Mission name: House Building
Mission rank: D
Objective: Help with building a house
Location: Konoha
Reward: 150 ryo
Mission Description: Some houses were destroyed for various reasons as a result of shinobi influence, you are to help rebuild or build anew a house for the victims
Mission Details: You are required to help with the building of a brand new house, or the rebuilding of the house. You may repeat this mission as the construction may not be fully completed in a single day.

Yoshihiro tilted his head sideways a tad, 'that didn't seem so bad', he thought to himself as he stood in front of the address he had been given by one of the Jonin above him. The modest looking house was a quaint little thing, built by brick and mortar with the traditional sloping roof that was common throughout Konoha. It was the morning hours still, plenty of sunlight for hard work to be done- he could already feel his muscles aching. Rebuilding a damaged home didn't seem like the kind of work that a Genin should be doing, but it was preferable to not having any mission handed to him at all. He would just try and make it through the day, do a good job for whoever put in the request for the extra pair of hands.

Still, wasn't he meant to meet someone else here? The request paper had specifially asked for two Genin to double the speed of the task, but the teen couldn't see anything in either direction of the street. His cheeks puffed out a tad in a huff as he thought this whole whole affair through. Why did he need to have a partner? A partner didn't get him through the Ninja Academy, that was hard work and self-reliance! He would admit, he was a tad steamed about the whole idea, the only real saving grace was that it would make this task go by all the quicker.

Acutely irked eyebrows slanted down at nobody in particular, save for that invisible quarry that he felt was watching him in times like this. He adjusted the headband around his waist, using it as a belt, before folding his arms as he stood there in front of the house he had been assigned to. He could vaguely heard the sounds of tired and weary fingers slowly sliding the wooden door to the home open, a crackling and aged voice breaking the stillness of the scene which he had been wallowing in. "Why now, are you one of the young'ins who've come to help me?" the femaled voice asked, prompting the boy to turn around and look at the civilian who had submitted this request in the first place.

The firs thing his eyes were drawn to was the weathered oak cane that the old woman used to help her stay upright as she stood in the doorway. Tanned skin was coupled with grayed out hair, the wrinkled and sun marks on her skin signifying her seniority and many years. There was an inquisitive green gleam to her eyes as she looked at the boy, standing there somewhat expectantly, "I'm sure your little friend will here soon, young sparrow. No need to let your feather's be ruffled" she said with a surprising amount of spring to her voice as it melted into a somewhat soothing chuckle.

Yoshihiro nodded once, turning around again to keep an eye out for whomever else it was who had been assigned to this mission with him.

514/514

Today had been a rather uneventful day for Xiang, as she usually did the same activities each and every day. Wake up, get dressed, eat, train, eat, train, eat, train, shower, bed, repeat. This caused her to ignore most duties of a Shinobi, other than the bear essentials, though she didn't do it out of negligence. She just wanted to be the best she could be before truly starting her career. To change the repetition of her life, Xiang finally decided it was time to begin her career as a true Shinobi, and what better way to do this than undergo a mission? It wasn't anything filled with combat, but it was still an exercise within itself; house building. It required heavy lifting, it required precision with nails, it even utilized a keen eye with making sure the shingles were aligned perfectly and symmetrically. Looking at it this way, it made it even easier to incorporate it into her not so organized schedule. That being said, she was a bit extra about her first mission taken without necessity, and decided to bring along a few essential yet probably not needed tools and accessories to make the job easier.

It didn't take too much longer after her new partner had made it to the mission location that she was running right on up to it, gracefully quick in her movements, despite carrying a giant metal toolbox, and two yellow hard hats with the Konoha symbol on the head, in both her arms, her rapier sheath dangling around. There was a miniscule smile that, while almost noticeable, was at least genuine, as she set her materials down and then walked over to Yoshi, slender, delicate arm raised so she could shake hands, posture decent.

"Good evening, partner. I believe we have never met before. My name is Xiang Hyuga, and I'll be helping you with this wonderful house today. I brought us tools and hats to make it easier. What's your name?"

While it was generally unusual for her to be as social as shew as being right now, she also knew it was better to get off the right foot rather than the wrong. Plus, she was happy to be getting something new for a change, so why not enjoy it? It was a soft, cool day, with the breeze flying by from time to time, and the sun setting in the background was pretty and pristine in every quality, with its bright orange and yellow hues. Such a perfect time for house building! She thought, anyway...as long as this guy was nice it was bound to be bearable anyway. When they were done with meetings, she had plans to get them straight to work, right on it like a hawk to its prey, and to help her partner with anything in case he needed it. After all, she practically read a whole book on carpentry and the like the night prior to prepare herself for this day, so if she needed to be the leader, than she would, with gusto. Hopefully, this didn't make her seem obsessive or pretentious.

[Current WC: 526]

Yoshihiro stood straight and at attention as he heard the sounds of running footsteps rapidly approaching the front yard of the house. He had to admit, he was a tad on edge, he had never worked that well with others- it was one of the downsides of being a self-made-man, as he liked to think of himself as. Suffice to say, this was all foreign territory to him, so when he saw the white haired girl appear from around the corner, carrying a whole host of supplies on her, he was surprised to say the least. His eyes went wide as he saw her approach him, the long white hair seeming so foreign and completely alien to anything he had known growing up. She was roughly his age, a tad shorter than he, but bearing all the determination and formality in her very posture and appearance that denoted her upper-class childhood. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how to react to the sight, save for his eyes growing wide a tad at the thought of working with a girl... He never had had much 'experience' in dealing with them growing up alone.

A stronger and lightly calloused hand reached out to accept the slender one offered to him, "Yoshihiro Joe" he replied. A small but uncertain smiled wobbled up his face from his cheeks, matching the maple leaf of peace that she was trying to show him. This could work, it felt like things weren't terrible right off the bat. "Your face looks soft" he blurted out. Oh god, why? Why did he have to shoot himself in the foot literally three seconds into meeting new people? His mind panicking, a turbulent storm much like his Futon chakra, he tried to salvage his verbal fumble. "I don't know much about building, I was hoping you might be able to take the lead for me to follow" he said, turning from her to look at the modest looking house. The old woman who had been standing in the doorway afforded a small smile at the sight before gesturing for them to follow her inside. Yoshihiro reached and put on one of the yellow Konoha hardhats and walked inside, trying to put some proverbial distance between himself and his poor social awareness.

"My son used to help me with renovating the house, but after died in Tame's attack years ago I was left all by myself" the woman said, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as she led the two Genin through the modest house and out to the backyard. As Yoshihiro stepped out, his eyes widened as he saw just what the woman was talking about. The entire back part of the house was caved in, bricks and mortar laying about on the ground. A large tree had fallen onto the house, smashing through the back part of the roof and tearing through the back wall, exposing it to the elements. "I tried to ask my girl friend for help but, well, her son died as well. It's difficult when you outlive those you love, I hope you remember that little ones" she said in an almost tired voice before shuffling back around to the backdoor again, "I'll make up some lemonade while you kiddos work" she quipped before slipping into the house and out of sight.

Alone again with Xiang, his new partner, he looked to the Genin expectantly, blinking slowly as he looked at her again perhaps a tad too long. "So... should we get rid of the tree first?" he asked, looking down to the toolkit she had brought with her. He was tempted to ask more about his newfound partner, so he lobbed out what he thought would surely be a harmless question, "Is it true that a Hygua woman can incinerate their enemies just by glaring at them?" he asked, moving over to look at the trunk of the tree. How thick was this thing? Surely cutting it in half would be a good place to start.

678/1,192

Oh, it was so nice to meet new people! Especially those with promise or otherwise showed they were a rather kind person. Yoshi showed these qualities as he shook her hand, her smile growing a little wider at this, though what she didn't expect was how different he was compared to her. Now, there was definitely nothing that showed he was of a poorer cloth or anything, and she never even really judged on that. Yet he still gave off the feeling he had nowhere near the upbringing she had, and it showed in the way he stood and held her hand, alongside how his skin felt; the grip was strong, and he was calloused. This at least showed to her that he was a hard worker, and perhaps even did as much training as she did. Well, that was just a lie to herself, cause most people who trained did as much in a year as she does in a whole month...at least, that was how it was in her perspective. Either way, something about him made her soft blue eyes glimmer in anticipation of something else, right before he completely caught her off guard.

No one had really complimented her like that before. He said her face was soft...soft! What did it mean though? Did he figure she was just some sweet dainty princess, that had everything handed to her on a silver platter? Or was he simply meaning her well taken care of skin, with the consistency of cream and everything nice? Whatever it was, it didn't seem to matter, as it caused her to blush crimson. Yeah, this was going to be an interesting day.

"Well then, Yoshi...uh...t-thank you? Maybe I'll...let you touch it, if you do a good job today! Yeah...and of course I'll help you, too...

While that was an awkward, although not unpleasant first conversation with a guy outside of school, they quickly turned to the task at hand, to which the woman who commissioned for them in the first place began explaining some things about her life and how this happened in the first place. The damage of the housing was indeed pretty bad, and in need of some professional help, which Xiang was ready to give. "Well, we'll make sure to make this house exactly how it was before the attack, Mrs. You can count on us!"

When Yoshi commented on the large tree for the first part of the job, Xiang could only give a nod in agreement, deciding to get this out of the way fast. As she started to pull out tools from the box, with her little hardhat on as she knew the mission was about to officially begin, Yoshi yet again caught her off guard. This almost made her faceplant the floor out of the surprise this time, though she quickly inhaled and looked back at him, a nervous laugh escaping her lips.

"T-trust me, if we could do that, I doubt we'd even have the Uchiha to contend with when it comes to the best Dojutsu, no?"

To be fair, it wasn't like this young man was horrible to talk to, but he clearly wasn't used to these situations. Neither was she, to be frank, but she quite enjoyed his comments, and figured they'd end up being good friends someday. Maybe something more, given he's one of the first guys to make her blush like that. With that, she simply grabbed a seesaw out of her kit, which would be big enough to cut that tree and make it easier to lift because of the weight being split. She figured he'd get the idea without having to tell him, so she just handed the other end of it to him with a bright, sparkly smile.

[Current WC: 649 + 526 = 1175]

Yoshihiro nodded at the girl with great vigour. Truly she was capable of many feats, blasting lasers from her eyes being only one of them! The modest Genin hummed as he adjusted the small hardhat on his head, safety was important after all. He watched as Xiang reached behind her to grab at the small two-person woodsaw that she had carried with her all the way here. Ahh, it seemed as though using that thing would be their best bet at chopping this tree trunk in half. With that out of the way, they could move it easy and start building the back wall again! The pieces were coming together it seemed, and as the boy got along well with the girl, he could see the necessary steps being listed out in his mind to find sucess with this mission.

"Alright, I'll take care of this!" he said, walking behind the other side of the fallen tree and grabbing at the seesaw. After a brief pause, the boy grabbed tightly onto his end of the blade, raising it up and down violently on the trunk, slamming it like it was an axe, clearly not understanding how he was supposed to be using it. "Die! Chop! Chop! Chop!" he shouted, slamming his teenage fists down on the trunk like a wildman with an axe, even though the effect was minimal to say the least as he held the misused seesaw. It was only after he began to break a sweat, noticing the ineffectiveness of the blade on the tree, that he stopped. "Bagh, this thing is useless!" he said, letting go and frowning as he crossed his arms.

Eventually, no doubt after Xiang explained how to actually use the seesaw, they could actually begin to use it correctly. Flustered at having made a fool of himself, the boy stumbled and sputtered to grab at his end of the saw, beginning to slide it back and forth atop the tree trunk to better cut into it. It was hard going work, the two of them would be standing there for a while to cut all the way through the thick trunk. Even with some added wind chakra by his part to help increase the speed of the sawing a tad, he could still feel his arms and shoulders getting sore from the repeated motions. It seemed that if anything, this mission was going to get them both whipped into shape!

"What's it like... growing up amongst the Hyuga?" he asked in-between tired huffs of frustrated breath. The hardhat on his head felt glued to his scalp somewhat from the sweat that was forming at his brow. The morning sun they had started under had reached its summit at last, the heat of the midday bearing down upon the two of them. Oh how he wished his jutsu was strong enough to just cleave the tree in half, but such a thing would likely be reserved for the Chunin Exams, whenever they finally came around. The strenuous ordeal would finally end as a sickening crack reverberated throughout the tree trunk, finally causing it to snap down the middle in half. Yoshihiro let out a sigh of relief and victory, the hard part was over, now they just had to repair this wall.

He looked at the supplies he had, humming in thought as he tried to figure out what to do next. Yoshihiro gave Xiang a sheepish but earnest smile as he looked to her next, was it getting hot out here? M-maybe that nice old lady could bring them some lemonade or something to help them cool down. "If you're family is so big and strong, does that make ya a princess?" he asked bluntly, reaching down to pick up some of the brick and mortar that had been supplied by the old woman. They at least had the supplies to rebuild this wall brick by brick, but it would still be slow going. All that they could do now was take their time and try to finish their task in a timely manner. The teen occasionally shot a glance under his arm to watch the white haired Hyuga work, w-why was he feeling so weird around her?

He gripped at the brick in his hand just a smidge tighter. If he just focused on the task at hand, he'd be able to put these weird thoughts out of his mind. He was on a mission after all, he wasn't there to be trying to get close to shinobi whom he barely knew!

770/1,962

Yoshi's enthusiasm towards the task at hand continued to keep a wide smile on Xiang's face, seeing that he would take this seriously and all. So, as she got her end of the saw in her delicate yet firm hands, she helped him set it around the middle of the tree trunk, and was about to show him what exactly to do, when he rather suddenly started to slam the serrated blade over and over into the tree with violent force. It actually kind of scared her a little, making her let go of it and jump back, letting him figure out it wasn't going to work the way he wanted it to. When he finally calmed down, and exclaimed on how it was useless, she let out a stressed sigh, wiping the sweat from her brow, and resuming a small smile. While it was odd that a boy his age wouldn't have known how to use this, she could at least tell it wasn't for a joke, he was genuinely trying. It was just a task she would need to teach him on doing.

"Y-Yoshi, that isn't how you use it...we both hold the ends like before, but press the blade into the trunk, moving it back and forth between each other, letting it cut through with the serrated teeth. Eventually, that's when it will split. Are you ready for round two?"

With Yoshi instructed, it was then they finally started getting anything here done, sawing into the wood with ease, though said ease was mostly on her side. She was used to workouts like these, so any exertion it might have taken Yoshi, was probably decreased three times in her case. While she noticed this, though, he at least didn't complain, and he seemed to enjoy the work. All she knew was that she wanted to train him. The Chunin Exams were coming up, and she wanted strong opponents to test her limits against. She'd pop the question when they were done for the day.

In response to growing up with the Hyuga, though, she answered pretty easily and without much worry on her face. "Well, I'll say it definitely wasn't difficult...you know, being born in money and all. But that was for regular commodities and such. The tough part always came from training. We're required to go through rigorous Taijutsu exercises from the moment we can throw our first punch. That being said, that wasn't so tough for me either...I enjoy it. Getting stronger is one of my hobbies."

The snap of the tree trunk is what interrupted her ranting, which was good, since she didn't really have much to say after that anyway. As Yoshi took a little break, she went ahead and rolled the logs out of the wall, albeit with a little difficulty, making sure it would be out of the way for them to continue building. As the rest of their day went by, any and all sounds heard were the slapping of cement on brick, over and over, being stacked on top of each other. While they wouldn't have gotten the whole house finished in one day, they got a decent amount done, at least half of the wall erect in front of them. When she thought it was done for the day, that's when Yoshi asked another question that aroused a deep blush from her.

"W-well, I never considered myself a princess...our particular family isn't part of the royal branch...as far as I'm aware. But that doesn't make us any lesser than them, for sure."

Done with interaction with this odd yet alluring boy, alongside being done with work, she quickly packed away anything she had brought with them, except for the yellow hard hat on top of Yoshi's head. She decided he should keep it, as a gift, and because he would need it again anyway. When all was stored away, just as she was about to run off, something clicked in her mind, a random spur of the moment action. She swirled around and pecked Yoshi on the cheek. While she couldn't completely comprehend her reasoning behind doing this, what she could understand was she liked doing it, because it was something unusual to her that she never did.

With a final, big smile, she ran off before he could say or do anything, giggling to herself the whole way.

[Exit]

[Final WC: 759 + 1175 = 1934]

Extra WC:

Yoshi grabbed a brick and plopped it down onto the wall. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the metal rod he had been using and draped a layer of cement down on top of the fresh row of bricks he had laid out. Now that the tree was gone, they could freely work to rebuild the wall at a faster pace. He watched as the cement slowly filled in the cracks in-between the bricks, solidifying gradually and holding them in place enough for him to begin work on laying the next row.

It didn't look particularly good, but that wasn't necessarily what the two of them were there for. They were there to rebuild this backyard wall, not decorate it! Yoshi hunched over again as he laid another row of bricks, again watching the cement gradually grip at the rows of stone. It was slow going, but they were both doing all they could to keep it as fast as possible. He was still reeling a tad from the embarrassment of using the seesaw in the absolute worst way possible, but now that they were doing something much more mundane and monotonous, he could feel himself getting the hang of it all.

Yoshi stood up, wiping the sweat from his brow. This was tough! He could feel the heat of the midday sun baking into his helmeted head as he continued to do the hard work. Even more amazingly than that though was the way that Xiang seemed to almost effortlessly be doing the same work he was at twice the speed! It was as if the girl didn't get tired practically, not now nor when they ahd been cutting the up the tree together. Yoshi could only blink in disbelief as she moved her body like an advanced intensity brick laying machine. Warily, he wondered just what that kind of physical ability would be like in the thick of battle. Such thoughts were short lived though, as Xiang saw fit to finally reply to his somewhat invasive question about her uprbringing as a Hyuga. "I see... So you're petty well off then..." he commented, feeling a tad underqualified just to be near a person of 'higher' birth than he. Xiang certainly didn't seem to make that connection within her mind, yet it remained all to presently within Yoshi's.

"You must be a tough cookie" he said, noting her skill in Taijutsu. It made sense, she was physically pretty impressive whilst also posessing a Byakugan due to being a Hyuga. He had only heard legends of those of that clan and their ability to rob a person of their jutsu, it was terrifying to think about. Yoshi placed the final row of bricks on his half of the back wall, watching them harden slowly but surely. It had taken them most of the day to do this part of the renovation, but now that it was over, he was feeling eager to return and sleep like a brick until the following morning. Stretching his back briefly, he pushed against the wall of bricks to feel them remaining as sturdy as a, well, a wall! A smile of contentment appeared on his features as he stepped back to look at his partner and newfound friend.

The deep crimson blush that covered her face now caught him off guard. D-did his words cause such a reaction? The sight of her fumbling up some words caused him to squirm a tad from uncertainty, his face turning a light shade of pink as he felt butterflies zipping around in his stomach. He gave a sheepish smile as Xiang managed to put out a somewhat humble answer in spite of his compliment. "Y-yeah, I know" he said back, not wanting to push the topic any further than he already had. Of course, he knew virtually nothing about the dynamics of the Hyuga clan nor the differing branches, but it seemed as though that the girl was content with her place in life, save for her skills as she now sought to heighten them any way she could.

Yoshi helped her pick up the bits and pieces of supplies she had brought with her for this mission. Once that was done, he pulled the hardhat she had given him off his head. Turning to face her, his eyes snapped wide open as he felt her quickly, but decisively, kiss his cheek before scampering off into the night like a thief. Stunned into silence, the boy blinked slowly, his mind processing what had just occured. S-she had kissed him? Him of all people? the thought was making his head spin, he felt dizzy and woozy all over. She was cute, and she had a soft face- but he hadnever thought to be smooched by a girl before like that. Did that count as his first kiss? It was on the cheek, but did it have to be on the lips? What was the specifics of his qualifications? No matter what, Yoshi just stood there in the backyard for a minute or too, the hardhat in his hand falling to the grass as his hand lost its strength momentarily.

"W-wow" was all he said, largely to himself. He turned around to look at the path back to the main road she had disappeared down. A part of him thought to chase after her, but that quickly subsided. He was exhausted, now emotionally after her spontaneous display. He touched his cheek as he began walking back home, hardhat in hand once more. It felt good, in fact, it felt really good. He could vaguely sense the gaze of the old woman staring at him through the window, watching him depart in the same direction as Xiang. Briefly, Yoshi wondered what might become of her now that the two young'ins had left for home. At recalling all the work he and his partner had done though, this wariness was quickly abated. He and Xiang had done a good job, and even though it was a small deed, it was one he was certain would have a positive impact, and at the end of the day, that really was all the Genin cared about...

1045/3007

[EXIT THREAD]

Total WC: 3007

• D-rank Mission Completion: 750/750
  
• Wind Release: Fool's Gambit: 750/750
  
• Wind Release: Eager Gust: 750/750
  
• Wind Release: Stream: 750/750
  

5 words going to waste, no biggie.