[Jūryoku Azusaki]

    It seems that along with being a shinobi, Azusaki was finding himself as a laborer helping build and fortify assorted forts in the country. Not quite to the extent of his previous working companion Kumori, but this would make the third mission that likely required shoveling, digging, or something else equally unexciting. It wasn't hard work necessarily, at least thanks to his jutsu, but it was incredibly boring, and his mind was focused on other things.

    With the Chuunin Exams right around the corner, transporting dirt and cow crap wasn't at the top of his priority list, but he also simply couldn't turn down the work or the money quite frankly. Getting to the fort, he looked around seeing it was much like the other he had been at, but a bit further along than the other when he had helped before. As he walked along the outside wall, he ran across his mission partner, Kumori, and sighed a bit relieved to not have to make any small talk with any of the construction workers.

"Kumori, hey."

    Flagging them down as he walked up, looking far more eager this time around than the last two times she would have seen him at these sites. Perhaps that was just a matter of the time of day and not having taught a full academy class before showing up like the last two missions they were on together.

"What's up, didn't expect you to be here already. Here I thought I was showing up early."

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori is busy overseeing the work that's currently being done at the fort in order to better protect its residents and soldiers from the spores that occasionally drift in from the nearby Bloody Mushroom Forest, with flame being the most effective method of protection. The fungal forest was trying to expand, and the poor people in this fort and the nearby village were trying to just keep it where it is while still relying on the deadly stuff for protection. She's a bit surprised when Azusaki calls out to her, and she quickly turns to give the other shinobi a bright and friendly smile, her black hair twirling around her with the speed of her shift to focus on him.

"Ah, well! I heard this one was going to be a bit more of a challenge, so I showed up pretty early! I dunno that my strength is going to be as much of a help for this kind of mission, though..."

Her smile fades a bit into a more perturbed expression as she gives him the rundown summary of what the plan currently is.

"They've brought in a mike... a mik-o... a fungus nerd to figure out how we can safely make use of these toxic spores for protection without harming the civilians or soldiers on our own side. While we have hazmat suits, it doesn't mean the spores are exactly dependable in their natural release of spores. If the enemy attacks while the spores aren't being released naturally, it'll just be a waste. Sooo..."

Kumori holds up a pair of bright yellow suits, which seem to be covered in a few areas with wads of Kusagakure sticky tape, rolled into circles so that every side of the tape is sticky. Thankfully, the tape is kept off of areas where it has the potential to stick to anything else, so mostly the front and the back of the suit are the only parts with sticky tape.

"We're to use these to collect the spores and then return from the Bloody Mushroom Forest. The stickiness of the tape should keep the spores attached, and there's not enough humidity once we leave for the spores to ger- jermin- to grow up. But once they're collected, they can be used at any time for the defense of Semi no Rakuen."

[Jūryoku Azusaki]

    One eyebrow raised at her mention of the spores, which had him immediately looking around as if his panic response was being worried about breathing in spores. Clearly he hadn't given the mission briefing near enough attention as he had assumed it was much of the same. It was mostly calmed as he looked to see no one else seemed all that bothered in comparison, but one eyebrow lowered as the other raised at her mention of her strength not helping clicked in his mind.

"I don't do spores and fungus, breathing or eating if I can help it."

    Suddenly he was missing filling a handcart with floating crap and gathering bad smelling moss. He wasn't exactly a fan of this suite she was trying to pawn off on him either, but given he didn't want to be covered in these spores he was becoming increasingly paranoid about, he took it and put it on about as fast as he could manage.

"I'm not exactly sure how my gravity would effect spores, as they don't tend to weigh much in the first place. Wonder if I could just, stop them? Hm."

    His eyes slowly shifted over towards the forest she mentioned, as his eye twitched.

"Yeah, I definitely miss the floating animal crap."

    Sighing, he slumped forward a bit, looking the suit over and back towards the forest.

"Alright then, let's get this over with. So we are literally just getting this stuff stuck to us and walking back? Do we walk around or roll around in it?"

    Grumbling and sighing again he turned and slowly started walking towards the forest with a bit of a dejected slouch.

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori has her own yellow hazmat suit, though they were only going to be using them for this particular mission. It made sense that they wouldn't be allowed to keep them, though, since they were necessary for the job of collecting the spores. She starts putting her own on, careful not to let any of the adhesive tape make contact with anything else. Although the tape was fantastic at sticking to things, it also couldn't be removed without completely destroying the adhesive. This was actually perfect for the job of catching the spores without having to worry about them being breathed in or wreaking havoc if they might germinate anyway. She does feel a bit similar to Azusaki, and she's relieved at least someone else feels that way, even if she isn't the type to express it outright. There's also her own feeling that her strength or her skill with swords won't really be very useful for the mission, but the mission is supposed to be simple, in any case.

She can't help but to laugh a little when Azusaki mentions that he misses the floating manure over this mission, and she agrees with him that the previous mission had definitely been a better use of their abilities than this one was shaping up to be, even before they actually get started with it.

"You can say that again!"

She finally pulls the hood over her head, making her completely airtight and secure within the hot, heavy suit. Kumori barely even noticed the difference in weight, thanks to her strength, then turning to the other shinobi to answer his question about how to go about the mission.

"Ah, rolling is out of the question. We'd end up all covered up in sticks and dirt and other junk instead, and that's no good for what they need. For now, at least, we're just walking in there, getting ourselves covered in some particular yellow spores, and then returning to have it removed. If they still need more, then we go back out and do it all over again..."

[Jūryoku Azusaki]

    It wasn't until they were getting closer to the forest that he let out a near dramatic sound and pulled the hood up over his head and face, the front fogging up momentarily to show just how much he was groaning and sighing on the way there. He rarely complained like this, but this really was a situation he wasn't fond of voluntarily walking into, in the literal sense. By the time they made it to the forest she had explained it was mostly a matter of walking there, walking around, and walking back. Not the most exciting of missions, but honestly this was incredibly simple.

    

    What he didn't want to do however was walking there and back, because the less time he had to spend here the better, so, maybe his powers could come in handy here if done right.

"Uuuuuuuuh I had a thought, but this could be awkward. You'll have to walk in front of me, and you may have to direct me around, depending on how this goes."

    Scratching his head some he looked up as if he was thinking, then started to form two simple hand seals. Kumori wouldn't have necessarily noticed an impact or affect on her person, but she might have noticed some of the more loose parts of her gear clearly become lighter, or starting to float.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Uku [Float]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low, Very Low (Drain)
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
HANDSEALS: 2 - Bird, Hare
DESCRIPTION:

A sphere of gravity surrounds the user fifty feet (15 meters) outward. In this zone, objects that don’t weight very much will get picked up by the reduction in gravity. The user will have no control over where things go, but they will float. This jutsu has no effect on humans.

"Instead of just trying to stick everything to these suits, I can just pick up the spores around me. Make them so light that they would in a sense get caught around me. Problem is, some other things might as well, and I might pick up a lot of the spores, meaning, as I said, depending on how this goes, I might not be able to see anything if I grab too many. Can't hurt to try."

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori holds back a giggle at the sight of Azusaki groaning and sighing so much with his apparent displeasure at this mission that he even fogs up the face mask of his hazmat suit. It was certainly new for her to see him like this, since previously he'd been quite cheery about the previous missions. She wonders if perhaps he was acting out in this way because he had some sort of fear for the danger of the mission. The forest was called the "Bloody Mushroom Forest", after all. It likely didn't help that the spores could kill a person if they managed to get inside, since the inside of a person's body is warm, dark, and wet, which is just the perfect place to grow, according to the mycologist she'd spoken to about this strange plan.

She pauses for a moment when he does in order to perform handseals, telling her that he had an idea, although it might be awkward because she'll have to walk in front of him and direct him around. The dark-haired woman feels herself becoming surprisingly lighter, but it's not so much of a surprise when she'd experienced this already before, during one of their earlier missions. At first, she's not certain why this would be necessary, but then he explains that instead of them letting the spores land on them, that they could instead lift the spores and catch them. The big problem being that other things might get caught as well, anyways, but larger sticks and stones would likely stay, so she shrugs. Kumori had seen first-hand how helpful the Gravity Release techniques that the ninja was so skilled with, and so this seemed like a good enough idea for her.

"All right! I don't want to stick around here too long, either, so this sounds like a good idea to me."

Kumori shakes her legs before moving in front of him, though keeping a couple of feet apart so that he won't bump into her and end up stuck together thanks to the adhesive tape.

"If we do this right, it should be a quick trip and then we're headed back!"

[Jūryoku Azusaki]

    Having used this ability and similar abilities so often, they were almost like second nature. He could feel the gravity shift around him, and in a sense he could feel the items themselves as well. This specific technique however was a bit less controlled as it simply changed the gravity in an area around him very specifically, almost in a lazy way truthfully. Things that were light enough when floating would end up moving with him if he wasn't moving too fast, like now for example, so he was already picking up bits of grass, a few small rocks, sticks, leaves, the occasional small bug.

    This was something he was used to, but it likely looked a bit ridiculous. Swatting things away that he could reach didn't knock them too far away given the range of his gravity field, but he could at least partially direct them. Sometimes with a hard enough slap he could knock things completely out of his way, until he moved closer again and ended up picking them up all over again.

"Okay, so if I do this right, or more so if I don't do this wrong, then we might not need these suits much at all."

    As he walked a bit closer to their destination he began to walk slower, groaning all over again, but didn't quite stop. The range of the aura around him was already inside the forest, at least where he saw a physical difference in his mind, and his eyes began to narrow. Stepping forward a bit closer, he could visibly see the spores in the air, but he could also visibly see the difference in how they moved, or that they were moving at all when his gravity field touched them.

    Grinning, he inched closer, then a bit closer, and was clearly concentrating on something, before he stopped. His body began to lean inward, and his face began to strain, as inch by inch the range of his gravity field extended, though not likely noticeable to Kumori, but he could feel it. It was so minuscule, but it moved, stretched, grew even, and his face continued to light up. It continued to stretch, not more than a few feet, but it was something.

"So, idea number two. We shouldn't need to push anything. These spores are already light, and if I move slow enough, they should stay inside this field. Let's find where they are the most thick, and I'll move towards them, catch them in my gravity field, and then we can walk back with all we need and then some. You'll have to point me in a direction because..."

    It was clear the longer he talked he was speaking slowly, concentrating on something, but it was hard to tell what as there was no visible representation of his gravity field outside of what was being picked up around him.

"...I need to focus.

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori happily leads the way to the Bloody Mushroom Forest, finding it a bit fun to walk through Azusaki's gravity field, since it always left her feeling far lighter than she really was. As they get closer to the dangerous forest, she can actually start to see the spores in the air, swaying lazily in the air and occasionally carried on a breeze, like dust floating through sunbeams, but she can see that the spores are actually a little larger than the usual dust mote. She stops in her wondering when she hears him speaking behind her, turning around to look at him as he lays out his second idea. The strain in his voice is obvious, and it actually makes her worry a bit, since she'd never hear him struggle this much when he'd been using the Gravity Release to make the manure float into the air or the peat to rise up from the ground.

At first, she considers telling him not to go through with the second idea, since he seems to be struggling, and she's not entirely sure why he might be straining himself so much. Then again, on reconsideration, he wouldn't have offered it as a plan if he didn't think it was something he could do, and if he does this, they would definitely only need one trip, so his exertion would be worth it.

"Hmmm... Well, if you're sure. This should be a much faster method of gathering up the spores, so we'll do it that way. I'll scout ahead first to find the largest amount of the stuff, and then I'll lead you there when I find a lot of the spores."

With that, she waves to him, somewhat hopeful that he won't hurt himself with... whatever it is he's doing, before she runs off into the Bloody Mushroom Forest. It doesn't take her long before she finds what she's looking for, and although she can also see a form of what looks like skeletal remains underneath the dense yellow layer of mushroom spores and a few other species growing from out of a skull, she's certain there's plenty of spores in this location to bring back and use them for a form of defense. Kumori hurries right back to Azusaki, then lightly grabs onto his hand, walking backwards and occasionally glancing over her shoulder to make sure she's going the right way and won't be bumping into any of the huge stalks of mushrooms.

"It's nearby, so we won't have to go too far. Just hold out a little bit, okay?"

[Jūryoku Azusaki]

"It will be fine."

    He could hear the worry in her voice, the way she looked unsure, but in response he simply threw his hands up and gave her two thumbs up. In truth he likely didn't need to strain or push to the extent that he was, but given this was the first time he was doing this so intentionally, he didn't know what muscles to use, what amount of chakra to push, where to focus, so it was a matter of just going for it. It didn't feel great, but it was working, and for now that's what he needed to know the most.

    Each step was slow now, but he could feel the gravity field expanding, not just stretching, as it too was acclimating to the changes he was forcing. It wasn't much at first, but he could really notice the difference, and in truth it wasn't that comfortable. Bluntly, it kind of sucked, as if the more he pushed this change in gravity from himself the more it was pushing back against him as if trying to equalize. Looking up from the ground and his footsteps, he saw her motioning, and despite the clear strain on his face there was an equally large grin.

"I'll be fine, I'm just....trying something."

    Clenching his teeth, then his fists, he moved in the direction she waved him towards, and his slow steps became a bit faster, almost normal, and by now he was starting to look a bit ridiculous with all the foliage and things floating around him. Some of it getting caught on things as he walked by and knocking them away thankfully, until finally he got to Kumori, though she might have noticed by now how far away he was when the gravity was clearly starting to pick things up. It wasn't just a few feet now, it was a noticeably wider range.

"I'm stretching my gravity field out further, or trying to. This kinda hurts, but it's actually working."

    It didn't take long until he was a walking spore cloud unto himself, and started to slow down.

"Glad right about now for this hood."

    A few minutes later and he was having trouble seeing around him, letting out a laugh.

"You definitely have to lead me now. I'm starting to have trouble seeing through all these leaves, sticks, bugs and spores. This either worked really well or terribly, and I can't tell which."

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori sighs with relief when Azusaki actually explains that he's stretching out his gravity field, which she wasn't sure about when he had managed to extend the field to where she was. In fact, she was impressed by how much he could press the field, although she felt that it was a bit weaker than when he had made the manure rise up from the ground. It made sense, but he would absolutely be able to increase the force of it if he works at it; after all, she hadn't even been able to feel any changes to the gravity field when he'd visibly started straining, and now she definitely could.

She smiles when he mentions how glad he is for the head-covering hood, covered as he is with the strangely deadly spores, and with him unable to see, she grabs hold of his hand, locking together their thumbs so that her leading him around won't end up with either of their gloves slipping off. The last thing they need is to get themselves covered in the spores now.

It does take a bit longer than before for them to reach the fortress again, and they're quickly led to an inner room, where pieces of their own hazmat suits are carefully removed, and then the hazmat suits placed into thick and dry plastic bags to ensure that the spores won't be able to grow into the giant mushrooms. It's a relief that they're able to get out of the hazmat suits cleanly, although Kumori was honestly a bit sad that they'd probably be ruined permanently, since they were clearly such finely engineered suits to be able to fully protect every inch of their bodies from particles as small as these spores. Still, she doesn't breathe again until they're both out of the quarantine room and the door itself is closed, ensuring that none of the spores can escape.

"Hoooh, mission accomplished. If we never have to go through that again, it would still be too soon."

She gives Azusaki another smile as she slips her greatsword from where it had been stored for safekeeping in the fort, then she waves at him in farewell as she starts back on her way to Kusagakure.