Spoiler:

Just when Samuru had completed his previous mission, he had taken on another one. The mission he was assigned to was nothing too serious, but still important to the contractor. He was to help with the Land of Fire’s soldiers with setting up their communications. The mission itself seemed all too easy for him, but he would just take what he could get to keep himself busy. He wondered what soldier life was like. Even shinobi life in a village was different. The biggest difference between him, a ronin, and a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf he considered was freedom. He understood what consisted of a normal shinobi life. There was mostly no shortage of work. Though, they were tied down to their village like dogs on a leash. He wondered why anyone would choose that kind of life. Maybe one day, he would find out on his own.

Samuru wasn’t sure if he was cut out for that life. Being able to go to and fro as you please was something, only a wanderer or rogue would understand. Unlike a rogue, he wasn’t constantly being hunting by his past. He knew of how the criminal life could drag you in and nearly destroy you. It was part of the reason why he left the Land of Demons. Some parts of that land had so much criminal activity the country’s military couldn’t even handle it alone. It was a dangerous place for those who didn’t understand what that life led. The thought of his old lifestyle still resonated with him. His hands had tasted blood and death. They were forever stained, but he cared not for the lives he took. It was mostly him or them in his prior life.

He made his way to a forest with old trees. The trees were large enough that you could probably have built a mansion in their branches. The thick trunk gave excellent support to the rest of the trees. He figured that this place was chosen in particular to get the best effectiveness out of the equipment. The only familiarity he had with the communication devices were as a child. He remembered taking one apart trying to find out how it work. A memory of his father showing him how to put it together stuck with him. He accepted his father’s death. His father’s death was partially how he ended up here. Samuru even knew that his father was probably going to have him go out on his own one day. He hoped that one day his death wouldn’t be wasted on a petty mission.

There were soldiers that had equipment lined up at the tree line of the forest. They already a few of the tables that they needed to place the equipment on. He made his way toward one of the soldiers and got his attention. The soldier turned around slowly and seemed study his face. The soldier he approached seemed to be about ten years older than him with grey hairs already sprouting from his short neatly trimmed beard. The man pursed his lips slightly before speaking to Samuru.

“You must be one of the shinobi from the Hidden Leaf. Good to meet you. You’ll need to meet our captain he’s the one in the white band around his arm.”

“Correction, I’m not one of those chained down shinobi from the Konoha. I’m here for the ryo,” he responded.

“Well well. We have ourselves a sellsword. You’ll fit in with us. We’re pretty laid back outside of traditional training. Go ahead and get settled in.”

Samuru started to make his way to the captain. The captain seemed a little uptight that all of his equipment hadn’t gotten there yet. While talking to his lieutenant, he planted his face into his hands. Everything wasn’t going as smooth as the captain wanted. The captain looked up and met Samuru face to face. The older man stroked through his blond hair and sighed trying to retain the little bit of calm he had left. The captain looked at him with his bright blue eyes and sighed.

“You must be the help that Konoha sent. You can go ahead and start setting up the communications equipment on the tables. There’s a guide on the table on how things should be set up. If you have any questions, be free to ask any of the soldiers. They’ll be glad that you’re helping out with the grunt work.”

Samuru didn’t speak or respond to the older man. He just went ahead and started working on setting up the equipment. He first picked up the scroll which showed how the soldiers generally set up their equipment. The Natake wanderer continued to read through and study the scroll provided to him. After gathering everything he could from the documents he began setting the equipment up. The short range communication devices were setup first before he started on the long range. The equipment setup was pretty straightforward. It was simple and non-taxing.

As he continued setting up the equipment, some soldiers brought what was the last bit that the captain had been waiting for. They deployed another table and started working on the additional equipment. They would make the occasional wave to him and they started up their own conversations. He listened as they stared carrying on and made jokes that he could not understand. They laughed and were having their own good time. One conversation had caught his attention that he listened very carefully.

“Hey Aio, that reminds me of that joint OP I had in the Land of Demons,” one of the older soldiers started. “I remember it was like eight years ago. We fought some badass raiton user. They called him Mu the Purifier. He had some weird binding techniques that he combined with white lightning. They said that every time he shot an arrow or swung a blade demons were exorcised. He made me wish that I continued my shinobi training.”

Samuru knew that they were referring to his father. He continued to listen as they mentioned how his father had taken out a battalion of opposing forces. The man that was solely a blade for hire. The old man continued talking like he was a war hero. Then the man mentioned about a redheaded kid he had made the guy feel uneasy after the battle was over. He started to talk about how he almost killed a guy for getting too close to the kid. Samuru definitely knew it was his father they were referring to. His father was very protective of him and didn’t like others getting too close to him.

Samuru would continued listening until he had finished setting up most of the remaining equipment. As he finished, more soldiers appeared with more communication equipment. One of the soldiers approached him and asked to continue helping them out. Samuru agreed as they moved onto another location within the tree line. They set up another camp about two hundred meters into the forest. Samuru continued to help them set up equipment. It started getting dark, and he ended up staying in one of the makeshift army camps.

The morning arrived as he continued to help the soldiers make more camps and set up equipment. He spent half of day helping the soldiers test the equipment as they set it up in the forest. After the last one, he reported back to the captain. He gave a report that the man seemed to be pleased with. Samuru then took a letter from the captain and would bring it back to the hokage’s office. The mission had been a success. He didn’t expect to stay overnight, but the overall experience wasn’t negative. He learned about installing new equipment and found out how to use it efficiently. The mission was over and he figured that he needed to take spend a day at the hot springs. Though, it would be to mostly clear his pores.

[Exit Thread]
1359/750 words
609 words [remaining after mission]
600/600 [+150 ryo for word count]

9 unused word