[Graded][Plotboard] Shipping Out

[Kabu]

Steam Bath

---

It was finally time, Kazuki's first mission since her promotion to Special Jounin had finally come and she was very excited and ready to roll. The sun had barely risen and already she was at the harbor, having eaten just a quick breakfast and headed out shortly after waking. Currently she waiting for her partner to arrive so they could immediately shove off and get this job taken care of, their boat having been ready for quite some time. This mission was apparently a hunt for a rogue shinobi of about Special Jounin level, one whom was apparently very bad at hiding his tracks as the village had already found him, so all that she and her partner had to do was head towards his current location and take him out, along with any accomplices that he may have. Honestly it seemed pretty simple, especially as her partner for this mission was apparently a fairly skilled Jounin, and less importantly, a member of her own clan.

Regardless, she was excited, though she couldn't help but also be more than a little worried. This was her first Special Jounin mission after all. Though even more than that, she felt a chill in the air despite the warm, sunny weather. That was usually a sign of something ominous.. and she really hoped that she was wrong.

For now though she staved off those thoughts and kept her gaze fixed on the village, waiting for her partner to come into sight so that they could head out and get this done with before their target could possibly escape, or worse...

[Trucro]

Akiro yawned as he walked down the road towards the harbor. It was already mid-morning, but he was still tired from staying up late training the night before. In any case, he was a little bummed about his new mission. Many of his friends and other usual squadmates were out on missions already; an unfortunate consequence of a week of training. Furthermore, he was told he was being paired with another Jouchaku. Akiro had never been particularly thrilled working with his family members; Akiro had to drop his training with Naro Jouchaku because he was such a jerk.

As Akiro approached the harbor, he could see her: the young Kazuki. Akiro knew the girl from their family get togethers, but they had never really gotten to know each other well. The Jouchaku family was very large, one of the largest in the entire village. As a result, many family members knew little about each other. At least he wasn’t paired with some crazy old man, or Naro. He didn’t know her well, but she always seemed at least competent.

“Hey there, Kizuki. You’re my squad for this mission? he asked playfully, already knowing the answer. The spear strapped across Kazuki’s back surprised him; he had never seen her with a weapon. The spear was pretty huge for such a small person; lengthwise, it was bigger than his buster sword.

“This is going to sound bad, but I wasn’t exactly briefed on the details of the mission,” he said, a smile across his face. “Any chance you could fill me in?”

[Kabu]

Time dragged on and Kazuki found herself growing gradually more impatient the longer that she waited for her partner to arrive, her face twisted into a scowl, which admittedly didn't look much different from her normal expression, as she stared through the mist, hoping to see the visage of someone approaching. She was ready, the boat was ready, now where in the world could her partner be? She let out a quiet sigh as she mentally scolded herself for being so impatient, some part of her knowing full well that it was irrational of her, especially as she had actually arrived a bit early in her excitement to be going on her first mission since promotion.

Taking a deep breath to relax herself, her expression returning to normal as she did. Instead of thinking about the mission, she put her mind to thinking about the one whom she was going to be paired with, though in reality she didn't really know all too much, at least that she could remember offhand. She knew that he was a Jounin himself and his name, Akiro, sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

As she was trying to recall where she knew the man's name from, she spotted someone approaching through the mist, a someone whom had red hair and yellow eyes much like her own. Upon seeing the man's face and hearing the way he called out to her, it suddenly clicked where she had heard the name before. They had never really had any extensive interactions but she now clearly remembered having talked with him from time to time at their family get togethers. She had always hated those things as a portion of the clan, particularly the older generation, didn't really care for her, but it had been made more bearably by those actually willing to talk to her, Akiro being one of those people.

"Hello Akiro. Surprised to be working with someone that I actually know, sorta. I was beginning to think that you were running late" she remarked, lips turned up into a grin, even as she pondered over how best to explain the task at hand.

"Well, we can talk about it a bit more on the boat but for now, all I can really say is that we're on the hunt of a missing ninja. He's a crafty one and we only recently found his location so we have to hurry and take him out before he can flee." she said, expression turning serious as she turned to board the ship, speaking again as she climbed up the ramp. "The crew is ready to take off, we would do well to make haste and not keep them waiting."

[Trucro]

(OOC: Sorry for the bad post; wanted a response up)

Akiro smiled as he heard Kazuki’s voice. She did seem happy to see him, which meant this mission would likely go along pretty smoothly. He thought for a moment about her short description of the mission before deciding to move along. Another day, another missing ninja to hunt.

“Alright, let’s go.” Akiro quickly made his way to the boat. It was a rather small ship, not made to travel far on the open seas, but perfect for a quick moving through the shallow waters that separate the islands of water country. Akiro had spent much of his life on ships like these, traveling back and forth across these waters. The boat itself had only a small lower deck, and as such it reminded Akiro more of a raft than a ship. Still, it was large enough to carry several passengers, and a small crew to manage the sail and navigate.

Once aboard, Akiro happily took a seat, leaning up against the far wall of the ship. He removed his sword from his back, planting his softly against the ground, leaving the handle hooked around the barrister. With a deep breath, he turned back to Kazuki.

“So, tell me more about this missing ninja.” As he said this, one of ths crew members shouted something across the boat, somewhat drowning him out. The crew had clearly been ready for some time, as they seemed to be anxious, just as Kazuki seemed to be. Akiro hadn’t thought he was late, just about on time. But maybe there was another reason; ninja often showed up early for their missions, so perhaps it was an assumption the crew had made. Whatever the case, Akiro focused his attention on the mission.

[Kabu]

Once they had boarded the ship and Akiro went to find a place to sit, Kazuki immediately headed in the other direction, towards the captain's cabin to tell him that everyone had arrived and they were ready to ship out at any time. Naturally the man was elated to hear the news as he and the rest of the crew had been anxiously waiting for quite some time, and so with her head held high she returned back to the deck, soon spotting her partner sitting back against the ship's far wall.

Removing her Naginata from her back, she set it beside her and took her own seat, leaning back against the same wall herself, watching the heavily anxious crew scurry around making last minute preparations as Akiro spoke to her, she responding only as she felt the boat begin to move away from the harbor and towards the open seas.

"Our target is Akagi Kara, a woman that specializes in the use of clones and Genjutsu. She's apparently not much of a fighter by herself and is only classified as a B rank so between the pair of us we shouldn't have too much of a problem, however she's apparently skilled at manipulation and has gathered a crew of followers that may try to stop us when we arrive, so between that and what we know of her skillset it would be wise of us to be very careful." she responded, taking a moment to read from the bingo book that she had brought with her. All in all it didn't seem too difficult but there was definite merit in being careful.

"So, what's your skillset like? I myself specialize in the use of our clan's Ninjutsu as well as the use of polearms, such as my naginata." she spoke again, brow raised as she looked towards her partner.

[Trucro]

“Hmmm…” Akiro murmured quietly as he followed Kazuki’s words. If it were true that they were only going after a B-Ranked Missing Ninja, the trip should be quite easy. Even if she had a group of followers, they should pose no problem to him as a Jounin. He nodded along as Kazuki finished her description and asked him about his skillset. This was a very common and understandable question for two ninja meeting each other for the same time, but it always caught Akiro off-guard. Kazuki rattled off her skills, none of which came as a surprise; he could have guessed she was proficient in the Clan’s jutsu, as well as her use of the spear on her back.

“Well, I’m also fairly well versed in the Clan’s jutsu, and I’ve got my sword here,” he said as he tapped the metal of the blade leaning against the ship’s railing with his middle knuckle. It let out a quiet ringing for which Akiro paused before continuing. “And I’m also proficient in genjutsu.” Akiro nodded to his own answer before continuing. The boat was just now clearing the docks, heading out into the sea.

“So, we’re heading to this far off province to find and kill this woman who has likely been recruiting allies… for how long? Do we know how long she has been recruiting from the populace?” Akiro was wishing he had been briefed more extensively back in the village; he wouldn’t need to ask all that many probing questions. Unfortunately, he was one of those people who felt that more information is better, even if it is entirely unnecessary.

[Kabu]

Kazuki nodded in approval at the mention of Akiro's own skillset. If the limited information that she had was to be believed, or even if not, then at least one of them having some proficiency in Genjutsu would prove to be very useful, in more ways than one. As for the man's questions, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes a moment, taking a deep breath as she tried to remember what she had been told, opening her eyes and speaking again just a moment later as it all came to mind.

"According to the scouts who brought back the info on her whereabouts, it's been about three months since she left, and she's been gradually recruiting more and more followers in that time. There's a chance that she could have a fairly sizable gathering by now, but it really shouldn't be too much of a problem. As for her location, she apparently thought it would be safer to hide out on an isolated island rather than escaping the country and heading for the mainland. Honestly, it's very suspicious as this woman is apparently very intelligent and just as slippery. If I didn't know any better, I would think that she had expected to be found and is waiting for us to bring the fight to her. Though I can't even begin to imagine why." she spoke, standing and moving over to the ship's railing to watch the waves roll by, for now enjoying the sight of the pure, natural world around them.

"Putting the serious stuff aside for a moment though, the sea out here looks really beautiful. This is my first time on a ship but I think I understand why most of our village love it so much." she muttered, looking down at the clear blue water, smiling as she spotted a fish swimming by. "Nature sure is lovely."

[Trucro]

Akiro listened to Kazuki intently. Her views on their mission were interesting; he did wonder how she had come to some of these conclusions. But as dark as her suggestions were, Akiro still wasn’t worried. The mission was clearly for someone below his rank, which, although he was a new Jounin, still made it one of his easier jobs. He thought for a second when she finished explaining the mission, but before he could respond, Kazuki mentioned the beauty of the sea. This almost made Akiro laugh as something splashed behind him. They had now passed out of the harbor, and Akiro could see the village slowly disappearing in the distance. He had never really stopped to think about the beauty of the ocean; he was always focused on something else, whether it be his mission, or drama in his life, or his training. In any case, it was nice to hear someone with a fresh view on life. It reminded him of Nao.

“I suppose it is,” he responded, just as a seagull crowed above. He took a moment himself to look around at the ocean. But it wasn’t long before it bored him again, and he was distracted by the crew. The members of the crew were still moving around the ship, fixing the sail, or carrying out some other task. Akiro spent a lot of time on boats, and he rarely looked forward to spending more time sloshing back in forth in a floating wooden fortress. Unfortunately, they were headed to a far-off island, which meant this trip would likely take some time. He remined himself he’d need to settle in and prepare himself for the worst.

Sighing, his thoughts returned to his mission and he turned to look at Kazuki. “If this Missing Ninja has got that many followers, that means we should be using stealth, correct?” Akiro had really hoped that the answer would be “no.” While he was capable of carrying out stealth missions, he felt he did much better in open combat. “And if this is a stealth mission, that would mean we need disguises, especially for our weapons.” Akiro looked down for a moment at his giant sword before glancing at Kazuki’s naginata.

[Kabu]

As she appreciated the beauty and wonder of nature, Kazuki had honestly expected that the talk about the mission would have subsided, at least for now, but Akiro did present and interesting dilemma, one that was worth considering and that she hadn't actually thought about herself. "I don't think that stealth will be necessary, and even if it does end up being needed, we've got techniques for that so I'm not too worried about it. Honestly though, I think that in a situation like this, an open frontal approach might be better. She has the numbers advantage, and that could lead to problems if we try to sneak around and end up being caught, especially as we both rely on our weapons to a certain extent. I'm positive that we could handle it either way, but it's still a risk that I don't really want to take." she responded after a moment's thought, furrowing her brow as she turned from the sea and back towards Akiro, catching the crew scurrying about out of the corner of her eyes. They really were working hard to help them out, so they would have to return the favor by working as hard as they could on their mission.

With a sigh she turned back around and returned to watching the sea, trying to ignore the queasy feeling that she got as the boat suddenly lurched, taking heavy breaths as she attempted to stave off the sudden sickness she felt and trying not to vomit. "Suddenly I don't feel too good."

[Trucro]

Akiro nodded along once again, even though he didn’t agree with Kazuki’s assessment. A stealth mission was clearly the better way to go. In circumstances where the local populace had been rallied against the village, massacring the populace could add to the unrest. It made much more sense to attempt to defeat the missing ninja without dealing with her supporters. Of course, if they had to defeat the civilian recruits, he was confident they’d be able to do so. Akiro decided not to say anything; arguing wouldn’t help either of them, and he was still trying to maintain a friendly demeanor with his cousin.

When the boat lurched, Akiro couldn’t help but laugh at Kazuki. He found the irony funny; that Kazuki enjoyed the beauty of the ocean but that the travel nauseated her. His own constitution was tried often at sea, but he had developed a strong reflex against the nausea that had often gripped him growing up. In some situations, it still shone through, but he managed to keep himself under control in most circumstances. Kazuki must have experienced sea travel a lot as well, but perhaps not as much as Akiro. Or perhaps she wasn’t used to traveling on such a small ship which clearly felt the waves more significantly than a larger one would.

“Don’t worry,” he said, still chuckling. “I’m sure you’ll get used to the ship.” As he finished he looked away. He could barely see the village anymore as the boat travelled farther and farther into the sea. Akiro took a deep breath and smiled.

[Kabu]

As they got farther from the village and got further into sea, the boat began to lurch even more and Kazuki found herself growing more and more queasy, eventually unable to stop herself from leaning over the edge and vomiting, glaring at the laughing Akiro as she brought her head back up. "I certainly hope so. I've never felt so miserable." she said, unable to say anything else as she suddenly stumbled, feeling a sudden rush of dizziness and nausea and brought her head back over the railing to do her business. It seemed that speaking only added to the queasiness, not that there was really much else to be said.

It was at that point that one of the female crew members seemed to notice her miserable state and rushed over, helping her to steady herself. "This your first time out at sea or somethin'?" the woman gently spoke to her. "Yeah, every other trip I've taken has been nearby so I've never had a chance to go out this far." she responded, feeling a little better as the ship's rocking seemed to calm down.

With the ship having calmed down for the moment, her face began to regain some of its color, though she was still very pale. With a sigh and a smile, the woman holding her helped her over towards where they had been sitting before and sat her down, making sure she was leaned back against the wall before telling her to sit still and rushing off again.

"I'm sorry." she muttered simply, speaking to no one as she looked up towards the sky, hoping that she wouldn't drag anyone down if this situation kept itself up.

[Trucro]

Akiro could feel the boats movements unnerve his own stomach as Kazuki hurled over the side of the ship. If his stomach wasn’t turning over as well, he would have laughed. He managed to keep the same demeanor, hiding his own nausea. Perhaps it was a family trait. Akiro rose to his feet to try to see if he could spot any recognizable landmarks. He walked over to the other side of the ship, where Kazuki sat, staring at the sky. Failing to see anything but the ocean, he looked down at the suffering Kazuki.

“Well, hopefully we only have to visit that one island… otherwise, it’ll be a rough mission, kiddo,” Akiro said with a half-smirk. “I’d say it won’t be too much longer, but I’ve never been to this island either.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “They say there are more than 4,000 islands in Water Country. I’ve only been to some two dozen of them.” Akiro was suddenly interrupted by the sound of thunder. He spun around to see dark clouds blocking out most of the sky ahead of them. Of course, it rained all the time in Water Country; storms were a daily occurrence.

“That doesn’t look good,” he said, half laughing. He figured this would probably be very bad for Kazuki’s stomach.

[Kabu]

Kazuki let out a pained groan, wrinkling her nsoe as Akiro spoke, the boat even beginning to lurch again as the other Jouchaku pointed out the quickly darkening skies. She knew that storms were a common occurence in Water Country but still, why did it have to happen today of all days? And couldn't it have waited until they were safely back in the village? No, of course not. This day was going absolutely swimmingly so far, and she had no doubts in her mind that it would only continue to get worse from here.

"I think that I might kill whoever got their info wrong if they're not on the first island." she muttered quietly to herself, turning her gaze towards the not so distant horizon. Luckily despite the incoming storm the seas weren't too rough just yet, and watching the gulls fly along the skyline put her somewhat at ease. "According to what we've got though, our destination shouldn't be too much farther." she spoke while still watching the gulls, the island in question soon faintly coming into view. "And speak of the devil, there it is." she continued, frowning and letting out a quiet sigh as she felt a rain drop land on her head.

"And just in time, it seems. Though we may have a bumpy ride on the way back unless we finish this quickly."

[Trucro]

“Hm?” Akiro said as he turned to see the island. The outer contours of the island were slowly beginning to take shape. It was an ugly green thing, that only appeared to become more and more ugly as they approached. Water Country wasn’t necessarily known for the beauty of its landscape; the constant rain and dirty, swampy islands often repulsed visitors. This island looked no different, from afar at least.

“Well,” he began again as he turned back around to look at the darkening sky. As he did, he felt a raindrop hit his shoulder. “I guess we should get started then.” He slowly made his way over to his sword before lifting it up into the air. He carefully placed it through the strap on his back, and pushed the handle to make sure it was in tight before looking back at Kazuki. “Shall we?”

[Kabu]

Kazuki took a deep breath as she watched the darkening sky, letting out a quiet sigh as she felt more and more raindrops begin to fall. Unless their target had a base of some sort, they were likely going to be fighting in the midst of a storm, and while she had to admit that the crackle of thunder and the pitter patter of rain would make a nice backdrop, she would just rather not deal with being caught in it if she didn't have to.

"I hope that this isn't an omen of worse things to come." she suddenly spoke, slowly and shakily standing as she fought back the nausea that she still very much felt. It may have sounded strange, and it honestly felt strange to say, but that was just how she was feeling at this moment. She knew that it rained a lot in Water Country, but very rarely did they encounter a storm like this. And to have it happen while on mission? She couldn't shake the feeling that something was very very wrong, or maybe it was just the nausea, she wasn't entirely sure, but she didn't like it one bit.

Anyways, they soon arrived at the island in question, luckily being ahead of the storm still as they stepped on shore. It was a fairly small island, one that seemed to have been abandoned for quite some time, the few buildings populating the area seeming to be in ruin, and the area itself having an unpleasant, desolate feel to it. It was a perfect place for a criminal mastermind to hide out.

"Alright, let's get this over with quickly. Our goal is to get in and out before the storm arrives in full force." she spoke, suddenly feeling much stronger now that they were on solid land again, though she did still feel some degree of nausea.

"And hopefully I don't throw up in the meantime."