Pretty Plants, Potent Poisons [Open to first 3]

mission being completed:

Kouma was one of the village genin that had accepted a rather mundane mission for one of the important farms just to the north of the village, in the reserve area, where there were a large number of plans, and some farms that housed important or rare items. This time, the people who accepted the mission in question were tasked with some thing important, if not a little mundane, as they would need to head to a small farm situated near a river that cut through the reserve to harvest a special kind of plant, which was very dangerous to handle, which is why they hired shinobi in the first place. Regular people were at too much of a risk when it came to harvesting the poisonous hemlock plant, even if they had the proper tools and protective gear to do so. Kouma was very briefly given the run down of the mission before he started to head to the area mentioned within its contents. He was traveling through a dense forest on a little path that seemed to be almost engulfed in the greenery of the surrounding area, and the only reason it was still there was because it was well traversed, when he noticed the important landmark the mission detailed, the river.

This river was fairly small in the grand scheme of things, and it was a gently moving river about twenty feet across. Following the path as it hugged the river for a while, he came upon a small bridge leading over the river, and across the river there was a medium sized building, and Kouma could see that there were people walking around with protective gear such as gas masks and long gloves that reached up to their elbows walking around the area, a couple of them carrying small crates in their hands, one being able to see bits and pieces of small white flowers poking out of the crates. Kouma went ahead and walked into the door that was slightly ajar at the front of the building, and quickly saw a fairly young woman, maybe in her early twenties, sitting at the front desk. "Hello miss, I'm here for the hemlock collection." Kouma said politely with a big goofy smile, before handing her the mission slip. "Alright mister Yamaguchi, we are still waiting on the rest of the applicants to get here, so please take a seat." The woman said, attempting to be polite, but the monotony of having to say the same things over and over must have been getting to her with her experience. She then pointed towards a line of about six chairs off to the side. "Okay thank you." Kouma replied, before calmly walking over to one of the chairs, and picking the one closest to the door to sit in and wait for the others. He noticed that the building he was in was lightly decorated with potted plants, and they even had a couple of paintings on the walls that were a picture of plants, and Kouma wondered if this was a bit much, and if the people working here would appreciate a bit of contrast.

WC: 527

The young silver-haired Uchiha had woken up and wasted no time getting dressed and heading out the door. He had another mission today, however, this one was different than all the other missions he had done recently. Every single mission that he had done was also completed by himself. This time, however, he would be paired with a group of Hoshigakure shinobi like himself. Ise was actually excited, being able to work with someone the first time. Hopefully, the people that he was going to be teaming up with were also Genin like him. After all, they had to be right? There was also the mission that he and his team had to complete as well, which had taken him to the wildlife reserve where they had to harvest a peculiar poisonous plant. Even though Ise didn’t seem like the type to handle poisonous substances, he actually knew quite a lot when it came to hemlock. His mother used to be a Medical Kunoichi, whom which was quite skilled. Not only that but being able to distinguish poisonous plants was one of her specialties. She could also grow it, as well as cultivate it for her own research as well. However, her days as shinobi have ended. Now, she runs a Pharmacy at the Market Area of Hoshigakure, we shinobi and civilians alike purchase medication alike. Not only that, but Ise had even considered the thought of learning Medical Ninjutsu at a later time. Ise had made it to the wildlife reserve where he was supposed to meet his team.

He had never seen such a beautiful place before in his opinion. There were more plants than he had ever seen. Then again, the wildlife reserve was in the middle of a forest that was towards the northside of the village. Ise had casually walked inside, wearing his headband on his forehead which was when he had noticed the Genin that was sitting in front of him. Ise had walked over to him, wearing a comforting smile on his face. “Heya! My name is Isemori Uchiha. I’m here to help in the mission,” He said, being casual yet polite at the same time. That was just the way Isemori was. Besides, if they were going to work together, it was best that he get along with them, right? The only other Genin that Ise had met was Zeo, however, he didn’t seem all that bad. Hopefully, he would be able to get along with his team that he was assigned to work with. That was when that Ise had noticed that he didn’t see any of the other teammates around. “Where are the others? Weren’t there more on the roster for the team assigned to the mission?” He had asked, being a little too quick to speak. That was another thing about the young Uchiha. He wasn’t your typical quiet and calm Uchiha. In fact, he was actually pretty loud most of the time and was rather energetic. Despite that though, he truly meant well. There were even times where he could surprise people every once in a while.

WC: 519

Ishii slowly walked to the northern part of the village, calmly strolling along the path leading to the nature reserve that his mission had been situated at. With a long sigh, he looked up at the sky to gauge what time of day it was, squinting against the bright light of the sun. "Well then, I suppose that I'm a bit late, aren't I? Maybe they won't be too mad about it..." His voice trailed off slightly as he got lost in the beauty of the landscape. Almost on autopilot, he made his way through the thick, dense forest of the nature reserve, and eventually stumbled upon the river that his mission slip had described. "The river? Guess I'm in the right place then..." Ishii decided to stop for a moment, taking time to breathe deeply near the river, letting the feeling of moisture in the air wash over him, and the scent of flowing water fill his nose. "Maybe I'll just stay here? They shouldn't need me after all, and the water seems quite lovely." The thought stopped a moment after it started, when the familiar ethereal voice rang out in Ishii's ear, advising him against it. "You shouldn't do that. Missing a mission wouldn't look good for you, and your companions are still waiting for you. It's best that you complete your mission first." Ishii nodded, turning back to the path to continue towards his mission destination. "You're right... Maybe another time."

Ishii made his way up the river and across a small bridge to find the building that his other team members had found earlier. Taking a small cloth that he had brought from home, Ishii placed it across his face to keep out any outside contaminants as he walked through the front door to the building, where her removed it once he had shut the door behind himself. The receptionist at the desk greeted him as he produced his mission slip, placing it on the desk in front of himself. "Hello. My name is Ishii Kamigawa. I'm here for the mission." She gave a customer service smile, and directed him to a nearby group of 6 chairs, where his companions for the mission were situated. Ishii slowly walked over, scratching at the back of his head. With an expression of blank indifference, he introduced himself before sitting down in one of the empty chairs lining the wall. "Hello. My name is Ishii Kamigawa, and it's nice to meet you. Please forgive me for being late, I was a little slow getting out the door this morning." He gave a long look around the room, taking in the visuals and the sights of the numerous plants that their employers had set up about the room. Ishii sighed, and began tapping his foot on the ground. After a moment, he turned back to his mission companions and gave them a brief smile. "Can I ask what your names are?" Ishii waited a moment to allow them to respond before continuing to gaze about the room. "It's a bit overdone, don't you think? The amount of plant iconography in this room that is. It's quite tacky if you ask me. Still though, it's probably better to have a cluttered space than an empty one."

Word Count - 545

Soon, there were more and more people entering the building and each talking to the receptionist before taking a seat. Kouma first noticed a silver haired person around the same age as he was come in and introduce himself as Isemori Uchiha, and Kouma was a bit surprised to see an Uchiha, as he had simply never met them before, and there were all kind of rumors and great stories about their power and prowess in combat. Kouma did not know much about them personally, however, so it was great to get to meet one, although he felt it might be rude to suddenly bring up his clan and annoy him, so he would treat him like any normal person. "Hey, I'm Kouma Yamaguchi, nice to meet you. I'm not sure about the others, but they wouldn't be late yet, the workers haven't handed us our protective gear." Kouma said politely with a smile on his face. He was glad that this Uchiha was rather friendly and approachable, as he had heard some bad rumors about them being a bit cold. Kouma was a bit energetic in his actions, although he was still sitting there relatively calmly when they started talking. As he was about to continue the conversation, another person had walked in, and seemed a bit more calm and collected than the two of them. Kouma thought that Isemori was one of his type of people, sort of loud and boisterous, fun loving type of person, and hoped they could get along. It was the same feeling of wanting to get along with the new person, but in Kouma's experience, the calm and more mature type of young people did not seem to enjoy the boisterous nature of people like Kouma, but he would give it a shot anyways.

"Yo, I'm Kouma Yamaguchi, nice to meet you." Kouma said with a light bow that one would do when they were casually meeting someone instead of the deep bows that people gave their seniors or in a more business setting. He then heard the man commenting on the almost tacky nature of the decor in the place, and Kouma nodded with him. "Yeah, I thought that a bit too, but at least it smells good in here with all the plants." Kouma chuckled a bit, planning to talk to them about the mission, but it seemed that his thoughts and conversations were destined to get cut off, as the fourth and final person of the mission had entered, not really mentioning the fact that he was late, which was fine, as the receptionist had yet to leave when he came in, so there was not much of a difference as long as he showed up when the gear would come, speaking of which, she left immediately when she confirmed his name. The man was the loosest of them all in terms of manners, but Kouma did not mind this, as most ninja were of the eccentric variety in some aspect, and Kouma could not judge with the background of his clan and all. "Yo, I'm Kouma, nice to meet you. As for the action, I've yet to be in an actual fight, just sparring with my teacher. I've stopped a robbery before though, so there's that." Kouma stated, referring back to the time that he stopped someone trying to break in and steal materials from a nearby warehouse earlier this week.

Now that everyone was here, the woman eventually got back with the protective gear, which was simply a fairly high end gas mask and some elbow long gloves, one set for each of them. She then explained how to properly pick the flowers as the team got their gear on, which Kouma did swiftly, before leading them out the back door to the fairly medium sized field of poisonous flowers.

WC: 642

The young Uchiha was known for his energetic as well as friendly personality, however, … that wasn’t the case for other Uchiha. Throughout the years, the Uchiha have been revealed to come off cold-hearted to most, and even Ise knew that. After all, there was his older brother who seemed to be that way, even towards Ise. However, Ise wasn’t like that at all. Not only that, but he also got some genes inherited from his mother. His silver hair matches hers, as well as his emerald green eyes. The only thing that truly could make it known that he was an Uchiha was the Sharingan eye, which Ise had only recently awakened. “Nice to meet ya, Kouma!” Ise had grinned, already taking a liking to Kouma. For Ise, getting along with whoever was teamed up with him was important. He also had been told by his mother that keeping an open mind about certain things when it comes to your team members as well. They all are different in their own way and there might be things you don’t agree with, however, what makes a team unique is that they have the ability to work well if each and every person on the team is able to keep a clear as well as an open mind, on top of believing in your team. When Kouma had stated that the other teammates wouldn’t be late since they did not have their protective gear yet, Ise chuckled nervously and said, “Oh, yeah! You’re right about that,” realizing that his earlier question was probably a dumb one. So, he decided to not worry much about them not being here. Although, he was eager to see who he was teamed up with.  

Then, after a few more minutes had passed, another Genin had appeared before them; introducing himself as Ishii Kamigawa. “Hey, Ishii! It’s nice to meet you! Your last name sounds familiar by the way. Hmm, let’s see. Where did I hear that last name from again?” Ise had begun to ask himself, thinking hard. “Oh! I know where I heard that name before! Do you know another Genin by the name of Zeo Kamigawa? He helped with my training once.” Isemori had explained in the shortest way possible. When Ishii had apologized for ‘being late’, Isemori had quickly said, “It’s not a big deal. In fact, Kouma just told me they still have to give us the protective gear anyway, so you didn’t miss much,” The young Uchiha had grinned, reassuring his teammate. When Ishii had asked Ise and Kouma what there names were, Ise had realized that he had gotten ahead of himself, forgetting to introduce himself to Ishii as far names go. “I’m Isemori Uchiha, but you can just call me Ise for short,” Grinning while pointing on of his thumbs towards himself.

Then had come in a third person, who had white hair. He also looked like he had seen some actual combat, which was a little cool in Ise’s opinion. Ise had only been training in order to better prepare himself for the real thing. Not only that but just wanted to simply get strong like his dad was. The white-haired Genin greeted himself as Cole Kaguya, which prompted Ise to speak up and greet himself as well. “Nice to meet ya, Cole! I’m Isemori Uchiha, but you can just call me Ise for short,” doing the same thing he had done to Kouma as well as Ishii. Then, after everyone had greet one another, Cole had wasted on time in asking if Ise and the others had seen any actual combat yet. Kouma was the first to admit that he had not. Although, he stated that he stopped a robbery one time, which was even more than what the young Uchiha had accomplished thus far. “I haven’t either, to be honest. However, I’ve been training with my Shadow Clones each and every day. One of these days though, the time will come, and I’ll be ready for it too!” Ise had said, confidently, unable to hold his determined grin. He had also been making sure that he himself keep that same promise. He had been able to perform some pretty decent Ninjutsu in his opinion, and there was still quite a lot of fire-style jutsu that he could learn, so the way he saw it that being prepared for the real thing was a good thing.

WC: 740

Iishi spent a few moments chatting with his mission companions. Kouma was the first of them, being one of the first two that had entered into the building. He didn't have much time to speak with Ishii, so he didn't exactly get a good gauge on his personality. Isemori Uchiha, or Ise as he called himself. Ishii vaguely recalled that the Uchiha Clan was a clan possessing some form of Kekkei Genkai in the eyes, although specifics beyond that eluded him. What was surprising was the fact that he mentioned another member of the Kamigawa. His brow furrowed a bit as he pondered on that fact aloud. "Another Kamigawa? I've only met one other member of my clan, and he died long ago. I don't think that there's many of us left..." Ishii's thoughts were interrupted by the voice that spoke in his head. "There's another. That's not as surprising as you might think. Kamigawa are scattered about the land, and most of them are unaware of their heritage, just as you were. Search for this Zeo, and you may find more answers about your clan..." Ishii shifted his eyes upward to stare at the ceiling, and spoke back to the voice aloud. "Look for Zeo? It may be a while before I do something like that. I still need to focus on my own training. Besides, I have to finish my mission first." Ishii turned back to Ise and gave a soft, friendly smile to the young silver haired Uchiha. "It's good to know that I'm not quite so late as I thought I was. It makes for a poor first impression if you're late to a mission after all."

Immediately after, Cole entered into the building and stopped at the receptionist before making his way over to the group. He sat down and asked if the group had any combat experience, to which the other two gave similar answers of no. Ishii lazily blinked before speaking again himself. "From what I know about missions, or any social event for that matter, you usually give your name and introduce yourself before you start asking questions of other people. Talking to a receptionist and expecting other people to have been listening while in the middle of a conversation doesn't normally count." Ishii didn't intend for his words to be as pointed as they were, nor did he seem to realize that it could be interpreted as a threat. He was simply trying to remind him how proper social interaction was usually conducted. "Not that I've seen any combat yet." Ishii had thought to himself. Ishii was about to open his mouth to mention as much, but the voice reappeared in his head. "Be careful around him... he could be dangerous. He has a strange look in his eyes." Ishii blinked once again, looking Cole up and down. "This one's dangerous then, huh? I'll make sure to be careful." He paused and met his gaze, now speaking to the man in question. "I've never seen actual combat, no. I don't think I will for a while longer."

Ishii waited patiently for the woman to bring his gear back, which he put on quietly. As he slid the gas mask into place over his head, he turned to his companions, and spoke through a metallic and slightly raspy voice. "I actually had brought some basic equipment from home. I guess that they're not going to be very useful when compared to these things, are they?" After his equipment had been properly fastened, he followed after Kouma to the field of flowers out back.

Word Count - 601

Total Word Count - 1075

Keita watched as this sort of strange and rag tag group of young people were getting along and chatting with each other. well, most of them were getting along, but as with any group, there would be slight friction in the beginning, but Kouma knew that something like this was probably not as serious as he was thinking, as two of the people seemed to have picked a small fight with themselves over manners and being a bit cold. Kouma just gave an awkward smile off to the side as they were bickering, and calmly waited for the woman to come and give them their equipment. After this though, they all walked towards the medium sized field full of the white flowery plants that contained a deadly poison, and just to make sure, Kouma looked around at the people that he came with and was relieved to see all of them wearing the protective gear correctly and without any issue. Kouma worried about others more than himself usually, but he was not going to bring it up with other people, as he had seen his good intentions be misconstrued as some sort of attack on them or their character, so he was only going to bring it up if he saw that there was a problem. Walking through the field, the four man group was each given a small area in the south east field, where they could still see each other and were close enough to chat, if they could understand each other through the slight muffling of their gas masks. Picking these flowers seemed like an easy task, however, at least that was how the receptionist explained it to them anyways.

Kouma immediately started picking the flowers the way that the receptionist told them they had to do it, and at first, Kouma could tell he was plucking them with too much force, or at the wrong spots, as he the stems of the plant looked a little worse for wear, but he corrected himself while looking at the others, he was sure some of them were doing it properly, so he found that if he copied them, he got back on track swiftly. "While this isn't the funnest thing in the world, at least it's a nice day and we're getting paid." Kouma said, hopefully loud enough for the people to hear him without screaming, but the muffling made him speak in a couple decibels louder that he normally would, so it sounded a bit weird. Soon, Kouma had a bushel of flowers in a small crate that was next to him, and he started to head back inside. "Thanks for the company guys, I look forward to working with you again or training with you down the line." Kouma said after they had got back inside and taken off their protective gear. He then went on about his day, which was mostly going and tinkering with his puppet. The people he met today had their quirks, but they were fun people nonetheless, and Kouma hoped that he would meet them later in other missions, or just out and about in Hoshi. For now though, Kouma would simply worry about getting stronger for the sake of his mother, and so he left fairly quickly and before the others, especially because he was unsure how to respond to any sort of invites to go eat or spar that the others might have said should he have stayed a bit more.

EXIT
WC: 582
Total WC: 1751
Claiming 3100 ryo from mission and genin rank
Claiming 30 ap from mission
Claiming 17 ap from max stats
Claiming Hemlock
Using 1750 words on Damage Reduction Shield - B rank achieved

Approved