Show your worth (mission)

Spoiler:

                
Ishida walked through the large thicket along a trail across the Fire Nation boarders. The upper management of the missing-nin hierarchy had given Ishida a super-secret task. Or so they had said. It didn’t seem all that special to Ishida. He had to steal some old trinket from some old hag. It was dumb and a drag but he was gonna get one hell of an award. 3000 ryo was more than Ishida had in a very long time. So if he had to rob some poor old lady and crack some skulls he was down. Money was the motivation and Ishida would do whatever he could to get the money he needed to survive. Ishida had a feeling this wouldn’t be a run of the mill job. He knew what the trinket looked like but wasn’t sure exactly where to find it. He had just been told to find an old inn on the Konoha border. Ishida felt like he was just being tested and that there was no real point to his mission. Ishida didn’t really care about that as long as he was getting paid.

                
Ishida would think he was completely lost except he had no idea where he was going in the first place. In the meantime he could think of a plan on what to do once he found the old lady and her trinket. He wasn’t too keen on beating up an old woman. He would like to sneak in and sneak out, however he didn’t know if the trinket would be kept on person. If it was just lying around somewhere Ishida could easily snag it, but otherwise it would most likely come to blows. Ishida was confident he could defeat any non-shinobi in combat. It helped that he was still young as most people would underestimate him. A true shinobi would never do that. For that reason Ishida was mentally preparing himself for a battle to the death. The weather seemed to reflect his mindset. Despite being spring there were dark storm clouds above head and it was cold enough that Ishida could see his breath. Despite being the middle of the day Ishida could see no animals scurrying about. It was as if everything was hunkering down for the impending storm. Ishida wasn’t very superstitious but if he was these would all have been signs that he should brace himself for what was coming.
                
This mission held a large amount of mystery towards it and Ishida didn’t like that. It kept his from making a real plan. He didn’t even get any info on the target other than the fact that she was an old woman. Ishida at various times in his life had met old woman who could easily kill him so he didn’t have an abundance of self-confidence. Even accepting this mission went against most of what he had learned in the ninja academy. Not that was saying much. Ishida knew his best chance of survival would come from extensive reconnaissance once he found the inn. Despite the missions simple appearance Ishida felt that there was more to it than what met the eye. Ishida decided it was time to gather some info. He left the wooded area he had been walking along and got onto the main road. He was hoping to stop someone and question them about this inn.
                
Ishida had quite a bit of trouble getting someone to stop and answer his questions. Perhaps it was due to his rugged looks and rude attitude but none of the other travelers were of any help. “What a pain,” Ishida muttered as he grabbed a man by the collar. “Old man any idea where I can find an old inn with some grandma running it?” Ishida did his best to look intimidating, though he didn’t have to try to hard. The old man nodded but seemed too afraid to speak. “Where?” Ishida squeezed the man a little harder. The man pointed north, “four kilometers that way.” The man’s voice was clearly shaky and unstable due to fear. What a coward Ishida thought. Nonetheless he felt somewhat bad for scaring the innocent traveler so badly. In return he winked, flashed a smile, and said his thanks before running off in the direction the man had pointed. Ishida raced toward the unknown, hoping at the very least that this mission wouldn’t be too big of a drag. He hoped that wasn’t too much to ask for.
                
Ishida ran through a large thicket of grasses and bushes doing his best to stay hidden while maintain view of the road. It wasn’t too hard to stay hidden considering the plant life was completely unkempt along the trail. Not to mention the fact that the roads were virtually abandoned. Ishida was in the middle of nowhere. However, all that served to do was make him more nervous about his mission. Why was this inn in the middle of nowhere? What was the significance of the trinket he was tasked with finding? Ishida wasn’t sure if he would ever find the answers to these questions of his.
                
However, before he could think about it for too long lightning streaked the sky and rain began pounding the earth. Ishida was about stop and take cover from the torrent of rain when in the distance he saw what appeared to be an inn. If anything it looked more like a shack but Ishida decided to investigate. He thought he had finally found a lead on this mysterious trinket he was searching for. As Ishida got closer and closer to the inn he became even less impressed by it. He figured it hadn’t had any maintenance in years. The same could probably be said for customers. That was assuming it was actually an inn and not some death trap run by an old woman. Ishida pushed in the door and took off his shoes as he entered. For now he would pretend to be a normal customer looking for a place to stay. “Hello?’ Ishida called out into the old, creaking building.
                
As Ishida looked around the old house he saw a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. When he turned and looked he saw nothing. “Hello,” an old voice creaked out from directly in front of Ishida. He jumped as he just now noticed the old hag standing in front of him. She was old and hunched, with long gray hair flowing down her crooked back. She was leaning heavily on a cane. Most disturbing of all was her long, sharp fingernails. They looked like claws more than anything. “Hi, I was wondering if I could rent a room?” Ishida asked politely. He decided it would be best to wait before he made his move. Even though he did notice a small and old bell hanging from her neck. It appeared to be the trinket he was looking for. “Why of course,” the old woman’s voice sounded slightly unnatural. “One night’s stay is 5000 ryo,” the old hag said cheerfully. No wonder this place doesn’t get any business, Ishida thought to himself. The money would prove to be a problem as that was much more than Ishida had.
                
“Well you see I’m a little short on funds as of late,” Ishida gave the woman a fake embarrassed smile. “Get out,” the woman’s voice had lost all of its prior cheerfulness. Ishida sighed deeply and quickly lunged out trying to grab the trinket hanging from the woman’s neck. His fingers were only a few centimeters away from the bell when something flashed back Ishida’s face. On instincts alone he was able to sway back, barely avoiding five sharp claws. The woman followed up by charging at Ishida, she was far faster than a typical woman of her appearance. Wanting to defeat this strong old woman Ishida swallowed his pride. He channeled his chakra and clapped his hands together. “Wind Release: Gale Palm!” Ishida shouted and released his wind natured jutsu. Due to the woman’s close distance and small stature she was pushed back and flipped end over end. Somehow the woman landed on all fours, completely unharmed. Ishida began to have a feeling this woman wasn’t completely human. “Don’t tell me you’ve come to steal my treasure without even knowing what it does?” The woman asked Ishida on cue as if she sensed his doubt.
               
Ishida wasn’t sure how he should continue. In a taijutsu battle he doubted he could win due to those sharp claws and the woman’s impressive reflexes. However, by that same standard Ishida didn’t know if he could win relying only on his ninjutsu. Throwing caution to the wind Ishida charged the granny, he lowered his head to avoid her claws and easily picked her up. Driving his feet he slammed the old woman straight through the back wall and onto the wet grass outside. He rolled off of her and groaned. Even though he was the one who attacked he was in quite a bit of pain. Ishida reached over to grab the trinket from the woman’s neck before she jumped to her feet. Ishida was shocked and hastily scrambled to his feet. “What the hell are you?” Ishida asked the woman as he was attempting to catch his breath. The woman just smiled and cackled without answering Ishida. Now that pissed him off. Ishida began circling the old woman who by now had abandoned her seemingly unnecessary cane. He didn’t like it but he would have to beat this woman in a taijutsu fight. He would keep his other wind style jutsu as a trump card for the time being. At this point Ishida still preferred not to kill his opponent.
            
Ishida weaved the substitution jutsu signs and attacked. He threw a right hook and followed it up with a left high kick. The woman ducked the punch and caught Ishida’s kick before plunging her vicious finger nails into Ishida’s torso. Of course he was revealed to be nothing more than a log. This proved to be more useful than Ishida initially thought. The old woman’s claws were stuck in the log, now she could barely lift her arm. Ishida concluded that despite her abnormal speed and reflexes she had almost no strength. The woman was all but defenseless now, the large log dragging her down. After dodging her one good arm Ishida landed a solid blow on the back of her neck. The old woman dropped like a sack of potatoes. It was finally over. Ishida reached down and ripped off the trinket from the granny’s neck. What happened next baffled Ishida. Before his eyes he witnessed the granny transform into a freaking cat. What the hell was going on? Ishida skeptically looked at the bell he was holding and shoved it into his pocket. He didn’t know what it did but Ishida wasn’t too keen on finding out.

                
He left the apparent cat behind and retreated into the woods. It was still raining and Ishida almost slipped once every few minutes. He was disturbed by what had happened. Just what did the bell do? He hypothesized that worked similar to a transformation jutsu. Ishida figured if that was true he could probably make a whole lot more than 3000 ryo. But at the same time he would be signing his own death sentence by crossing those who gave him this mission. Ishida thought it would be best to hand the trinket over, get his money, and earn their trust along the way. In his life that was full of risks he decided it was best to play this one safe. With his 3000 ryo Ishida could buy some armour, weapons, and a nice supply of food. Well, at least more food than he had been eating. As if on cue Ishida’s stomach grumbled loudly.

Ishida routinely stopped and circled back. He didn’t want anyone to follow him. The battle with the granny-cat had thoroughly freaked him out. Now Ishida was more nervous than before, when he was searching for the mysterious inn. Ishida kept thinking that his employers couldn’t be the only ones who wanted such a mystical object. Just like his stomach was on cue what happened next was quite the coincidence. As Ishida had just begun to run out three young shinobi jumped down in front of him. “Tch,” Ishida clicked his tongue he was outnumbered. On the positive all three appeared to be genin. They even seemed rather young to be genin. Ishida assumed they would pose no threat to him, a fairly experienced missing-nin.
                
Without waiting for the three Mist ninja to say anything Ishida darted towards the one on the far left. An elbow to the kid’s nose quickly dropped the genin, and covered him in his own blood. With one down in a split second Ishida took the opportunity to escape. He darted between cover as he moved at his maximum speed. Ishida stuck mainly to the tree tops, it proved to be a good decision as he could hear the trio of genin slipping and sliding across the muddy forest. Due to this and his superior speed Ishida rapidly put distance between himself and his pursuers. It became increasingly obvious every moment that they should still be in the academy. “Damn brats,” Ishida whispered to himself from his perch on the tippy-top of a large oak tree.
                
Ishida strained his eyes and ears but couldn’t sense the trio of kids anywhere. He seemed to be in the clear. Ishida undid his ponytail and shook out his soaking hair. It was pretty much guaranteed Ishida would catch a cold after his day playing in the rain. In all honesty he didn’t really care about minor things like that. He was getting paid and he was alive. Nothing else mattered to Ishida. He wasn’t sure how healthy of a mindset that was for a twelve year-old to have. But it was a result of his circumstances in life. Being a missing-nin and struggling to eat on a consistent basis had greatly effected Ishida’s outlook on life.
                
Ishida was soaked to the bone and wanted to hurry up and get paid. For these reasons he ran as fast as he could through the wilderness he was currently in. He knew the general direction he was headed and he would soon be done with this insane mission of his. First he had fought the cat lady and then the three children. Ishida didn’t feel very fulfilled. He wanted to better test his skills not exclusively fight small fry. Ishida was confident that if he had chosen to he could have killed all four of the opponents he had faced that day. It was only due to the fact that they never posed a real threat at his life that they were still alive. Their weakness had saved their lives. Ishida knew that most shinobi wouldn’t be as soft as he was. Definitely not these bastards, Ishida thought as he handed over the bell to his employer.

(2514/2500)

(Claiming 3000 ryo)