The start of much confusion and worry

Missions:
https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47275-photo-op-protege
https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47279-the-sneaky-cat
https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47272-food-shopping
https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t50817-the-rice-fields




Today was the day. Today, they would be tallying the votes for Kage, and determining who the next Kage was.

Not that Emi particularly cared about that. She had entered herself as a joke, but that was just a joke.

It was... it was just a joke right?

No, Emi did not even think that. But if she had, she would have certainly thought of it as a sign. A premonition. No, today, Emi was working. A new Kage was to be chosen, and the village had to be in tip top shape for that.

"Cleaning up the village", however, is neither a glory filled nor really a very involved task. The village was rather well kept, so it was not like someone with a trash bag and a pointy stick was needed.

Rather, Emi would do various tasks around the village. Beating chaos into submission was a good way to make the village seem nicer and more cohesive.

The day started with a most peculiar request. There was a particularly well off individual, one of the higher ups in the Mining and Forging business in Tanbogakure. Emi was not entirely sure what she actually did, but apparently it made her a lot of money, so it had to be something useful, right?

Apparently today was supposed to be a photo shoot, but also Ms. Fancy Pants Mining and Forging Big Wig had forgotten her own schedule and doubled up the day for...

Emi looked at the description of the mission. She always liked this guy, he threw his own twists into mission descriptions, and they were pretty funny sometimes.

But this one just... confused Emi. Apparently Ms. Fancy Pants Mining and Forging Big Wig had forgotten her own schedule and doubled up the day for... her cat.

It went on to clarify. The cat was supposed to have his yearly vet checkup today. That had been scheduled a long time ago.

More recently, the Big Wig had wanted to give the cat a photo shoot, and had hired an entire team of trainers and photographers to make it all work out.

The only issue was....

The cat was missing.

The report claimed quite clearly that the cat knows it is time for the weekly check up and has run away because it hates the vet.

Under that, in the space for description that the mission giver could write, was a rather important clarification. 'We get a missing cat request from this lady almost every week. The cat is almost always lost in her giant ass house. Sometimes locked into a room she closed. It is not impossible that this is related to the yearly checkup, but, if I were a betting man, and my tab at the pub says I am, hundred down on the cat just being stuck in a room and taking a nap.'

Apparently the photographer and crew was only going to be there for four more hours or so, and had already confirmed they would be charging even if the cat never showed up. So the lady had put in a rush request to get filled to only lose some money, rather than a lot.

Really this situation seemed kind of fucked. Like, would someone even think up this situation? It felt fake.

But also, that same feeling made it feel so real. It was almost too complex, with too many edge cases, to appear totally normal.

So Emi arrived to the house, where what she assumed was the camera crew were playing cards around an upturned crate while sitting on what looked like cheap ass folding chairs.

"He, my name i-"

"Are you here to find the cat?"

Emi nodded.

The rather abrupt interaction had at least given way to her being allowed to speak a whole sentence before the person answered.

Of course, she had not spoken a full sentence, or even really a single word, and therefore the gesture did not matter. It could have just as easily not been a gesture taken and made next to know difference.

Though his willingness to let her talk did leave a break in the awkward silence, and that he was willing to wait at all made her first impression of him slightly less damning.

Slightly.

After her nod, the man directed her towards the building. "Door should be open. Knock yourself out. Try to avoid the dame. She's obviously got something wrong and refuses to be corrected."

That was... concerning. Especially since, as Emi opened the door, the woman was literally RIGHT THERE.

She was very pretty at first. Flowing down, silky smooth looking and perfectly straight hare with a very nice sheen to it, she was genuinely good looking.

Then she spoke. And her voice? Well if you thought it was squeaky, or sounded like a weasel, or perhaps lowered from decades of smoke inhalation...

Shame on you! Yes, the dame here is foreshadowed to be a minor antagonist, if not even a full on villain. Do not just assume based on tropes! A shitty person can still be hot as f***. Or in this case, at least good looking and with a normal, perhaps a bit above average in niceness, voice.

And this person? Hoo boy did she quality.

"WHAT!?" she yelled as she turned towards the door that Emi had barely even opened yet. This, as confusion rested on her face for just a moment, Emi could physically see her fighting off the emotion, she instead shouted, "Who are you? Are the photographers still out there? Are you here to find my cat? Get out if you are not. On second thought, don't even tell me who you are, just get to it."

Emi was... simply not sure how to react to that. So she.... did as she was told, and began looking for the cat. Who was thankfully not hard at all to find. Literally just chilling on a char in the third room Emi checked, fast asleep without a single care in the world.

Emi quickly got the cat, and moved on to the photographers, who were still gathered outside.

The woman had been so distracted by something or another that she did not even acknowledge as Emi walked past her triumphantly carrying the cat.

Either way, the photo shoot was apparently supposed to he held outside, so Emi helped them long enough to get the cat situation and then walked the cat to the vet. It was time for a yearly appointment, after all!

This led her to back downtown. Apparently she had just missed the announcement of the new Komekage as she had brought the cat out. Well, two or three minutes before hand, at the least, but recently. The photographers had been listening to a radio, but shut it off when the cat finally showed up, knowing they had a lot of time to make up for the prick of a lady.

Emi would have gone back to the mission depot, but she had been given a few extra missions. He might be snarky, but he had a good read on these things. The "Find the Cat" mission had been listed as "3+ hours" but Emi had completed it in less than five minutes, and that was just two minutes faster than the missions guy had guessed it would take.

He really was good at his job. Someone should give him a promotion.

Then again, maybe he did not want one. He might be in exactly the place he wanted.

Maybe a salary increase then?

Bah, regardless, he was good at his job, and had prepared her two more missions to do before she had to go back to the depot to get more.

So she went off to meet Jun, a kind older woman living in what was once apparently a flower shop.

Emi figured it was living in, not running, because the windows her covered, and the brief glance she got through the window showed a bed and a couch, with nary a flower in sight.

But hey, maybe that was just the new craze in flower selling stores these days. Some weird experience thing with backroom flowers.

...
Emi would stop now. That train of thought was inevitably going to go strange places and be VERY distracting.

No, this woman, 'Jun', as she introduced herself, was wanting to go out and about and get some shopping done, but was too 'old and frail' (her words) to do it on her own, instead requiring 'young whippersnappers like you to do the heaving lifting.' She said her contribution would be knowing what the best foods were.

Emi very much doubted it when she bought boring generic sliced whole wheat bread #27 from the shelves when there was literally pre-sliced fresh made bakery loaves for LITERALLY THE SAME PRICE.

But Emi controlled herself. The quality might be different, but maybe there was a reason for the choice. A taste preference? Perhaps a difficulty chewing, meaning the softer "I can't believe they call this a crust" would be better Jun.

The pair would stop at a handful more stores. In total, Jun had purchased:

A loaf of bread
Three apples
A kilogram of rice
A medium sized thing of milk
Two bananas (she had been very clear about wanting specifically two, no more, no less, two)
And an ENTIRE SIDE OF BEEF.

Emi was very much so confused by that last bit. Jun, however, refused to elaborate, and simply paid for it. Expensive as it was.

It was but ten more minutes for them to return to Jun's house with what felt like the spoils of war. Emi offered to help Jun put things away, but Jun decliened, then shut the door in her face.

That just left one task she had been given that day: helping with the rice fields. It was a late crop, Emi recognized as much. Sometimes she wanted to know how Rice Country was so good at growing rice even in these odd months. Sure, the weather here was not awful, but it still felt like there was enough variation that growing the crops should have been more difficult.

But no, Emi had not even bothered asking. If it was a village secret, her puny Genin ass probably did not have a reason to know.

And if if was freely available knowledge? There was no reason for her to concern herself about it. She would learn one day.

And if there was no trick? Well, certainly the most boring option, but not absurd.

Emi arrived at the area she had been designated to help harvest in. While the water had been drained, she had been warned it would likely still be muddy. She had not, however, brought her good rice boots. So she went old school. Off went her shows, placed carefully down at the top of the small hill overlooking the rice field. Next came her socks, one sock into each shoe. Finally, she rolled up her pants legs. Slowly. And more "folding them up her leg" rather than simply rolling them. She was wearing jeans, and jeans without terribly much extra room for give. Folding them upwards was like rolling them upwards, but did not try to cut off the circulation to her calves.

The actual harvesting of rice was not that bad. She was more than physically capable of bending over and picking things up for hours on end.

She was fairly certain she would be sore in the morning, but that was an issue for Tomorrow Emi. Not like Tomorrow Emi would have much to deal with. Life was simple in the Land of Rice.

It was not long until she had picked her designated area. A few times, a farmer had come around to check her work, and correct her form.

Her folded up jeans had also not been enough. There was a very big brown stain on her backside that anyone form around this area would EASILY recognize as being from rice harvesting.

But that was neither here nor their. Some tips, a few tricks, and the harvesting went well. The farmer took the crop she had pulled up, and she was off back to town. She should probably figure out who the vote had decided on.

Returning to the mission depot with her proof of work was... well she had to run with mud soaked bare feet because she FORGOT IT WAS CLOSING EARLY.

She burst in the door maybe 2 minutes before the place was supposed to close for the day.

She prepared for the hatred she was about to get, but instead, a familiar voice spoke up:

"Madam Komekage?" he asked, a level of respect in his voice she had never heard before.

She had had her eyes shut for the inevitable hate she was about to get, preparing for it.

This? This was unexpected. As she opened her eyes, she noticed a few other people looking at her. And the voice who had spoken. And then back to Emi. Before straightening up and getting their things back out. Emi had no choice in this matter. Her only viable response to this was "What?"

---

WC 2200

Claiming:

22 stats (all 22 Strength)
https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t50860-block-v7-2#385039 trained to C rank (1000 words)
https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t49940-360-degree-shield-hand trained to C rank (1000 words)
Not bothering with the leftover 200 words

Oh also
4000 ryo and 20 AP from mission rewards
60,000 ryo from Rank stipend for doing missions

Approved

[exit]