Mission Details:

In the muddy training-grounds just outside of the town's gates, Shinako prepared to teach her class of twenty specialists a crash-course on shinobi weaponry. As this was official business, she wore her forehead protector prominantly on her head, as opposed to around her waist as she normally did. On sheets of graphing paper, she had drawn diagrams of the most common tools used by shinobi in Konoha and the surrounding lands.

"Alright, gentlemen...as some of you may know, many shinobi tools are derived from simple, everyday tools. The first, and most common tool that we will cover today is the shuriken."

The young woman pulled a large coin from her pocket and a few of the men laughed as she presented it to them.

"Yes, I know. It is difficult to see this as a weapon, but somewhere down the line a clever shinobi thought to sharpen the edges. Shuriken means 'sword hidden in hand', and they take many shapes and sizes."

She showed them the diagram of the proper shuriken used by the ninja of Konoha.

"As you can see, with a hole in the middle the modern shuriken bears a striking resemblance to its ancestor. They are dangerous when thrown, though many shinobi prefer to replace them with other weapons, such as senbon needles or common nails. They are deployed in almost every shinobi battle, though at the highest levels of shinobi combat they are seldom more than a distraction, not intended to deliver decisive blows."

She pulled her mother's old gardening trowel from her satchel next, holding it so that the men could see. Their faces were lit with attention now, as they realized that they would be learning something from this young woman after all.

"Which brings us to the kunai knife,"

Shinako held up the diagram of the Kunai next to the trowel.

"Adapted from gardening and masonry tools, the kunai possesses slightly more utility than the shuriken, and packs a bit more of a punch. It can be thrown or used for slashing and stabbing, and is one of the primary hand-to-hand combat tools of the shinobi. Even those of us who do not specialize in weapons are trained to use them, and when well made they are capable of direct combat even with the toughest of armors and sharpest of swords. Though, I will point out that, like most shinobi weaponry, they are best utilized with stealth and precision."

Gesturing with her left hand and smiling, Shinako entreated a young man at the front of the group to come and stand in as a volunteer. As he approached, laughing and looking around self-consciously, the young kunoichi removed the small pouch of curry powder from her belt, pouring it into her right hand. Using the hand as a blatter, she placed it just under the man's chin and blew a puff of air from her mouth into the spicy pile. The man sputtered and coughed for several moments, much to the amusement of his comrades.

"Shinobi tools are subtle. Our ancestors had spicy cooking powders to utilize as distractions."

With a couple sips of water, the volunteer was now fine, and back to paying attention.

"Consider the damage that could be done with iron flakes, or ground glass in addition to the occular and nasal irritants. If you can imagine such a tool, then you are already conceptually familiar with the metsubishi. I have never seen such a tool deployed, but they were very popular once upon a time."

Packing up her displays, Shinako stood in front of the men, crossing her arms over her chest in an authoritative posture. She was surprised to see how the men had already begun to defer to her as their teacher. She was now ready to deliver the point that she had set out to drive home.

"Does anyone notice a common theme amongst these tools?"

She looked around at the silent and thinking faces. None of them yet had the confidence to answer, but that did not deter her.

"I'll tell you..."

Reaching beneath her sash, Shinako removed a small, circular, silver bell, holding it aloft that the soldiers gathered in front of her might see and hear it clearly.

"I utilize this bell, and others like it, as a tool for one of my shinobi techniques. It is not dangerous on its own, but with the right amount of skill and ingenuity it can be turned into a deadly weapon."

Some of the men nodded with understanding. Others continued to look on blankly.

"The common thread between this bell and the other things that I have shown you is that they are highly adaptable. They are never truly what they seem, and are often transformed into something far more formidible once deployed by shinobi in the field."

She placed the bell carefully back into her sash, looking each of the men gathered in the eye before delivering the capstone of the lesson.

"If you take anything away from what I have told you here today, it should be that, in the hands of a shinobi, anything can potentially become a deadly weapon. Every day, all around the Land of Fire, and in fact the entirety of the civilized world, there are men and women dedicated to the shinobi arts that are turning the most mundane objects--teapots, fishing line, ink and paper, wooden figurines--into tools that will help them survive when faced with some of the world's deadliest combatants. Each and every one of you would do well to remember that if you ever find yourself facing down a shinobi."

A dead silence fell, as her words sunk in. However, after a few moments, Shinako broke the tension with a brilliant smile, lifting her hands in the air as if to show that they were empty. The men broke from their pensive silence and began to clap as she released them from the spell of the lesson:

"Thank you for listening, gentlemen. Class is dismissed."

1,012/1,000 words

End Thread