Pretty Plants, Potent Poisons (2)

Pretty Plants, Potent Poisons:

Sitting at his current abode, Kizmaru was relaxing in the common room of the Kage estate. Normally, while residing in the estate at all, he'd be under the guise of the Mizukage but today, he didn't really feel like hiding or disguising himself. Today, it was too much of a hassle. He hasn't been doing any fieldwork recently since he's been stuck doing papers in his office here and there. The temperature was fairly high along with the humidity of course, given what nation he currently resides in. Kizmaru found himself sprawled over a couch in the den on the estate, currently fanning himself with a paper fan primarily across his head. There was an air conditioner humming in the background in an effort to cool down the room he was currently in. Kizmaru was unhappy with it though since there was only one air conditioner already at max settings in a giant room that was almost twice as big as his office. He figured he'd deal with it but it was almost unbearable. Continuing to fan himself, Kizmaru laid on his back in a white tank top and boxer shorts. Groaning, he turned onto his right side in order to better fan certain areas of his body in an attempt to cool himself down. 

Now that he got himself an advisor, he had a lot more free time on his hands to do whatever he wished. The advisor in question he got his hands on was a Jounin that went by the name of 'Zieg Uchiha' and had offered his services to him not too long ago. He did claim he would teach him the ins and outs of the routine life with the desk job but he didn't exactly plan out how he would teach him. All he really did was tell him, all he had to do was sign some papers and read over documents to make sure the village can continue to run smoothly, or as smoothly as he can get it. Well, he was glad he was free more often but now he was bored out of his mind. He was used to being confined to his desk for hours just working day in, day out. Now that he was free and could do whatever he wanted, he didn't know what he should do. He was currently suffering from the humidity that had befallen the land today. Eventually, Kizmaru got fed up with this and lifted himself from out of his couch. Sweat protruding from his back, soaking his tank top, Kizmaru felt disgusted before taking his tank top off and throwing it in a nearby hamper.

Walking into the bathroom, Kizmaru took off the rest of the clothing he had on before hopping into the shower to clean himself up as well as refresh himself since it was refreshing taking a cold shower in order to relax. Staying in for around fifteen minutes, he got out of the shower and wrapped his towel around himself. He took a second towel from off the rack in order to use it to dry the upper part of his body. Drying off in the bathroom, he walked out to dress himself in his usual attire of a button down yellow shirt, navy blue pants and ninja tabi for comfort and mobility. He didn't really know why he was fully dressed at the moment but now that he was, he figured he might as well leave and go find something to do, even if he couldn't handle the humidity at the moment. Nothing too tedious something he could do at his leisure and still get paid for it. Thinking back to what he could potentially do to kill time, he thought about trying his hand at the puffer fish eating contest once again. Although he loved the food, the flavors and spices were nice, eating copious amounts of the same thing eventually murdered his interest in eating it.

Other than that, he could never really seem to beat the champion of the contest so he'd be not only wasting his time but his appetite. He figured he'd try to do something else to pass the time. There was another task he remembered doing recently as well with his close friend, Keita, of picking poisonous plants in order to research them and apply their use to either everyday life or combat related conflicts and situations. I wasn't too demanding and it was even fairly rewarding for picking up a batch of them to hand into a research facility for this kind of thing. It was easy money mostly since all he had to do was cut plants all day and put them in a bag. So that's the kind of job he decided to take on. Deciding on the task he wanted to take, Kizmaru put on his Jounin flak jacket over his attire before heading out of the den of the Kage's estate. Making his way towards the lobby, Kizmaru didn't see his receptionist there since it was technically their day off as well. Since his normal routine of nodding to his receptionist was ruined, he decided to nod towards the empty desk anyway, placing his hands into his pockets and exiting the premises. 

Leaving the Kage's estate, he went to the notice board that was set outside of the estate to where the common tasks and jobs would be posted that weren't urgent or life threatening for any able-bodied shinobi to take on. Today, he decided he would take the flyer which would lead him to the location he had previously gone to, Dead Drop Cliff, he thought it was called. He chuckled to himself thinking that he was actually the Mizukage but didn't know much about the locations around the island and all that jazz. Well, he didn't have to memorize every key location in the village, did he? Just the ones he knew he would have to visit frequently and he had a feeling, he would be visiting this particular spot quite often.

W.C: 1,008

Keita figured that it was time to shake some of the rust off, and since he needed to go out and do something, he perused the mission board at the local ninja building that could potentially have missions in it, and so he decided that he would do something good. He noticed that last time he had gotten the poisonous herb mission done, but he did not actually receive the poisonous herb in the end, so he thought that maybe he would get it this time, and simply help out again. It was not really the same place that provided them with the mission, it was another farm or botany area under the villages jurisdiction, but it was still somewhere that would have some sort of herb that was poisonous. Keita received the mission off of the board, and then told the administration staff that he was going to take this mission the very next day, so this would give the administration enough time to not only get everything ready for him on the logistics side, but also make sure that the people at the herb collection place knew that he was coming. He did not really want to just show up there, he was a little more thoughtful than that, and so the place could prepare in whatever way they saw fit. Keita was not sure how they would actually prepare, but he thought about it, and was hoping that other people would give him the same treatment and make sure that they would notify him if they were suddenly going to show up and mess with him, or be in his area. Keita thought about all of this as he went towards his house from the administration area, and decided that he would have a big dinner before heading to bed and preparing for the next day so that he could complete the mission in a successful manner, and quickly. He was not one that liked to waste time when he neded to do something, so he would be perfectionist and professional in this matter.

Keita woke up the next day, and quickly got ready for his mission to collect the poisonous herbs. He made sure he had borrowed some gloves from one of his neighbors that liked gardening, and also grabbed some of the clippers well, so that he would be able to collect the herbs with no problems whatsoever. He could easily collect the herbs like last time, using his chakra chains, but that was fairly draining, so he thought that he might as well be a little more prepared but a little slower this time. He was not in some sort of hurry to complete the mission, just that he wanted to get started on it quickly, so that he would feel less of a need to procrastinate and thus he would also be training a b it of his determination and discipline at the same time. It was fairly cold in the morning, as it always was in the hidden mist, but this time the fog rolled right through Keita's window and onto his body, which made him shudder. He decided that he would take a fairly cold shower today, so that he could sort of get his body ready for the cold fog that was rolling into the town. Keita always enjoyed the fog, and decided that he would write some katakana in its honor, and make sure that his calligraphy was not going to atrophy any time soon. He finished in the shower fairly quickly, the harshness of the cold water made sure of that fact, before sitting on a small mat that was inside of his living room and taking out a large calligraphy brush and paper. The ink was quickly dipped on top the brush, before it was quickly, carefully, and gracefully brushed onto the paper, and quickly the kanji for the word 'fog' appeared on the paper. It was a bit ethereal and formless, but still had the miraculous brush strokes that Keita had tried very hard to master, and so that he was very quickly happy about his progress when it came to calligraphy. Keita was now essentially ready to start the day and head over to the botany area with the farm so that he could go about collecting some poisonous herbs for the village, and of course pocket a few for himself. 

Keita then started to travel to the location, and of course that he would get there at least twenty minutes early, as he liked to be early to see if there was anything he needed to prepare for, anything that he had missed, or anything that he could help with before the actual mission or event happened, depending on the situation. As Keita was making his way over to the mission area, he saw a couple of people pulling along their produce carts, as it was still fairly early in the day, and they were getting ready to open their shops and grocers in the heart of the village. Naturally, Keita waved to them and said hello, making sure that they did not need any help. This was also another reason that Keita liked to be very early for things, and that was because he would often get distracted by helping the other people that he saw on the way to his destination, and that would even cause him to almost be late a couple of times, and he bet that no one there when he showed up could guess why he was so out of breath when he arrived. Saying this, it seemed that he was fairly lucky today, and that no one on the way needed any assistance, so he made it to the building that led into the farm and managed it fairly quickly, in the fact that he was still twenty minutes early. Keita walked up to the staff of the building and asked if there was anything he needed to do first, or if he could start. The staff member calmly told Keita that he was early, and that they were going to wait until the actual time to see if anyone else was joining this particular time, and so Keita happily agreed with them., They did still give him a large burlap sack for collecting the herbs into, as well as a simple mask to wear while he was in the fields.
=========
1,074 WC

Sunlight filtered in through spotted leaves and half opened blinds, and her still form shifted minutely. A deep lethargy settled in her bones- not one of illness or injury, but a somber tiredness of the soul that could not be treated with antibiotics or bandages alike. Her life had settled into a routine- that much she appreciated. But the monotony of such an existence was dull at best. Slowly but surely, she recognized fewer and ninja on the streets. Where had the people she schooled with gone? Where was Mino? She'd lived through several kages and survived each and every one. For better or for worse, Kirigakure was at a very stable place in an economic sense, and as such the dangerous missions and interrogations that she had come to thrive off of dwindled more and more. Sometimes, when she walked the streets after a long day, she didn't recognize where she was. Gone were the thatched wood and concrete structures, grayed from battering rain, to be replaced by towering modern constructions. It was perhaps due to this that she preferred to stay in the Yamanaka compound. The village may have changed, but family stayed the same. The people were still there. It was still Kiri. After another quiet moment of contemplation, she pulled herself off of a sunken bed. Momochi was bowed a bit, but she had yet to give in. She pulled a striped turtleneck over her head, as well as dark pants and work boots. Various sharp implements and weapons slid into an assortment of hidden pockets. She wouldn't need her halberd today, but she strung it up on her back nonetheless. She'd be picking some poisonous plants in one of her family's offshoot gardens for most of her waking hours, so after a moment's thought she slid a few pairs of gloves onto her hands (and into her pockets) as well. She never knew what plants would need to be trimmed until the day came and she arrived on location, and some of them caused skin irritation.

A swift walk had her arriving on location about five minutes late- oops. A familiar scent registered in her nostrils, and she recognized the plant almost immediately- hemlock. Though technically it didn't cause skin irritation, a large percentage of the population were allergic to the plant itself, which could RESULT in skin rashes and such if touched with bare skin. She pulled a simple scarf over her mouth and a couple extra pairs of gloves- she vaguely recognized one ninja who showed up as someone who had helped her in the training facility earlier, but the other was unfamiliar. She attempted to catch their eyes, and should they accept, she would give them each a pair of gloves. No need to risk something even as small as a horribly unpleasant few days when it could easily be prevented with something as simplistic as skin protection. Afterwards, regardless of their answers, she would get to work harvesting the plants in a quick and efficient manner.

[WC: 505]
[Total WC: 505]

The sound of synthesized music greeted Teiho as he began to stir from a night of rest. The subtle aches in his body making themselves known as his eyes squinched up and fought the action of opening. He could feel the harsh sunlight beaming through his open windows, once again regretting taking his parents room now that he was old enough, and of proper rank, to own it himself. It was another decision that he was likely to regret as the horns and chorus kicked in and began to slowly drown out his thoughts with the soft melody of the Gangster’s Paradise. Realizing that he couldn’t fight it for too much longer, he slowly began to pull himself up into a leaning position. His left leg propped itself up against his body bracing it softly as his left arm rested against it and cradled his head as he continued to shake off the grogginess. Groaning at himself and his morning laziness, he would finally shrug off the covers, effectively saying fuck it as he slid himself out of bed and moved towards the bathroom to get ready.

Stepping into the room, he would immediately flip on the lights and the hot water spout on the sink. He would stop before a body length mirror, staring himself down blearily before shuffling further to flip up the toilet seat and releasing the beast as he liked to call it. Gripping his shaft with one hand and placing the opposite arm against the wall for support, he drained his bladder with a deep and guttural groan that shook his home with it’s bass. It would take several seconds, the remnants of the beverage he had last night with his dinner no doubt, before he was finally done. Not even bothering to tuck himself in, he would shuffle over to the sink so he could grab onto his toothbrush and squirt some milky white paste onto the coarse bristles. The song had finally finished and the next track began, a heavy bass accompanied by a rough voice in a lyrical cadence, likely a Curry song. He would sleepily bob his head along with the song as he thoroughly cleaned his teeth, making sure to get any excess flecks of meat and gristle from between his molars. Pleased with his efforts after a few rounds of this, he would finally shuffle out of the bathroom and back into his impromptu bedroom.

He was greeted to the sight of a young woman moving about her day as she passed the wide open window of his home. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you asked Teiho, she had decided to look into the home she was passing and caught a face full of a semi nude young man and his trouser snake. Blushing heavily, the young woman let out a soft squeak and hurried on her way, leaving the young man in a sort of sleepy confusion. He would shrug after a while however, as if the matter didn’t concern him too much. Moving over to the dresser, he’d grab a pair of boxers and kick off his current pair before sliding them up his legs. Digging further, he’d pull out a pair of rustic brown shorts with a small effigy hanging from the left pocket. Slipping on the shorts, he’d locate a brown sleeveless hoodie and throw that on as well. He wouldn’t zip it up due to the extreme humidity going on in the village during this time.

Walking back into the bathroom, he’d dunk his hands under the now fairly warm water and cup a handful of the water before splashing himself and his hair with it. He would do this a few more times, making sure to wipe the excess flecks of water and moisture from his hair when he was done before reaching for a nearby hand towel and drying off his face. Staring himself in the mirror, he would give himself a toothy grin before turning off the spout and gathering his remaining ninja tools. Today was going to be another amazing day. He was sure of it.

[WC: 685]

Making his way to the previous location, Kizmaru placed his hands into his pockets and began to hum. Take a route that was actually out of his way, he had passed a certain stall where he would normally see a familiar sight of a creature shaking down a trash can for food. Hoping to see said sight, Kizmaru paid close attention to the stall. Alas, he didn't see anything as the stall was closed for the day and the trash cans weren't full. This disappointed Kizmaru a little bit since he wouldn't get to see his comedic scene before shrugging it off and continuing on with his day. Getting back to his usual path, Kizmaru found his way to Dead Drop Cliff and aquired the appropriate tools and gear for the job. Walking out into the field, he saw a familiar face of his buddy, Keita. Who also happened to be doing the same thing for money. Great minds and all that. He was in quite a bit of a hurry so he quickly called out to Keita, waving at him before going back to his own business of picking the foul plants known as hemlocks. After a couple of hours, he had filled up a bag he had received from the staff and returned the tools he had borrowed for picking the said plants. Once again, he waved to Keita goodbye as he went back to his humble mansion in order to lounge around once more. As well as collect payment for a task he just completed.

[Exit.]

W.C: 258
T.W.C: 1,266 [x2 Event = 2,532]

Loot Claims
Claiming 3,000(x2 Event = 6000)

Ability Claims - Applying 25% Discount
Using 2,500 words into Great Water Shark

Keita waited for a bit until a couple more people showed up, and he even knew one of them that showed up, it was his old friend Kizmaru. Keita got a nice wave from him, but it seemed like he was in a bit of a hurry, so Keita simply waved back, before greeting the kind looking young woman that seemed to be waiting for them to do something. Keita walked over to her and greeted her in his normal courteous manner. "Greetings miss, I am Uzumaki Keita, it's wonderful to meet you." Keita said this while giving her a slight bow. He then noticed that she was giving out extra pairs of gloves, so he gratefully took a pair and placed it over his normal gloves. "Thank you very much, extra protection against the rash and such you can get from this poisonous plant is always appreciated." Keita wore a warm and amicable smile as he gave her a slight nod for the gloves, and placed them over his current ones. He then headed into the fields and started to collect the poisonous plants within the field. He was going fairly quickly, as he was going to leave fairly soon too, and he was also casually and subconsciously competing against his buddy Kizmaru in how many of the plants that they could collect,m especially because he was in a hurry, so this also made Keita go a bit faster as well. It also gave a bit of fun to the otherwise boring monotony that was collecting some plants, ripping them out of the ground, stuffing them in a bag and then moving on to the next plant that was ready for harvest. There was not much of anything else to do either, so Keita simply walked around collecting things, and would every so often talk to his buddy Kizmaru about what he was up to recently.

After a little while, Keita's first bag was getting quite a bit full of the hemlock they were getting, and so he headed towards the front desk and handed in the bag to the person that ran the herb garden. "This is just about enough for a bag. You're done if you want to be." The man running the herb garden said to Keita. Keita thought about it for a moment, and then bid good day to the man after collecting the signed piece of paper that essentially told them that they were done. Once he left and handed it in to the administration office, he would get paid, and then probably treat himself to a nice barbecue. He was salivating slightly just thinking about it, so he made sure to hurry up and get out of there. He still waved goodbye to the others that were still working in the fields, nodded to himself, and then headed back to the main part of the village to get his money. By the time he had reached the administration office and got paid for the mission, it was a little bit passed lunch, so he went straight to the barbecue restaurant for some food.
EXIT
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WC: 521
Total words 1595
Doubled because of Event = 3190
==========
Claiming 7000 ryo (3000 for mission, 500 from Jounin x2 from event)
Claiming 67ap (7 from mission, 60 from WC and max stats)
Claiming 2100 words towards changing Ninjutsu to main specialty (completed)
Claiming 1000 words towards the Water Element (1000/2000)

The woman nodded pleasantly at the stranger's- Keita's- response. The Uzumaki were an infamous clan for their fuuinjutsu prowess, but she admittedly didn't know too much about them. "Yamanaka Momochi," she replied, watching with pupilless blue irises as he took the gloves. After he left, she made her way over to a secluded corner of the fields and began to inspect the plants with a seasoned eye. She knew her way around plants as well as any clan member, really. There were several varieties growing in the field. Utilizing the Surface Walking technique, she made her way across a small irrigation river and onto a water hemlock plot. She investigated the plant itself- white flowers, each only a millimeter or two in diameter. Umbellets with around 17 to 18 flowers each. Some were nearly two meters tall, while others were about half her height. They were still growing, she supposed. She took a few coarsely toothed leaves within a gloved hand and slid them off neatly with a kunai. They were originally used as gardening trowels, so for that purpose she supposed they were perfectly suited? The leaves passed from her hands to the satchel, and after a few moments she harvested the roots, stem, and flowers as well. The whole plant could be utilized, so there was not a reason to waste any parts. After her satchel was decently full, she made her way over to yet another nearby patch. This kind was a more eastern variety of hemlock- although it wasn't any less poisonous. Some parts of the plant could remain deadly up to 3 years after the plant itself had died, a lesson that had been drilled into her head from a young age. The leaves on this variety tended to fan out more than its aquatic cousin, while simultaneously being thicker and bunched more closely together. The hollow stems snapped easily, and the flowers tended to be clustered in a slightly different manner- though they were still the same antique white all around. At this point, she would continue to labor without reprise until a different satchel had reached a respectable weight before returning back towards the main area. Her footsteps tended to sag into the soggy ground in some areas, and she ended up having to once again utilize the Surface Walking technique so she wouldn't get too messy traversing the fields. She nodded at the foreman- some distant cousin or other- who inspected her work with a critical eye.

A quick glance saw his hands and back scarred beyond repair. He may have been too injured to continue working as a ninja, but he could still assist the military in other manners. She nodded to herself in approval. She liked him. He took her twin satchels, weighing them carefully and inspecting everything from leaf to floret. He eyed her neat cuts, the way that each plant seemed to have minimal damage. After a moment, he nodded to himself. He placed them in the cart, pulling out a large bag filled up of coin her way. "You're getting better at this, kid." she didn't bristle at the word 'kid' like she normally did- something about the way he said it was less demeaning and more a manner of speech. "Tell you what, I'll give you a couple sprigs of this. Do whatever the hell you want with it- I don't give a shit. You'll figure something out." abruptly, a small wrapped in paper sprig of water hemlock was shoved into her hands. She blinked and placed it in a hidden pocket before pocketing the coin as well. A pause and he looked at her again. "Hmm. You might be able to do something with those weapons of yours. Heard the mainland can do some crazy shit with augmentation these days." she tilted her head- she had heard of such a process, but... She never really thought about attempting it herself. Now that it was in her mind, however, it was hard to drop it. "What are you still standing around for? Don't you have anything better to do?" she was jolted out of her thoughts with such an abrupt statement, before she absently nodded and hurried along the paths home.

A few minutes later had her arrive in a familiar abode. She put the coin pouch with the rest of her money- safely hidden across some of her various hidden pockets- before placing the hemlock safely in a drawer. She needed a shower, but more than anything she just wanted to sleep.

[WC: 757]
[Total WC: 1,262]

(Exit)

Claiming: x2 words so...
2,524 words total.
2,000 words towards https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t22309-chakra-infusion
10 words to finish off B rank https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t40422-bullseye , the rest of which is linked on my stat page
250 words to https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t31713-v6-mark-seal
250 words to https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t22717-generic-sealing-technique#172528
the rest of the words get tossed into the void i guess

25 staterinos.
6,200 ryo (3,100 from genin x2)
14 AP
1 hemock

Today’s mission was fairly simple it seemed. Travel about the village and gather herbs and flowers for some herbalist or something of that manner. Truthfully he was certain that the skills he had gained in the academy were the literal antithesis to what he was doing right now, but here he was, leaning over some strange plant and contemplating whether or not it was the right one. His headphones blared some guttural track by Curry, the lyrics and beat reverberating through his skull as he bobbed along with the beat. His brain running at breakneck speed only to draw several blanks and meme about a black man sharing a look of confusion with the screen. Eventually he would pass others also going about with the task, and would follow them on their progress. He would take note of the various plants and such that they were supposed to collect, and move off to find some of his own to bring back. He knew he should probably introduce himself to the group, but honestly unless they ended up on missions again, he was likely to never see them again.

He would work as hard as he could for the next few hours, taking his time to ensure that he was gathering the right plants. At some point he even stopped to hold the leafy quarries out in front of himself, unsure on whether or not the herbs were the right one as he had remembered them. Truly he was not meant for such work, but he wasn’t one to quit, especially when there was money involved. Huffing to himself, he’d move off to another patch and gather the last few he felt he needed before bringing them back to the person who had requested the aid. Getting an earful about not only being late, but being extremely wrong, he accepted the pay he was given and left. It looked like today wouldn’t be all that great of a day after all.

[Exit]

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Post WC: 330
Total WC: 1115 (x2 due to event = 2230)
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Claiming 3000 ryo (x2 for event = 6,000)
Claiming 7 ap
Claiming 22 points into vigor.

Approved