Suuuupar Grinds

Spoiler:

Here we are the bright and beautiful village of Kumogakure. The salty breeze from the nearby ocean laced the atmosphere with a light taste and scent of its minerals. Like always the young Genin walked the streets of the village he was loyal to with a grand smile painted on his face for all to see. "Hi Soul!" "Hey Soul!" "Hey there Soul!" The Genin waved and smiled back as did his miniature sized company who was a random squirrel to those who greeted him on this fine day. 

Things surely were looking good for the Genin. Two missions, a great day, and in the company of a random furry being The white bellied squirrel sat calmly on his shoulder, but randomly he would get excited and run around to the other shoulder or onto the Genin's head. "Hehe, stop it, I have to look serious for the Jounin ninja I will follow today." Soul chuckled giddily as the squirrel's movements tickled, but eventually he got his giggles underway. "Ah you must be Soul." The Genin looked over his shoulder to see a female in Kumogakure ninja attire. He had expected a male Jounin, like most would have, but he was surprised as he would be following a woman for the early part of his day. "Yeah, I'm Soul Kazan." The female ninja chuckled at the the sight of the rodent and nodded gently. 

"I imagined as much . . . so are you ready to start your shadowing?" Soul nodded sharply as did the squirrel as the rodent seemed to have the same fire in his eyes that Soul did. "Alright be sure to keep up. We are going to be scaling the village perimeters and checking for anything out of place or damaged bits of rock. This is so we can make note to have it repaired and handled." "Ok I see, ready when you are." The Jounin woman chuckled again and then took off.

First her pace was a fair speed, in Soul's mind it was pretty slow, but he simply smiled at her from behind. The squirrel was now ducked down in the Genin's overlong hooded shirt occasionally peeking out on random intervals. Apparently the Jounin noticed she could speed up and she did, only to notice Soul was still traveling with little effort. The pace was decent, but Soul felt she could go much faster and eventually she did. Soon however the speedy moving evolved into a race. From building top to building top, the duo moved in a blur trying to get ahead of the other. "You're pretty fast kid, think you can beat me back to where we started the mission?" Scanning the area ahead, Soul looked over to her and responded. "Yeah I think that's feasible." The female smirked and then narrowed her eyes forward. "Alright then little man, lets see what you got." 

Before they knew it they both were moving at max speed and Soul actually found it difficult to gain a lead on his opponent as did she. Moving at this speed his eyesight was warped to the point that it was tunnel vision, giving him no peripheral sight and also making his vision a bit blurry. The warping was to the point colors could barely be made out as well as structures could barely be registered in his brain. Sure out in an open field this speed was easy to maintain, but in a village the Genin found it hard to keep up the pace and stay out of harm, so he began to slow down. "What's the matter, outta steam?" The woman shouted back as she began to break away. Seeing as it looked like he had given up Soul's internal fire began to burn as did the squirrel as he squeaked aggressively from her words. "You're right, I can't let this old hag beat me in a foot race." Figuring it would be smarter to follow the Jounin's path directly, he sped up his pace to the previous speed and began to catch up by tailing the woman. 

"A little too late for that kid, the finish line is just up ahead." Looking past the woman the best he could, he could tell she was right, so he had to move now or never. As he touched the edge of a ledge, he leaped forward and for his next step he pressed off the woman's shoulder with a gentle foot tap. This gave the Genin a small lead and hopefully all he needed. Crawling around the the back of his collar, the rodent peeked out and stuck his tongue out at the Jounin taunting her. "Yeah that was a good one, but you'll have better luck winning next time!" Grinning she formed the Ram Seal and she vanished from behind the squirrel and Soul, to beside him. Needless to say the squirreli was surprised as was Soul. Now neck and neck the Genin began to consciously pump his legs harder, but found he could go no faster. "Seems like you're outta steam after all, good race though!" Sticking her tongue out like the rodent had done she graciously broke away from the neck and neck situation and won the race. It was evident in that moment that she was only entertaining Soul and could have easily dusted him. 

As they stopped harshly a fierce draft followed them. Meech panting hard hands on his knees, Soul was first to speak. "That was a good race, but I'll definitely beat you next time." She looked over at him and made a toothy grin, surprised he implied they'd rematch. "Yeah definitely" She gave him a thumbs up and Soul returned the gesture, but noticed they had done no surveying. "Hey, what about checking the perimeter?" His words stopped her in her tracks and her expression went ghastly. "Agh! I had gotten caught up and forgot. Technically you shadowed me, considering you lost the race, so you're job is done, so I'll check the stuff, don't worry about it." Soul nodded and then watched as the ninja vanished from sight. 

Looking up at the sun, Soul could tell it was about time for him to head to the mountain base for his next mission. For this assignment he would be accompanying two Chunin ranked ninja to escort a group of school students on a field trip. Their destination was a location not to far, but in Kumogakure's mountains. The reason ninja were needed was because once one ventured far enough in the mountains they would notice the wild life would become hostile. Snakes, bob cats, mountain lions, things like that. Soul had heard stories at some bears even being present.

Seeing the two Chunin were already present Soul waved at them from afar and introduced himself. They did like wise and before he knew it the class he was escorting was there. Given the nature of the mission, seeing combat was a possibility Soul had brought with him Furrashu his bladerang. One of the Chunin commented on the unqiue bladed weapon saying it was one of a kind. Soul wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded like a compliment so he accepted it and bowed.

About ten minutes into the journey, one could feel the atmosphere had changed. Hostility surely was in the air and even the non-ninja noticed. Their first bit of conflict came from a rattle snake, but it was easily dismissed with the toss of a kunai. Next was a flock of vultures, but those too were easily dismissed with a toss of Furrashu. Catching the blade when it came back the students clapped at the display of weaponry skill which made Soul blush. Finally without further interruption, the destination was met, but only one problem. A hulking black bear was lounging in the area. 

Signalling the group of civilians to back up the three ninja and the squirrel huddled to make a plan. "Ok, I will toss a smoke bomb to confuse him, then you should use your Raiton to stun it. When you see the lightning hit the bear or the smoke cloud light up, that'll be your que to swoop in and finish him ok?" Soul was amazed at the Chunin's leadership skills and couldn't argue with the plan. Quietly creeping up a few boulders Soul gave the two other ninja a thumbs up once he was ready. A nod was exchange then the plan was put into action. 

One toss of a round shaped ebony orb and the bear was covered in thick dusty smog. Not long after a trail of lightning that seemed to devour the earth ran into the cloud and created what looked like a thundercloud as it sparked and illuminating on random intervals. The bears roars were heard and one could tell the lightning wouldn't stun it for long, but luckily Soul was already airborne. He blade draw off his hip he came down harshly onto the bears back, plunging his weapon in deep. The beast' growl seemed to shake the small arena as the rodent exited Soul's clothing and ran to the group of civilians. 

Like a horse the beast came on its two legs with the Genin still hanging on by the blade in its back. Charging out of the smoke towards the first Chunin who threw the obstruction, he knew he couldn't move or the group being escorted would be in danger. "Shit it's tougher than I thought, you guys get back!" The Chunin in charge shouted to the civilian students and they moved further back down the mountain trail. The other ninja being a fast thinker was already prepping another technique that seemed to be fairly powerful. As a bolt of lightning chakra charged in front of his open hands, he yelled for Soul to get out of the way. Leaving his blade in the bear, the teen simply let go and rolled onto the ground to get back on his feet. As the mammal got blasted it stopped charging one Chunin and went to the next only being singed lightly from the volts. "I have to move fast." Running in, the Kazan slid on his back to underneath the bear now looking at its stomach. Kicking upward the bear was struck in the chin and its head was raised high before it stumbled. 

Before the Genin even knew it the bear then began to roar out in pain, but not from his kick. The Leading Chunin had taken Soul's previous position and began wrenching away at the beast' back with Soul's Kata. The curved design allowed it to slice futher into and along the bear at the same time, until it cut into the bone. Pulling the blade out, the Chunin jammed it back in once more, but in the back of the bears neck. Rolling from underneath the behemoth as it began to fall to the ground as a lifeless corpse, the Genin's attention was summoned as he blood stained weapon was tossed to him. "Mission completed."

Soul sighed in relief and looked up as the group they were escorting entered the area. His furry company undoubtedly came scurrying up onto his owners shoulder, which made him chuckle lightening up his mood from the rough combat. "Good job out there Soul. You're a great Genin, can't wait for you to join the ranks of Chunin." Extending out his hand, Soul looked at it the smiled and shook it. "You were great too. I'll have to keep up with my studying, definitely if I want to match your leadership skills." The Genin bowed to him then to the other Chunin and then they stepped to the side and chatted while the students did what was needed. Eventually they finished and then without problems they made it down the mountain. Waving to everyone Soul only had one more task now. 

While chatting with the Chunin he was given an item that he was told to deliver to someone whom he lived by. He of course agreed to do so and without being distracted he made his was to the home. Knocking on the door he dropped off the item with no problems. Calling it a day, the Genin and his companion then went to their own home and retired after a shower. "It was a long day, but we did three missions. If we keep working hard I can be a Chunin soon." Laying sprawled out eventually the Genin dozed off and the rodent scurried off. 

That night the Genin dreamed of a nice day off and relaxing in a sunny meadow, but the catch was there were about twenty of the chattering squirrels surrounding him. To most that dream would be odd, but he actually found it enjoyable.

2300 wc