A Peaceful Everyday

Life after becoming a genin was far from the grand, sweeping adventure one might imagine; it was defined more by trivialities and monotony. Especially during the initial phase of building up experience, their days were almost entirely filled with an endless stream of D-rank missions.

On this particular day, at the mission assignment desk, Chiba Akimichi took the mission scroll with high spirits and read it aloud: "D-rank mission! Assist Mr. Kojima, a villager, in harvesting the ripe white radishes in his backyard! Mission reward: five thousand ryo!"

"White radishes, huh..." Himawari Uzumaki still wore a warm smile, but a hint of disappointment was unavoidable in her tone. This was already the third agricultural task of its kind this week.

"Tch." Kakashi Sakuya leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, emitting a faint, barely audible sound that expressed his disdain for such a waste of time. Beside him, Lian remained quiet with his head bowed, his emotions unreadable.

Standing on the other side of the group, Nadeshiko Haku furrowed her beautiful brows slightly. As an exchange student from Nadeshiko Village, she had been required to experience the mission flow of Konoha genin, but she clearly hadn't expected "missions" to consist of this. It was a far cry from the ninja work she had imagined.

"Alright, alright!" Chiba was full of energy—or rather, she was enthusiastic about any mission related to "food." "White radishes are great too! We can make delicious pickled radishes or stew! Let's get going!"

The mission site was a farmhouse on the edge of the village. Mr. Kojima was a kind old man who beamed with joy at the sight of five ninjas coming to help, enthusiastically guiding them to his backyard. A field of lush green radish tops came into view, with plump white radishes half-buried in the soil, revealing their enticing white roots.

"Alright, everyone, let's begin!" Himawari rolled up her sleeves and was the first to pick up a hoe, demonstrating how to carefully pull the radishes from the soil without damaging them or getting mud everywhere.

Chiba immediately followed suit, working with great fervor while muttering, "This one is huge! It must be so sweet!" "Oh, this one has such a strange shape, it looks like a human face..."

Lian also picked up his tools in silence, chose a row, and began working quietly and meticulously. His movements were even more standard and gentle than Himawari's, as if he weren't digging up radishes, but performing some kind of artistic creation.

Haku looked at the farm tool in her hand, then at the dirt, a flash of hesitation and... faint distaste crossing her ice-blue eyes. For a Nadeshiko ninja accustomed to pristine conditions and elegant combat, this was indeed a challenge. But she took a deep breath, crouched down, and tried to mimic Himawari's movements. Her actions were slightly stiff, however; the radishes she pulled up either brought too much mud with them or nearly had their leaves torn off.

And Sakuya...

He stood on the ridge of the field with his arms crossed, showing no intention of helping. His deep purple eyes swept over the radish field as if inspecting a battlefield unworthy of deploying troops. Expect him to use these hands—hands that had experienced life-and-death struggles and woven lethal hand seals—to pull radishes? It was simply absurd.

"Sakuya-kun?" Himawari looked up, wiped the light sweat from her forehead, and looked at him in confusion. "Aren't you going to join us?"

Sakuya glanced at her and coldly spat out two words: "Boring."

Haku stopped her clumsy movements, looked at Sakuya, and spoke in a cold, clear voice: "A mission is a mission. Regardless of the rank, accepting and completing it is a ninja's duty." She seemed to be trying to convince him with the tenets of a ninja, or perhaps she was trying to convince herself.

"That is not my duty," Sakuya retorted bluntly.

Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, Chiba Akimichi suddenly let out an exclamation: "Wow! Such a huge radish! I can't pull it out! Someone help me!"

She was gripping a cluster of exceptionally lush radish leaves with both hands, her face flushed red, her feet nearly lifting off the ground, but the giant radish remained completely unmoved.

Lian instinctively moved to help.

But someone was faster.

Almost the moment Chiba's voice fell, a figure appeared beside her like a ghost.

It was Sakuya.

He didn't even bend his knees; he simply reached out a hand, seemingly at random, and gripped the exposed white part of the radish.

The next moment, a teeth-gritting "crunch" sounded!

Squelch!

That stubborn, giant radish, along with a massive chunk of soil, was ripped straight out of the ground by his raw, violent force! The mud kicked up by the sheer power splattered all over Chiba's face.

"..." Chiba stood there with a face full of mud, staring dumbfounded at the behemoth radish that looked "petite" in Sakuya's hand, then looked at the expressionless Sakuya, unable to speak.

Haku watched this scene, the corner of her mouth twitching imperceptibly. This way of solving problems was, indeed, very "Kakashi Sakuya."

Sakuya tossed the radish into a basket as if he had done something trivial. He looked at his mud-stained hands, his brows furrowing almost invisibly.

However, after such an incident, he seemed to feel it was no longer appropriate to stand by. He stopped complaining and picked up a hoe, beginning to "harvest" the radishes in an extremely efficient and destructive manner.

His movements were fast, precise, and ruthless! Every strike of the hoe precisely pried the soil loose around the radish, followed by a casual pull and a toss into the basket; the entire process was fluid and highly efficient. It was just that the row he had "visited" looked like it had been hit by a small explosive tag—a complete mess...

Himawari watched Sakuya's "wild" harvesting style and couldn't help but cover her forehead with a wry smile. Haku, while continuing her own slightly clumsy attempts, occasionally observed Sakuya's powerful movements from the corner of her eye, a flicker of something hard to detect passing through her ice-blue gaze.

Lian continued his work quietly; the row he was responsible for was neat and clean, with the radishes left completely intact.

Chiba had regained her vitality, humming a tune while sorting the radishes by size, already beginning to conceive how to cook them in her mind.

Sunlight spilled over the radish field as five genin of vastly different styles completed this seemingly boring D-rank mission in their own ways. The air was filled with the fragrance of soil and the crisp sweetness of radishes.

Although there were some minor hiccups, in the end, all the radishes were harvested and packed into several large baskets.

Mr. Kojima looked at the bountiful harvest, thanking them repeatedly with joy and paying the reward without hesitation.

On the way back to the village to submit the mission.

Chiba counted the money happily: "Five thousand ryo! We can buy so many delicious things!" Himawari said with a smile, "Even though it was just pulling radishes, it feels pretty good to be able to help someone." Lian nodded gently in agreement. Haku looked at her mud-stained fingers, seemingly still adjusting to this brand-new "mission experience."

As for Sakuya, he looked toward the Hokage Rock in the distance and said coolly: "Next time, let's take a mission where we can fight."

Just as his voice faded, Haku, walking beside him, suddenly added in a soft voice, her tone still cold but lacking the usual sense of distance: "Agreed. At least... it would be more meaningful than pulling radishes."

Sakuya turned his head to look at her, somewhat surprised.

The sunlight stretched their shadows long. Haku smiled slightly at Sakuya. Sakuya froze instantly, his dazed expression looking exactly like a silly husky.

"Haha..." Haku's bell-like laughter rang out. Although it wasn't very obvious in the sunset, Sakuya's skin was too fair. The boy's slender neck turned bright red. "Stop laughing..." he complained in a low voice. Haku's laughter was infectious. They all burst into laughter together.

"Though I don't know why, this seems polite," Lian said, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye.

"Speaking of which, so the ice-mountain monster can actually laugh!" Chiba had an expression like she had discovered a new continent, looking Haku up and down.

The five of them walked toward the village, laughing and joking...