Starring:
Hige, Kaido, Michiko (as Yukari)
Date: Unknown (log received January 1, 2015)
Summary:
None given.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Shoveling The You-Know-What"
Unknown location
Prologue:
Since he got the okay for training again Hige has only taken a short break from the center before returning to it. He has a lot of lost time to make up for, in his mind. This time Konsho is working with him as they beat up on a dummy, the two working well together to attack from various sides and angles, something that would keep an enemy moving.
Kaido and Bandit come in and watches Konsho and Hige and nods, "Good, you're learning to work together, that's the essence of our clan." Bandit walks over to Konsho, "Your technique is a little shaky, but we'll work on it together ok pup?" Kaido leaves Bandit to help Konsho and says to Hige, "Have you read at least one of the books I gave you? It's time for a little quiz. I'm not expecting you to memorize it, although it helps if you do, I'm looking to see if you've understood the lessons in them."
With his cousin and team leaders arrival Hige pauses in his training, turning to look at the other Inuzuka and nin-dog. The boy smiles and nods, "Yeah, well, we've been trying. Doesn't help that I couldn't train for a while." Konsho yips an acknowledgement to Bandit before following him to work with the other nin-dog. Of course why they get to work on technique Hige gets…quizzed. He blanches at the thought, but does offer a nod, "Yeah, I read one of them but it wasn't easy. You didn't tell me there was no pictures."
Bandit takes Konsho over to a free training dummy and starts to teach him about the points on the body that nin-ken should strike when they're attacking (the crotch, butt, hamstrings, carotid artery, etc.) and how to approach each one. Bandit does it first, showing the technique then stepping back so that Konsho can have a go at the dummy. Kaido on the other hand just looks at Hige and says, "Seriously?" He hopes that Hige is only joking about that, and then shudders about how much work he's going to have to do and then says, "Alright, which book did you get through? The Book of Five Rings, or The Art Of War?"
Hige blinks…he was supposed to look at the titles? Uh oh. "Uh…I think the first one sounds familiar?" An innocent little smile follows the half-question as he tries to avoid getting into too much trouble. Konsho dutifully watches Bandit as the older dog shows him what to do. After, he mimics the attacks near perfection, for the only change behind that it takes a little more effort for him to hit the higher places. People better just watch their crotches for now I suppose. 'Like that?' He yips when he's finally hit them all.
Bandit pets the pup on the head and grins at him, "Yeah, like that, we'll work on the high ones for now since the lower ones aren't much of a problem. It's just a matter of learning to use your chakra to be able to jump higher than normal and that just comes with practice." Kaido just hangs his head and then says, "Alright… here's a simple question, who wrote The Book of Five Rings?" He's already despairing, clearly this is going to take a very long time to train his cousin.
"Some…guy?" Hige ventures with a nervous chuckle, then ohs, "A swordsman, uh…Mu…Mu…" bore what was it, "Muu…" now he's just starting to sound like a cow. At least he looks like he's trying to think of it as he starts chewing his lower lip. Everything in the book and he wants the author and title…who looks at that stuff? Konsho nods to the older dog before turning to look again at the target dummy. He can jump pretty high, but it's judging the right amount of chakra he's still getting the hang of. He has it down pat to get on Hige's head but the boy is short. The dog crouches, then jumps and ends up going over the target with a surprised yelp.
Bandit nods and gives the pup more encouragement and says, "You're doing great pup, keep it up and soon you'll be a famous nin-ken like I am!" But hopefully for better reasons than Bandit's fame (or infamy). Kaido on the other hand says flatly, "It's Musashi… What is the book about?" He is starting to wonder if the Genin even actually can read at this point.
This is where there might be a bit of surprise. "It's about technique in martial arts and sword fighting, and training, and about how you should train. And it talks about how he trained and taught." Hige seems proud of himself for getting that part done at least. See, maybe he did read it! Konsho lands, tail wagging as he yips happy agreement to Bandit. The Famous Konsho! The nin-pup launches himself at the target again, sinking his teeth into the wood area that portrays the neck of his victim.
And Kaido actually IS surprised, he actually got it right, and understood that much at least which is far more than he would have expected from the start. He rubs a temple a bit before he says, "Alright, so you understand that much at least, so… since you know THAT much, how would you apply what's in the book to your daily life?"
Hige crosses his arms over his chest, "By training harder! He said you should train harder and with more than you would have to fight with, so that you'll be ready." Okay, he's heavily paraphrasing and kind of twisting it to his own. "He also didn't say anything about reading more books."
Kaido sighs, well, he can work with this at least, Kaido says, "Yes, he did say to train harder, and more than what you would have to fight with… BUT he also said that BALANCE was the key, to not get so caught up in martial arts and swordsmanship to forgo things like art, poetry and other intellectual pursuits…" He says flatly then, "Like reading books, Musashi was more than just a samurai and a swordsman, he believed that a samurai should also have skills beyond just mastery of the sword and martial arts. Any brute can learn to wield a sword with skill or learn to kick and punch someone with strength and efficiency. He believed that to be a true warrior, you needed to be as well rounded as possible, and to that end, his school taught young samurai the arts as well as martial skills…" He looks at Hige, "You want to get stronger? You need to learn patience and to train your mind as well as your body. THAT was the lesson I wanted you to learn."
Hige blinks at Kaido, then taps his chin thoughtfully before looking back at Konsho who's still practicing. The nin-dog yips to him about the middle part of the book. Apparently Konsho read it too. "Oh yeah, that's right. That was a little more boring than the other parts so I guess I kind of forgot." He admits as he looks back at Kaido. "So…more reading." Great. "And…poetry…" Pause, "That's not like that weird stuff Ryouji does is it?" Another pause. "So if I do more reading I'll get stronger…and we can actually train?"
Kaido looks down at Hige and says, "You are training, you just won't be doing a lot of what you think is training with me. You don't need me to teach you jutsus or for me to help you develop that sort of thing. What I am trying to beat into your head is that no matter how strong, fast or skilled you get, it's useless if your strategy is: "Beat a dude until he can't get back up." Those two books I've given you are the basis of my fighting style and philosophy. They're excellent primers on tactics and strategy because the lessons they teach are, once you figure out how to apply them to being a nin, give you an edge. Read the books again, when you can tell me the underlying messages the authors were trying to convey… then we can move on to the next step, which is strategy games like Go and Shogi which are better suited to show you how to apply those lessons." He looks at Konsho, "Konsho, from this moment forwards, I'm putting you in charge of Hige, both of you have 1 week to fully read both books and be prepared to answer my questions to my satisfaction… or else you'll be playing a punishment game." Bandit hears that and freezes and goes completely white and then says to Konsho, "Oh spade, you better not screw this one up… you DON'T want to have to play his punishment games… I really really mean that… you don't…" He starts trembling all over.
Konsho looks from Kaido to the shaking Bandit before he looks back again, ears down worriedly as he yips his acknowledgement. "What about some of the Inuzuka stuff you were going to teach me…" Hige says with a frown, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares at Kaido. He doesn't respond to the rest of what the older nin says and doesn't even wonder what the 'punishment games' after Konsho might have to go through. He's got priorities!
Kaido raises an eyebrow, "What about it? You're already learning it right now from me… didn't you know that the vast majority of our clan training is about tracking and scouting? Which reminds me, I think that the Raikage had a mission that would be perfect to take care of all the things I'm trying to teach you." He muses then and then gets a very evil looking smile for just a second, before it's wiped away with his normal poker face.
"But…we fight too…" Hige's is going to get very bored very quickly if he only reads all the time. "I'll die from just reading." Because that's surely possible. But then there's that 'M' word and his attention focuses quickly. "A mission? Really?" He asks excitedly, apparently not catching the evil look. It's a mission, so it can't be bad, right? "Well lets go!" Even Konsho is excited by that prospect, enough to break that pup out of his worry over whatever punishment may lie ahead.
Kaido nods then, hiding another evil smile before he says, "Alright, I'll go talk to the Raikage and accept the mission and see if he has other Genin who need some mission experience to join us. Get your gear and meet me in an hour outside the gates of Kumo, I'll brief you there."
Mission Day 1:
Look at that Hige arrived early! The boy was beyond ready for a mission and so he went back to his apartment, did a quick change of clothes and grabbed his gear. Then he went to the gates to meet up with Kaido and whoever else his team leader finds.
A young girl appears with a rush of wind. Reizei Yukari. She's apparently the second one to arrive and regards Hige with a blink. "This is… the right spot? D rank mission with Inuzuka Kaido?" she asks, frowning a bit. She doesn't know the Inuzuka or what they would look like. Yukari is white-haired with green eyes and of an average height and weight for her 12 years. The girl wears a rather serious, and maybe impatient, expression.
Hige turns to look at the unexpected rush of wind, looking surprised at the new arrival. "Huh? Oh, yeah it is. But I think we might be early…" he trails off as he looks the girl over with a little frown. Konsho yips his greeting from the boys head, "Oh yeah. Inuzuka Hige. This is Konsho." He adds, pointing a thumb at the pup.
"Reizei Yukari," she replies with a small bow. The girl looks around anxiously in search of Kaido. "So… What do you think this mission is? My scroll said it was a D rank, so it shouldn't be too bad…" She starts to pace, unused energy making her very restless.
The scroll was accepted by Kaido without any hint or crack of a smile, however Bandit was snickering all the way to the gates before he shushes and puts on a poker face himself as they walk out and glancing towards the two Genin. Their pathetic eagerness is going to be so fun to watch when they learn exactly what it is they're going to be expected to do. Well, so is Kaido, but Kaido doesn't mind, there are lessons to be learned even doing what it is they're about to do.
He glances down at Bandit and the two nod at each other, and Kaido speaks first to Yukari, "I believe you're Reizei Yukari?" He verifies before he says, "I'm Inuzuka Kaido, and this is Bandit." Bandit raises a paw and says, "Yo!", Kaido continues, "I see the two of you have met each other? Good, that'll make this much easier…" Kaido pulls the scroll from inside his vest and says, "As you might have heard, this mission is a D-Rank, which means that we're likely not going to be fighting. We're to head to a small farming village near the base of the mountain and talk to the village head. Apparently he's got some chores for us to do that he'll explain when we get there."
Kaido turns away to hide a smile and winks at Bandit who winks back and then Kaido says, "Along the way, Hige, you and Konsho will be taking point and do a standard Inuzuka scout patrol along the path. Yukari-san, you'll back him up and I'll handle the rear. Even though there's not going to be any fighting, I want us to act as if we might be ambushed at any time." He pauses to take a breath and then says, "Any questions before we leave?" He looks at the two of them.
A D-rank mission and chores. Well maybe they will be exciting chores! Like hunting down some rabbits that are stealing food or something. Yeah, that's it. Hige listens to all that Kaido says, standing straighter when he's told to take point before nodding. "Yes itoko-san." He replies, sounding focused and actually kind of serious for the moment. As for the questions, he shakes his head. Konsho jumps down and sits next to Hige, ready to do his part of the scouting.
When Kaido and Bandit arrive, Yukari looks to the pair with a hint of wariness. But it seems they're the two that she's been waiting for. "Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you, Inuzuka-san." The girl listens to the mission details attentively, nodding a bit. "Alright… I'll be sure to assist." Tracking isn't her strongpoint, but she'll do her best! Chakra flows from her and into the air so she can detect people within 5m or so.
Kaido nods and then turns and starts to march down the path, motioning for Hige, Konsho and Yukari to precede him. Kaido and Bandit have done this so many times, it's second nature to them. This close to Kumo there's literally not going to be anything remotely interesting or dangerous, but Kaido never assumes that, and he hopes to impart that sense of 'trained paranoia' to his charges. It's the idea that even when you think you're safe, you should never assume it to be true and always be alert for an ambush or attack.
He especially wants to get Hige to understand that fighting isn't about learning and throwing the most powerful jutsus, or beating someone until they can't get up. There's always someone who'll always be stronger, better, faster and more powerful then you and the only way to defeat them is not just to train harder… but to learn from your losses and victories. Most importantly, to learn patience and curb that temper, which will get him killed someday. Sadly, he sees a lot of himself in Hige when he was his age which makes things that much more to him.
Despite all that, the three manage to reach the village without anything more interesting than a deer crossing their path that Konsho probably smells long before it comes and barks at it. Kaido then takes the lead and heads straight for the headman who is waiting for them at the center of town.
Hige takes point and along with Konsho they keep a wary eye on the path ahead of them as well as to the land around them. They watch, listen, and smell as they go to make sure that no one unexpected is around, and especially that no one is hiding. He tries to watch for any kind of paper tags too just to be extra safe. The boy almost wouldn't put it past Kaido to set something up to test them. When the deer comes near Konsho does yip a little warning, but Hige smells it shortly after and just nods and waves for them to continue once the deer crosses. Once in the village the boy falls back, feeling rather proud of himself despite doing pretty much nothing. They weren't attacked thanks to him! Konsho falls in step beside him, not jumping back up to his perch for the moment.
Nothing stands out to Yukari excepting that deer that appeared, and even then… Hige and Konsho weren't worried, so she simply followed their lead. The girl idly wonders if they'll even run into something when they reach the village, which actually answers that question. Kaido takes the lead, so Yukari steps back a bit before looking to the man who seems to be in charge, offering a small bow in greeting if introduced.
Kaido bows to the village headman and says, "I'm Inuzuka Kaido, and this is my nin-dog Bandit…" Bandit barks and turns around, not talking in case he gives the man a heart attack. Kaido continues, "With me is my cousin, Inuzuka Hige and his nin-dog Konsho and Reizei Yukari. We've been asked by Kumogakure to help you with what you need done." He smiles to himself, oh is Hige going to be SOOOO mad at him for this. He does feel a little sorry for Yukari though, she seems to at least be able to think and be a little less willing to go all out and be smart about things. But then, in war, there are always casualties and collateral damage. Kaido stops zoning out as the man speaks to the group.
The bald and heavyset man beams and preens a bit as he says, "Well now, this is wonderful! I never thought Kumo was going to send some nins our way… it's been weeks since we sent in the request! Well, the job we have for you is very simple, but it's extremely important. Our village sells the best fertilizer in all of the lands, because we breed yaks!" And indeed, dozens of yaks can be seen wandering around the village and in pens and corals (OOC: Yaks are big furry mountain beasts of burden, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yak for more info). The man continues, "We have about 30 different farms producing the fertilizer but not enough people to fulfill the demand… specifically… getting and shovelling the manure and bringing it to the processing facility. It's very tough, demanding, smelly and dangerous work. That's why we contacted Kumo! We figure you guys can handle anything so…" He turns and whistles and several villagers come out and hand the team boots, gloves, goggles, shovels and wheelbarrows and lead them to the very first farm… of thirty.
Hige is all proper and stuff, bowing to the man when he's introduced by Kaido, Konsho giving his standard yip of a greeting. That's when things go downhill. Hige's eyes seem to twitch as he looks slowly from the old man to Kaido. "This…isn't…a mission." He says through gritted teeth after being given his 'equipment' needed for the job. "This isn't what a shinobi does." Yeah he's starting to get angry, specifically at Kaido since he knows that his cousin would've known the details of the mission before hand. He doesn't even pay attention to the other genin with them, or even really if anyone is around who might overhear him.
Yukari hears what needs to be done, and only a faint grimace can be seen crossing her face. More because she knows the smell is going to be awful and she'll probably need twenty showers for it to be gone. She also feels a bit bad for Konsho and Bandit. They've got sensitive noses, so it would be worse for them (she doesn't know if Hige and Kaido have similar senses). "Thank you for the equipment," she tells the person that offered her the gloves and boots, tugging them on over her limbs.
Kaido smiles and bows to the man and says, "Of course, we'll make sure to complete the job." He puts on his gloves, boots and goggles and then says to Hige, "This IS a mission and this IS what shinobi do… especially Genin with no real experience in the field. Most missions we'll be doing are these types of things, chores, getting cats out of trees and the like." He puts his shovel in the wheelbarrow and Bandit is already having tears in his eyes as he barks at the yaks to get them to move away from their piles so that the team can pick them up.
Kaido then continues and says, "Do you really think all the Hidden Village do is fight? We're contracted by the citizens of the country to provide whatever services they may require. It's how the Village is able to function, by the money we nins bring by completing the missions, whatever they may be, for the Village. When you can show me, and more importantly, the Raikage, that you can handle these types of missions, and show the strength of character, maturity and more importantly, the patience to deal with these types of situations, maybe then we'll be able to get more challenging missions that are more to your taste." With that said, he turns and starts to shovel piles and calls back, "Let's go! We have 3 days to get all thirty farms done, time's a wasting."
That doesn't seem to calm Hige down much as Kaido might have been praying for. In fact he just makes him /more/ angry and he stops on the outskirts of the first yak patty area, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "This doesn't show anything to the Raikage except if I can use a shovel. This mission isn't a good mission, we should go back and get a real one. How will I learn anything if I'm stuck here?" He probably has a laundry list of complaints he's going to go through if no one stops him. At least Konsho is helping…mostly. The nin-pup is carefully stepping around the manure and yipping uneffectually to try and mimic Bandits moving of the yaks.
Yukari has been on a few D-rank missions like this, so it's not like she /wasn't/ expecting such a task. She wished it were a bit easier, though… Having to do ten farms a day would be… not fun. She takes up her shovel and allows her wind chakra to be stored up as she shovels some of the manure into a wheelbarrow as she follows after Bandit, Kaido, and Konsho. Quite diligent.
Kaido just smiles at Yukari and nods at her and shows her how to use chakra to pick up the piles faster, it's good training to learn how to control and increase chakra pools. Kaido completely ignores Hige as Bandit turns to Konsho and tries to show him how to bark at the yaks and get them to move. Kaido says to Hige, "I suggest you start working, or you'll never go on a mission again, I might punish you for insubordination, but the Raikage isn't quite as lenient as I am…" He's going to give the boy a chance, if he doesn't start working, manure will start flying… literally.
There's that audible teeth grinding sound again and Hige looks like he might go a little crazy. But he stops himself before he says anything else, letting the anger simmer behind his eyes as he puts on the gloves and boots in silence, then starts shoveling slowly, anger still in each and every movement he makes. Konsho continues to be his good self, nodding to bandit before yipping louder at the yaks and even nipping one gently with his teeth to finally get it moving. Scoop furry beasts.
Yukari watches the demonstration with her green eyes focused on the task at hand, nodding to the instructions and attempting to apply it. A bit of chakra to her feet and a bit of wind at her heels, and she's able to dash around while picking up manure. "This… Isn't so bad…" she comments. "If there were less farms, I'd be a bit more optimistic, though…" the young Reizei comments, tempted to try and use the Reizei's swift release. But she doesn't have it mastered, so she sticks to the wind-using.
Kaido smiles at Yukari and starts working a little faster, setting them up in a grid pattern so that they can get the first farm done as efficiently as possible. If one was smart enough, it looks like he's doing the same thing Inuzuka do when tracking. Perhaps he IS teaching skills to the two, even if it's part of such an awful chore. As the three (plus Bandit and Konsho) move from farm to farm and the day gets hotter and longer, the smell gets worse. The two Genin eventually have to wear gas masks in order to keep from gagging as they shovel the manure that's been baking in the sun.
As the day drags on Hige's anger burns away through the sheer energy consumption caused by the manual labor. Add to the fact the smell is killing his Inuzuka nose and he goes from extremely angry to nearly sick. The gas masks help some but it can't block the entire smell. As it gets hotter Hige takes his shirt off and wraps it around his head to keep sweat from getting in his eyes, then continues on the tiring pace. He doesn't say a word to anyone. Not Kaido, not Yukari, not even Konsho.
Yukari doesn't know Hige enough to think his no-speaking is typical. She is a bit worried about him, but the girl can't do much than try to stay conscious with the smell. The gas masks help, certainly, but it also means even less talking happens. She tries to do this work quickly, relying on wind to aid her movements and the grid-like fashion to help the teamwork.
Bandit and Konsho by then have had to continually run off to the river to get the smell of manure out of their noses. Kaido isn't enjoying this himself, but as each farm is cleared, he is taking over more and more of the work for the two Genin as he sees them falter. When the last farm for the day is done and the sun is starting to set. Kaido turns to his two charges and says, "Let's all head to the bathhouse and then to the restaurant… I don't know about you, but I can't take anymore of the smell of yak and manure… what do you both say?"
Yukari works as diligently as she can. As a nintaijutsuist, she has plenty of stamina to spare. But the smell is another thing entirely, and she's extremely grateful that Kaido thinks it's a good idea to take a pause. "I agree entirely with that sentiment, Inuzuka-san," she says, not taking her mask off until they get a few meters further from the farms.
Kaido motions for Bandit and Konsho to precede them and corrects Yukari, "Kaido please… my cousin's also an Inuzuka so it'll get confusing that way." The three make their way to the center of the village and to the bathhouse. Kaido turns to the girl and says, "We'll see you at the restaurant in a couple of hours, take your time and relax in the bath, we all need it after today." He then motions for Hige to join him on the men's side.
Hige remains his silent self and only nods at Kaido once they reach the bath house. The mask has been removed already and he's taking in deep gulps of fresh air, starting to look and feel better with each inhale. It doesn't take him long to wash either before he starts soaking and letting his poor abused muscles relax.
"Kaido-san, then," Yukari says with a smile and nod. The young Reizei heads to the baths, soaking in the water and using an extravagant amount of the perfumed soap in her hair and on her body. She then starts to soak, letting the water wash away the awful scent of manure. She thinks she can still smell it though… ugh…
Interlude Night 1:
After the three all take their baths and relax their tired muscles in the hot spring bath in the center of town which is conveniently upwind of the fertilizer smell. It's enough to at least get rid the feeling (for now) of smelling like the yak piles they were picking up all day and as a bonus for the Inuzuka and their nin-ken, to clear their noses. Kaido and Bandit are quiet once they've finished their baths and head to the restaurant, getting a table for the group and waiting for his charges.
Hige feels much relieved after the long song, his aching muscles not feeling quite so bad anymore. However the bath did make him even more tired now that he's relaxed. The boy washed Konsho as well so the dog didn't smell like the piles of poo he'd been around all day, and only then was he allowed to take his normal place atop the boys head. Once it was all done and Hige was dressed he went to meet with the others at the restaurant, hands in his pockets and tired eyes on the ground as he enters and looks for his group. Well, there's Kaido. Some of his previous annoyance tries to crop up but it's battered down by his fatigue and in the end he just goes and sits down heavily, silently staring at the table. Konsho at least offers a yip of greeting, his fur sticking oun find?" That's his only question. He's fairly fluent in poo flinging by now.
Being a Reizei, Yukari ends up ordering at least one of everything as well, and then some. She starts to eat, packing in the calories she burned that day. She may not have used anything like her swift release, but she /had/ sped around for most of the day, and she was hungry. She lets out a sigh of contentment when she finishes her meal(s), placing her chopsticks neatly to the side so they can talk. "Hmm… Well, I can't say I've been on a worse mission…" she muses after hearing Hige.
Kaido and Bandit order the most out of all of them (since they ended up doing most of the work after the two started faltering late in the day). He looks first to Hige and considers the boy for a long moment after they've all eaten before he replies to, "Well, my question is, what did you learn from today's activities? There's several lessons that I inbedded in what we did today that will actually help you later on when we actually take on more challenging missions." He pauses and raises an eyebrow, "I don't pick missions without a reason, and I picked this one because if you can handle this and keep your temper and actually think and learn, then everything else should start to fall into place." He spreads his hands then and waits for the response from both.
"I learned that it's boring and tiring and stinky and makes me want to throw up," Hige mutters, resting his hand in a palm, elbow on the table as he digs through his food with chopsticks. As hungry as he is he doesn't eat super fast but instead takes his time, giving tidbits to Konsho as he goes along. Really it looks like the memory of the smell is haunting him to cause him to eat so slow. "And it takes a lot of energy to shovel dig all day."
Yukari sips some tea now that she's done with her food, thinking over what she had learned. "Hmm… Well, I learned that if you work in a semi-organized manner, it's a bit faster. And dividing the sections so we could all have something to work on was effective, I thought… I think tomorrow I'll need to be careful using my chakra. I ran out too quickly and burned out before the day was over." She shrugs a bit, unsure what else to add, and just continues to relax.
Kaido smiles happily at Yukari and says, "You know… I think you might be worth training after all, you actually think about what you did and you learned something very useful. Yes, conservation of chakra is key, especially in a fight, if you run out, you're going to die." He then looks at Hige and says, "Looks like you still don't get it, well, we have two more days, so maybe at the end you'll be able to figure it all out and if not, there's plenty more missions like this on the board we can do until you do." With that, he orders himself some tea and then says, "Well, it's getting late, and we have to start early tomorrow at the crack of dawn, so I suggest once you're done eating and relaxing that you go to your rooms and get some sleep, you'll need it. I'll meet you both at the center of town, and I'll be making sure you're there if you're late."
Hige blinks at Kaido when he mentions /more/ missions like this, then frowns and continues eating. He finishes in silence before standing, "I'll see you tomorrow." He mutters to the other two before walking out and back to his room without a word, Konsho following along.
Yukari looks a tad embarrassed at the praise, her white hair falling to shield her face temporarily while she sips her tea. Sadly, the cup is empty, and she might seem bit stupid at the action. Eventually they're dismissed, so she stands and offers a bow before departing. "Have a nice night Kaido-san. Bandit-san. Hige-san…" Her voice trails off as the boy heads off to bed. A brief glance back to Kaido and she says quietly, "Is he always like that?" If not, there must be something wrong, right? With that, she departs for her bed.
Mission Day 2:
It's literally the crack of dawn and Kaido and Bandit are waiting in the center of town, already dressed for more shovelling yak butter for fun and profit (and training no less). If the two haven't arrived by the time the sun appears over the horizon, he goes and literally rousts them out of bed and barks at them (well, he yells, Bandit barks) until they're dressed and ready. The mayor and town representatives are there already and look all puffed up and important as they shake the Kumo nins hands and tell them what a wonderful job they're doing.
The only problem? There was a huge thunderstorm that blew through the night and all the fields have been almost flooded by it. There's good news and bad news and ugly news to that. The good news is, because of the storm, all the yaks are inside the barns and corrals, meaning that there won't be any in the fields adding to what is already there which should make it take less time. The bad news is, is that most of the piles are now super gooey and almost liquid, which adds to the smell and the grossness of the job. The ugly news is, thanks to all the water, there's no real way to tell where the piles are without searching them for them, different skills will be needed to deal with these 'challenges' and it couldn't have suited Kaido and Bandit more for the lessons they're trying to teach.
When all the gladhandling and diplomacy and butt kissing is done, Kaido turns and looks at his charges and says, "Ok, we're going to do the next 10 farms, this time we're going to do it a little differently… As you can see… It's going to be much more messy, much more smelly and unfun work than yesterday… And we're going to be each doing a farm on our own. The first one we'll do together so that I can show you the technique I want you to use and practice while you work on your own." He leads them to the first farm and says, "Ok… what I am going to teach you, is very basic, but it is one of the main skills you need to have if you ever want to progress from Genin to a Chuunin… that's the skill of water walking. It'll serve you well, especially here in this morass." He lifts up a boot and concentrates some chakra on the soles of it and says, "Here, what you need to do is put some chakra on the bottoms of your feet and make it so that it sticks to the surface of the water without falling in. It'll take some practice… but I think you both have quite a lot of incentive to learn how to do it, some of those pools look really deep and there's no telling how much manure is in them."
As if the previous days mess wasn't bad enough. Hige and Konsho arrive ready to go just as the sun peaks out, arriving right on time. They both look well rested if not exactly pleased to be up so early. Hige's hair is even sticking to one side of his head, the side he obviously slept on. He doesn't seem to have noticed. Again he's silent as Kaido plays nice with the people in the town, his nose wrinkling when he catches the sent of manure even earlier than the day before. He's got his mask ready and may need a second one just to help cover the scent before long. Once they arrive at the first farm Hige listens to Kaido, frowning a bit when he says they're going to split up…but at the same time he's curious for this water walking technique. The Inuzuka boy looks from Kaido to the water, then closes his eyes as he tries to focus the chakra to the bottom of his feet. Okay, so keep it there, right? He takes a step towards one of the smaller water puddles - and sinks right in, manure filled water coming up to his ankle and causing him to jump back with a loud string of curses. Hey, he said something!
Yukari narrows her eyes as she's forced to wake up at the crack of dawn. While Kaido and Bandit didn't need to get her up, she was still a bit tired from yesterday and is obviously unhappy with the new schedule… And so it begins. She has all her gear in order, and the girl looks ready to go, if not a bit tired. A few yawns escape her, but her mouth quickly shuts as the foul stench enters her mouth and permeates her nose. Ugh… "Water-walking…" she echoes. She had experience with it once. It hadn't gone very well on the mission, but she had practiced since then. The girl watches Hige attempt and then tries herself, floating just a bit. About an inch deep into the water, so not completely out, but better…
Kaido removes his gas mask, letting the stench fill his nostrils, Bandit and him have had experience thanks to Kaido being a medic-nin that specializes in poisons and antidotes in having cast iron stomachs. He demonstrates the technique again for Hige and then says, "Ok, since we can't tell where the piles are due to the water, we're going to have use whatever special senses we have. Hige, you'll have to use Konsho… it'll be good practice for you and him to identify where the stronger smells of the fresh piles are from the normal manure smell that permeates the area." Bandit steps up to Konsho and says, "I'll help you with that until you're good with the technique." Kaido nods, "There will be times when that'll be useful, being able to pick out someone who's covered their scent to throw us Inuzuka off." Kaido then turns to Yukari, "You'll have to use whatever chakra senses you have, the fresh manure will give off a bit of a glow if it's in the puddle, which will help you identify where they are." He divides the first farm into a triangle grid and says, "Once we're done this farm and you both have the technique down, we'll divide up the other nine into 3 each and work them seperately and then when we're done, we'll meet up in the center of town and have a longer bath and huge meal after and talk about things." With that he starts working, pausing in his job every so often to help Hige or Yukari with water walking and/or sensing the piles.
True to form, Konsho has no problem with the water walking, the pup picking it up almost instantly. Hige grumbles at the dog as he tries again and still fails, then goes about doing the smart thing and picking up the manure from far enough away that he doesn't have to step in anything. It seemed like a good idea at the start but when some of the liquidy slop drips off and splashes back into the water it splatters boy and dog with water. This is made worse when Konsho shakes himself, growling and muttering. As they go on Konsho quickly learns to differentiate the smells of the area and starts pointing Hige directly at the actual piles instead of the surrounding area. The boy has started to mutter under his breath, no doubt cursing Kaido in some way or another.
Yukari makes a bit of a face. They have to do three fields by themselves? Hopefully she has enough chakra to last until then. Probably not, but… The girl sighs and starts to shovel the manure, thinking up ways to use chakra to find the piles. For now she's mostly following Konsho and Bandit's pointings as she figures out how to become more attune to chakra.
All five of them will likely need a hose down before they even step foot into the bathhouse with how much yak butter splatters, mixed with the mud and rainwater. Even Kaido isn't immune to it and he's working just as hard, if not harder. He says to Hige, "It's easier if you picture the water like a balloon and your feet as light as they can be, you'll find it works a lot better… also try the grid pattern in your sector like I showed you yesterday, you'll get it done quicker." He then moves over to give Yukari some help as well, loaning her Bandit for the duration to help her conserve chakra since he can use his own nose to find the piles in his section without Bandit.
Kaido sure makes it /sound/ easy, but as Hige continues to work and also tries to focus his chakra down things just don't go well. First he fails completely again, then he uses too much chakra and the water splashes up in different directions, showering anybody too close in some fecal matter. Stupid chakra. He just wants to get this backhoe thing /done/. The boy and Konsho at least make an effectual team when it comes to finding the sunken poo and they work quickly, even if Hige's legs are going to be stained by the end of the day…
Yukari is grateful for Bandit's assistance, and is also glad that she's on the opposite side of the fields now that she doesn't have to rely on Konsho. Her water-walking skills, at least, are better than her tracking skills. Now if you could just put Hige and Yukari together, it would work out fine.
It would be great if there were a way to combine the two Genin together, but Kaido can only work with what he has and so he gives as much advice as he can to both Hige and Yukari and once the first farm is finished and it's now roughly 3 hours later. He turns to Hige and says, "I'll take the first, fourth, and seventh farms in this row. Hige, you take the second, fifth and eighth farms. Yukari, you have the third, sixth and last farm. As I finish a farm, I'll come over to check on each of you and see how you're doing and maybe help you out a bit if you're really struggling, but we need to get this entire row of farms done before we can bathe, eat and sleep tonight. Then we have the last row tomorrow and I think it'll be a breeze if we get through today, they're all smaller than the others." With the assignments given, he turns to head to the next farm in the row, leaving the other two to their own devices, trusting them to do the job and not slack off.
Hige lets out a sigh of relief once they're done with the first farm. But it's only just beginning. With that done and their new assignments handed out Hige looks down to Konsho and points a thumb to the next farm. The dog starts running off to find piles while Hige trails behind a little slower. Again he says nothing and doesn't even look at the other two as he goes.
Yukari lets out a relieved sigh as the first field is done. Then she realizes that it's /only/ the first farm. Yeah, her and Hige are having pretty similar reactions here… The girl eyes where the next farm would be and starts to trudge over that way, moving at a moderate pace and trying not to wear herself out. And then she begins with that water walking and that trying to sense where the piles of manure were at. It was tougher without Bandit's assistance, but at least she was finding them!
The day wears on as the three work their assigned farms, these farms are big, but due to the rain, luckily there isn't all that much yak piles, or as much as there were yesterday, it's just hard to find due to the huge puddles and washed out fields.
Just his luck, the boy arrives at his next farm to find that it's even more flooded than the last one. Hige grumbles to himself as Konsho begins walking across the water and sniffing out the piles. Hige puts the edge of his shovel in the ground before the flooding, leaning against it and closing his eyes as he tries to focus his chakra. Bottom of the feet, seperating between he and the water, a balloon on the water. When he opens his eyes again he's focused and as he steps out onto the water he doesn't sink. Another timid step and he still remains above the water. A small smile behind the mask as he walks slowly after Konsho, making sure to focus with each step so he doesn't sink. Konsho notices his success and yips at him happily, wagging his tail.
Oh, apparently Bandit is helping Yukari. She didn't expect him to follow her! She had thought he would be with Kaido after that first farm. Regardless, the help is great, and she's able to get her job done a bit quicker than if she were on her own. The girl is about half-way done with her field by this point, and adding a bit of wind now that it's the final stretch of the first farm she has to do on her own.
Kaido gets done before everyone else, having long since mastered all the skills necessary to complete the task at hand and checks on Yukari first, since she's likely ok and probably only needs just a few pointers. He helps her as much as she needs and then heads over to where Hige is, and is pleasantly surprised to see that he's been able to keep up somewhat with the rest and goes to see and help him if he needs it.
By the time Kaido has finished his own and checked on Yukari, Hige blazes through his first solo farm. By the time he's done he's tired however, focusing and using the chakra to water walk does not treat the boy well what with his ineptitude with chakra to begin with. When he's out of the water pools he sits with a soft huff on an area covered sparsely with wet grass. Konsho comes up next to him and yips a compliment. "Thanks Konsho. Just give me a couple of minutes and we'll go do the next one. Better get it done before our pain in the butt cousin decides to check on us. I doubt he'll be happy if he finds us resting."
Yukari doesn't need much help, at least. She's gotten most of it done and is just finishing with the last manure pile. She has a decent amount of chakra left, so she /might/ be able to do the next two on her own. Definitely this next one. Not so sure on the second… "Alright… Bandit-san, let's go look at the next farm," she says once Kaido leaves and all the manure has been shoveled there. She jogs to the next farm, dreading what it might look like…
Once the two have gotten their farms done, Kaido has them move on to their next ones. If he saw Hige resting, he doesn't say anything about it, after all, water walking is hard on the body even at the best of times and heavy manual labour doesn't help matters. However, what it DOES do, is help teach chakra control and build up the body to be able to hold more chakra.
Hige stands when Konsho warms him of the impending Kaido and he looks after the older Inuzuka, frowning at him and - surprise surprise - not saying anything. When he's instructed onwards the boy only nods and moves on. This one isn't as swamped as the last and so he decides to stay away from the pools as much as possible and only water walk when he has to reach something that's too far in. Again he and Konsho work methodically, doing well despite his complaining although his muscles are again aaching. Eventually as the heat and moisture start to make the air hot and humid he again ties his shirt around his head to keep the sweat out of his eyes.
Yukari relies on Bandit for the next farm, occasionally attempting to use chakra to find the manure, but often failing. Fortunately she isn't getting /horribly/ soaked because her water-walking skills are actually decent enough and holding up. She works silently for the most part, sometimes falling behind and getting forced to use her wind chakra to catch up.
These farms aren't quite as bad as the first, because of the sun starting to dry out the huge puddles, it's easier to see and find the yak piles and there aren't quite as many. Kaido again finishes before everyone else and comes over to see what help they might need.
The smell is starting to get to Hige again and he's starting to look a tad pale, but he continues working, promising with every piece of dung that he'll find some way to pay Kaido back for this all. Again he finishes in good time, the lack of having to water walk so much helping out though now he's just starting to get down right fatigued again. So much poo…so much…
At this point, Yukari's using her hitai-ate /and/ the gas mask to block out the smell. With the poo in sight, it's easier to try and send her senses out. A bit easier to confirm what's what and where. The girl continues to shovel, and as the water dries, she doesn't have to use so much chakra and can use a bit more speed as she moves along in that grid pattern.
Kaido's not as tired as the other two, but the day's labours are starting to wear on him as he waits for the two to finish up and then says, "Ok, these are the last 3 farms, they happen to be the biggest, but they also have the least amount of manure to collect. Get it done and then get yourself to the center of town to hose down before we all jump in the hot springs bath and then get fed. You shouldn't need me to look over your shoulder this time, so I'll see you when you're all done. Tomorrow should be a cake walk compared to this, all small farms and very few yaks so if we start at dawn, we can be done by noon, get cleaned up, and then be home in Kumo for dinner." With that, he turns and leaves them to it, heading to his last farm for the day.
The last one of the day, thank the shinobi gods or whoever the hell else is watching over them. Hige goes to the last farm and looks it over, sighing softly as he sees the size of it. "Alright Konsho, let's get this over with before I yak all over the place." The pair goes to work, moving quickly between piles as he starts again going in the grid pattern from one end.
Yukari is more than happy to hear it's the last of the farms. She actually gains a bit of energy, too! The girl uses the last bits of her chakra to get most of the farm cleared away after Bandit finds the manure, moving double-time and tapping just a bit into her Blur.
These farms are definitely massive and take much more time having to search out the yak piles, but there's not very many, it just takes time walking the grid to find them then actually picking them up. It's also good for the two Genin as they don't need to use as much energy and can relax more. The sun is starting to descend now, and they have a few good hours of daylight left with which to work. A good hard concerted effort shovelling manure, and they'll be done and able to get cleaned off and fed.
Once Hige realizes there really isn't as much manure at this he sends Konsho ahead to start scouting the next heaping pile of…poo…while he works on cleaning up the current one. This way they start moving a lot faster since Hige can just move from one pile to the next. He even starts running between the ones that are further apart just so he can speed up the process. But it still takes time, and energy, and although it's easier for the whole manual labor part it's still a pain. But in the end he finishes and, after dropping off his 'gear' sans mask, his heads towards the town center. Once he gets close he finally removes the mask, figuring he's away from the farms now so it should be good. However with all the stink that's on his clothing that's been baking in the sun all day it hits his Inuzuka senses with a flurry and he finds himself off the side of the town center in a bush, puking his guts out.
Yukari finishes in record time thanks to her clan's abilities, and just as quickly zooms out of there with Bandit in tow, making sure the equipment and like is dropped off before jumping into some semblance of a shower. Unfortunately, the place they're staying at would rather not have their place stink to high heaven, so she has to take a sort-of shower, which basically means a lot of buckets of soapy water thrown on her (and Bandit, if he's kept up and is around).
Interlude Night 2:
Kaido is waiting for the two of them in the center of town, hosing himself off, letting the stink and manure drip off into the trap set up for it underneath the shower area. He looks over at the two of them who are obviously exhausted and says as the sun sets, "Ok… get hosed off and then we'll take as long as we want in the hot spring and then eat… I'm also making the command decision that we will sleep in an extra couple of hours tomorrow morning."
Oh great it figures the others would see Hige's lovely puking adventure. The boy gives a thumbs up over his shoulder before retching some more. Konsho sits nearby watching his companion with a worried tilt of the head. After another few moments Hige straightens up and goes to hose off as well, looking even worse than before and remaining just as silent as always. Extra sleep sure sounds good, so does getting all of the stench off.
Yukari is a bit damp from those buckets earlier, and she rinses off a bit with whatever it is Kaido's using. "I approve of this decision, Kaido-san," she says, squeezing some of the water from her hair and clothes. Her hair, normally pure white, is currently tinted brown from the muddy water and manure. Gross!!! She'll be glad to take a dip in the hot springs. And she totally does, using that scented soap and oil that the people so nicely provided for her. And it gets rid of the scent that much quicker, which makes the Reizei a happy one.
Kaido takes Hige into the bathhouse, giving him some medicine he's personally made that helps with nausea (actually it's an antidote for one of his poisons, but it works just the same) and the two (plus Bandit and Konsho) collapse into the hot water, letting themselves soak for an hour or so and burn out the aches and pains of the day.
Hige takes the medicine without question at this point since Kaido says it'll help. He doesn't have any reason to distrust his cousin on such matters and every reason to try it. When it starts to settle his stomach it's just one less thing to worry about. Once they're rinsed off Hige scrubs himself clean, doing the same for Konsho who doesn't seem to mind the bath. The nin-pup doesn't want to smell bad all night either. And finally they make it to the nice hot soaking pool and the boy sinks up to his nose in it, letting the heat sooth his poor aching body. He's going to sleep for a year when they get home.
Yukari is so relaxed in the springs that she almost falls asleep on her side. Fortunately there's an attendant that sometimes checks on you, if you ask nicely, and she shook the Reizei awake. Yukari manages to mumble a thanks and then ends up stumbling and crashing in her bed after getting changed, likely missing dinner completely if someone doesn't wake her up again!
Kaido did check in on Yukari after motioning Hige to meet him in the restaurant. Seeing her asleep and pretty much needing to be awakened for dinner, he decides to just let her sleep. Before he heads to the restaurant, he talks to the mayor and village representatives to let them know that they are going to start later tomorrow. With that done, he looks and feels just as weary as Hige and Yukari are as he steps into the restaurant, just wanting to eat enough to fill his and Bandit's belly before passing out himself.
Hige has already ordered and partially finished his meal by the time Kaido has arrived. He eats just as much as the night before now that his stomach is settled. When Yukari doesn't join them the boy gives Kaido a questioning look but doesn't ask. Instead after he finishes his meal he has the restaurant pack a small container of rice and noodles that will easily last through the night and he takes it with him. Before he goes to his room he stops at Yukari's door and puts the food just outside her door, pausing as he stands to look down at it. Why did he bring her food? He must be getting soft or something. Oh well, if she wakes up starving in the middle of the night she'll have something at least. With that the boy goes back to his own room with Konsho and passes out as soon as he lays down.
A grumbling stomach results in Yukari waking in the middle of the night. She stumbles up and out of her room, only to blink and see the food Hige left her! She gives a silent thanks to the gods and digs in, polishing off the entirety of the meal before returning to her bed and passing out again.
Mission Day 3:
True to his word, Kaido and Bandit let the group sleep in for a couple extra hours before knocking on their doors and asking them to be ready and in the village center in 15 minutes. When they finally do arrive, It's clear the Chuunin has already talked to the mayor and village representatives. Kaido gives them a cheery smile and says, "Ok, I've got good news, the village is really happy with the work we've done and all the manure we've gotten, and so, the last 10 farms are really small and aren't relly main producers of yak manure that we should be done in a couple of hours at best. There's just one little hitch…" Kaido says this apologetically as he looks at Hige and Yukari, "The farms are up against the mountain and the terrain is… challenging." he isn't going to try to explain, he'll just let it speak for itself.
With that said, he turns to start walking to the first farm and says, "We'll follow the same thing as yesterday, we'll do the first farm together, then I'll do the the first three, Hige will do the next three and Yukari will do the last three. When we're done, we get hosed off, get our stuff and get our butts back to Kumo for some well deserved rest. I'll also treat you all to steak." He nods and leads them to the very first farm.
The farm obviously is a family farm, and is not even a tenth of the size of other ones the group were working on the last two days. There are only one or two yaks visible on the farm and there are very few manure piles around. The terrain… as promised, is extremely challenging, the farm is made up of pastures that are broken up with steep hills that are hard to climb and it's going to require different skills to be able to finish. Kaido raises an ayebrow and says, "Ok… we're going to need to use different skills here, I'm going to teach you how to tree walk, using those hills as an example. It'll help you both manage to climb them without falling and hurting yourself, especially with the wheelbarrows." He demonstrates for the group and says, "It's just like water walking, instead of trying to use your chakra to stick to water, you're using it to stick to the ground at an angle you normally couldn't." He prepares to help the two figure out how to do it.
A few hours rest felt like some kind of blessing. A whole day would've been better though and when Kaido knocks on his door the boy groans and rolls over, contemplating going back to sleep. Luckily Konsho is watching him and comes up to yip loudly in his ear a few times. "Fine, fine, I'm getting up," he mutters as he throws his blanket off and goes about getting ready. When he reaches the town center he's yawning, but at least it looks like he won't have to play nice with the locals today since Kaido did it already. He clasps his hands behind his head as he listens to Kaido's instructions on what they're doing today, grinning at the mention of steak. Heck, he'll take it. Better than not getting it and still having to do all the stupid work. By the time they arrive on the farms Hige has his mask ready though, thanks to the lack of humidity and manure piles in general he doesn't really need it. Good, he doesn't need to lose his dinner again. The boy looks over to Kaido as the elder Inuzuka begins explaining what they'll be doing and he nods a bit. Luckily he's already had a little bit 'o tree walking practice. But it's still shaky so why not get a little more?
Yukari is fully rested after completely zonking out last night. The girl might yawn a bit as the last of her sleepiness leaves her body with the trek to the last remaining farms. "Steak?" she echoes, perking up at the mention of good food. The girl had a big breakfast, but that doesn't stop her stomach from making a small noise in anticipation. And then she see what they have to do… Well, at least she's also familiar with tree walking. It was easier than water walking, at least! She manages to climb up the side of the hill with more ease than she had water walking. "Well, at least there's not too much…" she says, tying her hitai-ate around her mouth to block the smell. It was faint, but… Still there.
Kaido makes sure the two of them are good with tree walking and they get the first farm done in about half an hour. Kaido then stretches and then nods and looks down at Bandit, who looks back up and grins, "Ok, it's time for a little fun, you've both been really good about doing all this without complaint, so…" He cracks his neck and says, "We're going to have a race between the two of you, whoever finishes their assigned farms the fastest, gets a prize when we're back in Kumo. The prize will consist of your choice of a) Help with developing a new jutsu, b) Training to learn how mix and use ONE of my secret poisons and antidotes, or c) A personal commendation by me to the Raikage, putting you in the forefront of his mind. The winner will be the one who arrives at the center of the village having stored all their equipment and touches the fountain where we hose off." He looks to both, "What do you say?"
Hige only slips once and he wasn't that far up to begin with so no injury done except to his beaten and battered pride. Once the first farm is done and they gather back up again Hige blinks at Kaido, then looks to Yukari. Hey, she's got that speed thing on her side, no fair! Of course like everything else he doesn't say anything, and it's not that he hasn't wanted to complain, but he also takes Kaido's threat of reporting him to the Raikage seriously. He is pretty sure the older Inuzuka would do it and he'd rather avoid that. Still, if they're all rushing to finish first that means they'll get done that much faster and can be back in Kuno that much earlier. The boy nods, an agreeable yip coming from Konsho as well.
Yukari blinks and peers at Kaido when he mentions the competition. A prize, huh? None of them sound very useful, except perhaps the first. Yes, that first would be quite fun o have… She's not into poison, though if it were some other nin, maybe Kaido would have had better luck? "Alright, Kaido-san." A look to Konsho and Hige, and Yukari holds out her fist for a fist bump. Kumo-style best wishes.
Kaido and Bandit head off to do their farms, they'll be done long before the two to await the winners. He does wait for them to get in front of their first farms before he calls out along the street, "ON YOUR MARKS! … GET SET! … … GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" With that, he starts his first farm. Hige's first farm is fairly easy, a bit bigger than the one they all worked together on with only one yak, however the hills are still pretty muddy and will be very hard to climb, even with tree walking skills. Yukari's farm on the other hand, has more then 4 yaks and the majority of the manure is slightly up the mountain where the only place they could put the pastures.
Hige goes to the first of the farms he's assigned to, sticking the end of his shovel in the ground while he waits for Yukari to get ready. Once they're both in position he focuses on the job at hand. Konsho gives a yip once Kaido sets them off and together they move forward, the nin-dog sniffs out the first pile and Hige makes his way too it, slipping a little in the mud before he regains his footing and focuses more chakra into his feet to compensate. It's like tree walking and water walking at the same furrow time. Once his shovel is full he takes it to first the smaller wheelbarrow before continuing along to get the other few yak patties. Once he's done he takes his stuff and runs off to his next farm while Konsho keeps pace next to him."
Yukari eyes what she has to do and wonders just how the heck they managed to get all the manure piled in at one spot when it's at the highest plateau possible. She hmms as she considers, walking all the way up and then a bit above as she thinks. Okay, not too bad, right? It's all sort of packed together in a clump right now, so maybe a good push will be able to get it to tumble onto the main path. The cart isn't directly below, so… With a few handseals, she focuses her chakra so that a lot of wind starts to move the pile of manure that's in front of her, the Reizei hoping to set of a sort of snowball effect. Once it's rolling down, she dashes off to slow its descent so it doesn't fly completely off its path. Then off to the next farm!
Hige's next farm is a little more challenging than the previous one, the manure has dried overnight to being stuck in the ground, so that to get it, he has to actually chip at it until it comes apart. The job is a lot more messy and harder labour than it has been before.
Yukari's farm… well, there's a reason these aren't exactly main producers of the fertilizer, the fence is in horrible shape and the yaks have gotten out and the farmers will need her help to get them back in, let alone her help in pooper scooping.
Oh great dried up masses of poo, this isn't going to be fun. Not only are they going to be harder to dig out of the ground but it's going to be harder to smell too. Okay, normally that would be true but it's not so much a problem for Hige and Konsho. They start in, the boy raising the shovel high over his head to slam it into the ground next to a dry pile, digging into the earth enough so that with a grunt of effort and a foot to slam the shovel further in he gets the pile out. What a pain. While he takes that poop away Konsho comes up with a brilliant idea and pees on the next pile! However it's still hard by the time Hige gets there and the boy sighs, "That's not going to work Konsho. Not enough time." A soft yip of 'sorry' from the pup follows and Hige again works on the dirt around the pile to get it all. It takes longer but he finally finishes, again using his shirt as a sweatband now that things are a little rougher and the day is warming up. So much exertion! Well, on to the next.
Yukari blinks at the state of the next farm. Should she help the people or should she just work on getting all the manure down to the cart? Well, she can try to do two birds with one stone. "I'll get the yaks back if you work on fixing the fence," she tells the farmers. Then, She taps into her swift release and starts moving around, quickly to send zaps of electricity to get the different yaks rounded up into the compound. While she moves, she shovels the manure into the carts. It's tough work, and she's wasted a lot of energy on it. But, she is at least getting a lot done.
The last farms for both Hige and Yukari are doozies, Hige's is down the mountain, where the road drops off sharply and in a valley where the farm is a bigger than the two he's just finished. There's also a few more yaks who are acting quite territorial and will need to be handled carefully to be able to finish up.
Yukari's is the worst of the lot. Due to the rains, it's mostly swampland, with sinkholes a plenty and the yaks are extremely aggressive, chasing anyone who comes near them and their droppings. Who will finish first and make it back to Kaido?
By the time Hige reaches the last farm he's breathing a bit heavily, blinking in surprise when he sees where it is. Plus he can smell it, the agressiveness of the animals permeates the air and he knows it's going to be fun. Focusing he starts down the mountain side into the valley, running down until he's closer before pushing off and landing in the middle of the farm and the animals. When the first of them focuses on the boy he just smirks, then watches as it runs towards him before jumping aside and…scooping! Yep, it was standing over some poo. With the cart and wheelbarrow both back up the cliff he focuses on getting it all into one pile. Konsho yips, distracting some of the yaks while the boy uses his speed to get around and pile everything up next to the cliff wall. It's not easy work and by the time the pile is ready Hige is about to fall over from exhaustion. And it's not even done! It takes three trips up and down the mountain side just to get the manure into the tunnel wheelbarrow, and from there to get it to the cart. He has no choice but to break, exhausted, and leans against a tree. He's done, he just needs to get back. But curiosity has gotten him too. "Go check on her." He tells Konsho and the dog yips before starting off to see just how Yukari is doing.
Yukari already has her Blur going, and so she's not going to turn it down now. She remembers something taught to her… Something that would drain these yak's energy. The girl takes a breath as she makes sure that her chakra is in her feet for some water walking and darts into the fray. Each yak is promptly struck with a hand, draining their energy thanks to the electricity that courses through their body. The fact that they charge right at the Reizei is actually a good thing because it means she doesn't have to work as hard to get them to come closer!
Once the yak's are all exhausted, Yukari moves to clean up the manure, remembering where it all is thanks to the guarding-yaks that were oddly possessive. "Ugh… I never want to do /this/ job again…" she mutters, now mud-splattered and stinking because of her speed. If it weren't for her Blur, she'd probably collapse. The last of her energy is spent going to the meeting place.
Epilogue:
Kaido is waiting for the two at the fountain, long since having finished, the whole entire town is also waiting for them as Hige manages to touch the fountain a fraction of a second before Yukari. The town cheers then, crying out, "HIP HIP HOORAY! THREE CHEERS FOR THE NINS FROM KUMO!" The mayor and town representatives (once the two have hosed off) get their hands shaken and backs slapped and congratulated for the great work they did. Kaido and Bandit just stand back to let the two have their moment, they earned it after THIS mission. He waits for all the cheering and congratulating to finish before he says, "Ok, baths and packing for us, then it's off back home to Kumo where after I submit the paperwork to the Raikage, we will head to the restaurant for STEAK!"
Once Konsho reports on Yukari's status that quickly put their stuff away before going as fast as they can back to the city. He knows it's going to be close based on what Konsho saw, but he might just be able to get ahead. And it's a photo finish but he sneaks it in, grinning as he touches the fountain before using it to prop himself up. Okay, now he's exhausted. Luckily the hosing doesn't take much energy and though he plays nice with the locals it would be obvious to the other two that he's still not happy. Then again he's also not as pissed off as he has been either. There is something to say for having done something for others who can't do it themselves…even if they are paying you for it. He does feel, perhaps, a bit like he's done a good thing. Just don't tell him that. At the mention of steak and going home Hige nods to Kaido before he and Konsho make their way to the baths to clean up and pack up.
Yukari can't do much but grin. She's happy that they were able to complete the mission, and she tried her best! That's all that mattered. And now it was time to go home. Her blur disappears and she groans when her system basically says 'nope, no more moving'. Well, she can at least wobble to the baths and relax! zzzzzzzzzzz.
