Early morning sun. A cloudless sky. Tepid mountain wind.
Itaru wore a burgundy open chested gi with their sleeves removed, and his entire upper body including arms were wrapped in bandages beneath it. He was a bit scrawny for a ninja, and of an average height. He was walking down a street with uneven cobbled stones that made a satisfying knock against the heels of his geta. He held a scroll in his hand, his personal first mission in this platoon.
The first one since he was cleared for duty again after all those years.
It was a simple mission. An old lady named Miss Kitagawa passed away a few weeks ago, and her home was infested with felines. A first team of genin already went through and cleared them out, but they didn’t do a good job and one particularly crafty cat evaded capture. Whenever Miss Kitagawa’s nephew tried to move her belongings out of the home, the cat violently attacked him. They had to trap the feral feline. Pretty standard really.
He was curious about what the other genin on the team were like. He had yet to meet them. He rounded the corner to find an old and beaten down neighborhood of the village where some of the retired folk that served the village as merchants lived. The houses were all two stories and taller than they were wide in a circular culvasack that had a simple fountain in the middle. An old woman sat on a pillow on her porch watching the day go by, but beyond that he didn’t see any activity.
He buried his nose in the scroll, looking at the map to figure out which house it was. It looked like it was the house to the right of center. It had a notice posted on the shoji door and weeds had overgrown the flower beds outside, a particularly long vine trailing up towards a second story window. His eyes caught the movement of a shadow in the second story window for a brief moment, but he turned as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him from behind.
Another mission, another team. Akihito didn't know this one and it was expected their first mission together would not be one filled with much excitement and danger. It was a standard mission, really. However, aiding in such a small matter as this could mean a chapter could be concluded for the Kitagawa family. In a way, he didn't blame the cat... Saying goodbye was never as easy as it should be.
Akihito has pulled on the standard-issue uniform and a black yukata top with crimson detailing on top. His fan was tucked up his sleeve. His wild hair was drawn back into a ponytail. The mission details were safely in his pocket in case he needed to confirm something in it later on.
The streets were as quiet as ever, nothing unnatural as this wasn't the center of the village and largely a residential area. As Akihito made his way there he couldn't help wonder about who the others would turn out to be. He would work with them regardless of who they were, but some personalities were simply easier than others. Secretly he hoped they would be agreeable and not too loud. He knew their jounin was a rather... powerful man. Blessed by wind, some said. If his study of chakra natures and elemental ninjutsu had any truth to it, this meant he could potentially boost his attacks. Or at least combine them. It was an interesting concept. It was far easier acquiring knowledge of the higher ranking shinobi of the platoon than it was to find anything on the genin he would be working with. So far he had a name and a few other basic tidbits of information... It'd be fine.
As he neared his destination he would see another was standing outside the house, too. Green hair and pale skin. That would be Itaru. Had to be as the other team member was a female. Akihito approached, stopped before him, and bowed lightly. The difference in rank didn't warrant anything showy or overly formal.
"Itaru Tokoro? I am Akihito Kisaragi, one of the genin on platoon 1."
Now all they needed was their final member and they would be good to go.
It was a rather quiet morning - the weather wasn't anything special but at least it was agreeable. As she got herself dressed for the day she thought of what she would be doing for the morning.
A simple mission with a few of her platoon members - fellow Genin whom were given something easy and light to do. Probably just to do some team building exercises she often heard about from her siblings - if they were telling the truth.
Dressed, she took a small glance at the corner of her room debating if she should bring her puppet with her, but assumed she had no need for it for such a simple mission and left it where it stayed. As much as it bothered her to leave it behind in the same house as her siblings she was sure it would be fine.
Making her way towards the location she was supposed to meet her other teammates as she looked at the slate skies noticing how the sun attempted to break through the clouds but failed. She let out a small breath as she found herself heading to the deeper parts of the village noting the slightly worn buildings and the calm silence that echoed throughout.
This was definitely a place where the elderly could rest - a place she personally wouldn't mind staying at if only to get away from her family. Focusing on the path ahead she finally laid eyes on the other Genin, a green haired, pale-skinned youth who looked even frailer than she did. And a young dark haired, dark-eyed young man with a mysterious air to him.
Stopping as she came within closer range to the two boys she dipped her head in greeting the smallest of smiles gracing her lips as she spoke. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Hitomi Ishikawa, from Platoon 1. Please treat me well." She said politely secretly hoping they were more agreeable in personality than Soichi-sensei. She didn't think she could handle another menace like him - let alone two more.
Itaru returned the bow to Akihitio and Hitomi. He seemed to receive the formalities well, and his lip curled slightly to match the kunoichi’s as his sea green eyes moved back and forth between his new peers. He moved his wrapped left hand up to the back of his head.
“Treat you well? I think I can manage that,” he said with a soft voice and a light chuckle. “I am indeed Itaru Tokoro, it is nice to meet you both. I must say I am relieved that we are all older.”
He looked over at the house, and then back to them. He turned and began walking towards it casually, climbing up a set of three stone steps leading to a wooden deck. His footsteps tapped against it, seemingly not overly worried about being detected. He slid open the shoji door, and a musky smell washed over his nostrils.
The first thing to draw the eye was a tatami mat that had been clawed open, with flakes of rice straw strewn all over the flooring. At the other end was a stairwell with a railing that had turned into a scratching post, as well as droppings that littered the floor around the home.
In the leftmost side was a kitchen with a sink that had several dishes stacked up inside of it. Several cupboards beneath the sink and lining the walls were ajar, one was fully opened and several baking pans had fallen out onto the floor. Near the kitchen was a little dining table with a bowl of mango that had gone rancid and was buzzing with gnats.
There was a ticking sound of a clock hanging on the wall near an office desk on the opposite end of the room, it was adorned with cartoonish cat eyes and ears, with a tail acting like a pendulum. The desk itself had several tins of cat food on it that were opened up but picked completely clean of even a scrap of food.
A small white maneki-neko figurine sat waving next to a photograph of a rather frail looking old woman sitting on a couch surrounded by felines. Sitting on her lap was a particularly husky looking long haired grey cat with a grumpy look on its face and a white ribbon clipped to the top of its head.
“I think I saw something moving in the window upstairs,” Itaru said, glancing back over his shoulder as he moved to enter the room. He stopped though, peering around the room and looking for signs of life beyond the insects in the dining room.
simplicity
Last Edit: Oct 7, 2021 20:06:44 GMT by Itaru Tokoro
It was a rather quiet morning - the weather wasn't anything special but at least it was agreeable. As she got herself dressed for the day she thought of what she would be doing for the morning. 