Mission 1: Bring me a boar

9:00, Ninja Academy Three Suns, Class 3.

The teacher arrives punctually as the bell announces the start of the class.

Instead of writing the date and subject in the board like every morning, he claps his hands asking attention from his young students.

The students, whose age vary from 12 to 13 years old, ignore his attempt to gather their attention and continue to chat as if nothing happened.

Pissed off, the teacher slams his hand in the black board and shout out.

"Attention, you damn brats! Next one to say a word will be thrown off the window!"

A sudden silence takes over the classroom. All kids jump to their place and shut their month, paying complete attention to the teacher like obedient soldiers, making it seem like all chaos before was a lie.

"Good! It seems like this year's training paid off a little bit."

The teacher takes out a ceramic jar from behind the desk and puts it on his table.

"Now listen up! In less than one week you will finally graduate from being academy students, becoming true Genins!"

"As Genins, you will have to deal with all kind of missions around the village, from simple deliveries to information gathering and more!"

"The Ninja Academy Three Suns is proud to graduate the best of the best ninjas in our village and I don't want to hear any rumor disgracing the honor of the academy due to the actions of anyone from this class!"

"To defend the honor of the Academy and ensure the quality of our graduates, today I brought you one last test you will have to complete!"

"In this jar we have 32 missions that need to be completed TODAY, BEFORE night fall."

"Now, form a line and pick a random mission from the jar!"

"""Sir, Yes, Sir!!!"""

The students neatly formed a queue in front of the jar and one by one each student took a mission from inside it, going back to their desk after reading it.

As the last student sat on his desk, the teacher began talking again:

"Very well! Now that each of you have your own mission, you are dismissed until evening! Good luck!"

"""Sir, yes, sir!"""

As the students finished answering, all of them disappeared from the class room in a blink.

--//--

On a common wood house in the outskirts of the village, a bluish white haired kid arrived at the garden by jumping over the wall. Inside, a middle aged man was occupied watering the flowers.

The boy's name is Ryou Yukikaze, a student of the Ninja Academy Three Suns.

"Dad! I'm back!"

"Ryou, isn't it too early? Are you skipping class again?"

"No dad, today is different! Fang-sensei assigned us a mission!"

"Oh!!! It's already that time of the year, hmm. Well, congratulations son! It seems you will finally became a true ninja!"

"Right! Just wait and I will soon surpass you!"

"Hahahaha, sure you will. Now tell me, what's your mission?"

"Oh! My mission is really cool! Can you guess?"

"Hmm... is it deliver a secret letter?"

"No!"

"Then, finding some lost object?"

"No, that wouldn't be cool. My mission is cool! One last chance!"

"Gather a bucket of ice?"

"...Dad, even for a cold joke, this one was terrible!"

"Hehehe, ok, I give up, tell it to me."

"I need to get a boar!"

(Hmm... did someone lost a pet boar lately? Well, that must be it. I doubt the school would give a hunting mission for a 13 years old kid...)

"I see, son. You are right, it's a really cool mission. 5 coolness points!"

"Yay!"

"Then what are you wasting your time here? Shouldn't you be going?"

"Yeah! I'm going right now! I just need my tonfa that I forgot in my room."

"Oh, I see. Go get it then! Good luck champion!"

Ryou runs inside the house and seconds later exit by the window, jumping over the wall again.

"Bye bye, dad!"

"Cya, son! Good luck!"

--//--

In the village's gate, Ryou advances at full speed when he is suddenly stopped by the gate keeper.

"Hey kid! Where do you think you are going?"

"I'm going to the forest! I need to complete the mission assigned by academy to graduate!"

"Oh! That!!..."

The guard thinks a little and continue.

(Well, this boy is not the first one, and as long as he doesn't go too far it should be ok....)

"All right! But promise to not go too far. Make sure to stay at the outskirts of the forest. If you go too far you will became wolf's food."

"Don't worry uncle! I have this!"

Ryou showed his tonfa to the gatekeeper.

"With this, no wolf will be able to win against me!"

The gatekeeper hit Ryou's head and strictly warns him.

"Shut up, kid. You should never underestimate your opponent! Now promise me!"

"...OK...I promise..."

"Good! If you ran into any trouble, make sure to run back here. I will take care of it for you."

"...All right...see you, uncle."

"Bye, kid. Good luck!"

--//--

A few minutes later Ryou arrives at the forest outskirts and starts his search.

Using the techniques he learned in class he tried to find a boar trail between the grass and trees and after a long and boring search he finally found a clue.

Following this clue, Ryou entered the forest and kept on tracking the trail unaware of the passage of time and that he was distancing himself further and further from the forest outskirts.

As the Sun reached the highest point and his stomach started to protest, Ryou heard a scream from some distance ahead.

"Kyaaaa!!!!!!!!"

"!? Someone is in danger!"

Ryou hurried his steps, heading to the source of the sound and just as he reaches a clearing, he finds a short girl surrounded by wolfs. As he observes her black ponytail, pale skin and blue eyes, he immediately identify her as Yume Shibito, his classmate.

As he run to Yome's rescue, Ryou practiced hand move nonstop and finally activate his favorite Ninjutsu, creating ice blades on the sides of his tonfa. Ryou slashes the wolves as he pass by and stops in front of Yume, turning again to face the wolfs.

"Shi-chan, you ok?"

"Y-Yuki-kun!? Why are you here?"

"Leave those questions for later! Can you run?"

"No, I hurt my feet."

The wolves, who got surprised by Ryou sudden arrival, started again to surround the pair.

"Stay behind me! I will protect you!"

"H-Hmm..."

The battle proceeded fast, the wolves jumped one after another toward Ryou, who uses one tonfa to defend the wolf's bite and another to counter, piercing their bellies with the ice blade.

One, two, three, four, five... Ryou lost the count of how many wolves he killed and soon fatigue started catching up to him.

Taking advantage of the little pause in between the wolves attack, Ryou had an idea.

"I can't keep this up. Shi-chan, hug me!"

"W-what!?"

"Hug me, fast!"

"H-hmm!"

As soon as Yume hugged Ryou from behind, he grabbed her legs and used his blink foot technique to climb the tree. Yume's face didn't even have time to turn red and Ryou had already dropped her in one of the thick tree branches.

"Ha..ha..ha..ha.."

Seeing Ryou arms bleeding from multiple scratches and his gasping for breath, Yume grows worried and almost start to cry.

"Yuki-kun, are you ok?"

"Ha...ha...ha...I just...ha... need...ha.... a second..."

"Sorry...it's all my fault..."

"Ha...ha...Don't worry! It's just a few scratch. See? I'm already fine."

The truth is Ryou is nowhere close to fine. His arms are hurting, his heart is beating like crazy and he is feeling really scared. But seeing a girl on his side, he refuses to let his weak side show, following blindly his father's teachings, to only show the girls your coolest side and assure them no matter how bad the situation turns out to be.

The wolves didn't give up their prey so easy and surrounded the tree.

Seeing the wolves all together, Ryou decided it was time for the part two of his plan.

Ryou concentrate for a second and started moving his hand:

Snake → Ram → Boar... "no, that's not it!"

Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Tiger... "Damn! IO made a mistake again!"

After each mistake, more and more chakra is consumed, making it harder to complete the technique.

Ryou stops and looks at the wolves again. The wolves glare back at them and jump up, trying to bite them.

Seeing them coming so close, he almost loses himself in fear, but then he remember his father words.

(When the situation is tough making you want to give up, take a deep breath, smile and give your all!)

And that's exactly what he does.

Ryou takes a really deep breath, smiles at the wolves and...

Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger!

"Ice Release: Great Freezing Wind Technique!!!"

Ryou join his hands and blow all air in his lungs creating a freezing wind that hit all wolves at the same time, freezing them at once.

"Ha...ha....ha...ha....hahaha! See father! I did it!"

Ryou jumped off the tree, smashing the ice statues below him.

"I won! Hahahaha!"

As Ryou celebrated his victory, Yume jumped off the tree falling right on top of him and hugged him with her all as she started crying.

"Yuki-kun, thank you! I was really really scared!"

Ryou patted her black hair softly, returning the hug with the other hand.

"Don't worry! I told Shi-chan I would protect you, didn't I? So all Shi-chan has to do is trust me and everything will be fine!"

"Hmm!"

(Saving a girl from wolves. how many coolness points father will give me this time?)

A few minutes later, as yume regained control of her emotions and stopped crying, she readily separated from Ryou and was unable to look at him in the eyes.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I was collecting healing herbs to make a healing bandage."

"Hee? So you mission is making a healing bandage?"

"No, I just have to deliver it."

"Hmm. Mine is to hunt a boar."

"A boar? I saw a boar nest not far from here."

"Really!?"

"Yes, that's where I found the wolves too."

"What!?"

"I saw the wolves surrounding something, I was curious so I got closer. As soon as I found out it was a boar nest, they found me out, so I had to run."

"Hee...such a bad luck..."

"Well...maybe it was not bad luck at all..."

Hearing Yume's whisper, Ryou got confused, and Yume whose true feelings just escaped turned bright red.

"?"

"..."

Feeling the odd mood, Ryou did his best to change the subject.

"Can you walk now?"

"Hmm...it seems like it's already fine."

"Then, please take me there."

"No problem!"

After another 5 minutes walking, the two reach a big hole hidden by the tall grass.

"It's here."

"Great! Let's see!"

Not caring about getting himself dirty, Ryou crawled into the boar nest, stretching his hand to see if he could find something. After a few seconds searching blindly, he finally caught something. If was furry, soft, wet and a little bit prickly. Curious, Ryou started to crawl back, pulling what he found.

As he got out and the Sun illuminated his catch, he recognized it was a dead boar. It had received a wolf's bite but somehow was able to escape and burrow itself in it's nest and ended up dying from bleeding.

"Ugh....it's dead..."

"Hmm... does this count as mission complete?"

"Saaa... I dunno..."

As they investigated the dead boar, Ryou suddenly discovered something was exiting the hole.

"Oh! Look! It's a baby boar!"

"Waah!! How cute! Let me hold it!"

"I have decided, I will take this little fellow to complete the mission! It should be better to have a baby alive than a dead adult."

"So cute! I want to have one too!"

Hearing this, Ryou crawls inside the nest again and searches for any little boar that may had been left behind. Unfortunately none is found and he gives up the search after five minutes. Scratching his head, he gives the suggestion.

"You can keep it while we go back to school."

"Really? Thanks!!"

"Hmm... you still need healing bandages, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I have some here with me, my father says to always be prepared."

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"Of course! Without Shi-chan's help I would never have found this little fellow!"

"Thanks Ryou!"

Yume readies herself to hug Ryou again, but suddenly she notices something, retreats her arms and uses her hands to cover her face as it turns red again.

"All right. Let's go back. I need to eat something..."

"Right! Let's go!"

Carrying the baby boar, the two walked back to the village without encountering any more problems.

--//--

18:00, Ninja Academy Three Suns, Class 3.

The students were chatting happily while showing off all kind of objects. Among them the one who was without a doubt the main attraction was some cute little baby boar in the hands of a black haired girl.

The teacher arrived in the classroom like always and seem the commotion he claps his hands asking attention from his young students. As always, the students kept chatting, ignoring his futile attempt to gather their attention and he, pissed off by their lack of reaction, slams his hand in the black board and shout out.

"Attention, you damn brats! Next one to say a word will be thrown off the window!"

Hearing the teacher's shout, each student uses the blink technique to go back to their respective desks.

"Good! Let's see who completed the test test. Make a line in front of me! Say your full name, objective and show me the item!"

Obeying their teacher the students neatly organize themselves in a single queue and start to deliver their mission objectives to the teacher.

"Yume Shibito, Healing Bandages."

"Good. You pass!"

"Gaia Inazuma! Steel Sword."

"Pass! Next!"

"Akane Chiko, Scroll."

"OK, Pass! Next!"

"Ryou Yukikaze, Boar."

"Pa-Wait, what???"

"Ryou Yukikaze, Boar."

"There was no boar on the list. Show me your paper!"

Ryou give the paper to the teacher.

The teacher unfolds the paper and notices it's really written boar.

(Fuck! I made a mistake! This was supposed to be board!)

(...well, as long as no one discovers, it will be fine...)

"Well, it must have been added by some other teacher, good job. You Pass!"

...

As the last student reported his mission and sat on his deck, the teacher started talking again.

"Congratulations, all of you! You have made be proud!"

"The items you collected are all items you will use in the future. From steel swords and poison recipes, to hiding boards and healing bandages, all of them are tools necessary for you to succeed as a ninja! I expect that by getting familiar with your tools earlier you will be able to use them better on your time of need. Now, for the rest of the class, you can show one another your items and discuss their usefulness. If you have any doubts, come ask me!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The students started chatting again, and the teacher sat on his chair and started reading a book. A few minutes later, a bluish white haired boy appeared in front of his teacher desk carrying a little boar.

"Fang-sensei, can I ask a question?"

The teacher, focused on his book answered.

"Ask away, boy..."

"I was talking with my friends and we were able to tell all tool's functions but this one..."

"Oh! Let me see the too-fu...!"

(Fuck! This piggy again! What do I say now!?)

"Tofu?"

"Hmm, no, I mean, the boar, sure, it's really... useful..."

"Eh? Really?"

"O-Of course!"

(Come on, brain! Help me out here! Don't their image of us be destroyed just a few days from graduating!)

"So, what can it do?"

"It can..."

"It can...?"

(What the hell can a boar do!? Think, think.. all those pigs do is eat and sleep! How can this be useful!? Wait, what did they eat again? was it roots? Oh! That's it!)

"Find edible roots and plants, to help you survive and..."

"And?"

(What more? What more!? Why did I have to end my phrase with and!? Damn! What does a boar do? How does it attack? Oh right, charge! That's it!)

"And it can also charge at your enemies for you..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, doing so it can help you break the enemy's formation!"

"I see!!!"

"And if you are really hungry, it can be used as emergency rations! Keep it alive and it will always be fresh!"

(OMG! What am I saying!?)

"I see! Really clever! Thanks Fang-sensei!"

The boy left with sparkling eyes while the teacher felt a weight in his conscience for tricking the naive little boy.

"Guys, I got the answer! Hear me out!"

...

--//--

That night, a son told his dad his adventure and got 10 coolness points.

And after the son went to bed, his father slipped out of the house for a single hour.

As morning arrived, two new patients (some teacher and some gatekeeper) were admitted to the local hospital with a number of heavy injuries caused by blunt strikes and the students from Ninja Academy Three Suns, Class 3, were dismissed early from their classes due to unknown reasons.