Four Hands are Better Than Two

Mon May 03, 2021 3:53 pm

mission:

“Huh, that’s odd,” Nobutoshi thought as he noticed a note on the floor. “What could this be?”
Nobutoshi had just woken up and was still in his room at the inn where he was staying. Nobutoshi bent over and picked up the piece of paper, examining it. After deducing it was just a regular piece of paper, Nobutoshi unfolded the paper and read the contents.
“Nobutoshi, you are to assist a local farmer with weeding their rice field. This task will take all day so make sure you are properly equipped. You will have one other person to help you. If this task is successfully completed you will be rewarded.”
“No signature,” Nobutoshi noted as he placed the note on the dresser. He then quickly dressed before walking down to the dining room for breakfast. As he took his breakfast he asked if they could pack him a lunch. He then paid for both meals and sat down to eat. When he finished, Nobutoshi took his lunch, then started to head for the field. Luckily the note had included directions, so Nobutoshi was able to find the place easily.
“I wonder why I was tasked with this,” Nobutoshi thought as he walked through the streets. “Yasahiro did say he might have some tasks for me but I thought it would be something a bit more personal. Not an unsigned note telling me to help out some random farmer. But whatever, at the end of the day I suppose it’s not much different than the construction work I’ve been doing. I’m still getting paid, I’m just being requested to do this. But I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t go? If it was Yasahiro who requested this maybe he would show up. But if it wasn’t Yasahiro, then who could have requested this?” But before he could reach a conclusion, Nobutoshi’s thoughts were paused because he had arrived at the farm. It wasn’t a very big plot of land, but big enough that it would take all day as the note had promised.
Nobutoshi turned his head and saw a man walk out of the house and start heading towards Nobutoshi. As he approached Nobutoshi saw that he wasn’t young, possibly around 50 and had greying hair. He was well muscled from working the farms all his life and had a worn face.
“Hey there,” his voice boomed, “are you one of the people the village sent to help me out?”
“One of the people?” Nobutoshi thought. “Oh that’s right, someone else is coming to help as well."
“Yes sir, I am,” Nobutoshi said with a smile.
“Good, well when your partner arrives you can begin. I need this entire field weeded by dark, understand?”
Nobutoshi nodded.
“Good, I have to be off now, I trust you can relay this to the other person coming?”
“Of course sir, I’ll make sure they know.”
The man inclined his head then started down the road, leaving Nobutoshi to wait for his partner to arrive.
[WC=503]

Tue May 04, 2021 1:13 am

Fujimaru stared at the innkeeper blankly. 100 Ryo? For this??? He’d think to himself as he looked at the cobwebs that filled the lobby of the inn, his hands would reach to his empty pockets in a last ditch attempt to find some spare ryo, but pulling the pockets out of the pants revealed only lint, which drifted to the dusty floors. How the hell am I gonna pay for this?

“Um, I can expl-”

He was about to say before he was interrupted by another voice “Uuuuugh, can’t believe the village has me weeding rice patties again. What a waste of time!” what looked to be a footsoldier for the village loudly complained. Beside him was another footsoldier who appeared to be his friend, “And for only 1000 ryo too, man looks like you drew the short end of the stick today”

Weed work huh? I did that stuff all the time back on the farm. And thats more than enough money to pay my fees.

Fuji looked to the innkeeper as if to ponder his decision, and then looked back to the two shinobi. “If that assignment is too much of a bother for you, I could handle it for you! I’m a farmer on a bit of vacation and I could use the money. You could take the day off if you really wanted to.” The young uchiha would offer.

The shinobi who had initially complained now seemed skeptical, but after a minute of thinking it over decided what the hell. “Alright, but if you don’t follow through with this it falls back on me, so get it done you hear me?” Fujimaru nodded and turned to the innkeeper, “I’ll have your money by tonight, promise alright! Before bolting out the door and to the location listed on the mission document.

Fujimaru was wearing his usual farming gear upon arrival, a pair of boots, his typical green and blue attire, and a conical hat. When he got to the farm he saw what looked to be another boy waiting, which wasn’t surprising as the document had mentioned that this was a two man job.

“My names Fujimaru, are you farming partner for the day? He’d ask politely.

WC: 370

Tue May 04, 2021 7:53 pm

Nobutoshi had only been waiting a minute when another man arrived. He was tall, towering almost a foot above Nobutoshi, but appeared slightly younger. He seemed to be decently strong and judging from his attire, he was used to farming. Nobutoshi was dressed similarly, clad in a blue t-shirt and grey pants as well as work boots, but he wasn’t lucky enough to have a hat. He barely had enough money to buy the cheap work clothes he wore now when he entered the village, and he had been saving the money he had been earning from working. But it would be alright, the sun hadn’t killed him yet after all.
“I’m Nobutoshi,” he said as he looked at the man named Fujimaru, “and yes, we’re supposed to work together to weed this field.”
Nobutoshi briefly paused as he thought, then asked, “By any chance would you know who assigned you to this job?” After letting Fujimaru respond, Nobutoshi would continue, saying, “We’re supposed to weed this whole field by dark, so we should get started.”
Nobutoshi would then walk over to the nearest corner of the field and bent down, wincing as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
“Damn, this annoying stab wound still hasn’t healed,” Nobutoshi thought, scowling. “But the pain is refreshing, it lets me know I’m still alive.” After a moment, Nobutosh reached his hand down and yanked a weed out of the ground, then took a pace and repeated the action, working his way towards the house. When he had picked all the weeds in that row, he moved over a couple paces to the next row, then started moving away from the house, picking weeds as he went. The water lapped at his boots, though thankfully the boots were water proof enough to keep his feet from getting wet. That would make this experience all the more frustrating.
“This is going to take forever,” Nobutoshi thought, annoyed. “Well at least with two of us it should go a lot faster than if it was just one. Maybe we could finish before it gets too late in the afternoon.” As he completed his second row, Nobutoshi glanced over at his partner to see how he was fairing.
[WC=374]
[TWC=877]

Wed May 05, 2021 12:11 am

Looking at the field in front of them it was certainly easy to see how the land of rice had earned its name. Fujimaru had grown up on a rice farm, and even he had never seen a rice patty this large. “I wouldn't say I was assigned, I'm more of a volunteer in this case. Some guy in the lobby of an inn was complaining about it, figured I’d take the task off his hands and earn some cash.” After speaking Nobutoshi suggested they start, which Fujimaru had no objections to.

“Hey, what do you say we make a race out of this” the young traveler would say while walking to the opposite end of the field and offering some friendly competition. “You start near the house, I start at the opposite end whoever reaches the middle of the field first wins.” as he laid out the terms Fujimaru would look to Nobutoshi to see if he’d piqued any interest.

“What do you say? I grew up on a farm and this kinda work can get monotonous if you’re not keeping yourself entertained along the way” Fujimaru had already cleared a row of weeds, the work wasn’t new to him and his muscle memory was hard at work.

WC: 204
TWC: 574

Thu May 06, 2021 10:05 pm

Nobutoshi nodded when he heard Fujimaru’s answer, a bit frustrated.
“Ah no worries,” he told him with a slight smile, though he didn’t elaborate on why he was asking. When Nobutoshi suggested they start, Fujimaru seemed to have an idea.
“A race huh,” Nobutoshi said with a grin. “Sure, sounds fun.”
“So I was right he does have experience with this kind of thing,” Nobutoshi thought as the man continued to speak. “He’ll almost certainly win, but that’s alright. It’s not like there are any stakes. Plus, he’s right, this will probably speed up the process.”
When Fujimaru finished speaking, Nobutoshi walked over to the house and got to work. His stab wound bothered him, but thankfully it didn’t reopen. He didn’t particularly want to explain to Fujimaru why he had a stab wound in his chest. It wouldn’t do to have everyone in the village know his backstory. One person was more than enough. When Nobutoshi finished his first row, he glanced up to see Fujimaru nearly completing his second.
“I’m fine with losing, but being curb stomped is a whole different story,” Nobutoshi thought as he started to pick up the pace. As soon as he finished one row, he moved onto the next, occasionally stopping for a drink of water. While at first it was easy, after around an hour Nobutoshi started to get tired.
“Man, this work is so tedious, but the faster I finish the sooner it’s over.”
The sun was high in the sky when Nobutoshi reached the middle of the field. Unsurprisingly, Fujimaru had already finished, so Nobutoshi grabbed his lunch and went to join him.
“Congrats on the big win,” Nobutoshi joked as he opened his bagged lunch. “We finished this so fast that I don’t know what to do with the rest of the day.” Nobutoshi took a bite of his sandwich, chewing it slowly. As he ate, he glanced over at Fujimaru, seeing if he had anything to say.
[WC=329]
[TWC=1206]

Thu May 06, 2021 11:34 pm

mission details:

After finishing his half of the field Fujimaru had sought out a large oak tree before he sat at the base of its trunk and rested in it’s shade. He had packed a lunch but figured it would be rude to open it before nobutoshi had finished his work as well, so he waited for the man to finish his work, which didn’t take long, about five minutes passed before he completed his half. For someone without a background in farming, nobutoshi seemed to be a quick learner.

The big win comment earned a laugh before a response “You almost had me there man, I was sweating near the end.” He’d say before taking the first bite out of the potato he’d packed as his lunch. Nobutoshi seemed to want to get more than just a rice field done today, which fujimaru didn’t mind but truth be told he also had no idea what to do, he was about to comment as much when an old lady from two houses over screeched a blood curdling scream.

The sudden sound caused Fujimaru’s head to twist towards its origin in surprise “We should probably go see what that’s about, don’t you think” Fujimaru would say as he threw the remainder of his food into his pack, and tossed it onto his shoulder. “Mam! Are you all right!” He’d say waving down an old lady who was standing at the railing of the porch to her house.

She seemed distressed but fine, “I-It’s my sweet Amai” She’d say appearing to be holding back tears. “I Can’t find my cat dear, will you find him, I wouldn’t want to miss his vet appointment this afternoon” Fujimaru blinked in surprise, with a scream like that he’d assumed the woman had been in some kind of danger.

All this over a stray cat, that’s a little dramatic

Fujimaru wasn’t quite sure what to say so he figured he’d let Nobutoshi do the talking.

WC: 324
TWC: 898

Fri May 07, 2021 9:24 pm

Nobutoshi grinned when he heard Fujimaru’s response, it was nice to get to have a normal conversation for once.
“Come to think of it, have I ever really talked to anybody normally like this?” Nobutoshi wondered, as he ate his sandwich. Though try as he might, he could never recall having a regular conversation with anyone. Back home, nobody wanted to come near his family, and whenever he did speak to anybody who didn’t know about him, it was usually with the intent of deceiving them in some way. Spending time with this young boy was quite refreshing. Suddenly the peace Nobutoshi was feeling was interrupted by a demonic scream.
“What the hell was that?" Nobutoshi thought as he spun around, looking for the source of the commotion.
“Yeah let’s go,” Nobutoshi replied to Fujimaru as he followed him.
The little concern Nobutoshi had quickly faded away into annoyance as he heard the old ladies story.
“Really, all that over a cat?” Nobutoshi thought, pissed. Nobutoshi watched Fujimaru, expecting him to say something, but after a few moments it was evident that Fujimaru expected the same from him.
“Well… uh, did the cat leave the property?” Nobutoshi asked, not really sure what to do. Once he would have probably ignored the old lady, or even gone as far as to sacrifice her cat, but times had changed. He had to play nice to avoid getting in trouble with Yasahiro.
“Well let’s see,” the old lady said, thinking. “Oh yes, no the cat didn’t leave the property. I saw her run into the bushes over there.” When Nobutoshi turned to see where the lady was pointing, he was dismayed to not find a small shrub like he had hoped, but rather a thicket of overgrown plants and possibly what might have once been some decorative bushes.
With a sigh Nobutoshi turned to Fujimaru and asked “are you coming?” Before walking towards the overgrowth, trying to spot the cat that hid within.
[WC=330]
[TWC=1536]

Sat May 08, 2021 10:28 pm

Fujimaru couldn't quite tell what Nobutoshi was thinking, but he had a strong feeling they were on the same page about the ladies antics based on the pause that proceeded her asking for their help. It was Nobutoshi who eventually broke the silence, inquiring about the cats last location. The woman seemed to ponder before answering as if she was slightly confused before pointing to a bush and telling the pair it might be in there.

It took a significant amount of self control not to roll his eyes upon seeing the large collection of overgrown plants, The things I do for strangers He'd think as Nobutoshi sent a question in his direction. "Yep, on it the young Uchiha would say before adjusting his pace to a quicker stride.

The bushes themselves were made of a variety of different plant lives but as the pair got closer they seemed to all share one common characteristic, their leaves were dense and nearly impossible to see through without shifting through the branches. "Here kitty kitty, heeeeere kitty kitty" Fujimaru would say in an attempt to draw out the cat before reaching into one of the bushes to part it's leaves. He'd end up regretting the action however when he felt a sharp pain shooting through his hand. "Son of a- He'd start to say before catching himself and clutching his now bleeding palm.

He'd sigh as he used his other hand to tear a strip of cloth from his sleeve and fastened it around the palm of his injured one before saying to Nobutoshi, "Watch your hands, there's thorns in these bushes." He'd let the boy know before reaching again, this time with a little more caution.

"I'm not seeing anything, what about you? any luck on your end?"

WC: 297
TWC:1195

Mon May 10, 2021 9:26 pm

Nobutoshi walked with Fujimaru to the bracket before trying to get a look inside.
“Damn, I can’t see inside,” Nobutoshi thought, annoyed. “We’ll have to go in if we want to find it.”
Nobutohsi glanced over at Fujimaru, to see he was already sticking his arm into the thicket. He immediately drew it out, sporting a new bloody wound.
“Are you alright?” Nobutoshi asked as Fujimaru bandaged his hand.
“There’s got to be a better way to do this,” Nobutoshi said as he thought. Then it occurred to him.
“I’ll be right back,” Nobutoshi called as he sprinted back to the tree where they were eating. His sandwich was in his bag where he left it, so he picked it up and ran back. As he had been thinking earlier, it occurred to him that his lunch had been a tuna sandwich, and he was pretty sure cats liked tuna, though he couldn’t be sure as he never had one himself. So when he arrived back at the thicket, he placed the sandwich on the ground with the top slice of bread off.
He then took a step back and said to Fujimaru “Hopefully the cat will come out to eat this, so we don’t have to go killing ourselves in that thicket. If it comes out we’ll have to approach it carefully while it’s eating then grab it to make sure it doesn’t run off again” Nobutoshi waited earnestly, hoping the cat would come out and make life easy for them.
[WC=252]
[TWC=1788]

Wed May 12, 2021 8:46 pm

“I’m fine, was just a little cut” small injuries like that tended to happen with manual labor, and manual labor was something Fujimaru was well acquainted with. He did however agree with the boys sentiment, there had to be a better way to do this, and luckily it didn’t seem he was going to have to be the one to think of how. Nobutoshi clearly had an idea in his head already, as he doubled back to his lunch.

Smart

The young uchiha would think to himself as he watched him run back to the shrubs tuna sandwich in hand, and ready to roll. The boy laid the trap and stepped back, explaining the plan of action to Fujimaru so that he was sure they were on the same page. The young farmer waited a moment for the wind to waft the scent of the tuna in the direction of the bushes before he let out a tiny whistle, to grab the cats attention.

Hideo the farmer Fujimaru had grown up with had a dog, and whistling always prompted the dog to come running in your direction. Fujimaru wasn’t sure if that worked on cats, but he figured it was worth a shot. A few seconds after the whistle would pass before an obnoxiously fat cat finally emerged from the leaves, and waltzed towards the tuna very carefully keeping his eyes on Fujimaru the entire time.

It didn’t however seem to notice nobutoshi, who was standing to the right of him, in the cats blindspot. Which placed the young Chinoike in the perfect spot to grab the damn thing.

“Whenever you’re ready” he’d say to his new friend.

WC: 278
TWC:1473

Four Hands are Better Than Two

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