The Pursuit of Perfection

It had been some time since Kara had put her engineering skills to use. The request by Okane to construct this particular creation using his blueprints had been a surprise, but it had been made all the easier in that part of the work - the drafting - was already finished. The supplies needed had been moderately expensive, running her just shy of 6700 ryo, and fortunately had included its delivery. She had not relished the idea of having to spend even more ryo on having the materials delivered to the work site. ‘Build a second river crisscrossing the first’ had been Okane’s request. Simple enough to create a path near where one already existed. It was on this day that she would break from her usual tradition of being finely dressed and wore more practical linen and work gloves. She was not particularly strong, but she was able to enlist the assistance of some oglers for a few coins to provide the much needed manual labor. All it would take a day or so of marking out lines and removing sand and dirt before carefully laying out the pipes needed to transport fresh water from an underground river source.

Creating a boat that would sail on the sand dunes was not a terribly complicated feat, but one that Kara had often considered as a more reasonable means of travel over the sandy reaches. At least compared to walking, or more especially riding a camel, she found the beasts incredibly distasteful. Here was where her true art would shine, making a craft that was not only practical but also beautiful. Having already had the supplies for the two skiffs she intended to make delivered to Okane’s workshop she would begin measuring and cutting with skill and ease. She did her best to avoid getting any splinters in her skin, mainly by being properly attired, her tight work clothes and heavy gloves took the damage so she could continue her work long into the evening. She spent many hours sanding the wood smooth, oiling it to protect it from the heat and carefully attaching the sail to the beams.

Building two of these sand crafts was taking far longer than Kara had anticipated. She had thought that perhaps she could cut time by building them both at once, however the organic nature of wood meant that the imperfections made the measuring and cutting difficult to do. It was true that she had little else but time and so it didn’t bother her overly much, but it did mean that the second skiff had a practiced hand. She had a surgeons eye and she could see where she needed to sand to make the boards fit just so. The skiffs both being near their completion as she attached the final sail she would sigh her relief, having worked long into the night. As a finishing touch she would paint long swooping designs along the edges of both crafts, adding the bit of flair she felt the plain crafts needed.

Kara’s final project, made at the request of Okane; a greenhouse. This was by far the most intricate and expensive of his requests. The glass and pipes and wire had cost her a staggering 11,000 ryo. It was quite the investment, but one that she fully intended to make use of once finished. The arid region was not terribly suited to a lot of the herbs and plants she needed for her medicines and other compounds, however this, this would take care of that issue quite nicely. She would spend the first half of the day marking out lines, ensuring that there was space near her home to build the glass behemoth. Once she was satisfied with its dimensions she would begin construction, using a pulley system to expertly lay the pieces of glass where they needed to go. She worked long into the night, using lanterns and the lights from her home to illuminate her work space. Attaching the piping was simple work, she had already done much the same when creating a second river within the village. The following morning she would apply the finishing touches, power to aid in the control of the temperature and humidity and specially fitted nozzles to help with the flow of water. It would take some time for the greenhouse to truly become green but for now it was a sparkling glass testament to her genius and future goals.

Kara was a genius. Not that she needed to prove that to anyone, but it was a fact that was beyond doubt. Having spent enough time in Sunagakure to notice the sheer amount of criminal activity she decided to capitalize on the situation. Where other people may have found the environment hostile and perhaps left, or tried desperately to cling to the more ‘upstanding’ parts of society; she knew an opportunity when she saw one. She had been crafting unique poisons for about as long as she could remember, and it was a skill that came quite naturally hence her chosen ‘family’ name. She could make anything, there was of course the usual compounds; things that tasted terrible and killed you quickly, pastes meant to coat the blades of weapons to a similar effect. And while those were all fine and good, she found that they lacked a certain panache. Why merely kill, when there were so many other options available? It was a question she had mulled over for quite some time, and sitting in her elaborately decorated suite one evening she had come up with a fantastical idea. If she were a genius, why should she allow anyone else to be that she didn’t deem worthy? She had spent hours using the chemistry station in the building for the Stag Emporium, carefully crafting the solution to her question. She had spent a dear amount of ryo, 100,000 to be exact, on the precious supplies needed to create the poisons. A poison that would remove any doubt as to who was the most intelligent.

Kara was not unused to dealing with the ne’er do wells of society - she’d made quite the profit for herself while travelling with her parents. Shady streets and crooked people never bothered her too much, she knew that she was far more valuable to people alive and capable of her craft than in any other condition. After having made her new poisons she wanted to sell some of them in order to further finance her creations. Taking four of the newly made vials she made her way to the darker parts of the village, she knew exactly where to go - there was almost nothing that escaped her notice - the benefits of being intellectually superior she supposed. She assumed most people knew of her personal bodyguard, and she used that fact to her advantage when dealing with the fence. They would have been a fool to refuse her, or to short her on her money. 200,000 per vial was her asking price - she didn’t much care what they charged afterwards.

Copied from here.

Having some time to herself, and many opportunities on the horizon Kara made her way to her chemistry lab with some new ideas. One thing about living in Suna, she was never at want for creative ideas on how to get rid of people. As much as she enjoyed her new home, the crime was readily apparent to anyone with even just one working eye. After collecting her very valuable supplies she made her way to her laboratory. With careful precision she would grind herbs and mix extracts at her chemistry station in The Stag highrise. It wouldn’t take long until she had made a syrupy liquid that almost glowed a bright periwinkle blue. Smoothed on to a blade the colour wouldn’t be noticeable, but in the six glass vials she had filled it was stunning.

[Spent 100,000 ryo on supplies to make 6 vials of Spinal Tap - 3 per regular crafting, 3 for using an A-Rank Chemistry Station]

Post 8 - Selling Spinal Tap to the Black Market
Kara was practically old hat at this by now, going to the Black Market in Sunagakure to sell her wares. As usual she was not accosted; it seemed that the people of this area of town had learned to leave her alone. Whether because she was protected, or because she was more valuable alive didn’t much matter to her. In the end it amounted to the same - she came here once a month with new poisons to sell at a hefty price. This time she had her newest creation, Spinal Tap, 5 vials in all. It was a quick matter exchanging the five vials for 200k ryo each. A tidy sum for a days work and more than enough to help her invest in some of her other projects.

Post 9 - Crafting 3 A Rank Engineering

Spoiler:

Kara really hated bandits...she hated them so much, that she decided she was going to make a thing that would help kill all the bandits. It would specifically show of her tremendous intellect, which off course, she was the fucking smartest, and everyone would respect her for it. She really wanted everyone to respect her and understand her brilliance. She would make a belt that would allow her guards to move at an increased speed, in order to close the gap with those fucking gross bandits way faster. They had dared fall dead upon her, and she would never forgive them for this slight.

She went to the market, picked up 24 units of titanium, three batteries, and  6 aluminum, pressurized canisters, and went to work creating her latest masterpieces...the bandits would pay.

{Crafting 3 Multi-directional boost systems, 9 days total time, completion on April 14 at 2:45am}

Post 10 - Crafting 2 C Rank Kunai

Spoiler:

After making it back to the really tall Stag Emporium Kara got straight to work wanting to not deprive the world of her creative genius. She was after all the smartest person around, the whole town even. She put on her cutest weapon smithing outfit and started melting the steel and then hammering it, then melting, then hammering it. Somewhere in there she quenched it too to complete the whole process, and then realized she was hot and went to get some cool drinks.

{Crafting 2 C Rank Kunai, 1 day total time, completion on April 19 at 10:14pm EST}

Post 11 - Crafting 2 B Rank Steel Glaives

Spoiler:

Making weapons was pretty great, it was about the only thing that people though civilians like her could do. And she was happy to be useful, even though she knew she was much more useful in other ways, but she didn’t listen to the haters. This time she was making some glaives, they were pretty big and she couldn’t imagine how anyone could actually use them in a fight, but that wasn’t her problem. She just had to make them, and as long as they kill bandits any weapons were good in her opinion.

{Crafting 2 B Rank Glaives, 2 days total time, completion on April 22 at 11:46am EST}

Post 12 - Crafting Spinal Tap
It had been a hot minute since Kara had crafted some poisons. So since she was feeling particularly in need of money that day she crafted some of her signature Spinal Tap. One drop of that would double tap just about anyone. It was her own secret recipe but not the kind you should put on chicken. She gathered her supplies and whipped up a couple batches for insurance purposes.
{Spent 200,000 ryo on supplies to make 12 vials of Spinal Tap - 6 per regular crafting, 6 for using an A-Rank Chemistry Station}

Post 13 - Selling Spinal Tap to Black Market
Even though Kara was alone now she was practically rolling in cash. Maybe more so than she had been before. Friends were great and all, but they were also expensive. After crafting a nice batch of her signature poison, she took 5 vials with her to the seediest area of Suna to sell them on the black market. It was a standard affair, something she’d done every month since she arrived in town. 200,000 ryo per vial netted her a cool one million and her day was pretty great.

{Sold 5 vials of Spinal Tap (S-Rank poison) to the Black Market for a total of 1,000,000 ryo.}


Post 14 - Crafting 3 A Rank Weapons
Kara felt like she was getting pretty good at crafting weapons. It wasn’t much, but it was honest work. More honest than most of the work she usually did. She wanted to try her hand at working with better materials, the ones she’d already purchased from the market a few weeks before. All told she would use 7 pounds of Ebony to make 3 different weapons. She’d had a recent interest in weapon styles that came from the Iron Country, so she made a tanto, wakizashi and a katana. She was definitely getting better, now if only she could wield the weapons she made.

Designs by Okane, Used with Permission:

{Crafting 1 A-Rank Tanto, 1 A-Rank Katana, and 1 A-Rank Wakizashi. 9 days total time, completion on May 25 at 10:45am EST}

Post 15 - Crafting 2 C Rank Armor
Now that she felt pretty accomplished with weaponry, Kara (being the smartest of them all) decided to try armor. It couldn’t be that hard, it was just a thing to absorb damage. So she got her tools and put on her special crafting clothes and got to work hammering and heating and also sweating and swearing.

Designs by Okane, Used with Permission:

{Crafting 1 C-Rank Arm armor, 1 C-Rank Leg Armor. 24 hours total craft time, finished on May 27 at 6:23pm EST}

Kara was getting pretty good at crafting armor. Not that it was hard pun especially for her, she was incredibly clever. It was a simple matter of smacking the crap out of some heated metal and then armor appeared. Of course it was more complicated than that, but if she had to explain it to anyone less intelligent than her, that is what she would have said. It was hard and hot work, and despite the amount of effort it required she sadly did not see any increase in the size or strength of her muscles. Oh well, at least that would mean she wouldn’t need her clothing tailored to match her new swol.

Designs by Okane, Used with Permission:

{Crafting 1 B-Rank Arm armor, 1 B-Rank Leg Armor. 48 hours total craft time, finishing on July 18 at 4:25am EST}

Another day, another few vials of horribly debilitating poison. It was her art, and she was damn good at it. It was a simple matter of mixing together the various reagents, all while being careful not to actually put any of them in her mouth. Kara was not immune to her own poisons. It would have been nice if she was, make things simpler. But alas, godly intelligence was not the same thing as constitution. Whipping up a batch of her favourite killing juice, Kara would celebrate with a bottle or two of sake.

{Spent 200,000 ryo on supplies to make 12 vials of Spinal Tap - 6 per regular crafting, 6 for using an A-Rank Chemistry Station}

Back to the Black Market Kara went. The Black Market wasn’t a place exactly, it was more of a loosely formed concept. Shady people in shady places, making shady deals. And Kara was one of them. She was untouchable, for now. As long as she was known to be the Kage’s favourite, no one would dare interfere with her. Taking her 5 vials of Spinal Tap she would offload them for a tidy sum. One million wasn’t a lot, but it was better than nothing, and one step closer to solidifying her empire.

{Sold 5 vials of Spinal Tap (S-Rank poison) to the Black Market for a total of 1,000,000 ryo.}

Used with permission:

After purchasing the needed supplies that she didn’t already own Kara would descend into her workshop and begin crafting her finest pieces of armor yet. She so far had only worked with metals, and in comparison the leathers were a piece of cake. Her sharp tools could cut and pierce the materials with ease and she barely broke a sweat. She worked on three pieces, a cloak, a flak jacket and some pairs of gloves. They were beautiful and much more suited to the warm climate of the Land of Wind. She worked tirelessly for days on end, only stopping once her creations were complete. She might even wear these, the cloak anyway - perhaps the gloves, but the flak jacket was far too bulky for her delicate frame. Not that she was concerned with wasting materials, someone might buy these from her and if not it was merely a drop in the bucket.

{Crafting 1 A-Rank Suna Flak Jacket, 1 A-Rank Shinobi Gloves (yields 5 pairs) and 1 A-Rank Battle Cloak . 9 days total craft time, finishing on September 9 at 2:25pm EST}

Adamantite:

Kara sat in her workshop within the Stag Emporium, working diligently over the crucible. She’d been given the secrets to Adamantite and she needed to create some to weave the material into the armor she would be crafting for Damien. It was hot and grueling work but she didn’t mind, her Prince deserved a gift and she was more than happy to provide one.

[Crafted 3 Units of the compound Adamantite]

Damien’s Armor:

Kara was more than happy with the arrangement she had with Damien Darhk and she wanted to show him that. She was not usually the sentimental type, but in this particular instance she had decided to make an exception. After gathering all of the necessary supplies she had set to work creating what she knew would be her masterpiece. An elegant business suit, that to the untrained eye would appear as just that; a suit. But she would weave the metal compounds she had created into its exotic fabrics, making it stronger than steel. Beyond it being a romantic gesture on her part, she was also heavily invested in keeping him safe from harm. She would work long into the night, carefully cutting and stitching and weaving the garment together. As a finishing touch she would delicately stitch a short phrase, in silver and gold thread, onto the inside panel of the jacket where it would lay close to his heart. ‘Mon Soleil et Mes Etoiles’

[Crafted ‘Master Business Suit’ - X-Rank Armor]

Kara was getting the hell out of dodge and so she wanted to offload some of her creations. Sunagakure had always been a pit stop, and the excess sunshine was not good for her complexion anyway. She had created so many extra vials of her signature poison that she had a few laying around. Taking those to the seedier areas of Suna was a simple matter - no one questioned her presence anymore. Five vials of poison for a tidy amount of ryo and she was on her way.

[Sold 5 vials of ‘Spinal Tap’ (S-Rank Poison) to the Black Market. 200k x 5 = 1m ryo]