AN: I made a slight change to chapter 5. Instead of one day passing it is actually three. Yeah, I just wanted to put a little more time in there. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I'm back, Peru was great, and yes this story is still moving forward. Enjoy another chapter of The Bird And The Bug.
Sono Tori Ken Sono Konchuu
Chapter 6: Of Missions and Kind Women
Mizuki was up and waiting for Shibi at breakfast. Her face was shadowed with a frown but it quickly lifted away when she saw him enter the room. She was already dressed in her ninja attire and her pouch was on her side. He smiled when he realized she was nervous. He could not blame her nor patronize her for this so he spoke nothing of it and sat down beside her.
She greeted him and asked him how he slept. Which he answered mostly with grunts and nods like usual. Mizuki could almost laugh at how quickly they had fallen into a routine together. Shino had only been gone three days now, but they acted like they had been spending their time together for years. She enjoyed Shibi's company for he was wise and she felt calm around him. Though he did not talk much she was okay with that and learned that even in silence one could communicate with another.
He mostly worked on paperwork will she studied scrolls on jutsu and strategy. The only time she refused to be near him was when he was working with his insects. Shibi knew she disliked bugs but he never saw anyone who was so polite yet adamant in her aversion to being around them. He tried to sway her but it was no use. He eventually gave up after the third try and allowed her to go off on her own through the village during the afternoons.
Mizuki liked the time she had to herself. She spent most of it just sitting beside the large lake on the outskirts of the village. She loved how the sky was reflected on the water and how the clouds shimmered and shifted as fish created ripples along the water's surface. At times it seemed lonely to her so she would leave the lakeside and return back to the compound long before sunset.
"Are you going to see Lady Tsunade today?" The older bug master asked the pretty young girl next to him. She looked at him and nodded with a smile. They both paused for a moment as if they had just been very deep in their own thoughts.
"Yes, today is the day I am scheduled to see her. I am worried about what she wants me to do though." The frown passed over features once again. Shibi patted her shoulder.
"I would not worry too much over it. She will not ask you to do anything that you can not do." Mizuki nodded and stood. She took a steady breath.
"Then there is no reason for me to wait to see her. I will be on my way now, Shibi-kun." He waved her off.
"Do your best. I expect nothing less from you, Mizuki." She smiled and waved.
"Roger." She left him alone to finish his breakfast. Shino should be on his way home by now. Shibi watched Mizuki's retreating figure thoughtfully.
&&&
It was taking him longer than he expected to complete this rather simple mission. He cursed the interference that had been plaguing him from the beginning; and this time it was not thoughts of Mizuki. A group of rouge ninja had been trailing him the entire way. For what reason they followed him he had no idea but he promised himself he would find out as soon as he was done with this mission. It would take him at least another day to drop off the letter moving at his slower pace and he resigned to that plan.
The only thing that stuck out to him is that they seemed very familiar in a way. Their chakra signatures closely resembled that of his own clan, but there was strong difference as well. He pushed his thoughts from his mind in order to stay alert to his surroundings. The last thing he needed or wanted was to be ambushed by these ninja.
A kikai scout returned to him. He frowned at the information his beetle relayed to him.
&&&
Tsunade was in the conference room with Iruka and another woman named Shizune when Mizuki arrived. Their faces were solemn but not unwelcoming. Mizuki walked closer to the desk and bowed in greeting. The Hokage waved it off. "Mizuki, do you know why you are here?" Mizuki was silent for a moment.
"More or less. I have a feeling that you are about to give me a mission." She replied calmly. Iruka nodded.
"It will be more than one mission though." Tsunade added with a serious air. Mizuki looked at the group questioningly.
"More than one? But I thought that ninja only receive one mission at a time."
"They do." Tsunade huffed.
"Then why are you giving me multiple ones?" Mizuki was quite confused with the trio in front of her now. She placed her hands on her hips in a defiant stance. Tsunade smirked at the girl's sassiness.
"It's a test." Tsunade confessed. "To see whether or not you deserve to be a genin and if you are ready to proceed to being a chunin. All you have to do is complete three D-ranked missions in five hours. Pretty easy, right?" Mizuki eyed the Hokage warily. She was right; it sounded too easy.
"What happens after I suceed?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"Then you will be given another mission that will serve as your final exam on the way to becoming a chunin." Mizuki frowned. There was always a catch. I better pray for an easy mission…Or one that requires my type of skills.
"Okay, I accept you little challenge." Mizuki raised her head proudly. The trio smiled.
"Alright, here are the scrolls you have until an hour past noon to be back here with them completed." Mizuke collected the scrolls from Tsunade and made her way to the door.
"Yosh! See you then." And with that she was gone.
Once Mizuki was out of the building she looked at the scrolls. The first was to collect two hundred frog eggs from the lake so the academy students could learn about development, the next was to help a Takachi-san with his household chores, and the last mission required her to organize a bookshelf in the village... Any bookshelf.
Mizuki decided that it would be best if she went to Takachi-san's house first to see what he needed her to do. She ended up in a residential part of the city but she quickly found the address on the scroll. She climbed the few steps to the door and rang the doorbell. A few moments later a cheery older man opened the door and bid her entrance into the house.
"Thanks goodness. I was so afraid that I would have to do this laundry all by myself. The misses went out for the day and I need a clean shirt for dinner tonight." He happily babbled on about his minor dilemma.
"So all I need to do is some laundry?" Mizuki asked holding in a sigh of relief. At least it isn't anything to strenuous. And it shouldn't take that long. The man nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, so I'll take the load then and I'll be back when they're done." After the man relinquished possession of the clothes Mizuki along with a small amount of detergent and softener she made her way to a small laundry mat.
It was fairly crowded but Mizuki managed to find an empty washer and a nice woman to watch the basket. She thanked her and then headed in the direction of the Academy. Thankfully, Shikamaru was teaching today.
He greeted her with a surprised attitude when she rushed in and demanded a large jar, but he quickly handed over the item of her request and watched her leave in befuddled manner. Mizuki knew she had to act quick if she wanted to get the frog eggs back to Shikamaru before the clothes needed to be moved to the dryer. She ran as fast as she could to the lake.
When she first go there she did not know where to find the eggs because the lake itself was fairly clear of any type of foliage or debris. Though she soon spotted the floating mass of developing eggs. She walked over to the edge of the lake and filled the jar with water before carefully counting out the delicate eggs.
After what seemed like an eternity she finished counting out all two hundreds eggs and began her short journey back to the academy. Shikamaru was waiting for her. "Finished, eh?" She smiled as she handed him the jar.
"Yes. One more thing, do you have a small bookcase in your classroom?" He frowned at her question but nodded.
"Yeah, there is a tiny one, but it's unorganized so I doubt it could be of any use." Her smile brightened. Perfect.
"I'll be back to fix it and get your signature for my mission reports." And with that she was off the laundry mat to switch out Takachi-san's clothing. The woman from earlier was still in the same spot watching her laundry and the basket Mizuki was using. Mizuki thanked her again before switching the wet clothes into a recently emptied dryer. She then asked the lady if it would be too much trouble to watch the basket just a little bit longer.
"I'm very sorry to bother you like this." Mizuki offered after the woman agreed to continue watching it. The lady shook her head.
"No it's fine. I have to be here anyway so it's no trouble at all to watch a basket for a busy shinobi." The warm smile that spread across her face washed away Mizuki's doubts about using the woman and she left her there with the laundry and the basket.
&&&
"Okay, that's done. Skika--" Mizuki wiped the sweat from her brow as she called out but was cut off mid sentence when she looked over her shoulder to see Shikamaru already waiting. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Did you sign the mission reports already?" He nodded and held up the two scrolls.
She walked over to him. "Thank-you. I need to go now, but feel free to let me know when you need something like this done again." He grunted with a shrug as he handed the documents over. She waved to him and left to return to the laundry mat.
The clothes had finished drying but were still warm when she got back to the mat. The middle aged woman was folding her clothes at a small stand. Mizuki loaded the clothes into the basket and took up the stand next to the woman. After a few moments of silence Mizuki tried to start a conversation with the lady.
"Thank-you again for helping. I'm Hatake Mizuki." She smiled in attempt to rouse the woman and it might have worked since the woman offered her name in return.
"My name is Kyogenko. You are new to the village, right?" Mitzuki nodded and began to fold the laundered shirts. "That must be hard. Do you have any family here?" She smiled warmly but Mizuki felt a shiver run down her spine. She ignored the feeling and answered the question.
"Yes, I do have a cousin, Hatake Kakashi. You most likely know of him. Spiky silver hair and a bored expression." She laughed at her own mental picture. The woman nodded in agreement.
"He is very famous and I do know of this Copy Nin." The lady replied. A companionable silence settled over them as they worked. Neither one spoke until they both had finished folding their respective clothes.
"I need to get going. I have to give these back to a client and turn in my mission reports." Kyogenko frowned at Mizuki's statement.
"Going so soon? Well, be careful and good luck." Mizuki thought it strange to say but she thanked the woman one final time and took her leave.
"Takachi-san, I finished your clothes. I need you to sign the mission slip." There was a long pause before Mizuki heard movement in the back of the house. She went to investigate and found Mr. Takachi picking through hundreds of pants to wear that night. He turned and looked at Mizuki.
"Oh, you're back. Just set the basket there. You said something about a mission slip?" They exchanged basket for signature and Mizuki was on her way back to the briefing room. She walked into the chamber at eleven thirty. Tsunade was still there with Iruka but Shizune was missing.
"You're back." Tsunade offered in a bored tone. Mizuki handed her the mission slips.
"And I finished them in the time allotted." She smirked at the hokage who returned it.
"Well, if we aren't cocky right about now. So I'm guessing your up for another mission then?" Mizuki looked at her suspiciously before shrugging nonchalantly.
"Will I ever get a break?" Tsunade burst out laughing. She narrowed her eyes.
"Be in my official chamber at seven in the morning tomorrow. You have a week long mission so I suggest that you pack well. Oh, and you'll have a partner." Mizuki raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Who?" Tsunade didn't say anything. Iruka looked from Mizuki to Tsunade and back.
"Well, Shino just got back a few minutes ago." Mizuki froze when she heard his name. Tsunade pretended not to notice.
"Yes, I think this would be a good mission for him as well. But keep in mind," she said pointedly at Mizuki, "if you fail you will have to wait a year before you could even attempt to become a chunin." Mizuki clenched her teeth. I either take this mission or face living with him for another year.
"I do understand, Hokage-sama. I accept the mission. May I be dismissed?" She asked with rigid formality. Tsunade sighed.
"Yes, kunoichi. You are dismissed, but remember, seven in the morning my office." Mizuki bowed and took her leave. She had just left the building when a familiar figure made her stop in her tracks.
Shino. She silently cursed under her breath. He was covered again so at least she wouldn't be tempted by his beautifully sculpted face. There was something different about him. His aura was burning and made her wonder why was he waiting for her. If he was angry she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to face that wrath. And what she had she done any way? Too late to run away…Here he comes now. She sucked in a breath and moved to meet him. "Aburame-san. I heard you had just got back. How was the mission? Succesful, I hope." He didn't say anything to her. Crap. Was it wrong to act meek in front of him.
"I need to talk to you." Mizuki could feel his gaze through his glasses. She nodded.
"Okay." She followed him down the street and around the corner.
-To Be Continued-
Hey, so here is the new chapter. I hope you like, but I feel it was lacking in places. I am going to start on the new chapter but I'm not promising that it will come out any time soon. I have a lot going on at school right now. Like trying to memorize the scripts for two 1-act plays…and lines are due the 25th. Kill me now, I know. That's one thing I'm not….an actress. It sucks so much, but I was the one who decided to take theater. Anyway, enough of my silly rants. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as possible and review if you could please.