In addition to acting as the army for their country, the ninja village
also acts as a business. Each day clients will come to the village and
pay for the services of the ninja. These jobs can range from the
mundane (walk the feudal lord's dog), to the assassination of deadly
wanted criminals. As needed the Kage or Jounin master of a Genin team
can assign missions in furtherance of a duty to the country that are
unpaid.
These jobs are thus divided into difficulty ranks of S, A, B, C and D
and then given to ninja based on their ability. If the mission is
completed successfully, the client will then pay the village. The
easiest and least deadly jobs are given to the Genin, these are called
"D-Rank". The D-Rank missions also help to build teamwork skills among
the new Ninja Academy graduates. D-Rank are therefore non-combat with
low pay. The "C-Rank" missions will be given to Chuunin and skilled
Genin. These include protective escorts and missions with some chance
of bodily harm. It can include capturing wild animals and mine
clearing. "B-Rank" missions will be given to Special Jounin and
Chuunin. These also include protective escort, gathering foreign
intelligence and killing of ninja. Open battle is generally not an
issue during this mission type. The next highest rank missions,
"A-Rank" are given to Jounin and Special Jounin. These include vital
missions between nations, escorting VIPs and maneuvers against
offensive ninja forces. Thus these missions will almost always involve
combat and risk of death. At the highest and most dangerous is
"S-rank", given to Jounin. These missions include assassination of
important persons, transporting classified documents and materials.
With the extreme danger comes a very high rate of pay.