The Gardener [Mission] [P]

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Quote :: Mission Title: The Gardener
Mission Type: Custom
Mission Location: Fire Country
Shinobi Requirement: C
Mission Rank: C
Mission Objective: In the countryside of the Fire Country, there lives a very old man who however keeps ties with Kirigakure, because his late wife was from there. Lately, he is in need of attention for he feels lonely. He also has difficulties completing the simplest of tasks by himself, so he needs assistance in pretty much anything. It is your duty to help him in whatever he needs help in. This man is very important to Kirigakure, so fulfill his every wish.
Min Post Count: 4

T H E | G A R D E N E R

Μέσα στον κήπο της δικιάς μου μοναξιάς
κάτι πουλιά πετούν πάνω απ' τη στάχτη
που άφησε πίσω του όταν έφυγε ο νοτιάς και
μου τραγουδάνε "η αγάπη θα 'ρθει, θα' ρθει"

It was that time of year when the leaves would wither and die. They fell to the ground, ever so graceful in their flight, knowing even if just for a moment the beauty of one’s demise before leaving their last breath of hope for a better tomorrow on some dirt grounds in front of a run-down house. Their shiny colour was then shattered by the mud on the ground, creating a fantastic picturesque of brown and orange shapes, entangled in each other in a never-ending dance that had no start and no end in the flows of time. But short were their lives, as short as the sweet meeting of two lovers who were destined to never see each other again. The poor leaves were stepped upon and torn to pieces by the walkers’ hasty movements as they rushed to attend to their everyday matters which appeared to occupy so much of their important time. Oh, what a pity; when would humans realize the worth of their particularly limited time on this planet we call Earth? When would they find out that time lost, is indeed lost forever? Oh, a fine specimen we had here as well, ever so naïve and convinced her life would go on infinitely.

Ophelia Uzumaki felt rather discontent. For days she had been contemplating her current lifestyle, and found, to her utmost annoyance, that she was indeed, an awfully lonely human being. Despite her kind nature and warm disposition, she still seemed unable to bond emotionally with another person. Not that she hadn’t tried, no; she had tried, with the greatest conceivable effort a gentle soul such as herself could possibly bring up. This deficit of hers however, looked impossible to be overcome at that point. Desperation had let itself fall into Ophelia’s favourite seat inside the darkest corners of her mysterious mind and it looked very, very comfortable there. It didn’t look like it would leave anytime soon. A sigh escaped her naturally pink lips as her blood red eyes continued staring at the ceiling, fixating on something nonexistent with such forte, it gave the impression she could’ve wished it into existence if she tried a little bit harder.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

The unbearable noise of the dreadfully old clock inside the Hotel room was hitting every second on the female’s nerves. What was it she had done to fall under such boredom, she did not know. Her maddened eyes lethargically turned around to look at the longstanding clock, which, undisturbed as it was in its task, continued its blissful ticking. Realizing that staring at something soulless expecting it to change could actually be considered an insane action, she disregarded the noise and turned back to her beloved, white ceiling. Was it pointless to stare at that, as well? But of course. A ceiling didn’t have a soul. “Nor do humans…” she grunted as she twisted in her white sheets amongst white, enormous pillows. Her face hidden inside their vast volume, she let out a cry, silent as a needle dropping on a busy street. Her back was feverishly lifting itself up and letting itself down again, as if it was trying to crush the bed with just its weight.

And after all, nor did humans have a soul the girl contemplated as she lay there inside these unknown, but still smelling exceptionally beautiful, pillows of one of Konoha’s best and most expensive Hotels. Yes, she was in Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves; how she had gotten there was a long story. Too long to be squeezed into this adventure. And yes. Humans didn’t have a soul. How could they, when they did so many cruel things every day? Every day, and they didn’t even realize it ! How ignorant the human race was, and still how blissful in all their ignorance. And arrogant, so arrogant. Never believing that something could ever possibly outdo them in anything they did. That something, somewhere, at some point in the future or the past, will be or has been already, much greater than they ever were or will ever even hope to be. But arrogance, as they say, comes before the fall. And humanity’s descent could already be seen from the ship sailing supposedly towards the rescue of the human race, while in truth it was directed towards its very ruin. The expiration date had been reached, all the world needed was just a tiny push down the cliff.

“Humans are cruel. I don’t….get…them…” she mumbled, tired. She had read an article once about an experiment of psychological contents. In short, it was an experiment about how common people react to authority. Given the opportunity, most people would commit the cruelest of crimes justifying the actions by saying that they were “told to do so” or that “it was their job”. And yes, people like that still existed and would probably exist forever, even though this experiment was some good thirty years old. You’d think the human race would’ve advanced in that matter.

Ha. No.

Humans were still the evil two-legged beings, walking about the earth and wreaking havoc in their path, not caring who or what they were tearing down with them. How sad, truly.

But it was that time of year again. The time of year were leaves would turn orange and at their peak of their very existence, wither and die, falling to the ground only to be stepped upon and torn to pieces in the most violent fashion imaginable. It was the time of year when Uzumaki Ophelia felt the greatest melancholy, for everything was dying and in the process of decomposing. But it was also the time of year that bore a new hope, a flame, inside her heart, a promise that tomorrow would be a better day. Things died so new ones could come into being. So the new one could come, the old one had to be destroyed.

Old things fall apart so new things can fall together.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Μέσα στους τοίχους της μικρής μου φυλακής
κάποιος διαβάζει της παλάμης μου το χάρτη
βλέπει τους δρόμους της χαμένης μου ζωής και
μου τραγουδάει "η αγάπη θα `ρθει, θα `ρθει...".

Tap, tap, tap.

A persistent noise could be heard through the pillows, which made Ophelia’s eyebrows grow together in annoyance. This bloody clock would never stop, would it? It was standing there the day she entered the room; obviously it was part of the decoration and added to the theme of the Hotel. It was a truly agreeable hotel with large windows and striking furniture which all fit with its old fashioned sense of style. It was probably established a hundred years ago, for it had the typical smell of old houses. Not that it smelled badly, anything else; the Uzumaki loved that scent. It reminded her of something long forgotten, something so familiar and known and yet unable to be reached by her mind by any means. She hoped to soon find out what that long disremembered place or reminiscence was that was screaming for help in her dreams, for what was forgotten screamed for comfort in our nightmares. Little did she know that this discovery bore much pain and had to wait for the moment, for other, more pressing matters needed to be attended to now.

Tap, tap, tap.

“Gawwwwd,” she grunted and brusquely shot up of the bed underneath the pillows to face the clock, “will you shut up already !”. Her red eyes glared at it in an angry fashion, intending to make it shut up that way. Of course it was pointless to hold a grudge against an inanimate object, nor was it of any particular help to stare at it, expecting it to stop its exasperating activities. For a couple of seconds the girl kept looking at it, her gaze not wandering off it for she was waiting for it to make that annoying tapping noise it did so happily. When she realized that the clock was done for the hour, she turned around to let herself sink again into the comfy cushions. But she didn’t get to lie down.

Tap, tap, tap.

Her blood red eyes darted towards the grandfather clock as they caressed briefly the window, and that was the moment she realized where that noise was actually coming from. It wasn’t the clock. The clock went ‘tick, tock, tick, tock’ while the distressing noise was more a tapping than a ticking. She stood up from her bed still clothed in her light night gown, a lavender dress, and walked with decisive force towards the window, tearing open the heavy, dark red curtains. The light of the day hit her straight in the face, causing her eyes to minimize to small red balls, for the white of her eyeballs was now hidden by her eyelids. She feverishly looked around, her arms still outstretched holding the curtains, her face forming a grim expression. As she looked down, she spotted a small bird. It was, however, not your everyday bird; it was a messenger bird. From Kirigakure, in fact. How she knew it was from her home village? All the messenger birds in the Village Hidden in the Mist had a blue mark on their chest signifying their origin. Well, at least the birds that belonged to the department that handed out missions. “How in the name of the unholy waters of Kirigakure did they find me !” a gasp escaped the female’s lips, not because she was scared or anything like that; she was rather surprised that they knew she was in Konoha even though she hadn’t informed anybody about her whereabouts. She supposed that her home village had spies everywhere perhaps someone even following her without her ever noticing. She wondered no more, as she opened the window and let the bird hop on her hand, closing again the window once she had unfastened the piece of paper from its leg. The blue marked bird happily flew away towards some direction that most likely was the direction in which Kirigakure no Sato lay.

Uzumaki Ophelia opened the sheet of paper. It felt rather old and hard; on the way it was raining and the lack of any protective cover had caused the paper to shrivel. The ink had rolled down as well, but it was legible still. Her vivid eyes quickly scanned the contents of the text and, in a swift motion of her hand, the paper ended up curled together in a ball inside a rubbish bin. She turned around as she let her lavender dress fall to the ground, her expression not giving away any of her emotions but perhaps only a light arouse of interest; it was obvious that the matters of the message had ignited a spark of curiosity inside the female. Her feet stepped out of the dress and approached the cupboards of a dark brown closet. Her arms moved towards the knobs and opened the large doors, revealing a wide variety of clothes typical for girls. She hadn’t brought these clothes from home; she had blown all her money in the markets of Konohagakure no Sato just for shopping. How ordinary for a girl, it was indeed, and that thought, being ordinary, killed her inside. But she just couldn’t resist all the wonderful, wonderful garments she saw as she went sightseeing. Squatting, she pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a light beige tank top as well as a beige belt, put them on and exited the hotel room.

Yes, Uzumaki Ophelia very well was aware of the fact that humans were cruel, and mistreated other people when they had excuses ready at the tip of their tongue. But she was no better. After all, she was a Ninja; a person, an authority on her own, with enough physical power and prestige to cause harm to anyone or to make anyone cause harm to somebody else. Up until now she had never abused her powers at the expense of innocent people; yes, not even against culpable individuals had she ever used so much violence at the risk of them dying at her hands. But soon, that was about to change.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Θα `ρθει, ένα απόγευμα ζεστό,
θα μπει στον κήπο αυτό
όλο το φως που υπάρχει...

Noticing one thing as she walked through the streets of Konohagakure no Sato was the incredible familiar feeling of being in a hurry. But it was not her who was rushing about, no, it was the world around her. At times her environment reminded her of a violent fistfight in which everyone was involved, fighting, kicking and punching for their very lives. Everyone, but her. She was just a bystander, a watcher to the events that shaped the lives of the people around her, sometimes affecting even her own life. Even when taking on missions, Ophelia still felt that she was just “there”. That she wasn’t actually involved in anything important or unimportant, that she merely “existed” for the purpose of her village. Maybe that was one of the reasons why she took that vacation.

As she proceeded her walk along the busy streets of Konohagakure no Sato, she was getting closer and closer to the destination she was meant to reach. Luckily, in the folder had been attached a map with instructions as to how to get to the house, for Ophelia would probably searching for it forever. Or well, she would have just asked somebody. The girl turned right and found herself in a god-forsaken street with only one house, which was exceptionally beautiful. It was such an odd sight to behold, for the street was a dirt road, full of rubbish and run-down houses. The street lamps were all broken; it must have been really, really scary there at night, for there was no other light source but these broken street lamps. Ophelia suddenly felt glad that she went there so early, hoping that the work wouldn’t keep her there till late at night. Completely dazzled by the amazingly beautiful home of the person that she was supposed to help, the red head was gradually drawn to the house. A scent made itself known to her, which was so divine that she thought it could be nothing else but the scent of heaven. She walked forward only to be stopped violently by something metallic hitting her belly. She looked down in a startled expression only to see a fence that was hindering the entrance to that blissful place. Still dazzled and perplexed, she absent-mindedly pushed the fence aside and ventured inside what seemed heaven on earth.

Colours so vivid she never could have even imagined graced her vision with their beauty as she stepped slowly along the stone path. Exotic flowers decorated the trail, seemingly smiling at her with their odd shapes. She approached a flower that was of extraordinary beauty, and outstretching her arm to get a touch of what seemed perfection she- “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”. A raw voice echoed out of nowhere and Ophelia stopped her hand mid-air, not so much because of the warning, but more because of the sudden pull back into reality. She pulled back her arm and placed it embarrassed behind her back as she turned to look at the source of the voice. Her eyes beheld an old man with several wrinkles on his tired face, his icy blue eyes kindly staring back at her. He approached the flower in slow steps, for he was quite old; just like the mission had described. It is very beautiful, indeed” he started as he caressed its leaves, “but every beautiful thing has its poisonous sting.” The man bent the flower, only for a thorn to be revealed at its back. It was impossible to be seen from the front, for it was really small and located exactly at its back so when you reached for the flower, getting pierced was a certainty. :”And this one, my dear, is the most poisonous flower there is. It kills you in the most brutal way, and I don’t think there is any particular antidote for it.” He said as he let it slide back into its place. “Then…why do you keep it if it’s so dangerous and you don’t even have an antidote?” Ophelia asked, obviously confused and somewhat shocked by what the man was saying. How could he keep such a dangerous plant in his garden, and even touch it? The Uzumaki would have burnt it to the ground if she were him, and not keep it so near her, for she was not in the mood to die. “Ah, but dearest, it would be a crime to kill something so beautiful, even if it turns out to kill you in the end.”

“Hahaha, you gotta be kidding!” the female exclaimed as she guided her cup of tea near her pink lips, laughing at Sakamoto-san. “No, no, I’m telling you, it really happened that way!” he continued, obviously trying to convince her that his story was true. Ophelia’s red eyes shifted slightly to her tea as she drank out of it before putting it back into place. “Hahahaha, unbelievable!” It was about the third week since she had started visiting him to fulfil her duties. But it had grown to be more than just that. She really liked this old person. He was like the grandfather she never had and this feeling inside was so warm and tender, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She grew attached to Sakamoto-san, for he was a kind man with a lot of funny and weird stories to tell. He advised her in situations, and talked to her about really anything while she was helping him with the garden and the house. They laughed and had such a great time that Ophelia sometimes even forgot the time and left well past after midnight for her hotel. Sometimes she didn’t even want to return to the hotel, for there she would be alone and her thoughts would return, which was something she wished to avoid at all costs, for they weren’t so pleasant.

“Why don’t you stay here for the night? It’s so late already.” Sakamoto-san said, looking at his watch. It was two in the morning. Ophelia looked at him and tried to understand if he meant it or said it just out of kindness. She decided he meant it. “I don’t want to be a burden, so-”

“Nonsense! You’re staying here!” he interrupted her, throwing his hand into the air as if to fend off Ophelia’s argument that she would burden him if she stayed.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Θα `ρθει, μ’ ένα ποδήλατο λευκό,
θα κοιταχτεί μέσ’ στο νερό
και θα ρωτάει να μάθει...

“Sakamoto-san”, Ophelia said, breathing heavily, “what else do you need?” Her hands were covered in mud as well as her face, with a hint of redness though, from the strenuous work. It was early afternoon and they had just planted a few new flowers. Ophelia reached out to a purple one and before planting it, she inhaled deeply, taking in its sweet aroma. It smelled better than anything else she had ever smelled. “Drink your tea.” he kindly said, pointing over to the garden table on which cup of jasmine tea was sitting. “Your tea is the best, Sakamoto-san!” she exclaimed, as she finished with the flowers and headed over to the garden table to drink the tea. She picked it up and led it to her lips before she noticed there was something wrong with it. It had pills inside. Ophelia's eyes narrowed down and shot towards Sakamoto-san, who however had vanished from the garden.

“Is something the matter, dear?” a stern voice echoed, as the female turned around to see Sakamoto-san standing in front of her. “Um, no” she chuckled and looked at him, trying to hide her anxiety. “Drink your tea, dear.” he continued on pressuring her. Ophelia's heartbeat rose, as she looked at him and then again into the cup with the dubious pills. Was he drugging her? She smiled and led the cup to her mouth, swallowing the delicious tea in one shot. She smiled at him. “I'll bring that back” she said slowly and vanished into the kitchen, with Sakamoto closely observing her. The picture was wrong and had started to crack.

Ophelia spat out the pills, which she had safely hidden underneath the tongue and looked at them closely. She recognized them, being a junkie herself. This was the strong stuff, enough to drug a hrose. Why would the kind old man want to drug her, she could not imagine. Doubts started circling her mind and for the first time, she wondered just how long she had been there. But she couldn't find a satisfying answer for all she remembered was the first day she arrived and the day he had told her to stay at his place for the night. She didn't remember waking up or doing anything else other than helping him around the house and the garden, the beautiful garden of his. Looking down her eyes wandered to herself, in clothes in fact. She hadn't changed them in weeks, for she remembered that sh e was wearing them the first day she had visited Sakamoto-san.

“Opheliaaa! Can you help me, dear?” the man's voice shot through her like a bullet and she shrieked. “Coming!” she replied and walked off, towards the garden. She was sure she would go after the weird findings and get behind this. It seemed this wasn't just like any other mission; this was more.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

Πότε γέμισε ο κήπος με πουλιά,
πόσο είχε λείψει εκεί μακριά
ποιός τα φροντίζει τ’ άνθη...;

As the last sun rays disappeared behind the tall mountains, cloaking the valley, Sakamoto-san put himself to sleep, as his day was tiring. Ophelia found the chance to sneak out of her room, and started searching the house for something she did not know what it was, but would recognize it once she saw it. The house was rather large; two stories, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. Only now had she noticed how big it actually was. Why hadn't she noticed earlier? What was wrong with her? Creeping around the house, she noticed a door that was locked. Ophelia approached it and tried to open it, unsuccessfully. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a hairclip,which she used to open the door. The door clicked and opened with a crack. For a second she thought the old man had woken up, but luckily he was in a very deep sleep. Reaching for the light switch inside the dark room which appeared to have no windows whatsoever, what her eyes saw once illuminated she couldn't comprehend.

She saw herself. Herself, lying strapped onto a table, appearing asleep, with wires and cables attached to her skull. For a moment she just stood there, frozen, not knowing how to react to that unexpected sight that revealed itself to her. What was going on? Ophelia hesitantly made a few steps towards her other self, and reached out touching it. In seconds it dispersed as everything turned black.

She woke up strapped to that very table which she had seen seconds ago. How did she get there? She looked around the room which was dark now, but she couldn't sense any other presence. Her fingers reached into her pocket and pulled out a small knife and cut through the ropes. Jumping off the table, she switched on the light and found herself in a small room, which was different from the one she had seen earlier. “What..the hell..” she whispered, unable to understand what was happening. And that very moment, the door behind her clicked and the old man walked right in. He looked different. He looked evil. “W-what's going on here?” she slowly asked, as she looked at him. He just chuckled. “Hahahah, dearest Ophelia, so you broke free, hmm” he just said, chuckling some more. “But, but...I was just in my room a few seconds ago!” she exclaimed, her weak mind struggling with the information. “Hahha, actually no, you weren't. You were here the whole time.” Ophelia's freaked out expression caused him to elaborate. “Genjutsu. I'm pretty decent at it.” he said and walked over to the table, beholding the cut through ropes. “You didn't drink that last tea, did you?” he asked, and she just looked at him. “Ah, well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Now that you found out, you won't see the sun anyway. Too bad for the Bijuu, though, couldn't extract it....hmm..” her eyes flew wide open when he mentioned the Bijuu, surprised he knew about it. And he tried to take it away from her? God, it seemed wherever she went, everyone was after her. She slowly backed away when she noticed him taking steps towards her direction. He wanted to kill her and she was too weak to defend herself. She had been drugged for weeks, and the strain from the attempted extractions had started making their presence known. The room started spinning and her vision blurred as she tumbled towards the exit. She ran out of the room, crashing from one wall to the other through the hallway with Sakamoto closely behind her, walking as if he was sure he would reach her. Ophelia reached the living room and hid behind the couch, breathing heavily. She knew she had to get out of there, preferably in one piece. “Ha ha ha, and to think you would fall so easily for my trap. My garden is so...deceitful.” the old man continued, as he searched for her. “See, the scent trapped you in the Genjutsu. Oh, how easy it was for me. Pretending I needed help, so they would send you. Ha! Stupid Kiri people! They handed you right over! Hahaha!” his maniacal laugh pierced through her ears and send shivers down her spine. Was he insane?

“When I heard you were coming to Konoha, I knew I had to have you.” he continued, as he approached the couch. Breathing slightly, he stabbed the couch, thinking Ophelia was there, but she was already gone. He smiled. He knew he'd get her. He had to. “And those stupid Kiri people....but Konoha isn't any better, huh? Thinking I just supply them with weapons...if only they knew how much information I have given Kiri about them! Haha! And Kiri, oh, Kiri...sending me here to spy on Konoha, it was like they were banning me from my home! My HOME I HELPED TO BUILD.” he raised his voice as he remembered his past. It was obvious that he was still feeling angry about it, even after all these years.

“A spy...a double spy...that's what they made me!” he exclaimed, sarcastically, his voice full of pain and agony. He felt betrayed by his country, so he betrayed it in return. Ophelia couldn't find a way to escape, but she couldn't leave him here either, for he was dangerous to Kirigakure. She had to do something about it, however much she hated it. Forming hand signs a second Ophelia appeared who ran in front of Sakamoto. “Hm..decided to reveal yourself?”

The real Ophelia searched the kitchen for something she could use as a weapon. Finding a screwer she approached the man from behind, who was too busy with her clone, amd proceeded to penetrate his back. At that moment he turned around and stabbed her in the belly. Her eyes sprung wide open as she gasped for air, warm blood running down from the wound. “I'm the master of illusions....and you come at me with a clone? Really?” he said as he looked deeply into her eyes. Suddenly, he fell to the ground bleeding from his stomach. Ophelia disappeared and he didn't know what had just happened. From the shadows the real Uzumaki came out, smiling satisfied. “You're not that great after all, huh?”. She pulled out the knife from the old man, who had appeared to stab himself instead of the female. She used a Genjutsu on him, how funny.

“Sorry to beat you with your own weapons.” she said and walked away, leaving him to bleed to death there, on the floor of his living room. The sun just came out when she walked out the door, the spell broken for the man had died. Instead of flowers, there were plants with which drugs were made. Could it get any more twisted? Well, the Uzumaki took advantage of that, and took some of them with her for herself. After all, she wouldn't be herself if she hadn't.

A hawk was sent to Kiri shortly after to notify of the events. By the time the bird reached her home town, she was long gone from Konoha, without a trace.

[End, will make travel topic.]