Chapter 18: Missions

Running through the forest outside of Konoha, I sighed. 750,000 ryo a month for 5 months... well, all I can say is thank the Sage that we are allowed to take more than just one mission per outing. I asked for multiple bandit extermination missions, as well as accepting a mission to deliver a message from Tonika Village in the North West, on the border of the Land of Grass all the way to the Land of Noodles, which is on the top of the Southern Peninsula that makes the Land of Tea, part of the Land of Fire, and the Land of Noodles. Thankfully the three bandit exterminations were in a relatively straight line from Tonika Village down to Nikkou Inn Town, which was in the center of the peninsula.

I decided to start with the first camp, which was next to the lake in the north, roughly an hour run from Konoha.

Reviewing the information from the scroll as I ran, I sighed as I remembered this one had no nukenin, meaning it would be extremely easy.

'Bandit Extermination: C- Rank

Reward: 50,000 Ryo

Location: Lake East of Tonika Village, West of Hachou Village

Enemies: Estimated 15 Bandits

Proof of Completion: Right ear of each bandit'

Quickly calculating it in my head, the amount I would make from this would be... 33,000 ryo, as the Village always takes a third of the reward. Sighing, I went over the other three missions.

'Bandit Extermination: C Rank

Reward: 60,000 Ryo

Location: South of Kisargi Village, near the end of the river.

Enemies: Estimated 25 Bandits

Proof of Completion: Right ear of each bandit'

'Bandit Extermination: C+ Rank

Reward: 100,000 Ryo

Location: West of Sora-Ku, on the Coastline

Enemies: Three Genin Nukenin, Estimated 20 Bandits

Proof of Completion: Right ear of each bandit, head of Nukenin'

'Delivery: C+ Rank

Reward: 100,000 ryo

Location: Tonika Village to Yumegakure

Proof of Completion: Chief Enzo Tenro's message'

So in total I would make... 205,000 ryo from these missions. However, taking on that many bandits isn't a one or two day affair. More than likely, I will be out for three days, maybe four. Sighing again, I kept moving north, following the river.

Eventually, I could see the smoke coming from a large bonfire, and hear the loud cheers of drunk men. A moment later, after climbing a tall tree, I saw the 'camp'. Two large, shoddy tents stood next to each other, one of which was almost falling over. The bonfire was placed only a dozen feet from the tents, some sparks dangerously close to setting the tents ablaze.

Continuing to stare at the gathering, I was wondering if this was actually a bandit camp or not, since it seemed more like a large group going camping. Observing for a few more minutes, I frowned in disgust when I saw one of the men enter the tents, dragging a nude woman out by her hair. As she screamed and thrashed about, the men slowly undressed jeering at the woman as she was tied up.

Summoning my bow, I quickly went through some hand signs.

Wind chakra started converging on the string, forming an arrow. Pulling the string back, I aimed towards the largest group, totaling 7 men. Letting the arrow fly, I watched as it quickly closed the distance. Nocking a normal arrow, I aimed for the remaining 7 members. Letting arrow after arrow fly, the men had no time to react as a large blast of sharp wind blades eviscerated the first group. The rest only had a few moments to wonder what had happened before the arrows 'thunked' into them, sending them staggering to the ground.

Placing my bow back into the scroll, I drew my chokuto, quickly moving towards the camp.

When I appeared among the various dead bodies, the woman screamed. Looking at her, I pursed my lips, before checking to see if all the bandits were dead. A few had somehow lived the wind arrow, which made me grin. Pulling them from where they lay, I sliced off their right ears before tossing them into the bonfire, calmly listening to their screams as they burnt.

Turning towards the woman, she flinched before trying to move away.

"Listen, lady. I'm not going to do anything other than free you. See the Leaf?"

Saying so, I pointed to my Hitai-Ate, before moving towards her. Quickly slicing the ropes, she tried to cover her breasts and privates, failing miserably. Shaking my head, I walked into the tents, looking around.

A bunch of sheets and bedrolls covered the ground, the only furniture being a table in the back. Looking around, I found the cleanest sheet before tossing it to the woman. She quickly covered herself up.

Going back into the tents, I grabbed the loose bills and coins, which totaled 5,000 ryo. Moving back outside, I quickly grabbed my proof of completion, finding an additional 5,000 ryo on the bandits bodies. Sweeping the woman up into my arms, she gave a small yelp before glaring at me.

"Which village you from? Shukabu, Hachou, or Tonika?"

She continued to glare at me, before saying "Hachou."

Rolling my eyes, I started moving north, hoping to get there quickly. She was slightly annoying, glaring at me the entire time.

Thankfully, the bandits were extremely stupid, and only made their camp an hours walk from Hachou Village, which meant it was only a few minutes away for a shinobi.

When I entered the Village, she quickly hopped onto the ground, glaring at me. As I was about to leave, a small gathering of villagers stopped me, each praising me and offering a coin to me. I refused, as when I looked around I could see that it was a farming village. These people needed every coin they could, especially with winter in a few months.

Slowly untangling myself from the crowd, I waved before taking off towards the west, towards Tonika Village. Looking back, I could see the woman I saved had her arm outsretched slightly, her mouth opening and closing slightly, before she looked dejectedly at the ground. I laughed at that, realizing she most likely had problems displaying emotions other than anger.

As I was thinking about that, I reached Tonika Village. Unlike Hachou, it was a flourishing village, as it was the place merchants stopped when they wished to travel from the Land of Fire into the Land of Waterfalls, Land of Grass, and Land of Earth, or vice versa. Large buildings decorated a wide, paved road. Numerous people and carts traversed said road, some stopping into stores or bargaining at the stalls on the side of the road.

Entering the village, I moved towards the Konoha Branch Building, wanting to get the scroll quickly. I planned on taking on the Bandits south of Kisaragi today, before stopping at Sagen Harbor for the night. Then I would go to the camp west of Sora-ku, before making my way to the Village Hidden Among Dreams, Yumegakure. Depending on what this delivery could entail, that could mean staying in Yumegakure for a day, before making my way back to Konoha.

Walking down the road, I tossed a coin to a vendor selling meat kebabs, scarfing down the food. While nutrient pellets give you everything you need, they are not better than actual food.

Many people were staring at me, some bowing and others glaring. It was clear who was from the Land of Fire and who wasn't.

Eventually I reached the Konoha Branch, denoted by the large symbol for 'Fire' on a large sign. The building had the red shingle roof that many important buildings in Konoha had as well.

Nodding to the two shinobi standing at the door, I walked in. Looking around, I could see a few merchants haggling the prices for their escort missions to the various receptionists, as well as quite a few shinobi lounging around, relaxing before they would be called to escort one of the merchants somewhere. Approaching a free receptionist, I handed her the mission scroll. Seeing it, she shook her head before pointing to the back door. Nodding, I walked to the door, where I could hear two men talking.

Entering, I could see a large man draped in fine silks lounging on the couch, while opposite him was a shinobi writing something down on a scroll. Knocking on the door, the shinobi nodded at me, while the large man smiled.

"Are you my little messenger? Mmm... Konoha has outdone itself yet again. Say, do you wish to earn something extra?"

He ended that sentence by dragging his gaze over my body. Sneering at the man, I sat down.

"Shall I remind you that the solicitation of Kunoichi is a finable offense?"

The man scoffed, slamming down a large wad of bills.

"So? I can pay the fine and pay for you to spread your legs. Do you know who I am?"

The shinobi next to me stiffened slightly, as he could feel my anger rising. Quickly he raised his hands, saying "Mister Jia, please, we have to stick to the rules. Is that not what you were preaching to me last time?"

The large man, Jia, simply scoffed again, however he pulled the wad back into his robes. I placed my kunai back into it's pouch.

I was angry because a few years back, I wouldn't have minded taking that money. After all, I was only capable of taking missions of around C rank, meaning I didn't earn much. That wad would have paid my rent for awhile.

I slammed the scroll on the table, before growling "So, what am I taking to Yumegakure?"

Jia responded by slamming two scrolls on the table. Sweeping them up, I looked between the two men, asking "Anything else?"

Seeing Jia snarl at me and the shinobi shake his head as quickly as he could, I left the building.

---

So, Monday was a bust. I ended up binging Shikimori and Spy x Family yesterday.

However, I do plan to try and get back to daily uploads, but since I work for Amazon and it's prime week... well, this weekend is going to be draining.

Other than that, I've looked at quite a few maps, and realized something: No one knows what country is where. Some people put the Land of Iron next to the Land of Waterfalls, other put it in-between Land of Wind and Land of Earth. I am trying my best to make the world as accurate as possible, while still taking creative liberties (I dont actually know if either of the villages, Hachou or Tonika, are like what I made them).

So, if you see an inconsistency, point it out. If its major, ill change it, but if it isn't, oh well. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

---