An Important Pickup

The red light district was fairly infamous for shady activities, especially during the night. While a popular place for adults to experience night life, such as gambling, drinking, and karaoke, these business ventures are popular to attract criminals from all walks: juvenile thugs to more organized crime syndicates. Despite the bad reputation, the red light district within Konoha is rather tame compared to most cities. In fact, as ironic as it sounds, the street vermin that lurk the alleyways and well-furnished offices fear the ninja that make up the military force in Konohagakure no Sato. The hoodlums are well under the thumb of the shinobi, as they often seek the criminals for information on a hit placed or cargo being smuggled within the village. Keeping authoritarian relationships with the gangsters served as a means to build good relationships, track crime, and of course filter out any potential threats that could make its way inside the village from an enemy nation.

Of course having no enemies the restrictions are rather lax. Standard inspections and the whole nine yards are followed as protocol suggests, though no need of interrogation or extreme force is ever needed. The stories of "never be alone out at night" are primarily tall tales shared among civilians and visitors to add a daring factor to the red light district, but in actuality the streets are rather tame. The risk of encountering trouble is marginally increased, but more often than not that trouble would be a few ill-mannered adolescents hyped up on too much sugar.

Being a few hours from the heart of Konohagakure it was unusual to see Naomi in such an urban part of the village, especially since she preferred her rural residency and clear air over closely stacked apartments and stinky garbage. The reason for her adventure into the bowels of Konohagakure was due to one of her favorite past-times: geocaching.  Naomi wore a pair of light brown boots which rode up her leg covering her calf. Both boots have the same design with a blue lace tied at the tops. To complete her simple outfit is a one-piece light blue cheongsam with golden embroidery and a brown sash around her waist. The free design of her outfit provides comfort during most seasons and is flexible given her labor intensive duties as a farmhand, ninja, and apprentice metalworker, fletcher, and leatherworker. Naomi wears her forehead protector around her left arm like an armband, the cloth being blue in color to match the rest of her outfit.

Naomi sports naturally dark green hair which is fastened into a long ponytail which rides down her back. Despite her labor intensive lifestyle she prefers to take care of herself given her soft, fair skin as opposed to what would normally be rough and tan. Her eyes are a blue in color. Standing at 5'7 and weighing in roughly 135 lbs she is rather tall for her age, which is natural in her family for being taller, heartier folk compared to the average population.

In her hands she held a single folded slip of parchment which was the last clue for the cache. The picture was a sketch of what appeared to be an alleyway between two apartment complexes. She needed to follow the alley to its end, push aside a trash dumpster, and dig a meter into the softened earth. The day was dusk after the sun had just set giving her limited daylight to find what she needed before a night hike back home. She moved along the sidewalk like all passerby did until she stopped suddenly, drifting her eyes from her map to the area surrounding her. The apartments were identify, with balconies and fire exits on the outsides of the buildings.

Taking a few backsteps into the streets she aligned the piece of paper with the scene before her. "Bingo." With full determination, Naomi plunged straight into the alleyway. Given her training she was more attuned to dim environments than the average person. Naomi was able to navigate safely and comfortably into the alley with little delay until she reached the end. There is was. The big green dumpster. And it was just before garbage day.

The container was filled past capacity with large bags of garbage, which inevitably increased the weight of the steel bin significantly. But Naomi was not going to come home empty-handed. Taking in a steep breath through her nose she exhaled from her mouth in full determination. She stood a mere three meters from the dumpster before kneeling down into a three-point stance. Contracting her legs and thighs she sprung into a perfect blitz extending both arms outwards. Her speed, bodyweight, and strength pounded into the steel container as the sound which rang made it audible that something hard rammed into the dumpster. And hard it was.

Her obstacle budged only a few inches as Naomi's palms and arms grew numb for a moment, her legs churnings as she struggled to move the container out of the way. Her body was insignificant as her effort only resulted in her feet burrowing herself a small trench. After fifteen seconds of consistent effort she quickly realized she wasn't going to get anywhere by herself. Stepping back from the container she caught her breath with a few huffs and puffs as she analyzed her challenge. Because that is what ninja do.

Takeshi moved down the street of the Red Light District being quite frankly, disappointed. He had come out here because he wanted to get into a fight, have a little fun, no one here was really up for it, or anything that he didn't know he would beat down a head of time. Fight's he knew he would win were boring, and picking them up would just make him a bully and that was something he didn't think he was. It was getting late though, well later, and the tall, blue haired man was bored out of his mind. He walked with both hands behind his hand, sighing softly as the disappointment of it all. He had heard stories of Red Light Districts in other places being dangerous, rowdy, and a good place to go if you wanted a fight or any of the vices a shinobi, or individual really, could possibly want. However it seems Konoha's was tame in comparison to those. Or perhaps this was a matter of the stories not equaling the reality in general. Either way it was depressing to know that he wasted a night trying to find a fun fight only to find none. He could have just gone to the training grounds again, but everyone there either wouldn't fight anymore or didn't want to to begin with.

As he moved down the street passing by an alleyway between apartments when he heard a large metallic boom. Turning to his right, he would see into the alleyway and note a woman with long, dark green hair, standing a little over half a foot shorter than him and wearing some kind of blue dress. She was attacking a..trash container? Tilting his head curiously the blue haired man would stare for a moment as he considered what she must be doing. The trash container was overflowing, obviously full to capacity and due to that, more than likely extremely heavy. He wondered if he could move it himself, was fairly physically capable. The question was though, what was the greenette doing trying to move it? Could it be some kind of physical training? Blinking his eyes at the idea he shrugged. That must be it, what else could it be? Still, clearly she was wasn't having much luck, and he moved into the alleyway, his upper body bare due to how his bloodline functioned. He did have on black shinobi pants and black, steel toed boots though. The pants had holes at the knees that to many wouldn't seem to make sense. His Konoha headband was tied around his right arm, and as he moved his crystalline blue eyes took in the woman as she stepped back to try to consider her problem.

"Interesting way to strength train, I'm Takeshi, need a training partner?" He would ask curiously. While an alleyway in the Red Light District wasn't his first preference in training locales, anywhere was fine really. He just wished it smelled better. He had a relatively sensitive nose and this place did not help things really. "Although, perhaps, if you're wanting to train, we can go somewhere a bit less, fagrant, dark, and filthy? Like a training ground?" He would ask. He was always up to training, but the grounds were designed for it.

During her recovery she analyzed her foe. Its size, shape, and configuration. It was taller than her, heavier, and tougher. But she saw its weakness the moment after her first lunge. It was propped up by a set of wheels, likely to make wheeling out into the streets easier for garbage day. Naomi had two options: she could try and brute force her way to success. This would require several sprits like before to eventually budge the dumpster out of the way. This would improve her burst speed and physical strength. Otherwise her second option would be to scale the dumpster and remove its contents to decrease the weight significantly so she could move the dumpster aside without much effort. The latter improved her coordination. Among the options before her, a third, unexpected choice would make its entrance now. A few crunchy steps made its way closer to her flank as another person strayed from the sidewalk into her alleyway.

A quick turn of the head she realigned her body to face the stranger directly. As she got a grasp of the man's appearance she began linking the tales of the Red Light District to what she was encountering. This blue-haired male was partially undressed and his pants were damaged severely giving him the appearance of a serial rapist. Of all days to be caught unarmed, it was today. She was prepared to give a fight of his life, though, fairly confident in her abilities to deter the man despite his visible muscle growth. But her initial impression of him immediately dissolved once she caught a glimpse of his forehead protector and Konoha's emblem engraved in the plate. The tension relaxed, as the curious expression she had on her face turned into a pleasant smile.

"Oh, what's up?" She said casually, though she was embarrassed and ashamed internally to pass such a harsh judgement off the bat. "Training partner? I mean, I guess sometime in the future. I don't have a team assigned yet, so I mainly just train by myself most of the time." Following Takeshi's final inquiry Naomi pieced together what he was getting at. "Oh wait, you're just being silly now, aren't you? I wasn't using this to train. In fact, maybe you can help me move this thingy. You could save me tons of time." Strolling over to the container she placed her back against it and lowered herself in order to utilize her legs to push. "Get in position and lets do this!" She said with a bit too much zeal in her voice. With both of them together she had no doubt they could accomplish her task. If and when Takeshi joined her she start pushing using her legs to drive her back up against the container and with enough effort the dumpster would roll several meters back as the two of them would successful drive the obstacle out of their path.

As she spun toward his force he would see a visible tension in her. As if ready to move quickly and violently. It was obvious even to someone as socially inept as he was as to the reason for her tension. Here they were in a dark alley in the Red Light District at night. Even if the district was as tame as it was that didn't mean something couldn't happen and he himself preferred clothing that made him look more like a homeless individual than anything else. It wasn't that he wouldn't like clothing that gave him a better impression. His bloodline however precluded that, for anytime he would utilize it the bones would tear through any clothing he might have. Then he would have to either mend them constantly, and spend a great deal of time doing so. Or replace them at a rate that would make the heads of any clothier in the village spin. So it was far easier, and less expensive, to simply not wear upper body clothing. His pants he could do little for, but luckily any bones from their generally came from his knees and that meant there'd only really be one hole there. All in all, while he looked like a homeless vagabond, or a street thug, he really just didn't have much of a choice in the matter. However as he was about to confirm that he was in fact a shinobi her eyes would move toward his headband and she would visibly lose tension. Good then, she knew he wouldn't hurt her or do some other horrible thing.

The smile she gave him was pleasant and friendly and her question was casual, just another shinobi chatting with another. She accepted his training offer and that made him grin viciously for a moment, a sparring partner was exactly what he needed after all. However quickly after her next comment would take him for a metaphorical loop. 'Me being silly?..I'm not the one trying to move a dumpster in the red light district at night lady..' He would think to himself as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "If you're not training then why..You know what, never mind." He would say as he moved over to the dumpster and began to push with his strength. He was actually fairly strong. At least compared to non-shinobi. He could potentially even move the dumpster on his own, or at least get it out of the way by out by one end of it. Still, if the woman was willing to get her hands dirty, why stop her?

She would utilize her back and legs more and he would use his arms, shoulders, and legs to put all of the force of his body into the effort. Taking firm handholds before pushing with all of the force of his body. The dumpster would be moved in short order with their efforts and once that was done Takeshi would stand straight, dusting his hands off idly as he turned toward her. "So, may I ask what the point of that was if it wasn't training?" He would ask, an eyebrow crooked up in curiosity.

"You'll see!"

Naomi said eagerly, although she was fairly sure Takeshi would find no interest in her hobby which was more or less far from mainstream. Combined they made significant progress in moving the dumpster. In fact it felt like Takeshi was doing it all himself as it felt like she was not contributing much to the labor. His muscles were not just for show. For a Genin his strength was significant and it was her luck for encountering him in her time of need. Moving the container back a few meters she stopped after exposing the soft patch of soil. "That's good enough." She said between soft pants as she was mildly out of breath giving the pushing. Taking a few steps forward she was standing over the patch of dirt before dropping down to her knees. Burrowing her bare hands into the earth she shuffle the dirt aside digging a small pocket roughly half a meter deep in silence until her fingers struck the strongbox.

"Here we go. This is what I was looking for." Lunging her hands through the earth she grabbed the box's frame and pulled the container from the ground. Setting the box aside she pivoted her body to face it in the direction of Takeshi. Crossing her legs she flipped open the safety latch and opened it.

While not exactly buried treasured, there was a variety of trinkets and currency of mediocre value. Small toys, marbles, handmade crafts, and roughly two-hundred ryo in coins. Naomi was an amateur treasure hunter and was only interested in the coins. Before she even though about reaching in her hip pouch she needed to wash up. Raising her cupped hands to her face she spat a load of spit between them, rubbing them together and making them more sanity by her definition. Rubbing her hands dry against the sides of her boots she dug in her pouch and retrieved a miniature keychain kunai. It was obviously unsharpened and purely for decoration, but it had some value. Previously soda and food cans, they were melted down and used for recycling. Naomi, however, reserved a small amount of the metal and used it to forge a homemade trinket. Grabbing the ryo she placed the trinket in the box as she counted the ryo coin by coin. "Look, there's a-hundred and ninety ryo! We can split a snack for all of our hard work." Dropping the coins loosely in her hip pouch she'd shut the box and drop it back in the hole before scooping all of the misplaced dirt back in the hole.

And just like that, in a few minutes everything was back in its place. Taking a few stomps over the filled hole she ensured the area looked undisturbed. "The garbage people can move the dumpster when they take the trash. Let's get out of this stinky alley." She said with a turned head towards Takeshi while beckoning he tag along. "I guess you could call me a treasure hunter of sorts, but I prefer Naomi." She said with a smirk following her amateur success. "Once I train some more I'll be able to land some real scores outside of the village in uncharted territory. But for now I make-do. What kind of snack do you feel like?" Naomi would keep her walking pace besides Takeshi as they would leave the alley and walk as a pair on the sidewalk.

As she answered his question he gave a small roll of the eyes along with a patient smile. The woman seemed to eager it was hard not to humor her. When they had finished, her giving the signal that it was enough, she would begin to pat around before finding the spot and beginning to dig through the soft soil she found. Takeshi, being ever helpful, despite being blunt and hard headed, knelt to assist her in her endeavor. The digging went much faster with both of them and soon enough Naomi removed a small box. Spitting on her hand to 'clean' them the way only someone on a farm would do, which meant Takeshi too in this case, she took the loose change in ryo from the box and put a trinket of her own inside. However Takeshi held a hand to forestall her before she closed it.

Turning his head to the side, he looked at the box for a moment. Then looked back up at her. "Interesting..Here, let me too.." He would say, reaching into his pocket. Out from it he revealed a small, finger sized carving. Nothing particularly fancy, just something he himself whittled down from bone in his spare time. It would make the perfect thing to put in such a thing since it held an air of mystery about it. What was the carving? Was it really bone? Where did the bone come from? Of course no one would really be able to tell it was one of his. An easy hobby to get into when you could do what he could with his bones. He dropped it into the box and took five of the prettier marbles. They had a sparkle to them even in the dim light from the moon that managed to illuminate at least a bit of the alleyway. He could turn those into something too, he considered what he might do with them a moment before shrugging and deciding that he would figure it out later.

Pocketing the marbles he would flash her a small grin before helping her bury the thing once more. As they stood she seemed to want to leave the dumpster as it was but he didn't want to do such a thing. Not because it was important that the dumpster be in it's spot. But they had moved it, and it should be left the way they found it. So he moved over to the dumpster and took a deep breath before pushing against it and slowly pushing it back into place. It was more effort with her help, but that didn't matter to him. When he was done he would turn to her. "Sorry, I hate not leaving things as I find them. Something my mother drilled into me." He would say, a small grin on his features. When she offered for them to share a snack he considered it for a moment. He didn't know about her, but he hadn't eaten yet and he was a bit hungrier than what a snack would do.

It was with that thought that with a shrug he looked back to her. "How about you save the ryo, and let me buy us dinner. No, not a date. There isn't a ramen bar in town that won't serve me despite my lack of attire and I know a few good burger joints nearby too that'll let me in without a fuss. Besides, it's late, and my mother always says a lady shouldn't go hungry and shouldn't be unescorted at night. Even if they don't need it, it's the principle of the thing." He would say, shrugging as if that was simply the way it was. It was clear by this point that Takeshi was a bit of a mama's boy in a way. In that he was absolutely terrified of her and as such took her teachings and pearls of wisdom to heart.

"I noticed the spit clean by the way. Which farm are you from? Mom and I are on a pretty small one not far out of the village walls. Although there's plenty of room for guests if you ever find the need." He would say, chiming that in at the last. It was also something his mother had always said. She was a nice woman who never minded putting someone up for a night or two. Or letting someone new stay for as long as they needed provided they did their share of the work. Of course Mother's share of the work was training Takeshi while he got his ass beat every time then got up and did the actual farm work. The result of such abuse and labors though spoke for themselves. He was stronger and a bit more durable than the average genin and he had a quick mind for combat that came from his mama not holding back a fucking lick.

Naomi gave a quick glance up at Takeshi, who quickly caught onto the gist of geocaching without any questions. It was a hobby she picked up, among many others, that she used to make the most of her time in the village. It was a long walk from home, so rather than wasting a trip to the village to simply run errands, Naomi found ways to capitalize on her time in the village. It had gotten to the point where the moment she left at in the morning she wasn't expected to be seen into late that evening. Every day was a little safari for the greenette. She even made it a good habit to pack her own lunches.

After the two finished their exchange and buried the loot box it would appear Takeshi had a bit of a guilty conscious, finding himself unable to abandon the dumpster in its location just a couple meters from its original spot. Naomi observed, but didn't extend a helping hand. A hint of curiosity ran through her mind like a wave before she lost interest already. She figured Takeshi was strong enough to move that thing around like nothing, so what would become a sweaty endeavor for her was nothing more than a minor flex for him. However the true reason was made clear to her amid a grunt as Takeshi moved the container back to its original spot.

Mother? Naomi got the impression that Takeshi lacked a father figure in his life, either abandoned, killed in action, or murdered defending their home. It was generally the patriarch that dealt that kind of mental conditioning. Naomi couldn't help but also feel at least a little bit at ease. There was an odd sense of paranoia of always being watched when doing something awkward, like tampering with a load of garbage. At least by moving the dumpster back, any potential eavesdroppers would get the impression they were after something rather than just moving the trash aside and walking away like a couple of weirdos.

It would appear Naomi struck gold in more ways than one this evening, though. Intially she planned to grab a light snack, make her way home, and then have dinner before hitting the hay. Being treated out, and to a burger joint no less, it was impossible for her to refuse. "Oh sure. It beats vending machine hot dogs. I wanna wash my hands, though." She said raising her cupped hands to her nose and taking a whiff. The smell of dirt, stale garbage, and dried spit was definitely not the status for hand foods. Especially a food was messy as a cheeseburger. "The last name's Sato. Our homestead is bigger than most, though that's because it's been around for a couple generations I believe. We raise livestock from cows, chickens, and horses. We also grow produce. Mainly cabbage and shungiku, though we also handle leeks and daikon. We keep a small patch of mint to help keep cabbage moths away. There's also an apple tree on property, though like the mint we don't really trade those."

The two had left the alley by then and were well on their way to the destination Takeshi was talking about. She couldn't imagine why he would choose to dress that way seeing how often he was turned down for service. It was clearly a problem, though Takeshi had stated their family's harm was rather small suggesting financial issues. But she didn't press it too much. After all, noodles weren't really her thing anyways. Although they were a popular food choice for adolescents and young adults, Naomi would definitely prefer a burger more.

"Farm stuff aside, on the property I work with metal, wood, and leather a bit. My most recent project I've started to craft some weapons for myself instead of buying from the market. It's crazy how much cheaper it is to forge your own stuff, but I guess everyone is trying to make a living. What do you and your family do on your homestead? It must be going fairly well if you have 'guest rooms' available like that." She said, clasping her hands behind her back and looking up at Takeshi directly as she followed along besides him with a slight lean to her posture giving an overall playful and interested presence.

At her acceptance and statement of wanting to wash her hands he would raise his, palms out toward her as he spoke. “Same here.” He would say with a light chuckle before motioning for her to follow. “We can wash em at the burger place. It’s only a few blocks away.” He would say before moving, as he left the alley the lights of the red light district would seem bright for a brief moment given the darkness of the alleyway. He would lead, since he was the one guiding of course although he would work more or less beside her if possible. “Mostly livestock with a few plants. Mostly carrots, cabbages, and tubers. We do alright given our penchant for livestock. It’s actually why most burger joints will let me in. The owners of them are used to seeing me and just don’t care. I mostly deal with the animals and mother deals with the crops although I’ll plow furrows for them for her. As a hobby I usually do bone carvings. Not as useful as metalwork perhaps but I also don’t generally need physical equipment when I fight.” He would say, giving the rundown of their own farm before considering for a moment “Oh, and my last name is Kaguya.” He would say idly as he remembered that she herself had given her last name. He wasn’t sure where the Sato homestead was in comparison to his and his mothers. He didn’t generally pay attention to neighbors, preferring to keep to himself.

Some might think that due to the ‘small’ size of the farm they might have financial issues but really it was the crop aspect that was small, and even then only in comparison to other farms in the area. Takeshi and his mother specialized in raising the cows, pigs, chickens, and other such livestock. As such their land did have plenty of room. It was just dedicated the pastureland and other such things for the raising of said livestock. Most of his daily chores involved cleaning out manure, ensuring plenty of food, taking the cattle to pasture, ensuring fences were good and strong with no damage, and other such activities. Including the slaughter of livestock when it was time to sell the meat. Their house was smallish but there were only two of them. Him and his mother. They had a few guest rooms and mother always told him to offer a room to someone if they needed it for a few days. Anything longer than that and they would have to pitch in. He glanced over at her for a moment as he turned them down the next street and led their path down it. The burger joint was on this road a few intersections down. He and Naomi were certainly an interesting looking pair. Even going by a glance. He, shirtless with pants with holes in the knees and boots. With blue hair and eyes. Her with a sort of dress that didn’t seem to constrict movement with her green hair and eyes. It was actually rather amusing.

“How often do you find yourself hunting for treasure?” He would ask as he took the marples out of his pocket and began to work them around his fingers. He always liked to be moving. They were pretty little things and he cocked his head at them as he looked at them more closely now that they had more light. They were a variety of colours of greens and blues and yellows. He started having ideas of what he might be able to do with them although it would take some effort to make the little craft project work. At this point they would be arriving at the burger joint and he would walk up to the door and open it, moving to let her enter first as he put the marbles back in his pocket. The joint had a very diner like feel to it and a young woman behind the counter smiled at him in greeting. “Evening Takeshi, I’ll tell dad you’re here.” She would say before moving toward a swinging door and saying a few words into the kitchen. Moments later she returned and a tall man with a bit of paunch, but wearing a clean apron with a white shirt beneath and simple but functional work pants on came out of the kitchen with a welcoming grin. “How are ya Takeshi? Got a date I see, good good, you need to spend more time with women. Here to eat I assume. Well we’ll get you two situated, Luvia will bring you two a menu but please take a seat.” He would say, the man’s words almost spilled over each other and it was clear he simply took over a conversation generally when he had the chance and Takeshi laughed.

Denying it was a date would start the man off on another tangent but Takeshi had dealt with this man many times over the past few years and he simply nodded his head toward the restrooms. “It’s great to see you Cid, Naomi and I gotta wash our hands before sitting down.” He would say, prompting the man to nod his head emphatically before turning back toward the kitchen as if his mind was already on the next thought. Cid was a man of high energy and a boisterous personality but he quickly moved on to the next thought if you didn’t deny anything or let him get into one of his stories. Takeshi would give a polite smile to Luvia before nodding to her and then turning toward the restrooms where he would go wash his hands before sitting down at a booth. Should Naomi join him he give her a smile as Luvia brought two menus It was a typical burger joint and they, as such, had various kinds of burgers. Takeshi and his mother were the main supplier of their meat and Cid was always happy to see him, shirt or no. “Go nuts, sorry about that. Cid’ll go on and on if you let him but he means well.” He would say with a grin before looking down at the menu and contemplating.

Naomi was quite surprised when he mentioned their property's focus on livestock. Meat was and will always be quite valuable given the time and resources it takes to mature cattle or swine. That goes without saying the land in these parts were no too suitable for grazing. But they did manage to make a modest living so to speak, and much like a lot of people Naomi did appreciate her meats as much as she did fish. There was a sense of pride she could share with Takeshi that they were both farmhands and ninja, keeping the ancient origin of ninja alive. They gave back to their community in two ways by protection and resources, and the amount of effort it took to help run a farm as well as keep up with their ninja duties and responsibilities required incredible dedication.

"Not too, too often. I'm usually a three hours away from the heart of the village by walking, so I try to make the most out of my time when I leave the house. This includes trying new things as well. But once I get strong enough and enough reputation, I'd like to travel outside of the village more often and try to land real scores. Something that'll let me afford a nice house where I can start taking it easy." She said thoughtfully, sharing her dream to eventually unwind and not work as hard as she has been. "Not that I'm lazy, but there's a lot to see and experience. And I'd like to do that before I get comfortable at home." She had finished right as the door opened to the establishment they were dining at.

The powerful smell of cooking oil, toasted buns, and grilled burger meat was enough to fill any young woman with excitement. The familiar setting of chatter among patrons and a busy kitchen immediately started to work up an appetite. Takeshi was known at this place just as he said when the assistant went to go fetch her father, who Naomi could only imagine was the owner of the place. The greenette focused more on the establishment as eager eyes took in the atmosphere. She didn't eat out too often, most cases it being a treat such as a birthday. When the older man arrived at the podium he greeted the familiar face he knew and acknowledged Naomi as his company for the evening. Naomi did get a little flustered being called his 'date.' It wasn't a title she was used to. Typically kunoichi didn't date due to a variety of reasons, though the most popular being that they didn't have enough time. Naomi was among that crowd.

The two would split off momentarily to wash up, Naomi washing up to her elbows and even her face some using the soap. Cleaning up always was a soothing practice making one feel fresh and new, although this would be nothing compared to the bath she planned later that night when she actually came home. Naomi would emerge from the restroom shortly after Takeshi and would find herself at the table they were assigned. Scooting in to the seat across from Takeshi she could finally rest, letting her joints take it easy after her long day of work. "Cid's an interesting name." She said putting her head back on the backrest of her seat. Grabbing the menu she brought it into plain sight and read what they offered. "I think I want the double cheeseburger, no tomato, and pickled jalapeno slices. And I want to replace the fries with onion rings, and have a cherry limeade to drink." It was all pretty standard for Naomi's tastes. She preferred intense tastes over subtle, and nothing brought the intensity like pickled peppers. As for the onion rings, potatoes were semi-staple foods she ate on a weekly basis, so she wanted this treat to mean something by changing things up.

Taking her head off the backrest she fixed her posture to a more natural sitting form. "Boy, it feels so much better being indoors after a long day out. I kinda envy you a bit. Usually my parents handle the delivery of our crops. I don't get to make the connections like you do." She imagined it was hard work. Takeshi was able to push that dumpster aside by himself without so much as a grunt, a clear sign of extraneous physical activity. But there were clear drawbacks to gaining top much muscle, and that was the rippling physique Takeshi had. Perhaps good looking on him, but she couldn't see herself so...chiseled.

Takeshi nodded at her plan. It made sense, all in all she wanted to get a large house and be able to kick back and relax after exploring the world. He could certainly understand himself. He wanted a similar dream, although maybe not the kicking back part. He and his mother had always established that he would move out on his own one day and probably one day very soon. She was more than ready for the eventuality and she could more than take care of herself. She was also more than capable of taking care of those livestock and crops herself if necessary. He only helped because as her son, and as he was living under her roof, it was exactly what was expected of him. It was also what he was more than happy to do. When he moved out, she would either take care of what remained, or scale back the operation to a more manageable size. She might also hire workers to help and expand. She had talked about doing that too and it certainly made sense. She wouldn't have to train him anymore and that would free up hours of her day.

Regardless of what his mother would do without him around he could not only appreciate Naomi's goals, but empathized. He wasn't sure how he felt about traveling around, maybe if he could get the clearance he might do some traveling. However mostly he just needed to get the money in order to be able to afford to move. He was hoping that the shinobi program would give a steady paycheck so he could do exactly that. "I can understand wanting to get a nice house and kick back. I want to get myself a big place too, although I don't know about the kicking back part. I pretty much always want to keep progressing." He would say with a small smile.

Once they sat at their booth she would comment on Cid's name and he would grin. "Every time you ask him about it he'll give you a different story about why he has it too. It's some fun entertainment. Some of them are almost believable too." He would say with a small chuckle before listening to her order and nodding. Solid choice he himself would simply slide the menu away from him. He didn't need it and when Luvia arrived she would take their orders. Motioning Naomi to go first since it was polite he would wait as Luvia wrote down everything before turning back to Takeshi. The small smile on her features widening ever so slightly at him. Not that he noticed, he was in all honesty, pretty stupid, and oblivious as a log. He did smile back though before ordering. "Double cheeseburger, no tomatoes or onions, light mustard, extra pickles. An order of chili cheese fries and to drink I'll just have some lemonade." He would order. Luvia would nod as she wrote everything down before turning and heading to the kitchen.

Getting more comfortable, which meant Takeshi turned and placed his back against the wall and stretched his legs across his booth seat and set his arm on the back of the booth. He maintained eye contact with Naomi as she spoke and grin at her words. "You're more than welcome to join me on my deliveries if you want. Not all of our clients are old codgers like Cid who will jump to conclusions. Some of them are even almost normal." He would say with a chuckle before shaking his head. "But really though, it is pretty cool to meet all of the various owners of restaurants we service. I know the name of almost every burger, barbecue, and ramen joint in town. A lot don't use our meat, we charge a lot because of the quality and small relative size of the farm, or ranch I suppose I should call it. But I know them all and they all know me, and my mother too for that matter." He would say before looking up in contemplation before bringing his gaze back down to her. "So why did you become a shinobi?" He would ask, nodding his head toward her headband. It was always interesting to learn what someone's motivations were for taking the path that involved killing others. You learned a lot about that when you asked.

The thought of endless progression sounded like a nightmare, and her thoughts were worn on her face in a sense of wide-eyed shock. "You never want to stop, huh? That sounds like misery if I were to be honest. Always having to work and push yourself. It may be no problem now, but eventually when I get older I know once I've passed my peak I'm done for. Instead I prefer to shift focuses, like enjoying the fruits of my labor and keeping myself looking young." Naomi had a long way to go, but she had to start thinking about her future now. Rather than being one of those old hags in the administration working until their grave she preferred making it big in her prime so she can enjoy the rest of her youth lavishly.

The orders were taken and the line cooks got to work, something Naomi could hear the moment she waitress moved to the back rooms as meat was dropped on the griddle. But she was only momentarily distracted when Takeshi returned with an offer. Join him on deliveries? "That sounds like fun! Count me in!" She said with a bit of glee in her voice. She figured she would find more enjoyment in her long walks to and from the village with somebody, and her trips would have more meaning than mucking around and waiting for stuff the happen. The benefits were countless. "Whenever you need me just follow Hatsune Avenue all the way down until the stone roads turn to dirt and you're near the outskirts of the village. You'll find my family's farm house there. I'm usually up by five, but I won't actually be ready until around eight if that's alright." She had her own chores to complete after all.

And while Takeshi would likely reply, he'd follow up with another question. Something a lot more weighted than the previous. It was generally something asked among Academy Students during their first year, but the answers generally given were silly, as someone would expect from a child. Naomi had time to grow and mature to the point where she can truly express her feelings. It didn't take much thought from the greenette. "Well, to put it simply, I want to make sure my family and parents especially get the best life they can. I've been doing farm chores since I was four, and four years later I added ninja work. I've adapted and grown into it for the most part, but my folks are a lot older than me. I don't want them to work so hard the older they get. Life should get easier and less painful. It's the least I can do for supporting me all these years." Naomi said with a cheery smile. The thought of bringing her parents and siblings comfort was a warm thought she held onto during her strenuous work week. She put the responsibility on herself and didn't want to let any of them down.

"I'd imagine you wanted to help pay the bills. With the muscles you have, ninja work would be the obvious solution."