"Uhm, no," said Sakura.
"Oh right," said the redhead. "Okay, you're going to learn from Brekke at first. That's the big guy with the beard there. Taking care of the animals that pull our carts along is a big job. Later on, if you show any skill at a particular other job, we'll switch you to that."
"What other jobs are there?" asked Sakura, thinking that other than the OTHER girl with pink hair - she was the youngest one present.
"Well, everyone has their niche. Rook is our brewmaster," said Kirche. "Longueville is an expert on technology like the stuff that turns up in the old cities. Montmorency is a perfumer. Watch out for Guiche there - he'll put the moves on almost anything female. Just bap him once or twice and he'll move on. Guiche is fairly good with a sword, but it's his skills with his earth techniques that keep him with us. Over there is-"
"'Earth techniques'?" asked Sakura, stopping and then having to speed up to catch up with Kirche. "Waitaminute. You're ninja?"
"Hm? No," said Kirche. "Most of us are of noble families but outside the immediate line of inheritence. A lot of us have elemental affinities and a few techniques handed down through the generations - but they're generally not combat oriented and not considered ninjutsu."
"Nobles?" asked Sakura, looking around.
"Oh yes," said Kirche. "Anyway. Over there, the girl reading a book as she walks, that's Tabitha. The girl sleeping atop that cart is Siesta. She's one of the main cooks. The noble-born and the common-born tend to segregate around here but when there's work to be done everyone pitches in. Jean Colbert, the old bald guy, he's a technologist like Longueville, except he's a lot better at it. Chevreuse over there in the red cloak, herbist."
Sakura listened to Kirche for awhile, trying to keep track of all the details. It sounded terribly strange and complicated.
"So... is this typical of what a 'D-Rank Mission' entails?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, pretty much," admitted Kakashi.
Naruto considered that silently for a few moments before speaking. "It appears I was wrong about ninja and that I was going on false information."
"Oh?" asked Kakashi.
"I had no idea that ninja missions involved collecting trash," admitted Naruto. "The ones I'd heard about involved stabbing people who often had no idea they'd even been targetted for assassination."
"Well... actually, those are missions normally given to jonin or special jonin, not genin," responded Kakashi.
"So a ninja doesn't have to be a heartless assassin striking down innocent people for cash," said Naruto. "All one has to do is avoid reaching either of those ranks?"
"Mostly," admitted Kakashi. "We have chunin and genin whose work never even gets them into combat situations - cryptographers and the like."
"I see," said Naruto. "I apologize then for my earlier rudeness."
"What rudeness?" asked Sasuke.
"My time in the temple often stressed the value of politeness," said Naruto. "Often with a rattan sword being applied to my head and shoulders."
"Ah," said Sasuke. His father had once used a similar approach with regard to his grades.
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(Posted Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:24)
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