Earning Dough

The morning was young, quite much so that it was still considerably dark out due to the absence of the sun, and while most of Konohagakure's villager's were cuddled up with their favorite teddy bear Rōarku patrolled the village's border. His enhanced senses were on high alert for anything peculiar, despite his orders were to report any and everything to his senior ranking officer, there was a more than good chance that Rōarku would do his own investigation first. His movements were blurred as he weaved in and out of the abundance of trees that composed the  exterior of the border of his village, he moved in tandem with the clouds as they passed across the moon, thus allowing for him to maximize his art in stealth. The familiar voice of the guard that he was supposed to report into called out as Rōarku passed one of the pillars with the guard tower atop, his head cocked up before making his way up.


Choosing to keep to the silent persona he portrayed to the outside world, Rōarku simply replied by shaking his head indicating that he was fine to continue. With that said, or not said, he leapt from the top of the pillar and began the descent back to the floor so as to continue his patrols. This option to forget resting and continue with the task at hand was a product of the training he had received from the Foundation's Leader, the motto he lived by was that "Too much rest was for the weak… If a shinobi can stand on his own two feet then the task at hand was more important…". Though not particularly his cup of tea, the deeper meaning behind the words would aid him on his quest forward.

Thud - The solid figure of the eleven (11) year old boy's frame sounded as he made contact with the soft earth below, the crouched stance he was in allowed Rōarku to move in any direction if the occasion called for it, but after checking with his senses things were clear, thus he continued along the same path he had taken once already around the exterior of the village.

Starting the day's mission at three (3) am and ending at nine (9) am, Rōarku lapped around the village thrice in succession patrolling its' borders. Not a single mishap occurred throughout the early morning period, despite him secretly wanting something slightly interesting to happen, thus things made for a boring start to the day. Though, while sitting a top the guard post he was granted with being of few people to take in the first rays of the sun as it poked over the tops of the horizon composed of trees.


Whilst gazing out at the sunrise and admiring its never-ending work, Rōarku's enhanced sense of smell caught the familiar scent of another human approaching, his head cocked in the direction that the patron would appear. No sooner had he moved did his senior officer, a Jounin with brown hair and a unique "x"-shaped birthmark on his right cheek, appear before him. Unlike his own, the man's face seemed beaten and tired like a lifetimes worth of stress continued to weigh down on his shoulders, but through it all he managed to work up a smile. Rōarku flinched when the man tried to pat him on the back.

 

A brown leather bag was flung through the air toward the boy, the contents within chiming as it was caught. Despite the numerous missions assigned to him by the Foundation's leader, this marked Rōarku's first mission as a legitimate Genin in the village's ranks. A certain pride came over him as he gave a hidden smile, it's true nature shown through his eyes under false pretenses. Nevertheless, the events of the morning marked the start of a long journey completing tasks within tasks just to satisfy the purpose behind other tasks, the pressure was on as he ventured forth in search of the extent of the life of a shinobi...

Word Count: 767
    - C Rank: 700/700

---

Mission in Progress:

With the mission of patrolling the village's borders behind him, Rōarku was allotted an unspecified amount of down time, thus he used the opportunity to add some fuel to his system by heading to the local ramen shop. Throughout his short tenure in the village the name Ichiraku Ramen Shop had been mentioned more than once, but Rōarku despite not trying the place out could not find the significance in it besides it was a favorite eatery of Konoha's Orange Flash. In the end, becoming nothing more than a well placed tourist attraction.

After making his way back into the village the boy intertwined with the residents of the village as they slowly filled the streets and made their way to the start of the day. The smell of the day's first broth guided the Puredetā boy to the shop as he navigated his way simply through his sense of smell, an elderly woman greeted him upon his arrival and passed him a menu. He simply gave a nod to show his appreciation before returning to the menu.



Rōarku raised a hand to get the woman's attention away from stirring a huge pot of broth,  her hands swept across the front of her apron before pulling out an order form and pen and waited for the order. The two sat in silence for moments just exchanging blank looks, things such as ordering food had been difficult since his vow of silence, but with the right hostess hand gestures would suffice. A blonde eyebrow was raised as the two continued to sit in silence, he went as far as to wave a hand in the face of the woman, but to no prevail. Not sure what to do, Rōarku pushed back in his chair to leave, the sound of the legs of the chair against the ground filled the air.



The sudden outburst by the woman caused him to almost fall from his chair, but after a moment's struggle he regained his balance and composure. Through a series of hand gestures Roarku managed to communicate his order across to the woman, minutes passed and everything was cooked before him. A caution of warning was given to the temperature of the dish to which the boy scoffed, there weren't too many things out there that could burn him like that, thus to show off he grabbed the bowl with his bare hands and began drinking right from the rim. The elderly woman's jaw dropped in disbelief.


After paying for his food the boy stepped out from the stand enjoying a full belly and a heart warming laugh. All of a sudden his demeanor changed to a more serious one as a hawk squawked up above him, his hands grasped a piece of parchment that had been released from the birds talons. There was no doubt in his mind what it was or who it was from, all the matter was what was the assignment described on it's interior. Ducking off under the cover of a tree, Roarku obtained access to the scroll by paying a small amount of blood, his eyes raced from right to left reading the information within.

---

The location of the slaughterhouse was just outside the village, it previously resided within but a group of Inuzaka animal rights activists pushed for it to be relocated, thus Rōarku passed by the same guards that he had been patrolling with earlier in the day. Fifteen minutes was all it took after he had taken off in full sprint, the large steel frame of the building would come into view as he rounded the corner of the path, the smell of death filled the air alerting the boy over 5 minutes sooner. He headed around back where a man with a welders mask stoked a fire, the dozens of pigs that walked around freely flocked toward Rōarku as he entered the area. Taking notice of this, the man pulled back his mask and flashed a quick smile accompanied by a wave.

 

The man's raspy voice was filled with age and wisdom that Rōarku had come to respect, the two had spent many days together, honing the boy's developing skill in Kenjutsu. Thus, when Jiro Ibisu taunted the boy he knew that it would do nothing but spark the flame of hard work within the boy. The two walked inside the slaughterhouse where the smell of dying pigs became overbearing and nauseating to the boy so much that he was forced to use a technique to block off his sense of smell, where they ended up was a room with a conveyer belt  leading into a giant steam driven machine. From experience Rōarku already knew the routine of how to go about things, thus he removed his medium length katana from the holster on his back and ushered in the first pig.

A single strike from the blade landed at the base of the animals spine, due to the boy's skill in Taijutsu he was able to pass through the flesh and bone with ease, he then placed both halves of the body on the conveyer belt and fate did the rest. The feat received a round of applause from the owner of the place, but his attention soon was turned from the boy to a pair of men who had shown up from nowhere. Returning back to the mission at hand, Rōarku lined up another victim and continued the process over again. Jiro knew of the boy's talents thus moved the conversation out of his ear shot, but for whatever reason things had gotten heated and he began to hear everything.



The boy's mind raced with questions as he lifted the body of the third pig that had fallen prey to the edge of his blade, he could hear Jiro making his way back, thus he kept at the work provided to him. The man's footsteps bounced off of the cement floor but they did not stop within the room where Rōarku was located, no, they continued on toward the giant hanger-like doors and before long they closed with a loud bang. The only light source for the room had become a dangling lamp over head, it illuminated the room just enough so that the work could be completed, but Jiro's voice called out to him.




The scene unfolded before the boy as he entered the central portion of the slaughterhouse where he found Jiro standing next to a man who's features were swollen and bloodied as he sat bound by rope to a chair, there wasn't a doubt that he had been beaten and probably tortured knowing who the present company was. The captivee began to squirm and wriggle as Rōarku came to a halt three feet in front of him, the medium length katana in the hands of the boy had been the source of this struggle, but Jiro chopped the man's neck with his right hand causing it to go limp.

 

From the moment he saw the state in which the man was in he knew what his next order would be, he just wished it didn't have to be him to do it. Whoever wanted his head should have came and spilled the blood himself, but who was he, Rōarku Puredetā, to question those who were of the initiated when he himself wasn't? With this concept plaguing at his mind his blade wielding arm was raised to the man's neck, both hands gripped the hilt tightly as he measured where his strike would land, then fate ran its course and the head of the man went rolling toward Jiro's feet to which he chuckled lightly.

 

---

It took little time for the boy to grab a broom and hose to and mix the deceased's blood with that of the slaughtered pigs, a bit of creativity went into disposing of the body, but in the end the body met the likes of the meat grinder. Rōarku cared little about the poor soul that would consume the human meat pie, in his mind the person would have simply just been dealt a bad card by fate. Nevertheless, the next portion of his newest assignment took place in a small town  three hours outside of the village's border. It laid in a valley dwarfed by the Tensa Dam, without its construction the town would have surely been lost.

Boom - Five explosions went off vertically starting at the base of the dam, pieces of its structure became dislodged and crashed toward the village below, soon after a torrent of water came sailing through fault lines. The towns people scrambled trying to get to safety atop floating debris that carried them through the forest, only stopping when bashed up against trees. A few shinobi specializing in Doton | Earth Release techniques tried to patch up the job before further harm could be done, but by the time the water flow had been stopped the damage was catastrophic. Despite all the mayhem, not a single culprit or even person of interest had been apprehended nor would they be. By the time of the third explosion the caramel-mocha skinned tone shinobi of the organization known as Root had already vacated the area, every part of his plan had fallen in place and thus the mission was a success. The boy's next stop was surely to acquire his earnings, greed in the form of money and power did rule this world after all.

---

Word Count: 1,954
- D Rank : 500/500
- C Rank : 700/700
- C Rank : 700/700
- Remainder: 54

Chakra Pool: 200/200

Three hours it took to reach the sight of his mission, while undetected by his Cloak of Invisibility he was able to properly set the charges in under twenty five minutes. By the time of their detonation another twenty five minutes later, Rōarku had already increased the distance between himself and the dam considerably. The sound of the water raging down on the small town below meant yet another successful mission, thus he spent the next three hours occupying his mind with thoughts of why he had been assigned such a devious one as destroying a town. "What could they as a whole possibly have done to deserve such a fate by the hand of the Foundation?... I don't know why I plague myself with such question… Never will we receive an answer for our actions… It's simply the bidding of our glorious leader… But, still…"

In his mind, time had elapsed rather quickly because before he knew it he was back within the big metal interior of the slaughterhouse, Jiro sat on a familiar chair manually sharpening Rōarku's blade. Several comments beforehand were recited from memory in Jiro's raspy voice, thus the genin was forced to hand over his blade and listen to how "A good blade makes a clean cut every time, yet every time a strike is dealt the blade experiences wear and tear…" The two chopped it up with one another for another fifteen minutes at the least before Rōarku attempted to escape the old timers lengthy stories, but upon making it out Jiro requested but one more thing from the boy. The machine that cooked the pork pies was running low on steam and it just so happened that a member of the Senju clan had planted and grown ten new trees just yesterday. Realizing where this was going, Rōarku unsheathed his blade once more for the day and headed out back for his current mission.

Schink… Schink… Schink… - From past experiences with using regular trees as target practice, Rōarku had acquired the muscle memory of what it felt like to make a clean cut and how much strength he would have to exert in order to achieve the desired effect. Although not very taxing given the boy's current strength level, it did tire him out after a while of constant use. Unfortunately because of the Senju chakra coursing through each of the ten trees, their durability was significantly increased, so much so that it took three successful strikes to the same spot in order to bring them down. Sweat dripped down the frame of the boy's face as his chest rose and fell at an increased rate, the third tree had been conquered, yet even now the boy was pushing his limit. A searing pain began to originate from Rōarku's palms as he struggled to release his grasp from the hilt of his blade, three blisters had already formed on his right hand while two were beginning to form on his left. The look on the boy's face as he gazed into his palms had received a full-hearted chuckle from Jiro who had slipped into the some time after first tree just to observe the boy's progress. Rōarku wrinkled his brow as he gazed at the man angrily, as usual the majority of this expression was seen through the genin's eyes due to the bottom half of his face being concealed by his choice of clothing.


Being within the man's presence was beginning to annoy Rōarku, too much had occurred throughout the day and by the position of the sun at the moment it would appear that there would be only five hours of light left for the day. Thus, twenty one strikes later and the remaining seven trees had come crashing down in much the same manner as the first three. Much of the pain of the experience had become tolerable after a little bit of time, his anger fueled him most of the way through it all. After exchanging final words with Jiro the boy began his trek back to his apartments, his mind recounting the events of the day. Unfortunately for the boy, his day was not up just yet. Overhead a black bird with a canister on it's back swooped down and perched itself on Rōarku's shoulder, a look of annoyance overcame the boy as he rolled his eyes at the bird to which it quickly struck at the side of his face, his flesh getting pinched in the bird's beak. "Damn bird… Just give me the message…" As if understanding the boy, the black bird dipped it's head toward the ground allowing Rōarku to receive the scroll within the canister before flying off. A sigh released from the boy as he unraveled the scroll and began reviewing it's contents.


The boy shook his head as he tucked the scroll away so that it would not hinder his travel in search of someone poor bunny rabbit, the whole concept of the Foundation was beginning to crumble in the boy's mind, but he still had not yet achieved all that he could underneath their tutelage, thus he would continue on the very basic of missions acquiring the knowledge and all that of which came with it. In due time, he would make his claim, but for now his senses were on high alert as he trekked the village streets in search of the missing pet.

Ding - And just like that, three minutes where up. Had the boy successfully acquired the bunny? Of course... Tracking was his specialty. In that short amount of time he was able to locate and return to the pet to it's rightful owner. From the day's experience one would expect the boy to be headed home, but the direction in which he traveled was of the complete opposite from his home. No, from the looks of things Rōarku's next destination was the Foundation's Headquarters.

---

Word Count: 1,055
Chakra Pool: 200/200

The day was young, morning dew still occupied the blades of grass and leaves that were in abundance across the great village of Konohagakure no Sato. The rays of the early morning sun rising just over the monument of the previous, and most recently added new, Hokage streamed through the blinds of the one bed room flat apartment that belonged to a shinobi not native to these lands, his journey over the course of his life has led him to call The Village Hidden in the Leaves his home. The walls of the flat were bare, the room empty with the exception of an already made bed and a set of weights stacked together in the corner. The owner of the placed nowhere to be found within the room, but sounds from the only other door within the flat besides that of the one leading to the world outside indicated his location.

Without so much as a squeak the door swung open revealing the newest addition to Konohagakure's military ranks, Rōarku Puredetā. His well built frame was something extraordinary for shinobi of these lands, despite being 11 years of age the tonality of his body's muscle mass was on par with that of Jounin of this village, a gift among several other that he received through his lineage. Fresh from the shower, beads of water slowly accumulated on his bare chest before running down the lengths of his abs, also foreign to these lands was the caramel color of his skin tone unique to far off places in the Land of Lightning. As he walked away his left hand reached back closing the door behind him while his right began to playfully brush through the short blonde hair of his, the last bits of moisture from the morning's shower being slung around the room as he stopped before his weights. As routine the morning's workout was about to commence.

By the end of the morning's workout, per usual, the room had become something akin to a sauna. Certain characteristics of within the Puredetā lineage made possible for Rōarku to produce steam from the pores of his body, the morning's workout in collaboration with the steam naturally built up within his body tended to rapidly produce even more steam due to the rapid increase in temperature. For minutes Rōarku laid spread eagle across the floor looking up at the ceiling, although his body was exhausted from the workout his mind drifted in the sea of memories he acquired over his short life span. Memories of his brother in particular… In a matter of seconds he went from the floor and across the room to the window, a peculiar smell had alerted him of the arrival of a messenger bird. No sooner had he gotten their did the one foot wing span of a messenger bird fold inward outside the window, Rōarku slid the glass open and received the scroll within the holster of the birds back. Off it flew after receiving a ruffling of the feathers on its' head, Rōarku's attention fell upon the scroll.



No date, no signature, just simply instructions to follow and an odd saying. To those outside of the Foundation, it was meaningless, but to those who are or undergo initiation it was everything. The course of events that had followed up until reading the information within the confines of the scroll had become a daily routine over the course of three months since the boy known as Rōarku Puredetā gained residence within Konohagakure, every day the contents of the message were executed without question. The skills Rōarku possessed in addition to his silent nature and dying loyalty made him the ultimate soldier and tool for the Foundation, but to be used was not in his nature. Mission after mission worked in part for him as well, each simply a more refined training experience than the next, all of which working toward progressing himself until the Foundation's uses were no more.

---

Little time elapsed as the young Puredeta boy made his way to the entrance of the smallish dojo, his eyes peeked through the window as he watched several students striking the air with multiple punches and kicks all in rhythm beating of a cane by the man presumed to be the Teacher. His attire was much the same as any day simply because of it's convenience and the level of flexibility it allowed which worked in tandem with his style of fighting, thus walking in no thoughts of being the outcast out of dress ever crossed his mind. The boy made a bee line path straight for the Teacher, all other students and personnel in the room  had already been deemed feeble within Roarku's mind, if he were to get any lesson out of today it would be directly from the source. As honorable as usual, he gave a slight bow which was given a nod of acknowledge by the Teacher before the boy attempted to pass him the scroll, but his efforts were denied as the elderly man stroked his long white beard with his free hand and leaned upon his can supported hand. A gentle humming noise stemmed from the man which sent an eerie feeling to course over the boy, but then he struck the ground three times with his cane. Upon command, student and personnel a like stopped all that they were doing and kneelt down in the formation of a sparring circle in the middle of the dojo.


And just like that, the thrill of the hunt sent that familiar tingling sensation to run up the course of his spine as he watched a lone soul stand up from the masses, he looked in Rōarku's direction with interest as he beat his closed fist against his open palm. Rōarku drew in a deep breath as he walked toward then through the circle toward his opponent, his hip-pouch and medical-pouch had been removed so there were no other hindrances in this type of battle setting. After properly greeting one another the Teacher hit his can against the ground three times to signal for them to start, immediately Ōsharu's enhanced senses went into effect gathering as much information as possible about his opponent. Little time was wasted as Rōarku's opponent decided on a frontal assault,  his foot speed was decent to say the most, but the boy could tell that he relied on his strength the most, thus a simple sweep of his foot was all it took to allow his opponent to use his own strength and weight to trip up and go tumbling out of the sparring and into a few of his classmates.


Immediately after tripping up his opponent Rōarku's hands flung into his pockets as he began to walk out of the sparring circle, his senses had given him the measurements he needed based upon the speed and height of his opponents, so bothering to look back to see the outcome was pointless to the boy. No sooner had he broke the circle did he find himself being flung by the collar of his shirt back into the arena.  The Teacher's cane struck the ground twice before Rōarku knew what was going on, by the look of a new opponent's glaring face and crossed arms his lessons for the day were not over quite yet. The boy pushed off from the ground assuming his full height, a look of annoyance could be gathered from the look he gave to he new opponent then the teacher. Once again, the cane struck twice and the match was to start. A few murmurs could be heard from the students in attendance as a jet of steam erupted from the Rōarku's body, he could hear them whispering about "Ninjutsu is forbidden within the dojo…", though he paid no mind to this for he knew it was just biological and that that he didn't need Ninjutsu to take down any of his opponents.

From the moment the cane struck the ground it had already been decided, he would be playing on the offensive side this time. His foot speed and hand speed were decent by themselves, but together they were a work of art. Thus, as he watched each of his strikes narrowly get missed a sense of a pride washed over him, his opponent would tire out soon and the searing pain of his heated fist would prove him to be victor once more. The longer the fight progressed the more the boy's body heated up which caused more and more steam to be released from his body and more and more murmurs to escape the masses. Catching wind of this, Rōarku grew even more angry and allowed this anger to fuel his fire, thus with one well timed punch he struck the man's chest with a searing fist that left and imprint in his kimono. The man staggered back and had to be supported by his classmates to prevent himself from falling out of the arena. Rōarku looked toward the master as if to ask "Whose next…", though as he turned he found the white bearded male standing before him placing his can in the arms of one of his students. A devilish grin overcame the boy as he increased the distance between the two to about two meters, more than enough space to start the next battle.

"Begin…" Was all that escaped the man's pursed lips as he started on the offensive, something to which Rōarku had trouble maneuvering around. An open palm met the boy's shoulder sending him toppling to the ground, although he managed to stop himself from exiting the circle by assuming his Predator pose. His eyes scanned over the man looking for a weak spot or some point of interest, but nothing came to him nor even a plan. "If you shall not strike then I shall not wait…" With that said the man jumped into the air and attempted to come down on Roarku with both of his feet, such a simple strike was dodged by tumbling forward. Though, out of instinct the boy caused two jets two erupt from the soles of his feet sending the boy rocketing backwards in the direction he had just came from, extending his hands behind him he released another set of jets from his open palms. Surely this counter-surprise attack would make contact, but just as he reached his opponent he found himself strung up by his arms and the jets of steam coursing upward toward the ceiling. The man raised Roarku from the ground by his wrists and brought him to eye level. "It would appear that there is some fight in you… This is good, but still quite sloppy… This match is over, but next time you will have yet another chance at a spar with me… For now, tell your master… That the resting dog will still growl…"

Slightly confused by the man's message, Roarku wriggled from the man's grasp and landed on his feet. A slight bow was exchanged between the two as Roarku walked off rubbing at his wrists, it was no doubt that the old man was a worthy opponent. Like with the Foundation, he would learn all that he could under the man until he was needed no more. After exiting the dojo he headed in to receive his earnings for the day's mission, surely it would be something more than decent seeing as how many of these missions he had accumulated in his short tenure with the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Jutsu Trained:

[ E X I T ]

---

Word Count: 2161
- D Rank : 500/500
- D Rank : 500/500
- D Rank : 500/500
- C Rank Jutsu: 500/500
- Remainder: 161

Chakra Pool: 200/200