He was always in a rush. There was no time to stop running. The Village had multiple things for young genin like him to be doing today. The other day he had brought ice cream to some officer in the military camp nearby. He had completed the mission quickly enough, but then there was this one that required him to explore the Land of Fire and then to be a cartographer or something? Did I sign up for this? He shrugged his shoulders as he exited the administration building with new accessories to his outfit.

A gift had been made to him of multiple rolls of paper to be used as maps. Amusing enough he supposed. He felt as if he were some sort of fuinjutsu specialist with the scrolls on his back, but now it was time to stop laughing and to move on his mission. It took him less than five minutes to get out of the gates that led to the east. Moving through the trees, from past missions he knew that in this direction there were multiple ridges and drops off into abysses. A dangerous location for newcomers, but he wasn’t a foreigner, he knew almost every nook and cranny. Sitting on the top of a tree that was far enough away so that he couldn’t see the village anymore, he wondered how long he had been travelling, but instead he simply took out his ink and paper and began drawing.

Although he wasn’t the best drawer, he was quite accurate in his drawings. He d rew the ridge line with almost perfect detail, he even note of a small crevice in the ridge line. What’s in there? He wondered, and he started to pack up his things, and when he had gotten close to the opening he stopped. Nearby there was a stream with fish. Probably some bear. He thought, but then he heard the growl confirming his thoughts and he was out of there as soon as possible. I still have a hell of a lot to go. He wiped sweat from his brow and continued.

Joruri had reached the top of the ridge that he had drawn only a few minutes ago and he knew it was near towards the end of the day. “This stuff takes so long.” He groaned as he took a seat and started to unpack his things. When he looked over what was on the other side of the ridge it was a valley. A clear valley, it was simply grass and flowers with trees strewn about randomly. “Wow.” He whistled to compliment it.

Packing up his things, the sun was started to sink behind the mountains in the direction he had to be heading. “Hmph.” It wasn’t that his location was far away, it was because in the distance he knew it was the village, but in that direction it looked so peaceful in how the sun was setting over the trees and the ridge that he had climbed up. “Damn…” He said underneath his bed as he slowly began to take his things out for the final time.

The ink was pushed around the page, forming the lines of the trees. They looked accurate enough, and in the far distance he saw the mountains that had faces of the past Hokages, but unfortunately he wasn’t on an angle to see them, only from the side. It was a disappointment, but he knew what they looked like simply from looking at them so many times, but as he started to complete the painting he ran out of ink for the rays of sunlight and his eyes widened in surprise. I didn’t… Take enough, huh? He groaned and decided to pack up his things in annoyance. Disappointing things always happened when he was trying to make art…

…

When he walked out of the administration building, it was late, he hadn’t realized how long he had taken. The administration had even allowed him to take his own work of art home for the accurate cartography. [i]It sort of looked artistic in a way with how one side of it was lighter than the other.”

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he trudged his way back home.


WC: 709