To the Sea! ||Travel||

[Hana~Kyo]

Exiting through the gate of the capitol city, it was about time to get going again. He had just recently returned from mission, but as ANBU that honestly meant nothing; it was already time to set out again for his work, this time even going as far as to have two missions to do before he returned, It sure was a busy month for him. His body would rest against the gate awaiting his companions Kotaro and Natsuki who he had left behind in the ANBU office. Looking over the transcripts it would be best to go do Kotaro's initiation missions first and then look into the fire, hell if they were lucky the two would be connected.

When the two arrived, their first destination would be the docks where they could hitch a ride over to Ume no Kuni to begin their investigation into the matters. The main concern on his mind at the moment was not his missions how ever, but Natsuki. True it had been his call to take her along, but still the danger of these missions would be immense and she would be at risk. Hopefully his new partner would not be a failure and could hold his own, that would be his only measure of satisfaction; but even still every thing was still in question, all he could do was wait and see what happened while being ready for anything.

[DeeDub]

[enter]

Kotaro walked from the base to where he were to meet the others. Outside of the capital city, Toshi stood leaning against the gate. He seemed fatigued... must be a part of ANBU Black Ops. Being at the ready and extended service... Kotaro would be stuck doing two missions. But with no real travel between the two.

Kotaro had to prove himself in these missions. Kotaro had come straight from the base as he said before he was ready... HIs jacket, his weapon and his tools... is all Kotaro needed. He approached from the capital, spotting Toshi. Just to attract his attention Kotaro would say "Yo..." A simple and brief call to others of Kotaro's presence.

[Natsuki Kikkawa]

Thank goodness Toshizo had not left from his position. Oh but of course he wouldn't and she joined up moments after his partner for the missions arrived. She looked to them, now sporting better equipment than before. She really felt bad not having her old flute so this new one made her day. It also allowed her to play all the useful songs that she knew and just some ordinary soothing music. What was a musician without their instrument, yes? With all three of them gathered, she'd begin to follow the two ANBU in their new direction; the docks. It would seem they'd be leaving the island nation but where they were heading, she wasn't sure. Perhaps she'd find out if they discussed the details of their mission and a plan along the way?

|enter|

[Hana~Kyo]

The words of his parnter would cause him to look up from what he was doing, head tilting to the side so that he would be able to see the man approaching him from inside the village capital; not long after, Natsuki would approach as well sporting several kinds of new gear on her form. A slight smirk would appear on his face as he saw her, much had happened since they met back in Hamaguri but finally things had calmed down a bit and she had been able to come back with him to his home here in the village, and now she was going to be accompanying him on a mission. Despite his many worries about her attendance, it was also a good thing for Toshi; she would act as something of a sheath for his wild temper, acting to keep him from losing it as he had done on his previous mission.

Taking a few steps out into the middle of the gate, the ANBU would turn so that he faced the two approaching figures, "Ok, let's do this." with that, he would turn to the direction he knew the docks to be in and begin his trek expecting Kotaro and Natsuki to follow suit right behind him. It was a bit of a walk down the path that carved through the mist shrouded forrest before they would reach the docks where their transport awaited. "I think it would be best to deal with this corrupt bastard for your test first." Of course the thought of people betraying the trust of others was a common cause of anger for Toshi but he was trying to remain level headed in the presence of Natsuki.

Not much longer and they were at the docks, ANBU standing nearby guarding the single ramp that led to the many branching paths that made up the docks. As they approached, a hand would slide inside his pouch and pull out the transcripts he had been handed by Kaien for their missions to Ume no Kuni. As the ANBU checked over the documents, the thoughts of the boat ride snuck in to the corner of Toshi's mind; he had never particularly liked boats... or the water for that matter. A silly mind set living here in Mizu no Kuni of course but even still he could not help it, he had been like this for almost ten years now. A few moments passed and the ANBU would close up the scrolls and hand them back to Toshi.

"It all seems to check out, Good Luck."

Accepting the scrolls and placing them back into the pouch on his hip, Toshi slid past the ANBU guard and onto the docks; down at the end of the long platform was a powerful steam boat, the pride of Mizu no Kuni, it sat there swaying ever so slightly back and forth in the water as the various workers prepared it to make the some what long venture across the sea to Ume no Kuni. Toshi would wait on the dock for the other two to board and then get on last himself; it would appear he was being cautious but in all honesty he just wanted to cut his time on the boat down to a minimum. Once the other two had boarded, he would do so as well and the boat would set off for Ume no Kuni and they would officially be under way on their mission.

||Move to Ume no Kuni after Kotaro and Yami post||

[DeeDub]

Shortly after Kotaro's arriva,l Natsuki appeared. Her errand complete the trio moved to a nearby steamboat... Somehow they were given another after the last one was sunk... Kotaro hadn't dealt with the person who made these steamboats for them. Either they were paid enough to make another or knew it was under the employ of their countries' ninja military.

A few workers prepped the boat as the approached. Toshi stopped as he and Natsuki would board. Kotaro instictively made his way to the helm. He wasn't sure if everyone knew his expertise in the south seas. So, before grabbing the helm he turned and enlightened the others. "Sea Country is directly south of here... I was stranded near there for most of my early life..."

No one knew Kotaro's life story, not even Hina. Kotaro waited for the workers to finish and the others to finish boarding the steamboat.

[Natsuki Kikkawa]

The sight of the docks was rather beautiful, ingrained into the teen's mind. When she arrived in Mizu no kuni those years ago, such a structured setup was not in place. It seemed that the nation had evolved, though she was happy to be leaving the island nation; even if it was only for a little while. Traveling towards the docks, Toshizo seemed to wait for both Kotaro and herself to board and when she saw what they were going to travel on, it nearly took her breath away. She'd never been on such a ship before, the design of what seemed to be an engine looked wonderful. It'd take her a little while longer to board than Kotaro, she had to sway slightly, looking at all the aspects of the Steam Boat. Though she would board eventually, whilst Kotaro went straight for the helm of the boat, she only followed to be within speaking distance. Her back was turned as she looked to the other side of the ship.

As she marveled at the design, she completely forgot about the ANBU whom watched the docks and checked the mission papers. Though she did pick up on Toshizo explaining to his partner about doing a test of sort. "Taking out a corrupt person...who could that be?" she thought to herself before noticing a seagull in the distance. The mist seemed to cover most of its form unfortunately. At that moment her attention would be snapped back to the helm, Kotaro had explained their destination. He was quite familiar with it...being stranded there all his life. Her expression changed to a sad look, though she didn't pity the man. She too knew how it felt to be stranded somewhere, in her case it was within Hamaguri. She really did long to go back to her home city. She wanted to talk with Grandpa and the others.

[shigetsu]

Moved.

[DeeDub]

{skipping Toshi for now...}

KOtaro steered to boat on it short journey across the ocean south to the sea country... The ride was smooth as the others rode in the cabin of the ship. e brought the ship to s stop on a small dock as a hand threw out a rope mooring the boat to the dock. Kotaro stooped the boat as he stood on the deck his hair blowing in the light ocean breeze.

He stepped of the dock into the town, Their mission would take them to a corrupt lord's castle for his immediate assassination. Kotaro would have a hand in this mission as an ANBU in training. He felt confident that today would be a true test of his abilities.

-exit

[Natsuki Kikkawa]

Feeling the boat come to a halt from within the cabin, she'd eventually leave the cabin and peek outside. She caught a glimpse of the small docks before inhaling the fresh sea air. The smell of salt was in the air, though this would probably be unavoidable due to the country they had arrived at. Kotaro would take care of the preparations concerning docking the boat. This allowed for Natsuki to ease off the boat, this time without assistance. She'd make her way across the docks, her head moving left to right, attempting to take in all the sights.

Important to note was that this official had his estate within a small town, rather peaceful at that. She'd take her time in catching up to Kotaro as she needed to ingrain her surroundings into her location. From a glance, the teen really did seem like a tourist, amazed at the various sights, seemingly oblivious. Once she caught up to Kotaro, they'd have to await Toshizo whom would surely be close behind them.

{exit}

[Hana~Kyo]

Stepping from the boat to the wooden boards that made up the docks, Toshi spared a brief moment to take a look around at the country that he was just now visiting for the first time in his life. There wasn't much he could do but follow Kotaro who apparently knew his way around his country already. Checking to make sure Natsuki was nearby, Toshi followed behind his partner for these upcoming missions. As they walked his mind slipped away from reality and back to mist where he had met many people as of late, all the other ANBU and even some people who he hated quite a bit. The events of late distracted him enough to lose track of where he was.

By the time his mind snapped back to reality was standing in the middle of the long dirt road by himself, neither Kotaro or Natsuki were any where to be found. He knew nothing of this country and all the maps were with his partner, he had no idea how to get where they were going and was forced to turn back. Maybe atleast Natsuki had headed back to the docks to meet up with him.

[Exit]