Eight Days a Week

From beneath the comfort of her covers, Nastumi silenced the alarm clock with a blind slap each time it went off until, somehow, it was nearly half an hour after she planned to be up by. When she finally mustered up the requisite will to break away from her bed’s warm embrace, her morning became a blur. She rushed through her typical routine with the frantic energy of one who needed more time in the day; she splashed water on her face, dragged a brush through her hair, and was out the door with breakfast in hand.

Given the early hour, the streets of Konohagkure were still relatively empty. A few merchants set up their stalls for the day, several ambitious shinobi were out on a morning run, and a kindly old couple walked their two petite dogs.  Normally, the Nara girl would have stopped for the dogs, however, today she was already running behind and couldn’t afford to be any later, petting cute dogs could wait.

Today, unfortunately, was another day on the job, something she had come to dread. The assignments came down the day before in a file folder as thick as a book and hung over her head throughout the previous evening. Most of the so-called “missions” seemed to be more chore than mission, but that was the lot of a genin. At least this time she would have help—she wouldn’t have to suffer in solitude.

By some miracle and her abbreviated morning routine, she arrived on time at the agreed-upon meeting place, a public park in need of a cleanup. Wearing a yellow sweatshirt layered over a black shirt, Natsumi would be hard to miss. Glancing around the park, however, she didn’t see her supposed partner for the day’s missions, was he running late?
- - -
WC: 304
TWC: 304

Mission Docket:

“Hey!”

Natsumi’s greeting cut through the morning air upon the arrival of a shorter figure. Wrapped in cold weather wear and obscuring their face, the figure appeared an enigma on a hot day when even Natsumi’s light sweatshirt felt a bit much. Moreover, the Nara girl couldn’t quite place whether this was, in fact, the person she was meant to partner with on the day’s mission. They reminded her of the strange white-haired boy she’d meant roughly a week ago.

“You must be Xuexing,” she hazarded a guess as she approached the figure and extended a hand in a less-than-traditional greeting. “You can call me Natsumi, it’s great to meet you. I guess we’re working together today?”

Clearly, Konoha’s administration had little interest in safeguarding its genin’s free time. By Natsumi’s estimation, the docket of missions the pair was to complete would take much of the day. First, they needed to clean up the park, then run a few errands for a couple of Konoha’s more established clans, and, on the way back into town, address some disorder in the market district. Unfortunately, when missions came down, one couldn’t simply say no—all the Nara teen could hope for was good company and time for lunch.

“Should we get started?”

She jerked her head in a half nod towards one of the park’s larger trees. The groundkeepers had left out large paper bags for the pair, all that remained was to gather up the leaves. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad?
- - -
WC: 250
TWC: 554

Shaking Xuexing’s hand was a bit like shaking that of a mannequin’s hand: stiff, unsettling, and devoid of human warmth. Despite the second-hand awkwardness, Natsumi met her over-dressed companion’s stutter with a smile. When in doubt a smile and a good attitude got one far in life, and the teen hoped that maxim would hold true for the day ahead or it would be a long one.

As for the importance of the mission, the Nara couldn’t quite agree with her fellow genin’s assessment. If anything, the mission seemed, more or less, like busy work, meant to teach some kind of lesson about the importance of hard work. After all, Konohgakure had professional arborists to care for its many trees. However, she tried her best not to think too hard about such things—far better to do the work and be done with it.

For a period of time, the pair worked in silence. Unlike Xuexing, however, Natsumi used one of the rakes the arborists had left for them, scraping together piles of leaves and then stuffing them into the bags. Having spent much of her childhood helping maintain the Nara Clan Forest, the teen was not unacquainted with the concept of yard work. The work was a simple drudgery that, thankfully, Xuexing broke with a question.

“Eh.” Pausing her work, Natsumi leaned against her rake and wiped the sweat from her brow. “I can’t say it’s my favorite—I’d kill for a light breeze and a few clouds.”

She looked up at the sky hopefully only to find a clear blue sky and a fast-ascending sun.

“What about you, aren’t you hot in all that?”

In the back of her mind, the Nara girl could already hear her mother scolding her for calling out the oddities of others. However, she couldn’t very well not ask, right?
- - -
WC: 305
TWC: 859

Chilly? Natsumi couldn’t quite agree but gave Xuexing a polite nod without pressing the matter further. Instead, like her stuttering companion, she returned to the task at hand. And soon, by the two teens’ combined efforts, the park was spotless: all the leaf litter was gathered up into bags, which were then sealed and left out for pickup at a later time—with any luck the leaves would be mulched and help nurture the next generation of Konoha’s silent sentinels.

When the pair returned to the streets of Konoha, they joined the steadily growing throng of humanity that had come to characterize the village’s mid-morning rush. All along the main thoroughfare, shopkeepers threw open their doors, cafes welcomed caffeine-starved patrons, and enterprising merchants hocked their wares to any who would listen and more than a few who wouldn’t. Indeed, as the two genin wound their way past storefront after storefront, Natsumi’s gaze lingered on the various deals being offered in each one until something approximating a complete sentence drew her attention back to the winter-ready boy at her side.

“Well, if you know him,” she tried to give Xuexing a playful punch on the shoulder—a form of encouragement she'd learned from her older brothers. “Then lead on, it should make everything a lot easier.”

Scrawled in big block letters, the sign hanging on the butcher shop declared it to be ‘The best butcher this side of the Hyuuga district’. A bold claim, but Natsumi couldn’t quite argue with it having rarely frequented any other butchers in the village. The building’s façade spoke of a well-cared-for business with new siding, clean gutters, and a smiling, pig-like mascot adorning the door. It could very well be the best butcher shop in all of Konoha for all the Nara teen knew.

Quickening her pace, she arrived at the door a few strides ahead of her companion. In a dramatic flourish, she pulled open the door and stepped aside for Xuexing to enter first. It was only right, she reasoned, for him to take the lead in a place he was familiar with, maybe it would do him some good.

“After you.”
- - -
WC: 357
TWC: 1216

Natsumi was far from a vegetarian, however, something about the butcher’s shop made her uneasy. Perhaps it was the animal innards lining the walls, the overpowering smell of meat, or the sickening crack of bones yielding to the cleaver of the burly shopkeeper. Reagrdless, she stepped into the shop behind Xuewing, steeling herself with one last breath of fresh air and trying her best not to wrinkle her nose at the smell and sights of the establishment.

While Xuexing handled the conversation, the Nara teen couldn’t keep her gaze from wandering. The freshly butchered pig’s head on the far counter looked nothing like the shop’s happy mascot, and there were a few cuts of meat that she couldn’t quite identify. Interestingly, the gore around them contrasted sharply with Mr. Tanaka’s cheery demeanor. How odd that such a warm man could work every day in a shop built on the backs of the deaths of once-living creatures.

Fortunately, her shorter companion didn’t waste time with pleasantries, and she met her companion’s nod with a forced smile. With any luck, she thought on the way out, she would never have to step foot in the store again. Maybe trying a vegetarian diet for a little while wouldn’t be so bad?

“That was—"

Natsumi’s attempt at conversation died in her throat with the cries of a crazed chicken lady. Before the Nara teen could retake the lead, however, the strangely attired boy by her side took control of the situation, with notably less stuttering than before. How strange to see the difference a chaotic situation could make in one’s demeanor. Xuexing was certainly in the right line of work as a shinobi if all it took was a little adrenaline to break down his barriers.

Nodding in agreement with her companion’s plan, she took off to the left without hesitation. Dodging through the crowd and nearly barreling over an elderly lady, she followed the sound of the squawking bird and cursing merchants. More than a few times, the chicken slipped right through her fingers, leaving only feathers and an increasingly frustrated genin in its wake. The gawking passersby certainly weren’t helping either, a few were even suppressing laughs at the sight of the low-speed poultry chase.

Rat – Monkey – Dragon – Boar – Dog

As she ran, Natsumi’s hands flew through a familiar series of seals. The jutsu every Nara learned in childhood now aided her in apprehending the wayward chicken. Her shadow contorted itself into an unnatural form and, moving faster than her legs could take her, slipped through the crowd. At first, by mere chance and poor luck, the chicken’s shadow evaded her attempt to stop it in its tracks. However, her second attempt succeeded just as her companion lunged forward making the chicken’s capture a foregone conclusion.

“Nice job!” her shadow retreated—hopefully, unnoticed by the proud Yuki boy. “You really showed—”

Once more the Nara girl was interrupted—this time by an older merchant. They explained that a nearby cart had been abandoned some time ago. Apparently, the issue had been ignored for some time by the higher-ups of Konoha, and the merchant hoped that the two genin might be able to help clean it up. And, well, when a wizened old man asks for help one couldn’t very well turn them down—Natsumi couldn’t, at least.

“Of course, we can help,” she resigned herself to the task with a kind smile before directing her attention back to her companion, the brave poultry hunter. “Xuexing, come on, there’s something we have to do before we drop off those bones.”

And then there was also the matter of flowers they were supposed to pick later in the day. It was shaping up to be a busy day that Natsumi would be happy to see the end of. While walking, she explained the cart situation to Xuexing as they navigated their way to the abandoned vehicle.
- - -
WC: 653
TWC: 1869