~ x - XIV : D-Ranked Missions: Calm Days - x ~
The past few days were busy for Chiasa; Shoji Sensei had come through with his promise to teach her some jutsu. He had taught her so much that she was met the skill requirements for a promotion. He even helped her learn more about her specialty. Chiasa was more than strong enough to take on the remaining members of the Black Hand. Honestly, she was exhausted. As much as she wanted to get stronger, her body couldn't keep up with her will, at least for the moment anyway. Chiasa welcomed the menial tasks that she had to do today. It would give her time to break, and the relax, besides, these missions were the only thing stopping her promotion to Chunnin. Today, Shoji signed them up for two tasks, cleaning around the village and helping out around the farm that was just outside of the village limits.
Keeping up with Iwagakure's string of beautiful weather, today was no different. The village children were running around carefree, while the adults tended to the obligations of what that age meant. The stores were busy, and the streets were populated. While this was going on Shoji watched Chiasa. He watched as she swept the garden pathways clean of any stray twigs and unnecessary amounts of dirt.
"She's not as talkative since I got back from my last mission; when she is talkative, it's clear that she is hiding something." Shoji thought to himself as he continued to monitor his young student. "At first I figured it was because I was properly training her, but I don't know anymore," he added. Shoji opened up the bag of hot pepper chips and began to eat them one at a time. "She picks up jutsu way better than I did when I was her age, as a matter of fact, it didn't take her long to learn how to perform a proper Genjutsu, a C-Ranked one at that. No..." Shoji threw a handful of the chips in his mouth. He chewed them loudly, so loud that he was sure that Chiasa could hear him. "She hasn't even complained about doing all the work. She would have thrown a fit by now. What is going on, Chiasa?" he thought to himself.
Little did Shoji know, Chiasa was changing. She was becoming more calculated and cold, something that her mother would welcome. Shoji had no idea that he was contributing to a new period in Chiasa's life. He was rapidly propelling the village to the Era of 1000 Suns.
"Shoji Sensei." Chiasa's words startled him. "I understand that I am the Genin here and you are my teacher, but could you at least not make your laziness so visible." She continued. Shoji smiled and nodded. He stretched for a bit, got up, and walked away with his bag of chips.
"Fair enough, Chiasa. I will see you at the farm when you are finished here," he said before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
Chiasa paused for a moment, reflecting on what just happened. "He didn't give one of his chuckles. Something is on his mind. One day I will let him know what is going through my mind. I will let him know how I felt when I killed my first love, how I felt seeing my cousin swing to and fro from a rope, and I will let him know his role in creating the fire that I will become." Chiasa continued to sweep the grounds. "but not now, perhaps when I'm already a Chunnin."
It didn't take her long to finish her assigned area of the village. Now that was done, she could move on the farm and complete her tasks for the day. Although Chiasa hated farms and the smell that came along with them. She was already feeling more relaxed, physically and mentally. Chiasa gathered her cleaning tools and headed to the outskirts of the village, towards the farm.
The smell hit her before she even arrived at the farm. However, she endured it. She had to get better at showing no emotions. As she approached and got closer, she could make out two figures. "Thur she is." Chiasa heard come from one of the figures. She had heard the man's voice and accent before, so she knew it was the farmer from when they had to catch Koki. The other figure was obviously Shoji. "Whelp, glad you arrived. I don't need much, I've already done the heavy lifting. I just need you to clean up around the farm." Chiasa's face stayed stone cold as he spoke. The farmer found that a little odd. "Hmmm....even boys grimace when I tell them that they'll haft to be pickin up cow shit, but you didn't even flinch," he said to Chiasa.
She closed her eyes and sighed, "Mr. Farmer, you'd be surprised to know the things that I've seen. I'm not worried about cow shit. In fact, this may be the most relaxing thing that I've done in the past week and a half." she retorted, keeping the same cold tone and facial expression.
The farmer laughed. "Well, you're like the daughter I never had. Call me Coda, by the way. Coda Matashichi." Chiasa bowed respectfully and began to walk into the farm. Coda walked up to Shoji and chuckled. "Dat's a pretty tough lady you have, Shoji. Where did you get her?" Shoji chuckled at Coda's words. Honestly, he had no idea how "tough" Chiasa could be.
"She was given to me as my first student. She is part of the Jiin Clan. That might explain why she acts the way that she does. You should try seeing her when she is angry; she is in a good mood these days." The farmer's eyes widen with surprise before letting out another chuckle.
"Good Heavens, Shoji. You just can't leave the Jiin alone. You might as well see if they will adopt ya." They both shared a laugh.
Cleaning the farm was a lot more work than cleaning the village, a lot messier as well. Still, Chiasa saw that both of these tasks were not only finished but where completed beyond expectations. For her work, she was paid a bonus. She didn't care much for their thanks, but Ryo was always appreciated. After all, you can't buy ninja tools and jutsu scrolls with "thanks." | 1059 Words |
