Tacos are probably burned...:

Alistein walked back into the mission outpost of Iwagakure. Just as he had delivered the first blueprint, another request came in.

“Heeeey there,” a young man in dark brown ninja attire came over to Alistein. “Woooould you like to make some more money?” he asked, adjusting his brown ninja headband.

Alistein stared. This guy seemed…really optimistic and overly happy for being at work. But, he welcomed it over the typical broody mood rain showers bring. He nodded.

“Sure. What do I have to do?”

The man held up another blueprint similar to the one Alistein had just delivered. “This is to be sent to the same place you juuuust came from, for the Uchaka family!”

Alistein stared.

“Anytime you wanna doooo it, that’d be cooool. But, you knoooow, you don’t haaaave to. Just an offer or soooomething.”

Alistein started to retract his earlier feelings towards this man’s personality. Now, it was kind of becoming a bit annoying with those extended woooords he was using.

“Sure thing,” Alistein replied, taking the blueprint.

“That’s greaaaat. That’s really greaaaat. I’ll just put you doooown for this mission, alriiiight?”

Alistein simply nodded, afraid that his mouth might let something offensive slip. This guy’s way of speaking was…really annoying now, especially since it came off as taunting now that he had agreed to do the same mission twice.


And so, he left Iwagakure with his pink umbrella, heading down the same path to the residential area. Like before, he didn’t mind walking in the rain. It was relaxing to him, that’s for sure. He needed such a thing, especially with his sensei possibly plotting something for the next squad meeting. Alistein had to soak up all the relaxation sessions he could get before it was time to go back to…whatever he had coming up next.

Again, Alistein looked from side to side, taking in the horizon.

“Why would anyone live all the way out here?” he asked. “Doesn’t it get lonely? And what about trips for groceries?”

Alistein continued to wonder just what this family did for fun out here. When he rolled his eyes at the thought of kids sword fighting with sticks, he spotted something white flopping around. It was his shoelace becoming undone again. He was about to lay the umbrella down, but almost forgot about the blueprint in his hand. If the umbrella is put down, they’ll surely get soaked. His only hope was to get to the same forest and tie them like before.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but whenever he noticed that his shoelaces were undone, his walking changed completely. It shifts from walking carefree to walking as if he was on a mine field. Sure, there was the risk of tripping, but…it’s not the end of the world of he does, right? Well, maybe it would be this time, since the sake of the mission rides on the fact that this blueprint is still legible. Being made of paper, and written in ink, it’d be unfortunate if mold grew on it, or if the ink began to run from water.

Alistein, making it to the forest, took the time to look for the same birch tree he used to tie his shoe last time. He couldn’t find the exact spot, but he did manage to locate a branch large enough to shield him from the rain. And so, like before, he stabbed the ground with his pink umbrella, the white cat head pattern gaining a light brown tint. He then set the blueprint onto the dry side of the umbrella, and then begun to tie his shoe. And again, there was a whizzing sound by his ear. Was it another bug? Alistein looked around, seeing nothing. With his shoe tied, he turned to retrieve the blueprint, only to find that it…was gone.

656

A young boy in a yellow T-shirt carrying the blueprint ran in the rain. His soaked black shorts made it hard for him to move, but he managed. He was busy looking behind himself, looking out for the man he stole from. Then he bumped into someone. As he flew back a bit, landing on his rump, the boy was careful not to let the blueprint leave his hand.

“S-sorry!” the boy said, quickly getting up.

“It’s okay, just-… Could I have that back please?” said a male voice.

The boy looked up to see that it was the man from earlier, holding that pink umbrella of his. The child got up and started running again. He looked back, seeing the man stand there, watching him run away. As the child glanced away, making sure he wouldn’t run into anything, he looked back to see the man was gone. With brown eyes wide open, he stopped running, looking back. His breathing was heavy, probably caused by the rain. Now that he noticed it, the rain…wasn’t even landing on him. What was going on? The boy looked up to see a pink sky with white cat heads floating above. No…it was…the man and his umbrella again.

“I mean, I really would like that back,” he spoke from behind the child.

The boy turned and looked at the man, slowly back away.

“Come on,” the umbrella man started, “Even if you run away with it, look at what you’re doing.” They pointed at the blueprint.

The boy looked down skeptically, and then gasped. The ink was running!

“B-but, I need this for my family! The Uchaka require-”

“Ucha-…?” The man sighed, smiling to the little boy. “You could’ve just asked, you know. I was on my way to deliver it to them.”

The boy stared at the man, but then shook his head. “Liar! I saw you talking with the Ru-… Ruda- …Uh, whatever they’re called! Ruda…ku! I was you talking with the Rudaku earlier!”

“Rudaku?” The umbrella-holding man thought back. The only thing that came to mind were the couple in the yellow robes. “Ah, yes. That was for another task. This one has been requested by the Uchaka.”

The boy took another step back.

“If you don’t believe me, we can go together,” the man shrugged. “Or, you can deliver it to him alone-”

“Actually,” the boy smiled, “that sounds nice. It’d be easier that way to turn in the blueprint and a Rudaku...uh...helper!”

Rolling his eyes, the man wandered towards the forest with the boy, heading for the Uchaka residence. As they did, the stranger offered the boy a spot under his umbrella. The boy started to move away.

“The ink’s running,” the man reminded.

The boy…reluctantly moved back closer.


Alistein and the child walked up to two men in black robes, standing in front of a large house. He heard the name ‘Ryat’ being said by the slimmer male. The young man was about to go over to them, but glanced at the kid. He lifted a hand over to the two men.

“Go ahead,” he said.

The boy stared, and then ran from under the umbrella. After a long recap of the events that occurred, and calling Alistein a ‘Rudakan spy’, the smaller man glanced at a laughing man who he assumed was this ‘Ryat’ fellow. He then looked back at Alistein.

“Thank you,” he said.

Alistein gave a thumbs up, walking away with his pink umbrella. As he was walking, the boy kept requesting someone to apprehend him. Luckily, no one did so.

1273

[Exit]