A New Story

Hot springs Holiday:

It was early in the morning and I, a ninja in the woods training, practised and sharpen my strengths in hope to improve my survivability. I decided to break from my normal day to day training routine and instead I practised shuriken exercises. Still dark the pale blue chill of the air only now broke with light, It was then I heard the hawk call...

My targets the trees couldn't move out the way, and so to give them at chance at avoiding me I ran alongside them and picked my opponents from behind the rush of passing branches and tree trunks.

The Leaf had taken up using Hawks to send messages of alert to call ninja to the mission assignment desk. Not only faster than other birds, the hawk was also a bird of prey making it more resilient to the threat of being silenced.

As I made my way to the mission desk, I wondered...

'In our efforts to train how might we develop skills of our own to help us endure as the hawk? As we are summoned to answer the call of the Hokage, like the hawk I wonder how we will fair against the threat of being silenced?'

Making my way to the academy I was prepared to confront Tsunada. My forehead dotted with beads of sweat due to my tireless exercises and the rapid pace I kept thereafter, but with the swipe of my palm I worry that perhaps it isn't only the heat that parches my throat and soaks my chainmail vestment...

"Morning there Argies" I turned around, and there was Hakari, ready to face our Leader together.

"Morning Hakari, ready?" I asked looking around for Amoroto, feeling with every ninja to falling in step behind me I might find the courage not to fall back on our plans. We joint the queue as many more filed in behind us.

"I think I saw him earlier, he got here before you!" Hakari smiled sensing my unease, and with her smile I felt the constriction in my chest unfastened with a laugh. Yet it felt with every stride closer in line, the feeling of constraint built and shortened my breath.

"Ha that means you were here even earlier than me!?" I held a false vista of confidence steady to my lips, a smile, they were waiting for me. The line ahead of us was reducing by three to four every minute. Assignments were being handed out fast. I wonder if she will even have a moment to listen to my argument? Maybe this isn't the best of times to demand leave from duty.

"Do you think we will be assigned on the same team?" Hakari spotted Amoroto and waved him over before she continued to speak. "Your plan would kind of suck if you are the only one there to demand time off."

"*Sigh* Well that's great." I exhaled but then took in optimism with my next breath. "Even if this mission doesn't result in a ninja vacation, there is always the next mission ahead."

Amoroto bowed greeting each of us before bumping into line ahead of me. There were no complaints, no one was about to defend their place in line to a mission assignment that might result in death. "Argies san, did you find any records of other ninja declining missions? How did it go for them?"

"Since the new Hokage no man has been willing to decline, but I did find an interesting report of Hatari refusing a mission because the members weren't to her liking" I chuckled at this but put aside my smirk realising the others didn't know who my special assignment commander was. If Naoki were here he might have laughed at the joke, but then again maybe not... it wasn't that funny

"Being on a team is weird" Hakari pondered, collapsing a hand to my shoulder with a thwack, her face an image of provoking thought. "I almost never know who you are speaking about and yet you speak as if I should know purely because we are teammates?" She looked up at the impact reinforced ceiling in thought humming queasily in jest, to which I turned to catch Amoroto smiling, dazzled with humour.