James
*Kota reached into his shuriken pouch and pulled out a stuffed coin purse that had a dog's face sewn onto it and grinned.* "Don't worry 'bout that, I have plenty of nichi to pay for it from our last mission." *Kota remarked. They had been paid a truly staggering amount for their last sabotage mission, and since Kai and Kagayaki refused to take his cut, he was determined to use the money to benefit them in other ways - like ramen or commissioning dog armor.*
Karen
"Alright then I'll get started, you mentioned red right? I think he'll have some dyes here too." She commented, scavenging through a nearby cabinet until she pulled out a small can with a red label. She put it aside and placed an ingot inside the furnace.

"You said you could use the air pump right?" She grinned at him, "Let's see about that. We gotta smelt some of these into plates first, come on." She motioned for the pump of the furnace, grabbing a nearby flint and crouching in front of the fire pit.
James
"Yeah! Bright red." *Kota nodded enthusiastically when questioned by his color choice. One of the boy's fondest memories was from a number of years back during one of the village's fall festivals, shortly after he had received Kodamaru. He, his mom, his twin sisters, and all their ninken were watching a kabuki performance of the foundation of the village, and Asurama Senju was portrayed as a loud, affable, inspiring man in a bright red o-yoroi. Kota had latched onto that image, and aspired to be someone as great as Asurama one day. So the armor he had in mind for Kodamaru was that very same he had worn.*

"Right! Leave it to me." *Kota took off his jacket and tied it around his waist when asked to man the air pump, revealing a basic white tanktop on underneath that had the Inuzuka clan symbol handsewn in red thread with an orange sun around it onto the back of the neck. The boy's body was surprisingly toned for how scrawny he looked; shrapnel scars and burns ran up his arms and a long scar went across his right shoulder. But the injuries seemed not to bother him and jogged over to the pump. Rubbing his hands together quickly, he grabbed the handle and got into a comfortable stance, ready to work at it for as long as necessary.* "Ready when you are."
Karen
Kagayaki followed suit, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt and exposing her entire arms, though she grabbed some nearby gloves for her hands. She pulled down the lens of the glasses on her head as she saw Kota get in place and lit up the fire, "Go for it, make sure to keep the flames nice and big." 

Usually, she'd do it herself, or more recently use a clone for it, but with Kota's assistance, she could start focusing on the next part. She grabbed a nearby mold, placing it at the end of the furnace, and waiting for the material to melt. "Now we gotta wait a bit..." 

She grunted, for her, it really was the worst part. If only one of them had a fire nature, that would have been very useful. She decided to start preparing while they worked, approaching Kodamaru with a smile, "Let me just get your measurements buddy." 

She retrieved a small measuring tape and measured the dog in several places, nodding proudly as he obeyed her orders and rewarding him with several rubs before going back to the furnace. The metal had melted a fair bit and she began pouring it into the correct molds, creating several plates of different sizes.

"You can slow down for now, just pump it occasionally to make sure the fire doesn't die." She chuckled at Kota and while she waited for the plates to cool, she opened another cabinet, removing several pieces of fine leather from inside. Kota would surely notice Kagayaki's expression and general posture were different as she moved around the forge. She was never shy, but here it was like her whole presence exuded confidence. In a forge was one of the places Kagayaki felt most at home.

Once the plates had cooled off slightly she dumped them into the water and watched the metal solidify and harden, she pulled them out separately with some pincers and grinned at Kota, "Now comes the best part!" She was very clearly excited about this.

She grabbed a nearby hammer and the biggest of the plates, placing it inside the furnace for a moment before pulling it out and approaching the anvil. She laid the metal sheet down on it and began hammering it into shape.

Her strokes were strong and careful, clearly experienced. Despite being currently covered in sweat, the hammer in her hand would hit her target steadily, and quickly enough the plate began to bend and take shape. 

She would repeat the process with the other plates until she had several pieces. She placed them all in a tank of water to cool down a bit. "Let's try them one before I sew in the leather and the straps?" She asked with a large smile, still excited.