When the comforts of civilization begin to dull our senses, we must never forget that in the beginning, there was war. And war. And more war. Long before there were empires, there were humans consumed with greed and the hunger for power. Resources, territories, information—these were the forms of sustenance upon which we preyed. Today, we call such habits vices. Oh, how arrogant we have become! Are we not still impelled by those primordial emotions? Is the advent of war so far-fetched? But alas, for you to truly understand, we must dive deeper into this land’s half-forgotten past.
There was a time when might was the only law that humankind knew. Fearsome clans roamed throughout the land, seeking amenable grounds within which they could take root and opposing forces against whom they could test their mettle. Given the irregularity of nature’s bounty, certain regions appealed more than others, and dominion over such coveted territories became the spark that ignited the earliest inter-clan wars. These fierce, internecine affairs tended to conclude only when one side had decimated their competition into oblivion, and many clans of story were rendered extinct during this period.
The victors of war, having claimed their territories, often made truces with surrounding locals, offering protection in exchange for access to the yields of agriculture. Over time, certain communities emerged as more dominant than others, either due to numbers or sheer talent, and their rapid expansion would force smaller, neighboring communities to either collapse into their fold or be devastated. When the dust settled, humankind found itself divided into the five major territories that we are familiar with today. And was the bloodshed over? With our lands obtained and our bellies filled, were we finally content?
06/01/2023 June is for Juggin
We made it y’all, another month of OTA, and fresh off the press we have another promotion ready. Leaving behind the opening bonus sadly, we welcome the jugggggg! June is for juggin AKA working hard, so we are making it a double rewards month for every mission completed! Yes we said it's double rewards, now you all can really get into the thick of those builds if you work hard enough. And who knows what you might uncover in the process. AND all jobs are free to enroll no quest EXCEPT ANBU(Black Ops) roles.
After Kurome had dealt with some bastard son of the Hyuga family the other day, an event that had left her worn out and extremely wary of any more battle oriented missions. The bruises and sore muscles still plagued her with additional bouts of fatigue, but that wasn't going to stop Kurome from achieving her dreams. In order to do that, she needed to get missions under her belt and she needed to achieve accomplishments that would gain her recognition of her Raikage. That being the case, she had accepted yet another mission although this one of a much more intellectual mindset.
☆ Name: Ninja Catnip Rank: C Repeatable: Repeatable Description: A scatterbrained ninja from the Nekojin clan has misplaced their valuable stash of ninja catnip, a herb known for its ability to enhance a ninja's feline companion's skills. Your mission is to assist the forgetful ninja in retracing their steps, searching high and low in the village, and utilizing creative problem-solving to find the missing catnip. Be ready to fight back some rather nasty felines looking for the catnip as well. Reward: 200 EXP and 25,000 ryo.
Kurome had a natural affinity when it came to cats and so this mission had stuck out to her immediately, calling her to duty right away. She felt for the Nekojin clan and immediately felt a need to help her find the misplaced ninja tool. From what she could understand it was very similar to the pills that the Inuzuka clan fed their dogs to increase their performance. With just one piece of their jutsu formula removed the results could be disastrous! It could turn into a catastrophe! With this in mind, she sauntered through the village in order to meet up with the client and get a better understanding of what exactly had transpired.
Arriving at her favorite dango shop, Kurome arrived and noticed a rather sheepish woman around her age sitting by herself. It only made sense that this was the person she was supposed to meet, or just a random, lonesome person with anxiety - but she doubted that.
"Hey the name's Kurome. I assume that you're Natara Nekojin? Pleasure to meet you," she extended her hand forward and announced herself and causing the other woman to jump slightly. Poor little thing, her nerves must've been shot to pieces.
"U-uh, y-yes h-hello! I'm Natare, thank you for helping me..." she spoke without a smile, appearing rather downtrodden and unmotivated.
Kurome was surprised by how meek the woman was, but she let the thought slide as they greeted one another and shook hands. Not one to spend time on useless pleasantries, it surprised her to want to know more about the situation and how she had lost the catnip. Offering these same such thoughts, she sat and listened to the woman's story intently.
"U-uh, so yeah...my name is Natare and I'm the client. Y-you see, I'm the youngest of my brothers and sisters and...well it's competitive between us. I... want to be as great as them, but nothing I do seems to go my way... I'm not as strong as my brothers, I'm...uh... not as pretty as my sisters. And so today, I had begged my parents to let me get deeper into training with my ninneko. And yet...I lost both my cat and the catnip. A pack of feral cats attacked us and we got separated, along with losing the catnip...I'm such a failure, right?"
The way she spoke was not straightforward at all, and she paused and looked away at moments. Kurome also noticed just how deeply affected she was by her family, and even more so the skewed standards that society had set with her. Being an older sister herself, she had made a note to herself that she wouldn't finish this mission without imparting some much needed advice to the kunoichi.
"Alright, so first thing's first. Let's try and retrace your steps, do you remember where you first were when you were attacked?" she asked quizzically, intentionally not commenting on any of the other issues. Kurome figured there would be plenty of time to discuss such things while they traveled around the village.
"I uh...honestly I can't remember, but I think maybe up on that overlook with a park?" she pointed upward, marking their first destination.
Getting up to their feet, the pair prepared to travel through the village in hopes of finding her ninneko as well as the important catnip. As they began their walk, Kurome began to broach the subject tactfully by first speaking of herself.
"You wouldn't know, but I'm actually an older sister myself. I try to set the best example that I can with them, including training, fighting, studying, and even just playing. I want to show them that no matter what they do, no matter who they are, I love them and want the best for them. Especially my sisters. With the world the way it is, we women are constantly pitted against one another and compare ourselves. My youngest sister always worried that she was the 'ugly' one. It took a while but I finally got her to understand that she is beautiful for her own reasons but she shouldn't compete over something like that. We women can do anything men can do, sometimes better, so I want them to aim to be whatever they want not just prettiest," she finished her speech and, as she imagined, Natare was holding onto every word with captivation.
The Genin hadn't meant to prattle on so long, but she wanted to ensure that she didn't feel talked down to - just understood and met with empathy. As they walked up the hill leading to the overlook park, Kurome's eyes were drawn to signs of a scuffle near a park bench.
"Yes, here! This is where we were when we first got attacked, and then we ran that way!" she pointed off to the distance, remembering what had happened a bit more clearly. Taking in her words, the blue haired kunoichi allowed her eyes to track the set of prints that were running side-by-side the set of human ones. They were making better headway, and Kurome had a better idea of where the cat could be.
Unusually delicate, Kurome was now ready to bulldoze her thoughts into the young woman as they followed the cat's tracks. She knew when to tell the truth and when to hold back, normally she just didn't care enough to draw the line. She didn't want to scar or bother the woman, just guide her into coming into her own.
"Taking in mind what I said before...you need to stop worrying about what they think. It's affecting you to the point that you're making mistakes. Calm down, take a breath, and think about the things you can do. Maybe you're the fastest, maybe your bond with your ninneko is the strongest, just take whatever it is that you can do and master that. You wouldn't have to ask someone else to clean up your mess if you weren't so worried about those issues. The things that you couldn't do start to look silly and not important, and also, hold on let's take a left here!" she brutally tore the woman apart, with love, offering her true unfiltered opinion.
She watched as a mixture of emotions spread across her face, but she knew she was listening when she called out the sudden change of direction. Following down an alleyway, she noted that the tracks had disappeared onto the stone and they would have to examine their surroundings carefully. Sniffing carefully, her companion made some promising discoveries.
"I think I smell Myu Myu! She's over this way!" she called before leading the way further down the narrow alleyway and out to the right.
They emerged at what looked like a construction zone that had been left alone for the day, and the closer they got the more the noises that they hadn't been able to hear prior became more noticeable. Violent hissing from numerous cats became audible to the pair. Giving one another worried gazes, the two rushed over to see what was happening.
Five feral cats surrounded an orange tabby that was covered in cuts and bites, bleeding in several spots and simply injured in others. In between the single cat and the other five was a small pouch tightly wound though it looked as if it had sustained some damage. Kurome assumed that this item was the missing catnip that they were meant to find, almost wanting to laugh at the simplicity of it all.
Standing back and taking the scene in its entirety, the Genin was examining the possibilities and courses of action when the young kunoichi that was with her jumped into action shocking her. She was someone who took her time and, even when rushed, liked to procure a plan of action. It was understandable, however, that she would leap into action after seeing the state of her treasured comrade. The cats were the second to act, one of them grabbed the pouch in their mouth and scattered along with the rest of them. Kurome clicked her tongue in displeasure, moving to help aid the cat.
Going to her side, she manipulated her arm into some paper and used them to wrap up Myu Myu's injuries in a rudimentary bandage. Sighing she berated the woman, as she treated her ninneko.
"You get points for helping a friend in need, and you get so many demerits for the way you went about it. There was two of us and the catnip in hand, we could've rescued both at the same time, but you've ruined the chances of either currently," she lectured, tending to the wounds then stopping when she felt it was appropriate before looking into the tear ridden face of Natare.
"I'm sorry, okay! I know I'm a failure, I know that I can't do anything right!" she cried out, rushing forward and leaving Kurome feeling quite the inadequate teacher. There was more she wanted to say, but what had come out first had been incredibly harsh and now she felt regret in the way that she had approached the situation. Sighing, she held Myu Myu in her morphed arm and tried to follow the path that she went. Walking up a set of stairs, admiring the beautiful scenery of Kumogakure, she arrived at a small fountain where Natare was sitting with her head in her lap likely crying. Rushing forward, she held Myu Myu tenderly and knelt beside the woman despite being shorter than her.
"I'm sorry that I'm not good enough," Kurome managed to make out in between sobs and she reached out and held the woman in a warm embrace. She never meant to make her feel less than, she just wanted her to know what she did wrong so that she could do better.
"I'm not going to lie to you or give you half-heart niceties, okay? I tell you things like this, so that you can improve yourself, because I see so much potential in you. You had the skill and tact required with mine to successfully handle that, and I wanted you to stop doubting yourself and follow your instincts. It's not about 'good enough', you totally are! So there's nothing to apologize nor feel sorry about missy, let's just perk back up and finish this mission, okay?"
"You really don't think I'm worthless?" she sniffled and attempted to rub the tears away, leaving behind stains of red that were visible indications as to what had happened and the kunoichi nodded her affirmation to her.
Kurome could honestly say she was impressed by how quickly she had managed to shake off those awful feelings and cease her crying. They had reached an understanding, at least for now, and they had to focus on the matter of hand. Their daylight was still plentiful, yet they had no idea where the cats had left or even which one had the bag of catnip. In her paper hand was Myu Myu who was recovering nicely, who could likely help them with their mission but she needed a lot more time to recover.
"Alright, now that we've settled that we need to figure out where these damned alley cats went with your catnip," she complained, seeing no other method other than laboriously searching like they had been, as time consuming as it would be. While she was lost in thought, Natare was attempting to get her attention as it seems she had something to share.
"Uhm, uh, I think I can help now," she said, quietly though her once sadness filled eyes were glowing eagerly.
"Oh? What's up, you have an idea?" Kurome asked, happily surprised by the change of pace.
"With Myu Myu near me, I can enhance my sense of smell but only just a bit, but I should be able to pick up on..."
"...the catnip. Perfect! It has such a strong odor that even a little enhancement will go a long way, good job!" she finished the Nekojin's thought and praised her for her thoughts and solution to their issue. She didn't want to randomly search the city any more than she had to, it was ill-advised and time consuming. Armed with a new plan the young lady activated some Hiden jutsu and began to whiff the air.
"It's faint...but...I, uh, I think it's still close in the city," she said, likely confused by all the various aromas that she could now sense and having to sort through them to find the correct one that she needed. She had succeeded, however, and now they had a general idea of where they needed to go. All was not lost! They began their walk through the city once more, this time with more conviction. Running along the walls, climbing on top of roofs, this time they put their all into their scouting. Eventually, they narrowed down the location to a road near a river when her companion perked up suddenly.
"I have an idea! Hold on to Myu Myu and head down the path and I'll meet you over there!" she had cried out before disappearing into the distance after pointing out the direction of the last leg of their journey. Creeping slowly she held the orange tabby closer to her body, and she woke up from her brief nap. She didn't have the sensory abilities that Natare did, but she didn't need them with the rowdy yowling emerging from the group of cats around the corner.
Her back to a wooden fence, Kurome cradled the tabby closely and listened to the shrieks and howls of the feral cats who, upon peeking around the corner, seemed to be fighting over the pouch of catnip they had stolen from Natare. Thankfully, it seemed as if they were unable to fully tear it open, despite their best attempts, and it still looked heavily damaged yet still unopened.
Her choices and methods of advancement were pretty limited here and so she was happy to simply sit still, wait for Natare, and all the while construct her own methods of deployment. She needed to surround them to ensure that they wouldn't run away again, or get a hold of the catnip before they were able to. The former seemed more easily handled than the latter and so she, focused her thoughts toward that sentiment.
Before long, Natare had come back with some items in her hand - though Kurome identified them by smell before she had gotten close enough. She wasn't the biggest fan of any fish, so to her they were far more pungent than average. The young woman had caught some fished and quickly cooked them, intending to use them as bait.
"That's brilliant! Can you say play of the day?! Now, I just need to add my own personal touch and we're good to go. Here, take Myu Myu, and when you give me the signal, I'll handle the catnip" Kurome spoke energetically, handing off the cat. Weaving a set of seals, she formed paper wings at her back. Flying up into the air, she positioned herself well above the cats to remain out of their sight.
Below her, Natare had rested her cat next to the fence while she crept over to them. When they noticed her, she cried out and threw the fish at the cats. Ecstatic at having a favorite treat of theirs in front of their face, they dropped their guards and allowed the genin to swoop in and retrieve the catnip. Along the way, she grabbed Natare who in turn scooped up Myu Myu and Kurome guided them back to the mission compound.
"Well, that was a lot of fun! It was such a pleasure to meet you Natare, good luck to you! And remember to do what you can do the best!" she said, landing lightly on the ground and letting go of the other woman, before extending a hand toward her.
"Thank you so much for...everything today. I'll take everything you say with me, forever! Thanks Kurome!" she said, smiling and walking off with Myu Myu who was purring loudly.
It wasn't the all-out battle that had taken place at the compound and...yet Kurome felt herself just as fulfilled as last time. She truly enjoyed the shinobi work that she undertook, and it didn't help that she would be getting paid for her actions.