[Plotboard]Fishy Connections

[Trucro]

Sunken Treasure of Gold City
Akiro blinked as a raindrop hit his nose. It had just begun to drizzle, which was not an uncommon phenomenon in Kirigakure. The village was almost always covered in dark clouds, and the periods in between the rain were not often all that long. Luckily, the rain was coming down too hard, and from the looks of it, it might not for some time. The sky was light enough, and although neither the sun nor the sky was visible behind the clouds, the clouds themselves were white more than they were grey.

He adjusted the sword on his back as he walked; it was so large that it wasn’t hard for it to around shift uncomfortably. Still, it’s utility in battle was worth lugging the thing around everywhere he went. Luckily, it was rustproof; it would have to be to survive in this climate.

As he approached the gates, he began going over his mission in his mind. Rumors of a shipwreck a few weeks ago had bothered him. He had asked the village leaders for a team find the treasure, and of course, they replied late, offering him only one Chunin. Although he hadn’t had high hopes for his request for a group of Jounin, he thought he might be getting more than just a single Chunin. He understood that the village had other matters to attend to other than discovering the truth of these rumors, but it irked him all the same.

He stopped as he reached the boundary of the village, pausing as he looked around. He was early; still, his Chunin should be coming soon. He hadn’t received any information on the person he’d be receiving for assistance in this mission, and he was nervous to see what condition of his teammate. Of course, Akiro had high hopes; he was that kind of person. He remembered what he had been like when he was a Chunin. Akiro wouldn’t have chosen his Chunin-self for this mission, but as long as he received someone competent, he figured he could work with them.

[Kabu]

Crap, it was starting to rain. Mizuki dashed through the village towards the gates, cursing her luck. First she had slightly misjudged her departure time and now of all things it was starting to rain, which while not uncommon was still an annoying occurence. It was just a drizzle right now but there was no telling how much worse it would end up getting so hopefully Mako was already waiting at the docks with the boat ready to go. She had known that it was going to rain yet she just had to accept the mission request that had been sent to her anyways instead of curling up in a corner of the library, wrapped in a blanket with a good book as she had originally planned to do.

Well, hopefully this would be just as good. She and another were going to be investigating a shipwreck from several weeks ago. She hadn't initially been wanting to go but there was a rumor that it had been transporting some kind of treasure so naturally it had grabbed her interest. Her partner was apparently a Jounin which was fine itself but she just hoped that he wouldn't end up being a real hardass, otherwise it would be much more of a pain than it was really worth, though even if that did happen to be the case she would just have to deal with it, after all now that she had taken the mission she couldn't in good conscience back out now, that would be a direct violation of her own ethics.

The thought alone caused her to let out a quiet sigh as she approached the village boundary, though she perked up a bit upon seeing someone standing nearby, seeming to be waiting for someone. He seemed to be a shinobi and there was nobody else around so it was only reasonable to assume that he was her partner.

As such she walked up to him, looking at him as if sizing hm up as she approached. "Am I late?"

[Trucro]

Akiro looked the girl over, top to bottom. She was small, although not all that small, for a girl he guessed. She didn’t look like the person he wanted to have with him on this trip, but he’d have to make do. He reminded himself not to take his disappointment out on her; she had nothing to do with who got this mission, after all, and she had even less to do with why the village leaders didn’t seem to trust him. He gulped as the girl stopped in front of him and asked him her question.

“So you’re the Chunin who’ll be accompanying me? No, you’re not late,” Akiro said, adjusting his sword a bit nervously. “I’m Akiro Jouchaku. They didn’t tell me your name, just that there’d be a Chunin. Have you read the briefing for this mission, uh…?” He said, leaving a space for the girl to say her name.

As he finished speaking, he blinked from a raindrop hitting one of his eyes. That was annoying. He rubbed his hair with his right hand, spreading the separate drops of water throughout his hair. He sighed as he dropped his hand to the side. He fought the urge to turn away and look down the road, past the gates. They had a lot of ground to cover, and the longer they waited the more difficult it would be to find the information they needed.

[Kabu]

Mizuki rose a brow as the man seemed to look her over, obviously disappointed by what he saw. Hmph, well she would show him that she was plenty capable. She showed no surprise at the fact that he happened to be a clan member, as she had already suspected as much. As to what the Jouchaku's bloodline was she couldn't really remember. She would need to make a note to look it up later. "Muramasa Mizuki, and yes I have. The goal is to find the remains of a shipwreck and if the rumors serve true, to bring back the treasure inside." she responded to him with a grin, having not just read the briefing but having even memorized the contents.

With that she turned towards the road leading to the docks. "Now let's hurry. I've already got a boat prepared too thanks to someone who works for my family so we should be able to set off before this rain gets too bad." she said, taking off into a run as she felt several more raindrops coming down. Shit, it was already starting to get worse. It was so very annoying, she just hoped that they could at least get to the boat before it really started coming down.

[Trucro]

Akiro sighed as the girl took off past the gates. She had read the briefing, which was good, and she seemed excited for the mission. Although, maybe she was too excited. He stood for a moment, watching Mizuki run towards the docks. There was no need to move so quickly, Akiro thought. But the truth was it didn’t hurt. A large raindrop nailed him in the back of the head, and Akiro rolled his eyes. He had set up a ship for them as well; he would have to either explain to the Chunin, or cancel the transport.

He took off after the Chunin, moving quickly as it began to rain even harder. He was faster than Mizuki, which was expected, and he caught her relatively quickly. As he did, he started talking to her, speaking loudly so as not to be drown out by the increasingly heavy the rain.

“Muramasa,” he began. “I understand you want to get out of the rain, but there’s no need to move so quickly. I’ve got some things I need to explain further about this mission.” He shot her a look, trying to verify she was listening before he continued. “We’ll use your ship,” he said as they reached the docks. It really wasn’t very far at all from the village. “Which ship is yours?”

The rain had turned into a downpour, loudly beating against the ground all around them. Akiro had thought it wouldn’t rain like this, but he was never all that good at predicting the weather. He would wait till they were on the ship and hopefully out of the rain before he explained everything to Mizuki.

[Kabu]

"Rain is annoying, and it would be troublesome if we got wet and caught a cold because we couldn't dry off. Not to mention, it would be that much worse if the mission was affected as a result." Mizuki responded simply, truthfully having no other reason for rushing than getting out of the rain before they got too wet. She was listening but really as far as she was concerned they could take their time with the mission itself, it would just be incredibly bothersome if they got caught in a storm.

Unfortunately it seemed that they weren't even graced with a short rest period as the rain soon increased in intensity, quickly going from a mere drizzle to a torrential downpour. "Fuck." she swore under her breath, having been afraid of this. It had looked like a storm was on it's way but she had just hoped that either she was either seeing things or simply being paranoid. Well, it seemed that her instincts had been right and right now she was regretting not having left home sooner.

Soon enough they arrived at the docks and she led her way towards a ship on the far end of the harbor, the man at the wheel waving towards them as they approached. The man appeared to be in his mid-30s and underneath the heavy rain coat he wore, it was evident that he was fairly well built, a sign of a working man. "Oi, Mizuki! We ready to set sail?" the man shouted over the sounds of the rain.

"You got it Mako! We can set off at any time." she answered as she embarked, turning and waiting for Akiro to follow.

[Trucro]

The pouring rain crashed against Akiro’s hood. It was raining hard enough, now, that Akiro could feel the water seeping through his raincoat, which meant that the rain was quite intense. Nevertheless, he rolled his eyes as Mizuki talked about the dangers of getting caught in the rain. She wasn’t wrong, but Akiro didn’t understand how anyone could live in Kirigakure and still be so worried about the rain. It was such an everyday occurrence that a drizzle was almost unnoticeable.

Despite Akiro’s fondness for the rain, he was happy to see they had arrived at their transport. The ship wasn’t too large, but it was large enough to have quarters below deck, which would provide some cover from the rain. It was larger than Akiro’s prepared transport as well, which provided him with some comfort. This Chunin must have had some good connections. He followed Mizuki onto the boat, listening to her and the captain shout back and forth.

As they left the docks, Akiro quickly found his way below deck, motioning for Mizuki to follow him it wasn’t all that large a cabin, but it would fit the two of them comfortably. Akiro sat down on a wooden crate before speaking to Mizuki.

“Muramasa, how did you get this ship as a transport? he asked. He was a bit impressed by the girl’s ability to hire a ship larger than he had found. Perhaps he could have found a larger ship, had he spent more time looking for one, but he hadn’t. He waited to hear the girl’s response, and listened carefully. He was trying to figure out more about the girl, and what she’d be like as a teammate. Akiro was under the believe that it was best to know as much as possible about one’s squad members, regardless of how much of an insult their assignment was. Of course, asking straight up rarely divulged the information he was looking for; a more round about approach provided more detail.