The mission dossier was crisp, as if freshly printed off the press with a sense of urgency and high alert, but of course that would prove not to be the case. He was a genin, and an unproven one at that, it would be a long shot to open its contents and reveal that the fate of the village rested solely in his inexperienced hands. His icy blue irises took in the green and red trimmed scroll with anxious emotion as his adolescents finger tips ran across it’s near slippery smooth textures. There was of course a little bit of drama in his mind with regards to this monumental event, so much so that he had imagined exotic drum crescendos in his mind as he peeled back the tab and began unraveling its contents. He had originally thought that missions were hand given by the Kazekage, which was sometimes true, but today he had learned that walking into the mission center with a simple request for duty sufficed just as much.

“A lost lizard? Seriously…” The contents of his task were disappointing to say the least as he gazed upon the basic kanji with an irking eyebrow. He was under no false illusions that D-Rank missions were less than glamorous and sometimes a drag, but he had in mind things that were a bit more exciting. Taking down bandits, fighting rabid animals running loose in the village, espionage, hot pursuits, destroying an enemy base camp, any of those things. But as he had ran through his realm of expected scenarios he realized his expectations were much more mislead than he had originally assumed. It seemed that the bulk of his rookie ninja career would be fated with rescuing cats, cleaning hot springs, and sweeping the dust from around the gates.

With a heavy sigh of realization the young genin began to read the mission dossier further, looking for any details that might give him an area to begin his search and what this lizard might actually look like. According to the scroll, the pet lizards name was Ryu, and was predominantly black with with lighting like streaks recurring variously across its body. Ryu was also described as roughly a foot long and was last seen evading the sun inside the Medicinal Greenhouse among several of it’s protected plants. Ryu’s owner, Yukimi, was also said to be an employee at the greenhouse, explaining that Ryu had escaped his confines the other day and had yet to be located but was certain he could not have fled without being seen. The consensus seemed to be that Ryu was hiding, and was doing his best to keep from returning to captivity within his tank.

“Fine, to the greenhouse I guess…”

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WC: 459

The greenhouse proved to be only a few short leagues away despite his trudging strides and irksome attitude. It would be a while before the free spirited yet wildly rambunctious young Genin would find grounds to humble himself before the many rookie tasks that lied ahead. Although perhaps that was what these D-Rank missions were all about, character building and the exercise of many virtues that would be paramount to success later in ones ninja career. At least that was the philosophical outlook on it, but in the moment it appeared as nothing more than an unnecessary hassle to the adolescent Sōseiji. “But I suppose everyone’s gotta take their whippings early on, I guess even the Kazekage would have some D-Rank’s under her belt.”

Consisting of a wood/metal exposed frame, the greenhouse was mostly kept by a clear plastic tarp that gave a clear view of the mass of green vegetation that proliferated the inside of the structure. There were of course glass windows here and there to increase the aesthetic appeal more than likely, but candidly to no avail. Upon his entrance he was greeted by a scrawny girl with with gaunt near deathly like features about her face. Had she proven to be of less melanin in her complexion, she could have easily doubled as some sort of heart eating zombie. She introduced herself as if he were a customer, but quickly glanced at the headband affixed to his waist and immediately surmised his business.

“You must be here to help me find Ryu. I’m Yukimi.” She said with a tone of hopefulness in her voice as she shook the rookie ninja’s hand with an energy of excitement.

“Yeah, I’m Tsugumichi. Ya know where the lizard might like to hang out around here?” He inquired after releasing the grils hand and roaming his blue eyes around the premise.

“Well no, not exactly, he’s never gotten out before. All I know is that he was last seen near the ferns on the west end. Perhaps you could start there…?” Yukimi replied, seemingly in sorrow for her lack of useful information.


“Fine, just hang tight, I’ll go check it out.” He responded in a consoling tone, afraid the zombie-girl might begin crying over nothing as her dark beaded eyes began to moisten with uncertainty. The last thing he needed today was an emotionally unstable zombie.

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WC: 401

As he made his way across the greenhouse towards the western end he could feel Yukimi’s dark amber eyes peering over his shoulder in suspense. She had not moved since they had conversed just a few moments prior but he could feel that six sense of her beaming through his body with an unnecessary nature. It was a lizard, and he would find it, it wasn’t like he was about to disarm a bomb that threatened to blow the place to bits. Although then he thought, perhaps, with a bit more compassion: “Maybe this Ryu lizard is like family to her or something. I mean it might be hard for her to come across friends looking all haunted like that.”

He was by no means an expert on flora and fauna but he had surmised his arrival into the fern section by the mass of singularly identical plants that seemed the easiest for a lizard to hide in. Wading his way through the green seed plants his black padded sandals crunched as he stepped upon fallen limbs. The sound became routine in the moment, nearly escaping his attention after a while, which in turn aided in his perception of an unnatural rhythm in the distance. Jutting his head to the left he caught the last few sways of a particularly low plant, its kinetic energy not given by his own movement. Ryu was here.

“Looks like I’ll have to scare you out.” He said as he stomped in a quick and heavy fashion over towards the perceived area, and like clockwork, more anomalous swaying of the ferns began. The knocking of seed leaves soon became more and more consistent, leaving an essential trail as the lizard filed out of the ferns and eventually out into the open. Before long he had spotted the black and yellow trim reptile  as it cautiously peaked its body out from it’s shroud of evergreens. With a quick burst of speed and an accompanying power lunge, the young genin swiped his hand across the ground, grabbing Ryu, and landing just outside the end of the fern section.

“Oh my! You did! You did it! You’ve found my boy!” Yukimi exclaimed as she popped up out from seemingly nowhere at all, jumping up and down for joy as if this moment was perhaps the highlight of her life.

“Yep, he’s all yours. Just try not to cuddle him to death.” He replied halfway facetiously as he relinquished the lizard to his owner, his jab apparently flying over Yukimi’s head as she glanced at him with confusion.

“Uh, ok… Well, thank you Tsugumichi. Looks like I know who to send for if my little Ryu runs off again. I will let the mission department know of your job well done here. Toodles!” She added, nearly gripping Ryu to death as she nuzzled her nose violently across his face.

“Oh god, she did not just say toodles…” He uttered in thought as he forced a smile, nodded, and headed for the exit accompanied by a self inflicted face palm. Being a rookie ninja was going to be rough.


[Topic Exit]
[Mission Finished]
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WC: 526
Total WC: 1386
Mission Requirement: 1386/600

Training Stats: