[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

It had been a long time since Kizumi did a D-rank mission; more years than she cared to quantify. But when the boys had begged, who was she to deny them? (A dark voice whispered nepotism in the back of her mind, but she pushed that aside. The only difference between this and what she would’ve done as an ops member was that she got to skip the step of requesting a mission with the kids. It was fine.) Besides, she reasoned, it was never a bad idea to prove that she wasn’t too high-falutin to take a down-and-dirty scrub-the-docks mission like every other shinobi out there. She brought the boys to Moyama and checked in with the dockmaster, who pointed out a grand total of six—six!—docks in desperate need of scrubbing. They got buckets and scrub brushes and cleaning fluid, and were set to work. "Alright boys, listen up,” she said, passing out the tools of today’s trade. "This is serious business, got it? I want these docks sparkling by the time we’re done.” Something Kizumi truly took to heart—when she was young, her parents often put her in charge of cleaning their ship’s equipment, and in all her years on various sailing vessels she had learned the value of scrubbed wood and a clean presentation. It wouldn’t be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever was.

Natsuo Jokyū Katsuo Jokyū -- 226

LAIKA OF THQ

[Natsuo Jokyū]

Kizumi had, apparently, gotten the wrong message. Natsuo wasn't simplying trying to go on a mission with her, and definitely not his twin. He just wanted something more challenging. Yet, his aunt continued to give him D rank missions. This one was literally just cleaning some docks and, while that was important, it wasn't something he needed to learn ninjutsu for. He left most of his weapons at home, bringing along just his sword. Chuya had more important uses for her time than cleaning docks. 

Despite his dissatisfaction, now that they had received the mission he had little choice but to go. He grimaced at the thought of dealing with his twin, but at least it'd only be for a couple hours. Hopefully.

Onice the trio of family members arrived, Kizumi gave what the boy could only assume was a pep talk. The idea of making these docks spotless was not very enticing though. "Yea yea lady, we read the mission summary already." Quite the usual teenage sarcasm, this mission was gonna take a lot of patience.

[Katsuo Jokyū]

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Shoring up the Bones

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This was going to be a drag. While it was good he would be doing missions to help him out for advancement as a genin this particular mission had its ups and downs. On the upside, he would get to work with the Raikage, who was also his aunt, which was a rare opportunity even if it was a simple D-rank mission. On the downside, he would be working with his twin which meant he would be compared to his white-haired twin. It wasn't something he was looking forward to so his whole mood was complicated about the mission. Still, he wouldn't let his animosity for his brother and inferiority complex stop him from completing the mission. The faster they got this done the sooner he could get away from his sibling.[break][break]

The thought of working with his brother blinded the young shinobi who couldn't remember why they were even there for their mission. It was a low ranking one so it had to be mundane, but he still didn't have any clue about its contents. That was until she explained the mission which made a lot of sense for their place of location. His brother Natsuo seemed to have paid attention to the mission description though and made a rather snide comment which triggered Katsuo fully to respond with, "She's in command of the mission so let her explain!" This was mostly just to essentially yell at his brother, but he would quickly turn to his aunt and with eyes that held anticipation he listened to every word she gave.

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[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

This… was not going how she hoped it would. Kizumi had visions of a lovely late-winter day on sparkling shores, working up a sweat to scrub down the docks, maybe taking the opportunity to teach the boys water-walking. A wholesome family outing, while also doing double-duty in service to the village. Win-win-win, right? Except Natsuo was being even more surly than usual, Katsuo was clearly upset about something, and neither of them seemed especially thrilled to be here. Clearly she made a misstep somewhere. Kizumi sighed, lifting her eyepatch to rub at the side of her nose where a headache was starting to build. "Thank you, Katsuo. Natsuo—I don’t really care how you address me at home or when we’re training, but this—?” She gestured vaguely to… all of him. "—can’t happen when we’re out in the field. I don’t care if we’re scrubbing docks or hunting nuke-nin, work is work: if you wouldn’t speak to Sora-sensei like that on a mission, you don’t speak to me like that on a mission.” She didn’t seem angry. She wasn’t angry, honestly, just exasperated. "I’ll let it slide this time, but if it happens again you’re going home immediately, and you’ll get benched for a month. Got it?” And with that inauspicious beginning, it was mission go-time. She gestured for the boys to follow her to the first dock. It wasn’t in terrible condition from the looks of it; channeling chakra to the soles of her feet, she stepped off the end of the dock and onto the softly swelling waves to get a look at the legs and underside. Some barnacles to be scraped, a good bit of slimy mildew and baked-on seaweed to be scrubbed away, but otherwise not too bad. "Let’s do the first one together, so I know you boys can do it right,” she said, grabbing her own scraper and getting to work.

Natsuo Jokyū Katsuo Jokyū -- 316

LAIKA OF THQ

[Natsuo Jokyū]

A rough start to the mission already, great. This isn't what Natsuo had meant when he said he thought they should all go on a mission together. Not to mention, Katsuo still kept giving him that look. The same one he'd been giving him since just after they'd started the academy. What was his problem? He knew he hadn't explicitly done anything to him, not more than the usual sibling banter at least. So what exactly could've changed? He thought about pulling Kizumi to the side and asking if she knew anything about it but decided against it. She already had enough on her plate without their sibling drama. Though, in truth, that was why he was so irritated. It wasn't about this being a lame mission, it was the fact his brother had practically alienated him. 

He neglected to respond to Kizumi's words, clearly upset at his brother's actions in some way, but neither of them were willing to talk about it. So, the problem would simply fester. And their aunt would, almost certainly, get caught up in the middle of it. 

Regardless, they began the mission. Starting with the dock that Kizumi led them to. She used water-walking with ease, instructing them to do the first one with her so that she knew they could do it correctly. Natsuo simply grabbed his scraper, giving his brother a side-eye as he waited for further instructions.

[Katsuo Jokyū]

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Shoring up the Bones

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There was something about getting praised by the Raikage over his twin that stroked Katsuo's ego so much. A mischievous grin was very much visible on his face while his brother was chastised by Kizumi. She had a point though that speaking ill of the leader of the mission was probably a bad idea. She choose to work with them despite her busy schedule she very much could have let the two of them try and handle the mission on their own without any supervision which with how much the two butted heads would just mean they would fail the mission. Katsuo might not like his brother, but he was at least wise enough to try and be a tad amicable for a mission.[break][break]

It wouldn't be long before they would make it to the dock and it would be time for them to start cleaning. Kizumi would be the first to get going using water walking to accomplish it. Katsuo was honestly a bit nervous now, though he didn't show it, as he only recently had learned how to walk on water thanks to his teammate Azarea. Natsuo would then next grab a scrapper himself, but he wouldn't begin working and instead would wait for instruction. How hard could scrapping barnacles be? Grabbing a scraper he would examine it and be confused at first. Why was it dull? Was it supposed to be? Wouldn't a sharp one be better? Katsuo wasn't sure so he decided to ask, "Why are the scrappers dull? Shouldn't they be sharp?" He figured Kizumi would know the answer with how knowledgeable she had to have been being the Raikage and all.

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[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Natsuo shut down, choosing not to respond to her at all, while Katsuo stood off to the side with a satisfied, mischievous grin on his face. Great. Somehow she’d blundered that entirely, and she had no idea how to fix it. Sighing, she rubbed at her good eye, and resigned herself to a long day ahead. "Oh, Katsuo,” she said, surprised, "when did you learn how to walk on water? I was gonna show you two how, today, but we can tackle something else if you’re already comfortable with that.” Natsuo, she noted, wasn’t using the same technique. They had been assigned to different teams, but was Natsuo that far behind his brother? Or was Katsuo just oddly ahead? She made a mental note to check in with their team leaders when they got home, try to get a better idea of what was up. "They’re dull because you want to avoid damaging the wood,” she replied, hardly giving Katsuo’s question a moment’s thought. "Especially when you’re working on boats. Go slow and steady, and scrape carefully to get under the edge of the barnacle without denting into the wood, like this.” Kizumi, cognizant of her strength, was a little more careful than most would have been; she handled the scraped gingerly, carefully wedging it between the hard cluster and the comparably softer wood of the dock. After a bit of effort, a big chunk popped right off and splashed into the water. "Then you just scrub away the little bits and the residue left behind. Make sense?” With her demonstration done, Kizumi would take a step back to let the boys give it a shot with her supervision, to make sure they were doing it right. Her head was starting to pound, though, trying to puzzle through this weird dynamic that her boys had worked themselves into. Taking the flask of rum from her hip, she lifted it to her lips to take an absentminded swig.

Natsuo Jokyū Katsuo Jokyū -- 327

LAIKA OF THQ

[Natsuo Jokyū]

It wasn't like Natsuo wanted to be mad at his sibling or Kizumi, but something was just irritating him. He couldn't really figure out what it was though. Maybe it was a change between his relationship with his brother? He was acting rather strange in comparison to what Natsuo thought was normal. He'd figure that out later though, for now, he had to try to get out of his slump and complete this mission.

Katsuo seemed to already know the water-walking technique, which Natsuo was scheduled to learn with his teammates soon. Maybe he'd sneak into Takame's training session with their sensei that was supposed to be alone. That was a task for later though, for now he'd have to figure out how to clean the docks without that ability. He grumbled, "I'm scheduled for that lesson in a few days." He would, unknowingly, reassure Kizumi that he wasn't behind Katsuo at all. They were simply on different schedules. 

The boy decided he'd wrap his two dual cleavers on stumps on top of the platform, gravity would make it to where he wouldn't fall. He used his chain sort of like he was rappelling. Tightening or loosening the chain on the two stumps to move. He took the scraper in his hand and lodged it into the bottom edge of the barnacle, started with a decent amount of strength to get under it fairly quickly. He then moved it slowly from side to side to slowly cause a wedge between it and the platform. After a little bit, the chunk plopped off as Kizumi grabbed her favorite flask.

Seeing the familiar metal object, Natsuo had an idea. Using his Jiton chakra, he floated the flask out of his aunt's hand and into his own. "No drinking and working Aunt Kizumi." The boy smirked, hopefully this would lighten the mood a bit. Though he was still irritated. Just to add a little bit of stress to Kizumi he lifted up the flask, "Wonder what mom would do if she found out I had some." He grinned.

[Katsuo Jokyū]

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[attr="class","vcrashLyrics"]Even if I can't reach the stars I can at least fly

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He felt a bit bad for his aunt since he just ruined her plans to teach him about water walking though when Natsuo mentioned he had the lesson scheduled for later he felt a sense of joy in his heart. He had surpassed his brother and made strides to be the better twin! A small victory to say the least, but a victory nonetheless. He wouldn't keep Kizumi hanging though as he would respond with, "It's alright I'm sure you have a lot to teach me." He said it this way as both a jab at his brother and as praise for how awesome Kizumi was. What wasn't there to be proud of from her she was the Raikage! No one could get any better than that so to say Katsuo put her on a pedestal in his mind was an understatement.[break][break]

When she answered his question about the scrappers being dull it made sense to him. It was still weird, but it made sense. She would demonstrate what they would need to do and it seemed simple enough for a task. Probably a tedious one, but with all three of them surely it wouldn't take too long for them to clean the boats up right? So off to work they would go and Katsuo went about walking upon the water while he scrapped away though he had to admit he did take a glance at how Natsuo was doing without water walking. It was certainly unique, but he was using alot of chakra to do that so it might be troublesome later if the other twin wasn't careful. Not that Katsuo was worried about Natsuo in fact if his brother fell into the water that was on him.

ulla

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[hirana kizumi]

Natsuo wasn’t behind, then, not exactly… a comfort, in a way, though this antagonistic mood between the two still had her teeth on edge. It would still be worthwhile to consult with their leaders regardless, though it discomfited her to know that someone else might have a better insight on the boys than she did. Despite not knowing the technique, Natsuo had managed to come up with a decent way to get down to the water without needing to swim or tread—a clever solution, and one that Kizumi briefly praised him for as she raised the flask to her lips. She was cut off before the liquor could touch her tongue, however, that pesky magnetism thieving the flask from her hand before she could drink even a single drop. Kizumi scowled—though she wasn’t truly angry, she never could be with the boys—and sped over to him, wrapping an arm around his neck and delivering a devastating noogie to the top of his head. "Lil’ jerk,” she said, though she didn’t try to steal the flask back. Better to let it go and just deal with the headache for now. "Whatever your mom would say would be ten times easier for me to deal with than the godawful hangover you would be dealing with if you tried, you twerp.” The insults were laden with affection, and she let him go with a gentle shove before checking up on how Katsuo was doing with his section of the docks. The tension felt… lessened, somehow, and it was in a slightly better move that she quietly praised the progress that Katsuo was making before leaving the boys to their own devices. With all three of them working together it would only take a couple of hours to get the docks cleaned up; and then she would take them out into town to spoil them rotten with treats and goodies, just as she always had.

Natsuo Jokyū Katsuo Jokyū -- 327

LAIKA OF THQ

[Natsuo Jokyū]

Natsuo's cleverness hadn't gone unnoticed by his aunt, she even complimented him on it. That was something the boy was rather used to, but he'd never really figured out how to respond to praise other than a simple thanks. So that's what he gave her before getting back to working on his section.

Her reaction to Natsuo's tease of her alcohol was exactly what he'd wanted, something to lighten the mood. A return to the more simplistic times that the three of them had shared before. Even if it was brief, it was nice. "Uh oh I think some of it's gonna drip into my mouth." He'd tease before grinning and floating his aunt's flask back to her.

With his little prank done with, he moved on to getting back to work. He stole brief glimpses at Katsuo. They were twins but ever since they'd graduated the academy, it felt like he knew nothing about his brother anymore. They were similar in appearance, but in everything else it seemed they were the direct opposite of each other. He used to be the calm one, the one that could hold him back from breaking someone's teeth in. So, was he just fed up? Or had he been hiding how he truly felt this whole time?