Mission name: Apples to Oranges.
Mission rank: D.
Objective: Sort Doppelganger Fruits.
Location: Small South Forest.
Reward: 150 Ryo +1 EP.
Mission Description: The exams fell right during reaping season, and a great many autumnal Konoha delicacies require ripe, juicy fruit! Amaguriama is handing out open gigs for those that will help pick and sort the Burning Sky Harvest.
Mission Details: There's nothing out of the ordinary here at first, but it turns out not only the foliage is the varied colors of fire. Every single one of the fruits can be orange, yellow, crimson, or any color in-between! This is a tedious task that either takes a Konoha palate and nose, a Perception stat of D-3 to tell between the different types of fruit, or a sensory technique that lets one discern their interiors without damaging them.

Fruit. Everyone needed it, Joe was harvesting it.

Of all the resources that Konoha was known for, of all the exports and imports, out of everything that a foreigner might know- agriculture was probably one of the biggest parts of the village. No other country in the ninja world had the kind of fertile land that Konohagakure did, endless swathes of farmland stretching far and wide across Hi no Kuni, unperturbed save for the occasional river or natural barrier. They were the breadbasket of all the other nations, whether they realized it or not. Kiri had some farming, but they were the kings of harvesting the boons of the sea. Kumo and Iwa certainly were both large and respectable, yet they were both all mountainous or highlands, with only the occasional elevated rice paddy. Suna was, well, suna- thus none could truly compare to the bounty of the land of fire's endless sunny days. It was that time of the year when the days grew shorter and the nights grew longer and colder, it was autum, it was the harvesting season. Even in the midst of the hubub of the Chunin Exams, the need to harvest still was a pressing matter to most of the nation, any extra hands that could be spared by workers were hired up quick to help in the fields.

Joe was one of such temporary farmhands, walking up the dirt path to the modestly sized farmhouse where he had been assigned for the upcoming mission- if one could even call it that. It was more of just helping out around the ranch than a true task of importance. Truthfully, Joe was just grateful for the chance to get out of the walls of Konoha and breath the pine-scented air of Hi no Kuni. It was only a couple hours by foot to the farmstead in question, the seamless rows of blooming crops, of fresh fruit, blossoming brilliantly against the maturing rays of the sun. If Joe hadn't been here for official business, he surely would've brought his eisel and painting kit to do a watercolor of the scene. He was clad in simple working clothes, his Konoha head-plate wrapped around his waist like a belt. He watched as an old but strong looking woman set a wheelbarrow full of freshly picked fruits down on the grass in front of the farmhouse, looking at him as he approached. "Why hello there sonny! Have ye come to help your elders mind the farm?" the woman asked, grabbing handfuls of fruits and placing them up onto the back of a large wooden cart hitched to a pair of plain looking horses. "Me and my husband've cleared the first couple fields, we're trying to finish half of them all by the end of the day to bring them all into town. We'll give you and your partner a life so you don't have to walk" the woman stated, looking past Joe to the path he had come up along.

"Speakin' of partners, I think she's comin' up now" she squeaked, prompting the Genin to turn and look to see who was coming.

533/533

YoJo turned around to look at the stranger who would be his partner for this mission. It was an awfully nice day out, but harvesting by himself would likely be unequivocally lonely. He was glad to have someone to talk with and help pass the time. He gave a small grin as he saw the stranger come up to him. She was a girl likely his own age, with a strange air about her that was entrancing in a way he couldn't explain save for finding it soothing. Maybe that sensation, more than her physical appearance, helped to form his first impression of her as she looked him over in return. She seemed polite and kind, the only real two criteria for YoJo in liking a stranger or not, "I'm Yoshihiro Joe, but you can call me YoJo, or even just Joe if you'd like" he offered, gesturing to himself and then to her as they exchanged their names. Sencha certainly was a monicker he was unfamiliar with, it sounded uncommon, but, seeing as a last name like 'Joe' was also rather bizarre, he couldn't really judge here.

The teen clambered up into the back of the cart, flopping onto the hay bale next to his partner before the old woman made a sharp clicking sound to send the horses forwards. The old wooden cart bumped along the dirt path, quickly becoming lost in the midst of the large vineyards and rows of plants. They'd only be doing one part of the farm for harvesting thankfully, but it'd still likely take a full day's worth of work. "Do you know much about fruit?" the teen asked awkwardly, sitting up on the hay with his legs hanging over the back side of the wagon. What, he wasn't exactly a master of smalltalk, he was working with what he knew that they had in common- and right now that was just that they were on this mission together. "I like fruit" he said with a blank look on his face that betrayed his attempts to form some kind of a connection with the stranger.

Another minute or so passed before YoJo would try and speak again, attempting to break the silence whilst they sat together on the back of the cart. "So... Are you in the Chunin Exams too?" he asked, though it was likely a poor topic for his own sake, considering his rather poor mental state during the event's duration. If she responded, it would be as they were coming to a halt at the end of the sizable property, the old woman calling over her shoulder to the two Genin. "Right, here ye are now. I'll be back to pick you and the crops up at sunset" she called, watching as the two got off and onto the dirt near a simple field of fully-grown oranges. YoJo watched her disappear over a nearby hill, going off to do farmer things of which he knew nothing about.

He turned to look at the lines of crops, "Hmmm, I can pick out the ones that art bad... Maybe I can pick out which ones are good and you can hold a basket to help keep things moving along?" he asked, not knowing what kind of an eye she had for detail. Not everyone was physically trained to the point where he was whilst still remaining a Genin, after all.

579/1112

Yojo would work with Sencha to pick at the fruits he could see as ripe for the taking. It was surprisingly intricate work, where even the smallest of imperfections on one of the plants could be a tell tale sign of a larger deformity lurking within. Thankfully, Yojo had an inherent eye for detail- it was one of the few perks of being a perfectionist. He'd look over the fruits he plucked, checking to see if they were up to his standards, and the standards of their employer, before tossing them into Sencha's basket. The whole process would be somewhat slow going, not too mention tedious on the whole. With the hours slowly passing by, time became more and more fluid the longer the two of them continued going at this labor. It still surprised the teen somewhat to see the vast orchards out here in the countryside of Konoha. He'd never thought much of the village as an agricultural giant, but compared to the likes of the Land of Wind or the Land of Earth, he supposed it was all relative in a way.

After many long hours, the creaking sound of the old woman's cart would be discernable as it moved up along the bend of the road. The tired but youthful appearance of the lead rider was a welcome one for Yojo and presumably Sencha after spending so long working the fields. The teen was about ready to go and collapse in a heap. He held the large baskets of freshly plucked fruit, easing the load on his partner as they made their way back up to the cart together. Yojo would help load the goods up into the wagon, earning a small nod of approval from the farm owner. She'd motion for them to both get in and get comfy. It would be a rather long walk back to the village, but after all the hours they'd put in, it seemed that their employer was going to be kind enough to give them both a lift back into town. The ride would be fairly quiet on Yojo's part, largely due to the fact that the boy was exhausted. He'd occasionally look over the the strange, but lovely girl sitting across from him. He still didn't know much about her, save that she seemed kind and relatively easy to talk to. Those two traits were enough for her to be in his good books. If she could carry the weight of a conversation between them then he'd be all the more happy to get to know her better.

After some further time riding along, the two would return to Konoha, their task complete.

441/1553

TWC: 1553

• D-rank mission completion: 750/750
  
• D-rank bonus +1 EP and +150 ryo, 750/750