Travelling for Tea [T|PVT|NDE]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota [ENTER from KUMOGAKURE NO SATO VILLAGE GATES!] clack clack clack would be the sounds of the soft footfalls the young man with the mane of long red hair made as he left the village gates. He was wearing his usual attire, white hakama, blue and white Kimono’s, a white obi belt tied in a nice and rather fancy looking loop, on his feet he wore blue toe socks with straw sandals. On his left hip would be two pristine swords, a Katana and a Wakizashi. Though today he also had a light blue scarf around his neck, a small bag slung over his shoulders that carried his items, nothing special just a normal bag with some rope to close it up; he also had on his hands leather bracers, not for fighting but rather for pushing leaves and such out of the way without direct skin contact, to make it so that he didn’t get illnesses like poison ivy. Finally, upon his head was a decently sized straw hat, it was in the shape of a triangle because of its simplistic design. The young red haired man would find a large tree near the gates to wait for the rest of his team. He would pull his Katana along with its sheathe out of his obi belt, and sat down in the shade, leaning the Katana’s hilt against the tree as well as his shoulder. Okuda knew of only two members of his team however a fourth was hinted at but no name stated. Okuda would hope that the ANBU member that was in his group would know who the fourth was.

[Deleted]

[Enter from the Gates]

Katsu rushed from the final tunnel of the Kumogakure Gates, his eyes searching for his team member. His gear clattered a bit at his frantic motions, but a moment to let it settle and he was quiet once more. It had taken a lot to get adjusted to all of his new gear, but eventually Katsu had gotten comfortable enough to walk around with it all at the ready. The Dual Release Pouch projector filled with three slots of pouches (one slot Incendiary, one Goo, one Ice) fit snugly against Katsu's back next to his quiver that held at maximum three-hundred arrows, and was filled near to capacity with 170 Broadpoint, 50 Mechanical Blade, 20 Fragmentation, 10 Concussive, 9 Ice, 4 Fire, 10 Flash, 10 Flare, and 10 Goo arrows. Both those containers were secured by straps to Katsu's Tactical Vest that held his 15 Shuriken, 4 kunai, 2 knives, 57 senbon, a multi-tool, 20 Exploding Tags, 20 Ice Tags, 20 Lightning Tags, 80 Locking tags, a Continental Map and a Map of Frost Country, and a standard compass. Over these a Cloak would keep everything under wraps, and the cloak itself contained an eight piece lockpick set. A hood went over Katsu's head to hide his face in shadow, and the hood itself held his Sniper Goggles, an expensive piece of work that held six different types of visual improvements, his Wireless Radio, and his Holodisk.

Still this list didn't include Katsu's more overt weaponry which included his 110 lb Draw Recurve Bow (Arrows with no Bow would be silly) held in his right hand, his Fuuma Shuriken stowed on the right side of his waist, his Battle Axe that was stowed along with it, and the Longsword adorning his left hip with 15 meters of looped wire held snug as well. Katsu also had stowed inside his tactical vest his Gas Mask, just in case, and a book on forest animals, also just in case. Finally, Katsu had a pair of spring-release claw gauntlets on his arms and a pair of greaves on his legs. Underneath Katsu's wide pants and loose shirt, of course. Katsu's headband was left back in the village, as per the orders of the Raikage.

"Okuda! There you are. I thought you were going to wander off.." Katsu said in greeting as he approached the tree Okuda was standing near.

[Raika Tatsu]

[Enter from Kumo Gates]

Raika walked along the path in front of the village gates, when he noticed both of his teammates waiting by a large tree. Okuda was sitting down as he waited, and Katsu looked like he had been in a hurry, probably from his attempt to catch up to Okuda, as told by the ANBU waiting at the Gate entrance. Tatsu smiled slightly as he made his way to his team, but the smile quickly faded as he thought about what they were heading off to do.

Tatsu felt ready, however; at least, as ready as he could feel. Raika's nature kept him from ever being optimistic about many situations, but his determination kept him afloat. Nera, his serpent companion, followed close to his side, always aware. The young shinobi donned his normal mission outfit, a black, sleek kimono and hakama meant for fluid motion and hard activity, with inconspicuous slits tailored onto the back. A hood covered his head, though he took it off as he approached his teammates, and a red scarf came around his neck. Below the kimono was a tactical vest with his goggles, a spring razor, 154 lightning tags, and 4 smoke grenades, all easily accessible through the openings of his kimono. On his waist was his thread wire shock katana, as well as his utility belt--which held 16 kunai, 45 shuriken, a slot of thermal capsules, 64 explosive tags, 8 lightning tags, and 8 smoke bombs--and on his right leg a triple utility pouch, which held 12 kunai, half wrapped with explosive tags, the rest wrapped with lightning tags.

As Tatsu neared, he addressed his teammates. "Hey guys, it's been a while since we've all been together. Too bad it isn't in the lightest of circumstances. Good to finally be on a mission with you both, however. Especially glad to see you here Katsu, as it gives me a chance to finally congratulate you on becoming chuunin in person. Now then, only one left."

Now all that remained was for them to wait on their ANBU companion, and they would be off on one of the most important missions of their shinobi career.

[Raikou!]

[Enter from the Gates]

The ANBU emerged from the dark entrance of the village tunnels riding a massive white wolf. He sat on top of the beast as it walked slowly but powerfully out towards the group.

Rathalos wore his usual dragon mask, along with his standard issue ANBU armor. The Dragon mask was equipped with MPGs: Zooming, Underwater, Night, Thermal and a Gas Mask: Single Filter E. Hidden under a large black cloak was a plethora of equipment. Attached to the inside lining of the cloak itself was a Small Gourd, 2 Tracking Needles, 3 Smoke Grenades, 1 Slot of Goo Pouches (15) and 5 Kunai. Wrapped around his chest was a tactical vest that carried 15 Small Scrolls Prepped with the Soshifuin no Jutsu seal, 5 Scrolls with "S" Rank Suiton Blasts Sealed inside and 5 Scrolls with "S" Rank Raiton Blasts Sealed inside. He wore two butt bags, one containing: 30 meters of wire, 10 Hira-Shurikens, 2 Fragmentation Grenades, 2 Solider Pills and 1 Wireless Radio. The other butt bag contained: 2 Weapon Scrolls with 45 hira-shurikens sealed in each, 2 Slots of Elemental Tags: Lightning (160), 2 Fragmentation Grenades, 2 Solider Pills, 1 Wireless Radio and a Wolf ANBU Mask equipped with MPGs: X-Ray, Condition Viewing, Substance Locator, Lie-Detector and a Gas Mask: Single Filter E. Over his shoulder he carried a Multiple Sword Holster (20 long swords): 5 equipped with Exploding Tags, 5 equipped with Incendiary Tags, 5 equipped with Elemental: Lightning Tags, 5 equipped with Elemental: Ice Tags. Around his waist was tied the Breaker of Storms “Uth’Orum Grahbraka”. On his back was the Irken Pack (Mechanical Spider-Leg Backpack). And finally on his hands he wore Senbon Taitoku Tebukuro Mastery Gloves.

Apollo, as the great white wolf was known, also carried some equipment. Standing 12ft tall and 20ft long, Apollo carried two massive full blades on his sides connected to his saddle by wraps. Each blade was over 6ft long and had a thick silver blue blade. he saddle itself contained: 10 Solider Pills, 15 Smoke Pouches and 5 slots of zipties. Around his neck was a giant beaded necklace. Around 10 large red beads over a foot in diameter circled rested above his torso. At the center of the necklace were three oval "beads" closer to two feet in diameter also covered in wraps. Each wrapped oval bead had kanji's written on them, that together represented the Buddah's Three Treasures. Inside these wrapped "beads" were actually the Puppet Puppy Squad: Barry, Axel and Nina.

Of course the most precious of cargo actually rested inside of Rathalos: Beowulf. Beowulf slept inside gaining strength for the battle ahead. Until then Rathalos would be in charge. 

Apollo stopped a few meters from the group. Rathalos leaped down in front of the beast and landed in front of the trio from Kumo. Standing up he would look over his squad and size them up accordingly. Everyone seemed prepared. 

"I'm glad everyone his here. Before I brief you all on the mission, I want you to meet Apollo, the Raikage's wolf. He will be running interference for us. The Raikage thought he might be useful if we run into any heavy duty resistance. Now let us walk and talk, we are on a schedule."

((We have time before the other villages reach the thread, so lets take our time and Rp a bit. We don't need to force it or anything, but we really aren't in much of a rush. If our opponents show signs of backing out I'll open up the mission to all villages and then we will see who is brave enough to take us on. Until then hold tight. And please if you can lets not try to uncover the fact that I have a twin brother resting inside of me and I'm actually the Raikage just yet lol.))

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota The young red haired man would stand up, brushing the dirt from his behind, he then placed his Katana and its sheath back on his hip, where it belong. He wasn’t much for ‘walking and talking’ as the ANBU put it, but he didn’t mind, he decided that they would most likely be walking towards their destination however he couldn’t be sure. Okuda decided to start walking towards tea, but also towards the coastline, in case they were to take a boat, assuming the group was following him or had called out to him to correct his course and he would of course do so he would ask a simple question “So, who is on point for this mission? Who will be doing the actual slaying of the target?” The young man rested his left arm from elbow to fingertips on his Katana. He would always be more ready than others if they were attacked like this, he considered it more of a ready state, which was his default when he was out and about. ((OOC: Well fuck, there went all of my plans for my post on tuesday XD))

[Deleted]

[OOC: Sorry for my lateness, been busy.]

As the other two teammates would join Okuda and Katsu at the tree just outside the Gates Katsu would be scratching furiously at his left arm, growling in annoyance. If anyone were to look at him more closely they would see that he had a patch of scale-like growths on his left arm. Apparently Katsu was itching badly. He would stop and look up as the others would approach, and grip his left wrist tightly as if to prevent himself from scratching again.

"Hey guys. Glad to have most of Team Arashiken all on one mission. Although I'm not so thrilled on what it is... mission's a mission right? And I remember you Apollo, in the skirmish. Good to hunt with you again. Also, I'd suggest not having me be point. I'm best at Flanking and Support..." Katsu would grin distractedly, before growling in frustration and beginning to scratch his let arm again, "Agh, how do you put up with scales Raika?! Mine are itching me so bad they're driving me nuts right now!"

Growling in frustration, Katsu would hold off scratching as long as he could, the itching apparently finally letting off because he sighed and relaxed his posture in relief. Without his body moving so much it'd be easier for everyone to see that Katsu had those strange scaly growths all over his body. They were strange in that they were like a real snake's scales, but in that they were the same color that Katsu's skin used to be. The overall effect was as if Katsu was turning into a member of the Lizard Clan, but judging from his obvious discomfort with his situation it wasn't because of the Lizard Ritual.

[Raika Tatsu]

Raika watched as the ANBU arrived only moments after he did. The wolf that was with him was a beautiful, wondrous sight, even if it was rather intimidating. Tatsu was quite glad that Rathalos and Apollo were on his side, though he knew that shinobi and beasts just as strong were likely to be in the employ of the enemy, and possibly even of their current target. Okuda then got up and spoke after the ANBU, to which Katsu was quick to reply.

"From the looks of it, I believe either you, Okuda-san, or Rathalos-san, would likely be most suited to actually perform the assassination, while me and Katsugan run support and interference alongside Apollo. My skills can be deadly, but I lack the finesse and necessary experience to properly pull it off. Still, I will make sure to be of use."

At that point, Katsu pointed out something quite interesting. What looked like scales seemed to be appearing on his skin. However, Raika knew for a fact that Katsu had not become part of the Tokagekuran clan, being a member of it himself. No, this was indeed peculiar, but interesting.

"You're not kidding, I can tell from the way you are acting. These scales....they seem rather natural, very akin to my own. I am quite accustomed to by body being covered in scales, due to the ritual I went through, but this...this seems almost like a disease. However, they also appear normal. The color of scales matches your skin too well. Hm...perhaps...in my clan I have heard of very rare instances where people would grow such scales without being part of the lizard clan. No one knows whether it is a disease or genetic, and the affliction is so rare that studying it has been impossible. Of course, past clansmen of mine have tried, likely to make sure none of our own secrets were being stolen. I never thought I'd see it in person, however. And of course, I could be wrong about what this is. Regardless, it doesn't seem like it will interfere much, apart from the need to scratch due to the dryness, but you should get used to it quickly, as long as you stop scratching so much."

Raika was quite interested in Katsu's condition, but seeing Okuda begin walking reminded him of the mission. Talking while walking seemed like a good idea so that they could cover ground quickly. He looked at Rathalos then, seeing if he had anything to say on the matter.

[Raikou!]

[[Guys I'm dropping out. Thankfully there are three of you so the mission can go on without me. I got a job thats going to suck up all my free time for the next three weeks or so. Hopefully less. By the time you three get back I should be free again and we will begin the next phase of the War with Gale.

If you want my suggestions on who should take point and such I was thinking... Okuda takes point. Hunts the dude now while mowing people out of the was. Katsugan as support. Eye in the sky protecting Okuda and Raika and perhaps capturing an enemy ninja. Raika you will be Okuda's direct back up. For example you will be the one to peel off and hold back the enemy while Okuda goes and takes care of business. My number one piece of advice would be to escape as soon as the enemy as been killed. Don't stay and fight just for the fun of it. Good luck guys, sorry I'm bailing.]]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota Okuda continued to walk even as the others began to catch up to him, the wind blowing gently against him moving his light blue scarf around, playing at his back and then flying behind him a bit. Then the ANBU Black Ops member that had gone with them suddenly excused himself, whilst answering the question Okuda had posed, it seemed to be the group consensus that he lead the group, with the other two providing support in some fashion. Okuda didn’t mind leading the team, he was the oldest person now and the most experienced with the ANBU member leaving them. Okuda then realized he hadn’t brought his compass with him nor had he his map that showed the best way to get to the land of Tea from his time there for the Chūnin exams. He then looked around and stopped at a small dango shop, and picked up three sticks of Dango, and handed one to each member of the group and one for himself along with three cups of green tea. Okuda ate a dango and sipped some tea and then spoke up “Ok, whom here has either a compass or a map? I didn’t think to bring mine because we were coming with the ANBU Black Ops Member…” Okuda spoke softly whilst he looked at the two members of his team. ((OOC: I decided to make up an exit for Raikou for continuity sake, hope y'all don't mind))

[Deleted]

Katsu would easily fall in step with Okuda, almost grinding his teeth in frustration at the constant itching of the scaly growths. He was completely covered in the scales yet, and the growth was what was causing the itching, so there was no relief in sight until the scales either went away or finished their growing. The Anbu member, after providing a bit of advice, seemed to dismiss themselves, leaving the team back down to just members of Team Raiken.

Everyone would continue their walking, Katsu every so often having to stop to itch his scales despite himself. Okuda would stop at a dango shop and Katsu was handed one himself. He looked at the shop owner and declined the green tea, instead asking for something else. "I'll take some Ginseng tea instead, if you please, and if you have some garden flax seeds I'll take all you got."

Luckily it seemed as if the shop had both such herbs, and Katsu inhaled his dango before washing it down with the Ginseng tea and then began to chew on the Garden Flax seeds. If the other two gave him any looks or asked about why he wanted it he'd say, "Ginseng tea helps with stress, and Garden Flax seeds help numb the body. My scales can be as itchy as they want to be now, I won't feel a thing as soon as the seeds take affect.

"Anyway I've got both a compass and a continental map. It'll be more than enough to get us to the Land of Tea with no problems. In fact..." Katsu would begin to unzip one of the pouches on his tactical vest, pulling out the said map and opening it up one-handed with a flick of the wrist, still holding his tea with the other. Sipping his tea and walking he'd look over the map with interest.

"The closest harbor big enough to have a ship heading all the way out to Tea is about twenty miles to our Southeast. If we dash the whole way we could probably make it in time to make the five o'clock boarding schedule, if we miss it we'll have to wait until nine tonight. I, for one, don't want to start crossing the ocean at night. So... shall we sprint?"

Katsu closed the map and stowed it away, draining the rest of his ginseng tea while pulling out a compass to adjust their direction. The cup was stowed as pointed to the Southwest, "It's that way boys, let's go!" The compass vanished, and then so did Katsu, jumping high into the trees before racing at full speed through the trees, looking more like a crazy pinball than a shinobi as he bounced from tree to tree. The other two would be able to note that Katsu was faster than they had ever seen him. Not my much, and Okuda could still outpace him if he desired, but it was noticeable. If they kept up their pace, they would indeed manage to reach the harbor before five o'clock, and then it would be a simple matter of getting passage on a ship heading for the Land of Tea far to the South. With any luck, they'd be well on their way before nightfall.

[Raika Tatsu]

Raika walked along with the others, listening to the ANBU's advice before he left. Considering the urgency with which he left, it was likely of great importance. Regardless, Tatsu agreed: Okuda was the best candidate to lead the team, considering his age and experience. Not only that, but he was best suited to taking the kill-shot, while Raika and Katsugan were better equipped to provide tactical support. Him and Katsu needed to open up enough of a window for the deed to be done, because as soon as it was, it would be prudent to leave the scene quickly. Raika didn't want to take on other shinobi for any long stretch of time; not only that, but the longer they were in battle, the greater the chance that the group's allegiance could somehow be discovered, something that could cause an international dispute, or worse.

The three stopped at a shop, and Tatsu gladly accepted Okuda's offer of a snack. The dango and tea were great, and relaxing. Watching Katsu deal with the growing scales on his skin was rather worrisome, though interesting. Nevertheless, Raika was happy that the younger boy knew so much about herbs and was able to get something to deal with the annoyance. Hopefully it would subside quickly. Then came Okuda's query, and though Raika didn't have a compass, he did have a jutsu that would let him use a kunai like a compass. However, Katsu was quicker on the draw, and he produced an actual compass and a map. He was quite resourceful. Tatsu decided to speak while the boy gathered his bearings.

"How fast are we talking? I mean, we don't want to waste energy needlessly..."

Suddenly, Katsu was off. He was a blur, one Tatsu was barely able to follow.

"Nevermind, that answers that...hmph." A small smirk creeped on Raika's face as he quickly finished the last of his snack as Nera slithered up Raika's legs and wrapped herself around the boy's body. He glanced over to Okuda to make sure he was ready as well, and then he dashed towards Katsu. It wasn't difficult to keep up, but Katsu's head start did make it annoying difficult to catch up for a moment. Still, it had been a while since he moved this quickly, and the long sprint that followed was a nice change of pace, relaxing while still exciting. At this rate, Raika had no doubt they'd reach their destination on time.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota Okuda watched as everyone ate and drank the tea and dango that Okuda had provided, well Katsu had gotten his tea changed but it was of no matter to him. Okuda then watched as Katsu pulled out a map and compass and said where the best location to get to their destination would be. Okuda nodded, and would let him lead the way to the boat they’d be taking to get to Tea. Okuda then watched as both boys one after the other disappeared, obviously trying to get to their destination in time, but at the same time trying to show off to the older member. Okuda sighed, they were quite fast but both still had a long ways to go before they would be faster than Okuda. Okuda then disappeared in a blur, his speed was one of the greater ones in the village, he was able to outrun most, due to his advanced training in Burēdono Kenseijin and the Celestial Gates, as well as Shunshin, a natural increase in his normal speed would be only logical. Okuda was suddenly a few meters in front of Katsu, already having seen the path he wanted to take. In addition to himself he had obviously stopped someplace for now he had a white cloak wrapped around him, hiding his swords as well as his body perfectly. Okuda then would let Katsu go ahead of him so as to lead the way as he needed to let the young man get some experience leading others, it was only natural. ((OOC: please note this is a simple addition to clothing, the cloak that is, it gives no real combat benefits and is for the stealth of the mission, also its done for comedic effect and to show that Okuda is faster than the other two)) ((OOC: some staff member has taken it upon themselves to MOVE us to fucking Nagi Island, so someone needs to get us moved back.))

[Deleted]

[OOC: Skip me this round. RL taking up a lot of time and I dont want to hold us up from RPing]

[Raika Tatsu]

The team flew through the trees towards their destination, with Katsu leading them. As Raika had expected, Okuda was by far the fastest of them, but he held back to allow Katsu in front. Tatsu had been able to catch up and was now just behind the other two. Still, he felt a bit of pressure at the moment. None of them knew who they'd be facing when the time came, or how many. They could not plan more than simple general tactics, though that was usually the case anyways. Regardless, Raika stayed calm, as always. Letting things faze him wasn't part of his personality.

Raika decided to get an idea of their bearings from the younger shinobi, as he didn't like not knowing where he was. Thus, he called out to Katsu.

"How much farther are we from the ship? We should be getting close, correct?"



[[ooc: Sorry for the shortness, been also caught up in rl. lol. Also, couldn't think of much for the moment.]]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota Okuda followed Katsu until they finally arrived at the small port, it wasn’t large and most of the other boats had left already. Okuda approached the ticket booth and picked up three round-trip tickets to the land of Tea, and gave one to each of the other two members of his group. He then walked to the boat quietly and boarded it, it was a small row boat, all the boats that were there now were that. The person who ran the boat said that he knew the perfect way to get to the land of tea, and barring no issues could have them there before the midnight moon fell to the horizon. Okuda didn’t really care, as long as they were in time to complete the mission, that was all that mattered. Okuda waited for the other two to board the boat so they could continue on with the trip. ((OOC: sorry for the shortness, but you guys gotta give me more to work with!))

[Deleted]

Katsu stared at the rowboat for a long long moment. Then he looked at Okuda, and then back to the boat and again to Okuda. Finally, his voice full of incredulity, Katsu spoke, "This thing had better be taking us out to the real ship offshore. The one that's too big to fit in this harbor because it was designed as a fisherman's dock...

"This thing is tiny! No way it could get us all the way to the Land of Tea. We'd be better off just water walking the entire way than taking this thing! Well... me and Raika would, I'm not even sure if you can water walk, Okuda... Anyway! We'd get three miles off shore, hit a little wave, and it'd sink on us, I guarantee it!"

Katsu calmed down a bit after that, if only because the guy who was going to be rowing the boat did indeed tell him that the boat really was just to take them out to the bigger ship offshore, and he pointed to the edge of the horizon to the south, where a large speck could be seen. Adjusting the magnification on his goggles Katsu placed them over his eyes to take a better look, seeing a small cargo freight ship come into focus when he hit about 7x. Relieved, Katsu got in the rowboat by just hopping down to the water level then stepping into the boat from there.

"Thank the Creator. Alright I guess I'm done complaining now, ready when you are guys. Sorry for... the outburst." Katsu apologized, absentmindedly rubbing the scales on his left arm again and looking out over the ocean before them...

[Raika Tatsu]

The team arrived at the dock which would have a boat waiting for them. However, nothing of note was around except for a few row boats, one of which supposedly was meant to take the three shinobi to the Land of Tea. Still, it was small, and as Tatsu looked around, he thought about the improbability of this row boat getting them where they needed to go in time, if at all. Okuda seemed to not question it, however, and simply boarded. As Raika neared it, he decided to ask the boat rower about it.

"Excuse me, will--"

Tatsu didn't get a chance to finish, as Katsugan suddenly went into a small tirade. Raika was slightly shocked, since the boy had always seemed calm and collected, even under pressure. Did this outburst have to do with the growing scales? Or was there something deeper at work. Tatsu watched as the rower, relatively calm as surprising as it was, told the team that there indeed was a larger ship offshore. While Raika was also relieved to hear that, he was still alarmed by Katsu's rather unnecessary outburst. As they got in and Katsu apologized, Tatsu decided to inquire about it.

"Katsu, are you ok? Is something wrong? That wasn't exactly what I'd call a normal outburst. I mean, I'm not sure how you yourself feel about it, Okuda-san, but that felt a bit uncalled for."

Tatsu looked for anything in the boy's expression that might help him understand what had just happened, but at the moment all he knew was that sudden losses of temper were quite dangerous, something he himself had learned from experience. On the horizon, the larger ship came into view. They were one step closer to their destination, and their mission.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota Okuda ignored the complaints of Katsugan; Okuda had learned long ago to ignore the complaints of those who are used to luxury and glamour. Okuda could have told any number of stories of travelling in conditions much worse than the simple fact of the row boat. Okuda sat in silence as the small boat was rowed by the rower, bringing them towards the larger vessel that would bring them to their destination. As the moved slowly through the water, the rower an elderly man wearing badly damaged clothes that smelled of sea water and sweat, he wore an old and torn up straw hat. As the man used the paddles to move the boat forwards a simple sea shanty could be heard as he rowed “I like rowing…” the song was a great and wonderful song about a great love on the sea, the only issue with it was that the rower was tone deaf and couldn’t hold a note for more than half a second, if that long… Okuda however bared with it, though he couldn’t help but wonder how the rest of his group felt about the stirring, if you could call it that, rendition of the classical song written many a year ago… ((OOC: the song sounds like the one in the this clip here.))

[Deleted]

When Raika inquired as to Katsu's condition he felt annoyed for a quick moment before he realized that it was a perfectly logical question to ask in the circumstances. Inhaling deeply then slowly exhaling Katsu managed to form what he felt was a good response, "Puberty's been messing with my mood really bad lately. All those stupid little things piss me off so much I want to hit something, and whenever I see a pretty woman I can't help but fantasize. Doesn't help that the one partner I had for that I haven't seen in two months or so now...." Katsu realized he was rambling a bit at this point and snapped his mouth shut with his teeth making an audible click as he did so.

Fuming that he had let something like that slip Katsu was thoroughly annoyed by the off-tune singing of the boatman, and had to resist the urge to grind his teeth in frustration. It wasn't long before the annoyance set Katsu's left eye to twitching ever so slightly at the bad music, and soon after that Katsu simply hopped out of the boat onto the water next to it, grumbling. "I'll just walk to the ship, it'll be faster..."

With a single burst of chakra Katsu sped across the ocean's surface like a torpedo, looking like he was almost flying across it. An advanced application of the basic Water-walking jutsu, Katsu was just rapidly creating a constant push behind him in the water, which propelled him forward. It'd take about twenty seconds for Katsu to cross the remaining gap between the rowboat and the ship it was leading them tom and a single jump from that position would be enough to land Katsu up on top deck, the various sailors there all looking at him in shock, but when he didn't pull any weaponry out and start slaughtering them all they started to ask him why he was there. Katsu just pointed back at the approaching rowboat, then headed off to some semi-secluded corner of the ship and hunkered down. He didn't feel like dealing with people, and figured Raika or Okuda would handle it when they got on board...

[Raika Tatsu]

Raika could tell Katsu was easily somewhat...antsy, so after the younger shinobi answered, Tatsu decided to just nod and not push it further.

Sadly, the rower of the boat decided to make it more difficult to relax during the boat ride. His horrible singing was quite annoying, and it wasn't long before Katsu obviously had enough and decided to get off the boat and run to the ship alone. Considering the ship was not leaving until it was scheduled to, Tatsu was in no hurry to follow, so he merely tuned the grating noise of the rower out as best he could and saved his energy.

Tatsu looked up at his superior, Okuda, and wondered a bit about him. The chuunin was even quieter and more reserved than himself, and he had the weathered look of a veteran. No doubt with his skills and experience this man could become a higher rank, likely soon. Raika felt a bit jealous; his two teammates were chuunin, and he was behind. After this mission, and the war that was heading their way, the Chuunin Exams would be the next thing Tatsu tackled, no doubt. He looked back at his sempai, and thought about other things.

"Okuda-san, I was wondering something. Have you ever assassinated anyone before? How different would it be from a normal battle?" Tatsu had little field experience, but he was a quick learner, both from personal experience as well as second-hand, so he hoped Okuda could help give him some insight into what they could expect. Of course, with other ninjas being the likely opponents, expecting anything solid was really out of the question.

After a couple of minutes, the rowboat reached the ship, and as Raika boarded he'd let Okuda take the lead and take the job of explaining their presence and thus take care of everything.