Not So Hard Work

Mission Links:

Gun thought after creating a new weapon for the Quartzermaster would have proven herself as someone capable of more than busy work... but here she was, on another E rank mission that was basically just handing out food and drinks. It was, literally, her mom's job. She hadn't ever been to a ninja academy and she could do the job just fine, but Gun, after having proven herself a capable kunoichi on a number of different missions, was now doing her mother's job. In a way, it was funny but it was also lame. This was why Gun's mom had sent her to the ninja academy in the first place, so she didn't have to become someone who handed out food and drinks to people. Apparently, either life or karma has a sense of humor, perhaps both.

Gun showed up wearing the black apparel that she'd been told to wear. Simple black pants and a black shirt, nothing too fancy or flashy. She headed to the grouping of other like dressed individuals and they began a meeting. Running over the schedule for the day: when to do drinks, when to bring out food, when not to bring out food, it was a pretty big ordeal. It was the type of event where people just stood around and talked while the waitstaff meandered around with trays. If the people wanted things, they asked, or grabbed and if they didn't want anything, the waitstaff just walked on to the next group of people. So you took drinks out once guests started arriving, then there'd be a formal welcome speech, which you weren't supposed to bring anything out during, and then you'd bring out food. Of course, some people would need drinks with the food, so some would keep doing drinks after the initial speech. There was another speaker later in the day but Gun, as a wholly untrained member of the team, would be on drink duty all day, so she just had to know when speeches were starting so she'd know when not to bring out drinks.

She had a chance to look around and she was assigned an 'area' of the arena to work in. It would be her job to ensure everyone there had enough to drink, so as long as she stayed in her area and kept the drinks flowing, people would be happy. As guests began entering, Gun grabbed the tray with drinks. There were hot teas, cold teas, fruity teas, and plain teas, there was also an assortment of additives like honey and mint. Gun managed to make her first few rounds with drinks without any trouble, the hardest part was people wanting to smell all the options and see all of the additives, requiring Gun to stand there awkwardly and hold the tray. Luckily for Gun, no one really expected the kunoichi to say anything and she was content to just keep moving.

The day wasn't super long, as the event was only 3 hours long, but Gun was glad when it was over. For the most part though, the event had been a success and Gun hadn't made any grave mistakes.

WC: 527

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Gun saw the notice on the mission board. Some dude was claiming to be the best marksman in the world. In a world of superhumans, between the shinobi and the samurai, even suggesting something so incredible was nothing more than an attempt at getting attention. There was no way some guy off the street could compete with the shinobi of Sakuragakure no Sato. So Gun called him out, she'd been practicing with her javelins and had gotten remarkably accurate with them. Gun wasn’t sure what type of competition this fellow would insist on, but she hoped her skills would roll over to whatever they competed in. She wrote a note and stuck it on top of the other one. It read:

Gun arrived at the location, waiting to meet her foe. She wasn’t sure who this person was, but challenging and disrespecting shinobi was not something Gun could stand, not with her newfound pride as a shinobi.

”A little girl?!” came the cry from a barrel chested man in a black tank top. ”You think a little girl like you can beat me?! Hahaha, what a joke!” Gun was enraged, the Sakura Academy had taken her from a young girl and turned her into a formidable warrior, so someone looking down on her and the effort that Sakura had put into her metamorphosis really pushed her buttons. She could tell by looking at the man that he had well defined muscles, but it took more than that to be a decent marksman.

”We’ll see who’s laughing when we’re done!” Gun’s usual meekness seemed nonexistent as she spat back at the man in front of her.

”Sure girly, sure. You pick the item for throwing.” The man’s hands waved in front of him as if to placate the kunoichi. Gun may have been mad but she wasn’t mad enough to assault the man.

”Have any experience with a javelin?” she asked, summoning one from her uniform. She held the weapon out to the man, so he could grab the handle.

”Hoh, figured you’d pick something tiny, like yourself.” He joked, as his hand grasped the shaft and hefted the weapon, feeling it’s weight. ”Yeah, this’ll do.” The marksman had a grin on his face as he did a couple slow motion practice throws. ”And what’s our target, doll?”

Gun wasn’t enjoying this guy’s presence so she looked down the empty street and pointed ”That tree.”

The man chortled aloud before responding ”Girl, you’re funny. That’s over 50 meters.” For the first time, some of the onlookers who had shown up to see the showdown began to laugh.

”Oh, that’s too far for you? I’m sorry.” Gun’s grin was entirely antagonistic, but she turned the opposite direction, raising her hand and pointing. “That one is about 30 yards, close enough?” Her grin still had its antagonistic appearance to it.

The man scoffed and raised the javelin that still set in his hand, took aim and launched the javelin at the tree. It struck the tree about 4 inches from the center. ”Oh girl, today is your unlucky day! That’s better than my usual at this distance!”

Gun just smiled, then turned around and reared a javelin back. She threw it with considerable precision but still a lot of force. The javelin easily traveled the 50 meters, striking the tree dead center.

”Well, wa…” the man sputtered. ”Lucky throw.” Gun grinned, summoned two more javelins from her uniform and threw one at the javelin she’d already impaled the tree with. She then turned and launched the other at the tree that the man had used as target practice. Both javelins hit their respective trees dead center, showing that Gun had been skillful and not lucky with her first throw.

WC: 635
TWC: 1162

---

While many of the low ranking missions were busy work that most 8 year olds could accomplish, this mission was basically additional training which, if successfully passed, would allow Gun to be given patrol missions in the future. She wasn't terribly excited about patrol missions, but she understood their necessity: if enemies invaded, having someone at the ready to sound the alarm could save many lives. She wanted to help the village remain safe, so she was excited to complete the mission and begin doing her duty to protect the village which had really helped her become her own person. It had also led to Gun's relationship with Kana, a relationship which may or may not have led to more of Gun's evolution than Sakura had.

Gun arrived at the place where the training was to be held. There were 3 others who would also participate in the training, they all nodded as the instructor moved behind the desk and sat down. ”One of the most important aspects of patrolling is paying attention. So, what color are my shoes?” The instructor knew that the trainees couldn’t see under the desk, so it was a test to see if they’d been paying attention when he’d walked by.

Gun tried to remember what color they were, but she had really only glanced at him from the waist up. ”Black?” One of Gun’s fellow trainee guessed, her tone more questioning than proclaiming.

”No!” The instructor went on to explain that being attentive was a conscious decision, but that the more attentive you are, the easier it will become. He then pulled a map out from the desk and held it up. It was a map of Sakura.

He then went over the various patrols, of which there were 13, detailing where each patrol was responsible for and the general routes they took. It was rather informative and Gun paid attention as best she could.

”Now for the final test.” He then rolled up the map of Sakura. ”There are 5 districts on this map. If you can name one and what color it was, you pass.”

”Yaezakura was blue!” The instructor simply nodded his assent

”Kanzakura was… red?” Another affirmative nod from the instructor.

Gun and one other person were left, the other trainee seemed to be panicking and didn’t seem like they would speak up soon. ”Yamazakura is green.” Gun was confident with her response and she also received a positive affirmation.

WC: 410
TWC: 1572

---

To say that low rank missions were nothing but busy work was clearly wrong though Gun still believed any good intentioned civilian with no training could undertake most of them with no worries. This was a mission that Gun had readily signed up for because it was a chance to help out an old lady.

Gun was to meet the old lady at the corner in the shopping district. She was dressed and ready to help the nice old lady gather the groceries and things she needed to stay alive. If only she knew what really lay ahead of her…

”Oh, you’ve finally arrived.” The woman scoffed before continuing, ”Ok dearie, let’s get moving. I don’t have all day.” The lady turned on a dime and began walking, leaving Gun standing there staring. The tone she’d used when she’d said “dearie” was somehow mean and malicious sounding, as if she had said one thing but meant the exact opposite. And she’d sauntered off without even giving Gun a chance to respond, leaving the poor kunoichi even more confused.

Realizing she was losing the lady, Gun hopped to and caught up to her. She had expected a grandmother sort, but instead she’d gotten some stuck up, rude snob. It was clear from her clothes that this lady had plenty of ryo and wasn’t afraid to show it off. She had more jewelry on her than Gun had ever seen at one time and Gun was sure she had more at home.

The first store they went to was a jewelry store, the woman turned as they walked through the threshold ”Now dearie, this jewelry is very expensive so do careful in here because I don’t think you can afford to break anything in here.” Despite the condescending words, Gun nodded as if she was agreement with the lady. She was starting to think this wasn’t going to be the nice mission she thought it was going to be.

As the lady perused the earrings and necklaces, Gun just kind of glanced around. The pretty jewelry did look nice, but Gun didn’t feel a strong desire to have any of it or look nice with it. The day continued like that, the lady taking Gun places, treating her like a beggar off the streets, and handing her things to carry.

Normally, Gun wouldn’t have minded letting some lady she’d likely never see again to treat her with those words, but Gun was now a kunoichi of Sakura, and actively working as such, so the lady was in fact disrespecting Sakura by treating Gun the way she was. On the other hand, she was a paying customer and getting reprimanded by a girl who could be her granddaughter was not likely to make her a happy customer, so Gun proceeded to remain quiet, even if she wanted to talk back to the lady a few times.

WC: 483
TWC: 2055

---

Gun was inexperienced when it came to gardening and after her last mission, she was worried about helping more old people. Despite these qualms, Gun was resigned to do this mission and arrived at the given address.

There was a small, old lady rocking slowly in a rocking chair on the front porch. She stopped rocking as Gun approached, looking at the kunoichi interestedly. ”Are you here to help with my garden?” The woman asked, her tone soft and inquisitive.

”Yes mam.” Gun’s tone matched the woman’s softness. She scanned the front of the yard, realizing she had her work cut out for her: the grass was at least eighteen inches tall, there was plenty of weeds spread throughout, and ivy was growing up the sides of the fence and walls.

”I’ll leave you to it, but I’m going to make some lemonade for you. Just knock when you want some.” The woman then went inside. Gun hadn’t been given any instructions, but it was pretty clear what needed to be done. First, she began with the ivy, yanking it off the house. Her strength made quick work of the invasive plant. She turned her attention to the fence, pulling all the ivy. She followed the vines to the ground and tried pulling the roots out of the ground. She knew that was the only way to ensure that the plant didn’t come back in the future.

After creating a decent pile of unearthed ivy, Gun turned her attention to the grass. The reel mower, a machine to help people cut the grass just by pushing it, wouldn’t be able to cut it with grass so tall, so Gun unsheathed her tanto. With grace and speed, Gun began slicing the grass to within a couple inches of the ground. With a bigger blade, this would be a quicker job, but she made do with what she had. She swiped the short blade through the grass for nearly an hour, shortening the greenery with expert precision. By the time she finished with the grass, she was already covered with a fine sheen of sweat. Now that the grass was more manageable, Gun grabbed the reel mower from the side of the house and began pushing it around. It leveled out the grass, something Gun hadn't spent too much time with before because she'd always planned to finish up with the reel mower. After a bit of time, the yard was looking much better.

Gun went back and began pulling up the weeds, generally a slightly different shade of green than the grass growing next to it. After weeding, Gun knocked on the door to get some lemonade and see if there was anything else the lady wanted her to do.

WC: 459
TWC: 2514

[Exit]

Claiming:

Completion of 5 E ranks - 15000 ryo and 25 AP (As a chuunin, Gun gets 2k ryo for each mission, so each E rank is 3k ryo.)
Note: Gun's previous Bonus AP was 839, it'll now be 864.

2514 WC, Gun has max stats so will be using 25% discount

1192 WC to Laser Circus which when combined with this WC puts me at 1313/1313 to learn it at B rank
1322 WC to Storm Release: Charge putting me at 1322/1875 for A rank version