"Just a simple escort mission from the border with the Land of Grass to the village gates" thought Kashizudoto, "This won't even remotely improve my ninja skills. Regardless, to lead actual missions and become a great commander, I'm required to become a chuunin. To do that, I have to do pathetic excuses for 'missions' to help the village's economy, but - I suppose - it's a necessity to keep Konoha strong. A strong military is nothing without a powerful economy to sustain it."

He came well equipped for sure, sporting shinobi pants with a pouch on the left stored with a kunai knife and three shuriken. He also had his usual green jacket with a white undershirt on. On his forehead was his Konoha hitae-ate, a symbol of village pride. Of course, he doubted that he would get into a fight, with such a well-guarded path.

"Hey, look at this here shiny diam'nd!" said the balding old merchant that he was escorting. In reality, it really didn't have that much luster at all. It looked more like a dirty rock than anything. In fact, Kashizudoto had his doubts on whether that really was a diamond. So either he was escorting a con artist or a total numskull to his village.

"Uh, ya, what about it?" Kashizudoto said. As a complex man with simple needs, luxuries did not concern him in the slightest anyway.

"Inter'sted in any g'rls?" asked the merchant, "Put this magic on their fing'rs, and they'll be yers!" This guy was a persistent marketer for sure...

"No thanks," Kashizudoto declared, knowing that the merchant was trying to make up for the cost of the mission with a sale, "I'm really not interested in that kind of stuff." Well... There was a girl that he was meeting very often and was - in fact - interested in, but Kashizudoto doubted that she would appreciate jewelry - especially a dirty rock. Besides, jewelry, especially a ring, would get in the way of her hand-to-hand combat.

"The g'rls don't like stingy men," said the merchant, "You know you want it. Here, I'll sell it to you for a discount!" Ok, this was getting obnoxious.

"Eh, nope," said the genin, "I've got better things to buy with my ryo, like a katana."

The merchant continued to blab about his endless supply of quality wares, trying to sell Kashizudoto some every now and then. After a few hours, Kashizudoto had tuned most of the man's ramblings out; however, given his perceptive capabilities, he could not completely ignore the man - whether he tried or not. On the way, they passed by many active duty shinobi that were guarding the path to the village; they knew they were safe from bandits. However, wild animals were a completely different story. Night was fast approaching, and Kashizudoto started practicing extra caution in the case of a sudden attack from wild beasts. He was sure the old man's incessant chatter would attract attention from nocturnal animals.

"Ok, baldie, let's set up camp," said Kashizudoto to the merchant. They set up a tent and a bonfire. While the merchant was busy cooking food and blabbering as usual, Kashizudoto heard the bushes rustle. He was sure of it: something was attracted to the smell of the food.

"Back off," Kashizudoto told the merchant as he began to collect Katon chakra in his throat, "And you might want to get your wares away as well." Upon hearing that, the old man rushed at a speed faster than any shinobi he'd seen, just to protect his wares. Kashizudoto made a mental note never to piss off that guy, especially when dealing with his inventory. As soon as he made sure that there would be no collateral, Kashizudoto released a giant fireball, five meters in diameter, heading for the rustling bushes at 20 meters per second.

Kashizudoto heard a sharp howl as the fireball passed through the bushes. What was it? It had to be some kind of canine for sure. While the old man fearfully hugged his wares, shivered, and squirmed, Kashizudoto calmly ran over with his kunai knife drawn, only to see a wolf lying on the ground with minor second degree burns.

"KILL IT!" the merchant shouted indignantly as if the wolf would suddenly recover and pounce on his wares immediately. But Kashizudoto knew that nature was not to be tampered with on a whim. Everything - including predators such as wolves - were important to the ecosystem of the Land of Fire. He'd be doing more damage than help by killing the wolf.

"No, we're moving our campsite," said Kashizudoto as he started packing up. He knew that if he left it alone, the wolf would most likely recover and no damage would be done. So they trecked at least half a kilometer, everyone extremely tired, before setting up their campsite again. In seven hours, the sun rose again and they were back on the trail. They would be at the village gates soon.

"Tired, eh?" asked the merchant in his marketer mode while showing a small blue pebble in his hand, "Try sucking on this!"

"What!" Kashizudoto said.

"This shiny thing is said to have mystical properties," said the merchant, "It will make you feel alive!" Of all the things he tried to sell Kashizudoto, this one was the silliest.

"I don't buy into your superstitions," declared Kashizudoto.

"If you don't buy this," whispered the old man, "I'll tell the village that I'm unsatisfied with your job." That sly balding twit! He'd found Kashizudoto's weakness, and he pushed it in the most shameful and unempathetic way possible!

"Well," whispered Kashizudoto, "If you do that, your wares get the punishment."

"MY WARES!" screamed the old man as he put his arms around the cart holding his inventory, "Not my wares! No, please! Mercy! Mercy! I'll tell them how great of a job you did!"

After they reached the village gate safe and sound, they headed to the administration building, where the man would go on to talk about how smoothly the escort went - even commending the genin for his job - before they parted ways.

WC: 1050

[Exit]

C-rank Mission: 1000/1000