Mission(s):

The sun was beating down, as it always did in the desert. To the east, the main gate and entrance into Sunagakure was fairly bustling, or at the very least, the main gate to those from the land of fire. To the north, the minor entrance that led to the route to the stone land was mediocre in terms of activity, mostly occupied by thugs and drug dealers, the usual rabble. And finally, to the south, the least active entrance to the village, at least at this time. Standing amongst the gate to the village, looking over the empty expanse and the travellers that came alongside, was a genin. With a wireless radio at her ear, she scanned the distant area, muttering quietly to herself.

“Sand… Sand… A cactus… More sand…”

Finally, a slight blur in the distance, a blotch of varying shapes and sizes showed up, and the girl found herself climbing down from the rocky outlook she was standing on, taking her position behind the desk as she sat down, spinning on the wooden stool that was there, and simply watching and waiting. If she had to guess, it was a caravan of traders, and Midori found herself yawning as she prepared the ink and quill at the wooden desk, sheltered from the sun by a somewhat mediocre roof. Given the troubles Suna was in, the renovations of outposts and warden stations were the least of financial concerns – hell, there were rumours that the slums were the real owner of Suna, and as much as she hated to admit it, at that time, it was. Her wooden fingers tapped on the desk, the girl humming softly as she waited for the caravan to approach.

After about two minutes of waiting alone, the caravan arrived, and her suspicion that it was traders was confirmed, one that was clearly planned for arrival by the village due to the escort – a total of three wagons, and six merchants, with two Sunagakure shinobi on each side. The foremost merchant stepped forward, handing some papers to Midori who scanned them for discrepancies, or anything that would perhaps indicate they were a danger, or a fake. After reading through three pages of documents, she took the ink stamp at the desk, confirming the caravan for entry, smiling and waving her puppet arm as she said. “Welcome to Sunagakure no Sato. I hope you may find the sun bright yet gentle, and the shade ever full of respite. Good day.” The merchant bowed, as the caravan soon continued on into the village. Midori watched them go, before turning to once more face the sand. A somewhat thankless task, and rather uneventful, but, she knew she was doing good work for her village, and that was what mattered to her. No matter how boring it was…

470

The day kept going by, the sun trailing across the sky slowly. Midori hummed, looking through the few bits of paperwork that she had access to at the gate duty. Shadows flickered in the distance, on top of the cliffs that surrounded the village. ANBU no doubt, doing the actual gate duty. Midori was under no illusion that she wasn’t actually who they believed was important – if an actual attack happened on the village, the gate would need more than a single genin with a quill and paper. She flexed her puppet arm, extending it slowly, joint by joint at the elbow down. The mechanisms still worked, which was the only thing Midori was concerned about, testing to ensure they didn’t get worn down by lack of use.

Retracting her limb to its normal length once more, the girl sighed, leaning her head on her prosthetic palm as she stared out over the desert, now taking no heed of the flickering silhouettes that kept appearing and disappearing atop the cliff faces. Along the horizon the waves of the heat blurred vision, making everything from cacti to the odd few wild creatures to become little more than blurs in the distance, obscured by sheer temperature. It was fortunate that right now, no nations decided to take advantage of Suna’s weakened state politically. Were the foreign nations even aware? That wasn’t hers to care about, she just had a mission to do. If she ever became Kage… Then she could worry about those things. In fact, what was she talking about? Of course she was worried! Her nation was weak right now, and she couldn’t do much to help. But, that was why she was here, sat there, doing what she did. Making sure the village could still run, in whatever minor way she could.

Over the horizon, in the distance, a sight similar to what she had seen before began approaching. Unlike before however, instead of the animals from before, it was a camel that lead on the merchants and cargo. Midori watched, waiting for them to approach as they moved ever closer, likely here to either restock trades or, from a minor village in the land of wind. What their business was, she’d find out when they got there. She hummed, swinging her legs back and forth as she waited simply. Shortly the group arrived – five people, of varying genders and stature, draped in protective garments and cloths to protect themselves from the suns unrelenting rays. The either diplomat, or forefront of the group stepped forward, her attire a mixture of beiges, greys, and a teal. Her posture was slack, as if she had done this routine a thousand times before, and if her face wasn’t covered, Midori could swear she saw a wry smile behind the veil.

As the woman approached, Midori simply held out a hand, which the woman took with a nod. “Welcome to Sunagakure no Sato! What is your business today?” Midori asked, following the protocol as always. The woman simply replied with a “Thank you. We are the Wandering Camel Caravan. We have come back to restock, so that we can return to our route of travelling through villages nearby, trading convenient goods.” Midori nodded, but before she could ask, the woman pulled out some paperwork, leaving it on the desk. Midori simply scanned through the files, humming a little tune to herself as she did. Everything seemed in order, and the woman had already signed the form. The group had no doubt done this route many times before, knowing the process and speeding it up greatly. Midori smiled, handing the papers back with a nod. “Welcome to Sunagakure no Sato, may the sun shine well, and your business prosper!”

As the group moved on, Midori leaned out of her workplace, waving happily, before settling back down with a sigh and a plop. The day was going by quicker than she had expected, and while that was a relief, it was also disheartening. Was there always this little traffic going in and out of the village? Or was trade going downhill? It saddened her. The thought of her village suffering even more. Suna was such a lovely place. It had a sense of community. It helped her through rough times. She shook her head. One day. One day she’d be able to do something to help, properly.

Once more on the horizon, the sight was that of a movement. Yet, it was unlike the sort of movement the girl had expected. Instead of the usual sight of merchants coming and going, desiring their work of trade to be best improved by the visit to a major village, was a single, solitary person. Clad in cloths like the previous person, this person was small, and lithe. They seemed to walk with a blank stare on their face, or at least from what Midori could see from a distance. And most of all, they seemed… Tired.

Before the girl could question any more, the stranger suddenly collapsed. Startled, Midori got out from her position. It wasn’t protocol, but she couldn’t just ignore someone collapsing. She became a shinobi to help people, it didn’t matter to her if they were from her village or no. She already knew the ANBU were watching, and if this made them give her a negative report, so be it. As a medic, her priority was health, and because the ANBU were watching, she knew the gate would be safe, even with her not at the station. Feet leaving quickly covered footprints in the sand, Midori ran as fast as she could to the prone figure, sliding down beside them and rolling them to their side, so as to not disturb them or their flow of breath. She checked for a pulse – it was there.

She began moving the cloth wrappings, placing a hand to the forehead of the person, sighing as she shook her head. “Heat stroke… Alright, I know what to do.” She declared simply, picking up the heavily breathing figure with her puppet arm, and carrying them bridal style to the gatepost. If someone else showed up, she could keep an eye on this person while working the gate. But she couldn’t just leave someone in a position such as that. As she reached the outpost, the girl set the person down in the shade behind the desk, removing the majority of their wrappings, especially around their extremities, and making sure their head, neck, arms, and feet were bare.

Their skin was pale, yet red with fluster, and their eyes screwed shut. Midori reached up to their desk, taking a flask of water. It was mostly empty from where she had taken sips from it through the day, but enough remained to do the task. She carefully applied the water to a piece of her shirt, ripping it off with her puppet arm, before folding it up, and placing it over the person’s forehead. With her flesh arm, Midori made sure to check the pulse every now and again, using her extending puppet arm to reach up and stretch, covering as much of the light as possible to produce some much needed shade.

Midori waited like this for about half an hour, crossing her fingers and constantly keeping an eye on her makeshift patient. The time passed slowly. And to her happiness, the person’s eyes opened. “W-where am I?” was the first thing the stranger asked, beginning to sit up. Quickly, Midori moved to ease them back down. “Wait there. You had a heat stroke. Your body still requires rest. You are outside of the village of sand. The wet cloth on your head will probably need wetting again soon, but for now, it should do. If you have any injuries, please tell me so I can heal them. My name is Midori.” She said with a smile, the stranger nodding slowly and lying back down. “Nao. Nao Jiengi”

Nodding, Midori simply continued tending to the stranger. “So, mind if I ask what you were doing out here Nao? You looked dressed for the sand, but, you also didn’t seem used to the heat.” She declared simply, allowing her curiosity to get the better of her. “You don’t need to answer right away. I understand you will still be exhausted.” Midori added, almost as an interjection. “I… I’m a shinobi. I guess. Or rather, I want to be. I was originally planning on becoming a mercenary, working for money, and going from place to place, but, well, if I can’t survive in a desert, I can’t survive in a fight I guess.”

Midori smiled softly, shaking her head. “Fighting isn’t everything to a shinobi. I’m a shinobi, and when it comes to combat, I suck. End of story. You know, you are welcome to join Suna. We’re always looking for new friendly faces, and there’s no small amount of patience to help you get on your feet, literally, and metaphorically.”

Nao seemed to ponder this for a while, before nodding meekly. Midori smiled, looking out the station to the sun as it reached the end of its journey across the sky. She sighed, picking Nao up gently. “My shift is over, so, I’m going to take you to the hospital now. If you need anything, look for the Ningyou clan grounds. You can sign up at the administration building, okay?” she declared, the ninja for the night shift arriving to swap places with her. And like that, Midori began carrying the stranger and friend towards the village, smiling to herself. She’d done a good deed today, and that thought made her smile, to no small degree. In a way… Did she save a life? Or at the very least, save a severe injury or problem. The thought was something she was proud of.

1643 + 470 = 2113

[EXIT]

MISSIONS COMPLETE

Training: