The root of all inconvenience [Mission]

Spoiler:

Weed pulling was not exactly top-notch shinobi work, but after the disappointment of his previous mission, Hotaru could not be particularly disappointed. He knew now that genin had to start by doing menial tasks. Busywork. He was determined to do his part and give his 100% for every mission that came his way, even if it was something as meaningless as gardening. Besides, it just so happened that his skillset was a perfect fit for this chore. He had spent the last day practicing some impressive fire release techniques that would be excellent for scorching whatever weeds he had to deal with. Unless this lady Hasegawa had one massive garden, he would be done by noon and have some time left for training.

Hotaru turned left into a quiet, residental street. Small houses, but with relatively big gardens unfortunately. Still, nothing he couldn't handle. Most of the inhabitants of the street seemed to take pride in their sizeable gardens and displayed all varieties of bushes and flowers - except for one. One house by the end of the street was partially overgrown with vines and had a lawn almost as high as Hotarus knees. As it so happened, this was his destination. He reached for the discolored, copper knocker on the door and knocked. After a short wait, the door slowly creaked open and a frail looking elderly woman popped out.

"Miss Hasegawa?"

"Ah, yes. You must be the shinobi they sent. Good afternoon. As you see, you've got your work cut out for you"

Hotaru cast a quick glance at the wilderniss surrounding the house and chuckled.

"Seems to me like my work still needs quite a lot of cutting. Not to worry though, miss. I'm actually a fire release user. I'll give this garden a fresh start in..."

Miss Hasegawa interrupted him

"Fire? Oh no, I'm afraid that won't be an option. I know it doesn't look like much, but somewhere underneath all this overgrowth are my late husbands hydrangeas. He grew them with so much love and care. I can't risk losing those."

Hotaru looked around the garden again. A little more disheartened this time. Miss Hasegawa picked up on the youngsters growing despair and continued.

"I still have a sickle in the back I could lend you, if that helps."

"No thank you. It's okay miss. You sit back, I'll figure something out"

There was nothing else to do but get to work, even if it wouldn't be the quick job that Hotaru had anticipated. He decided to work from the front to the back, using his hands to clear out the more delicate parts of the garden, while using his brand new kusarigama to cut the lawn back to an acceptable height. Every now and then, miss Hasegawa would bring him a cup of tea, growing visibly more excited with each part of the garden that the genin had patched up. Hotaru could not deny that he got a surprising amount of satisfaction from the job. Sure, it wasn't as flashy or challenging as he had hoped, but he was helping out a kind, elderly woman with something she clearly cared about. At the end of the day, was helping people not what being a shinobi was all about?

The sun was beginning to set by the time Hotaru pulled the last weeds, but he managed to get the whole thing done on one day. He and miss Hasegawa said their goodbyes as he left the, by this time almost radiating, lady to scuffle around in her garden. All in all, a job well done.

[Exit]