- - Mission - - Some things just have to be done

[Checkmate]

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The ninja would find himself in front of the first of many libraries that had refused to hand over their books to the organization of the Scribes of the Sand. Rather than having the libraries seized, a ninja had been sent to do things the peaceful way. He had been given a notebook and a pencil, and had been told to get going.

[seiuchiblarg]

Jiigo was irked to begin with. To think that the libraries of the Hidden Sand, any of them at all, would be uncooperative with a group made by the one and only Ouji Hito, with the backing of Lord Kazekage! It was completely insulting! Jiigo had a less than happy look on his face a she entered the library, getting the assistance of a librarian to find just where he ought to be. Well, at least this one was willing to get it all arranged for me. Looking around on the way there, Jiigo could tell why they were unwilling to help. Plainly understaffed and understocked, the library was dimly lit at best, cobwebs forming in every corner. The selections from this library were sparse, and, insulting as it was, it became understandable quickly why this particular library was unwilling to share with the nation: it hardly had enough books for itself!

Arriving at the table they had arranged for him, the genin saw a sparse collection of books on the shinobi arts, some thick, some less so,and realized just how long this mission was going to take him. Jiigo got straight to work. He pored through books, copying all the information he could find. The chief objective for the mission, if Jiigo was at all concerned with efficiency (more like getting the hell out of here as fast as I can, the genin thought,) was trying to figure out what was important and what was not. If he could work out what was important to save, and what was not, he could save the writing time and be out quickly. Common knowledge, jiigo figured, could be left alone. It was the advanced things that the puppeteer would work to concern himself with: The properties of various hand seals, the ins and outs of molding chakra, the combination of physical and spiritual energy, the shaping of ninjutsu from chakra within the body, all of it. It was long work, tedious and boring, but Jiigo was glad to take the opportunity to learn while assisting his village. He was picking up things he hadn't known before! All the while he did his mission, he went about, reading. Ah, I see, so if I do that, I won't have to use as many strings to work my puppets; Ohhh, you can cut corners and mold chakra that way if you're in a rush!

And on it went. Jiigo sometimes forgot he was writing, on a mission, and had to go back over and re-read what was said, just to make sure he had the details right as he put them down. He had to move quickly, skimming through the table of contents to pick out the truly choice information, and then going over everything he skipped quickly to make sure he had everything he could need. He categorized it carefully, making sure that he wasn't writing down the same information twice. The work was long and the work was tedious, but the work was fascinating, and disgruntled with the libraries as Jiigo may have been, he found that he was enjoying the chance to learn even more than what he already knew rather thoroughly. Reading had always been a favorite pass time of Jiigo's before Nefarious and Insidious had come along. He didn't love them any less for removing the opportunity to do that as often, of course, but he had missed his friends the books.

Now, he had legitimate reason to sit down and enjoy studying something new, improving his mind, learning from those whose horizons were far brighter than his own. He didn't enjoy neglecting his puppets, necessarily, his puppets were his greatest friends and companions after all, and he hated not needing to call them out, not being able to care for them, but he loved the chance to learn on his own. he could train all of his puppets to their maximum potential, and get a thousand more, but it wouldn't make any difference if jiigo's own mind was not sharp enough to use them. The young puppeteer kept reading and poring, copying and re-copying, categorizing and working. He found himself sighing frequently, and his eyelids were beginning to get heavy by the time he was almost finished. Fascinating as the reading was, so much of it was enough to knock anybody out!

At the end, Jiigo was shaking was resorting to shaking himself awake, but after much effort, he finally managed to get the final book finished. He stacked the books back neatly (taking some extra time to make sure the stacks were alphabetically arranged by author, then by title,)and stood up to leave. One down.... The process has taken hours, and Jiigo sighed as he made his way to the next one. This would take all day....

[Checkmate]

The librarian was not aware of the ninja's full intentions, and was more than happy to help someone who might borrow a book or refer a friend. Not likely, but hypothetically possible. The knowledge would all be compiled, and the books returned to the shelves. The ninja could find his way to the door. There was a lot of ground to make up.

The second library was not nearly as bad as the first, but they did not have all of the books out for him. He might just have to hunt.

[Checkmate]

Time