[Honō Kin]

Kin had been finding the luxury of travel quite a bit lately, and this time it was in the land of hot springs, a fascinating place to say the least, though this was on her way back from her little field trip from Kumogakure. She was fascinated by this strange prospective meteor shower, and there was never going to be a time so magical for a girl like herself. Dressed in her worn out poncho and watermelon helmet, she blinked a few times as she took in the sights. Though. She had to remember that she wasn't a tourist. Yet she definitely would like to be.

No. She was a worker and little helper today. With the aid of a bamboo staff, a couple of small buckets, and an eagerness to help, young Kin wasn't aware that a much older boy was going to be her partner today, as well as babysitter in theory. Coming to fill her buckets on each end, she lifts slowly, feeling a few splashes around herself as she balances the weight on either end. The hard labor being good for character, or so she supposed anyways. Teetering one way, and then the other, she straightens herself. "A-Awuoaah." 

She cutely collects herself as she continues moving the water towards the drop zone. Where apparently the people were using this water for all sorts of things. Boiling it for drinking. Using it to fight fires. Though she momentarily paused when viewing the shark tooth blondie in his full height. Crouching down, she looks up innocently at the older boy before declaring, "Hello! My name is Hono Kin! And I'm six, almost seven! Are you here to help me today mister?!"

[Kurata Yakeru]

Yakeru didn't often travel outside of his home. For good reason, too. You don't let a dog off its leash unless something really bad was happening. Or at least, that's how he theorized it in his head. In reality, he was currently more like a chihuahua, and that meant getting assigned missions like this.

The dossier he had been provided was rather minimal at best. Some sort of dumb shit with a meteor or something causing accidents. It was what the boss wanted him to do, so he did it. Plus, it got him one step closer to promotion, which was the real kicker here.

When he reached the scene of the crime he finally noticed who his partner in said crime would be. And needless to say?

He was not pleased. A frown on his face, as he glanced around, then back down at the papers. Yep, no, this was correct. She fit the description. Did they purposely leave it vague or...

"Holy shit, they paired me with a fucking six year old." The words that left his mouth were less than kind as he stared dumbfounded at the child. He crouched down to meet the girl on a more equal level, placing a hand on his head and moving it over her head to see their heights.

"...Fuck. Okay. I can work with this." He sighed, rubbing his nose.

"Yeah, I guess I'm here to help. Look at these people." He muttered, staring over the group of refugees around him. He'd done zero work so far, but there was plenty to be done still, as he stood back up, glancing back towards the water.

"Listen kid- Take these buckets over to the refugees to help. You know how to make a fire? Maybe do that, help them boil it or something. I'll be keeping an eye out from over here to make sure you don't overwhelm yourself. If you need any help, just... Yell really loud or something." A simple shrug as he glanced away. Maybe he could fork his share of the work on this kid while he played flunky. Wouldn't that be funny?

[Honō Kin]

Maybe she didn't hear him say those cuss words, or maybe she didn't understand. Or perhaps she just pretended not to know what they meant as she looks up at the man, whom compared their heights in a crouch. However, he seemed to guide her and gave her direction. Instructions to follow. To which Kin slowly nods her head, as she slowly looks to brush past him. Though this was a burden on her. 

"Okay Nii-Chan." She says, making her way over with the buckets she had. Though, she took a moment to slowly rub her back when she finished. There was already a firepit made for this, and so, she found herself looking for a striker and some flint. Clink. Clink. Clink. She found herself hitting into a pile of dead grass and leaves. Clink. Clink. Sparks flying out as she seemed to struggle a bit. Until eventually, she saw smoke. Wouldn't be much of a blacksmith's daughter if she couldn't make fire. Besides, she had other experiences with flame.

That, and her family made a lot of charcoal. Slowly crouching down, she cups her tiny hands and blows as hard as she can, trying to make embers. Before hearing the beginning of a crackle. A few more heated breaths and she saw the embers glow, reflecting in her eyes. Mhm~ Wonderful! With a few waves of her hand, she saw a very small fire come to life, as she sought to toss a few small pieces of wood. A bit more kindling as she used her bamboo rod to hover one bucket over a metal bar to let the water boil. Then the other.

A small grunt as she does this task. She wiped her forehead and felt exhausted already. Seating herself by the fire, stoking it with a stick, which she tossed into the flame, she looked down at her hands and slowly rubs them, feeling how sore they felt. From training and hard work. Callouses would probably form at this rate. "Mister? I'm tired...Can you help? My legs are really sore."

[Kurata Yakeru]

Left alone with his thoughts, Yakeru stared down at the ground. This was such an odd, odd place for him to be. Stuck with a child, in the middle of some tragic event- Couldn't he get something more interesting? More cool?

Maybe something where he got to kill people. Now that would be exciting. A bit much? Yes. But still exciting. Plus, it'd get him closer to achieving his goals. He kicked a rock towards the puddles at this point, completely ignoring the child. She could handle herself, right?

... Probably. For now, he practiced his handseals. Shifting through them carefully, he was sitting there for a minute working at it, slowly focusing his energy into it. Like many times when he was alone with his own thoughts, they raced with questions, and a desire- a need to perform action. A struggling war between two forces in his head, as memories of the past flooded through him unchecked. On the outside, he seemed ever so normal. But on the inside? He was simply further hyping himself up unintentionally, working up his own mind. A steady mister of himself.

'Mister? I'm tired...'

What the fuck? He blinked, eyes opening, as he turned to the child again. So much for alone with his thoughts. He cursed under his breath again.

"You're kidding right? All you did was carry some water and start a fire." What a miserable little brat. He could do at least five times this work when he was a child without worrying.

...Okay, probably not, but he didn't want to think about his childhood right now. He stepped over towards the fire- Least she'd done a good job at that- And watched the water boil on top of it.

"Fuck it. Okay. Just sit here and let the water boil for about... A minute, once it actually starts boiling and bubbling. Then let it sit for a while and cool down. That should be good enough for these people." He glanced down at the buckets and rolled his eyes, picking up four of them.

"I'm going to go collect some more water and bring it back here. Make sure the water boils, and try not to fall into the fire or something. Really, I don't think we can screw this up unless we actively try." What a wonderful helper Yako was, as he steadied himself to walk back towards the location of the water.

[Honō Kin]

Kin had never met anyone before who felt so nonchalantly annoyed by her presence. Not even her school bullies, considering their bullying was more so one out of jealousy or maybe a disdain at the amount of attention she got. The next few moments made Kin look up at him, before she pretty much summed up her truest feelings about him.

"You're mean!" She says, before her fists ball up. And her lower lip quivers. Before she sniffles, and runs away from him. Crying, like the little child she was. And probably, any of the refugees around were giving Yako a pretty nasty look right now. Because you had to be kind of heartless in this situation to act like that to a kid, especially considering it was a catastrophe. Probably a good amount of these people were parents themselves. 

Leaving him alone, Kin went to pick up her bamboo stick and would endeavor to do the job herself! Wiping tears along her lower face, she comes to take off her watermelon helmet and shakes her face, wiping snot and tears from her face as she whimpered to herself. She was just trying to do her best, and the people from the lightning village seemed so scary. First there was the hissing lady. Then there was the wolf man. And now there was shark teeth. 

Huddling for a moment, she takes two new buckets and lets them fill with water, as she looks back to the fire she'd made. Before once again beginning the burdensome task of carrying her water, but with more wobble to her step. She was already so tired from all that hiking in the mountains. Struggling, she wiped some lingering tears out of her face as she makes her way gradually but steadily towards camp. Each step was a careful one as she didn't want to spill. 

The training being grueling, weighing her down, but a good exercise of decent strain for a kid like her. Just needed to do this a couple dozen times right?

[Kurata Yakeru]

'Your mean'... Yeah, yeah he was mean. He looked around at the others who were giving him dirty looks for yelling at a kid, before he rolled his eyes. He was blunt, sure.

"Not my fault she has no spine." He explained, as he took his way to the water. When he noticed the small girl struggling on her way back, he could only heavily roll his eyes as he sighed audibly. He himself was carrying four buckets on a stick, but alas, she looked like she could hardly carry two.

Did he really need to help this... Thing? It was honestly kind of silly to him. Why was he forced to work with children, of all things? The beast inside of him told him to just smack this kid upside the head. But the human side of him could at least understand what it was like to be misunderstood, right?

... Not really. Still, a subconscious effort, beyond that of the beast inside, told him to help the kid out. She was his teammate, after all. And if she collapsed, all these dumbass adults were going to get on his ass.

So quietly, he walked up behind her, lowered a hand down, and aimed to grab and pick up the bamboo off her back and carry it over his shoulders instead.

"I told you to stay by the water and let it boil. You're just going to tire yourself out and you'll be useless to everyone. If you can follow my instructions correctly, how do you ever intend on being a proper ninja?" He was blunt and honest. Truth be told, he told her to watch the water boil so he could pull off his side of the heavy lifting. There was a method to his madness beyond just being a snarky dickhead.

Still no apology though. Sharktooth was a meanie butt.

[Honō Kin]

Childhood innocence met teenage angst in full swing as she found herself taking one step after another. Only for sharky to come forth and lift her stick and rest it up on his shoulders. Chastising her for leaving the buckets unattended. She was about to protest him, yell at him, and tell him she didn't want to speak to him anymore. Only for him to say something that made her freeze on the spot. 

Slowly looking him over, she felt more hot tears well in her eyes, but she'd see the burdens he carried and instantly felt as if she had no right to complain. Even though he was older than she was, and bigger, if he could do as much, if not more than she could, then she should shut her mouth right? The thought lingered in her mind as she looks up at him almost dumbfounded for a second with her honeysuckle eyes. Before she slowly nods her head. Hurriedly running off. 

Back to the fire as she could see the water boiling hot. It carefully being poured out by people with thick leather gloves into larger containers to drink later when cooled down. Or maybe some of it taken immediately to use for tea. Kin threw another few sticks in the flame then. Another few sticks before she waits for the man to return. She couldn't help but pout and look towards the fire then.

Think about how shamed she felt that she couldn't bring in more buckets of water. Why she couldn't carry fifty, or even a hundred at the same time. However at the very least, she'd begin taking the buckets and handing them over one at a time to the refugees to help put over the fire. Though in those next moments, she'd recognize something.

He did in fact do as she asked and helped her. So, remembering her good manners, she murmurs to him. "A-Arigato." 

[Kurata Yakeru]

He lowered the water next to the small girl, glancing over the fire before her and the others. Yeah, fine. He collected his water. He wasn't completely useless. He lowered the buckets down, crouching near the fire as he extended his hands towards it to warm them. He didn't seem that much more tired, but at the very least, he was a little cold. Should have worn a better hoodie.

"Whatever. Just try and keep your strengths and weaknesses in mind." He put forward that nugget of knowledge unknowing of the reason of her pouting. There was truth in it though- If she couldn't carry buckets of water, she could work on boiling it. She could make tea. There were a thousand things to do, and just because she couldn't take on the more physically straining ones didn't mean she couldn't take on other equally important tasks.

Not that it mattered to Yakeru one way or another what she did. He tossed a stick into the fire and placed the buckets down, looking over the refugees.

"Alright. We should take a break here anyways. We can boil the water and make sure it gets to the right people. I don't want to spend all day carrying water back and forth unless we need to, so hopefully you all can use what we've brought."

They were surely grateful, but there were a few scornful looks towards Yakeru over his... Less than kind behavior.

[Honō Kin]

Kin didn't exactly wear the best of clothes for the conditions, but she was at least bundled up, able to wrap the excess of her clothes upon her. However, before long, she found that as she rests before him, she'd stared deeply into the fire as she watches the water bubble. "Mhm." Kin says, becoming more shy and withdrawn, as she didn't know really how to feel about the shark tooth man before her anymore. He was mean, yes, but he did do the work he said he was going to. Maybe there was a reason why fate had destined these two to work together this day. Regardless.

"I'm jus' glad that we're able to help all of these nice people." She says, before reaching for her watermelon helmet and putting it once again atop her head. Hiding herself from the view of others. "I've been getting to see all kinds of people across the world lately, and it's helping me learn lots. I can't wait to get to be a real ninja." Kin thought, as she slowly begins to feel her head daze, as she lowers it into her lap for a second. Their job was more or less done here, or so one might imagine for the moment. Still. It seemed like there was just so much more left to do. Wasn't there?

"...Thank you for helpin' mister."

[Kurata Yakeru]

There would always be more to do. Always more stuff that needed to get done. But for now? It seemed they had done the job they had set out to do. This wasn't exactly a difficult mission, and they could likely spend the rest of the day once they woke up carrying more water. The hard part was out of the way though- Getting to know eachother.

It seemed this small... Odd Child had finally grown a bit on him. Or more correctly, she understood him.

"You're going to meet a lot of people before then. Maybe if you're lucky, they ain't going to be mean like me." He teased gently, tapping her shoulder as he scooted closer to her.

"...Just be careful. There's a lot of people out there who would abuse your kind nature. Trust me..." He knew firsthand people who did that sort of shit. If there was one thing he could respect, it was people who were upfront about themselves, at least.

"...And realize that everyone has their demons. Nobody was born evil. Everyone has a reason." Good or bad, there was truth to that, as he leaned forward towards the fire. They'd likely continue to move water back and forth throughout the day, and would likely finish with gold stars. What they'd end up getting out of all of this, well... Yako was hoping for some cold hard currency.

[Honō Kin]

Not really too sure what to make of it, what was the most surprising about these moments was how fast he seemed to shift his attitude. However, as she came to listen to his words, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't confused. Confused about all he had to say about evil people, and how nobody was born evil. She'd never thought that in the first place. "I think everyone'sa lil' good..." She says, slowly nodding off, as she slumps slightly. Before slowly closing her eyes and entering into a light sleep. However, much as Yako had thought, it was not long before the pair would return to their duties.

The grueling duty of lugging water, boiling it, and preparing it for the people to drink, if not lugging it to be used to extinguish fires in the fire zone. However, all seemed rather well and peaceful all things considered. There was some establishment of order, and though their efforts were comparatively small, even the work of the academy students proved to be vital. Needless to say, the consistent lugging of water buckets made an impression on her arms, legs, and back, as by the end, the small Kin felt like she was practically falling apart at the end of her tenure. Ah. Well, you know what the old saying was. What didn't kill you would make you stronger!

[Kurata Yakeru]

By the end of it all, they were both likely quite tired and exhausted, but at least they had got a lot done, right? Right. That was what mattered to these people, and even if this wasn't as exhausting for him as it was for Kin, it was still a fine workout for Yako.

As for his words of wisdom, he wasn't quite sure why he imparted them on the small child. She didn't seem to think about it very much, which was a curse and a blessing- Least she'd never bring it up again.

Then again, after this mission, he had his doubts he'd ever see this girl. She was from Kusagakure, right? Not exactly a place he wanted to go vacation to anytime soon.

Every little bit of work they did helped at least, and Yako had even learned a bit about himself- Control over his inner mind, his emotions. Understanding who or what he was.

Slowly letting himself become the beast he truly wanted to be. There was no good to be found here. And if there was? Nobody was going to find it.