Next on her list of things to do was to visit a farm in the outskirts of Kumogakure. The farm had been severely damaged as a result of a passing storm – something like that was extremely common in the Land of Lightning, which made Kita wonder just why anyone would want to farm in a place like this. But these were matters more suited for the Raikage and the elders of the village, or whoever was in charge with big adult problems like food. Thankfully the farm wasn’t too far from the village. After a short five minute walk along the path, the girl could see it.

The description of the farm given on the mission pamphlet was far from what Kita saw before her. It looked as if something even worse than a storm had hit it. Kita jogged along the path, straight to the front door of the little house the farmer lived in. She knocked twice before announcing herself to the man. ”Excuse me, farmer McDonald, my name is Kita, I’m here to help you with your farm… I’m sorry about the storm, the weather is really nasty in the Land of Lightning isn’t it?”

Shortly after, the door opened and the middle-aged farmer popped his head out, confused at first when he looked straight ahead and only saw the clouds in the sky. He then proceeded to look down before smiling. ”Ohh… nice to meet you Kita. Yes, the weather can be quite nasty, but thankfully it doesn’t impact the crops during harvesting season. Please, come in, have a seat…”

Kita shook her head. ”Oh, no farmer McDonald, I’m not here to relax, I want to help you with your farm! Lets fix it up super quick and super nice! Give me something to do~!” She said in her cheerful, childish tone.

The man considered for a moment. What could he give her that wasn’t too labor intensive? ”How about this, Kita-chan. Follow me to the stables, I’ll have you help me feed the animals.” After Kita nodded, the man slipped his work boots on before stepping outside. He led the girl to the barn, where the strong aroma of barnyard animals filled the air. After giving her a quick lesson and demonstration, he sent her off before going to fix the roof of the main barn.

Having been left alone, Kita devised a plan to quickly feed the animals before going to help the farmer with his barn. She laid out a clear path in her mind – start in the stables and work her way out. Simple enough. Using the bucket given to her by the farmer, Kita went back and forth from stable to stable, filling the buckets for the horses. She then worked her way to the cows, where she again ran back and forth with buckets of grain to fill the trough. By the end of it, Kita was already breaking out in a sweat. Her arms were beginning to burn, but her legs were throbbing. This was hard work! I’m glad daddy didn’t start a farm… She thought to herself as she headed out to feed the chickens.

”Oh chickenchickenchickens~ I have fooood!!!” Kita called out, slightly amused by herself as she threw the chicken feed into the field and watched as they all ran towards it. After throwing enough food in, Kita set the bucket down and wiped the sweat from her forehead on her sleeve. Taking a breather, Kita collected her thoughts. What did she have to do now? In the distance, Kita could hear the man hammering away at the rooftop. Perhaps it was best not to disturb him…

Kita looked around the farm – the most visibly damaged area apart from the rooftop was the fencing around the perimeters. She glanced at the farmer one last time, but he was too focused on the roof to notice her. With a shrug, Kita headed to the edge of the farm and began to work on the fence. Despite her size, Kita had formidable strength thanks to her taijutsu training. By the time the farmer climbed down from the barn and saw that the animals were all fed and one side of the fence was completely redone, the man was lost for words.

”Y..you did this all by yourself..?” He asked, visibly shocked as he examined the handiwork. It wasn’t perfect, but it was almost as good as the farmer himself could do. ”You’re a very fast worker, Kita-chan! Great work! I think we can call it a day, no?”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kita collapsed on the grass beneath her feet with her arms spread out. ”Phew… Farmer McDonald, that was probably the most work I’ve ever done in my life… but it was nice learning about farming and stuff. I think I’m just going to lay here for a little…”

The man laughed whilst shaking his head as Kita spoke. ”Oh Kita-chan, there’s a lot more than building fences and feeding the animals… but we’ll save that for next time, no? How about I bring you a glass of lemonade from inside? My wife makes it fresh.”

”I’d love that, thank you!”

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