Mission name: Babysitting
Mission rank: D
Objective: Simply look after the kid while parents are out.
Location: Konoha
Reward: 150 Ryo
Mission description: The parents need to leave for the afternoon to run errands and do things that they cannot bring their children along for. You will watch them until they return.
Mission details: The kids are 3, 4, and 7 years old; and they will mostly entertain themselves. Just make sure the oldest brother doesn't pick on the babies, and that they get lunch by noon and a nap by 1:30, and they'll be fine. Be warned, the baby LOVES to play in the mud and climb into high places, ascrapedalmost certainly end up dirty and scrapped up if you're not paying close enough attention.


Meiyo arrived with a skip in her step. She had a mission to enjoy. The little kunoichi was going to watch children, she loved children. Really, she loved everyone but children were the light of life in the village, the next chapter, and having the opportunity to help them grow even for an afternoon was a blessing in disguise. There was much that she could do with them. She had been given their ages of three, four and seven. Fun ages, exploring ages, ready for adventure ages! She could take them to the park, show them fun ninja skills, play peek-a-boo, play puzzles, watch the clouds. Just so much was out there! So standing in front of the apartment door she rapped three times in an up beat fashion. Tentatively she adjusted her head band atop her rainbow hair and brushed out wrinkles of her red v-neck t-shirt and mid thigh black shorts. She had dressed ready to take on any obstacle but with a neat-babysitter feel. For babysitting she opted to not bring her weapons pouch - because babies plus knives equals nono. She smiled brightly as the door opened. The father, she presumed as he was a mid thirties male with black hair and a tired look in his eyes, stood in the doorway. He looked her up and down and then nodded with a smile of relief. “Yes, you’re the genin they were to send to watch our children correct?” He asked her.

She bowed respectfully, “Yes, Ren, Meiyo at your service.”

“No, don’t take that! It’s mine!” a small boy’s voice screamed in the background. Meiyo leaned sideways peaking and then jumping as she saw several toys fly through the air across the room.

“No!” screamed a smaller boy.

“That’s enough from the both of you!” hollered a woman - probably the mother.

The father looked slightly nervous, but relieved at the same time. It was a paradox of emotion one could probably only understand once one was a parent. Meiyo didn’t try too hard to relate but instead attend to her duties. “Okay so anything in particular that they like or need to do?” She hummed reassuringly.

The father stepped aside and let her into the home. It was a standard apartment set up, but bigger than she had expected from the outside. A living room with a couch and coffee table that were littered with toys. There was an open kitchen and dining table just beyond with a hall to the right and left that more than likely led to a bathroom and bedrooms. Pictures hung along the walls with smiling faces of all the family members. She smiled fondly back at these. It was nice seeing a happy family, though as she turned back, these pictures must have been taken on better days.

There were three little boys she had been assigned. The youngest was on the couch with a stuffed animal in his hands, an owl she thought it was but couldn’t be sure. It was very colorful and fluffy with big eyes and wings, crinkling as he played with it. The middle child was throwing toys at the oldest brother from across the room, taking refuge behind the dining room table. There were toys in every square foot and covering the table. It was like a toddler war zone. Her heart swelled. She loved toddler war zones.

The father rubbed the back of his neck as the mother opened the fridge and pulled out a few items that were probably for their lunch. “Lunch at noon, nap at 1:30 and don’t let them get too messy, essentially are our expectations today. We should be back by two, which is only three hours. They can be a handful, but try not to let them fight too much.”

“Yes,” the mother agreed. “Try not to let Haru,” she eyed her eldest who stuck out his tongue, “pick on the other two too much. Oh and this,” to the middle child, “is Riku and our youngest is Kaito.” She indicated to her smallest. Carefully over the toys she kissed each one on the head and left with her arm in her husband’s out the door.

“Be good boys.” the father warned as they left and shut the door behind them.  

Meiyo waved with a smile as they left just as a toy hit her on the back of the head. A hard one too, a wooden horse it seemed as she rubbed her head and turned to find it at her feet. Wow, we’re off to a great start! sarcastically she hummed in her thoughts.

“So hi! I’m Meiyo,” she reached up and caught another toy from Haru.

“I don’t care!” An eyebrow flicked up as she looked at his sour face.

“Okay, that’s fine.” she shrugged. She looked about, there was a bin on one side of the wall. “Why don’t we get this mess cleaned up and then we can play a game.” If I can keep them entertained for an hour, we might survive lunch! she hoped.

“A game?” Riku asked tentatively as he lowered the toy of choice weaponry down slowly. Meiyo nodded.

“Mhmm a game.” she thought a few up. Wondering which would be the better. Sharing seemed to already be an issue. And she had lunch to prepare to keep things on schedule. They seemed like they often had rougher experiences with each other. She didn’t have prizes on her though. Maybe they’d compete? she wondered. Picking up the bin she pushed a few toys out of the center of the room and set it down. “Whoever can pick up all these toys the fastest wins.”

“Wins what?” Haru eyed her.

“It’s a surprise!” She spoke. A surprise for all of us because I have no idea what it’ll be! She smiled as confidently as she could. The older two stared at her for a long time and hard. It was like she was under interrogation. After the longest moment, they seemed to be okay with it. Shrugging their shoulders absently. “Great! So here’s the game. Whoever can pick up the most toys wins.” They seemed to look between each other. Riku jumped forward and starting tossing toys into the bin hurriedly. His brother wasn’t so keen.

“I see your game.” he smirked proudly. “I am not cleaning up.” He folded his arms stubbornly.

Meiyo smiled knowingly, squinting coy eyes at him. “Fine.” She brushed it off and turned towards the couch to help the little one as he scooted off the edge. She picked the child up and he teetered off to help his older brother pick up toys. “But then,” she made a worried face, gasping. “How are you going to win the prize if you don’t? Huh, I guess you’ll go without. That sucks.” she turned to help the youngest throw a toy in around the bin. He was throwing them from afar and just barely missing them every other toy or so. She batted them in before they could be flung too far or too close.

The eldest seemed like he was fuming for a minute. Then his face changed to something more thoughtful. Quickly, like a light bulb switching on, his face lit up with want. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I want the prize!” Meiyo tried to hold back her laughter and be encouraging.

“Great! If you work hard, you’ll always achieve success!” Meiyo went around the room grabbing the farthest toys and tossing them to the boys. The game at first had the tension for competition. Haru worked hard trying to snatch the toys before his younger brothers could. Often Meiyo had to ‘accidentally’ walk between them. Soon though he was dealing with his own piles and trying to catch the toys as they came to him Meiyo threw. They all grew to laughter as she threw the toys faster and faster at them, making it more difficult to catch. That’s the key to small kids. she laughed in her head. Keep them moving and make ‘mistakes’. They think it's hilarious!

The toys were cleaned up from around the house pretty quickly and the bin was almost overflowing. Meiyo balanced it carefully in her arms and put it back against the wall from where she had found it. “Great job, boys!” she delighted. “Look at what you accomplished!” she held her arms out around the room. “Look how spotless and the amazing hard work you did! Your mom and dad are going to be so proud!” The boys looked about sheepishly. There seemed to be pride growing within themselves from it. It glowed from beneath their skin and out their eyes. Meiyo’s heart warmed from this glow. This is always a special moment catching a child in a moment of triumph. This was one of the reasons she wanted to become a shinobi for the Leaf. To protect those and help those of her village.

“So,” Haru looked around with furrowed brows. “Where’s our prize?”

Meiyo had nothing but to smile. For a moment she couldn’t be sure. But then she noticed a small box of paper and crayons on top of a shelf in the dining room. It was her turn for the light bulb moment. “Oh! I’m going to show you origami! Have you ever done origami?” The kids shook their heads. They seemed confused. Meiyo waved them over towards the table, helping the youngest into a seat. She grabbed the box of craft supplies and set it in the middle. “It’s the art of paper folding.” She grabbed a piece of paper and started folding it. “It’s a pretty cool art. Because with one sheet of paper,” she finished the last fold and the boys eyes lit up even more. “You can make different shapes, see?” Meiyo held up a folded flower with step from the paper. “Want to try for yourselves?” The boys nodded fervidly while the youngest reached for the flower. She smiled graciously and handed it to him. “Okay, so I’ll show you step by step, then you can practice on your own, okay?”

“Okay!” they shouted. She handed them each a piece of paper and they set to work. After a bit and a good handful of paper sheets, they seemed to get the idea. While they practiced she went over to the kitchen area. The mother earlier had set out some supplies. Cooked rice, salmon, carrots, cucumber and sweet peas. Found a couple bowls and salt in the cabinets and set to work after washing her hands at the sink. In just a few minutes, just a minute before her deadline, she had cute little frog sushi balls ready to serve. She had set a tea pot and prepared green tea to serve with it and set plates in front of the three boys, cups for each and the tray of cute frog sushi in the center. Moving the art supplies they giggled at her work. “These are cool!” Haru shouted.

“Ribbet, ribbet!” croaked the youngest.

Meiyo smiled gratefully, “Thank you!” She poured them tea and served them. They ate while she scooped up their bunch of paper flowers. They weren’t finely detailed, but they were made out of love. “Should we give these to your mother when she returns?” she offered, they nodded with mouths full of food. She laughed at them sweetly.

Cleaning up lunch was easy enough. The boys played with a few of the toys - thank  goodness not all of them again - while she washed dishes and put them away. Cleaning the table it was just about nap time.

She came to the living room and scooped the youngest up in her arms. He seemed sleepy already. “Where’s your bedrooms?”

“We share one,” Haru groaned as he galloped a toy horse across the coffee table.

“That’s not to bad,” she hummed. “Can you show me where?”

He shrugged and tossed the horse into the bin. His brother put his toys away as well and took her hand towards the right hall. “This way.” Riku spoke softly. He opened a door and pulled her in. There were three beds and two dressers and even more toys here. “This one's Kaito’s bed,” he showed her the one against the far wall. Tenderly she laid the youngest down. He was already very sleepy and rolled over to close his eyes and cuddle a brown stuffed bear. She pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.

“Okay, what do you do to go to sleep?” She whispered.

“Mommy usually reads us a story,” Riku offered. Haru was leaning in the doorway with a sour face again and his arms crossed. Meiyo looked him over with understanding.

“You don’t like nap time do you?” She asked, she tucked Riku into the bed he climbed in. “It’s okay.” Haru looked up at her in surprise. He must’ve been half expecting an order to bed or something like it. His arms loosened from their tight grip and he looked at her from the side. “I don’t like bedtime either. But you know something?” He leaned closer as she whispered more quietly. “It’s good for you to nap. It rests the body so you have the strength to play and be a good leader.”

“A good leader?” he asked, confused.

She nodded with a knowing look. “Mmhmm, a leader. You’re the eldest. That means your brothers are looking to you for guidance and know how. You know all kinds of fun and brilliant things about this world, right? Like games, tricks and more.”

He shrugged, his arms relaxed to his side. “I guess so.”

“Yup, so that makes you a leader and a leader is responsible for his team. That means you need to be strong and well rested to show them the ropes.” She held back the bedding of the last bed. He seemed to consider this for a moment and then walked slowly towards one of the dressers where books were stacked.

“Yeah, you’re right I guess. Will you read this one?” He asked, holding up a book with a colorful cover.

“Of course.” she tucked him in bed as well. Then from leaning against a wall, she read the story. It was short, maybe five minutes worth of pages, but the boys had fallen asleep before the last page was read. It was a sweet sight. She reached over and turned the shades before putting the book back and leaving towards the dining room. She spent the next half hour to forty minutes just straightening things up, settling the flowers into a vase she had found in the cupboard and doing a few strength reps quietly until she heard the click of the lock at the door. “Welcome home,” she whispered, nodding towards the boys’ room.

The father nodded as he settled bags onto the coffee table. The mother stepped around him and went to peak on her sons. She smiled on her way back at Meiyo. The father thanked her quietly and she made her way out.

“Oh, and the boys made you two a gift, it’s on the table,” she waved and shut the door quietly on her way out. She didn’t need to hear or see to know they would appreciate it. The boys worked really hard on those flowers. Meiyo left towards the Administrative Building to check in and see what else was in store for her today.


[Exit Thread]

WC 2630
Mission WC 750
Balance WC 1880