Everybody Do Your Share!

Spoiler:

With a new city comes lots of new trash. The recent transformation of Kumogakure into a full blow city had generated more businesses, more merchants, and predictable more refuse that needed to be cleaned up. It was the lowest of the low as far as shinobi tasks when but it was something she was expected to do. Shimiko felt her skills as a shinobi growing every day but she was still a genin. This meant that she was on garbage duty even when she didn't particularly feel like it. She was wearing a plain T-shirt and shorts with shinobi scandals. Her pigtails bounced as she stooped down to stab trash and place it in the container strapped to her back. She didn't like to think she was better than anyone per se but she felt as if her newly acquired talents were being wasted. How was she supposed to rack up a prodigious kill count if she was spending time cleaning up the city streets? Shimiko sighed and continued to work. She had arrived early so that she could finish early. Kasuo would probably be arriving shortly. The boy had looked tired and worse for wear during their last mission together but he sort of perked up at the talk of riddles. It was amusing and it kept Shimiko from thinking about how gross the work was and how overqualified she was do be doing it.

This sucks...

Kasuo had been assigned another mission, not exactly a glorious one but at least it wasn't a "head straight for trouble" mission like that bandit one, he had no use whatsoever in that situation and he could've died any minute. He'd like to become a capable shinobi one day, but throwing a fresh new Genin in the middle of battle like that wouldn't get results on anybodies tables, he'd have a talk with the idiot behind that decision sometime but it would just fall on deaf ears considering his lowly rank as a ninja.

He came to the marketplace districts well prepared, having a large plastic bag and a large rod of some kind with a metal sharp point at the end, supposedly used to easily stab into the trash and place it in the garbage bag. As soon as he'd see Shimiko, he didn't waste anytime going to work but while doing so, he'd give a riddle as an introduction. "I'm useless to one person, but everything to two people. What am I?" he'd wonder if she would go for the obvious answer and go for "love" as it could be a correct answer to that riddle technically, but it's not the answer he's looking for.

"Sharing" Shimiko guessed at Kasuo's riddle. The boy didn't even deign to say anything other than a riddle when he arrived. This caused her to chuckle a bit. She wondered if Kasuo was really so into riddles that he would ask them in the middle of combat. Shimiko wasn't sure if he had gotten a squad by now but she really didn't want to ask him and make him feel bad if he did not have one at the moment. Judging from the way he looked and carried himself he wasn't exactly thrilled to be doing clean up work either. Shimiko stabbed some trash and threw it into her bin. The streets had some people on them but it wasn't exactly rush hour so she didn't have to worry about people bumping into her or knocking things over. The city had become fairly filthy since it had undergone development recently and she even spied a few rats looking over in piles of trash. She sighed and wished she had a source of blood or iron liquid nearby so that she could scare it off. She wondered if she got Kasuo's riddle correct whatever the answer may be it was certainly a tough one.

Kasuo's face had slightly widened, that was a pretty solid guess to his riddle. "I was thinking friendship, since it's good to see a friendly face on such a... questionable mission, but that's a good answer too." maybe he should've worded it better to make it more specific? ah well. The point of these riddles are meant to be a brain teaser and to be a good time, it shouldn't have to be based on a very specific answer, he's pretty happy with the given answer either way, assuming that she's either dabbled into the hobby herself or her thinking got better over time, either way, it's promising for a decent time with her on this less-then-prestigious mission.

"I'm cylinder shaped and always hungry until I'm full to the brim, when malicious people get bored they put people in me. What am I?" it wasn't meant to be a question towards Shimiko, rather just something he's thinking towards himself as a way to pass the time, he'd answer his own riddle by saying "Garbage Bin." he said, getting a considerable amount of garbage in his large plastic bag which started to get a bit weighted, and he dumped all of it into a nearby garbage bin until he started to continue picking up garbage off the ground. "Why is there so much rubbish? it's honestly sad that this had to be put in a mission for Genin in the first place." he had inquired and ranted about.

Shimiko nodded in response to the answer and absent-mindedly walked over to a large pile of trash before stabbing it theatrically and putting it in the bin. Kasuo asked why there is so much trash and Shimiko shrugged before responding with the only logical answer "Its the village. Its getting bigger." The new structure of the village and its expansion had stirred mixed feelings in her. The city was bigger and it had attracted more homeless people to it as businesses had more money to give to panhandlers and more spare food to throw out. There was also a small network of criminals that were slowly but surely making their way into the village. They were selling drugs to the desperate and teaching the down on their luck how to steal to survive. This would bother most residents including the military that called the city their home. But for a cultist like Shimiko it was almost a dream come true, the more hobos in the village the less likely it was that one would notice them a few going missing here and there. The new city structure had already furnished a few sacrifices in Jashin's name. It had been a glorious ceremony and Shimiko had bound and held the man down as one of her sister worshipers plunged the dagger into his heart after saying the sacred words. I guess the city isn't so bad... she decided as she stabbed a piece of trash with a smile on her face before depositing it where it was supposed to go.

That being said the city also had its downsides. It was always crowded, there was now pollution coming from the Senou factories, and of course all this litter that was making her hometown ugly as sin. Urbanization brought with it benefits and detriments. Being a young girl who grew up in a village her whole life the city thing was an adjustment but she had learned to adapt. She wondered what Seigi would think of Kumogakure if he could see it now. She sighed and continued working before she wondered what Kasuo thought of the city.

"Hey Kasuo...what do you think of the new development in Kumogakure? The place is pretty much a city now and its just so...different from what it used to be" she had hesitated in finding the right word. She didn't want to come off as a negative nelly.

He had noticed all the new changes going around in Kumo, but honestly because of it, his father managed to find proper work and his family has a bit more money to spend now. They're not exactly filled with money but they're not struggling with it either now. "It's good for my family honestly, but for the village itself? I guess only time will tell, elements will rise up to threaten Kumo's structure and we'll just have to see if the village can either endure them, or fall to them." he's talking with the village practically becoming a city now and the amount of homeless people they're getting, with the population increasing as a whole but while there could be some positive aspects of the villages growth, there is indefinitely drawbacks to it and he'd be interested to see if Kumo can withstand something like that.

"Either way, I can only hope I'm not on the receiving end of it, same for you as well." he'd say, he grew some sort of liking to Shimiko as a fellow ninja, Kasuo had his own group of friends of course but it's always nice to branch out and get new perspectives, meet new people and that sort of thing, that in itself was always a learning experience.

Shimiko nodded solemnly in response. Kasuo was right, the village was attracting all sorts of unsavory elements that might threaten to destabilize the village. Those elements could be enemies but for people like Shimiko they could also be allies. Her new friend and roommate Yui/Yua came to mind. The twins could be a considered a feral abomination by most people. A pair of monsters capable of merging their bodies and splitting at will with poisonous blood and an uncultured outlook on the world. They were herded by an evil stepfather who was using them to fuel his own rise in the new society of elites being raised up by the city. Most people would view the twins as the sort of undesirables that the new changes were bringing but for Shimiko the twins had been a joy. She got the chance to civilize them, turn them into productive shinobi, and also fellow cultists. Perhaps one day her sect would be part of that growing element that would turn ninja society on its head. She hoped this would be the case but she knew that if something like that were to happen she would need to be the one leading it or at the very least play a leadership role. Kumogakure would have to learn to adapt to these new elements or be consumed by it.

"Thanks, I'm sure we'll be fine. We're ninja and adapting to change and protecting this country's interests is what we do best. Today its picking up trash but tomorrow it could be something far more important. You never knew what the higher ups will call on you to do" she remembered that one of her first missions was literally to attack and kill bandits that had been harassing some farmers on the outskirts of town. If they had lost her squad faced capture and a life of enslavement. Their Jounin had skipped out on them and they had barely managed to win the day. It was exciting and she expected the changes ot Kumogakure would bring more events like that.

Bring it on! she thought.

"Indeed... I hope we do adapt, otherwise Sage save this village." he had commented, that slight motivational speech of hers jacking Kasuo up somewhat, but being pretty shot down when he got back into the mind of reality, and that's picking up trash off the ground. "I'm not that great yet as a ninja, I'm apparently good in using Genjutsu back at the academy but it's a pretty complex skill to learn and master." that could be saying something, since Kasuo dabbled in thinking as a hobby as heavily suggested from the riddles he gave, but if he said that something was giving him a hard time mentally, it'd be saying something, at least in his own arrogance. "By the way, did I tell you about a bandit mission I did a few days ago?" Kasuo had started the topic, to help past the time with both of them picking up garbage off the ground.

"I pretty much had to rely on the Jounin to defend me, I only know one Genjutsu and even then, it's not good enough to save me from a life-threatening situation." after that experience, he had wondered if being a ninja was really for him? he had the mind but should he really put it towards being a ninja, when he could use it for something far more productive? he considered that maybe his father was right all those years ago, and should've used his brainpower towards getting a solid job for the family instead of chasing his own, selfish ambitions.

The Sage can't save us only Jashin can....and he saves us by giving us divine permission to kill our enemies indiscriminately and without mercy... Kasuo lamented about how he was mainly good at Genjutsu but that it had not been enough to save him on a bandit mission he had went on recently. This caused Shimiko to perk up in interest as she listened to Kasuo tell his story while picking up trash. Apparently Kasuo had gone out on a real mission involving bandits although it appeared unlike her and the rest of the Thundercats he hung back while the Jounin did all the work. Must be nice to have a Jounin actually care about your well being. That being said the fact that they were forced to fend for their own lives had made Shimiko that much more interested in her own training and development as a shinobi not to say she didn't care before. Kasuo said his genjutsu was not enough to save them which caused Shimiko to turn to him and shake his head.

"That's not true" she said curtly but with a disarming smile. "Genjutsu is one of the most powerful tools in a shinobi's arsenal. I should know, my clan specializes in using it. I'm sure you'll pick up more skills as time goes on but for now hone your skill in genjutsu. You'd be surprised where it takes you Kasuo. Your Jounin...what was his name?"

He rolled his eyes, being told the same thing by his academy teachers. Not in her exact words so to say, but to pursue onto the path of Genjutsu and become adept at using it. "Yeah, it just isn't easy but I guess nothing really is." he said, continuing to pick up the garbage as he realised that a good portion of the place is now litter-free, with the duo coming across the occasional person walking by but they pretty much ignored the duo. The question popped up however about who his Jounin was for the mission, realising that he never got the name of that person. "He didn't tell me, but believe it or not, he's a small kid who utilises weird jutsu of some kind, I think he has an advanced element." that could be the only explanation for such weird jutsu, as he had heard of such a clan existing in the village.

Though he grew some interest into her own clan, saying that they utilised Genjutsu as well as a result of their clan. "Right, your clan... I've read up a bit more on the Chinoike but I'm not familiar with the abilities they're capable of doing, but if I read it right... they have a dōjutsu of some kind?" he'd ask, he always found kekkei genkai that changes ones eyes pretty fascinating.

Shimiko perked up in curiosity when he mentioned that the jounin he was with was young. There were plenty of Jounin that weren't even in the middle age when they reached the rank. It made Shimiko feel a bit insecure as Seigi had become a Jounin at a fairly young age and she was nowhere near on the same pace. She had yet to realize her full potential and it made her want to work even harder knowing that there were other Jounin in the village that were relatively young and had their own unique style of fighting. The topic turned to her Doujutsu. Kasuo was curious as to what they could do and she nodded in response to his question. Their Doujutsu was definitely fearsome and was connected to several powerful Genjutsu abilities. Shimiko stood up straight, faced Kasuo, and activated her Ketsryugan. The girl's eyes changed from green to a bright red overlaid with a pitch black center and a single pure white horizontal bar in each eye. It was an eerie change to her otherwise unassuming appearance.

"Yes. Ours is the Ketsryugan. We can use it to cast Genjutsu, which isn't something I've mastered yet. But other than that we can also use it to manipulate our blood and liquids with a high iron content" Shimiko gave a naughty smile and asked: "Would you like a demonstration? Maybe even a spar some time?"

Kasuo was semi-focused on the conversation, still focusing on the job at hand and turning an eye to her every now and then for the conversation, until at the corner of his eye, he saw a bright red colour which slightly spooked Kasuo as he jumped back a bit, seeing the red eye which is pretty intimidating, even for the seemingly cute appearance that Shimiko puts on. He was jealous of such kekkei genkai, Kasuo had his wits but that wasn't flashy by any means at this point in his youth, which compared to a red eye like Shimiko has shown, is pretty cool. It seems that he'll probably get such a flashy in another life, for now he'll just have his Genjutsu to rely on as his main strength, once he builds that up a bit better of course.

When given the name of her Kekkei Genkai, and prompted to perhaps see a demonstration or a spar of sorts he shook his head. "No thanks, the scary red eye is enough to tell me it's deadly. Besides... if I fought against you now, I'm sure I'd get beaten in like... five seconds tops?" he was somewhat jesting and exaggerating about that of course, but at the same time he wasn't.

Shimiko blinked and deactivated her doujutsu. She laughed at his joke (although she didn't think he was that far off the mark) and paused to consider something. She was a bit flattered that he found her bloodline intimidating as most people tended to fear the Inazuma more than they did the Chinoike. Shimiko continued picking up trash and explained a bit further. "Its not that powerful or at least it tends to be more lethal when used by someone with no compunction about holding back" Shimiko said hinting that she wasn't the sort to go all out in a fight. This wasn't true of course but it might tempt Kasuo into trying his hand in fighting her. "You mentioned your sensei had some kind of advanced element...what was it exactly?"

Kasuo didn't see fit to answer her apparently which was fine maybe she had struck a sour note or something. Oh well. The girl finished packing up the last of the trash in silence as the hustle and bustle of the city began to pick up. After a few more hours of hard work in silence, Shimiko thanked Kasuo for his help and left to turn the mission in for the both of them.

Exit