Helping the Mist

missions:

Today Izu was tasked to perform two major task to help the village with two of its most speciallized domain: bridges and island architecture, and weaponry use and crafting. Today's task were just that! Firstly there was a large bridge to one of the main island that is in need of repairs, and secondly there is a large order of senbons that the village smiths need to do. As Izu walked out of the house waving goodby to her brother Shiro, she felt the incredible hot weather and the hot rays of the sun hit her skin. 

Of course, Izu dressed accordingly, knowing the hot sun and the work she would do would need a specific outfit, instead of her usual attire including her vest, wich for today would be too warm and hot of course. She wore usual ample pants, but those were made of a fabric able to breathe. Alongside those pants she wore classic sandals for ninja, a stapple of hers and also made to breathe good enough. As a top she wore only a small tank top, barely covering herself and the underneath shirt of fishnet she wore for style, as usual. Her uncovered body exposed her pale skin, muscular shape and tattoos, as well as her piercing, but she didnt care. Today was work day! She walked trough the town to arrive at the massive construction site of the bridge. 

Kouji was on his way to the bridge he had been assigned to work on at the mission desk. The day was incredibly hot, with the sun bearing down on him and he was already sweating bullets. He hadn't even started the task yet and he felt like his face was getting sunburned. He didn't entirely know why he had been assigned this specific task as he wasn't particularly strong or nimble. But he had learned not to question the mission desk, and to serve his village in any way he could.

As he came up to the construction site he became a bit overwhelmed. The place was practically alive with activity. People from all over were helping with the bridge, some citizens, and other shinobi, their village headbands giving them away as they glistened in the sunlight. He didn't even know who to report to in all of this busyness. It was unclear who was giving orders to this chaotic mob. But as he searched the crowd for some sign of a person in charge Kouji spotted a familiar face.

With a big grin he ran up to Izu and gave her a large bow. "Izu-sama! What an honour to meet you again. Were you assigned to this repair mission as well?"

He hoped to give her a better showing of himself today after their last mission. Of course, he also hoped this one didn't involve any combat or tests. He thought he lost a few years from the scare he had been given before. Although it certainly was an important lesson she had taught him.

Unable to help himself, before she spoke and as he rose from his bow he pointed as his newly minted village headband, "Looks like I've gone up in the world since we last saw each other. I couldn't have done it without your lesson at the bank. Although, I hope there are no more to teach me today!"

He looked at her eagerly, a bit star struck by the accomplished Genin. She was everything he hoped to be after some dedicated time and training.

WC: 351
TWC: 351

While she was drinking from her water bottle under the burning and heavy sun, Izu heared a familiar voice call to him. Approaching in a furiously enthusiast maner for the hot weather, Izu lowered her gaze and whiped the dripping water from her mouth with her harm, and saw that it was none other than Kouji. This would be one of those days, huh? Izu slowly dropped down the bottle, and as she prepared to speak and answer the boy who asked her if she was too assigned to the repair and maintenance of the great bridge, he started once again to run his mouth, adding more to his previous speech. This time, Izu looked at him with a face of impatience, and waited several seconds of silence before answering, just to be sure if he was done for real.

''Heya Kouji. Well done for the headband! This was a fast rank up from the last mission i ws with you, its something to be proud. Yeah, i've been assigned to the bridge repair today too, and there is a lot to be done! Im almost done with my assigned part of it though! After that I'm going for another mission, involving other community work, but on senbons this time. What about you?'' Asked the blonde hyuuga, her face and whole body sweaty from the hot tropical weather and the hard work she had been doing at the construction site of the great bridge. As she waited for an answer, Izu got back to the task.

''I only need to finish placing the stones on the surface of the bridge in this section, and then we go sharpen those senbons alright? You can even do a contest of accuracy, maybe i can show you a thing or two. Not on you this time, we'll shoot at something else ahah!'' Added Izu, as she pointed toward the slabs of sandstone that were meant to be placed on the top of the bridge to complete and create a road surface.

As Izu worked in conjunction with Kouji and the other workers, she took one by one each slab etched with a beautifull patern of mist, and placed it the most straight she could in the muddy concrete underneath it, jamming up the slab in the right place one by one to create a cobblestone road made out of tiles and large slabs of sandstone. The slabs were quite heavy, but Izu was able to move them efficiently, suprising eveeryone by her strength. Of course, she wasnt naturally strong, her shape being yes athletic, but quite slim. She helped herself with the usage of a medical jutsu known to enhance the strength of an individual to equal almost the strenth of a hundred man. With it, her chakra was meticulously controled to enhance her muscles and to make her lift weight immense for her natural strength, making her work quite fast and efficiently. As the task was done, Izu took a quick bite at the closest restaurant, eating only a few Onigiri filled with tuna, and went on toward the forge.

As she arrived in the industrial district, dozens of shops were crafting different things, ranging from net to fish, to clothes, to metalwork, going as far as a boat making warehouse, with the skeleton of ships made inside, signifying the start of new ships being made there. ''So Kouji, how was the exam?'' asked Izu as they walked toward the forge of weapons of Kirigakure. As she listened to his answer, they both walked toward the place.

''Alright lets sharpens them. Just run them along the whetsone, and put water too. Try to make them perfectly, each and everyone the same, able to pierce anything okay?'' Said Izu to Kouji, not letting him know that if there was such a large order of senbons being made, it was because she herself placed a large order of them to supply the ever increasing demands of her own acupuncture senbons. As she too pressed to the task, sharpening them again and again, the pile at first being only a few dozens inside the beautifully made bamboo box, grew to become almost a thousands of needles, separated in the pile of both shinobi. As both were done, Izu thanked the owner of the place for the large order, and got out of the store. She and Kouji talked a lot, and maybe this was the begining of a friendship, who knows? After all, Izu lost a member of her team recently, and the place left by Jay in the team was still vacant, waiting to be filled by someone who would be by her and Kaimera side, under the tutelage of Shiro, her elder hyuuga brother. As she turned toward Kouji, Izu spoke and emptied the small amount of leftover water from her bottle onto her face, cooling herself down from the hot day getting even hotter as they just worked inside of a forge.

''Soooo we didnt practice throwing today so how about we spar sometime soon? Maybe I can teach you a thing or two who knows? So long Kouji.'' Said Izu, slowly walking away and going back to her new place. 

[EXIT]

TWC: 1606

Claims:

• +2 D rank mission done
  
• +4000 ryo
  
• +20 AP (new bonus ap total=442)
  
• learning at 25% from max stats the following:
  

1. acquiring Binding Meteor at 1312WC 
   
2. 294 remaining WC going toward Hidden Arms started in this thread (329/750)
   

''Heya Kouji. Well done for the headband! This was a fast rank up from the last mission i ws with you, its something to be proud. Yeah, i've been assigned to the bridge repair today too, and there is a lot to be done! Im almost done with my assigned part of it though! After that I'm going for another mission, involving other community work, but on senbons this time. What about you?''

Kouji listened to Izu avidly, an eager puppy dog look on his face. "I've been assigned here as well. I'll assist you with the senbon as well though. I'm sure they'll welcome an extra set of hands. Anything I can do to help the village is an honour. I truly hope to be of service to the village, in any capacity. My dream is to one day become a sensei in the village. Helping raise the next generation, that's where the future of Kirigakure is."

He blushed as he finished talking, hoping he didn't say too much to this intimidating blonde woman. He let out a sigh of relief as she replied.

''I only need to finish placing the stones on the surface of the bridge in this section, and then we go sharpen those senbons alright? You can even do a contest of accuracy, maybe i can show you a thing or two. Not on you this time, we'll shoot at something else ahah!''

It seemed she had let him escape that embarrassment. He knew his zealous attitude for the village was a bit much for most people. It certainly was too much for this matter of fact girl! But then a shiver of not-quite fear ran through him. He couldn't help it as she mentioned using him for target practice again. He was sure it would take her no time at all to take him down, her recent show of accuracy all too fresh in his mind.

He quickly got down to work with her. The sun still bearing down on them, the heat rising at an incredible rate. It wasn't long before he had sweated through most of his clothing. He was even more in awe of the girl as they worked on moving slabs of sandstone. He often had to take breaks or get assistance from other nearby workers, while Izu just plowed through, moving the blocks almost effortlessly and at a remarkable pace. He decided not to comment on it, too afraid of rubbing her the wrong way or coming off as sexist. When they finally finished his outfit was absolutely drenched in sweat from his labor. He panted for breath and was barely able to follow Izu to a nearby restaurant for lunch. His arms felt like noodles, he could barely even lift his chopsticks, and yet there she was eating as if she hadn't just moved more sandstone than an entire team of men. He tried to keep up with her speed, as he knew she would leave him behind in a heartbeat. So he started to use both hands on his chopsticks to stab the food, put his mouth near the plate and shovel it in wolfishly. He knew it was incredibly rude, but his upper body had yet to recover, as he wasn't a strong lad to begin with. Before he knew it they were on the move again.

As they moved into the industrial district towards the weapons forge she asked him about the exam. "Honestly, after our mission I didn't have any problems with the exam. After being able to perform both jutsu under that kind of pressure the exam was a breeze. I can't say the same for my fellow students though. I was surprised at not only how many failed, but how many were so far away from being able to do one of the techniques correctly, let alone two. I'm eternally grateful for your lesson, I may not be a Genin today without it."

Izu gave him an encouraging smile as a response but then was all business as they arrived at their destination. ''Alright lets sharpens them. Just run them along the whetsone, and put water too. Try to make them perfectly, each and everyone the same, able to pierce anything okay?''

Kouji took her words to heart and worked avidly on the senbon. He was a perfectionist and it showed in his work. They chatted as they worked diligently together, side by side. He only felt his sense of admiration for the girl grow. Everything seemed to come so naturally to her, even conversing with him, a new Genin of far inferior skill, he didn't think he would ever find something she was bad at. She continued to amaze him, and he hoped he would have more missions with her moving forward. The girl seemed to be a bright spot in Kirigakure, almost as if she held the hope of the village in her hands. Or at least, that was how she seemed to him. Before he knew it they were done, the bins beside them filled with hundreds of needles sharpened and deadly, ready for action. As he looked back up Izu was already half out the door.

''Soooo we didnt practice throwing today so how about we spar sometime soon? Maybe I can teach you a thing or two who knows? So long Kouji."

He felt a sigh of relief at her words, not quite wanting to show her how poorly he would show at something involving throwing weapons. Even if it would be for his betterment. As she left he just looked at the shop owner and collapsed. His body an exhausted, overworked, sweaty mess. He was so glad the blonde kunoichi wasn't around to see this. And that was his last thought as he heard the owner rush over to help him as he passed out.

WC: 979
TWC: 1,330

Exit:
+13 stats in vigor

175 WC - Genjutsu Messenger (the rest learned here)
250 WC  - Cat Eyes
500 WC - Basic Sealing Technique
405/1,000 WC - Chakra Absorption
Total: 1,330 WC - 0 Remaining

Mission Completion x2:

+ 4,000 Ryo
+ 20 AP