"'Delivering milk'?" asked Naruto. "What kinda mission is THAT supposed to be?!"
KER THWACK!
Death Orchid settled into a peaceful pose atop the short fence, one hand still holding a steaming cup of tea. The other hand held a walking stick made of dark-grained wood.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" KA-WHAM!
Death Orchid sipped at her tea, giving a satisfied sound at the taste.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
KER THWACK!
"Ah, nothing like the taste of hot tea in the morning, an hour or so before dawn, in the peace and quiet," said Orchid.
"AAAAAAAAAAA! Not agaiinnnnnn!" KA-WHAM!
Naruto slowly got up.
"I am not Kakashi Hatake, who is constantly late and reads porn while his genin train," Orchid informed a small dog that popped up from the nearby yard. "I am not Kurenai Yuhi who believes in letting students find their own way. I am not Asuma Sarutobi who mainly goofs off and tries to figure out ways of motivating his students. I am not Aoba Yamashiro who makes bets and spreads gossip. I DO however demand that my students show respect and be polite, be on time, and THINK about things rather than blunder around."
Naruto spit dirt out and staggered to his feet.
"Now, if you're ready to start the mission - we've already wasted quite a bit of time and this IS a time sensitive mission," stated Orchid. "Over there is a stack of milk bottles and a list of homes to leave the milk at. You have to leave the correct number of bottles directly to the left of each door on the list. Simple and straightforward."
Naruto was about to say something impolite when his sensei's eyes met his and he foresaw with perfect clarity that if he said what he was going to, he was going to end up flying up even further and hitting the ground even harder.
He looked at the large crate with the backpack-like straps, judged the weight, then went over and looked at the list.
He considered that for a second or two. "This is a training exercise, isn't it, sensei?"
"Yes," said Orchid, acknowledging that.
"Strength," said Naruto, pointing at the crate. "Stamina. Speed. Right, sensei?"
"Quite," admitted Orchid.
"You're going to increase the weight every day, aren't you sensei?" asked Naruto.
"Yes," said Orchid. "Very good. Not everyone figures that all out at once."
"I think I heard about it somewhere," said Naruto, grunting as he lifted and got the crate into place. "I ain't backing down."
"Then you better get started, student," said Orchid.
"What's this?" asked Naruto, managing not to wheeze as he struggled to a seated position.
"Lunch," said Orchid.
"Huh," said Naruto.
"Specifically, it's called a pork bun. Eat all three. While you eat," said Orchid, "let me tell you my qualifications, then I'll tell you about what I've observed about you."
"Mfff," said Naruto with a mouthful of food.
"I am a specialist," said Orchid. "I am not a Silent Killing specialist or a Poison specialist. I am not an Infiltration specialist or a Seduction type or a Stealth expert. I am an assassin. I am a Whatever It Takes To Kill Someone specialist. My typical mission involved going into someone else's territory, and doing whatever was necessary to end their life. Period. Sometimes it was necessary to use ninjutsu, sometimes genjutsu, sometimes taijutsu. I am listed as S-Rank in the use of poisons, stealth, various silent killing techniques, and kenjutsu."
"Hmmm?" asked Naruto as he tried to swallow.
"No, you'll find that being able to cook and cook well aids in infiltration missions as well as when using poisons, but it has other uses as well," said the old woman. "Such as making sure your genin student is getting decent nutrition."
"Ah," said Naruto as he finally was able to swallow.
"Yes, anyway, that's MY background," said Orchid, her raspy voice silent for a moment as she considered things. "Now to you. Honestly, I want to go to the Academy - find your teachers and then kick their buttocks from one end of the village to the other. You have some situational awareness, but not much. You have the typical Uzumaki talent for recovery and stamina, as well as decent chakra for your age - but both could be a LOT better. Your chakra control is crap. Strength is okay. Accuracy with thrown missiles - below average. Ninjutsu - you suck. Taijutsu - you suck worse. Genjutsu - you go past suck into truly horrible. General knowledge - from what I've seen you are not stupid but so ignorant I'd be wondering if you were raised in a hole in Kiri."
"HEY!" protested Naruto.
"The good thing is that ignorance can be cured, stupid cannot," said Orchid. "So - there's the lesson plan, kid. You will NEVER be a good candidate for assassin. Your personality and talents aren't suited for it. You seem to be more of a protector or defender type."
"Whash tha-" Naruto paused to swallow. "What's that mean, sensei?"
"It means that going into a strange area, sneaking past their family and loved ones, and killing someone you've never met would give you problems in the long run," said Orchid. "I've done that. I've done that a lot. You, on the other hand, are the sort to do your best when you are protecting someone or something you care about. How far would you go if you found out that the two at that ramen stand were going to be killed by someone?"
Naruto's eyes widened as he considered the possibility of the two who'd shown him tolerance and even friendship over the years killed by some attacker.
Noting the play of expressions on Naruto's face, Orchid nodded. "Exactly. You would fight, and more - you would lay down your own life to protect someone like that. You would draw on every reserve you had - and go beyond what your current limits are for someone you consider a 'precious person' - wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I would," admitted Naruto.
"Well," said Orchid. "In the afternoon we'll be meeting up with two chunin and we'll go to that castle of yours. In the morning we'll have training and a mission. In the afternoon, I will train you further while those chunin catalog things. I will push you, Naruto Uzumaki. I will grind you into the dirt, you will come to associate my name with pain. But when I'm done with you, you will be able to protect the people you befriend from anything less than an S-Rank opponent. You will live and breathe pain as my student, because when I consider you a passable ninja and able to take the chunin test - you will be a tiger among the sheep of your Academy class."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Fri, 08 Aug 2014 02:07)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.