The Amandi Clan Candy Shop (Place crafting orders here)

Kameko yawned as she sat behind the counter to her clan's small candy shop. They had managed to pool enough resources to open one for the clan, but any branch shops would have to be paid out of pocket by individual clan members. Kameko, despite being clan head, had little to no say in the running of this shop as she had elected to let the elder members get the family business up and running. As such, she was just free labor to them whenever she had free time. All for the sake of the clan.

Today was one such day, except she had made a sign and nailed it onto the bottom of their shop sign that read "Today only! The clan head Kameko Amandi displays her expert craftsmanship! Better than your regular drivel!". It wasn't a big building, it was actually the smallest one on the main market that wasn't a ramen stand. Inside were a plethora of candies in very small quantities, showcasing the diverse range of sweets and flavors the clan could produce. They had some stock in the back of the building, but the entirety of the front two thirds of the shop was for product with a small counter for buying stuff tucked into the corner.

The Amandi clan head sat behind the counter resting her chin in her open palm as she awaited the first customers of the day. It was already past ten and they had been open for three hours, but nobody had ever had Amandi candy in Konohagakure before so the populace was reluctant to try it. Kameko being here was a way to try to get people to at least come in and look around.

Kameko had on a light blue t-shirt made of thin cotton and matching shorts. Covering these was a black kimono, with her intention to look more presentable than a smith would normally be. Her blonde hair was pulled into a traditional bun with two pins holding it in place, though no make-up marred the Amandi's natural beauty. Her emerald eyes sparkled in the light of the morning, though she appeared bored and tired nonetheless. On the counter resting in front of her was the chokuto she had made for Masuyo, recently completed.

A plain wooden sheathe covered the well crafted ebony blade underneath. There was a small oval guard on the blade with the wooden hilt being bound in thin strips of criss-crossing strips to provide extra grip for the weapon. It looked plain but well made on the outside, but anybody with an eye for weaponry would see after a short inspection of the blade itself that the quality was above and beyond what any other smith or shop keep could produce. Next to this was a couple sheets of parchment and a pen to take down any orders people might make that day. She hoped someone would at least come in, she was taking precious time away from her forge for this.





NOTE: The chokuto is of B grade craftsmanship, but it's an ebony blade made with an anvil. This makes its hardness A++ rather than A+.

Kameko blinked when the door to the shop opened. In walked a shinobi of Konohagakure, her eyes wandering briefly around the shop when the entered. In time they fell upon the chokuto with Kameko noticing the look and reacting by picking the weapon up to offer to Kanna. When she began to speak without even examining the weapon outside the sheathe and before Kameko could properly greet her, Kameko blinked again in brief confusion. "Uh, yeah, I'm taking orders. I have a large one that I'm working on right now, but after that one I'm free," she began in reply to the strange kunoichi's request. A weaponized sheathe? There was a lot she could do with that. "Here, take a look at this before you decide anything. Even if I'm confident in it, it's all about whether the customer is confident in it." Kameko would wag the chokuto a little at the kunoichi and would not continue until it was taken and examined.

Once the had been properly done, Kameko would pull one of the pieces of parchment to her and would pick up the pen. "Weaponized sheathe... for a katana... that size..." she muttered to herself as she drew a quick sketch of the first thing that came to mind. There were some adjustments that were sure to be made if her follow up questions were properly answered. Kameko would push the parchment to Kanna on the other side of the counter. On it would be a preliminary sketch of the Gambol Shroud, though only the blade on the edge with a hand hold to use it as a second weapon. "First, the name's Kameko. Happy to make your acquaintance!" Kameko smiled a beautiful smile, all traces of boredom gone. This was one of her favorite parts, figuring everything out.

Assuming Kanna replied with a name in kind, Kameko would continue. "This is just a rough draft of the first thing I thought of. Ebony is a really durable material, so I can do a lot with it if I'm careful. Was there anything special you might want about this besides an edge? I'm more capable with enchantments than I am at actually crafting the weapons, if that helps," she informed Kanna.  "Are you good at fire? Wind, or water, maybe? I could probably put a small barrel at the end of the sheathe to help focus things of that nature."

Kameko paused for a moment before continuing. "And I'll make you a deal since your katana... bothers me. You buy a katana from me, I'll cut my labor fee in half for it. You pay cost of material and half the fee. I don't want to push it on you, but it makes me hurt to see my stuff used alongside such inferior workmanship."

Hiroji hadn't exactly had the best luck with a supposed weapons smith or a armour smith for what he had in mind, somewhere down the line he'd need to be equipped with the best gear a ninja could possibly get, and a while ago he had seeked and found a smith at a local shop with a pretty lucrative order handed to the man, with the ryo to back it up. After waiting however, the order itself turned out to be a cracked piece of steel that the smith somehow messed up, destroying any hope Hiroji may have with the legitimacy and word of smiths unless they have shown very solid crafts before.

He had been on an eye out for a possible craftsman that may actually be competent in crafting what Hiroji was after, ninja gear was good but he wasn't after the typical run of the mill craftsmanship, he wanted somebody who actually knew what they were doing, that added an extra layer of hard work to their craftsmanship instead of one who just does it for a living, a passionate blacksmith so to speak.

An interesting sight caught his eye however, a candy shop that had a very peculiar sign that invited people to see the craftsmanship of a clan head, it sounded like something he actually needed. He walked inside the shop soon enough to see two women already talking away, which he guessed is an order and he'd wager that the blond one is Kameko, as the sign says. He already met the black-haired woman before, while they were conducting their business, Hiroji would simply sit back and wait until they were done talking and then he'd ask Kameko about his possible order.

Kameko listened to Kanna's requests after taking the chokuto back from her and resting it once more upon the counter. While she was talking another customer entered the shop, Kameko briefly peeling her attention away from Kanna to eye the newcomer. It appeared to be a relatively youthful man around her age or younger. Kameko flashed him a smile and a wave before returning to Kanna's words. Katon and make it hit harder... she thought to herself as she pulled the sketch back and made a few alterations. After a few seconds of tinkering with it she would slide it back to Kanna for her re-examination. Now included on the "flat" of the sheathe was a barrel that Kanna would be able to fire projectiles out of.

"Yeah, I think I can manage that. I've got just the enchantment, though I have to warn you that it's a more expensive enchantment among what I've managed to come up with. If you want it to hit hard though, I can definitely make that happen. As to the katana, I can certainly make it out of ebony," she began, continuing the conversation as though the sheathe was a done deal. Her eyes got a wicked gleam in them as she started to speak her next few sentences, "and I'm not one to toot my own horn, but if you don't mind getting another enchantment of mine, I can make you the most durable ebony katana you're going to find anywhere in the world." She paused here for a moment, knowing the next part is likely the hardest part of the deal to sell.

"Though your options towards customization would be... well, they wouldn't exist other than minor adjustments to the blade's shape to suit your personal taste. The technique and the enchantment I need to make this blade are, quite honestly, very time consuming, take more finesse, and are very costly. But I guarantee you on the promise of a paid-in-full replacement of the weapon that it will never, ever break. I highly doubt it would even chip against anything that wasn't of... a particular brand of excellent," she finished, alluding to the many legendary weapons floating around the world told in children's tales. The excellent quality of weapons such as the Seven Swords of the Mist were known to any weapon smith worth their salt and were what they strove to emulate.

"The blade I speak of makes the one you just examined look like a toothpick in comparison. It is my highest quality weapon, of that I can promise you." She was hoping the half off labor costs would help entice Kanna towards purchasing the blade she spoke of. Kameko hoped her honeyed words didn't drive both customers off, since it looked like the young man was here to speak of her crafts more than to buy candy. He had hardly taken a look around the store, not that it bothered her too much. If she was making a lot of income, that meant the clan would be okay for a little while at least. If she got enough orders, she might even be able to go to the council and request a loan to start her own business. Oh, one can only dream...



NOTE: The katana I'm offering to make will cost a lot, but will have the ability to reach X grade hardness/ material rank

Hiroji didn't have much patience, he ended up looking around the shop a bit but the candy really wasn't piquing his interest, the fact of whether or not this woman is capable of crafting the weapon is what he's sticking around for but his time could be used for better things, such as improved himself or learning new jutsu. He'd finally gotten bored of the waiting and brought a page out of his backpack along with a pencil, he then decided to write down what he's after, and it's to have a Steel Naginata crafted. He'd leave his address and other necessary information upon the paper, stating that his name is Hiroji Senju and if she's interested in making his order and requires an upfront payment, she could send a letter for once she gets around to his order or she could seek him out, either way worked for him.

Afterwards, he'd simply leave the note to a clear, open place in the shop that Kameko will notice and hopefully pick up to read. He hadn't intentionally tried to be obnoxious or give Kameko the wrong idea about being mistreated in some way with leaving the note, rather he just didn't want to wait around too much. If she was capable of doing the order, he's more then happy to do business and otherwise, that's just that.

(Exit)

Kameko noted Kanna's wishes and thought about them for a moment, keeping the idea for her best possible weapon in mind as a way to judge it. After a couple seconds, Kameko shook her head slowly. "Without significantly lowering the quality of the katana, there isn't really another way to do that. The reason the barrel works on the sheathe is because the rest of it is the size of a cleaver and provides some strength to help reinforce it should the barrel get struck. On something as slim as a katana, the barrel would either greatly decrease the strength of the weapon and it would break more easily or it would need to be a barrel so small as to be almost worthless," she explained. The sentiment behind the desire was understood on Kameko's part, but feasibly speaking, putting a barrel like that on the katana itself without destroying the structural integrity is something that was out of her current skill range.

"But, I could reinforce the area around the handhold in the sheathe itself so you could attach chain or ninja wire to it to give it a bit of a triple purpose along with the barrel. I'm not one to charge over small things like that, especially if I can't quite do what you'd like." She paused here as the second customer left her a note, slightly annoyed at his impatience, before continuing with Kanna. "Believe me when I say this though; when you hold this katana in your hands for yourself, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be more than satisfied with it. You will be the only one in this village with a blade like it, and none will be able to match it. And if you're in the market for any poisons to make sure it stays that way... well, I'm more than capable of making you what you need there, too." Kameko would await Kanna's reply to everything, hoping that she was okay with having the barrel on the sheathe and still placed an order with her.

Yui had an idea for her blast techniques to make it far less dangerous for allies but also make it where she could focus her blasts and make them possibly even stronger. She heard this woman she was heading to was the best crafter in the entire village so she was sure she would be able to make these gauntlets for her, it excited her as she knew if she was placed on a team she would need to be able to use her blast without risking injury to her allies. She made her way toward the shop stepping inside and smelling the various smells of metal, she could also hear the sound of grinding and many other things, so this was what a blacksmith was like.

As she made her way inside she could see the woman and would give a light wave as she had to think about how to describe the gauntlets to her. She knew what she wanted but she only hoped the woman had a general idea how to craft something like that.

"I am here because I have a request... I was wondering if it would be possible for you to craft gauntlets for me to be able to channel my blast techniques through while also allowing me to narrow the blast down. One it would help to possibly strengthen the techniques and also allow me to make the attack smaller so there would be less damage if used in a village or to allies I am working with."

She would aim away from the woman and just show a slight bit of her bloodline with a small blast causing dust to stir up and show her what sort of power she meant. This was Konoha so it is quite likely not a lot of people know of her clans element and what exactly it does.

"That is my bloodline it creates literal explosions and can be used in hand to hand fighting, this is what it is paramount to be able to control the power of width of the blasts."

Kameko let out a small sigh when Kanna prompted about the barrel being in the hilt rather than the blade itself. Not a sigh of exasperation or annoyance, but one of disappointment that she wasn't able to fulfill her first real order to what the customer wanted. "That's a bit out of my range right now too, sad to say," she admitted. Not one to be defeated so easily, Kameko stood up a little straighter and got a more serious look on her face. "I tell you what, go ahead and buy the sheathe now. Then come back to me in two years time, and I promise you that I'll have figured out a way to get what you want. I don't know much about engineering, but it can't be too hard to figure out if I can figure out chemistry," she said with determination. If that was fine with Kanna, Kameko would continue on with discussions on the sheathe itself. "For just the sheathe and with how much that enchantment is going to run me... I'd say I can do the sheathe for 72,000 ryo. I'll even include the barrel and the reinforced grip for no extra charge to try and tide you over until I can make your katana. Does that sound alright with you?" If it was, Kameko would pull the other sheet of parchment over and would scrawl some flowing script in the top left corner.

Once she was done, she would flip it around and hand the pen to Kanna. "Sign on the right side of the paper opposite of what I just wrote, please." Kameko had written Kanna's name and the price of her weapon down, and by asking for Kanna's signature was making sure she acknowledged she agreed to the amount. She hadn't had time to come up with anything fancier, and it didn't matter to her either way. As she handed the pen over to her, Kameko would explain how she accepted payment. "You can either pay in full up front or you can pay material costs up front and the rest later. Material costs is bare minimum however, I can't be losing money making stuff. If you don't have the money on you, you can transfer the funds through Konoha's bank to my account; Kameko Amandi. Once I got 'em, you'll be next on the list." Once all was said and done, Kameko would accept a payment if Kanna could afford to do so (Material cost is 51,000 ryo). Either way, she would smile as Kanna departed the store. "Have a good day!"

At this point a third customer walked in as Kameko took a peek at the note her second customer had left her. A naginata? He'd need to pay her material costs before she would begin working on it. With a sigh she tucked it under the counter so she could work on finding this kid later on. For now, she had a second paying customer right in front of her. At least, she hoped that it was a paying customer. The girl wasted little time, forgoing introductions. "Ah ah ah, names first. My name is Kameko," the Amandi clan head would interrupt before the girl got too far into her description. After a proper introduction, Kameko would let her continue unmolested. Blast? That was a bloodline from her old village if she wasn't mistaken. The demonstration of the ability caught her off guard however, causing the blonde to flinch back a little.

"Right, well, please don't do that indoors," Kameko started to say, caution in her voice. "You wouldn't happen to be from Iwagakure, would you?" Once Yui confirmed that she was, in fact, from Iwagakure, Kameko's face would light up. "Wonderful! Then yes, I'd be happy to make some gauntlets for you. Because you're from my homeland, I'm gonna cut you a deal too and waive the enchantment fee. All you gotta do is let people know exactly who made your gauntlets. Deal?" If that was acceptable to Yui, which she wasn't sure why it wouldn't be, Kameko would continue similarly to how she did with Kanna.

First, a basic description and then pricing. "I've had an idea for gauntlets running through my head now for quite some time, so I'm glad you dropped by and requested some. What I'd do to try and accommodate that fancy bloodline of yours would be to leave the palm side of the gauntlet's hand smooth with most of the enchantment focused there. This should let you control where the explosion is released and how big it is without any real difficulties. The rest of the gauntlet is going to have various raised edges, sharpened edges, spikes and the like so you could dole out some damage without even throwing a punch. All you'd need to do is block. If that works for you, then we can move onto pricing. For you," she paused here, running some numbers through her head. "I think I can do 40,000 ryo. They won't be ready for awhile though, I've got quite a few orders as it is and I've got to search another one down. If that's fine with you, then please place your arm on the counter. I need some measurements."

Kameko would then bring out a small tape to measure Yui's arms, scrawling them out on a scrap of parchment. Then she would write out Yui's name and the price on the same parchment she had written Kanna's on, offering the same pen to Yui for her to sign. During this, she would explain how she took payment and would accept material costs (26,000) or the full payment from Yui. Assuming that was everything, Kameko would then bid her farewell to Yui. "Have a good day!"

So they would cost her forty thousand that was all the money she had but it was fine as she would place the forty thousand on the counter and smile. She was excited to find someone else from her village here and never expected them, sure others were here but she had mostly ran into her clan. Yui had a wide smile on her face and she wondered if she could become friends with her, she was still working on Kanna she was a work in progress but maybe she could befriend this girl at least.

"Thank you for working on these for me and I am happy you know of my clan, but yes they will be quite useful for me. I... this may seem odd but if you ever want to eat or hang out just get in touch with me the name is Kotoshura Yui and it is my pleasure to meet you. I know you are busy right now so I guess I will take my leave."

Yui would give a light bow before making her way toward the exit, she was not sure how long they would take to make but she would wait to hear that before leaving and also hoped to hear a sure about hanging out sometime. It was rather clear Yui was an extrovert certainly someone not scared to socially interact with anyone even the ice queen Kanna.

-Exit Thread after hearing how long they would take and possible hang out answer-

"It's gonna take some time, but you're the third paying customer I've had in the last couple weeks so it's not too bad. I'd say... another month and a half, two months, somewhere around there is when I'll be able to start working on them," Kameko informed Yui. She seemed fine with it, commenting that if she ever had the desire to hang out to go ahead and do so. "Haha, sure, when I have some free time I'll think about it. Probably won't be anytime soon though, as you can imagine." Yui did what she had to do afterwards, opting to pay Kameko in full similarly to how Kanna had done. Now if only that irritating boy had stayed... Oh well. Kameko grabbed all the ryo she had been paid as well as the various parchments and the chokuto and stuffed it all in a sack, putting her headband around her forehead before going outside into the world. "I'm headed out guys, have fun!" That was the last thing she said to her cousins within the shop before headed back to her place where she could continue her work.




[exit]