He should be able to direct you."
Masumi had turned and was about to walk away when a sob erupted from the mother. "Please, miss shinobi, kill the dogs! I... I couldn't bear to lose another child."
"...I will not fail." And then she strode down the street, putting the woman and her sorrow completely out of mind.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 22, 2013 23:37:55 GMT -5
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She rapped her knuckles lightly on the shabby wooden door. The man - Gorou - was quick to answer it. He was not what she had expected; a wizened old man with a long, scraggly beard, spectacles thicker than any she had ever seen, and a cane as tall as the chunin was what she saw. Her mind had conjured up the image of a man, perhaps middle-aged, that was able-bodied and strong, an adequate protector for the the village's inhabitants. Yet she had gotten an ancient old man. "Who might you be?" he asked, squinting to get a better look at her.
"I am the shinobi you hired to take care of your problem." she answered. Who else was he expecting? Certainly a teenaged girl carrying shinobi gear could only be one thing: a shinobi. Perhaps he was slow as well as old. "I was informed to announce myself here, and told that you had information that could aid me. Do you? If not, I'll take my leave; I have better things to do."
"The only thing I can tell you is that the dogs make their home somewhere in the woods to the east of our village." he replied. After a long look at the sky, he added, "If you can catch them early enough, they might still be sleeping, or at least not all that awake. Good luck, girl, and take care not to get eaten."
She flashed a plastic smile. "I do not fail."
--
It didn't take long to reach the paltry woods and find evidence of the dogs. Even if she hadn't had tracks that were plain as day, the ground was littered with scat and the remains of flesh clinging to bleached bones. It painted a trail right to their dens, a trail she wasted no time in following.
As Gorou had predicted, the canines weren't exactly chipper and ready for a fight. Masumi smirked. This would be child's play. Forming a couple of hand signs, she spit out a large quantity of high-viscosity water that had been infused with her chakra. It completely covered two of the dogs that had been lying together in the center of their small clearing, and managed to ensnare a third. They all began to struggle and whine, making high-pitched sounds that might have inspired sympathy in some. Not so in this chunin.
After approaching cautiously and making sure that the rest of the pack would not be able to ambush her, she pulled out a kunai and slit their throats. Then a low growl sounded behind her.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 22, 2013 23:55:40 GMT -5
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Masumi spun around, sending the kunai flying. It sped through the air and ended up buried in its left eye, penetrating deeply enough to do heavy damage and render it incapable of doing much in the way of resisting as she snapped its neck and tossed it aside. After a moment, she bent to retrieve the kunai, pulling out bits of the creature's eye with it. She wrinkled her nose in disgust; if not for the fact that the kunai had cost money, she would have just left it there. Now she would have to expend the energy to clean the eye bits off of it.
She heard the last dog before she saw it, and before it realized anything, it had joined the rest of its brothers in a heap of dead dog and sticky syrup from her technique. As expected, the mission had almost been a joke. In all honesty, if Gorou had been able to round up a group of men with even the most rudimentary of weapons that had enough spine to try to defend themselves, they could have avoided spending the money to call in a shinobi. Not that she was going to complain about getting paid; after all, you could never have enough money.
Still clutching the dirtied kunai - because she was absolutely not going to put it back in the pouch with her clean ones - Masumi headed back to the village, utterly nonchalant. She had reached the edge of the woods when he struck, and suddenly she was caught beneath seventy pounds of wild dog, ambushed from the side. She very nearly rolled her eyes - what, exactly, did this dog think he was accomplishing? She slashed at the creature, cutting a deep gash into his muzzle.
It was quite easy, after that, to perform a basic Kawarimi with what was left of a rotting log, which was apparently too much for the dog's simple brain to handle. He didn't react as she gripped him and twisted, breaking his neck. She didn't bother to drag him back to the pile. Let him rot where he laid.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 23, 2013 0:07:18 GMT -5
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It was time to report back to the village. She headed there with haste; after telling Gorou that no more of their children would be eaten, the chunin wished to find a restaurant or other public building with a restroom so she could wash her hands and kunai. She refused to ask the elderly village leader if she could use his; she didn't want to know what she would find within it.
Masumi didn't even have to knock; Gorou was seated in a rickety rocking chair that was probably as old as he was, with a child on his lap. Probably a grandchild, she surmised, whose parents had dropped him off so they could have some peace and quiet. "You had a problem. As of now, you no longer do." With that said, she walked away, into the tiny town.
"Thank you, miss! We are forever in your debt." he called after her. She snorted. If they were forever in her debt, they could send her a check every month. It wouldn't bother her in the least.
It took what felt like ages wandering around the place before she found a place with a public restroom. No doubt it would be disgusting, but she would exit it at least marginally cleaner than she had entered it. Ignoring the greeting from the woman behind the counter, she located the restroom, gave the kunai and her hands a good scrubbing or six, and departed for Iwagakure.
The sun was still high in the sky. She would be able to return, write up a quick report on this mission, and get another one before noon. Her first authentic grin of the day spread across her face, changing the apathy into something that could qualify as happiness. A day of doubled profit! What could be better?
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[M:3290:120750:]
