Akihana's Helpers

Spoiler:

Kouma was ecstatic today, as he had read the most amazing mission that he had seen so far suddenly pop up on the mission board in the administration building, and that was to help some master baker with getting the ingredients for the royal kitchens, and considering how into cooking Kouma was, this was a dream come true for him, and he gushed to his mother about it all last night, and he was so excited that he only got a few hours of sleep. The bags in his eyes did not matter for him through, as he was still bright and early, and had to wait an additional ten minutes for the royal chef to arrive. He looked at the smiling young man with a bit of disdain, but Kouma paid it no mind. He was going to be excited for this no matter what this old master chef had in mind for him, and this was going to be fun. Even if the person that he was working for tried to make it not fun, Kouma would still have a good time, that was how determined he was when it came to anything related to the art of cooking. He was not really sure how to be a baker, but he had made his own bread before, and that was about it, but he was very inquisitive about every subject that involved cooking, and he was just wide eyed at every thing that passed them by in the market. The old man started to talk about how they really needed to be quick and concise, and that he already had an idea, but he needed to become inspired, or something to that effect, and this made Kouma even more interested. He looked at the old chef with eyes filled with grandeur and respect, because not only did Kouma revere his seniors, but he also greatly respected this person that was so passionate about something that wandering around some stalls and looking at the various ingredients might be able to get him into a state of inspiration. This was something that Kouma had when he was working on puppetry parts and studying the examples in the archives, and he knew that it was a hard state to get into, as there was no one that could get you into it, and there was also no telling when your mind would suddenly have a fit of inspiration, so it relied a lot on luck and serendipity to actually have it happen to you, but he noticed it would happen more to things one was passionate about.

Kouma silently followed the old chef around, glancing at certain ingredients, seemingly at random, and sometimes the old chef would get Kouma to walk up to the people in the stalls and ask about the freshness and whereabouts of the ingredients, and sometimes they would haggle a price, before the chef would place an ingredient or two in a pouch that he kept to his side. It was a very fancy leather pouch, and it was apparent that it was well used, but also up kept in the same determined fashion that one might upkeep their favorite shoes, or their sword that they used every day, if it was some sort of warrior or ninja that was being talked about. There seemed to be a great deal of care in the way that the chef walked around and looked through the ingredients, and a meticulousness and experience that seemed to come from a great master, as there was a look in his eyes that stated how confident he was, but also he had a look that he was extremely happy to cook in the royal kitchens, and that it was his life's passion. Kouma admired him greatly for that, and his child like wonder and awe whenever he looked at thing caused the old chef to start explaining the properties of certain wheat varieties over the others in baking, and how the agave plants would make a sugar syrup while the sugar cane plants would be ground into the common sugar powder that they see every where. This new information fascinated Kouma greatly, and soon, him and the old man were getting along fine, and there was no longer a look of disdain in the old chef's eyes, as he now knew that Kouma was genuinely interested and passionate about these things, and it was not simply because he needed to do this mission considering he was a genin. The absolute happiness that came from trying out all of these new things seemed to be too great for Kouma, as he started to purchase a couple of basic ingredients on behest of the old chef's advice. He was determined to make a simple raspberry tart for his mother, and the old man told him all of the ingredients, as well as gave him a snippet of a recipe for him to use that was basic, but still required patience and precision. Kouma thanked the old chef profusely, and realized that it was time for him to go. Time flew by so fast, that Kouma did not realize that the mission was now over, and he looked a bit sad.

It seemed like the old chef noticed this, and offered to bring Kouma into the royal kitchen for a bit to have a tour and watch him cook, as long as Kouma was simply silently watching throughout, to which Kouma exploded in happiness. He immediately agreed, as he had never seen the grand royal kitchens before, and he thought about all of the rumors he had heard about them from the soldiers and queens men that wandered around the village, and how he had hoped to see them one day, he had no idea that this seemingly normal mission would allow him such a great experience so fast. Kouma followed the old man, each with their own bag of ingredients, one small and one large, and went into the royal kitchens. Kouma got a pass because of the old chef's recommendations, and he spent the rest of the after noon staring at the seasoned and experienced old man's hands as they flew through the ingredients like a ballet dancer's performance. It was elegant and refined, and it filled Kouma with a sense of wonder, and he also figured that he would be able to do something like that one day, if he practiced enough on his off days.

EXIT
WC: 1083
Claiming 1100 ryo and 3 ap from mission and rank
Claiming 10 chakra
Claiming 1000 words towards Earth Flow Spears C rank 1000/1000

Approved