The sunlight glistened off of the seemingly still lake, flashing light off into the distance as the sun reached its highest point, beckoning mid-day. Birds screeched in the distance, calling for a mate as they soared through the open air, unattached to life on the solid earth below. The temperature was just beginning to reach its highest point itself and Sumiko could already feel the small beads of sweat forming on her brow as she stared out at the vast amount of trash ringing the shore of the great lake. Grimacing down over it she carefully and methodically rolled up her sleeves, folding them into perfect rolls just below her elbow. She might have dressed a little too formally for this mission but it was far too late to turn back and head home for a change of clothes. Instead she simply sighed in resignation as she removed her colorful green embroidered scarf, folding it neatly and setting it down on a nearby bench along with her shoes. Finally rolling up the ends of her jeans she rolled her shoulders back and set her mind to work.
She had a whole shoreline to clean to up before the sun went down, while this wasn’t an actual deadline she had to adhere to it may as well been since she set this goal for herself and she refused to not follow through. Reaching down she picked up the tools given to her to accomplish this simple mission, a large wicker-made basket and a long metal trash picker. Her face showed no signs of worry of her ability to accomplish this task, ‘Even a small child could do this no issue’, she thought to herself as she stabbed her first piece of trash, an empty to-go container. As she continued along the beach she continued to pick up more disgusting pieces of filth that the citizens of Iwagakure had abandoned in the beautiful lake waters. Her thoughts wandered to the many different ways she could be using her time for better actions than picking up trash like a mindless zombie, she glanced down at her overflowing basket, ‘Speaking of mindless zombies, looks like it's time to dump the first basket.’, Sumiko thought to herself as she placed the metal trash collector next to her things and tied her scarf around the two handles on either side of the basket to carry it on her back with ease. She turned and began the short trek over to the Iwagakure junkyard, emptying the contents of it over another larger pile of discarded filth. Shaking her head at the sight and smell of all of the garbage she nearly ran all the way back to the lake, the wicker basket bouncing gently against her back as she ran over top building and trees before touching down beside the semi-cleaned up lake.
Cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders once more to relieve some of the tension she glared up at the sun, now an hour past high noon from the looks of it. Sumiko continued to circle her way around the great lake, finding many more disturbing items than she would thought she would have such as, old pornography magazines, damaged dolls, and so many various bottles of liquor that if she collected them all in their own pile she would have a very impressive assortment. Making another trip to the Iwagakure junkyard, as quickly as she could since the odor seeping off the piles of trash was gut-churningly awful, she was finally on her last basket. Thanks to the motivation of an early finish she had gained somewhat of a second wind as she powered through the last basketful, and thus bringing her closer to a mission close. As she dumped the final basket in the junkyard and walked back to the lake she thought of her village and how it was a shame so many good people mistreated nature as such, but as she rounded the corner and Lake Gisei came back into view a soft smile spread over her lips and brightening her face. The lake was a true beauty to behold and she couldn’t have been more proud that she was the one that restored it to its glory.