Starring:
Nendo, Mitsue
Date: February 19, 2016
Summary:
As a bit of work for publicity, the genin are sent out to display what their jutsu can be used for off of the battlefield and in the daily lives of a few villagers.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Helping no Jutsu"
The Land of Earth
Today was a nice clear day, the sun was shining, the sky was a clear blue in the mountains, and Nendo would get to enjoy none of it as he was currently packing his satchels for a business trip down from the mountains and toward one of the general farming villages. With so little work coming his way, the genin was given the chance to do something normal for once; a job that didn't demand he fight invading shinobi, carry secret information, or run through the woods with unicorns looking for stolen horns and silver blood. No, based on the briefing in the scroll, today's mission was one of advertisement and assistance. The genin as well as anyone else he could bring along for the mission were being sent to the village of clear-waters. The mission was a simple one. The genin would need to display their ability to mold chakra in various ways and show the villagers how useful their skills could be to help with every day chores and problems.
Nendo was dressed in his usual single-sleeved red shirt that covered his right arm while his pants were slightly baggy and made of a durable denim material to endure the day-to-day of the Shinobi way. Once everything was packed away and ready, Nendo made his way to the door of his home to slip into his black sandals that reached midway up his calves. Once his gloves were drawn on, the older teen would step out into the sun and let out a sigh of content as he began heading off toward the entrance gates of the village.
There was no way that Nendo was leaving Mitsue behind! He might not have known exactly what the other teen had been doing, but when he saw him packing he'd gone to pack his own things too! That way when Nendo left Mitsue was right behind him. He left a few seconds after Nendo, not saying anything but instead just following in Nendo's footsteps with a bit of a grin, trailing after him to see what he was doing.
Nendo had guessed Mitsue would be following after him and was a little surprised when he didn't hear the complaints or mental shouts echoing in his head when he left on his own. Still, Nendo kept moving as though nothing was happening and made his way along the main roads to the gates and the waiting wagon that was by those massive doors to carry the Toujitakumi and his little companion. Sitting on the edge of the wagon would position the teen in a way that let him look toward the village, curiously scanning the area for where his teammate would be if he could find the little Gansao. Mitsue had gotten fairly good at hiding himself away after all, Nendo had to focus himself quite a bit to try sensing where the younger teen was if he'd come along.
Mitsue had followed Nendo all the way until the older teen had reached the cart, only then ducking away quickly to hide behind a group of shinobi chatting to each other. They give him an odd look but otherwise ignore him as he makes his way towards the entrance of the village. Only once he's past the cart does he turn to head back to it, trying to be stealthy…but still, footsteps approaching the cart would be pretty obvious to an earth user.
Nendo wouldn't move much at all, seemingly not noticing Mitsue as the younger teen slipped behind the other shinobi and then even around the cart itself. He was looking around but not seemingly able to find Mitsue. It was Mitsue, however, who was truly being stalked though.. As Mitsue neared the cart, Nendo's form paled to the color of clay and with the mischivous laughter as the horde of fairies scattered and Nendo reached forward from behind Mitsue to try grabbing the younger teen by his sides to lift him up toward the cart. ~Here, let me help you get inside, slowpoke.~ Nendo would tell Mitsue in the first message of their mental connection.
Mitsue had been so sure he had him too! He peeked over the side of the cart just in time to see the clay burst into fairies. A mental squeak erupted from Mitsue, his genjutsu seeking out the familiar mind as Nendo hoisted him into the cart. ~How did you know I was coming?~ he asks, turning around once in the cart to pout at Nendo.
~You already know how I found out, it's the same way you know how to look for me.~ Nendo teased while setting Mitsue in the cart and bracing his hands against the side of it so he could swing himself into it beside his teammate. Settled in, the Toujitakumi gave the cart driver a thumb's up and rested his head back against the wall of the cart for their ride. I guess I should let Mitsue in on the mission too, right? ~We're going to this man's village to help on their fields. They've had all kinds of troubles plaguing them; anything from water shortages to mountain jackrabbits eating what little they can manage to grow before it's harvested. And the Tsuchikage wants us to show out skills are for more than beating people up so that we can get more jobs like this and less jobs hunting down bandits.~ Nendo would explain to Mitsue as they rode down the winding paths of the mountain toward the villages below.
Mitsue sits down once the wagon starts moving, sitting across from Nendo for now so that he can hear what it is they're doing. ~Fields? I'm not very good with…manual labor.~ Of course Nendo would know that but still. ~It'll be a little strange to not be on a mission where someone's trying to kill us,~ he muses, grinning faintly as he leans back against the side of the wagon. ~So flashy stuff then?~
Nendo chuckled low in his throat and nodded a bit as he agreed with the matter of not being good at mnaual labor but he raised a finger as he listened to what it was that Mitsue had to 'say' to him. ~That was just it.. We're going to be showing off what we can do, basically, what we can do to help them using our power over the earth. You just need to think a bit outside of the box if you want to get a passing grade on this job. We're going to need to use our abilities in a manner that isn't for harming something in order to show them that we're not just a village of killers. We can leave that to the Land of Water.~ Nendo explained, the last bit being said with a mental chuckle to himself.
Mitsue tilts his head slightly as he listens to Nendo, considering. ~Think outside of the box…what do you think we should do? Do you have any plans ready?~ he asks curiously, wondering if Nendo might have planned ahead for this. ~I could use my genjutsu too, just…the gentler types.~
Nendo quirked a brow slightly and peered at the young Gansao with a curious look while imagining the boy's genjutsu convincing a seed to sprout from its shell. ~I'm not sure how Genjutsu will be able to be used but.. I want to see you do it.~ Nendo answered with a light smile on his lips before his brow knitted slightly. ~You aren't talking about using Genjutsu on the villagers, right…?~ The Toujitakumi didn't think it was what Mitsue had in mind but it never hurt to make sure all the bases were covered to be on the safe side.
Mitsue smiles sheepishly at Nendo and reaches up to scratch his head underneath his white hair, trying to look innocent. ~No…of course not…~ he says, his tone in and of itself sheepish as well. ~Maybe just to show them what we can do. I won't use anything bad against them. Maybe just make them hear noises or something.~
The Toujitakumi smiiled a bit as he tilted his head to one side and began to think things over briefly. After a moment's time, he had an idea of what it was that Genjutsu could do. ~How about a rhymic tune to help them while working? Music.~ Nendo suggested as he, in part, feared the idea of Mitsue using his dark cloak on innocent villagers to terrorize them but that was out of the question for Mitsue… right? Nendo would smile a bit before nodding to his idea and then begin thinking over other things. ~I can use my earth abilities to help bring up firtile ground to the surface and we can try working on some water ways too.~
~Or I could give them false surroundings, show them a nice relaxing area,~ Mitsue offers, grin widening slightly. ~But I won't do anything bad to them, don't worry. As for music…I wouldn't even know what to let them hear. I could make them hear something they absolutely hate. That wouldn't work well in our favor then, would it?~
Nendo chuckled softly as he listened to Mitsue's idea on what genjutsu could be used on them though he could only really stroke at his jaw in thought. When it came to earth, Nendo knew how to do some things but not how to plant and grow things… When it came to illusions well, Nendo was learning from Mitsue and still at the basic level. A bump in the road brought Nendo's mind back from their talk and to the world around them. They'd decended the mountain and were on a road at this point, passing tress on the way to the village of their destination. Soon enough the cart would be coming to a stop and the driver would begin releasing the horses while Nendo eased from in the cart to take a look at the village and its fields.
Just about everything eas in disrepair and the fields were nearly in shambles. The earth was dry and dusty, trees and branches had fallen into the fields to block progress, and even the houses themselves looked as though they were in need of care. This might have been ranked as a D-class mission, but there was C-class work in store for the teens. The fields could be saved but there was a lot of work to be done and that wasn't counting in the amount of work that would be needed in order to get the water to the fields for proper irrigation.
Mitsue just smiles at Nendo, wondering what he's thinking about and tilting his head slightly as he watches the other teen in silence, seeming happy to do just that. When they reach the village he climbs out of the wagon and looks around as well, that smile long gone as he looks at /everything/ there. Obliging cow. ~Um…I think we may be in a little over our heads here…~
Nendo looked over what kind of a state the village was in and nearly wanted to climb back into the cart and pretend they had gotten off at the wrong stop. ~I wish this weren't the place..but the person that brought us here is the one who made the request..~ Nendo commented as he tried steeling his expression and began moving forward toward the village to start with just a look around to see what they had gotten into. ~How about we ask around to find out what's happened before we get started? Maybe they're suffering raids or something like that.~ Nendo suggested while starting off toward the village. Hopefully bandits were to blame so they could do something normal and not try rebuilding a village from what was close to the ground up.
Mitsue just looks over it all and shakes his head a little as he moves to follow after Nendo. ~I don't…know. Even if it is bandits we're here to help them with planting and such right? We aren't here to go chasing after bandits…~ Of course there could always be a change in plans. It would be silly to replant and help rebuild if it was only going to be destroyed again.
Nendo sighed his agreement at the complication but… at least they could look around first. Nendo would talk with a few people, finding out that ti was the chaotic weather that had been taking place recently during the shift of the seasons that had caused strong winds to propel sticks through windows and topple trees. There wasn't question on the chance of bandits, at least not from Nendo and so, soon enough Nendo was heading to the fields while rolling up his sleeve. The sooner he got this done the sooner he could get home… hopefully.
~Nice thought I suppose,~ Mitsue says after he trails after Nendo, listening to his questioning of the villagers as well as their responses. Now they were making their way out towards the fields and he was trying to figure out exactly what they could do to help. ~It seems like this is going to take more than just than two of us Nendo. It's a rather large job…~ Obviously they hadn't been given very accurate information at first…
~Yeah but I don't think they'll be happy if we run away now so…~ Nendo trailed off as he began rubbing his hands together and then walked out into the field so he could begin tapping and poking at the branches and logs that littered the first of the fields. ~Come on, Mitsue… Let's show them what the ninja of Iwagakure can do… in a garden..~ The enthusiasm was drained as he said that last bit, but made up for it with measured explosions blasting the wood from in the way. What little wood was left was broken into fragments, the explosions having blasted it down into the ground to ensure no one would get hurt by the simple blasts. Clearing wood wouldn't be a problem.
~Little more than farmers can do I'm afraid,~ Mitsue says with a soft mental chuckle. He watches as the wood gets blasted and he moves out into the fields. He crouches to put a hand on the ground, closing his eyes as he senses where all the dead plants are and with a shove of earth he uproots them all quickly. Out with the old and in with the new, right?
Nendo smiled lightly as he watched how Mitsue began using his earth, nodding while the vollagers began gathering around to clap at their efforts. Holding out his hands after forming hand seals, Nendo began calling up earth to his fingers and letting it drop repeatedly, canceling the formation so he could simply till the earth in the area and slowly expand the area to continue bringing up the more rich earth deeper down beneath the surface. ~I'm sure you can do plenty, you just did over an hour's work in an instant, I'm sure.~ Nendo praised as he looked at Mitsue's handiwork and then to the villagers that were clapping more entusiastically at the sight of what Mitsue could do.
~That wasn't exactly anything special.~ Mitsue looks over to the crowd, almost a bit warily as he peers out from beneath the hood of his cloak. He wasn't exactly fond of an audience, after all. ~They should be more amazed by what you're doing. That's harder.~ He straightens to look around the area for seeds and such.
~These people don't use chakra and earth to make things happen, Mitsue. I think everything we do will amaze them a fair bit. And explosions in the field is a little scary.~ Nendo explained before he'd kneel down to inspect the soil and feel the more heavy and dark soil. ~You try it too, Mitsue. The pillars are good but I met if you make them weaker you could till even more land than I do.~ The Toujitakumi offered while he patted the dirt from his hands and stood up once more.
Many small pillars to help churn the earth? It might work, but he can't quite focus his chakra enough to do a bunch of that at once. It would require something more…careful. Like…chakra shaping. *cough* Mitsue crouches again, making hand signs and then putting his hand on the ground once more before focusing. It takes a few moments before it starts working and he can only do small patches at a time. Really it may not be much faster than by hand at this point.
Nendo smiled a bit and kneeled down beside Mitsue to brush at the ground and poke his finger at it a few times. ~A little different.. You won't need to use a lot of effort if you do something different from up and down. Try straight across.~ Nendo suggested as he formed hand seals and began churning the earth once again. ~Straight along the ground should be easy enough for now, I can give you some lessons in something more complicated after this mission.~ Nendo stated while he began moving away from Mitsue to try getting the villagers to come join them and help things go faster. "This is much more than we expected based on the job description, could everyone that's willing help to work the ground with us so we can do more before the day's out?" Nendo requested to the people gathered around and watching their efforts.
Mitsue considers Nendo's idea about doing it lengthwise but in the end he shakes his head slightly. ~No, that would just make a long canal-like hole in the ground. It wouldn't soften it, just push a bunch out of the way to what was beneath. But that would still be packed hard.~ He continues doing little patches for now, just letting it work itself out…
Nendo smiled a bit as he listened and nodded his head a bit for the moment. Mitsue would know the ability better than he would for the moment. Maybe he'd try learning it from the younger teen soon. ~Don't wear yourself out though, if you start running low on chakra I'll take over for you.~ Nendo warned Mitsue while trying to also speak with the villagers. Eventually the villagers would indeed join in and begin using their tools to work the ground across the field from Nendo and Mitsue though they were obviously more interested in seeing what the duo were capable of doing to the ground.
Mitsue nods to Nendo a little before he redoubles his efforts with the earth beneath his hands, trying to push it to move faster and further along. He manages to increase the speed somewhat as well as how large the area he effects is, but it's still not anything magnificent. At least not to him. But then to people who don't see stuff all the time like this maybe it will be?
Nendo was beginning to expand his earth tilling over a larger area, focing on deeper earth and bringing up the darker, richer soil to the surface while watching after Mitsue and thinking for a moment on Mitsue's words as far was the canal-like hole in the ground. That could be a problem, but only in some manners. ~Mitsue, they're having problems with their water too.. do you think you could make some of those canals near sources of ground water? We can see about getting them a nice well made so they can have easier access to water for the crops and themselves too.~ Nendo commented to give Mitsue other ideas on how he could help if what he was doing currently was a strain on Mitsue.
The villagers seemed happy with whatever they were doing however, the floating earth of Nendo's hands and the small rods of Mitsue's controlled earth were earning applause and sounds of awe from the villagers, some of the smal children trying to mimic the hand seals that Mitsue was making and pouting to their parents when they didn't get the same results.
Mitsue continued with what he was doing until Nendo told him about the water issues. Well…hrm. He stops working for a moment so he can focus on sensing the ground again and underneath it. There's…some kind of oddity a little deeper, not too far away really. Maybe ten meters. Once again he makes the hand seals, then slams his land on the ground. The earth around him rips towards that water, making a furrow a good six inches deep and wide. He even manages to slant it ever so slightly so that the water will eventually flow downwards.
Mitsue hit it right on the money, and as a reward for his efforts the water came jetting free with a great rumbling before the cascade of ground water began firing into the air and raining down over just about everyone and everything. It wasn't the most pure water yet, with all of the sediment and minerals filling it, but it would be a great aid for the village and they all knew it. Grins and laughter were suddenly showing up where once sullen faces had been! Water was like gold to the farming village, and Mitsue had just made it rain for them all!
Nendo, soaked in water as he was, was smiling along with the villagers and clapping before he'd press his hands to the ground and begin forcing the earth to shift and slowly widen so that the water pressure coming through that hole was lessened. After all, the village needed irrigation, not a daily wet t-shirt contest. "Nicely done, Mitsue." Nendo praised with a chuckle in his voice. It was a good use of tremor sense and it proved a good show of judgement in the use of his earth manipulation as well. The slanted hole made the water pressure more easily managed and made expanding the hole properly all the easier so that in a short few moments, the well was widened and the villagers were already beginning to gather stones for lining the well with. If everything went this smoothly they'd be done in no time flat!
Mitsue smiled as the dig to the well worked and he quickly shifted his attention, making little tiny canals all along the rows next to where the seeds would be planted. With any luck they could make it somewhat self watering. Of course that would be something they'd have to kind of figure out on their own, but at least the base of it was there! ~Thank you. You too. Sorry you got wet.~ Mitsue was in a cloak. He don't care!
The villagers watched in awe as the pair of ninja worked to do what would take them hours at best, and days in truth. It was nothing short of amazing for people with little affinity for controlling the chakra within them. Still, they weren't all going to gawk, some were eager to put this lively new field to use and were rushing to grab their tools and dig out the holes for fresh seeds and bulbs to be laid before even another second went to waste. The children had started to join in as well, happily humming tunes while they helped their parents with the planting of the fields or working with the well as best they could.
Nendo chuckled a bit but shook his head while waving a negative hand to let the young Gansao know that it was alright. ~I've had worse than water dumped on me, at least this time it was to help people out.~ Nendo answered through their connection while looking out over the village and the fields to see the progress that had been made. The field was looking more lively with the rich earth and water now making sure it wouldn't turn to a dusty patch all over again. The best part however, was the smiling and laughing villagers that were working in the fields now that Mitsue had blessed them with the literal life-water of their livelyhoods.
Mitsue straightens after he finishes making the little run thru's and wipes a hand over his brow, some beads of sweat having appeared with all the chakra work. It wasn't manual labor but it wasn't exactly easy either. HE smiles from beneath his hood at the villagers as he makes sure his hood remains pulled up so he doesn't frighten any of them away. ~Alright. What's next?~
Nendo stroked at his jaw as he thought over what was the next best move and looked over the area for a moment with a critical eye. The buildings needed work but they were here for the fields first due to the job and the fields still had the problem of animals coming into the fields and causing issues with the crops. ~We need to put up a fence to keep the wildlife out before they need to call us in again.~ Nendo reminded while moving toward one of the villagers to ask if they had any materials for building the fencing or any ideas on another resolution to the problem.
~Oh, right…~ Mitsue looks around, trying to take in the size of the fields as he tries to think how much material they might need. Of course any guess he makes is liable to be way off since building fences is not something he normally does. He could only guess what it would take. Besides a lot of work. Hopefully the villagers would be willing to help more with this one…
Nendo would eventually return with the supplies they had for him. a roll of chicken wire fencing and some wooden posts. ~I think… we're going to need to do this a bit on our own… But if you want to try this, they have a huge hammer too.~ Nendo offered, a touch of sarcasm in his words while he set the posts down and slowly began to screw up his face in thought about how he and Mitsue could make a fence without hammering posts into the ground. Maybe Mitsue's pillars could do as good replacements..
Mitsue gives Nendo a wry look at that last comment before he looks around the fields once more. ~Hmm, this isn't going to be easy…~ He goes to one corner of the fields and considers before he makes some hand seals and stomps into the ground. Part of the ground shoots out, about a foot deep and the rough side of the posts. He kicks away the earth that's jutting out and looks down into the hole curiously.
Nendo smiled a bit when Mitsue thought of something better than two people that are anything but men of a physical sort trying to swing a hammer around. Instead, there were nice post holes dug into the ground that Nendo could press the posts into and pin a hand again. A bit of focus to place a barrier between his hand and the post, and Nendo released an explosion to force the post down into the ground by several inches. Unrolling a bit of the wire fencing, Nendo pressed the wire to the post and looked it up and down for a moment.
While the ninja were working so hard and preparing the fencing, one of the men came with a simple mallet and some metal clips to hammer the fencing to the post so that it wouldn't be able to just fall away. As long as the pair of Ninja worked on the posts being driven in, he'd follow along to help with the hammering of the clips so their fencing could be held up properly. It was the least they could do for two people that were so willing to help them with such a task in so helpful and swift of a manner.
Mitsue keeps on going, putting a post hole every five feet or so. Not too close, not too far apart, right? Well, he's not a fence builder so he's kind of guessing here, but it seems around the same distance he's seen before. He continues to make hte hand seals and stomp the ground in order to kick the pillar of earth up, then knocks it over outside of the fields.
Nendo continued planting those posts and helping with the wire fencing as they moved along the edge of the field, eventually coming to a stop just a few feet from where the first post was planted and not a moment too soon. Nendo hadn't been working physically but just the chakra used alone was enough to make the teen break a sweat and have a bit of a pant to his normal breathing. He could only imagine what kind of effort went into setting up a fence like this purely by hand. Maybe he should think about taking his mother up on more of her offers to help him with strength training so his stamina didn't suffer where it counted.
Fastest, fence, ever. They were done in no time and the villager was reaching out with a callused hand and a grin to try shaking Mitsue's hand while Nendo was already enduring a powerful shaking of his own. The other villagers had already set out from the fields, seeing that they were in good hands, some getting ladders, other hammers and nails to begin patching the windows and roofs of the houses that were nearby. It was the best way they could think of thanking the pair of Ninja; helping out and making the workload lighter on the two teens was the best they could do, some of the men just wanting to not be shown up by a couple of kids.
Mitsue blinks at the extended hand but takes it once it's offered, not wanting to seem rude. He shakes it, feeling his brain rattled a little by the…feeling…behind it. With that done his hands disappear once again beneath his cloak before he turns to look at back at the village. ~So, houses next then, right?~ he asks without looking at Nendo. He wondered if the villagers noticed that neither of them really talked to each other. It was just…silence.
Nendo would nod slightly and begin moving toward the houses but the villagers weren't going to have any of that. It was a young man, around Mitsue's size that grabbed Nendo by the shoulder first, soon followed by the man that had been helping with the fencing. "We think you've done enough for our village already, Ninjas. Leave the rest of this to us." The man would explain, a woman coming toward the boys with a basket of cheeses, a loaf of bread, and some simple nuts, it wasn't much but given the state of the village, it may just be all they could really offer to them.
Mitsue starts to follow after Nendo until he notices the others stop him. Blinking, the Gansao pauses a little behind Nendo and tilts his head slighty, watching and waiting to see what happens. If they're done with them then…well, okay. He doesn't mind that really but he wouldn't mind helping more either. ~What do you want to do?~
Nendo considered things for a moment as he tilted his head off to one side. It was interesting to think things over but after a short moment, Nendo would nod to the man and the boy. Turning about, Nendo gave Mitsue's head a bit of a ruffle through that hood and smiled down at him. ~Let's go home, Mitsue. I think they're wanting to do the rest themselves. As long as they're satisfied, I think it will be ok.~ Nendo commented through their connection before he'd start heading toward the cart and hand the thank-you basket to Mitsue for him to have the first pick of the simple foods.
With the ninjas in agreement, the villagers would begin moving off to redouble their efforts of working on their homes as others worked on the well to help build the well up. While having the help was irreplaceable, the ninjas doing everything might make the villagers feel as though they needed to depend on the village for everything.. No, people of the land were a hardy type and they'd prove it to themselves.
Mitsue ducked his head a bit at the ruffling before taking the basket from Nendo. He looked off at the villagers as they worked together, rebuilding houses, shoring up the newly developed well…it was good to see. They seemed…happy. He couldn't argue against that. Instead he turned to follow after Nendo, not even looking in the basket just yet. He'd wait until they were on their back before looking to see what was there and having a bit.
