mission:

The arena had been empty for quite some time. Whether it was because the participants of a recent fight had already cleared out and the follow-up had been waiting, or because there simply had not been any fights today, it could not be determined. There were a few kunai lying here and there across the sandy pit, some footsteps and skid marks traced across its expanse, but the arena was most of all boring and very much lacking any notable features. That was Akaneya's job for the day, to set the arena for now and for the next few matches. She, personally, thought it beneath her, but supposed that everybody was needed in these incredibly busy days.

The Chunin Exam had brought much trouble to Konohagakure. Specifically, they had brought much trouble to Akaneya. Crowded streets made any travel difficult, and added notable background noise to all but a few of her favorite quiet places. Disturbing her meditation, or making it more difficult than it needed to be, certainly did not win the vast crowds her admiration or appreciation. It was, after all, the closest thing she had found to a suitable side-activity between training. While others might go stuffing their faces, playing games, or even drinking the day away, she found such things wasteful. Meditation, however, was essentially mental training; easy on the body, but still serving a purpose.

Akaneya surveyed the field, and remembered the various things asked of her and her mission partner for this first set up. The first was, of course, the easiest. It required a few scattered mounds, and little else. The first step was, in essence, just clearing the arena out and roughening up the terrain. Meant to emulate the desert surrounding the Sand Village on a clear and sunny day, one could hardly ask for an easier task. She wondered again why she had been tasked with such menial labor, but supposed the elders of the village probably had their reasons. It was good exercise, if nothing else.

Looking for her partner, one Shizuka, she failed to find another living soul. Akaneya had arrived a bit early, as she was wont to do, and realized such in but a moment. She couldn't necessarily fault Shizuka for not being early so long as he wasn't late, but still thought it to be a less than ideal attitude. Figuring she should wait until her partner showed up, Akaneya pulled out her ancient flute and began to play a simple song to pass the time. Not quite as fearsome as her combat, this was a plain, slow song, native to the Land of Rice. It was a timid, but beautiful, melody, one that felt as if it fulfilled the soul the longer it went on. And so it did.

Post stats:

Bright and early, that's how today started. Teiho wasn't even up yet, but Shizuka had a mission to do today and he needed all the time he had to get ready. He sat up in bed with a yawn and a stretch, knocking some papers and pencils off his bed as he went to stand. After another stretch he began to get ready for the mission he had been chosen to do.

"Essentials first" he said as he brushed some blueprints off his desk and sat a small backpack down on it. Stuffed inside the bag was an assortment of projectiles, 3 kunai and two handfuls of senbon. Resting in the corner of the room was Mokusei. The lumbering brute of a puppet rested lifeless in the corner, covered in blueprints and dirty clothes. Shizuka moved to the closet, still clutching the backpack, and changed from his pajamas into her labcoat, green tanktop, and a pair of black leggings. Next he headed to the bathroom to freshen up and do his hair. Finally finished getting ready she decided to head to the kitchen and start the coffee machine, Teiho would most likely be up soon and Shizuka could use a cup himself. After pouring and finishing a cup of joe and devouring a bagel with some cream cheese, he was finally ready to leave. Threads of chakra surged from Shizuka's fingertips, latching onto Mokusei and animating him. The stone giant lumbered out of Shizuka's room, walking into the room then standing static as Shizuka wiped his mouth and slung the backpack over his shoulder. Shizuka hurried out of the house, followed shortly after by Mokusei.

Shizuka hurried down the crowded streets, the chunnin exams had brought alot of tourism and shinobi from other villages like Teiho, his guardian, who was participating. For most the crowded streets would be next to impossible to traverse but for Shizuka it was quite an easy task, no thanks to him that is, when you're trailed by a stone puppet bigger then even the manliest ninja people kinda go around you. After a short walk the duo arrived at the arena they would be fixing up for the mission. Soft, melancholy flute music filled the air as the duo entered, alerting Shizuka to his partner's presence.

Shizuka hopped down from the seating area into the arena, followed by Mokusei who made a small crater in the sandy ground of the arena and sent some sand flying at Shizuka. The sand flew through the air and landed in Shizuka's hair and on his face.

"Stupid piece of stone!" the effeminate boy would shout as he kicked the leg of the puppet. The puppet was quite hard and Shizuka's foot connected with a 'bump' leaving naught much more then a scuff mark. The boy pulled his foot back and grabbed a hold of it as he began to hop around on the other "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" the boy cried as he hopped around for a bit before looking towards his partner. "Oh... Hi I'm Shizuka" the boy said with a wave. "I assume your my partner, Akaneya right? Sorry about... that." He would say before sticking his hand out for his partner to shake.

Chakra: 245
Chakra Threads used - 1 post

WC: 539

Her melody had been disturbed by a few loud noises, some vague complaining, and a cheery young boy introducing himself in a way that would have many falling over in laughter had they witnessed it. All Akaneya could think of, however, was how unfortunate that boy's life must've been if such was his day-to-day habit. The boy extended his hand and offered a friendly shake and an apology, to which she quietly put her flute away and gave him her hand - limp as it was grabbed and shook - and viewed him through the side of her eye. She silently stood herself up and looked at the crater made by the fallen puppet. With one quip did she respond: "Well, that makes it slightly easier."

Looking over the field again, she repeated the moment's mission: "We are to clear the field of debris and residual weaponry, and form it into dunes and pits to mimic the Land of Wind. Simple enough, especially with that...thing," she gestured to the puppet. "I'll start the work," she stated bluntly, holding up a couple of explosive tags handed out for the assignment, "and you can finalize the terrain." With that, she calmly laid down explosives in a semi-random circular or triangular formation across the arena. With but a moment more, she got out of range near the edge of the arena and set them all off from a distance.

The terrain now scarred, the smoke cleared to reveal several pits and the displaced dirt and sand piled up in vague formations around. It was a half-decent attempt, but Akaneya simply did not have the proper jutsu to artfully craft a landscape on such a scale. It did the job well enough, and now she might trust her partner, whose stone puppet seemed to already prove itself, to handle the rest of the task.

Post stats:

After exchanging greetings, his partner exclaim how Mokusei would make this job a lot easier to which Shizuka nodded. "I thought he might help out, its not often I get to mess around with him." Shizuka would say with the typical bubbly smile he plastered on his face so often.

"We are to clear the field of debris and residual weaponry, and form it into dunes and pits to mimic the Land of Wind. Simple enough, especially with that...thing. I'll start the work," his partner said to Shizuka as she held up a handful of explosive tags. "That 'thing' is a puppet and he has a name, Mokusei, and a designation, Jupiter-5, please use any of those when referring to him." Shizuka would exclaim, while he wasn't typically angry he did get annoyed when others trivialized his inventions, especially the ones he had grown attached to like Mokusei. His partner moved around the area scattering the tags before heading to the edge of the arena, Shizuka following suit, before detonating the tags. The once flat, orderly sandy arena was now much more chaotic and scattered about. Huge pits scatter the arena and small dune like mounds were also found throughout the area.

"Well, I guess you want me to start helping out now right?" Shizuka said cheerily, back to his bubbly self after his previous outbreak. He and Mokusei went to work, spreading out the more angular mounds and over all making it seem a little more smooth. Contrary to both their beliefs Mokusei wasn't the greatest at this, his huge stone arms might be good for digging a trench but weren't suited for more acute work. The duo made due, and eventually it was starting to look a bit more like a desert battlefield. The pair even found a few discarded kunai and discharged flash bombs scattered about as they worked.

"Ouch! Owie!" Shizuka cried out close to the end of this task, allowing time for his partner to come close or ask what was wrong before continuing. "I chipped a nail, this is gonna take ages to heal and it looks super ugly." the boy whined before standing up from the crouched position he was in. "I'm gonna take a water break if you want to join me, Mokusei can keep on trudging in the meantime." the boy said as he slung the backpack to the ground and pulled out two water bottles, offering one to his partner. If they declined the offer he would put it back in the back a bit disheartened before drinking from his own, if they accepted he would smile before drinking from his own.

"With all this teamwork we'll be done in no time, it's already looking great!" Shizuka would exclaim cheerily. "Since this was so easy wanna go grab a bite to eat afterwards? I've heard a lot of good things about this little food stand from people watching the Chunin Exams." Like with the water bottles, if his partner declined he would frown and maybe even plead a bit but ultimately accept their decision, if they accepted he would light up and clap a bit while bouncing in place. Either way he would return to work after the conversation, eager to finish the task they had been given.

WC: +549, 1087 total

Having been now informed of the puppet's name, a hulking stone Mokusei, Akaneya watched it in action. It moved with an impressive weight behind it, but seemed under as much control as one would expect of a light wooden frame. The art of puppeteering was certainly not one to be ignored, doubly now that she was able to see it in action, though she likewise understood that it was far from her own skillset. As the thing worked its work all over the arena, she considered what might be an effective battle strategy against such a thing. As always, she was not working her body at the moment, so she must work her mind. As a genjutsu specialist, she was at a general disadvantage. A puppet could close the long-range gap rather quickly without putting the user in harm's way at all, and the machines were immune to all levels of her specialization. However, coming from the Land of Rice, she held a distinct benefit - her genjutsu need not be seen to be activated. While some might need to have a visual trigger that would be readily obscured by the puppet, her sound-based jutsus would pass right through and affect the target with ease.

So, what sort of jutsu would be most effective? Clearly, a paralysis one. To cause illusions or confusions would be a death sentence with the puppets flailing wildly around, and this would make it near impossible to close the gap effectively. If the arm was paralyzed, however, it would shut down the user's ability to actually fight with their puppets. It would leave them vulnerable. They had to have some sort of backup, wouldn't they? Perhaps not, perhaps they were just content and comfortable in thinking that their puppets would keep them out of range and obscure any genjutsu triggers. Perhaps they forgot about the hidden techniques of the Land of Rice. Perhaps Otogakure did not hold the intimidating presence it did centuries ago, but the jutsu from there had become no less effective in that time.

Still, though, these puppets were not to be underestimated. The field work now just about finished, it was impressive what this 'Mokusei' had managed to do in a relatively short amount of time. She might've been thinking such a thing to be an entirely troublesome beast if she ever had to fight one until a potential flaw revealed itself. Her partner cried out in pain, and Akaneya rushed over to see what was wrong. Having been sufficiently informed of the situation, the telltale squeaking and creaking of broken-in leather came as she strictly tensed her fist, and in a moment brought her hand to her face. With maybe a small squeak or squish from her glove as it made contact, followed by an audible groan from the face that now met the hand. She closed her fingers, somewhat pinching the bridge of her nose, and finally pulled her hand away. A few more of those and her face would be as red as her hair.

In a moment, though, she found herself being offered a bottle of water. Being assured that Mokusei would continue working while they drank, she shrugged and quietly accepted. Taking off her gloves and tucking them in her bag, she took the bottle, opened the cap, and chugged a significant amount of the contents. It was not a hot day, and she had not exerted herself particularly strongly so far, but it was simply habit to down a lot in a single go so as to act in best efficiency. In Otogakure, large amounts of food and water were not always reliable, and there was always the risk that they'd be stolen or taken away prematurely, so the habit just formed naturally.

The effeminate boy, certainly more effeminate than Akaneya herself, then offered a bite to eat after the work was done. Akaneya was initially hesitant, not giving a clear answer, but with a bit more pleading she finally gave in: "I suppose we will have to wait for them to do their match before setting up the next one anyway. Fine, then. Let's..." she sighed, "Let's see what this food stand has to offer."

With that statement, the boy clapped, seemingly quite excited. Akaneya did not understand how people could have such a personality, and likely never would. The work was just about finished anyway, all Shizuka had to do was finalize the whole terrain anyway. It seemed lunch would be upon them sooner than anticipated.

Post stats:

The broken nail wasn't bad, messing up a bit of polish that was on it and giving a slight jagged edge but not enough to be painful. However, almost comically, Shizuka felt this as if he had been stabbed. All the time he had spent to look good ruined by a single hand being run through the sand. His partner rushed over hurriedly, seemingly worried about the effeminate boy. When she saw what all the fuss was about he hand came to her face. A facepalm, a gesture in which the palm of one's hand is brought to one's face, as an expression of disbelief, shame, or exasperation. Or at least that was what Shizuka thought it meant, he had picked up a book on social norms in the library back in Iwagakure, his uncommon beginnings didn't teach him much about the culture of the outside world. The leather of his partner's glove squeaking and creaking from the movement. The boy stood, the pain he felt from the chipped nail warranting a water break. Out of his bag he drew two water bottles and after a quite answer Shizuka would hand one to his partner before chugging from his own.

Mokusei kept up the work, the soulless machine unable to feel the strain of such laborious work. Shizuka was sure feeling it. This wasn't exactly what the boy had in mind when he decided to go on a mission. If manual labor was all shinobi did then it might be time to rethink career choices. Sweat poured down Shizuka's face as he chugged from the bottle, today wasn't going well for the boy. First the boring manual job, then the broken nail. The water was refreshing at least, a small light in a field of darkness that was boredom and hard work. His partner accepted the water too, while she hadn't done much it was a nice gesture from both the shinobi.

The offer to grab a bite to eat was met with a bit more resistance from his partner then the offer of water was. After the initial question was met with indecision Shizuka did the only thing he knew to do when he wanted something, plead.

"Coooome ooooon, pleeeeaaase. It'll be my treat, you can... you can even pick where we go if you want to" the boy pleaded, hands clasped over his chest. The pleading was met with a (most likely begrudging) answer. "I suppose we will have to wait for them to do their match before setting up the next one anyway. Fine, then. Let's..." she sighed, "Let's see what this food stand has to offer." the answer was exactly what Shizuka had hoped for, he would befriend this shy (kinda mopey) girl yet. Shizuka bounced slightly and clapped, his joy at his partner's answer clearly displayed on his face if it was not already apparent by the girly celebration he was performing. After a few short minutes Mokusei would have finished finalizing the barren sandy terrain of the arena. If Sunagakure had post cards this would the kind of scene plastered on the front of the best seller. So long as his partner had nothing more to say or do Shizuka would control Mokusei to follow the two as they left the arena for lunch.

WC: +550, 1637/1500 total

Having watched her partner and his strange stone puppet, 'Mokusei', finish up the last bits of the work, the arena was now complete. It was, indeed, an idyllic view of what the Land of Wind might look like. It was exactly what someone who had never been there might consider the entire country to be, and perhaps even the natives of that distant country might find a resemblance to one place or another. The majestic mounds of fine sand, or more properly of coarse dirt that somewhat resembled sand in appearance and properties, scattered across the not-too-big playing ground. In just a few more minutes, the battle would commence. That was, then, their time to break for lunch.

Calmly and swiftly walking straight out of the exit, Akaneya surveyed the nearby stalls that had been set up to prey upon travelers and contestants alike. People of all backgrounds and of all means would be ensnared by their cynical practice, the festivities a natural magnet to attract as much business as possible for an incredibly low investment cost. These vendors were, in a sense, playing their own version of a game of intrigue and scheming. For all of the Leaf's posturing, at its core it seemed its people were no different than anywhere else. It occurred to Akaneya that she didn't actually know which stand Shizuka had meant, and so with a brief glance sideways, she asked: "Which one of these is the one you were talking about?"

Upon getting her answer, whenever that answer might come, she would cautiously approach the stand. For herself, she ordered her food and got it in return. A medium-sized cup with some dango sticks wedged into sauced rice. Placing her money on the counter, seeming to actively refuse to let Shizuka pay for her by acting before it could even be brought up, she began her slow walk back to the arena, cup in hand, ready to have her lunch over a bit of blood sport.

Shizuka and Mokusei completed the job, the arena of sand and dirt looking near perfect to the Iwagakure nin's imaginary vision of what the Land of Wind might look like. The mounds of sand and dirt appeared almost like sand dunes and the small dips created an appearance of a desert. The scattered rocks, while not originally a planned addition, added to the artificial desert that this arena was formed around. The battle that was planned to occur in this arena was about to commence, their work just barely making the deadline, and so it was quite a good idea to get out of the desert like arena while they still could, spectators already filled into the newly terraformed arena's bleachers and seating areas.

Shizuka and Mokusei would file out of the arena's exit, following Akaneya out into the bustling streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Leaf Village's streets were packed with various citizens as well as foreigners from other lands here to spectate the Chunin Exams. Even a few shinobi walked though the crowds, kunoichi with immense beauty that both attracted and made Shizuka jealous as well as more then a few male ninja that made Shizuka a bit flustered as they passed. Eventually Akaneya stopped, asking about which one of the stands Shizuka wanted to go to. "Um, I said you could choose but. . ." Shizuka looked around, spotting a colorful stand advertising various street food sweets and a few savory items. ". . .OH, lets go to that one!" Shizuka exclaimed, barely holding himself still due to excitement at the various treats.

Upon arriving at the stand Akaneya quickly ordered, paying before Shizuka had the chance to fish his wallet out of one of his pockets. ". . .Oh, I said I'd pay Aka' you sure you don't want me too?" Either way Shizuka would then order for himself, spending quite a while to make a decision. "Hmmm, I'll have uh. Hm" "Just pick already kid, you're holding up the line~" the stand owner shouted. Shizuka sniffled, holding in his emotions just long enough to ask for a red bean taiyaki and receive it before scrambling away to catch up with Akaneya. It seemed she was heading for the arena they had just terraformed, most likely to watch the match, and so Shizuka followed.

+385, 2022/3000