Starring:
Date: October 5, 2014
Summary:
Two Genin make themselves seem older to fit in and cause less issues while working on a simple fishing mission though somehow it results with the pair trying to outrun sharks.
"Reeled Lines, Torn Nets"
Land of Water, Docks
It was late into the morning of the seventh of july, not even noon yet yet the sun shone brightly over much of the land. Naoya had agreed and signed himself for accepting a trivial task compared to most from the village, acting as an extra pair of hands. Before the young teen left for the docks, he left a letter to Yuriko to join him there. The young Okumo didn't go directly towards the fishing port afterwards but he would linger along the misted trails just past the canyon towards the springs.
As the young Okumo waited he did something some what odd, he henged. The shape he took didn't seem too much different than before, though he seemed taller than before by half a foot and aged some, possibly into his late teens. The port below was rather busy, not so much as usual with merchants trying to barter but with work teams of fishermen but also more seasoned sailors, preparing larger ships to transport the goods to the other isles.
The note that Naoya left was… vague. 'An extra pair of hands at the dock' could mean anything, but Yuriko knew for certain it meant allot of work. And sweaty, dirty sailors.
The young girl exhales a light breath as she continues to follow the trail south of the village, her snowy ponytail lightly bobbing back and forth with the tempo of her steps. Every once in a while she absently brushes a hand through her loose bangs, trying to get them out of her face by lightly tucking them behind an ear, but in only a few short moments they fall free again.
The path steadily turns westward, the sounds of the docks becoming more evident as Yuriko draws near, her attention focusing some as she glances up from the path.
A light smile crosses Naoya's lips suddenly, though nothing was said or appeared around him just yet. The young man* would begin traveling through the path away from the dock and towards the village. It wouldn't be long before the snow haired young girl would be able to see him, announcing himself with a teased, "Even though I asked you out here much later, you still seem like a sleepy head."
Those with keep eyes and familiarity with the Okumo would be able to tell who he was, especially with the hint of a rather sizable brood of spiders surrounding the path up to the docks. Very few of these spiders were in the open or obvious throughout the docks though.
Seeing the approach of another, it takes but a split moment for Yuriko to blink with some surprise, recognizing the tall, older version of Naoya. Her steps come to a gradual pause, bright aquamarine eyes blinking at him for another moment as she tilts her snowy head, tail falling to one side. "I'm not that sleepy. And I'm here on time, aren't I?"
"You made it to the little stall as well, only to try to nap there too" was quickly noted before turning around towards the docks. "I think it might be best to try to at least look a little older. I doubt we'd hear too much teasing if we don't seem so young, saves time too." Naoya shrugs his shoulders some, but he does glance over his shoulder, glancing at the young girl almost expectantly. "Or would you rather seem a third the age of some of the other workers?"
The comment about the day before earns a mildly flat glance, but Yuriko isn't given a chance to reply as Naoya starts back towards the docks. The reason as to why he's 'older' is explained as he continues to talk, and the suggestion to change as well makes the young girl frown to herself. "That… might be true." Yuriko murmurs with some reluctance. "But I think—" She cuts herself off, pondering a new line of thought as it occurs to her.
After a pause, the petite girl shrugs a shoulder to herself. "Alright." Yuriko replies, already clasping her hands together and quickly forming several seals. A puff of smoke forms around the Kaguya as she henges, lingering only a moment before it begins to fade.
Standing just slightly over one hundred and fifty three centimeters, the young woman is petite still, slender but with womanly curves that appeal to the eye. The pale yukata gently hugs her curves, the fabric becoming noticeably tight along the pale skin of the a rather generous chest. Once more the young woman lifts a slender hand, absently brushing back long, snowy bangs from her face; long snowy updo curling at her shoulderblades.
"There. How is this?" Yuriko asks, her bright aquamarine eyes watching him curiously.
A smirk spreads on his lips when the girl fell silent before agreeing with him. When the tell tell sign of a transformation, puffs of smoke, hide the girl's form, he soon turns around to watch. The smirk on the young man's lips fades noticeably, leaving him staring at the figure revealed after the smoke clears.
"Just.. 'How is this'?" The man echoes faintly before shaking his head, shifting a hand behind his head to scratch at the back of it. "J-just what are you trying to do, get all the men distracted while watching you rather than doing their jobs?" Naoya looks away, turning towards the port and soon begins to walk but rather slowly. "That form.. will do. I'll work on keeping them from just staring as we work." The last line wasn't said openly, more muttered than anything else
Yuriko calmly arches a pale brow at him. "You said be older." she murmurs, crossing her arms against her ample chest. "I think this is what I would look like older. And I would have pointed that out before, but you always think that you're right so it would just be better show you instead. That yes, I would be distracting." Yuriko promptly gives him a mildly flat glance, lightly tapping a finger at the crook of her arm. it's a long moment before her arms uncurl themselves, falling to her sides.
"Ya ya.." Raising the hand from behind his head, Naoya waves behind himself but he didn't turn back again. "As I said.. Those who stare, I'll deal with" was all the young man would say before picking up his pace down towards the dock.
The Okumo would path his way down and along a trail that would lead him to the pier. Fishing through a pouch with his left hand quickly produces a scroll, which he unbinds partially to show to one of the waiting captains. "Kirigakure accepted the contract. Two shinobi have been assigned to your ship." The exchange with the captain was brief, most of the other crew was on board along with the supplies. Looking around the docks made it clear that others ships were waiting on additional crew as well.
Yuriko narrows her eyes at the back of his head as she's so easily dismissed, nose wrinkling if just briefly. Naoya picks up his pace, but the young woman keeps her own steady, casual. He obviously gets to the pier first, but she watches the exchange while approaching, hands clasped behind her. Yuriko only keeps her gaze on the captain for a moment or so, before glancing at the ships.
The ship itself appears to have two floors, not counting the slightly raised navigation area. The deck was where most of the fishing rail supports, nets and men were, while below deck could only be seen through a few small, thickly glassed windows, a holding area for supplies, but mostly the day's catch. When he was informed there were going to be two working, he looks past the young man and noticed the young woman and his face pales slightly, 'The bladesman of.. no, no.. she's too young' shaking his head, the man mutters lightly before beckoning them to join him on the ship. "We'll be casting out to sea now that we have you two on board. We'll be returning to port twice today. Once we dock the second time, I'll sign off on the returning scroll.
Naoya dips his head lightly while listening, though a faint chuckle escapes the teen when the captain at first mistook the young woman as Swordsman Yuuka. Turning to the side, he beckons Yuriko closer before beginning to step onto the ship's ramp himself. "That's fine. A day's work is what we signed on for."
The teen girl idly glances over the length of the boat while Naoya and the captain talk, unaware that she was being watched, or even mistaken for her mother for that matter. A few of the sailors on deck do pause as they catch sight of her, one tapping the shoulder of another and gesturing in her direction with an approving smirk. Both chuckle knowingly as they turn away and continue their rounds.
Yuriko blinks her bright eyes at Naoya as he gestures for her to follow, and wordlessly she falls into step behind him, climbing up the ramp and onto the ship itself.
Once they made it onto the deck, Naoya would move towards the far railing, taking his time to begin examining the net rigging. "The details weren't exactly what I thought they were. You don't have any issue with sharks, do you?" Turning around to look over his shoulder towards the young woman, amber eyes focus at first towards bright blue ones but then look away quickly. "Should be less than an hour before.." As the young man spoke, the ship lurched forward as a water manipulator along the docks aided the ship, forcefully, with it's undocking and clearing of the pier. "..before we make it to the usual fishing grounds."
Yuriko lifts a pale brow curiously at the older boy for a pause, but she doesn't hesitate to follow him to the railing, glancing over the side at the gentle waves that lap at the side of the ship. "Not really. It's the giant squid you have to watch out for." she smirks. Was she teasing or was she serious? It's difficult to say.
The sudden lurch of the ship catches Yuriko off guard, making the young woman stumble and accidentally fall against Naoya beside her. It takes a moment longer before she's able to gain back her steady legs, the ship falling into a steady rocking as it disembarks. Blinking her bright eyes she glances up at Naoya for an uncertain moment, "I… sorry." Yuriko murmurs softer, withdrawing from his chest to straighten.
Leaning forward, the young man grips the railing when Yuriko fell against him. Turning his head to the side, amber eyes begin to fix onto the young woman again but only an arm moves to wrap behind her and pat her back lightly twice before helping her regain her balance. It was easy to hear the toying nature in his voice as he holds back a chuckle, "Already forgetting your wall walking lessons? Eh?"
The longer he watched the young woman the more his eyes seem to wonder. Naoya soon closes his eyes and looks away, listening to a few of the sailors beginning to quickly work around them, filling out the sails and navigating out of the shallower coastal waters and towards the open ocean. "Just as before, keep your focus in your heels, you'll have to get used to the rocking on your own though.. You don't get motion sick easily do you?".
Her bright eyes' gaze instantly flattens. "Shut up." Yuriko mutters, a hand quickly shoving against his chest as she steps back away from him. Shifting forward, she crosses her arms and leans against the railing, staring out at the ocean as the ship begins to pick up a steady speed. "If I got motion sickness, I think you would have seen it by now." she exhales, releasing an annoyed huff as Yuriko closes her eyes and brushes her bangs out of her face. For a moment, her irritability waned as the sea breeze glosses over her face, refreshing and cool a contrast against a warm summer day.
Naoya would remain silent for a while but then he shifts his weight and stands up. Taking a step closer to Yuriko, he places a hand onto her shoulder and squeezes gently. "Get ready. We're about to be at the first spot." Turning his head towards the mask of the ship, he nods upwards to it, though when he does his body suddenly tenses. Small spiders begin to weave or drag fibers across his body and under his clothes, soon forming a thin layer of silk over much of his body. "This.. should make my job quite a bit easier. Are you ready yourself?"
Feeling the squeeze on her shoulder, Yuriko turns her snowy head to glance at Naoya out of the corner of her eye, watching him for a quiet moment before he pulls away. With a small breath, she straightens, rolling her slender shoulders, popping while she stretches in preparation for several heavy halls of fish nets. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's get this done."
As the ship's sails were reduced, several of the sailors that had been idle were now moving around the railings. What they were doing was pouring out finely chopped fish along with other things mixed in, their choice of bait drew the fish schools together but they also now drew in much larger schools of shark than normal. When the whip slows to almost a crawl, massive nets were thrown out by fist sized weights that were connected by a thin, and very long cord to reel it back.
Naoya seemed used to the work, moving already towards the left side of the ship and begins to work on pulling a cord near the bottom of the railing while another man worked a few meters down doing the same thing. A older man in his thirties moves along side Yuriko, offering her a sly grin when he motions for her to move with him as he began to draw in the cords to capture the feeding fish. 'Just help me over here, should be easy enough work for you. Just don't let them try to get you on the edge and try to pull too much at once.'
While Naoya takes to the left side of the ship, Yuriko keeps to the right, watching intensely watching as the nets are cast out over the gathering schools of fish and other sea life. When sailors start to pull in the catch, the young woman joins in, her petite frame lifting a surprising amount of weight for one her size. Sensing the movement nearby, Yuriko turns her snowy head to glance at the older sailor, watching him for a pause before she switches nets and starts to help with his instead. There's a strange rhythm to it, but she's quick to pick it up, pulling against the struggle of the fish as they fight for life.
The man that was with Yuriko, helping her with the rhythm moves his arm during one of the releases, extending his arm more than unusual and positioning himself closer to the young woman. In total there were four on each side of the ship working though it seems up to six could work, but the ship lacked the kind of man power
The nets on the young woman's side would become worked much more quickly, as if rather than just one additional pair of hands, but possibly three or four. The net would be not so much dragged but rolled onto the deck of the ship. The group working with her quickly backs up and to the sides, tying off the mouth of the net but not completely. The man that had been trying to get close to Yuriko blinks several times but then moves behind them, helping to unlatch an section of the deck, revealing a tank of water. 'Drag it over here now. Need to keep them fresh or they don't count for nothing!'
The group with Naoya began to work slower, seeming to tire the fish out more, but in truth they were biding time while the deck was clearing from the other hauling.
The mouth of the net still open, it threatens to spill the recently caught fish. All because someone wasn't paying attention. Yuriko scowls lightly to herself, but does as she was told, shifting her direction to quickly pull it to the tank of water. It takes a few moments, with them all working together, but the net soon falls into the tank, releasing the contained fish into the water and freeing up the net. Exhaling a longer breath, Yuriko straightens her back as the strain is replaced by relief, the back of her hand wiping at her forehead as her bright eyes glance up at the other team of fishermen.
Once the decking was secure again, the second team begins to pull in their nets. At first everything seems to be working smoothly, though the net was pulled in too easily and too quickly. When the net is fully pulled onto the deck it hardly held any fish within, though what was noticed was a large tail, thrashing within the net. One of the men on the edge of the net quickly draws a long knife and grasps at the tail before stabbing at it a little higher, quickly and rapidly, trying to kill the creature, all the while cursing 'sharks'. From the hole of the nest it was easy to see that it wasn't the only shark that was hunting the fishermen's catch.
Yuriko brushes back her snowy bangs again as she nears the net, watching the shark as one of the fishermen 'takes care' of the catch. Her gaze lingers on it for a silent moment before drifting to the large hole in the net. Left in tatters by more than one shark. "Well we're not going to catch any fish this way…" she murmurs to herself. The young woman pushes her way through the few sailors that were gathered around, kneeling to reach out to grasp part of the rope that makes up the net. It just takes a little bit of concentration before a thin, clear layer of cartilage begins to move across the surface of the rope, making it stronger while stretching out to connect torn openings.
Raising a hand onto the top of his head, Naoya begins to scratch his scalp. "I know silk is strong but Not so much when it's in water for too long. So what are you.." Falling quiet, the young man makes his way closer towards Yuriko, watching her beginning to work. "Just what are you starting to do? Are you planning to make a net out of bone?" Turning his head away, he begins to chitter softly for a moment before turning back to the net. "If they're feeding like this, there's likely a pack down there. I don't think just patching will be enough.
"Kinda." Yuriko murmurs. "I'm using the same kind of bone that's in your ear. It's flexible, but because it's Kaguya bone it's still diamond hard. So we won't have to worry about the sharks getting to the fish that's already caught." He did have a point though. If there was a pack of sharks, they'll scare away any fish they could catch. The young woman sighs as she rises to her feet, rubbing softly at the back of her head. "Well… we could take care of the sharks…" Yuriko murmurs. "But that doesn't sound like 'lending a hand'. It sounds more like we're changing the odds in the fishermen's favor, rather than left them do what they do."
Standing up, Naoya walks away from the net and walks over towards towards the edge of the deck and looks over and into the sea. "Does it matter in the end? We can't really go back and say we just gave up, now can we?" Turning around, the young man began to look around the deck, making his way over towards the bait. Raising a hand, he tenses slightly before chittering, letting a series of spiders crawl from his arm and they begin to spin a small loose net, the size of a palm to place bait into it. "How much do you know about sharks? Think we could lure them away?"
Yuriko exhales a small breath, pondering for a moment or so before her hand falls at her side. "It's not giving up. It's just that there's a difference between helping someone out and doing their work for them." she murmurs. And she clearly was reluctant to do that.
Her bright eyes follow Naoya as he turns and grabs some bait, clearly a plan in mind. She shrugs her shoulders, "Not much I guess. They're attracted to blood and eat allot. Only way I know to lure them away is with more fish, and I don't really want to use the catch for that. So… the only other thing I can think of is kill one of the sharks in the water and let the others in it's pack go after it instead of the fish."
'Then that job's half way done' was said by one of the sailors, kicking at the corpse of the shark that couldn't get out of the net as it was pulled in. When Naoya began to walk back, to the young woman, he shows her a trio of balls of lightly leaking with oils and what's likely blood along with chunks of meat. Looking over towards the dead shake, he turns back to Yuriko and asks, "Hmm.. Luring and keeping these sharks at bay and away from following them fair for a day's hands?" When he asks, he turns to captain briefly but looks to the young woman again.
Yuriko faintly lifts a pale brow as she glances at the spun silken orbs, clearly leaking blood and meat. She hums thoughtfully, before exhaling a longer breath, looking past Naoya towards the captain. "Come on. Let's get this done and over with." And the sooner, the better. Bright blue green eyes flit back to Naoya again. "Back of the ship work for you?"
The young man arches a brow towards Yuriko but nods lightly twice. "We'll meet you again on the pier." Rather than respond or question the pair, the sailors and the captain looks at them as if they were crazed. Naoya grasps at the dead and badly bleeding shark and begins to lift it up mostly by the tail before proceeding to follow the young woman towards the rear of the ship. "Just lead the way." Without any clear hesitation the young man was already up and walking along the railing of the ship, waiting to hop over the edge.
Walking with Naoya to the stern of the ship, the young woman beside him lifts a pale brow as she gives him a sideways glance, idly jumping up onto the railing there only to pause. "You know, being shark bait while running across the surface of the ocean, has to be the craziest thing I've ever done." she murmurs.
A slight smirk quickly appears on her lips. "Wanna race?" Yuriko doesn't wait for his answer, a chuckle escaping her throat as she jumps from the railing, landing smoothly on her feet on top of the ocean itself. The waves move beneath her, threatening to throw her off at first before she gets the rhythm of the waves.
When Naoya lands beside her, Yuriko waits for the 'bait' to drop into the water, peering down beneath them to see just how long it would take before they attract the right kind of attention.
"Craziest thing you've done.. today, this year or really ever?" Rather than fear, or worry, pure curiosity was in his tone, as the young man hops from the ship without a second thought. 'Th-their nuts..' could be heard from the ship but soon after the yelling of the captain, issuing orders could be heard, it was clear they were setting sail to another spot.
Naoya lets the shark's head fall into the water and raises his foot before stomping, causing a wave but not upwards, instead he forced the blood to begin surging deeper into the water. "If we're going to race, might as well add some risk." A sly smirk begins to form on his lips, seeming intent on not only baiting the sharks but leading them a far distance with them.
Yuriko watches with mild curiosity as the shark head fades into the water, the dark blood spreading quickly beneath them. She lifts a snowy brow as she glances up at his words, "Are you referring to the sharks or something else besides the sharks?" she smirks. "Should we add a wager on top of that too?"
With each step Naoya made approaching the young woman, the more it was clear, quite a bit of the blood lingered around his steps. "If you're going to add on a wager.. do it quick. I've seen these things jump out of the water for prey. Hard to talk and dodge at the same time." Looking away from the Yuriko, the young man looks down, focusing on trying to see through the blood tainted water.
The young woman's smirk easily grows. "Hard for you." Yuriko clarifies. "How about the loser has to speak the truth for the whole day. How does that sound. Not too hard for you?" If he agrees with her, the teen Kaguya doesn't wait, already pushing off to race towards the shoreline, the laughter heard in her wake. Maybe they are a bit crazy.
When the woman takes off before he could answer, Naoya begins to chase after her though he had a difficult time. Lingering so long where he was had brought the sharks to him just as planned, one quickly surfaces and bites a chunk of the shark he had been carrying. Even after letting loose the shark, the scent of blood dripped from him steadily, keeping them on his trail, it wouldn't be until he strayed close to the shoreline that the sharks gave up the chase. To the young man's dismay Yuriko had already made it there before he had. "Next time when setting rules.. give me time to think them over.." Rather than annoyed, the young man only sounded some what winded and noticeably twitchy as if the ground would try to eat him soon.
Feet touching the soft ground first, Yuriko smirks to herself as she glances over her shoulder at Naoya, hand resting on a hip while she watches the boy struggle with a breath. "Time that we didn't have?" she asks. The shark had been approaching after all. Her hand pulls away from the hip as Yuriko turns to face him, crossing against her chest as she quirks a pale brow at him. "Alright, alright. I'll throw you a bone and agree to the terms too. How about that?"
"Not ganna wiggle out of it" Moving a hand to his neck, he begins to gently massage it before looking to the side. With a puff of smoke, the young man soon appears like a young teen. "I don't have things to hide from you, try me." Moving his hands down to his legs, the water and blood remaining is forced away, splattering out behind him, mostly leaving him dry.
The teen girl smirks easily, but doesn't quite yet remove the henge, perfectly content to watch Naoya return to his younger self. "I didn't think you would, but what you said is true. You didn't have time to consider it, so I think it's only fair if I follow the rule for today too." A puff of smoke plumes around her, blocking all sight for a longer moment before it begins to fade away, leaving a small girl in her place. "So, why have you been ignoring me today? Huh?"
Closing his eyes, Naoya sighs and begins the grumble to himself a for a while. "That body you had.. was distracting," the teen's words turn to a mumble before long, turning away from the girl and looks up and down the coast. Moving his hand over to the back of his neck he soon begins to scratch at it irritably, and some what nervously. "Next question.."
Yuriko tilts her snowy head, ponytail falling to one side as she watches the boy, curious and skeptical of his answer. "As I said it would be." she mumbles. Not that he would have believed her at the time, but it doesn't seem to matter all that much now. Exhaling a breath, the small girl shifts her weight forward to close the distance between them, coming close enough to lift a hand and poke Naoya lightly on the nose. "That's all I wanted to know."
When his nose is poked, it wiggled almost out of instinct until he raises a hand to rub at it lightly. With his nose shielded, he says "Ya ya.. I was I to know you will look /that/ distracting? Anyways.. I'm half believing you fell on me on purpose." Before waiting for a response, the young teen takes a step back, watching the young girl's face, studying it for an answer to his claim.
"Because I'm already cute." Yuriko replies, smiling as she cutely wrinkles her nose. He steps back away from her, earning an odd look, but promptly turns flat as he accuses her of falling on him. "I didn't do it on purpose." she murmurs, just as flatly. "And I have no reason to lie about it either, so believe whatever you want."
Squinting his eyes, Naoya studies the young girl though when his eyes meet her flat gaze, he dips his head lightly. "Felt like you were trying to tease me.. a lot." Were his only words before he walks closer to Yuriko, his eyes never leaving her's as he pats her shoulder gently before giving it a mild tug to follow as he takes a step towards the docks. "Lets get paid, sound like a plan?" A light smile begins to appear on his lips once again, the tension in his body and suspicious gaze almost a faint memory.
The young girl blinks her bright eyes at him, obviously confused. "Why would I do that?" Yuriko asks. Why indeed? They were on a mission. Bright eyes watch him as he approaches, her gaze narrows as he pats her shoulder, that smile of his trying to change the topic. "Fine. But you're buying lunch." she murmurs. Yuriko puffs a short breath up at her bangs to blow them out of her face, already turning to follow the length of the docks.
