Help the Widow | Rank D

Mission wrote:

Name: Help the Widow
Rank: D
Location: Somewhere in Konoha
Description: An elderly widow, formerly married to a distinguished ninja of Konoha, has requested some help around the house. She's not getting on as well as she used to and surely Konoha can spare the services of some genin for a few hours. The ninjas will need to clean her house, weed her garden, take care of any household repairs that are necessary, and fetch a week's worth of groceries for the old woman.
Goal: Household assistance for an elderly woman

Hiroshi walks around the crowded streets of Konoha, looking down at the directions on paper given to him all while trying not to bump into strangers. Hiroshi then turns to an obsecure road and looks up to see a sort of secluded gated estate.

"Easy mission, I mean what could go wrong, I'm sure she's a lovely woman."

Hiroshi walks up to the front of the gate and knocks on the door waiting for an answer

After a longer time than expected, a frail elderly woman answers the door with a blank look on her face.

"Ah! You must be the one I am assisting today, I am Hiroshi Aokin, it is a pleasure to meet you" Hiroshi says while bowing. The woman turns away and starts walking towards her home "Follow me"

Hiroshi waits for a second and then follows. "You'll start with mopping the floor and cleaning the dishes" The woman then forces cleaning supplies into Hiroshi's hands. "Ah, okay" Hiroshi then begins to mop the floor

While Hiroshi is mopping the woman's kitchen floor he notices her in another room drinking tea just looking along in a window, he wants to make conversation but is afraid as coming off as an idiotic awkward teenager and end up scolding him. Hiroshi finished the floor and started washing the dishes, he notices she walks into the kitchen to get some food and looks around the floor "You missed a spot" Hiroshi turns around to see her pointing to the corner "Sorry ma'am! I didn't realize!" Hiroshi rushes to the mop and cleans up the spot very quickly and then bows to the woman "Don't forget the dishes now" "Of course ma'am!" Hiroshi rushes back to tend to the dishes as she leaves the room and Hiroshi lets out a big sigh

Hiroshi is finished with the dishes as he now heads into the living room where the woman is seated, swallowing his nerves he asks "What is it you want me to do now ma'am?" She turns to him after a few seconds and says "You can dust this room" she hands Hiroshi a duster and he gets to work.

While he is dusting the woman notices the Aokin emblem on his back. "An Aokin, huh?" Hiroshi turns around and looks at the woman "Ah, yes ma'am" the woman looks back outside and says "I knew an Aokin once, was one of the most respectful men I've ever met, a common trait of your clan." Hiroshi looks at the woman and smiles "Haha, we vow to help others, I was born into that mentality" The woman sips her tea and says "He was an excellent fighter too, him and my husband were on the same team together I remember they were practically impossible to beat and they grew up together starting their ninja careers doing petty missions like you are now into men and fully fledged ninjas taking on the toughest tasks for their village, even ending up dying together." Hiroshi knows about the woman's husband as he read it in the mission's briefing, he pauses silently and continues to dust "Do you know the name of this Aokin?"

The woman sips more of her tea. "Souma Aokin, hard to forget a man like that" Hiroshi's eyes widen and exclaims "Did you say Souma Aokin? That's my grandpa!" The woman looks at Hiroshi surprised and cracks a smile "Hahahaha, oh my goodness this really is a small world isn't it?" Hiroshi finishes up the dusting and holds up the duster to the woman to show he's finished, she nods and tells him to follow her out to the garden.

Hiroshi begins to pull weeds out of her otherwise beautiful garden. "Did you know my grandpa well? I never got to meet him I always wish I could have." The woman takes a seat on a small wooden bench next to Hiroshi "Of course, he was always welcome for dinner and sometimes even overstayed his welcome, hahahaha." Hiroshi can't hold in his smile and continues to ask about Souma "Was he a good ninja? How did he fight?" The woman makes a more serious face and looks up "He was an outstanding fighter, him and my husband were a feared duo back then, with Souma's Taikoku and my husband's Senju abilities they were fantastic." Hiroshi's eyes widen even more, but feels awkward asking about the woman's husband. "That's amazing, I can only imagine the things they were capable of" "His name was Yoshirou Senju, a great shinobi, loved by many, a gentle man and a fierce warrior" The woman says with a sad smile looking down.

"So what is your name?"

"I'm Sumiko" she says to Hiroshi with a smile, Hiroshi smiles back and continues to pull weeds.
"So that means you're the son of little Nobu" Hiroshi looks at Sumiko confused " Ah sorry, Nobuyuki, I remember Souma would bring him over for dinner all the time, he was so proud of Nobuyuki he wouldn't shut up about the boy, about how he was the top of his class and would become a great ninja and Aokin when he was older." Hiroshi's smile turns into a sad look as he looks down and focuses on her garden, Sumiko looks at Hiroshi then proceeds to sip her tea. Hiroshi stands up and faces Sumiko while avoiding eye contact "I'm finished weeding your garden, what shall I do now ma'am?" Sumiko looks at Hiroshi with a sympathetic look and hands him some money and a grocery list "Pick up these things, there isn't much" Hiroshi leaves Sumiko to head for the marketplace

Hiroshi looks at the grocery list. "All vegetables huh? At least I can get everything in one stop" Hiroshi walks around the market place to look for the main veggie seller but he couldn't help but think about what Sumiko had said. "I guess Dad grew up without a father either, Mom said Grandpa died when Dad was 9, the same age I was when Dad died" Hiroshi reaches the vegetable vendor "What can I get for you, boy?" Hiroshi reads out the grocery list and gives the man Sumiko's money and heads back to her home. "Grandpa must have been a great shinobi since Dad was so great, it's amazing. I wasn't the one Dad was proud of though like Grandpa was proud of him, Dad was proud of Takeshi, he's the better ninja after all, did Dad even care about me?" Hiroshi reaches Sumiko's home and walks up to her slowly and hands her the parcel still avoiding eye contact.

Sumiko pulls Hiroshi in and hugs him. "Your father was a great man. Nobuyuki would still check up on me even after Yoshirou and Somua passed, he would do the things you are doing now, you have no idea how much I appreciate this. Your father would come to me and always bring up his youngest son and the great heart he had, always putting others first before himself, your father knew you'd grow to be a great person and ninja, he was so proud of you" Hiroshi looks at Sumiko with a giant smile, maybe even holding back tears and then bows. "Thank you Sumiko, I hope I cleaned your house to your satisfaction" "No thank you, this is the cleanest my home has been in weeks and it's the most I've enjoyed someone's company in a long time." Hiroshi smiles and heads out while waving back at Sumiko. Hiroshi was glad he got to this mission, his smile never left his face all the way home.

FINISH

Approved

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