For Fishing! [Modded Mission]

[Tatsuo]

The docks Ryo was sent to was a small little shack with a wooden pier extending into the lake. It was the largest lake in the immediate village vicinity, because of union laws or whatever, they were having a hard time getting enough workers to help fish up the amount they'd need for the up and coming Fall festival. Luckily child labor laws weren't really existent in Konoha so hiring a eight year old to do the work men would deem too backbreaking was perfectly fine. Oh well, money makes the world go round.

When Ryo appeared at the river an older man with an angry face greeted him. "FINALLY, I've been waiting here all day. Kids these days just don't know how to show up on time now do they.. back in my day if you had a mission and you didn't show up two hours early you were considered late.." The old man continued his rambling for what felt like hours, but really was only a minute or two. Finally ending his rant, he said "Alright, do you know how to fish or do I need to teach you that too? You know when I was a kid we always had to know how to fish or we didn't eat, used to have to walk thirty miles to the Academy and back, nowadays you kids got it good." The old man continued another one of his rants before handing Ryo a large wooden rod and motioned him to follow.

As they waked onto the deck they arrived at a small dingy fishing boat, that barely had room for the both of them. The man slipped into it and looked to Ryo, "Well c'mon! Get in we don't have time to waste." The wooden boat really didn't seem reliable but the man was completely confident in it's abilities. "I've been using this boat since before you were even thought of, now get in!"

WC: 324/2000

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

Ryo stepped on the boat, looking at the cranky old man “You probably used this a hundred years ago, old man.” The second he stepped onto the boat it could feel as if the boat was about to turn into driftwood if more than one person was to occupy it. Ryo wrapped his fingers greatly around the large wooden rod the old man had handed him, a worried look had started to come across his face, how could the old man use such a dingy boat. Not too mention it’s very small and it appeared to him that they would just barely fit. Sighing, he thought I might as well do this for the yen, and who knows maybe there was some wisdom in that cranky old man.

As the man hurried him onto the boat he thought maybe there wasn’t “I’m coming! It’s not like the world's going to end!” The old man’s impatience had exhausted Ryo, he guessed that when someone is finally elderly they get impatient about everything. Ryo thought about it and realized he had never met his grandparents so he was unsure if this was how impatient all the elderly are. As Ryo sat down he attempted to make himself comfortable on the boat, and realized that was nearly impossible to do since the old man had taken up most of the space already, leaving Ryo with a small section of the at the tip of the boat. As he shifted he heard a creak on the boat, hearing this he tensed up his back, “Old man, you sure that this boat is okay for going into the lake?” he asked with a worried look.

Wc 280/2000

 

[Tatsuo]

When Ryo decided to insult the boat, the man got really quiet for a few moments before waiting Ryo to get securely into the boat. After a brief awkward silence he brought the pole down onto Ryo's head! "You talk too much! Fish! Not talk! You're going to scare them away! Damn kids these days never knowing how to shut up, back in my day.. grr!" He shook his head at Ryo's worry about the boat, almost thinking of giving Ryo another smack with the pole. "This boat has been out on this lake since before you were even a speck of dust! Old Taka! She's sailed from lakes to oceans, something like this is nothing for her. Once I sailed from Tea Country all the way to Port Cirrus in this girl.. You know that's what men do! Not stuck fishing with old men!" the old man sighed once again as he continued his rant on the new generation.

After his rant, he grabbed his pole and showed it to Ryo. "Alright fist.. you gotta feed it some wire then.. WATCH ME, IF YOU PUT A HOOK IN EITHER ONE OF US BOY I'M THROWING YOU OVERBOARD!" he shouted loud enough for those in the Lightning Country to hear, but hopefully it would keep Ryo's attention. "After feeding it some wire.. you flick the pole, sending the hook far into the water. Then.. you wait." The man suddenly grew quiet as he focused intensely on the task at hand. As if a light switched in the man's head his breathing itself grew quieter.

WC: 588

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

“AGH, you’re crazy old man!” he placed his hands where the pole was brought down, after a moment of rubbing his head, the old man was obviously sentimental about his boat to get so angry or.. Maybe the old man was a shiphand who’s ship which capsized and he was the only survivor because he was the only one quick enough to get to the lifeboat. What if the lifeboat was the boat Ryo and the Old man were on was the boat he survived on. An interesting story it was, Ryo smirked and looked at the old man “How long have you been fishing on this boat.” he’d cast a line into the water. “I heard about the tea country but I never heard about Port Cirrus how far was it from where set sail?” Ryo would ponder around for more questions, noticing the old man’s intensity he’d wrap his fingers tightly on the handle of the rod, looking out into the lake it was peaceful the water was calm “Maybe if you weren’t so rude more people would help you do this job, Old man.” Ryo looked back at the calm lake.

wc: 194
twc:474

 

[Tatsuo]

The man continued to be silent, the only sound was the Uchiha's talking and the simple sounds of waves splashing on the boat. The old man looked down after he was called rude, a small smile crept on his face. His wrinkly skin pulling upwards like bent leather, "You know, kid. You remind me of my son." He had begun to slowly reel in a catch. "He was always like you, called me Old man." He let out a tired sigh as he pulled back hard, a fish leaping out of the water attached to his fishing pole, all the while spinning the reel. "Why dontcha look at that?" the man said as he waved the fish near Ryo's face.

The fish was a bright red and sparkled in the sunlight, it was about the size of Ryo's arm. Quite a large catch, especially for the first of the day. "You know.." he said as he went to pull the hook out of the fishes mouth and place it in a small crate at their feet. "They call this lake, Lake Koun. I know they don't teach you kids the important stuffs, but back in my day.. and this was a long time ago, mind you. I used to fish with my father here, he fished with his father.. and every generation since. But.. I never got to fish with my own son.." he sighed again before throwing the line back out, splashing into the water then becoming still. "He would be about twenty now, he was about your age when the war started. You know about the Civil war right? The one that ravaged the land? The samurai of the Fire Country invaded Konoha and killed the ninja left and right." His teeth gritted as you could hear the anger form in his voice. "Women and children included."

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

Ryo looked with at the man with solemn look on his face after a minute, Ryo smiled “Wow that’s a big fish you got there, old man. You’re father must’ve been on the best fishers in konoha!” Ryo thought on the words, as he did Ryo looked up at the clear blue sky, he had heard of the civil war his parents had told him about the war and the hardships they had went through, but now he realize that his parents were the only ones to go through hardships. He felt sorry for the old man he must’ve gone through some tough and trying times. Turning to look back at the old man “Lake Koun, huh? Sounds interesting who named it? I’m pretty sure they didn’t teach us about this in the academy. That or I didn’t listen to the lesson…” Ryo would say it under his breath.

Ryo yawned, covering his mouth “I remember hearing about the civil war from my parents they told me about the civil war, they’re both ninja and they told me they fought in it. They also told me I was born the year it was over. I know the that we’re going to learn about it soon in the academy my teacher told my classmates and I. The little bits my parents told about it was that they had been fighting since they had gotten out of the academy and that they had seen a lot of their friends die.” Ryo would think back to that his parents told when they trained him. “That’s why I’m going to become the strongest ninja in Konoha so that I can protect the village!” Ryo looked out into the calm water, as he did he would feel a pull on his line, he’d open his eyes widely “Hey, Old man! I think I got something!” Ryo would pull himself back, he’d grip the handle of his fishing pole tightly.

Wc:324
Twc:798

 

[Tatsuo]

The older man smiled as he enjoyed his fishing time with Ryo, sharing their experiences about the war. He never got the chance to fish with his own son, but at least he got the chance to fish with Ryo. Teach him all the important stuff that people need to know, such as fishing. He was sort of surprised that the boy and him shared so much, while they were so different it gave the old man insight into how the war effected everyone. Maybe they were teaching kids the important stuff nowadays. He wouldn't really know, he couldn't think the last time he spent any time with a kid. But this was a growing experience for the man as much as he hoped it was for Ryo.

When Ryo managed to reel in quite a big catch the man laughed and grinned from ear to ear, "Good job, kid! Keep up the good work and we might be able to go home early tonight. You like fish? We can share a bit of the catch, fresh fish is the best. Got this old lemon recipe my momma taught me ages ago." he said laughing as he sent his line out again. "Your parents fought in the war? Good people, I fought as well but I was already getting old before it." He pulled his collar showing a thick calloused scar on his upper shoulder. "A samurai got me good. Brought his sword down as I blasted him away with a water jutsu. Nearly severed my arm off, luckily some cute Med Nin was there to save me. That's how I ended up meeting my wife." he said a faint smile appearing on his lips as he continued to fish. "Barely managed to save my arm, and allowed me to continue fishing." he said laughing loudly as he reeled another one in.

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

Smiling with pride at the man, Ryo beamed at the fish he had caught, he lifted his fishing pole up highly in triumph. “The future is now, old man.” Ryo said jokingly he felt proud that he had such a great catch. “Yeah, I can invite you over to eat with me and my parents!” Ryo looked back at his fish smiling brightly. Ryo sat down slowly and brought the fish to his legs and removed the hook, but made no sudden move so that the fish doesn’t slip off and fall back into the lake. He stood up and placed the fish into a cooler, and sat back down. As Ryo sat down he listened to the Old Man’s recipe with great attention. “Your mom’s recipe? Sounds neat, Old man.” Maybe we can make it at my house, I’m pretty sure my parents will be there. Maybe you can meet them!” Ryo sat back down and his thoughts wandered back to the fish he had just caught. He thought about how delicious the old man’s mother’s recipe will make his fish. He began to drool at the thought of this, Until the old man started speaking again, Ryo listen to old man’s story on how he lost his arm. “Woah! You must’ve been a strong ninja back then.” Ryo thought and added “Not as strong as my parents.” he’d smirk to while looking out to the clear blue water. “You and a woman?” Ryo couldn’t believe it. How can a cranky old man like this have a wife maybe she’s really old, or blind. Maybe she was desperate to find a husband. Then Ryo thought this old man isn’t so bad so who knows maybe he does have a nice old lady back at home. Turning his attention back to the story “Yeah, no duh. You’re here with me right now fishing!” Ryo turned back to the water. He thought about how his opinion on the old man had changed. At first Ryo thought the old man was just a cranky old looney but as they spent more time together. Ryo started to think that the old man was actually not that bad, his stories were very interesting, he wasn’t a bad fisherman, and he even gave Ryo an amazing recipe that he could use anytime. Smiling brightly Ryo casted his line back into the water he saw how it created a rippled in the water, Ryo watched and waited for another catch.

WC:414
TWC:1212

 

[Tatsuo]

"Perhaps, perhaps." the old man said as he began to move farther into the center of the lake. "Yeah you don't believe me? This was a while back, nearly twenty years or somethin'. God, I was strong then." he said shaking his head with a smile. "Once after my arm got healed, I was ambushed by a group of ten samurai minimum. I had no back up, I was supporting the retreat of an injured squad. Seemed like it was hopeless, but a few hand signs here and there.." the man smirked as he made the hand signs himself, "And then.." finishing his hand seals. "A giant water dragon shot and took out eight of them in one single blow! The rest of them ran away like the cowards they are." he said as a giant water dragon formed from the lake underneath them and flew over the boat, creating quite a turbulence in the water. Sending it rocking back and forth but never capsizing. "What did I say!" the old man laughed, "This boat is tougher than any ninja to ever be born."

Probably distracted the huge water dragon spiraling through the sky he hadn't noticed all the fish falling into their ship. "I call that, Water Style: Fishing Dragon!" he said as it began to rain fish, within twenty seconds their boat was filled with plenty of fish big and small. The old man began throwing the real small ones back in, catching the big ones that tried to hop out. "We could feed the whole village with this for a week." the man jested before saying, "Now help me row back, we've just gotta pack these fish in ice, send 'em out, then you're good to go." he said rowing through the water back to the dock.

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

“Woah, ten samurai. You must’ve been very strong back then, old man.” Ryo looked at the old man’s arm. One ninja versus ten samurai, Ryo found the old man’s story unbelievable he must’ve been fast with his hand signs. Thinking further on this Ryo could not imagine the old man being any faster than a turtle. “One blow!” he said excitedly. Ryo was interested to hear about this old man’s story. His parents never went into detail on their experiences during the war the rare times they did they avoided anything too graphic around Ryo. Was it because they didn’t want him to get scared? Or did they just want to forget it? Ryo had no clue. He looked at the hand seals the man did and noticed. Ryo turned see the water dragon that had emerged, Ryo looked on in amazement, this old man was still very strong maybe he could still take on ten samurai by himself. “I can’t wait to become a strong ninja like you, old man.” Ryo looked up at the sky, he imagined his future self wearing a headband and smiled. “Yeah I’m going to become the strongest ninja around.”

Feeling the turbulence rocking the boat, “Don’t kill us, old man!” Ryo gripped his fishing pole tightly and looking worried that the boat might capsize, after a moment Ryo realized that boat was fine, he laughed along with the old man. “Yeah, I guess.” amidst his laughing Ryo saw that a fish had fallen right in front of him, he scratched his head, and turned his gaze upwards, as he saw the fish coming from the sky, he attempted to avoid every fish falling into the boat, twisting and turning about. Sighing after he had avoided all the fish, Ryo commented on what the man called his “Fishing Dragon. That’s a pretty neat Jutsu, Old man. I’m not into water style I’m most learning fire style jutsus right now.” he leaned down to assist the old man in tossing the small fishes overboard. Listening to man’s jest Ryo chuckled, “Yeah, I bet we could!” As he said this a big fish attempted to make it’s escape seeing this Ryo threw himself forth, grabbing the fish by it’s tail end, The fish was seen hanging from the edge of the boat. Relieved that it hadn’t escaped Ryo pulled the fish from the edge and placed it back on the floor of the floor. Ryo looked at each and every fish on the floor and thought about what it fun day he spent fishing, hearing the man tell him it’s time to row back, Ryo was exhausted after a full day of fishing and it was time to head back, Ryo took up the paddles, and assisted the man in rowing back, as they rowed Ryo could see the reflection of sun setting in the water, sighing in relief he thought about getting home, and about eating some fish with that recipe the old man had told him. Ryo smiled that despite the mission starting off a little rocky he was happy he could spent the rest of his time enjoying himself.

Wc:526
twc:1728

 

[Tatsuo]

As they got closer to the old wooden docks, the older man took a rope from the side of the boat tossing it over to one of the poles sticking out of the pier. Tying it tightly so they boat wouldn't get lost out in the middle of the lake, he stood up and offered a hand to Ryo to help him out. "C'mon we still gotta haul all the fish out." he said as he would help the young Uchiha out of the boat. Once they were finally settled on the pier he went to the edge and grabbed another two ropes, handing one to Ryo. "Here help me pull this up if you will." he said leaning over to tie it to each sides of the boat. "We gotta pull it up to get the fish out. After that we'll just ice 'em and head home for the day." he said smiling from ear to ear. "Hope you had as much fun as I did, kid. Next time I need help fishing i'll ask for you again." After they finished pulling the boat out of the water he went over to a large plastic ice chest near a decrepit shed on the water's edge. "Alright fill 'er up." he said as he began to take buckets of fish and plopping them into the ice-cooler. "Alright just pour the ice over 'em and make sure it's spread well. Then i'll let you go and make sure to tell the Academy you did an okay job." he said poking fun at Ryo. "I'm kidding though, one of the best 1st mates to ever live." The old sailor went inside the shed and grabbed two water bottles, "You want one?" he asked as he popped the top off and began to drank.

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

Ryo wiped his forehead of the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead, he was exhausted but the mission was finished and he had accomplished it, he took the water bottle that the man had offered him, he wrapped his fingers around the cap of the water bottle and opened it, he put the open end in his mouth and started to drink, Thirsty so thirsty Ryo was. He took a break from drinking the water, “I agree, I am.” he smiled and quickly started drinking from his bottle again. “I had fun too, old man.” he then went back to the task of taking the buckets of fish over to the ice cooler, he leaned down and lifted one bucket at the time, holding it front of him. As he approached the ice cooler he slowly poured the fishes into it, he looked to see what fish he could spot, he saw a nice delicious salmon, his stomach could be heard grumbling “So hungry.” Ryo continued to pour the contents of his buckets and then made his way back to the boat to refill his bucket, when he arrived back to the boat, he placed his bucket down and took a drink of water. “We should hurry this up.” he quickly returned to the task, and while he was moving back forth. He smiled that this would be the second E-rank mission he will complete “You know this is my second mission, old man. I can’t wait until I get to D-rank missions.” smiling he would see that there was one last bucket left, he reached down and grabbed the bucket and filled the cooler up. The cooler could be seen filled with fish and ice. “It’s filled up, old man!”

WC:292
TWC:2020

 

[Tatsuo]

The elderly man was happy to share a drink with Ryo. As he finished dumping all the ice, he nodded and said "Well looks like you're done kid. And i'm sure you'll do more than D ranks. Some day if I'm ever on an S rank i'll be sure to ask you." he said laughing loudly and grabbing his stomach as he enjoyed his joke just a little too much. "You're a good kid keep up the work and i'm sure you'll be a Genin in no time." he said with a big smile. The man sighed, he saw his son in Ryo. While he could never bring his son back, he could always look to the new generation to live and protect the villge that his son wasn't able to enjoy. While some might be despressed and use this as an excuse to hate or disregard youth, he thought it was his duty to help guide their Will of Fire's in a direction that would prevent the death of any more of his children.

"I'll keep my ears open for the name... What is your name again, kid?" he said placing a hand over his ear, in a joking fashion. "Ya' know you have a hard time hearing with age."

 

[Uchiha Ryo]

Smiling he announced loudly to the old man “My name is Ryo Uchiha!” he place his hands on his hips triumphantly, he then turned to the old man still grinning “What’s your name, old man?” Ryo was ecstatic he was done with another mission. His second one. This one was surely easier than when he had to deal with Kingu, Ryo thought. Still smiling proudly he waited for an answer from the Old man.

 

[Tatsuo]

"Mr. Ryoshi." he said with a quick grin, "Well Uchiha, Ryo. I look forward to seeing you do great things for this village. "You be good, keep yourself out of trouble and do the village proud." He said as he took the cooler and lifted it up into the back of a cart, "Going to bring this into town and tell them what a good job you did. You take it easy, ya' hear?" And just like that, the man was off to sell his fish.