It was some time in the afternoon, specifically about half an hour past noon. Azaki was currently in Kumogakure, well she has been for the last couple of days, near the shopping district. Today she had decided to take on a minor D-Rank mission since she was planning on saving up for a new weapon. This mission was a simple task, cleaning of the library. She was to dust everything and sweep what needed to be swept. She didn’t mind cleaning at all since she didn’t have anything important to do.

Azaki had stopped walking as she faced a large building. It was a few stories high and had an airy, studious feeling to it.  A couple of kids, most likely academy students, had just exited the building and walked past, chatting cheerfully, each with a couple books in their hands. She made a mental note on how the girl, somewhere around the age of ten or eleven, looked a little sick, like she had sneezed. Azaki know pollen was an issue here so she could only guess she had an allergy to dust. It made Azaki wonder about how much of a cleaning the library needed.

Azaki walked inside and followed some well-placed signs that lead her to the front desk in the main section. Once there, Azaki saw a couple of lounge chairs on different sides of the entrance. Just about twelve feet in front of her was the front desk which was fairly large and in a u-shape with several workstations (nothing more than a chair, computer, bin, etc). It wasn’t that occupied. Azaki walked up, coughing softly to make the librarian in front of her aware of her presence.

“Oh sorry dear-“The librarian was a typical senior and from how she carried herself, civilian born and raised. The librarian was apparently named Megumi, at least that is what it said on her name pin, and was giving Azaki a bewilder look because of her…peculiar appearance. “Um is there anything you need?”


“I’m here for the D-Rank mission to clean the library” Azaki wanted to get to work as soon as possible so she can do more for her day.

“Really?” Megumi questioned “You don’t have a forehead protector like the other genin”

“I’m a ronin” Azaki paused, letting that sink in. Some were indifferent about ronin……others….not so much. “Now then what has to be cleaned?”


Megumi seemed a little flustered “Y-yes. Um, I need you to clean every bookshelf on this floor; meaning the different levels in the civilian section, and in the shinobi section. Just right behind me is where we keep dvds, audio books, videos, and several reading sections along with some computers. You don’t need to clean that since someone already did a few days ago. Do you understand?”


Azaki nodded “Yes”


“Alright then, see that janitor cart over there” Megumi gestured to the average sized yellow and black cart that was stocked with various cleaning supplies. “Just about everything you need is in that cart. Just to make things clear, all you need to do is dust, sweep, and organize. Got it?”

Azaki nodded and bowed her head “Yes” and walked away from the librarian.

She walked up to the cart and pushed it, rolling around to the civilian section which was on the left side of this floor. She stopped in the middle of the room which was about as large as an average civilian high school gym. She took a large feather duster in one hand and a disinfectant wipe in the other and got to work.

For the next hour or so she polished every table, organized almost every book (the ones she didn’t know where they went, she left them on a different cart) and dusted all the bookshelves. The high, hard to reach places were easily dealt with by simply using a chair to help herself. She was surprised at how much dirt and dust there was on the bookshelves. She had gone through just a little over eighteen wipes, a quarter bottle of disinfectant spray, and one feather duster. The floor on the other hand didn’t need much sweeping. It was now well past lunch and a few children and their supervisor were having a story time on the rug in the far right corner.

Azaki pushed the cart into the other side of the floor to the shinobi section of the library. The moment she walked into the room, she was shocked to see how many piles of books were scattered about and how unkempt everything was but no one would notice since she kept a cold look on her face that seemed a bit bored.  Azaki pulled her jacket over her head and tied the selves around her waist securely. She took off her gloves and stuffed them in her back left pocket and replaced them with a pair of baby blue rubber gloves.

Azaki stretched and started on the first pile which was a bunch of books on history like the great shinobi wars, past clans, the rise of the hidden villages, the Sage of Six Paths, and other things like a few antique maps.

Another forty minutes passed and she came across an old book. It was so worn out and she probably would’ve missed it since he was hidden behind several large books. She took the book into her gloved hands, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make out the title “Icha Icha Paradise?”

She felt it sounded familiar but it didn’t ring a bell. Having already cleared most of the piles of discarded or misplaced scrolls and other nonsense she decided to take a quite peek inside. She opened the book to the first page and was about to read it when suddenly the book was snatched out of her hands.  Surprised she narrowed her purple eyes a bit at Megumi who was blushing foolishly.

“DON’T READ THAT BOOK!” Megumi yelled in panicked, high pitched voice

“What is in that book?” Azaki was finding this old lady to be very annoying but she just kept her tone neutral

Megumi hid the book behind her back and was pushing Azaki out of the library “N-nothing you need to know about. Just run along now”

Azaki snapped her head back to look at Megumi closely “Is the mission over and successful?”


Megumi was dumbfounded until realization struck a moment afterwards, nodding her hand frantically “Yes, mission successful. Now run along now dear”


Still suspicious of the librarian but understanding her mission was now completed, Azaki had no more business here and quietly left the library but she was still curious about that book. Well I can always visit the library some other time she thought.