Eight Days a Week

”Yeah, we should have time.”

Natsumi had absolutely no idea if they had time. Nonetheless, the pair wound their way through the market, past a few packed shops, and arrived at the scene of the abandoned cart. The air smelled of rotten produce and, of course, the cart itself was missing a wheel. Why could it never be something easy?

“It doesn’t look too heavy,” she replied to Xuexing’s question about how to approach the mission. “Let’s try to push it out of the way, then we can flag it for the village sanitation team to clear it out entirely.”

If her over-dressed companion had no objections, the pair would put their shoulders against the cart and push with all their might. Up close to the cart, the smell of the rotting produce was almost unbearable, and Natsumi felt the contents of her stomach churn as the cart slowly began to move. To make matters worse, the smell of rot got worse as the putrefied produce shifted in the cart. The Nara made a mental note to never blindly agree to help without first understanding the task beforehand.

“Well,” she stepped away from the cart once it was off the road. “I think that should just about do it. Should we head out over to the Inuzuka compound?”

The walk to the compound was a longer one. It brought the two ninjas back through the market, out toward the outskirts of the village, and into a more residential part of Konohagakure. The sound of barking and the insignia of the Inuzuka clan made it quite clear that they had arrived. This time, Natsumi took the lead in speaking to the short Inuzuka woman who met them. The conversation was short, and the genin—much to the Nara’s delight—were even given the chance to pet the woman’s wolf-like ninken.

“The flower garden should actually be a quick walk from here,” she explained to Xuexing as they left the Inuzuka compound. “We can pick a few, and swing back into the commercial district to drop them off.”

In her younger years, the teen spent time with her grandmother learning the art of constructing the perfect bouquet. Unfortunately, the science of matching colors was something that had escaped her, but it was a pleasant memory. And so, the final mission for the day carried a certain hint of nostalgia for the Nara girl.
- - -
WC: 399
TWC: 2268 

The remainder of the afternoon went by quickly. The two genin picked flowers in relative silence. The few bits of conversation that Natsumi tried to start led to naught, and soon she came to focus purely on the task at hand. She matched the reds with blues and purples with soft greens until a few hours later the pair of genin had assembled a respectable assortment of flowers.

With the flowers gathered, the pair returned to the village proper. The Yamanaka flower shop was a definite step up from the butcher’s shop. Instead of the smell of death, there was a pleasant floral smell that came in almost overpowering waves of fragrance. Nonetheless, the proprietor was pleased with the selection of flowers and sent the two genin on their way.

Xuexing, for his part, left without a word. Meanwhile, Natsumi spent the rest of the afternoon window shopping around the commercial district, using all her willpower to not spend the small fortune she’d made earlier in the day. All said, it was another day done and another set of missions completed.
- - -
Exit/Thread Closed
WC: 181
TWC: 2449 

Thread Claims
+21 Vigor
+3 Speed
+212 words toward learning Shadow Clone [212 words + 1288 words = 1500/1500 jutsu fully learned/trained]
+2237 words toward training Shadow Stitching Technique
+5k ryo & +25 ap for completing the five E-rank missions linked in my initial post

Math: 212 WC for Shadow Clone  + 2237 WC for Shadow Stitching Technique = 2449/2449