Kantaro was eating a bowl of chicken and vegetables sold by a street vendor when he noticed a commotion down the street. Curiously he made his way through the swiftly gathering crowd, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally he broke through the ring of villagers saw one of the wells maintained by water vendors. It appeared to be the center of attention. A hysterical woman was peering down into the narrow opening, calling down into it.

"Ji! Ji! Please just wait a little longer, Ji! We'll have you out soon!" Several men were collectively trying to lower one of their number down, but the opening was far too small to allow them full access.

Kantaro brushed past the people and addressed the screaming woman. "What seems to be the trouble?"

The woman saw the Sand genin's headband and slowed her crying. "Oh, thank goodness! A ninja! Mister Ninja, you must get my little Ji out! He fell down the well!"

Kantaro bent down and looked into the dark opening. He couldn't see anything, but he heard the quick and frightened breathing of little Ji echoing around the inside of the well. He released lightning along his hand, lighting up the inside of the well with the bright sparks, and caught a glimpse of the frightened boy. Thankfully there had not been too much water in the well--just enough to slow his fall and prevent serious injury, but not enough to pose any threat of drowning.

"Just sit tight. I'm going to figure something out here." Kantaro sat down, thinking hard. Might as well try the most basic option first. "I'll be right back," Kantaro told the woman, and then raced back to his house. "Mom, do we have any rope?"

"What for?"

"Sorry, mission related. Can't talk about it, you know."

"Oh. Try the supply closet."

Kantaro looked in the supply closet, and after much rummaging finally found a fairly long piece of rope. "Hre we go!" The Sand genin raced back to the well and lost no time in lowering it down. "Can you reach the rope, Ji?"

But try as he might, the little boy could simply not reach the rope. Disgustedly, Kantaro tossed the rope aside and thought some more. "Guess it can't be helped..." Kantaro borrowed a few kunai from some of the bystanders and held one in his teeth and in each hand. Then, he leaped down into the well himself, planning on using the kunai to climb back up the slimy wall of the well.

"Grab onto my back," Kantaro finally managed to order through clenched teeth. Little Ji nodded and grabbed on to the ninja's back, but with this combined width the two could simply not fit back up the well. Finally a very slimy and disgruntled Kantaro emerged from the well, shaking his head frustratedly at the hysterical mother.

"My little boy is going to die down there! I am going to file a complaint to Lady Kazekage upon her return..."

"Lady, please." Kantaro wiped slime off of his forehead protector and concentrated hard. There had to be some way to do this. He could just look for another rope. But any fool could get a rope; it was a wonder these idiots hadn't already. Finally it came to him and he slapped his forehead. He was a ninja, after all.

"Earth Release." Without bothering to attempt any fancy or complicated technique, Kantaro used a single hand sign and moved the earth under the well to surface level. It took a long while, during which the mother bit her lip and shuffled in anxiety, and the prolonged effort left the Sand genin physically drained. Still, it was worth it to see the little boy hug his mother. Almost. Kantaro still walked away feeling like he had just wasted a huge chunk of time which could have been easily fixed by the mother simply paying for a rope long enough to reach into the well.

The next morning, Kantaro opened his front door and found a bag of cookies, a thank you note from little Ji, and a stack of coins, most likely from the mother. The ninja smirked as he bit into one of the cookies. Now it was worth it.

Word Count: 713