Skye was a little groggy from waking up so early, but a mission is a mission. You can’t set the time when it comes to a mission. They set the time; you just have to be there when the important stuff happens. “Ugh…” He groaned as he looked down at the details of his mission. Apparently, a merchant was near an abandoned mine and had in his possession an important scroll that Skye needed to retrieve. Thing about this mission and many others like it, was the catch. The merchant he was after hadn’t done anything wrong and wasn’t aware of was value of the scroll. This could work in his favor later in the mission, but overall, he would just go about this whole thing peacefully. Even if violence became necessary, he wouldn’t hesitate at all to do something of the sorts.

Skye didn’t exactly like mines, especially abandoned ones. They were a bit too creepy for him. Creepier than any genjutsu he could conjure. Hell, more than what his father was capable of. The only thing a lot creepier or scarier in Skye’s views was spiders. Those little eight legged creatures were the scariest things ever. Crawling around and making webs. He was getting goose bumps just thinking about it. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind of the horror. Just thinking about them made him nervous.

He continued to walk until he found the merchant’s cart stopped right outside the abandoned mine. Tilting his head to inspect the wagon a little further, he could see a slight bit of movement. A few barrels were tossed off the wagon and landed on their sides. Skye slowly walked around the cart and saw a man setting all the barrels up. “Uh… Sir?” The man immediately stood up and looked at Skye with a puzzled face. “Uh… Can I help you?” With a nod, Skye inched closer to the man. “I believe you came across a scroll earlier that is of some value to whoever wanted me to do this mission.” Showing the merchant some papers to verify that the scroll was in his possession by mistake, he watched the man as he nodded in acceptance.

Things were going pretty well for this mission. It was going to be a piece of cake. That was until the merchant decided to answer the call of nature and leave Skye in charge of the cart. The man promised to give the scroll back once he returned. Moving one of the barrels over to the cart, Skye hopped up on top and sighed. Leaning back, he shut his eyes and decided to daydream as he waited for the merchant to come back. Imagining what he would do concerning Sano and his plan. There wasn’t much confidence behind his feelings, but it certainly interested him.

All of the sudden, he heard a voice ordering him to look down. Opening his eyes, he sat up straight and looked down. There was a little kid no more than six years of age in front of him. The boy started to talk about this ridiculous story of riches hidden inside the barrel and if Skye broke them, he and the boy could share the profit. Skye ignored the inquiry at first, but the kid also metioned a scroll being held within the barrel. That could be the scroll he was after for the mission… but he wouldn’t want to risk being wrong and getting scolded by the merchant. With a quick response, he hopped off the barrel and turned the kid around. “I can’t do that kid. It would be really wrong to do so.” Before Skye could say anything more, the kid scowled at him and ran off.

A few minutes after the kid left, the merchant came back and went into one of the barrels. Pulling out a scroll, he reluctantly gave it to Skye. Thanking the man for his generosity and cooperation, he started beck to Kumo’s administration building where he would return the scroll and receive his reward.

Word Count: 675/600