Team Awesome Ready for Business

After Ayato spoke of himself and announced his goals it seemed the part of the introduction was over. Kyosouke confirmed as much when he explained their mission to them. As he heard his words Ayato's eyes blinked in surprise.
When he received the small parchment of paper today via a bird, to be present at the gates for a mission he couldn’t help but feel nervous tension with hints of excitement. It was his first team mission after all and signed by the hand of a Queensguard. On the way here he turned on his head on what kind of mission it would be. S or A rank were out of the question Ayato knew. There was too much of a risk for the Genin fresh from the academy to handle. Attempting to slay a dragon and miss the target has lethal consequences after all. Still with Kyosouke present he was hoping for a B-rank mission and would settle for a C-Rank. Perhaps they would be dispatched somewhere outside of the village to deal with a group of lowly bandits causing trouble or exterminate a wild beast.  Summoned near the village gates suggested as much.  

After Kyosouke announced their purpose here today an awkward silence followed. It all came back to him in fits and flashes. Reading through the mission board and passing by an uninteresting D-rank mission named Gardening after a Fashion. He vaguely remembered the contents, planting trimming and watering the plants situated in front of the gates in order to make the City of Haven look appealing and welcoming to visitors that arrive here.
I had my hopes up for nothing. Ayato thought as he felt anger flushing through him but he wouldn’t let it show. It was possible this was the Jounin’s plan all long. To piss them off and look how they would react to this. After all this mission was to evaluate the members of the team in a few areas, maybe tenacity and patience was one of them. That or the plants had turned into such monstrosities that the village leadership had to dispatch a Queensguard and his entire team of Genins to come and trim them. Either way it made no difference, a shinobi must be reserved and take what is handed to him. There are no shortcuts in the ninja world. Eyes to the prize. Not the horizon. He thought to himself.
 
Kyosouke moved to take a large bag containing gardening’s tools such as scapels, seeds bags watering cans and such. As he did Ayato would take a peek to check for the other Genin, no his teammates reactions. Miyamato looked just as shocked as Ayato. He looked as if his jaw was about to be dislocated from his face meet the ground and shatter into a thousand broken pieces of bone and pale flesh. Yet his attempt to hide his dissatisfaction was better than Ayato’s no doubt. On the other hand, the girl, Gven Oasis did not seem to be taken back at all, keeping a warm smile on her lips all the time. Kyosouke lifted the enormous bag with ease, a showcase of his strength and placed it in front of them, telling them to take what they wanted.
 
Miyamoto was the first to move choosing his equipment without wasting any time. He turned to face the rest of the group to hype them up playfully at the while with a twisted smile on his. Ayato sighed at the comment What are you grinning like a fool for. He would think and almost said back something among the lines of who named you leader. Then he would imagine the two bickering at each in a comic fashion. That would be the writings of another time when they knew each other better; this was still their initial meeting a mission nonetheless. So Ayato decided to remain silent, brushing it off.
 
Gven Oasis moved to take in her hands the final spray bottle. There goes that option. He would think to himself half interested as he knelt to examine the equipment with his right hand. Scratching his chin with the other he considered for a moment what he should take with him. He reached for the worn out gardening gloves and put them on. Lame. He thought as he looked at the puffy gloves on his hands reaching to the base of his forearms. “When this is over I have to go and cleanse my hands from the germs with antiseptic.” Grabbing a pair of he shears that seem to be in good condition he stood up and walked towards the gardens.
 
Ayato was no expert at gardening but he knew it involves cleaning and specifically the removal of withered stems and flowers, which "injure" the image of the plants in front of the gate. He used the sharp and above all clean shear cut all the dead parts he found. He would show special attention when cutting the stems of some plants; because he remembered reading somewhere that the milky sap can cause skin irritations. Even with the gloves he couldn’t afford to take any risks and damage his hands for obvious reasons. Besides the rest of his wardrobe today was not fit for gardening; wearing a t-shirt and all.
 
Ayato would proceed to get rid of, without hesitation and guilt, all those weeds that sprouted where not sow. The bad will steal the water and nutrients from the healthy and most likely infect them.  He thought as he uprooted with a gloved hands the ones easily measured.
 Getting rid of the weeds he went on to check if the plants are infected by insects, fungi or other plant pathogenic organisms. He could figure that by looking carefully on the lower surface of leaves, shoots and buds the points where the leaves 'encounter' shoot and finally the point where the stem comes out of the soil. A few of them have unusual spots that may have been caused due to the lack of nutrients but other than that I don’t see anything wrong here. Just to be on the safe side Ayato decided to go back to the gardening bag and take a can of pesticide. It was more challenging than he thought since most labels on the cans had faded or fallen off.  He would resort to activate his Byakugan in order to make out the letters. Damn it using my own bloodline for gardening. Who knows maybe I should have used the Eight Trigrams on the weeds in order to uproot them faster? He thought in discontent as he sprayed the plants with pesticide. Putting humor aside that might have worked. “Damn it…” Ayato muttered in anger.
 
After he finished with all his chores in the garden he cleaned thoroughly all the tools he used with a hose. Then wiped them with a clean cloth he found in the bag and left them in the sun to dry.  Ayato would also be sure to write with a pen what the cans contained in order to avoid the possibility to confuse the next unfortunate Genin to be assigned this mission. Looking at his teammates it seemed he was the first one to finish his part.

WC -  1210

TWC - 2240

Reached words count requirments for Gardening, After a Fashion [2000/2000]

Waiting for the rest to finish before exiting thread

Maybe, they thought the first mission would involve a lot more action. He watched as a few of their worlds shattered apart in hearing that they would be gardening. Miyamoto at least seemed pretty excited to get started even if he was disappointed a second ago. Fake it, until you make it I guess.

 

The oldest of the group Genevieve was the only one who seemed to have expected some boring work. She grabbed shears and a spray bottle and started doing her own thing. She was cutting branches off of bushes and doing exactly as asked.

 

Ayato, went to work uprooting dead plants he seemed the most bothered by the task. After everything was done he started cleaning his tools and putting things away. Looking at Miyamoto and Genevieve they didn’t seem done. Kyousuke put a hand to his face and palmed it. Ahh, they are not working together at all. “Ayato lend one of your comrades a hand please.”

 

While they were all working Kyousuke would be putting his cigarette butts into all of the pots. They served as fertilizer once they decomposed or that is what someone had told him at least. He would watch over them to see what they were all doing. They are all working as individuals instead of as a group. Once, the ninja had placed all of his filters in the pot is when he noticed Ayato had finished and said something to him.

 
Whoever Ayato chose to help Kyousuke would help the opposite and look over the work they had done. “Not exactly the mission you thought it would be huh?” He would say to one of the genin.

WC: 278

(prob not going to post a block of text, still having problems with creative muse as of late)


Miyamoto watched as Genevieve and Ayato began to work, it made him a bit uneasy that his team members seemed so out of touch, different from any other shinobi he had met so far in Hoshikagure.  He just shrugged and then saw Kyousuke get to work before he walked over to Genevieve and began to help her.  He started by picking up the dead branches behind her as he made sure that the plants seemed to have enough water.

"Hey pretty lady, mind if I help you, I am just a lonely kid with no friends."

He played the part innocently enough, his physique still showed that of someone emaciated and poorly fed.  However under his Gi he was actually built up a bit, which was weird for a kid his age.  He continued to help pick up the foliage as he helped by spritzing the plants all over so they all got a healthy amount of water, smiling shyly.  If Kyousuke saw this he would know that Miyamoto is lying to try and get close to a pretty lady.  He was not subtle at all.

Humming to himself he would quietly use his earth chakra to press against the soil to measure the dampness of the ground, he knew a little about plant life and how they could thrive if given the right treatment.  Shinobi with earth chakra were known to tend to lush gardens as well as have the best luck with growing multiple different plants from all climates. 

WC: 251/1146

Ayato noticed Kyosouke watching him and his teammates with an odd cast to his face that looked uncomfortably like dismay. No doubt Ayato had made the mistake of thinking that after doing his part the mission was a success. Kyosouke’s reaction was a rude awakening. For a moment the black haired Hyuuga did not follow. He had run out of words and he was filled with a vast sense of helplessness. Not for the first time today, he wondered what he was doing in this place, cleaning the gardens.  

Kyousuke’s direct question to him suggested that he had figured how Ayato felt about today a long time ago. Before answering Ayato averted his eyes from the Queensguard to gaze outside of the outside the village gates and the vast wilderness without a name.  For how long did they wander out there before arriving in the City of Haven? He couldn’t remember. Hoshigakure was his home for a while now, a place of acceptance where circumstances of his birth were irrelevant. Or so his father had convinced him. The distrust of locals always made him feel like he wasn’t welcome in the city, therefore, there were times he loved this place no more than he did the old Kirigakure.

He wanted to walk out of those gates once again. Not as a person in search of a home but as a shinobi of Hoshigakure.  To succeed on a mission of great importance that would bring honor and glory to himself. And if one mission was not enough, then he would it a second and a third time. No matter how many times it took, Ayato would make everyone in the city recognize him. 

Ayato was not delusional, he didn't dare to think to achieve his goal would be a piece of cake. Still, he was a disappointed to see that his effort into completing a poor excuse of a mission goes unappreciated, instead been ordered to go and help his teammates. Establishing eye contact with the Queensguard once again he searched for a man’s voice inside him and finally he let out an answer to the Jounin's question. “It is not a Genin's place to question your authority, Sir.” Ayato let out in cool courtesy.  “You are here to lead and we are here to follow.” He finished straightening his back to appear taller. 

WC - 370

Well at least they are starting to work together. The jounin thought as he looked between the three to see their progress. They were pretty much done with the mission, but the jounin had added more than what was actually called for. He had a slight smirk on his face at this point thinking of the next time they would meet, it would force them all to work together. A team is stronger than the individual, a phone book is harder to rip than a singular piece of paper all of that stuff, it may have taken them a few minutes, but they were getting it.

"When you all work together things become easier, but working together isn't something that can be taught. It is just something you figure out especially, when you have to rely on others." He answered the girl's question to the best of his ability, truly they didn't know each other's strengths yet. It would be much easier to get them working together once they understood that.


"No, go ahead and question it." Kyousuke would say to Ayato. "To lead better you have to think, it doesn't take thought to follow. I am hear not to lead, but to train leaders. When we are done with training I expect each and every one of you to be capable of leading a team of ninja." He would then add some soil to the the plant he was near and look at them.


"Well I think we can call this mission a success, how about all of you?" In truth he wasn't thrilled with the task either, he was glad to finish it. "Now all we have to do is put everything away."


WC: 285
(Okay, so to complete the mission with four of us it is 500 wc per person.)

Miyamoto helped without question.  He knew from both experience and through his limited time learning in the world of the shinobi that more often than not one had to do the simple jobs to show that they could handle ANY task no matter the importance of it.  However, Miyamoto was not the only one on the team and when he heard not only Kyousuke speak up, but the others speak up as well...especially Ayato noting that this task was to simple for them.  Miyamoto continued his work without fail until the last of the plants had been tended to that they were ordered to do.

It was then that Kyousuke praised Ayato for questioning the mission, something of which Miyamoto would have never done...not out of spite but out of respect for himself and his team.  This is what they were tasked to do so he would do it, even if he wanted to really get to fighting and do more exciting things with his abilities.  He listened and kept quiet, and if Kyousuke were to pay attention he would notice that Miyamoto's stance had changed.  He was finished with his job and as such he was waiting for the last bit of work to be finished by all as Kyousuke told them that the mission was a success and that it was now time for them to return the tools to their place in the community shed.  

Without hesitation he would turn to Genevieve and offer out his hand motioning for her tools.

"I will return the tools for you, if you would let me."

He would say as he would flash a toothy grin to the pretty shinobi.  He was being both sincere and of course a bit of a flirt even though he was just a kid...he was after all the son of Worr Terumi...notorious womanizer of Amekagure.  If she accepted he would take the tools and thank her for all her hard work and return the tools to the shed , passing Ayato and Kyousuke as he did so, nodding to them both and keeping that same toothy grin on his face.  Once finished he would come back and he would plop down in the pathway and wait for instructions now that this mission was done.  If the others were to speak to him he would maintain a naive stance and just smile as he would make small talk until given new orders.

406/1552

[Exit upon Kyousuke's confirmation]
[Claiming]
1000 Ryu and 3 AP

Teamwork? Seriously? Learning to work together  is more important that completing a mission? Well, Kyusouke had a point. For Genin teams to function effectively ninjas must attend to both the climate within their group and the process by which they accomplish their tasks. Critical to a healthy climate and an effective process are strong communication skills. It was easier said than done, though. Putting random people together in a group and proclaiming them a team didn't amount to anything. As far as he was concerned it was only shy of being called bullshit.  To be honest it doesn't matter what I think it is.  He was about to say that when the Queensguard gave him permission to.

"Actually sensei.." he began to say as a breeze of strong wind made the plants rustle. For a moment he pictured himself according to Kyosuke's words. A Jounin looking at the setting sun from the edge of the hill. He could be wearing a flak jacket and maybe even a white cloak if his years of service to Hoshigakure were deemed worthy of such honor. Behind him, a team of three children, not unlike how they were today would stand behind him, waiting for his orders. The thought encouraged him Ayato and threatened to bring a small smile to his face.  He decided to shake off any personal dismay. He would say nothing about results being the only thing that mattered and how he found today's ordeal uncalled for. "No, you are right. Teamwork can be the deciding factor between life and death. But I find it difficult to put my trust into other people." He wasn't seeing Kyosuke, Gven, and Miyamoto for an instant but a painting. An image framed deep into his mind instead of a wall. A large compound with the kanji for Hyuuga engraved at the entrance. Servants mopping the wooden floor. The white sheets used to cover his uncle stained with a pool of red. "Let's just hope that as a member of our team I will overcome this shortcoming." He said before moving to put the tools that had dried in the sun back into the enormous bag. He was about to ask Kyusouke if he could on his way, but another sudden question popped."Sir, I was wondering. Have you thought of a name for our team yet?" 

[EXIT unless stopped.]

WC - 390

TWC - 3.000

[Claiming 1000 Ryo 3 AP]

Progress towards Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms [500/1000]